First Mission

The new team get their first assignment with their sensei. Its one that lacks danger, but evens out entertainment. Life's what you make of it right? Also Kimiko is nowhere to be seen.

The next morning Midori was sleeping comfortably when there was a sudden shift in weight on her bed. She groaned and rolled over. Then there was a rapid bouncing "C'mon Midori! Wake up! We got our first mission today!" Two voices said excitedly in unison. They were still bouncing on her bed. "Great!" Midori drew out the word irritably. "Get up!" and with that, Kioko and Mizuki both jumped on Midori.

"Ahh! I'm up, I'm up!" Midori snapped. Her eyes shot open to see her new teammates jumping up and down on their knees, still in their pajamas! "What the hell?! You two aren't even ready yet!" she hissed and pushed Kioko off her legs. She at least expected them to have gotten changed and done their hair if they were already this impatient. "Nope! We thought we'd wake you up first. This is so exciting!" Mizuki chanted. Midori looked at her with disappointment. "Way to plan ahead as always!" she laughed sarcastically. "As always!" Kioko laughed with just as much sarcasm.

An hour later Mizuki, Kioko, Kiki and Midori were at the Hokage Tower where they waited for their sensei so they could receive their next mission together. They sat down on a bench to wait. Kiki leaped down from Midori's lap onto the floor. She yipped playfully, her hindquarters wagging in the air and pawing at Midori's shoe as if it could bite her. Midori played with her by moving her foot around the floor.

"Hello ladies" a voice greeted smoothly. They looked up to see Kousuke-sensei close the doors behind him and waved a hand at them. He smiled brightly. "Hello Kousuke-sensei!" Kioko and Mizuki chirped. Midori smirked and nodded a silent greeting. She didn't know anything about this jounin nor has she ever heard of him either.

He stood in front of the three girls now and was looking down at them. Kousuke was only slightly shorter than Kakashi. He ha silvery-blue hair with matching blue eyes and a lightly tanned skin tone. Midori eyed him, he had such a calming and neutral aura about him. "Lets get our mission assignment, we don't have all day and we should get better acquainted later too." he smiled. Kiki barked up at him, unsatisfied with the lack of attention she'd received from the jounin.

Mizuki and Kioko stood up, Midori soon did the same, but picked up Kiki first. Kiki growled at Kousuke-sensei. He looked at her curiously, then reached his right hand out to pet her. Midori watched Kiki growl at him stubbornly. Kousuke didn't even hesitate to start running his hand over her head. The growling slowly disappeared and her tail started to wag happily.

Midori looked at the now happy pup and her smiling sensei. With one more pat Kousuke-sensei stopped and lead them down the hall. Midori, Kioko and Mizuki followed close behind. Midori stepped closer to Mizuki "That was only a little weird hey?" she whispered. Mizuki smiled and nodded "Yeah, but I wouldn't worry about it much." Mizuki replied quietly. Midori sighed "Yeah, of course not." she agreed, but her curiosity remained.

The team entered Tsunade's office, received their mission and left the Hokage Tower. Their mission, to assist a ranch owner with some chores for the day because he is leaving to tend to family matters elsewhere, but needs someone to care for his animals in his absence. The team left the tower and went straight ever to the ranch which lay just outside of Konoha. The ranch was a pretty good size.

There were about twenty cows outside in the pasture munching on the lush grass. There were ten chickens and one rooster that were resting in the midday sunshine. Two horses were grazing among the cattle and two dogs, one was a big black labrador that appeared to be a sort of guard dog but was pretty old. The other was the opposite. It was a young white pup that seemed only a little older than Kiki.

It was a long days' work before the team had done every job they had been assigned. Mizuki had spent most of her time with the horses, Kioko had worked with the chickens, Kousuke-sensei had worked with the cattle in the pasture with Midori and Kiki. Kiki had acted like a hyper sheep dog and also helped bring some hay for the cows.

After their jobs were finished they gathered by an oak tree. Kousuke was leaning against the tree while the girls sat in the grass. "That was fun you guys!" Mizuki chanted happily. "Yeah! I got to run after the chickens, although the rooster chased me. I seriously thought it was gonna eat me!" Kioko giggled. Midori laughed with them and Kiki was being dragged across the grass because she was playing a game of tug-of-war with a small rope and the bigger ranch dog.

There was a cooling breeze that blew softly. "Good job girls. I'm glad to see how hard you worked today. How about we go out and celebrate?" Kousuke-sensei smiled. "Oh, that'd be great! How 'bout we get some ramen, then ice cream!" Kioko suggested loudly. "I second that!" Mizuki and Midori said in unison. "Hahaha, alright my treat." Kousuke-sensei chuckled. "Yayz!" all three girls chirped happily.