I entered the hokage's office, trying to keep a lid on my heightened emotions. I was crankier than usual that morning. My stupid brother had woken me up by making the fire alarm scream and almost burning down my house... with the microwave.
I took a deep breath as the hokage took in my unkempt appearance, my terrible bed head of wavy black hair and the dark circles under my blue eyes.
She only pondered over me a moment before getting down to business as if I didn't look like a complete wreck, which made me respect her just a little bit more.
"Arakai, I have a mission for you," she said seriously. I walked up to her desk as she flipped through folders and papers of all sorts. She handed me a stack of... ninja profiles?
"What are these?" I asked her, flipping through the folders. They were all guys ranked above me.
"I need you to gather those men to help you on the mission I'm assigning you. They're a bit wild, but I assure you they're... dependable. Now, your mission is to escort the feudal lord's granddaughter to the hidden stone."
The feudal lord's granddaughter? I really didn't understand why she needed six bodyguards for such a simple task. "That's it? Can't I just do it by myself? Why do I have to take five guys along?"
Hokage-sama sighed, rubbing her temples. "They're brothers, but they really hate each other. I'm only doing this because they need to do something to keep busy and they need to leave the village for a few days."
She wasn't making any sense. I couldn't even comprehend what she was saying. It must have been my terrible headache. "What? Why?" I knew questioning the hokage wasn't a good idea, but I really wasn't up for this.
"Their parents are returning from a mission, and the guys need to get closer before dealing with their parents. One of them did something really unforgivable and a friend requested this job to get them together."
"So I'm something of a matchmaker now? Like a bromance doctor?" I looked at her exhausted expression, pitying her, but then I thought of how exhausted I was and what I had to deal with everyday. Teruki. I dropped the folders on her desk harder than I meant to. "I refuse."
"What?" she asked in disbelief, turning from her desk to meet my eye.
"I won't do it. Teruki almost burnt down my house this morning, I am exhausted, and I don't want to deal with five more guys!" I bowed my head to make up for my disrespect. "I'm sorry, but I can't do it."
Tsunade was silent a moment, a silence that made me feel an uncomfortable shiver run down my back. She suddenly clenched her fist, stood erect, and glared at me. "Sakihiro Arakai! I'm not only requesting you do this mission, I am demanding you to!" She pounded her fist on her desk, making her pens jump. "This client is paying a lot of money for this and you're the only girl tough enough to keep these guys in line. Now either take these folders with you or get out of my village!!"
I startled, staring at the hokage's darkened face. I see... So she was hiding her crankiness that whole time too... I didn't believe she'd actually kick me out of the village, but I didn't want to get on her bad side either. Grumbling to myself, I picked up the folders again. "I understand," I sighed. "I'll do it. Count on me."
~~~I glanced down at the top folder. Miyagi Hajime, huh? I flipped through his profile. He had done his own share of B ranked missions, but mostly Ds and Cs. He liked to take it easy huh? I sighed, totally not looking forward to going on a five day trip with these guys.