Chapter 14, C-rank mission

Hikaru and the rest of the team had eaten their breakfast, more like brunch really, at a fairly fancy restaurant. Whenever Sai paid for them, Hikaru and Tsukune made sure to choose a place they never thought they could afford before after all.

As they for the first time in a while took it easy, the boys got thinking. 'I wonder how Mibuna and Sansho are doing..'. When they were back in the village, they were too busy completing missions and bonding as a new team that they completely forgot about their old friends.

Tsukune and Hikaru made a promise to each other that the old squad would have to meet up and grab something good to eat once they've been paid for this. They had never been apart for this long before.

But now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Team 2 had most of the day to spend on having fun in a festival. There were all kinds of games around. Everything from the classic strength game with a hammer and the bell at the top to a fishing game where you caught small words of wisdom or a fortune scroll.

The youngsters wanted to play it all! It was the first time any of them left the village so of course they wanted to eat every bit of local food as well. Hikaru chose to stay clear of the strength game, it wasn't time to show off after all, but fishing was fun.

Though he couldn't understand the message inside the scroll he received, "The first step towards happiness is a lot closer than you think" He looked at Mirai confused and asked "What do you think that's supposed to mean?"

Mirai coughed a couple of times as if she got the candy she was eating stuck in her throat. "Oh it's probably just some generic message they put on there.." Hikaru noticed how she quickly stuck her own fortune scroll in her pocket really quick but he didn't think much of it.

The festival had a lot to offer really. A lot of street performers. Some playing with jutsus, a special performance style of them anyway, and others drawing caricatures. Hikaru decided they'd get a drawing made together so they sat down and waited for the woman to be done.

Hikaru spent the time looking around at people passing by. They had a very interesting way of dressing here he noticed, though maybe this was normal and it was ninjas who had strange taste. After a while they got to see the spectacle.

"That's fantastic!" Hikaru said as he burst into laughter. He felt a punch to the side but it wasn't enough to stop him from laughing. Mirai looked at him as if she tried to be mad but a laugh is contagious and soon they were all laughing at how funny they looked in the painting.

Mirai had a completely round face with large eyes glaring at Hikaru and tiny lips shaped in a pout. Hikaru on the other hand was blocky, shaped like a rectangle. He had big lips curled in a smirk and one eye winking at someone outside the painting.

In the middle Tsukune was shaped like a stick with an extremely happy face, a smile so big it probably took of 80% of his face. Hikaru decided he had to keep this for the future so the happily paid the painter extra and rolled it up to put in his backpack.

Mirai didn't seem all too happy about it but Hikaru was sure she'd love that he saved it in due time. This was how they spent their hours. Playing some games, shopping for foreign clothes and tasting everything the village had to offer.

As all good things though, it eventually came to an end and their working hours started.

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

Sai had been keeping track of them all day and was pleased with what he saw. He knew from Shikamaru that Mirai had had a rough time getting friends at school, but none of that could be seen now as his team looked like they had been best friends for many years.

He was almost sad he had to stop their fun just as the main event, the concert, was about to begin. Atleast they got an excellent view from where they would be guarding.

Team 2 lined up right in front of the stage to keep the crowd at a distance and to ward off any attempts at attacks. One of the singers coming today had been attacked several times before and this time they had hired ninjas to make sure that if she was attacked again the perpetrator would get caught.

Sai hoped nothing would come from this however, as he wanted his team to get a soft and easy start to their rank C missions.

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

Two hours later and the final act was starting. Hikaru had had very little to do. Aside from pushing back some inebriated guests to make sure they didn't crowd the stage he had been able to enjoy the music as much as anyone else.

He hadn't really listened to much music before. Maybe he could try and learn to play in instrument in the future, it looked really fun and he liked the idea of playing something like this.

The moment the last lady stepped on the stage and started singing he noticed a different tone to the crowd. 'What is so special about her?' he thought and then he saw her. This was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

She was absolutely glowing and he found parts of her body attractive that he never thought of as beautiful before. Excellent curves, clear faultless skin, illuminating blue eyes, even her well defined ankles were alluring.

He was completely entranced, at least until Mirai slapped him. Then he realized what it was. This woman used a gentle genjutsu to entrance the men around. This explained the scene he was now facing. He had to stop countless men from running onto the stage for half an hour straight.

Suddenly he heard the clashing of kunai. It was Tsukune who had reacted fast enough to stop a kunai thrown from someone in the crowd. It was heading straight towards the singer before Tsukune intervened.

Right after the clash, an explosion could be heard and a cloud spread from the spot. After breathing in the air once Hikaru yelled "It's toxic, Mirai blow it away!" and she acted as ordered without a second thought.

"Wind release: great breakthrough" and then she blew right up into the air. It looked like a tornado was spreading from her mouth. It sucked in all the surrounding smoke and shot it up to the clouds with the rest of the air.

Hikaru knew she'd handle that easily and didn't need to look, he spent his time looking for anyone suspicious. That's when he saw a second kunai being thrown just before the cloud was completely cleared.

Tsukune once again blocked it and Hikaru went in for he capture. He had seen who threw it and now he just had to use his new jutsu and he'd be fine. He formed the tiger seal and put enough chakra into his feet to bring him a good 20 meters into the crowd.

He did it! He showed up behind the man and hit him at the back of the neck. One guy was caught but Hikaru felt like this wasn't a one man job. That's when he heard Sai-sensei.

"Excellent work, all of you!" Sai had three men behind him and Hikaru knew he had gotten the rest of the gang behind this attack. "Miss Alexandra, you may continue."

The woman on stage was in chock at how easy it had been for these ninjas to bring down the men who had been after her for months. She wished she had hired them earlier. With that thought she sang one last song in tribute to her "magnificent saviours".

A while later the concert was over and Alexandra came over to them to give her personal thanks. She kissed the cheeks of Hikaru and Tsukune and gave a hug to Mirai and Sai. "I can't express how thankful I am. Hopefully I can have one performance without attacks now." She chuckled at the last bit.

Mirai seemed to wonder something and after a while finally asked "What kind of technique did you use on your voice during the concert?" The woman looked confusedly at the small girl.

Sai interfered "She didn't use one. It's a subconscious use of chakra and not an actual technique. You have a very beautiful voice Miss Alexandra, but you also have an impressive amount of chakra for someone who hasn't worked on it. You could have become an impressive ninja if you had started training at a young age."

The woman seemed shocked at his statement but only waved it away and laughed "Yes well I'm perfectly happy with my current career. I wouldn't get as much attention from handsome young men as a ninja, now would I?" She winked at Sai.

Hikaru noticed how Mirai seemed to get annoyed at the woman's antics and decided to end their exchange "Well Alexandra it's been a pleasure working with you but we'll have to leave. It's a long travel back home tomorrow after all."

Sai looked at him confused, it was his job to say those words but Hikaru stuck out his tongue and went for the door only to be followed by the rest. "The pleasure was all mine! Hope to see you again once you're a bit older, Hi-ka-ru-san"

The last few syllables carried some chakra and had Mirai not bumped into him he might have fallen for it again.

Team 2 went back to their rooms. Today was an excellent day. They had a lot of free time, they completed the mission and Hikaru managed to use his new jutsu. Tonight, he would have an easy time falling asleep.