The next day, Kakashi-sensei noticed the change in Sasuke instantly. Maybe it was because he no longer seemed to glare murderously at people who irritated him, or how he now walked closer to them without even putting his hands in his pockets to distance himself, or how, when he smiled, despite being a small smile, it was genuine. Not only was Sasuke different. Naruto, too, seemed less prone to yelling at Sasuke, and even when he called him "teme," he did it with a different tone.
"Let's go get a mission," Kakashi-sensei said as usual, and they ended up accepting one to clean graffiti off several apartment buildings. Once again, the clones took care of the tedious task while they headed to the training field. Suddenly, she had a deja vu and realized that today was practically a copy of the previous day.
She watched her clones reviewing cytology and learning histology. She saw Naruto's clones and hers attacking Kakashi-sensei, used the same ninjutsus, practiced new taijutsu and kenjutsu moves... Hours later, she started learning the three new water ninjutsus the jonin had given her, and to her surprise, a new genjutsu. Hours later, they returned to the mission department to collect their pay for cleaning the graffiti.
The days passed like this until Tuesday arrived, and her routine changed. She went to the hospital ready to amaze Mina-senpai. She knew it wouldn't be difficult. The cytology questions she answered with total clarity and understanding, concisely but without lacking any key points, made Mina-senpai raise an eyebrow in surprise. Then, when she could link cytology questions with physiology, Mina-senpai realized that she had not only read the first book but the others as well. She started bombarding her with questions, making her draw diagrams and even brought out anatomical models for her to identify the organs and explain their cellular, physiological, and anatomical characteristics in detail.
"How is this possible?" Mina-senpai asked, when she no longer knew what else to ask, astonished. "Did you have any prior knowledge?"
"Yes. In the academy, we have anatomy classes, so I got interested and studied on my own," she shrugged at the plausible lie. "Besides, I can use about 50 clones with the kage bunshin to study."
The doctor's eyes sparkled, and she seemed almost on the verge of shaking her with excitement. She took the books she had returned, which she had already duplicated for her collection, and gave her five more books. From their covers, she saw that they were books on chemistry, poisons, diseases, and pathogenic microorganisms. She smiled, realizing that Mina-senpai was paving the way just where she wanted to go.
"I think I'll buy a book on botany," she murmured, letting the doctor hear her, flipping through the pages of the poison guide.
"The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to practice medical ninjutsu and know how, why, and when to use it," Mina-senpai encouraged her, and she nodded. "Is it okay if we start your iryo ninjutsu classes tomorrow?"
"Perfect. Maybe the day after tomorrow we'll go on a C-rank mission," she warned, planning to win that bet tomorrow and last the 30 minutes.
"That's fine. I'm a shinobi too; I understand. Let me know when you're in the village."
She left with new texts to read. Most of them, except for the chemistry one, were new knowledge for her. She was almost excited. When she got home, the first thing she did was start studying them and make dinner before Sasuke lost his mind and tried to cook himself. That afternoon, when they returned from training, they sat in the garden to learn the medical ninjutsu she knew.
"For now, I only know this one, but she gave me more books and agreed to teach me," she confessed.
"One medical jutsu is better than none," Sasuke said, surprisingly seeming to want to reassure her.
"The teme is right, nee-chan. What are the seals?" Naruto asked.
Seina showed them the three seals needed to perform the jutsu, explained how to mold their chakra, and when to use the jutsu. She used her kunai to make a shallow cut and let Sasuke practice first. To everyone's slight surprise, after a few attempts, he managed to create the healing sphere, though it took a few more tries to make it large enough not to waste so much chakra trying to heal the cut.
Naruto, on the other hand, needed many more attempts and the help of his clones to practice a jutsu that required very little chakra and fine control, but in the end, he managed it.
"Ugh. I don't know if these kinds of jutsus are worth it," Naruto groaned.
Sasuke gave him a whack on the head.
"What will Seina and I do if we get knocked out and you're the only one who can help us, dobe? She's not even forcing you to read her books, idiot, just to know when and how to use it."
"Ugh! I hate it when you make sense!" Naruto complained, but he didn't deny that Sasuke was right.
"We better go to bed early," she cut in, deactivating all her clones. "If we want to last against Kakashi-sensei tomorrow, that is."
