Kapitel 154: Chapter 154 - D Rank Missions

Daichi went over the details in the scroll the Hokage handed him. The time and location to meet the clients were also noted down in the scroll. After going over the details, both of them were on their way to meet the clients. At that time the young gamer looked at the quest that appeared when he got the mission.

[Quest created - Complete the first D Rank mission]

[Your clients are going on a trip for a few hours. They need you to watch their year old son during their absence. Successfully complete the mission to their satisfaction.]

[Conditions:]

Meet the clients before the designated time.

Keep an eye on their son and successfully perform any tasks related to the mission.

[Rewards:]

2500 Exp.

Reputation increases with your clients.

2000 Exp. (Bonus Reward for completing the first official mission.)

[Failure:]

Reputation massively decreases with your clients, Hokage, Daikoku Funeno and Kakashi Hatake.

No missions for a while.

'This seems simple enough. The meeting time is at 10 am. Based on the location, we'll arrive well before the time. Good thing Kakashi's lateness didn't affect the mission.'

In a short while the 2 man Genin team reached the client's home. It was a modest size house located in the heart of the leaf village. A man came to greet them and lead them into the house.

"Good. You're not late. Welcome… When I asked for a Genin squad I was expecting two more Genins. Not that I'm complaining. My name is Hejin Tobori." The man introduced himself. He was a slightly pudgy man but had a charming face.

"Lovely home…" Kakashi said, looking around the place.

"Thank you. My wife actually designed the place herself." The man replied with a smile.

At that moment his wife joined them. "Welcome to our home. I assume you're the team sent to complete the mission?"

Kakashi and Daichi nodded.

"I thought there would be two more."

"We're a special Genin team." Kakashi replied with a polite tone.

The woman nodded and got to business. "My name is Mei Tobori. And you've already met my husband. We will be out of the village on a business trip and will only be back by evening today. We need you to look after our son in the meantime."

"Is there anything we should know?"

"He's just 17 months old. He likes to sleep most of the time. And I have his food and snacks already prepared." The woman led the two to their kitchen and showed where everything was. "If he cries, just give him the juice box. I've written down everything you need to know here."

With that she handed the Jonin a large sheet of paper with the needed instructions. She brought the two ninjas to their son's room. The little boy was soundly sleeping in his crib.

"What's his name?" Daichi asked in a low voice.

"Isshin. Isshin Tobori." The woman replied with a smile looking at her baby.

They went to the living room and the woman took out a book and handed it to Daichi. "If you have any doubts then I believe this should also help."

Daichi looked at the title of the book and deadpanned. 'How to take care of a toddler for dummies.'

"Looks like we have everything we need. Well take it from here ma'am." Kakashi gave the parents a short nod. A little while later the parents left the house and it was just Kakashi and Daichi along with the baby.

Daichi had never babysat anyone before, even in his previous life. So he was unsure as to how to proceed. "So uh… What do we do now?"

"What else? We do our job. You are going to keep an eye on that baby at all times and I will be here catching up on some much needed reading."

With those words Kakashi sat down and took out his orange book.

Daichi sighed at that sight. 'This guy will never change.' Without wasting time Daichi went up to the sleeping baby's room and took a seat near the door. As he sat there looking at the kid he suddenly had an idea in mind.

'This is valuable time. I can't train but I can use this time efficiently.'

Daichi created a single clone and it went outside and found a spacious area. That clone created 10 other shadow clones and they all started meditating.

Daichi sensed everything that happened and was satisfied. 'I need to complete the hundred healing seal as quickly as I can. Now that my ninja career has started I don't know when I'll need it.'

Kakashi sensed Daichi creating clones and was curious as to what was going on. He stood up from his spot and went to a window and saw Daichi's 11 clones meditating.

'I wonder what's going on? Why is he using shadow clones to meditate?'

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the clones sitting still. 'Based on the report from the academy, he mostly spends his time in the library and from Lady Tsunade's notes, Daichi likes to train and improve himself. It's his primary focus… So this must be some kind of training. Question is what?'

