Despite there being nothing overly impressive about the road outside of Konoha, to Naruto, who had never been outside and had always felt the heavy atmosphere of hate from within the walls, being outside was new and exciting.
He looked around, pointing at everything, asking questions about everything he saw, making Sasuke more and more annoyed with each passing moment.
As for Sakura, she was a bit more reserved, but she too was clearly impressed by the world outside the village.
Sasuke wasn't indifferent to it all, but he was by far the best of them at hiding his curiosity. He had, after all, lived inside the Hyūga clan compound for the last few years.
And if there was one place to learn how to appear calm and indifferent, it was there.
Plus, with Naruto around, he didn't have to worry about asking questions himself; he could let the overly energetic blond do the talking.
And so, as they walked, the team of four quickly turned into a show with one viewer, Tazuna, and three performers: the three children, who were trying their best to not look like they had never been outside before.
As for Kakashi, he was, as usual, reading his book, but he was also keeping an eye on them, making sure they didn't get into any trouble.
And as the day went on, he was glad to see that they were, in their own way, bonding.
Naruto's energy was infectious, and even Sakura, who would normally be annoyed by him, was now starting to find him a bit amusing.
Sasuke, on the other hand, remained distant, but even he was slowly starting to open up.
'This trip is doing them good,' Kakashi thought to himself. 'They are starting to act like a real team.'
He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in them. They had come a long way in a short amount of time.
The Land of Waves wasn't far from the Land of Fire; it was right next to it, but even still, that meant crossing the Land of Fire. It was by no means a short distance.
At his own top speed, Kakashi could cross it in a day without rest, but going at the speed that their client, Tazuna, could follow?
This would indeed be a good chance to teach his little students a few things.
"Alright, the sun will be going down soon," he said as they arrived at a campsite, which was little more than an area next to the road, cleared of trees, with a permanent fire pit, well, and a crude but functional toilet.
"Tonight, we will camp here. I trust everyone brought along their camping equipment?" As he asked that, his one visible eye locked onto Naruto.
"Of course I did!" Naruto shouted, a bit too quickly for Kakashi's liking.
"Good," Kakashi said, though he didn't believe him for a second. "Then you can be the one to start the fire."
"Sure thing!" Naruto said, as he ran over to the fire pit, only to realize he had no idea how to start a fire without matches.
He looked around, but he couldn't find any matches.
"Heh," he said, as he pulled out a kunai and started to strike it against a rock, trying to create a spark.
But after a few minutes of trying, he had managed to do nothing but dull his kunai.
He didn't even notice that the rest of his team was looking at him as if he was a total fool, which he was.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke finally took pity on Naruto and reminded him that they were, in fact, shinobi and could do things in ways civilians could never hope to.
"Wah!" Naruto yelped as a ball of fire hit the small stack of firewood, instantly igniting it and causing the fire he had failed to build for minutes to start in a second.
"Tch," Naruto pouted as he sat down next to the fire, not even thanking Sasuke for the help.
As for Sakura, she was busy setting up her own tent, a small, one-person tent that was clearly brand new and had probably never been used before.
Sasuke had a similar tent, but it was a bit bigger, a two-person tent that had clearly been used a few times.
As for Kakashi, he didn't have a tent. Instead, he just leaned against a nearby tree, his book in one hand and a small cup of tea in the other, which he had somehow brewed without anyone noticing.
Tazuna also didn't have a tent; he had no access to sealing scrolls, which limited how much he could carry, so he just had a small sleeping bag and a rain cover.
This just left Naruto, who looked both hopeless and embarrassed. Not that he would admit it.
'He really is an idiot,' Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto.
"Hey Naruto, do you think those scrolls on your leg are for decoration? The second one has a full set of camping equipment," he kindly reminded him.
"Wha! Really?" Naruto asked, his face telling Sasuke that he honestly had no idea about that at all, which just made Sasuke rest his face in the palm of his hand.
'He really is an idiot,' he repeated in his head.
Sasuke was left feeling that he had wasted his money buying a full set of shinobi gear for his teammate. After all, he didn't even use it.
But whatever, it was just money, and he had more than enough of that.