Naruto, who wanted that C-rank mission the most, dashed off and went to sleep. Sasuke made a mocking sound and then went to his own room.
The next morning, Kakashi-sensei waited for them with the chains in the training field. The half-hour passed more quickly than expected.
Once again, they used their mental connection to work as a team, but since they had worked on Naruto's genjutsu, Sasuke's chakra reserves, and his taijutsu, they held out a bit longer. Like the last time, Kakashi-sensei tried to knock her unconscious, but unlike before, each of them had trained to protect one another, using the substitution jutsu with clones as shields. When the 30 minutes were up, Kakashi-sensei made them stop.
"You lasted the 30 minutes. Congratulations," the jonin smiled. "As I promised, I'll request a C-rank mission for the team tomorrow."
"Finally!" Naruto shouted, tears of joy in his eyes, and Seina suppressed a laugh.
"Now let's talk about the fight. First, good job polishing the deficiencies from the other day. I noticed that this time, Naruto, you dispelled the genjutsu yourself. Sasuke, you've significantly improved your endurance. Have you been training on your own?"
"I've started swimming regularly," he informed. "I also do small chakra exercises throughout the day to gradually increase my reserves."
"You still have many years to finish your growth. Remember that many chunins and jonins aren't able to produce a single shadow clone half the time," Kakashi-sensei assured him, then looked at her. "Lastly, Seina. Although you were competent with the taijutsu taught at the academy, you've improved by using it more creatively. Remember: a predictable ninja is a dead ninja. Finally, I wanted to commend you for your restrained use of ninjutsu. Normally, when genins and chunins start learning, they believe the solution to any fight is to use ninjutsu. Just remember that most ninjutsus require a lot of chakra and time to mold, so sometimes you'll face enemies where ninjutsu isn't the best option. In any fight, your best asset is using all your skills efficiently and competently when required, meaning using your head above all."
"Are we going to keep fighting like this?"
"No. This exercise was to make you aware of your deficiencies when working as a team and to force you to fight as a team. Now that you know your weaknesses and have executed a plan to counter them, it's no longer necessary. From now on, we'll fight without the chains, but using the same method: genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. We'll separately train your kenjutsu for a couple more weeks, and then we'll include it in the exercise."
They practiced kenjutsu that afternoon, taking a break from the hard training, and then each of them practiced with one of Kakashi-sensei's clones something they needed to improve. Seina ended up practicing taijutsu. Without a doubt, the fact that in her previous life she had no idea how to fight except for a few self-defense classes and much less fight with chakra was taking a toll on her. In the academy, she had been the best kunoichi in taijutsu for a few reasons. For starters, the other girls were more interested in Sasuke than in learning. Hinata, who was the only one who could have beaten her, lacked the confidence to try to hurt her. Not to mention that Seina had her mental maturity that helped her not get distracted and understand the classes faster.
Compared to Sasuke, who had undoubtedly been taught taijutsu by his clan before they died, and Naruto, who was unpredictable despite sometimes acting like a clown, she was quite worse. If she added to that the fact that Kakashi-sensei was an expert in taijutsu, faster, stronger, and more experienced... she couldn't hold a candle to him. Fortunately, having taijutsu as her weak point was something easy to fix. She just needed to train, train, and train. If possible, with different opponents to avoid becoming predictable. Since they now had a lot of extra money, she promised herself to take weekly classes at one of the village dojos.
She ended the training exhausted. Seina wondered how she had ever believed the rumors that Kakashi-sensei was one of the most laid-back ninjas. She cursed inwardly and got up from the grass as best she could. She closed her eyes when the information her clones had learned appeared in her memory and told herself she was going to take a break during the C-rank mission. At most, she would study one or two books and not summon 20 clones.
"Good job, Team 7. Remember, tomorrow you'll have your first C-rank mission. I'll try to get us one outside the village so you gain experience away from Konoha, so be prepared for a few days out."
"Really?" Naruto asked in a normal tone that showed his exhaustion. "Awesome!"
