Reiji walked through the morning streets of Konoha with a scowl carved deep into his face.
Beside him, Kushina hovered like a particularly persistent insect.
"Come on, Reiji," she pleaded, leaning forward to catch his eye.
"Don't talk to me."
"I said I was sorry!"
"I don't talk to traitors."
Kushina's face twisted in outrage. "I am not a traitor!"
"You kind of are."
Kushina spun around so fast her red hair whipped across her cheek. Hizashi was walking with his usual composed posture, hands tucked neatly inside his sleeves, though the bandage across part of his face made the image slightly less dignified.
"You are not helping, Hizashi!"
Hizashi blinked once, then inclined his head. "Ah. My mistake." His voice remained perfectly flat. "We were manipulated by Sakumo-sensei, so we are innocent, Reiji."
Reiji said nothing.
Kushina stared at Hizashi with disbelief. "We're in the same boat! You should help me!"
"Well," Hizashi replied, unhurried, "I am not sorry, and Reiji knows it. So why would I do something this meaningless?"
Kushina groaned and dragged both hands down her face. Then she turned back toward Reiji, exasperation replacing guilt. "Are you really going to be like this all day just because you lost?"
Reiji stopped walking.
Kushina realized her mistake a half-second too late.
His head turned slowly, dark eyes narrowing toward her. "I didn't lose," he said, each word clipped. "You spent weeks concocting a trap and lying to me just to land one measly blow while I was being kind." His scowl deepened, more offended than angry now. "I thought we had a moment there."
"That was you being kind?" Hizashi asked, one hand lifting almost unconsciously toward his bandaged cheek.
Reiji ignored him.
"It was for the sake of the team!" Kushina insisted, throwing her arms out as they started walking again. "Now we don't have to waste time on D-rank missions anymore. We can move on to C-ranks!"
"How reassuring," Reiji said dryly, "to know my teammates can be bought for so little."
Kushina's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You are unbelievable."
She huffed loudly and marched ahead of him, red hair bouncing behind her with every step. Reiji watched her for a moment, then shifted his foot at the exact moment she passed.
Kushina's sandal caught against his ankle.
"Ah—!"
She pitched forward and hit the ground face-first with a dull thud, arms splayed out in front of her. A few civilians nearby glanced over, then wisely decided to keep walking.
For a second, Kushina lay perfectly still.
Then she lifted her head just enough to glare back at him, dust clinging to her cheek and the tip of her nose. "You're a child."
Reiji looked down at her without the slightest trace of guilt. "You too, you know."
Kushina's cheeks flushed red with fury. She pushed herself up, brushed dirt from her clothes, and stormed ahead again without another word.
Reiji watched her march away, still scowling, though the corner of his mouth almost moved before he forced it still.
Behind him, Reiji heard a quiet sound.
A snicker.
He turned.
Hizashi immediately raised one hand to his mouth and coughed delicately, his face smoothing into its usual unreadable mask with impressive speed.
Reiji stared at him. "Why are you laughing? Go ahead too."
Hizashi lowered his hand. "No. I'm fine, thank you."
Reiji's eyes narrowed.
Reiji clicked his tongue.
"Coward."
Hizashi didn't even blink. "Prudent."
They reached the Hokage Tower not long after, the broad street before it already crowded with shinobi and civilians moving in both directions. Reiji let his gaze drift over the entrance out of habit, noting the guards near the doors, the open windows above, the rhythm of people coming and going. The place always felt less like a seat of power in the morning and more like a beehive someone had struck with a stick.
Sakumo was waiting for them near the entrance, relaxed as ever, one shoulder resting lightly against the wall as if he had all the time in the world. When he saw them approaching, his mouth curved into an easy smile. "Good morning, my dear students. How are you on this fine morning?"
Kushina, whose sour mood from earlier seemed to have vanished somewhere along the way, grinned and pumped one fist in front of her. "I'm ready to kick some ass, sensei!"
Reiji gave a small shrug. Hizashi did the same beside him.
Sakumo chuckled, pushing himself away from the wall. "Good. Then let's not waste too much time and see if we have anything interesting today."
