They said that Takashi needed to escort some merchants. The paths were safe, but they just didn't feel safe enough. Hokage probably appointed Takashi just to make fun of those merchants. A blind genin to protect the group of traders. Who would really feel safe knowing that he was protected only by a blind beginner? That's probably why the merchants were all also holding simple kunais, while Takashi was just calmly following the path.
No doubt that merchants were not satisfied with whom the Hokage had appointed. And who got the moral beating? Takashi. "Hey kid, you sure you can leave the village?" said one of the traders. "He looks like a fag," said another regarding the robe that Takashi was wearing. "I bet they're going to assassinate us. The blind shit won't even see them coming," quietly said an assistant, probably thinking that Takashi can't hear him. "They could've just given us a mole or a bat. No real difference, but it would cost us less," replied another assistant.
Takashi really had no issue with them being all negative. He was going to get them to the village's main gate, and that's what mattered. However, there was this one merchant that was not rude to Takashi. He was paranoid. His introduced himself as Housuki and asked different questions all the time. "Have you gone this way before?"; "Are there many bandits on this path?"; "Are we safe here?"; "Huh, what was that noise?"; "Are you sure there was no one in that bush? Don't you need to go over there and check it?".
It was meaningless to try and comfort Housuki. He was just being paranoid. "Maybe you all want to take a break?" once in a while asked Takashi. He would then prepare a calming tea for everyone. No one took his offer to take a break, and no one probably would even touch his tea - fearing of it being poison.
"Housuki - tell me how did you end up being a metal merchant," Takashi asked, hoping it would put an end to the sea of questions. "Oh, that's a good question!" Housuki was happy that Takashi finally took an interest, "You see boy, when I was about your age, I decided that I want to be rich. And you know what rich people wore?" he didn't give Takashi any time to answer, obviously, he just kept on talking, "That's right - jewelry. And you know who must be even richer than rich people? Those who sold them jewelry! Now, you might think - where's all my money if I'm so rich, but you ain't getting a single ryo from me! Face forward and keep on walking!" it didn't really matter which direction Takashi was facing, since he was blind anyway. But the genin had to keep track of all the merchants, even if he didn't want it to. He would get quite the beating if 7 merchants arrived instead of 8 as expected. It was difficult to keep track of 8 distinct footsteps, but Takashi managed. He would manage better if they would all shut up. But that was not in Takashi's authority. He was not here to teach grown ups some manners.
The path they walked was a dirt road with a dense forest on both sides. You couldn't see very far into the forest. It was either covered up by trees or the light couldn't get past all the obstacles in the forest. The air here was very fresh and nice. There simply was very little carbon dioxide. It made it easy for Takashi to smell different things. Wild strawberries, pine trees, deer tracks, wolves territory. "Wait what? A wolves territory? The path lead through wolves territory? " Takashi thought to himself, he didn't want to alarm any of the merchants. But the scent of wolf's urine was very strong and noticeable. There were wolves in this forest, but they never showed themselves on the paths that were walked by humans.
"Come on now, let's walk a little bit faster!" Takashi shouted so every person following him could hear and picked up the pace. "What's wrong, did you pee your pants?" there was a rude comment and laughter coming from behind. So the scent really was strong enough for even an average human's nose to pick up.
Takashi now put a huge effort to make the most of his senses. He didn't want to endanger the group by getting surrounded by a pack of wolves. Even two wolves would be a real challenge for Takashi. Maybe he could kill one, but not two. And in case of being surrounded - it would have to be the pack leader. The strategy to kill the pack's leader was the best one Takashi could come up in this short time. However, he had no idea how to identify the leader. It probably would be the biggest and either the first one or the last one to attack. Most likely the first. But Takashi couldn't wait till his group got attacked. The leader should smell the same as his territory. Other wolves should smell a bit different. Takashi probably could pick up the scent faster than waiting for the leader to attack.

And then Takashi snapped out of his daydream. They had almost reached Konoha's main gate. It was in their sight and he could already see the jounin that was appointed as merchants guide inside. Takashi was so carried away with his daydream that they the group successfully got through the marked territory with no harm. No one had even heard howling before. Takashi had overreacted.
Takashi now handed the group over to the jounin. Only Housuki thanked Takashi. Others were even surprised that they reached Konoha with no incidents. Now it was time to drink some tea by himself. Something to relax himself. Something to take his mind off the rude merchants.
1009
[Exit]
C rank mission 1000/1000
Leftover: 9 words