Reflections in the Water Journy to the land of waves.

The first rays of the sun peeked through the window, painting my bedroom walls with a soft golden hue. I yawned and stretched, feeling the soreness in my muscles from the intense training the night before. As I was about to doze off again, a gentle knock echoed through the door, interrupting my peaceful morning.

"Come in," I mumbled, my voice thick with exhaustion.

The door creaked open and Izumi slipped into the dimly lit room. Her tousled hair and alert eyes indicated that she was already up and about despite the early hour. She approached I was still half asleep, and she gently shook me. "Wake up, Ayumi," Izumi whispered. "We have to go to the mission assignment office. It's urgent. Get dressed quickly."

"I groaned as I dragged myself out of bed, my limbs feeling heavy and my mind still fogged with sleep. I quickly dressed and reached for my forehead protector. As I secured it in place, Izumi looked up at me with a reassuring smile, it was nice having a sibling. Well, let's hope it wasn't an E-rank mission. I've already completed around 50 of them so far.

We hurried through the village, our footsteps echoing off the almost empty streets. The crisp morning air nipped at my cheeks, causing me to wiggle my nose, feeling more awake with each step. As we approached the assignment office, I spotted the familiar faces of Team 7 waiting outside. Naruto, his blond hair spiking wildly in all directions, waved enthusiastically upon seeing us. Sasuke stood next to him. His dark eyes brooded but seemed to lighten up when he saw Izumi. Sakura waved at us with her usual long pink hair. I greeted her back, thinking maybe I should cut my hair shorter as Sasuke liked girls with long hair.

"Hey, Ayumi! We've got a new mission!" Naruto exclaimed, his boundless energy contagious. I couldn't help but grin in response.

"About time," I muttered, memories of tedious E-rank missions flooding my mind. "I was getting tired of babysitting cats and trimming hedges."

"Let's hope it's something more exciting this time," Izumi agreed, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

As we entered the office together, the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. The Hokage sat behind his desk, a serious expression etched on his face. He cleared his throat, drawing our attention to him.

"Team 7," he began, locking eyes with each of us in turn. "Your next mission will be a C-rank mission." Raising his hand, he gestured the staff to allow the visitor to enter. A door slid open from the side and a man carrying a large sika drink appeared, looking surprised at the sight of us. "What is this? A bunch of snot-nosed kids?" he exclaimed, lifting his bottle and taking a swig, some of which spilled down his face and past his grey beard.

"Do you really expect me to believe that these kids are ninjas? I can see the other two, but not these." He spoke and I couldn't help but get annoyed while Naruto started shouting back.

"I am Tazuna, a veteran bridge builder who is working on a project that will change our world. I need you to ensure my safe return home, even if it means risking your life." It seemed he didn't have much of a choice than to allow us to take him home.

 "to escort Tazuna, to the Land of Waves. Ayumi and Izumi will be joining with team 7 making this a joint operation." The Hokage Spoke as waved us off.

My heart raced I'd get a chance to fight a legendary Ninja, the Demon of the hidden mist. I exchanged glances with Izumi, her eyes showing calmness, oh right I'd have to let her know about the ambush once we got out of the village. 

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Kakashi, our sensei, replied, his voice steady and confident.

"Good," the Hokage nodded, satisfied. "Now go and prepare yourselves. You leave at once."

As we left the office and made our way through the village, excitement coursed through me. Maybe I could take his weapon and make it my own? I grinned while biting my nail as we walked.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted as we reached the village gate, raising his hands up in the air. 

"What are you getting so excited about Naruto?" Sakura asked annoyed.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village. I'm a traveler now, believe it."

"Hey am I really supposed to entrust my life to this runt, he's a joke."

" Naruto is far more reliable than he seems," I commented while checking my poach while I prepared my paper bombs.

The man seemed worried, but Izumi reassured him, "I wouldn't worry. Kakashi and I are both Jonin." As the tension dissipated, Naruto took the opportunity to make his speech about his dream of becoming the Hokage.

"Alright, Team 7," Kakashi said as we stood at the village's gate. "Let's get a move on."

And with those words, we set off into the unknown, ready to face whatever challenges awaited us head-on.