He turned and entered the tower, leaving them to follow. Reiji expected them to head toward the reception desk on the ground floor, the same place he had been sent to far too often for these D-ranl missions, but Sakumo walked past it without slowing, heading straight for the stairs.
They climbed to the first level, the noise of the entrance hall dulling behind them, and stopped in front of a door marked Mission Reception Office — C.
Sakumo opened it without knocking.
"Rude," Hizashi muttered before also going in anyway.
He stepped forward to follow, only for his foot to catch on something. His balance broke for a sharp instant, one hand shooting out to catch the edge of the doorframe before he could fall into the room like an idiot. Reiji, whose foot had somehow been exactly where Hizashi's had needed to go, gave him a mild smile as he passed.
Hizashi's pale eyes narrowed into a withering stare.
Kushina stopped behind them, looked from one to the other, and shook her head while she walked in, and Hizashi followed last, his dignity mostly intact but clearly wounded.
The office beyond was larger than Reiji had expected. It was an open room crowded with desks, filing shelves, and stacks of paper rising in uneven towers across nearly every available surface. Shinobi and civilian clerks alike bent over documents with the hollow-eyed focus of people who had been doing the same thing for too many hours. Nobody stood to greet them. A few glanced up, judged that Sakumo's arrival was not their immediate problem, and returned to writing.
Reiji's attention caught on a flash of blond hair behind a mountain of files.
He paused.
"Chiyono-san?"
A head lifted from behind the paper stack. For a moment only tired eyes and blond bangs were visible, then the woman leaned sideways enough for her whole face to appear. Her expression brightened when she recognized him, though the fatigue clinging to her features did not quite disappear. "Reiji! What a nice surprise. Are you here to visit me?" before adding with a teasing expression "Don't tell me you missed me already"
Sakumo turned his head slightly. Kushina blinked. Hizashi's gaze moved from the woman to Reiji with open curiosity, as if he had just discovered an unexpected and potentially embarrassing piece of information.
Reiji rubbed the back of his head, already regretting saying anything. "She was the receptionist responsible for supervising my punishment these last six months," he explained briefly, before looking back at the blond woman. "Sorry, Chiyono-san. We're here to ask if you have a mission for us."
Chiyono scratched the side of her head, her smile turning apologetic as she glanced down at the mountain of paperwork surrounding her. "Eeeh… I'm a little occupied right now, so why don't you—"
She stopped.
Not because of Reiji.
Her eyes had finally moved past him and registered the people standing behind his shoulder. Or, more precisely, they had locked onto Sakumo.
The change was immediate enough that Reiji felt secondhand embarrassment on her behalf. Chiyono straightened in her chair, one hand smoothing down a few loose strands of blond hair while the exhaustion on her face vanished beneath a smile that was suddenly far too bright.
"But of course," she said, her voice turning warmer. "Do you have something specific in mind, mister…?"
Sakumo raised an eyebrow.
Reiji stared at her flatly.
You have got to be kidding me.
"Hatake Sakumo," Sakumo answered, sounding more amused than surprised. "And it's their first C-rank mission, so preferably something not too far from the village, with as little risk of misinformation as possible."
Chiyono's eyes widened.
"Ah! So you're Hatake-san." Her smile grew more interested, her chin settling lightly against the back of her hand. "I've heard about you."
"Good things, I hope," Sakumo said lightly.
"That depends," she replied, eyes glinting. "Do you want the official answer or the honest one?"
Sakumo chuckled. "The honest one sounds dangerous."
"It is," Chiyono said, letting her gaze travel over him with absolutely no shame. "But I think you can handle a little danger."
Kushina blinked.
Hizashi's expression remained perfectly neutral, though his gaze shifted very slowly toward Reiji, as if checking whether this was normal.
It was not.
Reiji's face settled into open contempt. "Gods, have you no shame? He is a married man, Chiyono-san."
Chiyono blinked at him.
Then she tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. "Yes?"
Reiji stared.
She stared back, still smiling faintly, as if waiting for him to explain why he had interrupted a perfectly normal conversation.
