Fandom Squad Shithead: A Naruto AU

[Gilzar]

Much like her comrades, the difficulty of Mizu's training persisted into the final week. However, every day she trained with the weights was another day she became stronger. With each passing day the extra weight become more and more bearable. It was a slow process that Mizu barely noticed until the final week of training, when the weights no longer felt like a burden to the young genin. By the final day of training the weights no longer felt like a burden, but rather just another part of her. Had it not been for Ginji ordering her to remove the weights after the final day of training, she would have forgotten to remove them entirely.

When the weights finally came off, Mizu felt an immediate gratification. She felt over a hundred pounds lighter, and she moved faster than before - much faster. Not only that, but she was physically stronger. It showed both in her performance and in her physique. Her arms and legs were more toned with muscle than before, something she didn't notice until preparing herself in the mirror the morning of their mission. It was an odd feeling, seeing herself change so much in just a few months; From the style of her hair and clothing to even her own body. Even her perspective on the world was different since leaving the village for the first time in her life just four weeks back. With her 14th birthday just a few months away, Mizu couldn't help but wonder what else would change in the future.

She left her room, only to find yet another surprise: Her uncle Hisoka sitting in the living room, still dressed in his ANBU gear. It was the standard issue Konoha ANBU uniform, though his mask was out of sight. He had been gone unannounced for nearly a week, and now he was back home casually sitting around as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning Mizu." Hisoka greeted.

"Good morning uncle." Mizu replied as she readied her gear for the day.

There was a silence as Mizu could feel her uncle's stoic figure eyeing her. An odd change, as normally he seemed indifferent to her presence.

"Something's different about you..." Hisoka's monotone voice said as he stood up and approached his niece. He looked down at her with narrowed eyes as he tried to put together just what might have changed with Mizu.

Meanwhile, Mizu awkwardly looked up at her expressionless uncle. Was it her clothing? She readied herself for yet another conversation about how she had been learning how to properly dress from her superior Matsuda Uchiha. Yet this turned out not to be the case.

"You're taller." Hisoka announced.

"...I am?"
"Two inches taller to be exact. At this rate you might grow to be taller than your mother..."

Mizu's eyes narrowed, annoyed by the comparison. "I have to go. Today I get assigned a mission."

Hisoka nodded and handed Mizu her staff. "I want to walk you there. There's another mission I have to go on, and it's been weeks since we've properly spoken."

Mizu grabbed her staff and slung it behind her back. "Yes, uncle."

-------------------------

Summer had finally ended in the village of Konoha, and Fall had officially begun. The arrival of the Fall season also brought with its temperature and colors. Currently, the morning temperature was floating around 50 degrees F. All around the village and its surrounding forest, the leaves were beginning to show small signs of color change, although it was still too early in the season for the fall colors to completely show.

"I understand you've been training with my former sensei, Ginji Hyuga?"

"Yes." Mizu responded to Hisoka as the two walked through the streets toward the Hokage's office.

"You've impressed him with your work ethic and abilities. He spoke fondly of you when I talked to him last night. This pleases me. Keep making good impressions on your superiors."

Mizu just nodded to Hisoka. Though she didn't express it, it made her happy to hear that. A part of her wished she could continue to train under him, rather than having to go back to the stress of her team. The two continued their walk to the Hokage's office. By now they were less than a block away, with a few minutes to spare. In the distance the unmistakable figure of Tetsuo waited. In spite of his like of perceived discipline by Mizu, he still managed to get there before she did.

"I also spoke with your instructor Katsuro." Hisoka said.

Mizu peered over at her uncle, and an anxious feeling brewed in her stomach. She had a feeling her instructor wouldn't be giving as shining of a review as Ginji did.

"He says you're stubborn, and that your attitude toward your teammate is hampering the team."

Her eyebrows narrowed, and a frown grew across Mizu's face. She inhaled deeply, trying to hold back her irritation as she glared at the distant figure of Tetsuo. Mizu stopped walking, not wanting the conversation to be overheard by any one of her teammates. Hampering the team? Last time she recalled, Mizu put her feelings aside to deal with the rogue chunin. What more did Katsuro want?

"Uncle..." Mizu replied in a respectful yet obviously irritated tone. "I've been trying."

"No, you're not. Katsuro's told me you don't make any effort to communicate with him unless absolutely necessary."

"And why isn't that enough?!" Mizu blurted out uncontrollably, breaking her usual respectful tone with her uncle.

Hisoka glared down at her, not showing any emotion in spite of the outburst. "Ignoring your problems isn't going to fix them. Katsuro doesn't expect you to both to be friends, but you can't just stand around and act like he doesn't exist. It strains the team, and it hampers communication. If you don't learn to put your emotions aside, you'll never become a chunin like you desire to be. Especially given your predicament."

Mizu remained irritated with her uncle, but the last two sentences caught her attention. Rising through the ranks was something Mizu fervently wanted, enough that it made her at least consider Hisoka's words.

"What should I do then?" She asked in a calmer tone.

"Be professional and communicate with him more. That's all Katsuro and I want you to do. Now come, I don't want you to be late."

Hisoka began walking towards the Hokage's office once again, and Mizu reluctantly began to follow. The two walked what remained of the short distance to the front of the Hokage's office. At the moment it seemed only Tetsuo was there, much to Mizu's dismay. She was hoping that Katsuro or Haruki would have showed up by the time they made it there.

"Good morning." Hisoka said in his emotionless voice to Tetsuo. He eyed Mizu, waiting for her to do the same.

"...Morning Tetsuo." Mizu greeted her estranged teammate, feeling the pressure from her uncle's gaze.

"Good luck on your mission, you two." Hisoka said the two genin.

Mizu bowed to Hisoka. "You as well, uncle."

Hisoka looked over Tetsuo with an almost dismissive gaze. He then turned away from the two and leaped onto the nearest building, vanishing out of sight. For now, it was just Tetsuo and Mizu. Like Hisoka said, Mizu tried not to appear so bothered by his presence. As they waited, Mizu couldn't help but notice the difference in her height that was mentioned earlier. Afterall, Tetsuo looked even shorter than usual.

--------------

Katsuro arrived just a minute after Hisoka left, just a shy of 7:00 AM. Although it looked like Haruki would be late, the boy managed to barely make it on time, sparing him from Katsuro's temper...for now. Once Haruki arrived, Katsuro didn't waste any time for introductions.

"Come on, let's go." Katsuro said impatiently. He led his students into the Hokage's building and immediately barged up the stairs past the receptionist desk. Without any hesitation, Katsuro slid open the door to the Hokage's office and waved for the group to follow.

Inside of the office, which still remained void of any decoration, was the familiar sight of Kaito. Behind the group, just to the left of the doorway was Matsuda. She comfortably leaned against the wall in a different spot than before just waiting to see how long it would take Tetsuo to spot her. Once he located her, she shot a confident wink at him.

"Good morning. I hope the last few weeks have been productive for your team Katsuro." Kaito said.

Katsuro said nothing, only giving a nod in confirmation toward Kaito.

"Good." Kaito responded. "Because I have a mission for you."

Kaito promptly opened up a drawer in his desk and laid out a scroll for the group to see.

"I'm assigning you a C-Rank mission. You four will be going to the Land of Sound to assist affluent and honorable Yoshida family. They are preparing for an important celebration and need your help securing ingredients from the nearby Pygmy Rainforest."

Katsuro raised a brow in skepticism. He knew what the Yoshida family name meant, and he also knew all too well the type of tasks they asked the leaf village to do every year.

"...What kind of celebration?" Katsuro asked. Behind the group, Matsuda could be heard holding back laughter.

Kaito eyed Matsuda with a stern look, then looked back at Katsuro.

"Hanahime Yoshida’s 13th birthday."

A loud sigh escaped from Katsuro's nostrils, and behind his glasses he glared out of the large office windows in annoyance. The Yoshida family always did this. Every year they asked the village to send shinobi to do some mundane task. Why exactly they did this has never been said, but most of the jonin were convinced it was some kind of joke to the wealthy family. Doing mundane missions didn't bother Katsuro, it was part of being a shinobi afterall. But he hated doing things for the amusement of rich assholes, like the Yoshida family.

"They need your help securing monk flowers for a birthday cake. These can only be found in the nearby Pygmy Rainforest."

