Chapter 16

The locker room wasn't far. I left a Flying Thunder God seal in it just in case. My locker was next to Kakashi's. According to Cat, he was off-duty today. I pulled out my mask and laughed. It was… a slug. "Meet here tomorrow morning at exactly 7 am to meet the rest of the team." 

Cat disappeared, body flickering away. I sighed and sat on the bench, looking at the contents of my locker. There was my mask, a black cloak, and standard ANBU gear. I pulled out the tanto and looked at it. It was pretty well made. I brandished it. Even though Rin had been pretty good at using it, I hadn't practiced in ages. "Wanna try?" asked Isobu. 

He had been so silent recently I had almost forgotten him. "Sure," I said, teleporting to the third training field. 

I walked to a tree and started slashing. "Come on Rin," ordered Isobu, like a drill sergeant, "Give me a hundred more slashes."

I sighed and obliged. By the time I was done, the sun was going down. "You work as hard as Guy," said a voice behind me. 

"Hey Kakashi," I turned, "How are you?" 

"Hi." 

I turned to look at him. I was curious, and I wanted to bond with him more… but over what? "It's not your fault!" I blurted out. 

"What?" he asked, confused. 

I fiddled with the tanto in my hand, "WHen… Kiri… It wasn't your fault." 

He frowned and stared at your and. I walked up to him and grabbed it. He flinched and tried to pull away. "Stop being depressed!" I declared, "You're squandering your potential. Instead of sitting around moping, you should train harder. That way you can become stronger and protect the people you love. You can avenge Minato-sensei and Obiot. Make them proud…" my voice ended in a whisper. 

I stared at me in shock. Was it shock? It was kind of hard to tell when he only had one eye. Then, he did something completely unexpected. He hugged me. I smiled and hugged him back. "Okay Rin," he said. 

… 

The next morning I forced myself out of bed. I was still sleeping at Genma's house. His mom had let me stay in their guest room, at least until my house was rebuilt. It could take ages at this point. I snuck out quietly, trying not to wake anyone. "Ehem," I heard Shiranui-san, "Where do you think you're going without breakfast?" 

"I was…" I pointed to the door, "Was was going to… buy something?" 

She stuffed a breakfast bun in my mouth, "That street food is unhealthy. A growing kunoichi needs homemade breakfast." 

"Thank you," I tried to say, my mouthful. 

She waved and I ran out the door. I appeared in the locker room, using the seal I had left the day before. Cat was lecturing the rest of the team. "We have a new member today so I expect all of you to be on your best beha-oh!" 

"Hi," I smiled, "I am Nohara Rin, please take care of me." 

"Rin?" asked Kakashi. He had a dog mask on. 

"Okay…" muttered Cat, "How did you get in here?" 

I shrugged, "A ninja never reveals her secrets." 

"That is… a good point." muttered Cat, "Okay, uniform on, we're going on an guard mission." 

…

We ran outside the village. I hadn't been out in… ages. "Okay," said cat, "Our mission is to protect a high ranking merchant. He claims that he is guarding an item of upmost important but… he won't share what this item is. We will escort him to the river where his exchange will happen. We will protect him. This is an A-Ranked mission. Although our mission is to protect him, we also want to know that it is. Understand?" 

We nodded. "So…" said Kakashi, "This is a guard mission that is actually an intelligence mission." 

Cat nodded and we ran in silence before we came across a merchant caravan. A man came out to greet us. He was dressed in expensive robes with a golden band in one ear. On both sides, he had two bodyguards. What was the point of us if he already had them? "Yoku," he introduced himself, "I am merchant Yoku, nice to meet you." 

Cat nodded, "We will escort you as far as the river." 

The merchant nodded and we began our mission.