The office door was ajar.
"Hokage-sama." Kaito announced himself.
Tsunade Senju didn't look up immediately. She had a mission scroll beneath the palm of her hand and a vein throbbing at her temple.
When she looked at him, Kaito inclined his head slightly.
"Shirogane. You have a mission."
Ino gave a crooked smile, finally she could go on a mission.
Shikamaru was very busy with administrative matters, and her sensei was on leave for a few weeks.
Of Team Ten. She and Chōji were the only active members.
Chōji greeted him with a raise of his eyebrows. Kaito remained standing in front of the desk, his hands behind his back.
Ino couldn't help looking at him curiously.
Asuma had told them about his promotion to Jōnin. After all, he was his brother-in-law.
Five A-rank missions in just one week. A rather terrifying record for a mere Chūnin.
Tsunade massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Before the mission," she looked at Kaito. "I received a report about an ANBU squad found unconscious a few meters from your shop."
Kaito shrugged
"I value my privacy, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade spoke again.
"The report also states that lately Hinata. Heiress of the Hyūga clan, had been frequently visiting the compound."
"I don't deny it." Kaito said.
"And that yesterday she returned very late." Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"As I said, I value my privacy." Kaito simply said.
Ino stifled an amused laugh.
Despite acting so calm.
She could tell that this man was trembling under the Godaime's gaze.
"Argh! Forget it. I have enough problems without telling you what you should and shouldn't do." Tsunade said.
Then she looked at him seriously.
"If the entire Hyūga clan turns against you. I won't be able to do anything to stop them."
Kaito shook his head.
"There's no need. I can take responsibility for my actions." He said.
Ino looked back and forth.
She had lost the thread of the gossip and that frustrated her. But she didn't dare ask anything about it.
Tsunade finally explained the mission.
"The mission is to protect a huge shipment of supplies for the Daimyo. Something simple if we don't take the Akatsuki threat into account. I want you to scout the northern border. If there are any movements by missing-nin or any rumors about Akatsuki. I want it in the report."
Kaito inclined his head again.
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
When they left. Ino studied him from the corner of her eye.
"So you're Kurenai-sensei's younger brother."
Kaito looked at her briefly.
"Address me with respect. I'm your leader in charge. Tomorrow morning at the village entrance."
Ino was left speechless by his seriousness.
She pouted.
"Hmph…. you're not even half as fun as she is."
The next day.
The sun had barely finished rising over Konoha when Ino decided that this mission was going to be boring.
She didn't say it immediately. For the first fifteen minutes, she simply walked with her arms crossed behind her head, alternating her gaze between the road, the carts moving ahead of them, and the back of the man leading the formation.
Then she sighed for the fifth time, kicked a stone off the path, and finally lost the battle against her own patience.
"He's an icicle. He hasn't even asked us about our abilities."
Chōji, who was walking beside her with an open bag of potato chips in his hands, didn't even look up.
"We've only been on the road for twenty minutes."
"And that's supposed to be a good thing?" Ino asked, rolling her eyes. "How the hell does he plan to lead us if he doesn't know what we specialize in."
"You have a point." Chōji agreed with her. At least just to make her shut up.
A few meters ahead of them walked Kaito.
He didn't have the rigid posture of someone expecting trouble. Nor did he seem particularly interested in inspecting every tree, bush, or rock around the road.
He walked calmly beside the first cart, one hand resting near the hilt of the katana at his waist and the other completely relaxed.
That was precisely what puzzled Ino.
Asuma always seemed relaxed, but she had learned to recognize his little habits.
The way his eyes periodically scanned their surroundings, how his hands remained close enough to his chakra blades, or the almost imperceptible way he shifted his position whenever they passed through places suitable for an ambush.
Kaito did none of that. He simply walked.
"Kaito-sensei." Ino called.
He tilted his head slightly.
"Hm?"
"Why did they send a Jōnin for this?" She asked.
The man riding on the first cart looked toward them.
Masuda Genzō was a merchant in his fifties, owner of the cargo they were escorting to the commercial settlement that was the city where the Daimyo resided.
He had paid for shinobi protection after several caravans had been attacked over the past few weeks.
According to the mission report, those responsible were common bandits.
Nothing that justified deploying a Jōnin. Even so, Genzō had made sure to pay triple just for the presence of a Jōnin.
Upon seeing this. Tsunade couldn't refuse.
It was an incredible amount of money.
Kaito shrugged at Ino's question.
"Availability, I suppose. Or the client is simply too rich."
Genzō blushed with embarrassment the next moment.
Ino frowned.
"That doesn't explain anything."
"It's an excellent bureaucratic answer for someone like you who comes from a powerful clan."
Ino grew frustrated.
"That has nothing to do with it." Ino raised her fists.
Kaito let out a small chuckle. Teasing this haughty and arrogant girl was very refreshing.
Chōji let out a small laugh as well.
Ino glared at him.
"It's a simple mission. Escort the cargo, avoid unnecessary trouble, and deliver it intact. That's precisely why you're here."
Ino then surveyed their surroundings again, this time paying closer attention.
The caravan consisted of four carts loaded mainly with fabrics, tools, basic medicines, kitchen utensils, and various commercial goods. Twelve civilians accompanied Genzō: four drivers, six workers, and two men hired as private guards.
The latter had looked somewhat skeptically at Ino and Chōji when they introduced themselves that morning.
They were young.
Too young from the perspective of civilians who weren't accustomed to the shinobi world.
However, neither of them had questioned Kaito.
That was precisely what bothered her so much.
"Ino, right?"
Kaito's voice interrupted her thoughts.
The blonde nodded.
"What do you think of the terrain?"
She blinked and then looked around.
The road ran through a wooded area. The trees grew quite close on both sides, and the path progressively narrowed about a hundred meters ahead, where two natural elevations formed a sort of corridor.
It took Ino only a few seconds.
"Good place for an ambush."
Kaito nodded.
"Why?"
"Poor visibility. The carts can't maneuver easily, and there are elevated positions on both sides."
"Well said, Akimichi."
Chōji swallowed before answering. Ignoring the look of utter betrayal from his teammate.
"They could also block the road in front and behind us. If the carts get trapped in the middle, they'd have to abandon them to escape."
"Exactly"
Genzō listened to the conversation, and his expression lost some of the calm he had maintained throughout the morning.
"Do you think someone might be waiting up ahead?"
Kaito observed the narrowing road.
"Most likely."
The two hired guards immediately moved their hands toward their weapons.
Ino did the same with her tool pouch. Chōji closed his bag of chips.
Kaito simply kept walking.
Ino stared at him incredulously.
"Aren't we going to stop?"
"No"
"You just said there could be an ambush."
"But there also might not be."
"That doesn't reassure me either, sensei."
Kaito gestured slightly toward the carts.
"Our mission is to get them to their destination. We can't stop the caravan every time we find a place suitable for an ambush."
"Then what do we do?"
Kaito looked at her over his shoulder.
"Be prepared."
The answer was so simple that Ino nearly lost her mind.
She gave him a cold look.
"You seem pretty confident for someone who was only recently promoted to Jōnin."
Upon hearing this. Genzō reacted quickly.
"What did you say?"
But then Kaito drew his katana.
"Be quiet."
Upon hearing him. Everyone fell silent.
All the caravans stopped at Genzō's order.