They dragged themselves home, talking about what they would need. Naruto seemed to want to bring everything, and since they had no space limit, Sasuke didn't even mock him but nodded in agreement. It was a shame she still wasn't willing to show her powers because if she were, she would have modified a ninja tent to turn it into a magical tent. Although, now that she thought about it, she could create one without needing to use it. She made a mental note of the idea and opened the front door. Home sweet home.
"What do you think the mission will be about?" Sasuke asked aloud while they were having dinner.
"Maybe we'll get to rescue someone famous!"
"Don't even dream about it, dobe. It's usually about investigation, catching thieves, or protecting unimportant people."
"Why do you never let me dream?" Naruto whined. "At least we'll get out of the village and see new things."
"You're right about that. Honestly, I don't think it'll be anything special. We've just started training as genin."
"I just hope it's not about protecting someone unbearable," Sasuke almost pleaded, shuddering at the thought.
"Like Sakura and the old Ino?" she mocked, and Sasuke shuddered again.
"Don't ever say that out loud again."
"Well, guys," she yawned. "I think I'm going to bed early. I'm exhausted."
"Me too," Sasuke agreed.
"Good night, Seina-nee."
She left them talking and went to bed. She was so tired that she collapsed with her arms and legs sprawled out and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next day, they received their first C-rank mission. It was an escort mission, but instead of a couple of Sasuke's fans, they had to protect a bridge builder. No one relatively important, it seemed. Tazuna, as he was called, looked them up and down.
"You don't look very strong," he complained, and Kakashi-sensei had to put a hand on her brother's shoulder.
"Repeat that!"
"Whatever you say, kid. I just need you to protect me until we reach the Land of Waves so I can build my bridge."
"I assure you my team is capable," Kakashi-sensei stated politely. "We can leave whenever you're ready."
Tazuna said nothing more and started walking with Kakashi-sensei beside him. Naruto, Sasuke, and Seina walked behind them after a signal from the jonin. As soon as they left the village, Seina had to contain her excitement. She felt like a little girl about to go on her first family trip out of the country. Minutes later, the excitement faded slightly as she realized the slow pace they were moving at on a path where there was only a dirt trail and forest on either side. She listened as Kakashi-sensei talked with the client, maintaining a light conversation about construction materials, and she yawned.
Next to her, Naruto was practically asleep while walking, and Sasuke looked totally bored. She didn't know how long they had been walking on the same path, seeing the same scenery all the time, listening to Tazuna talk cheerfully about metal prices... She thanked her foresight for sewing runes into all her clothes because otherwise, wearing black and gray in the heat would have caused her to faint. She didn't know how Kakashi-sensei could stand it.
"Ugh. How much longer do you think we'll be in this forest?"
"I don't know, Naruto, but don't start asking every 10 minutes or I'll strangle you," she assured him.
Sasuke snorted a laugh but seemed to agree with her. Naruto yawned, and Seina yawned with him. After what seemed like hours later, still in the Land of Fire, something interesting happened. She was half asleep thanks to the relaxing sound of the wind in the leaves, insects, and birds when suddenly, her ear-enhancing spell, which she had used earlier for spying and had reduced to only 5 meters to avoid constant distraction, picked up something. It was the sound of two pairs of sandals almost imperceptibly touching a tree branch to her left.
"Knock, knock," she called mentally to her teammates, and although they didn't turn to look at her, she knew they were paying attention. "We're not alone. Left side, 2 ninjas on a tree branch. Ah! They just moved forward."
Naruto touched his earring, pretending to scratch himself. Unfortunately, her brother still hadn't gotten used to hearing from the distance she had programmed the spell without getting dizzy shortly after, so he only activated it when he wanted to spy on someone. He heard, as she did, the sound of unknown breaths nearby, which ceased seconds later. If it weren't for the spell, she never would have discovered it until they attacked, if that was their intention.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to alert Kakashi-sensei to what was happening with one of her coded phrases, they passed by a puddle. Sasuke was the first to notice it was strange to see a puddle with the sun out, and then Seina realized they were going to be attacked from behind. As expected, just as they took a few steps in the other direction, leaving the puddle behind, she heard the sound of drops dragging on clothes and saw Kakashi-sensei turn with a completely serious face.
