"I'll go first!"
Uzumaki Kushina jumped in eagerly. "My name's Uzumaki Kushina. I'm fifteen, a chunin, and my favorite food is salty ramen. I hate bitter stuff—and tomatoes, ugh, the worst. My dream? To become the first female Hokage of Konoha!"
Next came Minato. Calm, clear, almost glowing.
"My name is Namikaze Minato. I'm fifteen as well, also a chunin. My dream is simple: I want our village to grow stronger and more prosperous, and for every villager to live a better life."
Lock nodded slightly. No wonder the Third valued him so much, and why he became Hokage so young. It's not just his strength—his ideals line up perfectly with the Will of Fire. A man willing to devote everything to the village is exactly the kind of leader they want.
Then Jiraiya puffed up and declared, "As for me, no need to introduce. Sage of Mount Myōboku, master of toads, legendary gallant pervert… the great Jiraiya! Hahaha!"
He looked around, waiting for awe. Minato at least listened politely, but Lock and Kushina had already tuned him out.
"…Tch. Not cute at all," Jiraiya muttered, sulking. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he waved his hand. "Anyway, I've got things to do. You three, get to know each other. We'll meet back here tomorrow and start missions."
And just like that, poof—he vanished.
"This guy is seriously unreliable," Kushina grumbled, fists on her hips.
Minato smiled gently. "That's just how Jiraiya-sensei is. But he really is incredible. He's one of the Legendary Sannin… If I could accomplish even half of what he has, I'd be satisfied."
"Hah! You'll be way better than that old pervert someday," Kushina shot back confidently.
Minato could only smile helplessly—caught between his teacher and his closest friend.
After Jiraiya disappeared, the three chatted for a while longer. Minato and Kushina were both easy to get along with, and Lock found their company unexpectedly pleasant. Eventually, he excused himself and headed home.
The next morning, the three gathered again. They waited. And waited. After over an hour, still no Jiraiya.
"That old pervert dares to ditch us? What kind of team leader does that?" Kushina exploded, stomping her foot.
It took Minato's calm words to settle her down again.
Lock turned to him with a weary smile. "Minato, has Jiraiya-sensei… always been like this?"
"Mm," Minato admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sensei can be… unpunctual sometimes."
Unpunctual? That's being too polite. He's flat-out unreliable. Lock had watched the man in the "anime" before—lazy, shameless, irresponsible… But at least at the critical moments, he always came through. That, Lock reminded himself, was what mattered most.
"So what do we do now?"
"If Sensei isn't here, we can't take missions," Kushina muttered, still fuming.
Minato thought a moment. "Then we should practice. Lock, since you've just become a genin, if you have any questions or things you don't understand, ask me. I'll help however I can."
Lock didn't hold back. For the next three days, Jiraiya never showed, and Minato essentially became their acting teacher. Lock threw every question he had at him, and Minato patiently explained everything. Kushina chimed in occasionally—usually with blunt but surprisingly useful advice.
The three got along well.
Finally, on the fourth day, Jiraiya finally appeared.
"Sensei, you finally showed up!" Kushina snapped the second she saw him.
"Heh, heh…" Jiraiya scratched his head, forcing a laugh. He knew he'd been in the wrong, but he wasn't about to admit it. "Anyway! Today's our first real day as a squad. I've already accepted thirteen missions for us!"
"…What?" the three of them said at once.
"Thirteen missions?!" Kushina nearly fell over.
Lock blinked. I'm new, but even I know that's insane; those who understood the system well frowned. Normally, a squad could only hold three active missions at most. Most teams only took one at a time. Thirteen was unheard of.
Jiraiya puffed out his chest. "Hah! That's because I'm me. The one and only Toad Sage! What others can't do, I can! Hahaha!"
Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "Don't worry, they're all just D-rank missions. Nothing too dangerous."
Kushina groaned. "Even D-rank missions are exhausting when you pile them up like that! Are you trying to kill us?"
"Hard work builds strength!" Jiraiya declared grandly. "You three are the future of this village. Sweat now, and you'll grow into the pillars of tomorrow."
With a sensei like that, what choice did they have? They could only follow orders and dive into the endless stream of errands.
At first, Lock thought it wouldn't be too bad. D-rank missions were supposed to be simple: pulling weeds, finding cats, small chores around the village. Easy enough.
But Jiraiya added one final twist.
"Since Lock is the newcomer, and Kushina's only a chunin, you two will handle all the work. Minato, you can sit out. Consider it training for them."
"…What?!" Kushina and Lock said in unison.
And so began their true ordeal. For over ten days, the two of them slogged through mission after mission, until Lock finally understood: even the lowest-ranked tasks could be backbreaking when stacked together.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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