"Stay focused, Naruto," Sasuke chided, his voice icy. "This isn't going to be like our previous assignments. We can't afford you making any mistakes."

"Right," Sakura agreed, nodding her head as we walked. and so began their arguing. While I was focused on checking out our environment.

"Seems you have your hands full Kakashi" Izumi chimed in, her gaze steady almost calm. "Ayumi and I have been training hard, and we're ready to support you all."

As we trekked through the dense forest, my eyes focused for the puddles that were sure to come up. " Kakashi-sensei there are ninjas in the land of waves, right?"

"No, there are no Ninjas in the land of waves... But in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with its own customs and cultures where ninjas reside." And so Kakashi began to explain to Sakura about the five great shinobi nations, and here I thought she was supposed to be smart, well she truly has nothing going on for herself it seemed.

As we strolled along, taking in the scenery, I caught sight of the puddles up ahead. I slowly began to turn to Izumi and began to communicate using sign language. Considering the fact that it had not rained in over a week, it seemed she was already aware as she signed back. Despite this, I remained calm and continued our walk past the puddles.

The sound of chains caused us all to look back while I moved to pull my paper bombs from my poach. Kakashi and Izumi were chained up by two ninjas. 

"huh," Both Naruto and Sakura said in surprise. With a grunt of force, as both ninjas pulled on the chain and shredded Kakashi and Izumi apart. What appeared to be blood and meat fell to the floor like rain.

"Now it's your turn!" Both enemy ninjas appeared behind Naruto, as I and Sasuke dashed forward. While he threw his ninja star to pin the chain against a tree, I followed up with a Batarang that had a paper bomb on it. With a loud explosion, it shattered the chain. 

Both ninjas took a step back while one dashed at Naruto and the other at our client. Sakura moved to put our client behind her while Sasuke moved to protect her. I had activated my purple veins, Dodging under the ninja swipe that had tried to attack Naruto, I moved closer and thrusted my palm up to his head and executed Budda killer. 

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kakashi snapping the other ninja's neck with a close line.

"Yō!" Izumi called from behind me, snapping me back to the present. "Nicely done!"

"ah Thanks," I mumbled, As I started looting the Ninja I had just Killed.

I could see Naruto eyeing me and Sasuke strangely, as Sasuke moved closer to him. "Hey, you're not hurt are ya. Scaredy cat...?" 

what a smug bitch, I couldn't help but chuckle. While Naruto was getting annoyed and frustrated, Me and Sasuke were eyeing each other. 

"Oh, Sasuke, sweetie, I didn't realize we were reenacting scenes from the Ninja Academy's 'How Not to Fight' tutorial. But kudos to you for embracing the 'human shield' technique. Very avant-garde. I can see you and Sakura shared a class" Much to my enjoyment, he and Sakura seemed extremely annoyed.

"By the way, Mr. Tazuna" Kakashi began.

"w-what is it...?!" Taken aback at being addressed. 

"We need to talk" Izumi added. While she made sure to add the body to a scroll, As she held the Ninja's headband in her hands.

"Their Chunin from the village hidden in the mist..." Looking at Kakashi, Izumi stated.

Kakashi nodded before turning to me. "How did you know? Your style of hand signs messages is interesting, and I find it interesting that you were the first to notice." 

" Well, it hasn't rained in over a week, so puddles like that on a clear day shouldn't appear" Looking at the others of my age. " But it seems like Besides you two I was the only one who found it odd," I replied.

"In that case why didn't you share it with the other? And why did you two leave it to the kids to do the fighting" Tazuna sounded annoyed.

"I could have killed them Instantly," Turning to look at me with his free uncovered eye. before turning back to look at Tazuna" But I'd have learn nothing, and I needed to learn who their target was." 

"Hm? What are you getting at?" He asked defensively.

"This," Turning to look face Tazuna. " I wanted to know if they were after us, Ninja attacking Ninja, or if they were after you. The master bridge builder. When you put in your request, we didn't hear anything about you being targeted by Ninjas. If we knew this, this mission would be ranked B or higher."

"Our task was simple to get you to your destination" Izumi added. " And protect you while you finish building your bridge. If we had known we would be facing enemy ninjas we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission."

"Apparently you have your reason but lying to us is not expectable" Kakashi being angry was a bit scary not going to lie.