"…That is supposed to matter," Reiji said slowly.
"Oh, Reiji-kun." Chiyono sighed, almost fondly, and reached across the desk to pat his head. "You're still too young to understand adult conversations."
Reiji leaned away from her hand with visible offense and disgust. "I understand enough to know you are being shameless."
"Shameless?" she repeated, pressing one hand to her chest as if wounded. "How cruel. I'm simply appreciating one of Konoha's finest shinobi."
Her eyes slid back toward Sakumo, smile warming again.
"And if he happens to be handsome, well… that's hardly my fault, is it?"
Sakumo's eyebrow rose slightly.
Kushina looked between them, her mouth slowly opening, while Hizashi's face remained unreadable. Somehow, that made it worse. Reiji could practically feel the Hyūga judging the entire room in silence.
Reiji looked at Chiyono as if seeing her for the first time and finding the discovery deeply disappointing.
"I don't know you."
Chiyono laughed softly. "You say that now, but you'll miss me when you're stuck with another clerk."
"I really won't." Reiji's eyes narrowed. "Why are you even here in the first place? Shouldn't you be at the reception desk downstairs, harassing other men?"
"I was promoted," Chiyono said, entirely unbothered by the accusation as she began rummaging through the papers around her. "It seems supervising an unruly child like you for six months impressed the higher-ups." She sighed, pushing aside one stack of files to reach another beneath it. "Though I regret it a little. The pay is better, but gods, this office is exhausting."
Reiji glanced at the piles of scrolls, mission forms, receipts, and reports threatening to swallow her desk whole.
For once, he believed her.
"Here," she said at last, pulling a file from beneath a stack and sliding it across the desk. "This should fit."
Sakumo took the paper and unfolded it. Reiji leaned slightly to the side, eyes catching what details he could from the angle.
"A man named Matsuda Renbei came in this morning," Chiyono explained, her tone shifting back into something more professional. "He requested an escort to Aokawa Village. It's about one day of travel from Konoha."
"One day?" Kushina repeated, immediately perking up.
Chiyono nodded. "According to his statement, he recently acquired an important heirloom at an auction. Apparently, another bidder lost and didn't take it well. Since then, Renbei claims he received threats from that man—Kuroda Gensai. Threats to take the heirloom by force, or kill him if necessary." She tapped the file lightly with one finger. "Renbei suspects Gensai may hire men to rob him on the road before he reaches home."
Sakumo's eyes continued moving across the file. "Any chance this Kuroda Gensai hires shinobi?"
"From our reports, no," Chiyono answered. "He has no known contact with shinobi, and no record of contracting one before now."
"Risk of escalation?"
"Low to moderate. We flagged it as possible escalation, but not enough to raise the rank."
Sakumo nodded, still reading. "Payment?"
"Normally, this would be around sixty thousand ryō," Chiyono said. "But Renbei wants priority handling and departure today, so he raised the fee to eighty thousand."
Kushina's eyes lit up slightly.
Of course she noticed the money.
Sakumo folded the paper once, then gave a small nod. "Alright. We'll take it."
Chiyono smiled. "Good."
She stood from her desk, brushing invisible dust from her clothes before stepping around the piles of paperwork with the practiced care of someone who had already tripped over them more than once.
"If you'll follow me," she said, walking toward the door.
They stopped at another room on the same level, and when Chiyono opened the door, Reiji saw a dozen people waiting inside on benches arranged along the walls.
Most of them looked bored. A few looked nervous. Near the middle of the room, a man in his forties shifted in his seat. His clothes were decent enough, but stretched tight around his stomach, and sweat had already gathered along his hairline despite the room not being particularly warm.
"Matsuda-san?" Chiyono called.
"Yes!" the man startled, almost jumping from the bench before catching himself. His gaze found Chiyono first, then Sakumo, then slid down toward the three genin standing behind him. His expression changed almost immediately, nervousness giving way to a frown deep enough to wrinkle his forehead. "Is this a joke?" he asked, rising fully now. "I may have paid extra to get this handled as soon as possible, but that doesn't mean I'll accept just anyone. I didn't pay for a daycare."
