Chapter 4

A/N: Hi! I thought that I had to make somethings a little bit clear. Because of Malika's appearance, lots of events moved their dates:

-The First World War was started way later than in the original series. (Which will not leave enough time for the Third World War in the future timelines), that is why the attack on Uzushio wasn't in the Second one.

-Some characters were born later or earlier.

-Some of the ages also became different.

-All of the characters in the series were born, BUT! Not all of them will be orphans since their parents are either still alive or were chosen by me.

Hope you'll like the rest of the book!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Let's move out!"

We were more than half a day away from our village and were moving at a maximum speed that our genins could hold for an extensive amount of time.

'They are a strong bunch since they are still able to force themselves to move forward.'

However, they were still children and were getting tired. Their sensei was doing a little better, while the three of us, two from Unit and myself, were perfectly fine. I think that the reason those genins are still going - is their pride. We look to be of the same age and the boys didn't want to be outdone by an unknown girl.

"Stop! We will take a break here." - I stopped the group at a large field in the woods. - "There is a river close by, so if anyone of you wants to take a quick wash, suit yourself."

"Sakumo and Dan, go, bring some water and try to catch some fish. Oku, make a fire. Hana, scan the vicinity for any life forms. Since this is your first time outside of the village, you should start to learn necessary survival skills of shinobi." - Hono-sensei instructed his team as soon as teens were able to catch their breath. Looking at them, I felt a strange sense of Deja Vu...

"I think something similar happened when we went to Uzu on that mission."

"Yup. That time Malika was... too fast."

"Father also made us the ones to do the 'chores'"

"Well, he wanted us to taste 'true shinobi life' since we were too small to participate in the clan wars." - My two companions also recognised this scene and drowned in recollections.

"I've already apologised for that time."

"We know" - both of them answered in sync and started snickering. The Nara, who was near us all the time, spared us a lazy (calculating and curious) glance and decided to lie down under a tree. Lazy-head.

"Hono-sensei, the area within 1 km is clear!" - Hana turned to us with her Byakugan activated and informed about her observations.

"One kilometre... Akai-san, you've got a talented batch." - I told him my thoughts and could clearly see his pride on his face, yet, there was a tiny, incy-wincy a bit of annoyance in his aura. I guessed that it was due to my appearance. Geez... should I make myself look older? But I don't want to...

"Yes! I do my best to groom their talents and to nourish their desire to be strong shinobi!" - the moment he started to speak about his pupils, all of the negative emotions vanished and were replaced by pure joy, thoughtfulness and tiredness. He was talking none stop about their grades in the Academy, their training and improvements. He didn't tell me anything in detail, just a general outline, but even that much took him twenty minutes to finish.

"Is it difficult?"

"What is?" - he didn't understand my meaning.

"To train them?"

He fell deep in thoughts and shook his head. - "I wouldn't say that it is difficult. They are diligent and hardworking, so teaching them is nothing but joy; however, they do take most of my time, while I have some other stuff to do or finish. This is probably the only downside that I can see. Why would you ask?"

"No reason. I just wanted to hear an opinion of such a good sensei." - He smiled shyly and went to help Oku since the boy brought the wrong type of firewood. He had to bring normal brunches but instead brought brunches of the hallucination-causing tree. The two look almost identical except for a slight change in colour shade and little bit differing pattern on the bark. A small amount of this wood is used as a powder in smock-bombs to confuse the enemy; however, a big quantity of it can be very poisonous to the body. Akai explained this to him and they went to search for proper wood together.

I checked the time and saw that it was already around 3-4 in the evening and, when all of the genins came back, decided to stop here for the night rest. We are in a hurry, but I must take into an account the condition of people in my charge.

This time boys put down their backpacks, took out washing supplies and rushed to the river. In the meantime, Akai, Denki, Kuro were placing down a camp, while I started to cook with Hana. I cooked some soup since I can't eat fish. I got most of the cooking ware and ingredients from the scroll, but spices came from my space... Should I say that even Nara woke up after witnessing my hand disappearing in the nothingness and return with something in it?

After a good dinner, genins helped in completing the camp, arranging the patrol turns and did a light training just before sleep.

Hana and I were put on the watch first because we are girls and the rest split the remaining time between themselves. When I told them that I'm fine with later hours, all of them, even Uchiha, were against it... I should probably change the way I look during our negotiations with Ame.

Our shift was quiet and went smoothly. Hana was busy reading a scroll on medicine. She told me that her dream is to become an amazing and first-rate med-nin, that is why she studies a lot.

Well, the shift appeared to be smooth, when in reality, there were 15 shinobi from Iwagakure present just outside of Hana's Byakugan. They were encircling our camp, probably because of Hyuga's Doujutsu and our very misleading appearance. Five children, two 'old mans' and two young, plane-looking guys. Not much of a threat, right? Besides, we were heavily outnumbered...

Just a few minutes after our turn was over and we were switched with Oku and Akai, they decided to attack. Foolish decision.

"Wake up! We are under an ambush!" - Sakumo rashed into my tent alerting my 'sleeping' self and rushed out. He probably went to help with the defend. I walked out and appraised the situation. Only 9 out of 15 were out, while others were hiding in the forest.

[Should we help them out?] - Kuro's voice resounded in my head.

[No. This is not only a diplomatic mission but their training as well.] - Denki was the one who answered. - [Besides, their Sensei isn't all that weak and their enemy has only one jounin, while the rest of them were ether chunins or genins. They were most probably sent on a mission that will help newbies to gain some experience in the field. If they manage to remember their training previously, they will be able to pull this off.]

[I agree with you. However, we will eliminate those in the woods. Our people are still new.] - I made a decision.

[Hai!] - and they disappeared. That is not fair! They got a head start! I followed them, leaving a note for stunned Nara with the order to join our genin team in battle. His aura screamed of how troublesome the situation was because he was planning to join only in a critical scenario that he was sure wouldn't happen. He was given a basic outline of my capabilities. Lazy butt.