Metal chains, each end chained to the arms of what seemed to be ninjas with the Mist Village headbands, tried to chain the jonin. When she saw him wrapped from top to bottom in chains, she knew he had swapped places with a nearby object.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted when the ninjas seemed to kill the jonin with their chains.
"'Naruto! Formation around Tazuna," she cut in, and the still-open link between the three of them calmed Naruto when he realized she was sure Kakashi-sensei was alive.
They surrounded the client and saw how, just a second later, the two ninjas reappeared right in front of where Naruto had been standing. Sasuke jumped and used a kunai to pin the chain to the trunk of a tree. While Naruto and she changed the formation to protect Tazuna, counting with one less, Sasuke positioned himself on top of the enemy ninjas and removed the bracelet where the chains were tied, separating them. With eyes shining with anger, they left Sasuke behind and lunged at them. As she was protecting Tazuna's back and they couldn't see her, she took the opportunity to use a genjutsu, making them believe they were a bit closer than they actually were, causing them to attack the ground a meter away. Naruto, seeing they had fallen for her genjutsu, pushed them back with a flying kick that hit both their faces.
Just as Sasuke jumped over the enemies' backs to finish them off, Kakashi-sensei deigned to appear and knocked them both out with a double lariat. He then gave a quick look to everyone and the client.
"Finally decided to show up," Sasuke reproached, brushing off nonexistent dust from his navy-blue shirt.
"I wanted to check there weren't any more and see how you handled it," Kakashi-sensei informed calmly. "Good job, team. We should interrogate these two."
Kakashi-sensei tied both ninjas to a tree trunk, searching their pockets for any confidential information, but unfortunately, they weren't that foolish. With a cotton swab soaked in alcohol, the jonin woke them up.
"Good morning, Mist ninjas! Why don't you tell me the reason for your attack?"
One of them made a sarcastic and arrogant sound but said nothing, turning his head away in a clear refusal.
"How did you read our movement?" asked the other, and Seina rolled her eyes.
"Considering the sun, the fact that it hasn't rained in days, and the temperature... there's not going to be a puddle on the ground," the jonin informed them. "Even my genin noticed."
"You knew?" asked Tazuna, the only one who hadn't noticed anything. "Why did you make the kids fight?"
Kakashi-sensei shrugged.
"If I had wanted to, I could have killed them. It's clear that either they're after us or they're tracking you, Tazuna. I'd like to find out why. Sasuke, Naruto. Protect Tazuna while I interrogate these two. Seina, you're with me."
Seina avoided raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Then she realized that Kakashi-sensei knew her teammates were clearly connected to her at that moment and could hear everything without stopping protecting the client and preventing him from seeing and hearing the interrogation. Sasuke and Naruto did as he asked without protest, taking Tazuna under a tree a few meters away so he wouldn't see what was about to happen. She saw one of the enemies looking at her with narrowed eyes, and the other not taking his eyes off Kakashi.
"Well? Are you going to tell me the truth the easy way or the hard way?" Kakashi-sensei asked them.
"We're not going to tell you anything, Leaf scum."
"The hard way, then."
"Are you going to torture us in front of your genin?" one laughed maliciously. "I always thought you were cowards. I've read about you, and about your father. He did well to kill himself. A ninja like that in the Mist would have lost his head for treason."
Seina, irritated by the insults her village, herself, and her teacher were receiving, looked at Kakashi-sensei with a request in her eyes. She saw him tilt his head, his eyes cold, and she stepped forward towards the ninja. She grabbed him under the eyebrow, pressing the supraorbital vein with all her strength. The ninja howled in pain, writhing in his chains, but she didn't stop pressing. It was an easy way to make someone suffer due to the number of nerves in the area, how sensitive it was, and how easy it was to press. She felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped pressing.
"I was wrong," the ninja gasped. "Your genin has more guts than you. Are you sure she's from Konoha? That blonde hair and violet eyes are more common in Kumo."
"Start talking or what I do next will hurt much more."
"It doesn't matter if we tell you. You won't get out of this alive if you keep protecting that old man."
"You just admitted that maybe you're not as smart as you think. Why don't you stop wasting our time and tell us what we want to know?" she said, bored, irritating them to make them slip up.
"Fuck you, little bitch! You're lucky I'm trapped here! Otherwise, I don't think you'd like what I'd do to you if you knew!" he snapped, looking at her lewdly up and down. Ew.