Katsuro just shook his head slightly at the prospect of the mission. Even Mizu couldn't help but let out a disappointed gaze toward the window. Kaito's eyes narrowed to a stern expression, similar to the look he gave Matsuda just a minute before. "Enough of your attitudes. This is a serious matter. The rainforest is a dangerous place, and we owe the Yoshida family for their part in the war. You will find these flowers and help them out with whatever else they need. These rain ponchos have been provided in good faith. You'll need them, as well as a few days worth of supplies."

Kaito laid out four rain ponchos on the desk. One adult, and three youth sizes.

"One more thing." Kaito announced to the group. "The mother of the family, who usually handles their affairs, recently passed away. Her sister-in-law Jun is now handling communications with the village. I imagine things might be tense in the household, so be on your best behavior."

"The scroll will fill you in on any other details. Good luck and represent us well."

"Come on, let's go." Katsuro ordered his students, picking up his rain poncho. He promptly left the office, muttering a few curse words under his breath as he walked out. Of all the teams available, why did they have to be the ones stuck with this?

Mizu also picked up her rain poncho. Much like her sensei, the idea of running errands for a rich family didn't exactly thrill Mizu either. When Kaito said they were going to the Land of Sound, she was hoping they'd get assigned to work in Otogakure. She had read a lot about the Village Hidden in the Sound, and all of its mysterious oddities. At least they would be working in a rainforest, that location was exciting enough to make Mizu not completely dread the assignment at hand.

"Alright, same as last time. Everyone pack your bags and meet me at the train station before 8:30. I'll answer any questions there."

Spoiler

MISSION NO. 4882

FORAGING REQUEST: BIRTHDAY BALL PREPARATIONS
​

DESCRIPTION: The Yoshida family has begun preparations for Hanahime Yoshida’s 13th birthday celebration. A cake is to be made using Hanging Monk flowers, which are exclusively found in Hermit’s Vow, located in the Land of Sound’s Pygmy Rainforest. The Pygmy Rainforest is a host to many dangers, including but not limited to: venomous/carnivorous animals, frequent flash floods, risk of mudslides, and widowmakers. In addition, the Hermit’s Vow cannot be accessed easily by normal methods. Due to these conditions, the Yoshida family has requested and paid for the services of Shinobi to navigate the Pygmy Rainforest and retrieve adequate Hanging Monk Flowers to bake for the party. Your team is to head over to the Yoshida estate, fulfill their foraging request, and assist in any additional preparations for the birthday party. Details regarding how to identify the Hanging Monk will be provided upon arriving at the estate.This mission is in a foreign land and has been requested by powerful political allies, so represent Konohagakure well. It is projected to take 2 days to reach Hermit’s Vow and return. Your team will be given 1 extra day to complete the mission, so pack accordingly. Due to the forecasted rain, your employers have provided rain ponchos for you to wear. Train tickets have been arranged for you to depart at 8:30 A.M. this morning and 8:30 A.M. again 3 days from now. Do not miss these trains, otherwise you’ll have to cover the cost of transportation on your own.

OBJECTIVES:

1. 
   
   Retrieve a minimum 20oz of Hanging Monk flowers from Hermit’s Vow and return to the Yoshida estate.​
2. 
   
   Provide any additional assistance requested by the Yoshida family in setting up Hanahime Yoshida’s birthday party until departure.​

 

[Pine]

In his impatience, Tetsuo had passed the time eyeing every stranger that crossed anywhere in the vicinity of the Hokage's office, just to confirm that it was not one of his teammates. It felt like an hour had dragged by before he caught sight of Mizu within the light foot traffic of the early morning crowd. Just as soon, he noticed she was not alone.

This came as a mild surprise to Tetsuo. He had never seen Mizu accompanied by anyone who had not actively been put in charge of giving her instruction. He imagined, too, the list of people willing to be seen in public communion with their village's jinchuuriki was very short. Even her own mother hid from her, as he had learned a few weeks ago.

From what he could see, the man Mizu had stopped short to talk to had very few distinctive features. Though plain in appearance, even with the two of them out of earshot, Tetsuo was able to see resemblance between them. This man had the same brown hair color and tanned skin that Mizu and Miya both shared. Knowing the identity of her father, he could only guess that this must've been her uncle.

In spite of himself, Tetsuo's curiosity had been piqued. It was a rare moment to see a member of the ANBU and know they were ANBU. Tetsuo knew his father had been set up to be promoted into their ranks just before the war draft, and it was only because of the war that this promotion never happened. He wondered idly if this man would've known his father.

If he did, this man gave no particular indication of it when he finally approached with Mizu in tow. Tetsuo tried his best to look indifferent, turning his gaze to a flock of birds pecking at someone's food that had been dropped on the ground, as if the arrival of Mizu and who he was feeling more and more sure must've been her uncle held no more importance to him than the birds' scavenging efforts did. It was extremely embarrassing the amount of time he had spent the past few weeks thinking about Mizu and how attuned he now felt to her family dynamic. He wished fervently that he did not care at all.

Tetsuo looked up from a pair of bulbuls tugging at the same piece of meat gristle when the adult man greeted him. The young genin began to dip his chin down to nod in acknowledgement, but something caught his eye. In an instant, the neutral look on Tetsuo's face became petulant.

He recognized the look the man was giving Mizu without even looking for it. It was the same look grownups always gave kids when they tried to come in-between a fight and force an apology out of them. Tetsuo had been on the receiving end of this look just as many times as he'd seen it be given to other kids on his behalf. He hated that look. Everything that came out of it was insincere and never actually changed anything. Adults must know this too. He could think of no other reason for them to give it, then, other than to exhibit the power they had over children.

And in this case, it worked on Mizu. Tetsuo's lips tightened as he and his squadmate were both made to endure the humiliation of the formal greeting he knew she did not want to give him.

He turned a scowl back to Mizu's uncle. He made his displeasure plain to see but said nothing in response as the man wished them luck and departed for the rooftops. Tetsuo glared after his retreating figure until it could no longer be seen. When he looked back at Mizu, he read nothing in her expression that indicated she shared his agitation in any way. He levied his scowl now at her for a moment before he rolled his eyes away, shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. He debated on saying something to her, but before he could figure out what exactly that would be, Katsuro arrived. Tetsuo looked irritably at the jonin, but that wasn't too different from how every morning between the two of them had started over the past three weeks. He knew now that he absolutely was going to say something to Mizu, but it would have to wait until a time that their instructor would not be so close by.

- - - - -

With all of Team 5 assembled, Katsuro ferried his genin through the building and into the Hokage's office for their mission briefing.

As they passed through the doorway, Tetsuo frowned, not immediately seeing Matsuda. He wanted to relax, think this meant she wouldn't be there at all, but the memory of how he somehow missed her until he had barged back into the office last time put him on edge. He looked first at the darkest corners of the office, then narrowed his eyes as he finally found her when he looked over his shoulder. Once again, she met his hostile stare with an impish wink. He rolled his eyes then turned his attention back to Kaito, just as he had pulled their mission scroll from his desk.

Tetsuo had been anxious since last time to know about the ranking of this coming mission. When they'd returned from the Land of Birds, Kaito had expressed regret for sending them on their last mission, given how things turned out. The last thing the boy wanted was to return to the inane D-ranked tasks his previous team would always get assigned. When he saw the notations for C marked on this particular scroll, Tetsuo felt some relief, but that relief was short-lived.

He furrowed his brow to hear they'd be gathering ingredients. His first thought when Kaito emphasize it was an important celebration was that this may have been for a memorial service of some kind. Given that they were shinobi, his most optimistic guess was that they'd be used to hunt, though for what kind of animal that could be found in a rainforest, he wasn't sure.

Katsuro asked for what kind of celebration they were talking exactly. In his tone, there was a skepticism that began to make Tetsuo feel uneasy. He heard a tittering from behind in response that made the boy look back to glare at Matsuda once again.

He was right to have felt more and more agitated, because Kaito finally disclosed that their team would be picking flowers, in a foreign land, for a fucking 13-year-old's birthday cake.

Tetsuo scoffed in disbelief, looking back at Kaito. Beside him, he could hear Haruki humming a discontented tone to himself.

