Sweeper Keeper

Hayama arrived at the place where he asked Team 1 to be.

He sees Tsurugi and Tate waiting for him under the shades of the tree.

"Where is he?" He asked as he looked around to search for Shiro.

"Uhm. Sensei. It seems like Shiro has not arrived yet." Tsurugi said.

"No. He is here." Hayama said as he stared at a random tree.

Shiro appeared behind the tree.

"How did he do that? Is he using the cloak of invisibility jutsu?"

"No. That is Hayate's transparent jutsu. It still needs some work. You are still not as good as him." Hayama said.

"Sensei why did you ask us to be here this early?" Tsurugi asked.

"I called you early because you three are going to receive your first mission. Now let's go to the Hokage's office." Hayama said.

"Can't you just tell us the mission? Why do we have to go and see the Hokage?" Tate asked.

"Every three-man Genin team's first mission is always given out by the Hokage. It's a custom at this point."

He said as he led team 1 to the Hokage's office.

*****

"So these are the brats that are assigned to team 1." An old man said as he looked at Shiro. Tsurugi and Tate.

He was Sarutobi Hiruzen. The third Hokage.

Kage is the highest rank that a Ninja can achieve in their village and is responsible for running the whole village.

The name of the Kage depends on the village that they were in.

Konoha has Hokage(Fire Shadow), Suna has Kazekage(Wind Shadow), Kumo has Railage(Lighting Shadow), Iwa has Tsuchikage(Earth Shadow) and Kiri has Mizukage(Water Shadow).

The title of Kage is so infamous that there are even some villages outside of the five great shinobi countries that have given their leaders titles that have the word "Kage" in them.

Such examples are Kokage and Hoshikage but they were not acknowledged as Kage by the five great Shinobi countries.

"You are here to get your mission, right?"

Hiruzen who was sitting at his desk while smoking a pipe said to Team 1.

"Here. This should do it." He said as he read a piece of paper for a few seconds before handing it over to Hayama.

"A D-Rank mission. Clean the streets of Konoha village. Time limit 7 days. Reward 12000 ryo." Hayama read out the details of the mission.

The reward seemed good but it seems like it is going to be a tedious mission. Shiro thought in his mind.

It is a perfect first mission as the mission is safe, pays decently and can help the participants bond with each other by spending a lot of time together.

*****

In the evening.

"I hate this," Tate said as he carried a trash bag and a wooden spike.

Because it was a mission to clean up the streets they were only able to start it after many people got out of the street, That is in the evening when the sun was starting to set.

But because of that the roads were already pretty dark which made their work even harder.

"Just stop complaining. See our leader is already getting on the job."

Tsurugi who was using gloves to pick up small trash that couldn't be picked up with the wooden spike said to Tate as she pointed at Shiro.

"Leader? Him? When did we ever have a vote to decide on a leader?" Tate said in an annoyed manner.

"You want to do it?" Tsurugi asked him.

"No way. That's too much responsibility. He can be the leader for all I care." Tate replied.

"Huh? Is that me or am I seeing two of him?" Tate said as he rubbed his eyes.

He saw two Shiros.

One was using brooms to sweep the road while the other was using a bucket and a brush to clean the benches.

"Ah, you are right? I think he must be training a clone technique." Tsurugi said.

"Is that even the clone technique? I can see dust being produced and the shadow of both of them."

Tate muttered to himself.

Am I just mistaking it? I thought clones weren't supposed to be able to affect things outside of vision itself. Tate thought in his mind.

He was right as clones were unable to do such things.

But Shadow clones are unlike normal clones.

Normal Clones an average Genin knows are just illusions that act like distractions, while Shadow clones can be used as an extra body.

Being able to use my shadow clones would make this job finish faster. Shiro thought in his mind as he observed his two clones under a tree while racking the fallen leaves.

He learned how to use Shadow Clones from Hayate as the sword dance that he had to learn required two Shadow Clones to act as extra bodies.

"Don't slack off. Keep working. We will rest after a few hours."

Hayama who was overseeing team 1 said to Tsurugi and Tate.

He then glanced at the two shadow clones.

"He is trying too much. The stress that the two clones receive after working is going to tire him out. I wonder if he knows about the fatigue that the clones receive carries over to the creator."

*****

At the third Hokage's office.

"Hmm. What is this?"

Hiruzen wondered as he looked at a paper.

"Escort mission to the land of Rivers. To Takumi Village."

"Hmmm. If I remember correctly that is the village where a former member of the Seven Ninja swordsman who wields Kiba was sighted."

He then looked at the paperwork that showed available Jonin to take the mission so that they could complete the mission while being able to investigate the sightings.

Normally rumours that are considered to be not that important to investigate are disregarded.

Only rumours that centred around civil war and the assassination of important figures(Kages, Daimiyos, heroes) are treated as must-do missions that have to be sorted immediately.

A mission that involves finding a former shinobi who is not even confirmed to be alive is not ever going to be treated as important in the eyes of the five great Shinobi countries.

Every resource that went towards investigating the rumours would just be a net loss if it turned out to be a fake one.

But with a C-rank mission attached to it, Hiruzen thought that he could at least send out a Genin three-men squad and a jonin to at least ask around while they are carrying out the mission.