Chapter - 04
"Hey, big bro Kakashi, wait up. Why are you in such a hurry?" Rick called out for Kakashi, trying to catch up with him.
"Who's your big bro?" Shocked, Kakashi asked, looking at Rick.
Now that Kakashi had stopped, Rick caught up to him and circled around, examining him from every angle, from head to toe.
They left the Hokage's office together with Rin and Obito. Rin wanted to follow Kakashi and Rick to Kakashi's home, to help Rick settle in, but Kakashi flatly refused. Rin could only promise Rick that she will come tomorrow to meet him, and then she left with Obito, who was more than happy since the time they left Hokage's office for obvious reasons.
Kakashi was confused by Rick's weird behaviour. He was about to ask what Rick was doing, but before he could do that, Rick placed his hand on Kakashi's chest and gave it a slight squeeze.
"Don't tell me you are big sister Kakashi," Rick said, innocently with all seriousness, "Your chest is much harder compared to big sis Rin," Rick said, giving another squeeze.
"Where do you think you are touching me?" Throwing Rick's arm away from his chest, Kakashi covered his chest with his own palms. But when he saw people on the street looking at him and snickering at him, he hurriedly placed his hands down and smacked Rick.
But unlike other times, Rick did not fight back. Instead, he gave the sweetest smile possible and said, "You can also do what big brother Obito did, can't you?"
"Now, what did that numskull did?" Kakashi was already irritated, and being compared to Obito further irked him.
"You also saw that, didn't you? The summersault he did in the Hokage's office when he was about to fall on me. One moment he was above me, and the next he was standing behind me," Rick made him remember.
"I can do everything better than that idiot," Kakashi said, excluding an aura of superiority, "I am a chunin, and that guy is still a genin. And by the time he becomes a chunin, I will be a Jonin. There is no competition between us."
"Chunin? Genin? Jonin? What is all this?" Rick was confused by these foreign terms.
"Do you know what we are? Me, Rin and the numskull?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, two of you are boys, and one big sister Rin is a girl. I am right, aren't I?" Rick looked at Kakashi's chest suspiciously.
"Where are you looking at?" Kakashi asked, covering his chest again, "I am not talking about that. We are ninjas, Ninjas. How do you think that numskull was able to avoid you so easily in mid-air. Most of us in this village are ninjas. We..."
"Wait a minute..." Rick interrupted Kakashi.
"Now what?"
"What is a ninja?" Rick asked.
"Ninja, huh!" Kakashi was taken aback by this question. He never really thought about this, neither did anyone else. They were born in this village where almost everyone was a ninja, and they would just jump around. They did study about the ethics, rules and mannerism of becoming a ninja, but can he define himself using those terms?
"Ninja's from the beginning have been those who lived in the shadows, in hiding from everyone else and are trained in ninjutsu. We were mostly employed for information-gathering, espionage and sometimes assassination," Kakashi told him, but when he saw Rick take a few steps back, he continued," We have changed a lot of things since then."
"So what is that chunin thing you were talking about earlier?" Rick asked as he continued to walk beside Kakashi.
"After a child turns five, they are admitted to the academy where they learn the basics of being a ninja from the teachers. There it is," Kakashi said, pointing towards a building at a distance.
"It's huge," Rick marvelled.
"Whenever a student graduates from the academy, they become a Genin in the service of the village. You can choose to work as a ninja for the Hokage or do something else. It's all up to you," Kakashi explained.
"Then what about Chunin and Jonin?"
"Every two years, exams are conducted for promotion. Genin can get promoted to Chunin, and Chunin can get promoted to a Jonin. Other than that, there is a council with Hokage and some other elders as the members. If they vote for someone, he or she might get promoted without having to take the exam," Kakashi explained to him about the promotion of ranks.
"Is there anyone above Jonin?"
"The Jonins can work on different positions. A Jonin can be the captain of some Chunins, or a Jonin can be head of the intelligence unit of the village. Both are Jonin, but not on the same level. Though the only rank above the Jonin is the Hokage, but not every Jonin is equal."
"So you are already a Chunin even though you are the same age as big bro Obito and big sister Rin?" Rick asked.
Kakashi snickered, and with his nose pointing towards the sky, said, "Of course, I way better than those two,"
"I have to admit, even if you are a foul-mouth and bit of a narcist. You are awesome, big bro Kakashi," Rick gave Kakashi a thumbs up.
"..."
"Then how do you earn money?" Ignoring the dumb look on Kakashi's face, Rick asked.
"After graduating from the academy, the ninja's are allowed to go on missions depending on their rank..." Kakashi now was too tired to care about Rick's remarks.
"The missions are divided into four grades depending on their difficulty, S, A, B, and C. Genin can accept missions from B and C grade. Chunin from A and B grade and Jonin are the only ones that can accept an S grade mission," Kakashi said.
"Is that so," Rick nodded.
"Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Yeah, where are we going to eat?"
"Eat?"
"You don't expect a kid to work for his own meal, do you? And the Hokage has bestowed upon you the honour of being my guardian. So you better do a good job."
"Bestowed... Honour... Good job?" Kakashi was appalled by Rick's shamefulness.
Rick grabbed the arm of the stunned Kakashi and walked further into the village, looking for something to eat.
'I feel like I am forgetting something. Oh! Big sis Rin was supposed to buy me clothes,' Rick remembered.
It was not easy to remember everything when you are so highly sought.
"Well, tomorrow. I will accompany her tomorrow." Rick thought to himself.
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