On a bright and sunny morning, Team 7 gathered at the gates of Konoha Village. Everyone had packed their luggage for the journey. The Three Little Ones were all looking forward to this mission; even the usually silent Sasuke revealed an expectant smile.
"Let's go!"
Naruto raised both hands excitedly while carrying his backpack, feeling extremely thrilled about this mission.
Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he were an idiot. Kano, however, quite understood Naruto, as she had never left the Village since she was a child.
"Is this little girl moving house? She's bringing so much stuff."
Tazuna didn't pick on Naruto this time, but instead pointed at Kano at the back of the group.
"Kano, Ninjas should travel light on missions so they can execute them more quickly and stealthily."
Even Kakashi felt it was a bit much; Kano was indeed a bit pampered. The luggage she brought was more than the other four combined.
"I didn't want to either, but there's a reason for it."
Seeing Kano had so much luggage, Naruto volunteered to help carry it.
"What's the reason?"
"I won't say. I'm afraid you guys will be unhappy if I do."
"Just say it. We're all teammates, it's fine."
As the team leader, Kakashi couldn't let such potential hidden issues slide. Unnecessary misunderstandings between teammates often arise from not sharing information.
Things must be spoken of openly so problems don't easily occur.
"Really, there's no need. You guys will really be unhappy if I say it."
Kakashi thought it might be some gap between Kano, as a girl, and them, but Ninjas in the field don't care about gender.
"We won't be unhappy. Just say it."
"Exactly, exactly! No matter what Kano-chan says, I won't be unhappy!"
"You can't affect my emotions."
"Then I'll really say it? Don't blame me for being unhappy then."
"Speak."
"This is my mother's love for me."
Instantly, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke were all unhappy... The group didn't use any transportation and traveled entirely on foot, with the exception of Kano, who had bags and bags of luggage.
"I want to ride too!"
Naruto looked enviously at Kano, who was sitting on the back of a Shadow Deer.
Everyone else was walking with their bags, but Kano was the only one sitting on a deer's back, with her luggage placed on another deer's back.
It looked very relaxed.
"No."
Before Kano could even speak, Kakashi refused.
"Naruto, don't be fooled by how relaxed Kano looks; she's actually consuming Chakra. Kano is using Chakra to save her physical strength, while you, carrying a backpack, are using physical strength to save your Chakra."
"If you were to ride Kano's deer, wouldn't Kano, who would be consuming both physical strength and Chakra in an emergency, become the weak point of the team? Do you really want her to be in danger?"
"No, I didn't mean that. I'll protect Kano-chan!"
"With you, the dead last? It'll be fine as long as you don't hold Kano back."
Naruto's face immediately turned red from Sasuke's words, and he was eager to fight him. Even Tazuna was mocking Naruto.
"Sorry, Naruto, I can't let you ride yet. How about I let you ride for a bit on the way back? To compensate everyone, how about I sing a song for you?"
She pulled a scroll from her leg holster and unfurled it. She summoned a musical instrument—a guitar—custom-made by her father, Shikaku.
A lot of Chakra Metal was used in its construction, and it was even attuned to water element Chakra. Building such an instrument cost a lot of money; in return, the guitar's performance was excellent, making it twice as effective for releasing sound-based Ninjutsu.
She turned around, her slender white legs together on one side. Her plump little bottom shifted back slightly. Her left foot crossed over her right leg, resting there.