Haruki cut himself off and made himself look a little more alert when Kaito cut in to admonish the whole group for their collective despondency. Before that, the young genin had barely been tuned into the conversation at all. Now, he did his best to give the new Hokage what at least appeared to be his undivided attention. Kaito had surprised him with how stern he suddenly became, and Haruki didn't want to find out how much worse that could get if he didn't look like he was taking this seriously enough.

With the last bit of insight Kaito imparted on them, Haruki pouted his lips thoughtfully. It was sad to hear that there was a recent death in the family they'd be helping out. He wondered if this was why Kaito had called it an important celebration, and this was why they were being sent out to secure some obscure kind of flora he'd never heard of. A good party could provide a shimmer of hope and joy in an otherwise bleak celebration. He wasn't sure how long it took to grieve the death of a loved one from personal experience, but Kaito seemed convinced the effects of it may still be felt in this family's household.

After Katsuro, Haruki grabbed one of the youth rain ponchos. He was surprised to find, when he rubbed the fabric between his fingers, it seemed to be made of some sort of high-quality material. As he followed his sensei out of the office, he held the fabric up to his ear, and listened to the soft swish swish as he continued to rub the material.

Tetsuo was the last to grab his poncho, and he did so with a bad-tempered snatch and shooting one last glare at Kaito before exiting. The only solace he felt from this ordeal was knowing that even Katsuro, who lectured him all the time on being on his best behavior, hadn't been able to help but come off every bit as annoyed as he was by the request right in front of Kaito.

As the team made their way down the hallway, Tetsuo started grumbling to himself, not caring and maybe even hoping Kaito could hear him from there. "Great fucking use of our time. Flower-picking for a fucking birthday cake."

"It does sound kinda' boring," Haruki assented quietly, hoping Kaito could not hear him from there.

"How long is this shit supposed to take, anyway?" Tetsuo continued and held out his hand for Katsuro to pass him the scroll.

 

[Gilzar]

Tetsuo and Haruki showed no enthusiasm for the mission, and Mizu couldn't blame them. After all of the training she had done, Mizu was itching for another mission where she could prove herself. Something along the lines of an escort mission or even guard duty was what she had hoped. But instead they would be foraging in the rainforest for the rich. Though she did not verbally complain like her comrades did, she showed no enthusiasm toward the situation.

Much like his students, this mission didn't thrill Katsuro either. As he listened to his students rattle off complaints within earshot of Kaito however, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for the example he set. Katsuro didn't make much of an effort to hide his feelings on the mission, and now they weren't either. Kaito had his reasons for assigning them this mission, and they should have been respected. The most important reason, one that his students had yet to pick up on, was Mizu's safety. Moving around place to place made her harder to track, especially if they were moving around place to place.

"Look," Katsuro said to the group. "I don't like running through the rainforest for the amusement of some rich fucks, but this is the way it is. This is our mission and we're going to get it done."

Katsuro handed the scroll for Tetsuo to read and pass around to the others.

"I'd expect this to take at least a week. Looks like we'll have to rough it out in the woods so pack your camping gear."

He then looked over at Haruki. "Don't overpack this time. Rainforest is no joke. We're gonna be in some rough terrain."

"Katsuro-Sensei," Mizu asked in a respective, attentive tone. "Any suggestions on how to pack?"

Subtly Mizu elbowed Haruki, trying to que him in to pay attention to Katsuro.

"Yeah. Pack four days of clothing. When we get to the estate you can stash some of your clothes at the mansion to lighten the load for the rest of your camping gear...."

Katsuro rubbed his fingers through his beard, trying to think of anything else that would be useful to his students.

"Food and water are more important than anything else, so make sure to pack plenty of it....Oh, and if you pack a bedroll make sure you keep the plastic sheet on it."

"Any other questions? Otherwise you can all meet me at the train station."

 

[Pine]

When Katsuro handed him the scroll, Tetsuo slung his poncho over his shoulder to free up his other hand. He thumbed to peel the paper open and shot the jonin one last unamused look. He knew he they were going to have to get the mission done. Kaito did not give the impression that he was willing to budge, even with Katsuro being visibly displeased. Tetsuo had tried in the past to dispute mission assignments with Soruto as hokage, and if that didn't work then, he doubted it would work now. Kaito seemed clinical and professional, with seemingly no particular affection towards him. He seemed more like the sort to refuse giving out a mission altogether before he reassigned one. Tetsuo had already ran dry of the payment he'd received last time for his family, in spite of his best efforts to budget, so he had no choice but to accept this mission.

Tetsuo turned his eyes back to the scroll, both listening and skimming over the contents of the scroll as they walked.

Haruki straightened up a little when Mizu elbowed him. He looked at her, expecting her to try saying something to him before realizing she was just reminding him to pay attention. She was right to do so, because already he had started slipping into a state of unfocus.

Miserably, he was reminded of his packing blunder from their last mission. He had managed to get back nearly all, if not own even more of his possessions now since the manor had burned down along with all of his things. Still, he had definitely learned his lesson from that traumatizing incident, and he would make sure not to let his dad get too involved with the packing process when he got back home.

He tried his best to stay tuned in as their jonin-sensei gave an overview of how they should pack. It mostly made sense to him, but in his weary state, the last thing Katsuro said stuck out to him. "What do we need the plastic sheet for?"

Tetsuo, meanwhile, had found what he was looking for, and had reread just to make sure he understood it right. "This is saying it's going to take three days," he said, as if to subtly correct Katsuro. He held the scroll out with his thumb pointing to where the mission statement discussed the journey to Hermit's Vow and when their second train was scheduled to arrive, trying his best to hold it still enough for Katsuro to read while they made their way down the stairs.

The given time frame came as a small relief to Tetsuo. If he had to spend an entire week picking daisies in the woods with this group like Katsuro originally said, he was going to end up either killing himself or someone else, he thought.

 

[Gilzar]

"The plastic sheet is to keep your bedding dry. There's going to be a lot of water and rain where we're going. Take my advice: Wrap up anything you don't want to get wet in plastic.

Upon Tetsuo's correction about how long the mission would be, Katsuro reexamined the scroll. In his irritation he didn't notice that there were train tickets set for their return. It was relieving to see that the clients had set a departure date, with a set time they needed to make in order to leave. For a moment, he thought they'd be leaving at the whim of their employer, hence why he estimated a week.

"Must have misread the scroll." Katsuro admitted upon hearing Tetsuo's concern. "Still, pack a little less clothing than you think you'll need. Even if it's just three days, you'll want to be as light as you can in the rainforest."

Not wanting to waste any time, Katsuro abruptly packed the scroll up and began to make his way out of the building. "If there's any more questions just text me. Don't be late to the train station."

Once again, Katsuro made his way through the streets of Konoha to get back to his apartment. Leaving the Hokage's office so soon for the sake of time was an exaggeration on his part. In truth, what he really needed was to blow off some steam. He hated taking missions from wealthy families. Katsuro could put up with the occasional mission every now and then, such as their last one, but two in a row was pushing it.

Of all the clientele shinobi had to work with, the upper class was usually the worst to take missions from. They were demanding, snobby, and always too concerned with appearances. But it wasn't just that. Walking through their mansions, assisting their families, and catering to their events was a painful reminder to Katsuro of his childhood. Being surrounded by luxury only brought back harsh memories about how ignorant he once was to the world around him, and everything his father did to him.

As Katsuro opened the door to his simple studio apartment, he couldn't help but reflect on everything he gave up. The mansion, the money, the lavish events, and the facade. Even though it was a rough road, he had no regrets about escaping the ignorant bubble that so much of the affluent members of society live in. He would have rather died a nameless shinobi on a forgotten battlefield than to ever have lived the life his father once envisioned for him.

Upon finishing his packing, Katsuro opened up the cabinet above his fridge. He pulled out a large bottle of whiskey rather than his normal sake, as it was stronger and would kick in quicker. Kasuro took three large swigs of the bottle, before filling his flask with it and neatly packing the rest of the bottle in his bag next to a carton of cigarettes. There was no doubt in the jonin's mind that he would be needing the rest for later.

After one last sweep through his apartment, making sure he had everything he needed and that the apartment was clean, he locked the door and made his way to the train station. Just like last time, the area was packed with crowds of people from all over the land coming in and out of the village. By the time he waited in line the whiskey had done its job and Katsuro was feeling much calm and patient than before. Upon finding the platform with the train they needed to board, Katsuro once again stood up on top of the bench so his students could find him. Unlike last time however, Katsuro was in a much calmer mood with the whiskey buzzing through his nerves. He simply texted his students the train was at platform 20 and waited.