Kakashi-sensei moved so fast she didn't even see it. The ninja she had tortured screamed in pain when the jonin punched him hard in the eye she had used to torture him. When he stopped writhing, howling in pain, she saw Kakashi-sensei had burst his eye. Its contents and blood spilled down his cheek. Ugh. Good thing she had experience with these things, or she would have vomited like Naruto was doing.
"I'm getting tired of you, and we've just started. You don't need both eyes to talk; how about I take the other one out with a stick?" Kakashi-sensei said, lifting a nearby stick with his foot and catching it in his hand.
"Alright!" the other ninja shouted, seeing his comrade bleed. "Gatou sent us to kill the old man. He doesn't want him building that bridge because it would affect his business and he would lose control of the Land of Waves."
"Gatou? Gatou the businessman?"
"Yes, that one."
"What can you tell me about him?"
"Not much. He hired us and many other rogue ninjas and mercenaries. We don't poke our noses into his business with the money he's paying us. We just do what he says. As soon as he knows we've failed, he'll send others."
Seina listened as Kakashi-sensei finished interrogating them. Unfortunately, they genuinely seemed to know nothing. They were simply following orders and getting paid, like any other ninja. When the interrogation was over, Seina knew what would come next. Either return to the village with the prisoners, ending the mission, or continue forward after executing them. Kakashi-sensei knocked the two prisoners out again and called the others to gather.
"This has turned into at least a B-rank mission. It was supposed to be a simple escort until you reached the Land of Waves and finished your work... If I had known ninjas were after you, this mission would have been much more expensive," the jonin said, looking impassively at Tazuna, who could only lower his head. "You must have your reasons, but lying like this causes many problems. We are doing more than we should."
"Should we go back?" she asked, seeing that Sasuke and Naruto were too proud to consider if the mission was beyond their abilities.
Kakashi-sensei observed both boys, seeing the same thing she did, but sighed.
"I'll leave this decision to you. Who agrees to return to the village?" No one raised their hand. "Who agrees to continue with the mission?"
Naruto and Sasuke raised their hands, and she shrugged when Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't care either way. The jonin nodded, understanding, and turned to Tazuna.
"Alright. We agree to continue protecting you, but we will need all the information you have."
He made them wait under the tree while he took care of executing the prisoners, sealing their bodies in a scroll. Over the next hour, Tazuna updated them on what had been happening in the Land of Waves over the past few years. He talked about how his daughter and son-in-law had lost their home, how employment had plummeted, and how all sorts of criminals had appeared. He told them about Gatou, who initially seemed like he was going to revolutionize the job market in the country with his great wealth and interest in opening new businesses.
"Look, we're almost there," Tazuna said, cutting his story short and pointing ahead where they could see the sea. "A friend of mine will be waiting for us with a boat. If anyone can get us to the Land of Waves without anyone knowing, it's him."
Seina, Naruto, and Sasuke saw another man appear. He was in a small boat, anchored on the shore, waiting silently. Kakashi-sensei introduced himself to him and then introduced them. The boatman, who had a rough and serious appearance, just nodded and motioned for them to get into the boat. She watched him push the boat off the shore and take up the oar, standing to see further ahead.
"There's something else you need to know," Tazuna said to them in a low voice. "It's about Gatou. That man, contrary to what we initially believed, was not to be trusted. Shortly after, we discovered that he is really that rich because of his dirty dealings. He secretly sells drugs and illegal items with the help of the ninjas and mercenaries he hires. We thought he wanted to help the Land of Waves, but it turned out that our poverty was his doing. All in an effort to take over the country."
There was a pause as they looked at Tazuna's bridge, which appeared through the mist like a ghost. They saw it was half-built, just as they had thought.
"This is what Gatou fears now, the construction of this bridge."
The boatman rowed, and they left the nearly finished bridge behind. They heard Tazuna and his friend talk about taking the longer route to throw off their enemies, using the vegetation to camouflage themselves as they moved deeper into the water. Soon after, they reached their destination without any problems. They disembarked in an area full of trees and watched as Tazuna said goodbye to the boatman, who disappeared into the vegetation and mist without another word.