Mist

"Well then, I'll start…"

Looking somewhat nervous, Kiyo drew a kunai from her pouch and went directly on the offensive. Baki met her head-on with a kunai of his own, and they sparred a little.

Kiyo obviously wasn't suited for this kind of duel, and she was quickly starting to lose. Seeing this, she somersaulted and drew some distance.

Looking determined, her hands formed the Ox, Snake, and Ram hand seals in quick succession. She then raised an arm up in the air, and mist started appearing around her.

"Water Style: Hiding in mist technique!"

This surprised me a little. That technique was Zabuza's signature assassination tool and made him famous. If she knows how to use it, she must be from the mist… I knew she was a foreigner.

Baki looked surprised, and a smile appeared on his face as the mist enveloped his surroundings. Thinking quickly, I formed a sand-eye and placed it right next to him.

Shira looked sad that he couldn't see what was going on, but he continued to cheer loudly.

It wasn't long before Kiyo appeared, well... To be exact, three versions of her appeared. They all attacked Baki in quick succession.

"Good! But not enough!"

Baki smirked and made quick work of the three clones. After all, they were more like after-images, not Shadow-clones.[1]

Forming hand-seals, Baki generated a strong gust of wind that dispersed the mist, but Kiyo was nowhere to be found. Confused, Baki looked around in confusion.

"Behind!"

Shira shouted as he saw Kiyo stand behind Baki, performing some more hand seals. They were the same as last time, but a little different.

"Water Style: Poison Mist Jutsu!"

Kiyo inhaled, and let go an ominous purple mist from her mouth. It quickly enveloped Baki's Shadow-clone, who started holding its eyes, as if it had lost vision.

"That's enough! Great work!"

Baki's clone dispersed in smoke, and the main body reappeared. He looked very satisfied, to say the least. Kiyo then made her way back to the bench and sat with us.

"Why was that technique in the end? It was so cool!"

Listening to Shira's endless praise, Kiyo blushed a little and looked at the ground. She then explained what she had done.

"It's a Jutsu that my mom passed down to me, a variant of the hiding in mist technique. Basically, I mix the mist with a poison that irritates the eyes, giving me an opportunity to attack."

"Are you from the Hidden Mist?"

Interrupting their conversation, I interjected. I mean, her Jutsu are all from that village, in theory, we shouldn't possess those in the village. She looked at me and sighed.

"Sigh, I guess the cat's out of the bag. My mother is from the mist, and my father is a Sunagakure ninja. They met while on a joint mission, and married a few years later."

"We live here, and I have some family over there that I visit every now and then. Thankfully the two villages don't have a bad relationship."

Hmm… I suppose that would make sense. She's quite good and could prove useful in our formation. I can think of a few combinations that would work efficiently.

"Well, I'm happy you're on our team! Wherever you're from, that was amazing!'

Shira's enthusiasm made her blush lightly once again. I just stood there and enjoyed the show.

"T-Thank you, I hope that we can continue getting along in the future!"

...

Baki then came over and looked at us with a smile. He seemed happy with the results of today's sparring.

"Tomorrow, I'll have you train your teamwork. We're going to take our first mission!"

"Yes! Mission!"

Shira's eyes started glistening, and Kiyo looked happy as well. I just hope It's not going to be a D-rank… Please. Gaara was known for completing B-rank missions as a Genin.

The original Gaara was being consumed by Shukaku, and most of his chakra came directly from him. Although I'm by myself, I think I could win if we fought, just as long as he doesn't fall asleep…

Well, I guess I can only wait for tomorrow to come. I wonder how the other teams did.

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The next day at noon, our team met up at the Kazekage's building. They all looked eager, while I was dreading the possibility of having to do a D-rank… Please don't let it be a D-rank…

We all followed Baki upstairs and entered the Kage's office. There, my father was busy with paperwork. As soon as he saw me, his face lit up.

"Gaara! Welcome! Are you here for your mission?"

What's wrong with him? Is he suddenly in a good moo- Oh, right. My plan must've been accepted by the council, that would explain it.

Baki, Shira, and Kyo all looked at me, confused. They had never seen the Kazekage in this kind of mood. I just shrugged and made my way over to his desk.

"Kazekage-Dono, I am here to receive a C-Rank mission for my students. Are there any available?"

Yes! Not a D-rank! All that worrying was for nothing…

Rasa looked at Baki with his usual serious expression and opened up one of his drawers, before retrieving a scroll.

"I have just the right one, here."

Baki bowed and received the scroll before checking its contents.

"S-sir! Thi-"

Rasa raised his hand and made Baki silent. The latter was sweating a little but still bowed once again before taking us outside with him. It seemed he had understood Rasa's message.

I wonder what's going on… Either it's a harder mission than he thought, or the reward must be astronomical to make Baki object. I am looking forward to this either way.

Once we got outside, Baki spoke again.

"Alright guys, although I didn't want to rush it just yet, Lord Kazekage has given us a B-rank mission. We have to kill a certain man called Jishin.[2]"

"He is the leader of a band of rogue ninja that have been attacking some of our settlements near the land of fire's border. They number at about twenty and are mostly all Genin. They have five Chunin, and Jishin could be considered a Jonin."

"A B-Rank!?"

Looking over at Shira, I could see him tightening his fists, trembling. His mouth curled up into a smile, so he was probably just excited. Kiyo's face had gone pale though. Smirking, I spoke out.

"That's doable. When are we leaving?"

'He looks confident… Well, it can't hurt to try… These kids are special.'

Baki had a complicated look on his face, but he finally sighed reluctantly and placed a hand on his forehead.

"We leave tomorrow morning. Make sure to rest well, and pack some food supplies and soldier pills just in case. A round trip will take four days if we run, so in total, I believe we'll be out for a week. Keep that in mind. Disperse!"

Baki then flickered away, and we did the same. We all found it hard to sleep that night.

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[1] Just in case, I'll explain. Clones are like after-images and don't have a physical body. In comparison, shadow-clones are able to fight for the user.

[2]Jishin means earthquake in Japanese. It's not the gang leader's real name.