------------

Katsuro's untimely departure from the Hokage's office was the only que Mizu needed to leave. She didn't want to be stuck walking back with Tetsuo. It was bad enough that they'd have to be together for three days straight. Mizu was hoping this mission would just be in the village so she could sleep in the comfort of her own bed, but instead they were leaving once again. With the prospect of being stuck with her team for three days looming over her, she wanted to enjoy the last hour she'd have to herself. Mizu leaped onto the rooftops and jumped home as fast as she could. Given her recent training, it didn't take her long to make it back to her modest home.

Packing was no challenging task to Mizu. Even without Katsuro's advice, Hisoka had taught her how to pack for missions that involved camping. She made sure to pack light, only bringing a few pairs of clothes and prioritizing what she'd need to stay overnight in the wilderness. Within half an hour Mizu was packed and ready to go. The rest of the time she'd spend walking the long way to the train station, enjoying the sights and smells of the village one last time before they departed.

The last wealthy family she worked with was absolutely insufferable. Sando treated her like a monster from the moment she walked through the doors to his mansion. From the way everyone else on her team was acting, she was concerned that this family would be no different. Unlike her instructor Katsuro, Mizu didn't have much experience with the upper class. Most of her childhood was spent in lower-class neighborhoods with her mother and the middle-class neighborhood her uncle lived in. Seeing how people cut from the finer fabric of society lived and operated was as foreign to her as the Land of Sound.

Upon arriving at the platform 20, Mizu looked for Haruki. In spite of the strange way he sometimes behaved, she much preferred his company over that of Tetsuo. As she waited next to Katsuro, Mizu stood on her toes and anxiously peered over the passing strangers so she could strategically place herself next to Haruki upon his arrival.

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo narrowed his eyes at Katsuro as he snatched the scroll from him and took off ahead of the group. Mizu followed suit shortly after, leaving with such speed he didn't even have time to think of stopping her. Both of them were obviously in some kind of hurry, but that didn't make him any less annoyed. Tetsuo shook his head and puffed a sigh through his nostrils. Again, his talk with Mizu would have to wait. Tetsuo cast one final glance at Haruki before departing himself. Haruki appeared to still be processing that everyone had left without so much as a friendly word, and Tetsuo didn't want to stick around long enough to hear any dumb comments he might have to say.

As much as he'd been eager for another mission, every facet of what they'd been assigned so far had been a let down. He did not give much thought to the honorifics Kaito had addressed their clients with and what that meant for their socioeconomic status because he was still stuck on how meaningless of a task it was altogether. There was no way that any flower could be flavorful enough to justify a two day trek into the jungle. C-rank mission my ass, he thought. He may have been more tolerant of a foraging mission too, except they were having to travel out of their country and it was going to take up three days of their time. On principal, Tetsuo was not against traveling to other nations, and in fact the idea of getting to see different landscapes piqued his interest, but even one day of absence invited a creeping anxiety into his mind. He did not like leaving Soto alone with his mother for that long.

Tetsuo had to get a little creative when packing. All of his camping equipment were hand-me-downs from his father, and any plastic casing for his sleeping bag and other materials had been long discarded. Eventually, he had to settle on stuffing nearly everything into unused, vaguely floral-scented trash bags. By the time he had finished, he still had half an hour to spare before he had to make it to the train station, and Soto had an hour left before school.

Tetsuo locked his bedroom door behind him and padded down to the end of the hall where Soto's room was, just at the same time her alarm was going off. He rapped his knuckles against the door and said, "Get up, Soto. I'll make you breakfast."

There was no response, and the alarm did not stop ringing. This was not unusual for her. Soto was too young to act like she couldn't get out of bed in the mornings, he thought, but that never seemed to stop her from putting on the act anyway. She would eventually get up though, so he let her be and made his way to the kitchen.

As another part of his routine, his mom was never up at this hour, and today was no exception. It would not be hard to make extra breakfast for her to have when she did get up in the afternoon. He set two pans on the stove, cracked six eggs open on one, then sprinkled the other with sugar before laying several strips of bacon on the other. Tetsuo had already packed a bento for Soto the night before and meal prepped for dinner, but with plenty of time to spare still, he took out a cutting board and started chopping vegetables he thought may be good for the next couple of days.

When he finished cutting a second onion, Soto had still not come out of her room. Tetsuo wiped away the tears that had started pricking his eyes and was about to check on her when finally he heard her door click open. Agitated as his vision was, he almost missed the conspicuous way her hands were clasped behind her back. Soto struggled to stretch herself up onto one of the counter stools. Once there, she brought her cupped hands in front of her and onto the kitchen counter. Soto dropped her chin onto the counter and opened up her palms, the back of her hands shielding whatever she'd brought with her out of her brother's direct line of sight. Her eyes darted between her arm barricade and where Tetsuo was putting away the vegetables he'd chopped into separate containers.

"Soto, put Nugget away," Tetsuo told her without looking up from his task.

Soto's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. She tightened her arm circle and looked at her brother carefully. "I don't have him," she said, talking slower than her usual cadence.

Still he did not look at her as he stacked the containers on top of each other and stuffed them on a shelf in the fridge. "Don't bother lying to me. I always know when you're lying."

Soto pouted her lips, but relented a little. She opened her arms, no longer bothering to cover the honey-colored hamster she'd had tucked behind them. "But he likes having breakfast with me," she whined.

"No, he doesn't. He's nocturnal, he doesn't like being awake this early. That's why he keeps biting you," he said, rubbing his eyes with his arms again before turning the caramelizing bacon strips over.

As if on cue, she yelped a quiet, "Ow!" Soto had grabbed a sliver of cabbage leftover on the cutting board to offer Nugget, but he nipped her fingertip instead.

Tetsuo leaned over the opposite of the side of the counter and fixed her with a stern, expectant look.

She looked stubbornly back at him for a moment, then groaned and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You're boring!" she said, but complied. Soto scooped up her hamster and retreated from the kitchen, through the living room, down the hall and back into her room.

The other reason he had disallowed Nugget's company during their morning meal was for sanitary reasons. Tetsuo made sure to remind her of that when she made her way back. Between that, informing her of his upcoming absence, reminding her to wash her hands and brush her teeth, and reviewing all the protocols he had now established for when he left the village, Tetsuo had successfully nagged Soto into leaving for school even before he had left for the train station. The last thing he did after wiping the counters down was leave a note for his mom, letting her know he would be away for the next three days and listing all of the things he'd done to make things easier while he was away, as well as suggestions for what the onions and cabbage could be used for the next night.

"Shit," he said, looking at the clock. He had underestimated the amount of time cleaning up had taken, and now he'd be cutting it close getting to the train station. Tetsuo pinned the note to the fridge with a round magnet, grabbed the sack he packed out of his room and rushed out of the door.

- - - - -

When Haruki made it back to the weapon's shop, all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and snooze for the next several hours. His dad had been getting up when he left, though, and even more than that, he didn't want to do anything that could incite Katsuro's rage, like oversleeping.

Haruki entered the shop, a gentle chime sounding as he passed through the doorway. The lights were still off in the shop, and he wondered if there was any chance his dad hadn't opened the shop yet. It wasn't until Haruki had reached the shop's glass counter that his dad came around the corner of their living space.

Kenshin Okabe was a somewhat larger man. Haruki usually noticed this in his father's hands which, upon verifying that it was only his son who had come into the shop, reached up to cradle his face and press his fingertips gently into his temple. Both of them shared the same shade of orange-brown hair, and this was consistent in Kenshin down through his unruly long beard. Oftentimes, his hair was shaped into a short pompadour, but in that moment it was falling a little off to the side. It wasn't hard for Haruki to guess that he was feeling the effects of drinking as much as he had the night before.

Kenshin stopped against the opening connecting their kitchen to the shop, his broad shoulders taking up most of the doorway, and smiled easily. "Hey, Haruki. You got your mission assignment yet?"

"I did," Haruki said, pulling up the countertop's passageway and passing through. "I have to be at the train station at the same time."

"Oh," he said, scooting back into the kitchen to allow room for Haruki to pass. "Do you need any help packing?"

"I'm good, Dad. I think I should figure out how to do this on my own."

"Alright," he said.

