Naruto : Chapter 22

Team seven stood in the mission office to get their first mission. Sakura was relieved to get a mission for a change. A mission meant that she wouldn't have to go through what she had dubbed 'Kakashi's training from hell'.

She had been sore every day of last week after training. The weekend had been training free for them, but Kakashi had given them homework. Thankfully it was all theory, but it would be tested during this week's training hours.

She had to spend five hours reading up and practising hand signals that were used by the Konoha military forces. These signals would be part of their teamwork exercises. And of course she had to practise a new chakra control exercise.

Sticking five leafs to her arms. She had known how to do it with one leaf since the academy, but now Kakashi had told them they had to stick fives leafs to their arms and keep them there two hours without losing them once.

She had hated the exercise. She always lost control and had to start new. Why would it help them to be able to do that exercise?

And she also hadn't had much time taking care of her body to impress Sasuke. Her hair was messier than ever before, her skin was losing some of its shine and she got calluses on her hands.

How should she ever get Sasuke this way? More, she couldn't stop herself from eating all the food Kakashi gave them, even if it was way too fat. She had tried to only eat a bit of it, but her stomach was betraying her.

Her mother had promised her to take care of her lunchboxes from this week on. She would make sure she ate low fat.

The three genin listened to the Hokage when he told Kakashi the available missions. Sakura was glad. Most of those missions didn't sound that bad. Babysitting for the Minister, weeding a garden for a council member, yes she could do that.

"We take cleaning out the field of Mr Takashima, Hokage Sama." Kakashi decided.

Sakura wanted to cry. That was another hard exercise. And it was a bit outside of the village. Mr Takashima had just started a farm two miles outside of Konoha.

There would be no chance to rest and flirt with Sasuke from what she could tell. And she was sure Kakashi would make the way there another exercise.

"Alright, team. We won't need any special equipment, any farming tools we might need will be at the farm. Let's go." Kakashi said and left the office.

...

Naruto and Sasuke turned the cleaning of the field into a challenge. They would start on one side of the field and each had a clone of Naruto with them to take the waste which they pulled from the field.

Five other clones of Naruto would sort through their findings and sort them. The small stones would be put aside for a pond Mr Takashima wanted to build later. The bigger ones would be used for walls to surround the property.

Sticks and bigger branches would either be shredded later or burned. Some would perhaps be used as stabilizers for vegetable plants. That would be Mr Takashima's decision.

Sakura was also cleaning her part with a shadow clone taking care of getting the waste away, but she was way slower than the two boys.

Sasuke wanted to prove that he could go the same pace as Naruto and Naruto wanted to shove it into the Uchiha's face that there were people better than him. Kakashi watched the whole action amused.

The competitiveness between Naruto and Sasuke would only end in the mission getting done faster. Perhaps he could get the team to two missions a day in a few weeks.

But then again, his goal was taking only missions that wouldn't get his team in close contact with the villagers too much.

"Wow, your students are doing good work. I'm surprised they are that fast." Mr Takashima said.

"Well, they are ninjas; they should be faster than civilians. And they don't even use their abilities besides Naruto making his shadow clones to assist." Kakashi answered.

"Are your two male students by any chance overly competitive?" Mr Takashima asked.

"A bit. But as long as it results in better work, I don't mind." Kakashi said.

He looked at Sakura. The girl was already slowing down.

"Hey, Sakura, don't get slower. This is also meant as a strength building exercise." He shouted to her.

Sakura returned to her former pace.

"She was slowing down?" Mr Takashima asked surprised.

"Yes, she sometimes needs a good push to do her best, but we are working on that." Kakashi replied unconcerned.

Mr Takashima wondered about this, but then again, who could really understand how ninjas worked?

...

After four hours the field was cleared of all things that would be in the way of farming.

"Wow, good work. I didn't think it would be done today." Mr Takashima told the team happily.

"No problem, Mr Takashima, that's our job." Kakashi said.

"I have some refreshments prepared for you and your team, Mr Hatake." Mr Takashima said. "As a sign of my gratitude for the good and speedy work."

"That we'll gladly accept." Kakashi said. "You heard Mr Takashima. Wash your hands and then come over to get some snacks." Kakashi called out to his team.

The three nodded and went to the hose to wash their dirty hands. Soon they were back with Kakashi. Well, Naruto and Sasuke were. Sakura needed a bit longer, being exhausted after four hours of constant hard work.

Additionally she had to deal with the effects of the gravity seals which made her slower. With her small reserves she had massive problems to keep the effects of the seals from influencing her too much.

Mr Takashima and his wife were presenting the genin with a plate of sushi each.

"My wife led a sushi restaurant before we came to Konoha from Water Country." Mr Takashima explained.

"Why did you move?" Sakura asked, eating gratefully.

"Well, in Water Country there is a civil war going on. The Mizukage, the leader of Kiri has declared all those that possess a bloodline limit devils and responsible for the horrors of wars. They are hunted down mercilessly.

But even we civilians are sometimes involved in the fights of the two sides, the one following the Mizukage and the one opposing him, who think that the bloodline limit users, who fought for Kiri in the past shouldn't be persecuted.

We didn't want to be killed in the middle of those fights and decided it would be safer to move here." Mrs Takashima informed the genin.

Sasuke was shocked. People who had a bloodline limit like his clan were hunted down in Water Country? But why? Normally the clans that had a bloodline limit were the strongest in a village's military. Like his clan had been. Their sharingan had been praised in Konoha.

Naruto silently ate his sushi. He could empathize with the rebels. Nobody would take being hunted down for something that had helped his village in the past. And what choice did those people have? They were just born like that.

An ability wasn't evil in itself. It was how you used it.

"These are really good, Mrs Takashima." Sakura said, not really getting the mood of her two team-mates.

"Thanks, dear." Mrs Takashima answered.

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