The Hokage was about to give him his first mission. Takuya Hatake was about to tackle his first mission in his life time. Takuya toyed with the thought that the Hokage might go soft on him, after all, most people took on simple missions for their first time.

Takuya set out to the border with the Grass nation to find the merchant known as Tanama Housuki. Sure enough, right at the edge of the Fire nation’s border was a group of men, looking around anxiously. As Takuya arrived one man seemed to bore the others to death by his constant talking. “Don’t worry everyone; I’m sure Konoha will be sending a team of the most skilled ninja to help us. I mean it could be traffic and, oh my!” he shouted as I revealed my presence. “Hello everyone, my name is Takuya Hatake. I’ll be taking you into the Grass nation,” said Takuya.

“You’re taking us?” said Tanama, “Alone. You’re taking us into that mess alone.” Some of his fellow merchants looked around, “Yes, I am.” You could see the frustration building inside Tanama’s eyes, he clearly thought they needed more security then a low ranked Gennin. “This is outrageous, first we get set back, and now the Leaf village thinks they can get by with sending one low rank Gennin! If we lose any money on this deal I’ll be taking this straight to the Hokage. Do you hear me!” he shouted, quite loudly. Takuya simply nodded his head in agreement. Not only did he want to start moving and finish this mission, he couldn't argue with his logic. He was just a recently approved Gennin.

As they began in to the Grass nation, they traveled through an expansive meadow. Takuya took the lead with another one of the merchants, while Tanama was rambling to a few of the merchants at the end of the group. The merchant beside Takuya began the conversation, “Don’t let Tanama get to you, he can even put some of the most veteran merchants to sleep,” he joked. “He’s right though, I am quite new, recently out of the academy,” Takuya told him. He seemed taken back for a second, then laughed, “I’m sure we won’t have any trouble.”

At that precise moment Takuya heard a rustling up ahead in the meadow. While the rest of the merchants joked around, Takuya began to speak to the lead merchant walking beside him, “You didn’t see anything,” he told him. After moving his hands into a seal, a clone appeared alongside the duo. The head merchant was about to say something when Takuya covered his mouth and the clone made a quiet sign over his mouth. While Tanama was screaming at the other merchants, Takuya jumped into the thick brush of the meadow, letting his clone lead the group.

Takuya tried to keep up with his lead clone, and managed to do it. The group kept up with the clone’s pace, and the lead merchant managed to stay quiet about what he had seen. When the group arrived at a small clearing, Takuya noticed a rustle in the meadow again. From the same spot, two young teenagers stepped out, armed with small knives. “Stop right there!” the teenagers yelled. The group stopped as Takuya looked them down. These two were definitely not ninjas, even if they were armed.

“What do you want?” Tanama yelled from the back. “We know what you have,” one of the teenagers yelled, “Hand over the cash!” Tanama, as frustrated as the blunt loudmouth could be began to yell again. “Takuya do something, this is why we brought you!” The real Takuya was hidden in some of the brush alongside the clearing. He started to wonder if they would see through his tricks. He held his hands in a Ram hand seal and chuckled a bit to himself.

“You think this guy can save you?” one of the teenagers laughed. “We’ll see,” as he took out his knife, which had quite a long blade. He slashed his blade around before charging at Takuya. The knife was sheathed by Takuya’s stomach, and the group of merchants gasped, until Takuya disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Everyone had wondered what had happened to Takuya, Tanama was clueless, and the teenager who swung his knife was caught off guard. “Where is he!” he yelled.

That was all Takuya needed. While Takuya didn't have many jutsu at his disposal yet, all he needed was a distraction to be able to use his current trump card. The ground beneath the quiet teenager began to shake slightly, until it broke open and he was forced into the ground. The front teenager turned around and saw his friend, buried in the ground with only his head sticking above the ground. “Where, is, he!” he shouted, but it was too late. Takuya was already beneath him, and pulled him into the ground. He suffered the same fate as his friend, now both with only their heads above the ground, while Takuya was now above the ground, in between both of the teenagers. “Don’t worry,” Takuya began, “We’re not too far from the village, I’m sure they’ll send someone to come help you two out. The teenagers began to squirm as the group of merchants, accompanied by Takuya, left for the village.

After arriving in the village, Tanama was talking to every single person he knew, detailing the perils of the journey, how relieved he was that Takuya saved the group, and how much money he was going to make. The rest of the merchants mostly were relieved to get some space from Tanama. Takuya mostly just rested along one of the local restaurants, grabbing a quick bite to eat. The merchant who lead the pack with Takuya found him at the restaurant. He sat down alongside Takuya and spoke, “Takuya, I just wanted to say thank you. Tanama sometimes there are other people in this world who matter, and while he doesn't show it, he really appreciates it.” “Don’t worry about it,” Takuya said, “I couldn't do it without your help, the two brats needed to be deceived by that bluff and you helped.”

Takuya finished up his lunch along with the merchant, and then headed back to his own village. After a long journey, he finally arrived back without any problems, except he couldn't help feeling like he forgot to do something at the other village. Oh well.

Word Count: 1079/1000