Even after that, when Haruki had opened up his new, smaller backer to get started, he could practically feel his dad lingering behind him in the border between the kitchen area and what was technically his room. Haruki looked over his shoulder to find his dad was, indeed, watching him with undivided attention. It was too early in the morning in the morning for that kind of intensity, Haruki thought. He reached under his bed and grabbed the unused sleeping roll that had been kept stowed under there. As he maneuvered the sleeping roll to fit into his backpack, he could still feel his father's eyes boring down on him.

"You know what?" Haruki said, looking back at his dad. "I need something to wrap my clothes up to keep them dry. Could you find me something like that? Plastic, probably?"

The smile returned to his dad's face. "I can do that."

Finally, with a task assigned to him, his dad turned and went up the ladder to the master bedroom.

Haruki let out a breath. He had no shortage of love for his dad, he felt, but he'd been acting very extra ever since he'd been promoted to genin. He was nearly a full-blown teenager now, and the attention both of his parents were giving him was starting to feel like way too much.

His father had evidently taken this small request as some sort of permission he'd needed to be included more in his business, because even with what seemed to be a headache bogging him down, Kenshin rose his voice to be heard from upstairs. "Where are they sending you off to this time?"

Haruki grabbed the firestarter kit his parents had also gotten for him that had been tucked away by the sleeping bag. He frowned, thinking that this was yet another thing that might be way too big. If it started raining, would they even be able to make a fire? "We're going to the Land of Sound," he shouted back.

"Oh, that's exciting. The Sound Village is some sort of a scientific hub, you know that?"

"I don't think we're going to the Sound Village, Dad," Haruki said, a small bit of annoyance creeping into his tone. "They just said it was some family and then we'd be going to a forest."

"What are you going to be doing in a forest?"

By then, he was tired of yelling across the house. "What? I can't hear you," he lied. He decided to open the kit and pull out just a few of the things in there that seemed necessary.

"I said, what are you going to be doing in a forest?"

Haruki rolled his eyes. "I still can't hear you, Dad. Just talk to me when you're down here."

Kenshin tried repeating himself for a second time, but Haruki ignored him. The more he looked at the contents of the kit, the more he realized he didn't know what any of this stuff was other than the lighter and matches. After a moment, he laid out one of each item then closed the kits and slid it back under the bedframe.

In that moment, his dad's head popped in through the hole that led upstairs. "I asked you what you're going to be doing in a forest?"

Haruki's eyes widened in exasperation at his persistence. "Oh my God, Dad!"

"What?"

"Just—" Haruki motioned with his hands to shoo his dad away, much like swatting a fly.

"Alright, alright," he said, uncurling his finger's from the hatch's frame, as though to show his palms in surrender. What little of Kenshin had been visible now vanished behind the wood panels separating them. Haruki listened for the thumping of his dad walking to the other end of the floor, just to make sure his dad seemed to be on task. Satisfied, he moved onto picking out his clothes.

Haruki slid open the first drawer of his dresser, then once again was frowning. Katsuro said to pack less than he thought he would need, but as he surveyed his options, he started doubting the efficacy of his advice. It felt standard to him, if he was going to be gone for three days, he should bring three days of clothing. They were expecting it to rain, though. They had been given those ponchos, but they were going to be out in the mud. What if he slipped and fell? Then he would have to deal with knowing that was there the whole day, and how crunchy it would feel to walk once the mud started to dry. Not only that, but he didn't want to be laughed at by anyone in this client's family for looking dirty or otherwise ridiculous, especially if they were rich, and especially because this girl they were doing all of this for would be around their age. He would want an extra set of clothes to make sure he looked his best when they returned to their client.

Haruki picked out four different outfits and laid them out on the bed, staring at them and weighing his intuition against Katsuro's experience. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. He hadn't actually checked his start time, but it felt like ten minutes had passed him already. Packing was boring, he decided, and it involved way too many decisions to make. He didn't want his last hour of freedom deciding what he did or didn't need. Besides, if he forgot to get something, surely Katsuro would bring extra to cover him. He was still an adult, after all. He had to take care of things like that.

Haruki compromised by eliminating one set of clothes, except for the underwear. After that was onto how they were going to feed themselves. He hummed, for the first time concerned about how exactly they were going to feed themselves during this trip.

Tangentially, a thought struck him. "Dad, can I have some money?" he shouted up into the loft.

"What do you need it for?"

"I wanna' get some breakfast before I leave," Haruki said.

"You can just eat here. I can make you breakfast," Kenshin offered.

"No Dad. I'm sick of eggs," he said.

There was a very short pause. "I thought you said you couldn't hear me?" Kenshin's voice was as distant as before, sounding like he's coming from the other side of the house. Despite their difference, his dad's voice rang loud and clear just like before.

"Yeah, well, I can hear you now," Haruki said, hoping that would be enough to throw him off his trail. "Can I have some or not?"

His dad made some sort of disgruntled noise, but it was hard for him to tell what exactly it was from where he was. "Okay, but make sure you get some kind of protein! You're going to need that to keep yourself full while you're out there."

"I know Dad," he said, already getting up to open up the kitchen drawer he knew his dad stowed his wallet away in.

- - - - -

Haruki arrived at the train station with a wrapped taiyaki in his hand, still warm from where it had been freshly taken out of the grill press. He had kept his promise to get something with protein, he reasoned, because instead of getting his usual chocolate flavor, he got it with the red bean paste this time.

He had arrived with some time to spare. Haruki didn't care for showing up this early, but his dad had been breathing down his neck over what felt like every little thing, so after his dad had scavenged some plastic wrap from a past manufacturing shipment, Haruki had shoved the rest of what he'd picked out into his sack and rushed out of the shop. Katsuro was easy to pick out of the crowd, but after a quick check on the time, Haruki selected a bench a little ways off so he could set his food down on and finish wrapping his gear.

"Hey, Haruki!"

Haruki stopped what he was doing and looked around. In very little time, he spotted his friend, Taro, who was walking directly up to him.

Even if he hadn't been preoccupied, Haruki might have missed him in the crowd. Since he'd last seen him, Taro had dyed his hair a steel blue, and now that he was standing right in front of him, he could see that he had put in hazel eye contacts. Either that, or the blue he was used to seeing in his eyes were contacts. Haruki had no real way of knowing.

"You weren't going to say hi?" Taro asked, but he had a warm smile when he said this.

"I didn't see you," he responded with a small smile, even though his head was reeling. Haruki had trouble keeping up with Taro on a normal day, but when he was sleep-deprived and trying to finalize packing while he was already at the station, it suddenly felt like a mountainous task. "What are you doing here?" He peeked around Taro for a moment. "I don't see the rest of your team."

"I gotta' go to a thing for my dad," he said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his haori. It was an elegant article of clothing. Taro's was completely silk with traditional depictions of koi circling the back. "I think he wants me to do a performance for a banquet or something. I don't really care what it is," he said, shouldering the large scroll that was suspended by a strap slung across his chest, "but my dad said if I did this for him, he'd make sure I could go to the Moon-Viewing Festival they're doing in the Land of Tea this year."

Taro Yasuda was one of several of Haruki's old classmates that he'd been able to graduate with. He was a year older, but a couple of inches shorter than Haruki. Even for kids that followed the standard curriculum and weren't in their class, Taro was well-known. He was, after all, the only child of the Land of Fire's daimyo that was pursuing a career as a shinobi. As someone directly in Taro's circle, Haruki knew this was mostly so that his parents kept paying to rent him his own studio apartment. If someone had missed him for his connections, Taro stood out for his sheer variety in wardrobe. He ranged anywhere from semi-formal and sophisticated, as he looked now, to outfits that were downright gaudy. Haruki wasn't sure if he'd ever seen him wear the same thing twice.

For someone of his status, getting a ticket to see a festival in a nearby country didn't seem like a big deal to Haruki, but one look at Taro's face told him he was very serious about this. For his fatigue-addled brain, Haruki could think of nothing to respond with at first other than, "I hope you can go."

Taro barked a laugh at that. "Oh, I will. Don't worry." His eyes then snapped to something else. "Hey, what's that?"

Haruki saw him eyeing the taiyaki he'd set down, still wrapped, and his stomach knotted a little. He started to grab it to be closer to his side. "It's my breakfast."