Reiji did not react beyond a slow blink. Beside him, Hizashi remained equally still. Reiji could understand the man's reaction well enough. Three children had walked in to take his mission. If he had not known what shinobi children were capable of, he might have thought the same thing.
Kushina, unfortunately didn't agree with that.
"Hey!" she snapped, stepping forward so quickly her sandals scuffed against the floor. "This child could beat you to a pulp with one hand, so be careful what you say, old man !"
Matsuda blinked at her, his mouth opening and closing once before sound actually came out. "What did you just—"
"I assure you, Matsuda-san," Chiyono cut in smoothly, her tone so calm that Reiji suspected she had dealt with far worse, "while they may be young, you have in front of you some of the finest members of Konoha's new generation. If they are allowed to represent the village on a C-rank mission, it is because the village has judged them capable."
Matsuda still looked unconvinced.
Chiyono seemed to notice the hesitation as well, because she continued without missing a beat. "Also, they will be accompanied by Sakumo-san." She gestured toward their teacher, who raised one hand in a mild little wave, his smile innocent enough to be suspicious. "He is a jōnin, the highest standard rank a shinobi can normally attain. Frankly, he is overqualified for a mission like this and would not usually be assigned to it at all. However, as their instructor, he will be present for the duration. So unless elite enemy shinobi are specifically targeting you, you have very little reason to worry."
That, finally, changed something. Matsuda looked at Sakumo again, this time with more care and respect.
"All right," Matsuda said at last, though the reluctance had not left his voice. "As long as these children don't put me in danger and do their job, I accept."
Kushina's eyes narrowed. "You'll see, old man. You're going to regret those words."
Reiji sighed through his nose, his shoulders lowering a fraction.
God, this will be a long day.
***
"That was so boring."
Hizashi sighed beside her, his patience sounding more worn down than his legs. "How long are you going to complain? It has been the same tune all day."
"But come on!" Kushina threw both arms out as they walked, her sandals kicking up small puffs of dust from the road. The sun had begun to dip lower behind them, stretching their shadows along the path back to Konoha, "Our first real mission, and nothing happened? We just walked until we arrived! We weren't ambushed once! Where were the bad guys? Doesn't the man who threatened him have any courage? If you say you're going to do something, then do it!"
She huffed, scowling down the road as if the missing attackers might still appear out of guilt. "It was nothing but a boring walk. And did you see that old man's face? He looked like he regretted hiring us. He didn't even thank us properly. The nerve of him."
Reiji looked at her as if she had said something especially stupid. "Do you really believe every mission ends in violence? Especially a C-rank?" His gaze shifted toward the road ahead, where the path curved between the trees and vanished into the late-afternoon light. "For most people, seeing shinobi escorting someone is enough to discourage them. Nobody is that stupid."
He said that, and he meant it, but a part of him was still disappointed.
Sakumo, walking a few steps ahead of them with his hands loose at his sides, glanced back over his shoulder. "Reiji is right, Kushina. A good C-rank mission is usually like that. Boring. Uneventful. Everyone arrives where they are supposed to arrive, nobody gets hurt, and the client goes home wondering why he paid so much for nothing."
Kushina frowned. "That sounds awful."
"That means it worked," Sakumo said lightly. "Most of the time, at least. But it also depends on luck." His tone softened a little, enough that Reiji's attention sharpened despite himself. "In your opinion, which mission rank causes the most deaths?"
Kushina blinked, caught off guard by the question. "I don't know. A-rank?" She crossed her arms, still frowning. "They're the most difficult and dangerous, right?"
Sakumo shook his head. "Statistically, B-rank missions are the deadliest. C-ranks follow close behind. A-ranks are lower."
"Eh?" Kushina stopped complaining for the first time in what felt like hours.
Hizashi's steps slowed as well, surprise showing in the slight lift of his brows. Reiji was taken aback too but only for a moment. When he thought about it, the answer started to make sense.