He looked at the clones for a few more seconds and went back to his seat. 'Well, as long as he's not causing any problems it's not my concern.'

The real Daichi was sitting at the entrance of the child's room and was keeping an eye on him. Around two hours had passed and Daichi noticed that the baby was starting to wake up.

Daichi got up from his chair and went near the small child. He noticed the toddler slowly opening his eyes. Daichi greeted him with a smile hoping to make the kid laugh.

Baby Isshin looked at Daichi's face for a few seconds and then,

"WHAA….." he let out a loud wail.

"Gha!" Daichi reflexively took a step back. 'My god the lungs on this kid.'

"Hey buddy. Don't cry. I'm just here to look after you till your mommy and your daddy gets here." Daichi tried to appease the screaming child but it was of no use. 'Damn it, I need that juice box.'

Daichi was about to leave the room but stopped. 'I can't let the kid out of my sight. Even for a second. Can't take any chances.'

Daichi created another clone and had it run to the kitchen and get the Juice box for him. A few moments later the clone returned and Daichi held the small yellow box in front of the kid's face.

"Here. Don't you want this? This delicious and tasty juice?"

Daichi slightly shook the box a couple times and baby Isshin attempted to grab the box. Daichi placed the straw in the box and gave it to the little kid.

The child stopped crying and focused his attention on the new item in his hand. Familiar with what he had in his hand, the kid slowly started to drink from the box.

Daichi let out a breath and sat back in his chair. 'Crisis averted.'

"Not bad. You handled that well. But the day is still young. You should be alert for anything." The voice of his sensei came from near the door.

Daichi looked at the man with a questioning look. "This is just a babysitting mission. I'm sure I can handle it just fine."

The man shrugged and went back to reading his book in the other room.

Daichi then heard a sound coming from the empty box and knew the kid finished his drink. He was about to take the juice box from the little boy but Isshin quickly threw it in the air.

Watching the small box fly up, Daichi couldn't help but sigh. He quickly used chakra strings and caught the box. 'You're gonna be a little troublemaker when you grow up, aren't you kid.'

"Haaa…." Isshin clapped and giggled as he looked at the box flying and landing in Daichi's palm.

"Why thank you. It was a perfect catch wasn't it." The kid's laugh brought a smile to Daichi's face. At that moment another image came to his mind. And it dimmed the boy's smile.

'Reo. I wish I could have been there for you more… If I had just taken her home… No. If that happened or if Kensei had adopted her it would have brought attention from all the wrong people.'

Daichi slightly shook his head and thought about the positive side of everything.

Since Isshin was awake, Daichi decided to play simple games with the kid and pass time.

And that's how it went for Daichi's first mission. He played with the kid and kept entertaining him. When it was time for his lunch, Daichi fed him and he also had to change the diaper. It was the only unpleasant part of his day.

Before long, it was evening and not wanting to get questioned by the clients about his many clones around their house, Daichi dispelled them.

Before long the parents returned home after what appeared to be a successful trip. Seeing that everything was fine they gave the necessary paper slip to Kakashi as he was the leader of the team. They thanked the Genin team for their work and both Daichi and Kakashi soon left the place.

"So… How was your first D Rank mission?" Kakashi nonchalantly asked his student.

Daichi shrugged and replied. "Eh. It's alright. Nothing much to think about."

"Is that all…?"

Daichi looked at Kakashi with a doubtful gaze. 'These kinds of missions are also used to subtly make the Genin form some sort of bond with the people of the village. A subtle form of manipulation and brainwash. But I'm not gonna say that outloud.'

"Why do you think D Rank missions exist?" Kakashi's question brought a frown to Daichi's face.

"Obviously D Rank missions are in place to build teamwork amongst the squad members. Genin will need experience working together in a safe environment first before they start taking difficult tasks. And I heard that they are tax deductibles." Daichi replied after a short while.