Taro's lips turned in a greater, mischievous smile. "Don't be stingy. Let me have a bite." Without waiting for a response, Taro grabbed the wax wrapping out of Haruki's hand and peeled it open. He raised the fish-shaped pastry to his lips and took a bite, just big enough to make sure he got some of the filling too. He gave a thoughtful, "Hm," continued chewing, then handed it back to Haruki. After he swallowed, he said, "Why would you get red bean? There's so many better flavors."

Haruki looked miserably at the now-reduced portion of breakfast in his hands. He really should've gotten two, he thought, but the taikyaki stand he knew was a five minute walk from the station. "My dad picked it out for me," he half-truthed.

Taro shook his head and wagged his finger. "Get chocolate next time." He looked away, eyes glossing completely over Haruki's dejected stare at his food. What Taro found instead was an anxious set of eyes locked onto his seated companion.

Taro blinked at them. "Hey, that must be your team, right?"

Haruki looked up in some bewilderment as to how Taro was able to figure that out. Then he saw Mizu staring directly at him.

Without waiting for a response, Taro commented, "Whoa, you were right. Your sensei looks like he could really mess someone up." He laughed a little at this, then seemed to double-take Mizu. He laughed again, then looked at Haruki. "You never told me your teammate was that fox girl."

Haruki was still recovering from having a bite of his breakfast dashed from him, and frankly the first question Taro had asked him. Before he could think of responding, Taro had already taken action.

Taro waved his hand to Mizu, stretching his arm way over the crowd. "Hey, come over here!" he called to her, a friendly smile plastered over his face. His wave then became an insistent fanning, almost as if he could pull her over there if he just gestured big enough.

 

[Gilzar]

Between the shifts of the frenetic crowd pouring through the train station, and the loud sounds of trains departing and arriving at the station, Mizu was finally able to spot Haruki not too far across the station. But he wasn't moving toward the group. Instead, he appeared to be engaged in conversation with a sharply dressed boy with steel blue hair. The exact identity of this boy was a mystery to Mizu at this distance. One of Haruki's friends he talked about at the cafe? He looked familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She stood up on her toes even higher, trying to get a better view of who it was, completely oblivious to how obvious it was she was watching them.

It didn't take long for the two of them to spot Mizu watching them through the crowd. Upon being spotted she recoiled down off of her toes, embarrassed at being caught. Much to her surprise though, the two didn't look annoyed as most people would. In fact, the blue haired boy seemed to actually be waving to Mizu and calling for her to come over to them. This was a first for Mizu, and she awkwardly looked around her to see if he was motioning to someone else that just happened to be near her. Nobody else seemed to be apart of the interaction though, except for Katsuro. From on top of the bench he was also looking over in the direction of the two boys. Mizu looked up at her sensei, looking for permission to go over without saying the word. All Katsuro gave was a subtle nod for confirmation. She set her bag down next to the bench, and walked over.

As Mizu walked over, she finally got a better look at the blue-haired boy's features and his identity became clear. That was none other than Taro, the only child to the Land of Fire's Daimyo. She didn't know him personally, but she knew about him. Everyone knew about him, even the kids in her grade just below his. He was actual royalty, after all. Taro was a constant source of gossip amongst the genin. Most envied him, while few despised him for his status and extravagant style. Mizu herself didn't quite know what to think about him. Being a constant source of gossip herself, she knew better than to actually believe some of the stories she heard of him. All she knew was that the last time she saw him walking through the halls of the academy, his hair wasn't blue.

Mizu couldn't think exactly why Taro was waving her over. It made her feel a little uneasy as she finally got close to him and Haruki and greeted them.

"Hey." She greeted uneasily to both Haruki and Taro.

 

[Pine]

It came as a slow realization to Haruki, but in trying to get Mizu to come over to them, Taro had definitely drawn Katsuro's own attention. He looked from his friend to where his team had started to gather and saw Katsuro's blind man glasses tilted just subtly in his direction. Haruki sank back a little from where he was sitting on the bench and gave his sensei a small, tight-lipped smile.

For a second, he wondered not only if Katsuro would allow Mizu to leave his side, but if he would yell at him for not going straight to their meeting spot. To his mild surprise, Katsuro seemed unaffected, keeping a neutral expression and even giving Mizu his blessing to join them further away from the train tracks. When he thought about it, in fact, he realized that Katsuro had yet to yell at any of them a single time this morning. It was a complete contrast from how their first mission started just a month back.

He didn't know what exactly, but Haruki knew that if Mizu was being called over here, Taro had something to say. So when Mizu managed to navigate the crowd and make her way to them, he gave a small wave but said nothing. He watched the two of them with his full attention, waiting to see any cues from Taro that he might want him to jump into the conversation.

As Mizu timidly approached them, Taro kept an easy grin and had an amiable air. If anything, he looked a little pleased with himself that she had come to them at his beckoning.

"You're Mizu," he said. "I've heard so much about you, but we've never had the chance to talk. Nice to meet you finally." He hooked one thumb into the strap of his scroll then brought his other hand up as a fist for her to bump. Clearly he felt no need to introduce himself, because the next thing he said was, "Tell me about yourself."

 

[Gilzar]

Mizu awkwardly looked over at Haruki for a split second upon Taro raising his fist and asking about her. She wasn't entirely sure what he'd want, but it wasn't this. Most people didn't talk to her. Those that did usually needed something, none asked her for a quick elevator speech about herself. Finding some grounding seeing the familiar face of Haruki, her attention went back over to Taro.

He had his fist extended, clearly waiting for Mizu to return the expression. She bumped his fist back, trying her best not to act awkward in this encounter. Immediately after Mizu's thoughts raced to tell something about herself to Taro that he didn't already know. The Daimyo's son already knew her name, so she wouldn't have to explain that. Given this wasn't a question she was asked often, Mizu struggled to think of anything to reply.

"Uh..."

A few more awkward moments passed as her thoughts raced through her mind. She couldn't help but think of Matsuda in this moment, and when she asked her a similar question over breakfast. Not only that, but she remembered how Matsuda carried herself whenever answering questions about herself. It gave her a spark of inspiration, not only in how to respond, but how to carry herself in this situation. Mizu shifted her posture to stand taller and more confidently, like Matsuda would, and a small smile formed across her face.

"Well, I just graduated from the academy a few months ago and got put on the same squad as Haruki. Aside from our sensei Katsuro, I'm the team's close-range specialist. When I'm not on missions, I'm either training or reading because I want to be the best shinobi I can."

She paused, before returning the question to Taro. "What about you, Taro?" It felt awkward saying his name, given he never introduced himself to her.

 

[Pine]

At the first sign of Mizu hesitating, Taro raised his eyebrows, but maintained a pleasant smile. He gave no indication that he was lacking patience or otherwise feeling bothered by the amount of time it took her to collect her thoughts. When Mizu finally was able to share a little about herself then asked him to do the same, Taro did not immediately respond. He simply stared at her for a beat, nevertheless keeping the same nonchalant grin on his face. Then he puffed a gentle, amused laugh through his nose.

"Well, Haruki and I were in the same class at the academy. He came in like a year after I did. He didn't know a single person after moving here, so I guess you could say I basically adopted him."

Taro cast him a teasing glance. Haruki propped his chin on his palm to return an unamused look, though he didn't really mean it, and his friend would know this. The way Taro was talking gave him about the same feeling as if he had brought out an album of baby pictures to try to regale Mizu with embarrassing stories of her teammate, so he couldn't exactly refute the analogy.

After Taro looked back at Mizu, he continued. "As far as this whole ninja business goes, I don't really care about being particularly great or anything. That's more my friends' gig. I guess it can be fun sometimes, but I really just like hanging out with my friends when I can. You know, hitting up the arcade or trying different stores and restaurants. For my team, I got paired with some genin from the Mist and Stone, but they're pretty cool."

He paused for a moment, then said, "You know, a lot of people don't really like you. You should probably come up with something else you can say to at least make people think you're interesting."

Haruki furrowed his brow at him. He knew it wasn't meant to be a malicious comment with the way his friend was still giving her a casual smile, but it confused him at first as to why Taro would say something like that. Mizu was quiet, serious and seemed a little awkward, but the only one on their team that seemed to have an issue with her was Tetsuo, but he had a vendetta against everyone. But then Haruki remembered how Sando had reacted the first time he saw her, shouting at them to keep her away, and then he remembered what Mizu had told him and Tetsuo about how many people in the village look at her like a monster, and so she's needed to learn how to defend herself. For the first time, it felt like some of the reality of Mizu's situation and how she was perceived sank in and struck a chord of sorrow within him. He frowned, giving her a pitying look for a moment.