Sakumo noticed. His eye shifted toward Reiji, and a small, knowing smile touched his mouth before he continued. ""C-rank missions normally should not involve trained shinobi."He said, "That is why new genin and less experienced teams are allowed to take them. The expected threats are bandits, thieves, wild animals, hired muscle, things like that. Dangerous for civilians, but manageable for shinobi.That is the rule. But information is never absolute. Clients lie to pay less. Clients misunderstand what they saw. Sometimes they hide details because they are embarrassed, greedy, or afraid the village will refuse the request. Sometimes the enemy is better prepared than expected. And sometimes a team simply has bad luck."
The road beneath them crunched softly with each step. For a few breaths, none of them interrupted him.
"A B-rank is worse in another way," Sakumo went on. "There, danger to shinobi is already expected, but knowing there is danger does not mean knowing how much. The village can estimate, investigate, assign a suitable team, but it cannot be certain every time. Konoha's most elite shinobi cannot be sent to every mission just in case something goes wrong."
Reiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And A-ranks?" Hizashi asked.
"As for A-ranks," Sakumo responded, "they are dangerous, yes. Very dangerous. But they are usually given to the people most capable of handling that danger. Jōnin. Specialists. Experienced teams. They go in prepared, informed, and cautious because everyone already knows the stakes. That does not mean people do not die on A-ranks. They do. But fewer than you might think."
Kushina stared at him for a moment, her earlier irritation fading into something quieter. "So a C-rank can become dangerous just because someone lied?"
"Or because someone was wrong," Sakumo replied. "Or because the world changed after the mission was filed. Or because the enemy made a decision no report could predict." His smile returned, faint but not amused. "That is why boring is good. Boring means the information was right."
Reiji looked down the road ahead, toward the distant line of Konoha's walls still hidden beyond the trees.
Boring meant the mission had gone as planned.
He understood that.
He was not sure he liked it.
Reiji noticed Sakumo slow down before anyone said anything.
It was subtle, barely more than a break in the rhythm of his steps, but Reiji caught it. Sakumo's head turned slightly toward the trees on their right, his posture still loose despite the shift.
For a few seconds, Reiji heard nothing except the wind moving through the branches.
Then he caught it too.
Light impacts. Several people moving through the trees.
"Sakumo-sensei?" Kushina asked, immediately more alert.
"People are coming," Sakumo replied.
A moment later, several figures dropped from the forest and landed on the road ahead.
Reiji blinked.
Team Seven.
Enji, Mikoto, and Hiashi stood with their jōnin instructor, the same long-haired man Reiji had seen before. Enji looked tense the moment their eyes met. Mikoto's attention went straight to Kushina, while Hiashi and Hizashi acknowledged each other with nothing more than a quiet nod.
The long-haired jōnin smiled.
"Kukuku… if it isn't Sakumo-senpai," the man said, his golden eyes lingering on Sakumo before sliding briefly over the rest of them. "Are you also returning from a little excursion with your cute students?"
Sakumo lifted one hand in a casual wave. "Good to see you too, Orochi. Yeah, we just finished our first C-rank mission." He tilted his head slightly. "And you?"
"The same, more or less," Orochi replied, voice smooth. "We went out to stretch our legs. A small group of thieves had gathered too close to a village north of here, so my students took care of it."
He gestured lazily toward the three genin.
Mikoto smiled the moment she was released from the conversation and hurried toward Kushina, looking far more excited than she probably wanted to admit. Orochimaru's eyes rolled slightly at the sight, but he said nothing. Hiashi and Hizashi exchanged a quiet nod, formal and restrained, neither moving closer nor speaking. Enji remained where he was, looking faintly uncomfortable with the meeting, his shoulders tense and his eyes avoiding Reiji just a little too obviously.
Kushina and Mikoto fell into conversation almost immediately, their voices overlapping with the kind of excitement that made Reiji's attention begin slipping away after the first few words
Reiji endured it for as long as his patience allowed.
Then he looked at Mikoto and smirked. "What? No hello for me?"
Mikoto's expression scrunched the moment she looked at him, as if she had found something unpleasant stuck to her sandal. She ignored him completely and turned back to Kushina.