Kakashi nodded and began explaining the intent behind the D Rank missions. "Two good points. Not bad… It's True. The D Rank missions and C Rank missions are Tax deductibles. This is a system created by the second Hokage Tobirama Senju. Paying the mission fee is the same as giving to charity. So most businesses or wealthy people will hire Genin to babysit, mow the lawn or clean their house as a way to reduce the amount of taxes they need to pay. Genins use this opportunity as a team bonding experience and they learn to interact with the clients. The Genin will also learn valuable skills and the people get cheap labor. A win-win situation."

"So I was right."

"Well you're only partially right. There is much more to it."

Daichi looked at the man in slight confusion. Noticing the look Daichi was giving him, the Jonin instructor asked Daichi a question.

"Why do you think I let you do all the work today and didn't even bother to supervise you?"

"Because you were bored and D Rank missions aren't worth your time?" Daichi gave a snarky reply with a grin.

The man chuckled at that answer. "True. But that's not the whole picture…There is much more to these simple missions than you think. I left you alone because I wanted to see how you would act inside the house. I wanted to see if you would go through their bedroom or closet. Snoop through their private stuff."

Daichi's eyes widened at that. He was beginning to understand the purpose of Kakashi's absence and the true nature of these missions.

Kakashi continued. "You have to remember, whether it's a D Rank mission or an A Rank mission, we should treat the clients who hire us with respect. And we should follow the mission parameters and not overstep our boundaries. Of course, there are instances where certain exceptions must be made. But that's rare. In most cases overstepping the mission parameters can cause serious problems. If you had gone through their private stuff and they had found out, it would have created a negative reputation. And that bad reputation will spread and people will become reluctant to hire us in the future. Even if we were only doing something silly like going through their closet or something serious like looking through the secret documents they have… It will create great problems for us. So by doing these D Rank missions a Genin will learn restraint and not do unnecessary stuff like that when handling sensitive materials on higher ranked missions."

Daichi was surprised at the deeper implications of a mission as simple as babysitting. 'Wait. The things Kakashi said. They're the same as the requirements for passing the second stage of the chunin exam. Never open the scroll. Ninjas are not supposed to open a client's secret documents…'

"I see. I had no idea… So these missions are a lot more important than they seem huh."

"Of course. And it's not just this type of mission. Most D Rank missions help the Genin prepare for higher level missions." Kakashi replied.

"What do you mean?" Daichi asked.

"Well… For example, most would think that babysitting is a simple mission but it's not. It teaches the Genin to be patient. Even when that baby was asleep you were keeping an eye on him in case he suddenly woke up. Similarly when you're completing a higher ranked mission, you might need to observe your target for a long period of time. This will require concentration and mostly patience." Kakashi replied.

Daichi's eyes widened as he understood the point Kakashi was trying to make.

"Another example is chasing and retrieving lost pets. Animals have high sensitivity to sounds and they can smell far and wide. Their senses are much sharper than ordinary people. And that's not counting ninja dogs and such. Capturing a pet may be a D Rank mission but we learn many things during that mission."

"How to mask our smell and sound, track someone without being noticed and quickly subduing or assassinating them. Most importantly how to coordinate with your team and efficiently follow commands." Daichi finished what Kakashi was going to say.

"Exactly. Now you're getting it. A ninja must always see underneath the underneath." The Jonin smiled and looked at Daichi as he spoke those words.

"I understand Sensei." The boy nodded his head as he realized the true meaning of these missions. 'Looks like I'll need to take these D Rank missions a lot more seriously than I first thought.'

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Author's Note:

Hello my fellow readers,

Two things…

One. I have never babysit anyone in my entire life. So not sure how that goes other than 'don't let anything happen to the baby'. So I just googled babysitting and just rolled with it.

Two. I wanted to create a realistic and valid reason as to why D Rank missions exist and given to people who are trained to torture and kill. I hope I did a good job of that. What do you guys think?