Taro paused again, then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really care either way." He looked at her as though to size her up one more time before his smile brightened just a little. "In fact, you should hang out with us sometime. I promise we'll make it worth your while."

- - - - -

Tetsuo alighted from a rooftop just outside of the train station. He had ran the entire way there, but thanks to all the physical exertion over the past three weeks, he barely had to even catch his breath. Slipping into the station's crowd, it took him no time at all to find Katsuro, even with him being several platforms away. Once again, the already titan of a jonin stood perched on top of a bench, clearing well over the height of every other adult in the area. Tetsuo hurried across the station, weaving between throngs of people as fast as he possibly could without bumping into them. It wasn't until he reached him did he allow himself to turn around and check the time on the digital clock they mounted on the station's far wall. He made it with just a minute to spare before their boarding time.

Tetsuo huffed a small sigh of relief. He turned back around, only see that it was only him and Katsuro there. With as much as he'd been pushing himself to be on time, he didn't believe that he was the first one of their team to meet up. Mizu, at least, should've been here by now. Tetsuo fixed Katsuro with a questioning look.

 

[Gilzar]

At first, it seemed to Mizu that the two were getting along with just a normal conversation. It was interesting for her to see Haruki around one of his friends he spoke so fondly of. She didn't recall him ever mentioning Taro's name, yet the two got along like long time friends. Mizu couldn't help but find some humor in how Taro teased at Haruki. This was a pleasant change of pace for her, just being in a normal conversation. As Taro continued on talking about himself, she began to relax and give him her full attention. It wouldn't be long before he would make it regret this.

The friendly smile on Mizu's face faded away once Taro so casually reminded her she wasn't well liked in the village. Mizu was well aware by now that most of the village didn't like her, she didn't need it pointed out to her. She glared unamusingly at Haruki as his friend continued on to explain that her introduction was boring, and it should be fixed to be more interesting. He even had the gall to insinuate that she should hang out with them, even after he so blatantly insulted her.

Angered and confused by Taro, her face reddened. She couldn't tell if the invitation at the end was genuine or just some other kind of insult. The strange look he gave her afterwards only added to her agitation. Mizu knew she should just stay professional and walk away, the same way she did with Sando. Yet something was compelling her to stay. Perhaps it was what Matsuda told her earlier about not letting people walk over her. Or maybe she had finally had enough of people treating her this way. Whatever it was, Mizu dug her heels into the concrete and leered at Taro.

"Why?" Mizu responded bitterly to the backhanded invitation. "So you and your friends can insult me more?"

-------------

Katsuro watched Tetsuo as he finally arrived. The boy had arrived with roughly a minute to spare, just barely beating the deadline Katsuro had set. In his head he had already been preparing what he'd say to Tetsuo had he arrived late, but there would be no need. Once Tetsuo had gotten closer, the quizzical look he gave him told him all he needed to know about what was on Tetsuo's mind. He was obviously wondering where his teammates were. In response, Katsuro motioned his head in the direction of Haruki and Mizu.

His remaining two students were close enough to still be within eyesight. While he wasn't concerned about them being late, he readied himself to get them if they didn't hurry up.

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo followed the direction of Katsuro's nod further into the station. It confused him even more for a second to see them loitering away from their meetup spot, but he quickly realized they were talking to someone he'd never seen before. This was the second time he'd seen Mizu socializing with someone he had not expected, but this time it was actually with someone that appeared close to their age. As he continued to inspect the other boy that exuded confidence, even from afar, it slowly dawned on him that this was someone that he knew. Taro Yasuda.

His expression soured. While he had never spoken with Taro directly, he'd had enough interactions with his cohorts to know exactly the type of person he was. Taro's 'friends' were responsible for a lot of the grievances he'd had during his academy days. In his eyes, they were all the same. Lazy, entitled brats that obsess over their image and feed on each other's clout. They were the sort that had no issue making jabs at those they find beneath them, and whenever they get called out for it, they somehow always manage to skirt responsibility and make themselves out to be the victims.

It made sense to him for Haruki to be in that company. His so-called 'teammate' had already exhibited some of that passive hostility his way. What Tetsuo wanted to know was why the hell Mizu would be talking to someone like Taro.

It had never been something he had paid close attention to—he'd never really had the need—but he had heard enough to know so many of those same kids that would antagonize him would make snide comments about their village's jinchuuriki whenever she got brought up. Tetsuo seriously doubted that Taro, their ringleader, the daimyo's son, would have any more favorable of an opinion of her.

He couldn't make out what exactly was being said from his distance, nor could he easily read the tone with Mizu's back turned to him. He nevertheless continued watching on to try to gauge what kind of interaction this was exactly.

- - - - -

Haruki was caught off guard when Mizu turned her head away from Taro while he was still talking to instead look at him. Not only that, but the look she doled out was an icy stare. Right in the moment that he was feeling bad for her, why was she getting angry with him?

His confusion turned to an anxious pang as Mizu directed those frustrations at Taro, making the amiable smile that had been on his friend's face the whole time finally dissolve. This interaction was quickly going down a way he had not expected. Mizu felt that she had been insulted, and with the exact way that she worded it and how she had looked at him a moment ago, Haruki wondered if she meant to include him as part of the problem.

A part of him felt defensive of both himself and Taro, but more than that, he hated seeing a conflict brew between one of his closest friends and the only member of his team that was nice to him.

"Come on, Mizu," Haruki tried, his tone nervous. "He didn't mean it that way."

Taro, by contrast, appeared completely unbothered by her snapping back, if a little surprised. "No," he said calmly. "I just figured you haven't had a lot of chances to just hang out and have fun with people, and that's why the only things you got going for you are training and reading. I wanted to give you a chance to try it out." Taro shrugged his hands, and the nonchalant smile he'd had before returned to his face. "But if you wanna' stick to doing boring things and not making any friends, that's fine. That's all you had to say."

 

[Gilzar]

Haruki insisted to Mizu that his friend Taro didn't mean it, but Mizu wasn't buying it. The Daimyo's son showed little to no sorrow that his comment offended her, and his follow-up explanation only seemed to double down on his earlier statement. The displeased expression on Mizu's face remained throughout his explanation. During his final comment, her eyes narrowed in reflection of her skepticism and anger toward his nonchalant nature, and backhanded comments. By now she doubted Taro really wanted to be friends. If anything, the rich brat just wanted to show her off like some kind of animal to her friends. Maybe the spoiled child would tell his father that he was kind enough to befriend the village outcast.

Her eyes then looked back over at Haruki, her supposed teammate. He was just standing there, as useless as Tetsuo always insisted he was. Though she had only known him for a few months, it felt like the two of them had been through hell and back together. From putting up with Tetsuo and Katsuro, to fighting side-by-side in the Land of Birds. She thought by now there would be the unspoken sense of comradery between them that Hisoka always went on about. But clearly that wasn't the case. Haruki seemed to be siding with Taro more in this situation than with her. For the third time now, Mizu was given the harsh reminder that her and Haruki weren't actually friends.

Once again, Mizu had the chance to walk away. She could turn around and just head over by Katsuro and this would be over. But something about Taro just standing there so dismissive with Haruki idly on the sidelines was infuriating to her. Her eyes scanned over him, sizing him up just like he did to her a bit ago. This spoiled child didn't look like he worked a day in his life. Taro probably didn't even train unless his instructor made him. There was no reason she had to take this from him. There wasn't anything special about him other than his family name.

"That does sound like fun...but maybe you should try those boring things that I do, instead of just dressing up like a shinobi. Might do you some good in the end. Rogue ninja won't care that you're the Daimyo's son."

She paused for a moment, glaring at Haruki then back at Taro.

"But if neither of you want to be taken seriously, that's fine. That's all you had to say."

 

[Pine]

For the second time since their meeting, Taro raised his eyebrows in surprise at Mizu. He puffed a gentle, incredulous laugh. "Wow," he said.

Haruki's jaw had dropped agape. He had felt a little nervous when Taro had invited her over, but in no scenario had he imagined Mizu becoming actively hostile towards them. Not only did she completely disregard his entreatment to not take offense to his friend's comments, but if there had been any residual doubts about whether she was angry with him too, it was absolved with the steely glare she shot his way.