"How are you, Kushina? We haven't really spoken since the team announcement." Her gaze cut briefly toward Reiji, full of contempt. "I was worried when I heard you were placed with this brute."
Reiji raised an eyebrow. "Rude."
"Did he bully you?" Mikoto continued, ignoring him again with impressive commitment.
Kushina looked from Mikoto to Reiji, then scratched the side of her head awkwardly. "Eeeh… no, it's okay. Reiji is rude by nature, but he's not bad bad, you know?"
Mikoto stared at her.
Then her eyes narrowed, suspicion sharpening as she turned toward Reiji. "What did you do to her?"
Reiji looked at her with faint pity. "You know," he said, "not every person who disagrees with you has been brainwashed."
"With you involved, it's safer to check."
"How thoughtful." His eyes moved over her face with a smile"It must be difficult living with a mind that turns this much while arriving nowhere."
Kushina choked slightly.
Mikoto's eyes narrowed further.
Her mouth opened at once, but Kushina stepped between them before she could answer, hands raised in exasperation.
"Okay, enough, you two. Gods, it's always the same with you." She looked from one to the other, visibly baffled. "Even after six months apart, you still can't speak for ten seconds without starting something. Why can't you just get along?"
"Because he's awful," Mikoto said immediately.
"Because she's being herself ?" Reiji replied at the same time.
Kushina groaned.
Mikoto pointed at Reiji without looking away from Kushina. "See? This is exactly what I mean. You're always defending him because you're too kind."
"I'm not defending him! I just said he was rude!"
"That's defending him for you."
"No, it's not!"
Their voices began climbing over each other, and Reiji's interest died with impressive speed. He let their bickering blur into the background and turned his attention elsewhere, toward the two jōnin standing a few paces away.
Sakumo and the other jonin had moved into a quieter discussion, though Reiji could still hear them clearly enough.
"So," the long haired man was saying, his tone almost casual, "what do you say to a cup of tea with me? You explained the principle before, but I still couldn't replicate your Kōenton."
Sakumo rubbed a hand down his face, looking suddenly tired. "I already told you everything I know, Orochi. You just have to be patient. With your talent, I'm sure you'll learn it sooner or later."
"Perhaps a live demonstration would help," he said smoothly, clearly unwilling to let the subject go.
"We'll see later." Sakumo's tone made it sound like later meant never, but he smiled anyway. "Still, I'm surprised you were willing to take a team. The recluse Orochimaru, teaching students and having patience? I didn't believe it until I saw it."
The now named Orochimaru laughed softly. "Kukuku… Sensei was very persuasive. What can I say?" His eyes moved briefly toward his students. "And it's not as though they're uninteresting. The famed eyes of Konoha, an Uchiha, and Sensei's son. I could have received a worse team."
Then his gaze shifted.
It landed on Reiji.
Something glinted there, sharp and curious.
"I was also curious why you took a team, Sakumo-senpai," Orochimaru continued. "Last I heard, you were not much of a team person." His eyes flicked briefly toward Kushina next. "But I suppose I can understand why now."
The air changed.
Not much. Not enough for Kushina or Mikoto to notice over their argument. But Reiji felt it, the subtle tightening beneath Sakumo's relaxed posture, the slight stillness that entered his shoulders.
Sakumo's smile remained.
His eyes did not.
"Yeah," he said lightly. "My students are quite bright as well."
Reiji stared between the two men, attention sharpening despite himself.
There was something there.
His attention snapped elsewhere when footsteps approached from his side.
He turned.
Enji stood a few paces away.
The Sarutobi boy looked uncomfortable, which was already strange. Usually, discomfort made Enji louder. Today it seemed to have done the opposite. His shoulders were tense, his hands clenched loosely at his sides, and his eyes kept shifting as if searching for the correct words.
Reiji tilted his head slightly. "Yeah? What do you want?"
Enji froze for a second.
Then he straightened abruptly, as if forcing his spine into place by will alone.
"Fight me."
Reiji blinked.
For a moment, he simply stared at him.
Then his eyes moved over Enji's posture, the tight jaw, the forced resolve, the nervous stiffness hidden badly beneath the challenge.
Look at this guy.