Senju Kiyoshi

|55| Off To The Land of Tea

KIYOSHI

"Uchiha Shisui," I said out loud, in front of his gravestone. There was no corpse under it, just some wood dummy. When Itachi killed him, the body was nowhere to be found after all. "You really have some explaining to do mister. How could you not tell me Tou-san was your sensei? Hmph! And I thought we were besties. . .At least, that's what I think. Most of my memories that include you in them are blocked. I got myself checked by Tamiko."

Which she wasn't happy about. "You got yourself involved with an Uchiha? Ugh, you really are a first-class idiot." I remembered her words.

 I mean, sis is right but ouch.

"Your so-called best friend did that. Don't worry though, Tamiko said that Kaito— a cousin of ours who excels in the mind department— will help me unlock them. He'll do that the next time I visit the clan compound. Then, I can actually think about you without feeling confused or like something is missing."

I finished my monologue, placed a bouquet on his grave, and body-flickered to the Hokage's office.

I frowned when I didn't see my team. "They not here yet?" Baa-Chan huffed. "They're Hatake's students, what did you expect?" Shizune Nee-Chan chuckled awkwardly while Ton-Ton snorted. 

The room was filled with paperwork. Being Hokage is a nasty job.

Soon enough, my team came inside the office. Sakura blinked before her neutral face turned to a scowl. "Hey, we were waiting for you!"

I shrugged. "I never asked you to."

"Ahem!" Baa-Chan cleared her throat and brought our attention to her, Sakura and Sasuke bowed. Well, the Uchiha only slightly nodded. "Wait, where's Kakashi sensei dattebayo?" Naruto asked noticing the absence of our beloved masked one.

"He's not coming," Baa-Chan said plainly. 

"Uh, Hokage-Sama. What do you mean, he's not coming?" Sakura asked.

"You know our forces are stretched thin. All of our Jounin are already busy on other missions, including Kakashi. Your four will have to handle this on your own." 

Oh, a mission without Kakashi-nii. . .damn I'll miss him.

"It's a B-rank escort mission. Someone important." She smirked. "Of curse, it could develop into an A-rank mission if you run into trouble." She gave a pointed look at the blonde who whistled away.

"Who's the person we're escorting?" Ducky spoke.

"Every four years our neighbor, the Land of Tea, holds a dedication ceremony at the great Todoroki Shrine."

Now, this sounds familiar. 

"Each time we're asked to escort a runner who will participate in the race that's a part of the ceremonies. This year, the messengers who were bringing the request were attacked before they could get here."

I blinked. Genins on such a mission. . . the village still is healing it seems.

"Don't worry about the details now, when you meet Jirocho he'll explain everything." 

Oh, that's why it sounded familiar!

"Wait, Jirocho?" Naruto looked at me in a questioning manner and I nodded. "Hm! We've met him before remember?"

"Now no wasting time. They're expecting you in the land of tea by the end of the day. Go get moving."

"Hai!"

~~~

"Hey Sakura-Chan, you hungry at all?" Naruto asked after a long time of walking. "A bit." His face lit up. "Great! Lunch break! And look, there just so happens to be a tea house right here dattebayo!" And off he went.