"Are you sure this kid is a shinobi? He seems pretty dumb to me," Tazuna couldn't help but ask. While he was a civilian, and even a drunk, he could still recognize an idiot when he saw one.
"I can assure you, he is a shinobi, and a very capable one at that," Kakashi said, not even looking up from his book.
"He doesn't look like one to me. Not that any of you do. You all look like a bunch of kids," Tazuna grumbled.
"I'm not a kid," Naruto shot back, "and I'm a great shinobi!"
Tazuna just snorted. "If you say so, kid."
This just made Naruto even angrier, but before he could do something stupid, Kakashi spoke up. "Alright, that's enough. Naruto, set up your tent. Sakura, you're on watch duty. Sasuke, you're next. Tazuna, get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Sakura, who was excited about the idea of being on watch duty, even if it was just the first watch, quickly nodded and picked a spot to keep an eye on the road.
Sasuke, on the other hand, just nodded and went to his tent, but not before he made sure that Naruto actually knew how to set up his tent, which he didn't. Thankfully for him, his tent was beyond simple to set up, so even an idiot could do it.
Which naturally meant Sasuke had to help him.
This was why he didn't want to share a tent with the blond, because the guy was just too much work to deal with.
But as he went to his tent, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for him.
After all, the only reason Naruto didn't know any of this was because no one had ever taught him.
Sasuke had learned all of this years ago, not just from Aiko, but also from the few lessons he had shared with Hinata and her own teacher.
The Uchiha might be gone, but the Hyūga were more than willing to teach him.
But who did Naruto have? The old man who ran the ramen stand?
Maybe Iruka had taught him a few things, but he was the teacher of the entire class, so he couldn't just focus on Naruto.
So, in the end, Naruto had no one.
No one to teach him, no one to guide him, no one to care for him.
'Pathetic,' he thought, a small, bitter smile on his face.
But that word wasn't aimed at Naruto, but at the village that failed him.
...
The next morning, after a quick breakfast of rations, they set out again.
The mood was a bit better than the day before, but it was still tense.
Tazuna was still grumpy, and Naruto was still trying to prove that he was a great shinobi, which mostly meant he was just making a fool of himself.
And just like that, the next two weeks passed. Every night, Kakashi would take the chance to pass on a bit of wisdom. He would slowly teach them how to camp as shinobi.
The things to look out for, how to arrange the guard rotation, how to pick the best spot, how to find food, and how to make it.
All little things, but at least he was finally teaching them something.
Which was enough to make Sasuke see a little hope about their sensei.
But for the rest of the day?
He would just read and follow Tazuna.
Which, for the most part, made for a very boring and safe trip.
Something which wasn't lost on Naruto, who wanted a lot more action for his first real mission outside the village.
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked for the tenth time that day.
"No," Kakashi said, not even looking up from his book.
"But we've been walking for weeks!" Naruto whined.
"It has been two weeks, Naruto," Sakura corrected him, "and the Land of Waves is still a few days away."
"But I'm so bored!" Naruto complained. "When are we going to fight some bad guys?"
"Honestly, I hope we don't," Kakashi said. "The faster we get Tazuna-san home, the faster we get paid."
"But what about the adventure?" Naruto asked, his voice filled with disappointment.
"Being a shinobi isn't about adventure, Naruto," Kakashi said. "It's about completing your mission, no matter how boring it is."
Naruto didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue. He just kicked a small rock, sending it flying into the bushes.
Sasuke watched him, a small, almost invisible smirk on his face. He was starting to understand why Kakashi was so hard on Naruto. The kid had a lot of energy, and he needed to learn to control it.
But as they walked, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit of unease.
Something was wrong.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, and he had a feeling that they were being watched.
He looked around, but he didn't see anything. The forest was quiet, a little too quiet.
He activated his Sharingan, hoping to see something that he might have missed, but still, there was nothing.
Just as he was about to dismiss it as paranoia, he saw it.
A small puddle of water.
He stopped dead in his tracks, causing the rest of the team to stop as well.
"What is it, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, finally looking up from his book.
Sasuke didn't say anything, he just pointed at the puddle.
Naruto looked at it. "So? It's just a puddle."
"It hasn't rained in over a week," Sasuke said, his voice low and tense.
(End of chapter)
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