Chapter 50

The four members of Team Kakashi stood in front of the mission assignment desk. Kakashi looked exactly as I remembered him, wearing the standard Konoha uniform and a dark face mask that showed only ever the barest outline of his expression. Under his unruly mop of slanted white hair, his headband was pulled over his left eye, leaving only a single corner of his face visible.

Likewise, Sasuke was as I remembered him too, wearing a high-collared blue shirt and shorts. He constantly had a haughty look on his face, as if evaluating the combat capabilities of everyone around him to find them lacking in comparison to himself. Whether his confidence was genuine, I had no idea.

Sakura was the only one who looked different, and that was only because she wore her headband on her forehead in this world. She had the same long pink hair and red dress. I never really understood why she always reacted so much when Ino teased her about her forehead. Then again, I doubted there was anyone who really understood the minds of teenage girls.

The Hokage sat in front of us, along with several other ninja who were concerned with managing paperwork. He looked as old as ever, glancing between us and the mission scrolls unfurled in front of him. "So, Kakashi, your genin are finding D-rank missions to be too easy?"

"That's what they said, Hokage-sama," the man answered.

Sarutobi stroked his short white goatee as he eyed us. His gaze lingered on me as he spoke, "Is that so? Well, I happen to have a C-rank mission that might satisfy your subordinates."

I pulled my hood over my face to hide my smile. "C'mon, Land of Waves. Give it to us, Saru."

The Hokage called out to the door, "Come inside, please." All of us turned to see who would be on the other side.

"What? It's just a bunch of damned kids," spoke the old man carrying a sake bottle. Red in the face, Tazuna took a long swig from his drink before saying "Especially the shorty in the black coat. I didn't know they let midgets become ninja."

I couldn't help that I was short. I just hadn't hit my growth spurt yet. I was only a few inches shorter than Sakura. It kind of sucked that I basically looked like a younger, one-eyed version of my mom, or at least what she looked like in the one picture I had of the woman. I had the same unruly blood-red hair that just went everywhere, even when I tied it up in a long ponytail. I'd probably look less like a girl if I believed in getting haircuts but I'd rather just let it grow long than risk getting a shitty haircut.

I suppressed the urge to kill him for calling me short.

After finishing my preparations for the mission, I met my team at the village gates. For the first time since we met, Kakashi had decided to be punctual. From here on, it was serious business.

Kakashi greeted me, "You sure took your time, Haru. What's with the mask?"

"I just thought it might come in useful." I was wearing a porcelain mask, mostly blank with only with a stylized flame where the right eyehole would be. Under my long black coat, I was wearing metal bracers and shin guards instead of my usual training weights. Today represented the beginning of everything. And I wasn't going to be stopped by the likes of Momochi Zabuza. I had bigger fish to fry. I put my hood up and followed the rest of Team Seven out of the village.

Thus, I set out with the bridge builder and my fellow ninja on my first ever real mission.