In that moment, he had no idea what to do or say. The only other time he had seen her so combative was against Tetsuo, who had deserved every biting remark and more. Haruki would have never expected that cold anger to be turned against him. Especially when he had done nothing wrong.

"Mizu," he tried to plead with her again, although he had no real idea on what he would say as a followup.

Luckily or not, Taro seemed to think there was more to what Haruki was going to say, because in the next moment he waved his hand to cut him off. "It's cool, Haruki. I can see that I've touched a few nerves. I'll just get going." He nodded his head toward the station's railing, which had just begun to rattle. "It seems your train is just about here anyway."

With that, Taro re-hooked his thumb into his shoulder strap, turned, and waved his hand over his head as he walked away. "I'll catch you later, Haruki."

Haruki watched after his friend as he disappeared into the station's populace until all that was visible of him was the tip of his scroll, resurfacing only now and again above the crowd's heads.

Now, left alone with Mizu, a frustration began to set in. He knew it would take more than a conversation like that to actually bother Taro, but he was still his friend, and the more he reflected on it, the more he felt Mizu had treated them both unfairly. She hadn't given his friend a chance, even after he told her to. He had done nothing to lose her faith in him.

As his frustration morphed into anger, Haruki was no longer thinking about just what had happened with Taro. The feelings of alienation and rejection he had felt with Matsuda and Mizu from their time at the cafe had begun to resurface. It burned in his chest remembering how Mizu had froze him off just as much as Matsuda had, and all of his focus was consumed by that pain.

The uncomfortable, desperate expression he'd had before was gone. Haruki's brows were stitched into a glare as he looked at Mizu now. "What is wrong with you?" he snapped. "Why are you acting this way?"

 

[Gilzar]

Although she would never openly admit it, Mizu had hoped that her best attempts at insulting Taro would have spurred up at least a spark of the anger she had felt towards him. That way she would be even with him, in some sense. However, Haruki's friend just seemed to laugh the comment off. Mizu's comment didn't seem to have any impact on him.

Haruki pleaded for her to be reasonable, but it was too late. There was no taking back what Mizu had said. Unlike how Haruki earlier insisted that Taro meant no offense, the same couldn't be said for Mizu. She meant every word she said to him. Mizu wanted desperately for him to feel at least a fraction of the anger that she felt towards him. Yet her best insult she could muster didn't seem to faze him at all. Taro laughed, and before she knew it he was walking away. His indifference only made it worse for Mizu. As he walked away her fist tightened. It didn't seem possible to her that she could get more angered, but she was wrong. Her breathing intensified as she seethed at how ineffective her words were.

Then before she knew it Haruki had turned on her, staring Mizu down in anger. It was the first time Haruki had ever acted this rash towards her. Mizu returned the glare back at Haruki. Her teeth gritted together in frustration at just how oblivious he was to her perspective. She couldn't believe he was actually taking Taro's side on this issue. The rich brat was blatantly insulting her, yet Haruki just wanted her to be still and accept it? Her body quivered as the tide of anger in her intensified. At this point she was starting to get as sick of Haruki as she was with Tetsuo...almost.

"Are you def?!" She shouted out at Haruki. "Did you not hear anything that he said to me? Your friend is a jerk!"

As Mizu's shouting rang through the entire station, Katsuro let out a loud sigh. This day just kept getting better and better. Out of all of his students, Mizu was the last one he expected to cause a scene. Yet there she was, practically screaming at Haruki. The noise of the crowed simmered down, giving space to the enraged girl. He glared over at Tetsuo.

"Stay here." He instructed before cursing under his breath. Katsuro hopped off of the bench and stomped through the crowd.

"Do you even give a damn about us Haruki?" Mizu stammered out in anger. "Or -"

Before she could finish, Mizu's shoulder was yanked back by an overwhelming force.

"Shut the fuck up right now, both of you!" Katsuro roared over Mizu as he stood between them, a physical barrier to halt them from escalating any further.

Immediately Mizu backed up from their enraged sensei. Although their giant of a superior stood between them, she still glared at Haruki in spite over Katsuro's shoulder.

"Both of you idiots grab your shit and get on the train, now!"

Mizu finally broke her gaze away from Haruki. She walked with heavy steps back to their train, still steaming from the encounter. While she walked to the train, obvious whispers of the crowd rang out around her. The spectators spoke in hushed tones about her and Haruki. Although she couldn't understand all of the quieted conversations, Mizu did her best to ignore the ones she could. Afterall, they weren't saying anything she hadn't heard before.

Shortly after she arrived back at the train, Mizu picked up her bag and marched silently into the train cart. By now the doors had opened, and passengers were beginning to board the train. From behind Mizu, Katsuro approached. He eyed Haruki to make sure he too was following orders. Once he returned, he too boarded the train, and waved for Haruki and Tetsuo to do the same.

Upon boarding the train, Mizu was already seated at the back of the train. Arms crossed, she stared out of the window and away from everyone else. Right now, all she wanted all she wanted to be was alone like she was accustomed to. Away from the villagers, and away from her supposed teammates. At the moment that wasn't possible, however. As the train filled up there became fewer and fewer spots for her team members to spread out to. She dreaded what was to come next.

Trudging up the metal stairs to the train cart, Katsuro dug his hands into his flack jacket. He brought out his flask of whiskey, quietly taking yet another shot of whiskey. They hadn't even left the train station and already these kids were testing his patience. Katsuro glared through the entire train cart, quickly spotting Mizu at the back. Aside from sitting next to her, there was only one other bench open near the front of the cart. They'd have to double up.

Katsuro thought through all of the seating options as fast as he could. There was no clear option of how to seat his students without causing conflict. If he seated Mizu and Haruki together it was sure to end badly. Then he debated about sitting next to Mizu himself, but that would mean he'd have to sit Haruki and Tetsuo together. In the brief few moments he had to think, Katsuro decided to take a gamble. It was time to see if Tetsuo's punishment had worked or not.

Katsuro grabbed Haruki and pushed him into the window seat of the free bench. "Haruki, you're sitting with me."

As Katsuro grabbed Haruki's things and stuffed them onto the railing above, he turned his head over to Tetsuo.

"Tetsuo, you're sitting next to Mizu."

 

[Pine]

Even though he had been watching the whole time, Tetsuo had not been able to hear anything that was being said, nor had he been able to read the lips of anyone when they were talking. When Taro had parted, Tetsuo silently resigned that he may never know what had been said or done in their odd group. That, however, radically changed as Mizu suddenly raised her voice to an angry shout, as clear to him to hear as any of his thoughts.

Tetsuo raised his brows in surprise. Even in the face of their previous employer borderline harassing her, the only time he had seen her lose her cool like that had been at him. It made him wonder what exactly Taro could've said to earn that reaction from her. It was not as much of a mystery to him what Haruki must've said. He was sure whatever it was, it was something incredibly stupid.

One look at Katsuro and he knew the jonin-sensei was going to make both of them pay for their disruption. Tetsuo gave him a mildly irritated look when he was ordered to wait but said nothing in response, only folded his arms over his chest as he watched Katsuro part the crowd and storm off in their direction.

It was uncommon for Haruki to lose his temper, but as Mizu not only refuted what he said and doubled down with insulting him, he felt the anger in him rise to near uncontrollable proportions. He opened his mouth to shout her back down, but before he could, from his vantage point on the bench, he saw the imposing figure of their sensei descending upon them.

His mouth snapped back shut and his complexion paled as Katsuro hulked his way through the final line of people and yanked Mizu behind him. Haruki shrank back into his seat from the force of the jonin's roar, silencing them both with one decisive command. As Katsuro domineered over them, Haruki dared only to break eye contact with him once to confirm what he thought he had been seeing out of his periphery, which was that Mizu was still glaring at him from the safety of their sensei's back.

Haruki didn't have the nerve to try anything now with Katsuro right in front of him, but the intervention did nothing to assuage his indignation. If anything, this only served to compound his frustration because now, thanks to Mizu's yelling, he was in trouble. He had done nothing to bring Katsuro's ire except defend his friend, but Katsuro was treating him like he was just as much of a factor in this problem as Mizu anyway.

Haruki's expression darkened into a scowl as the shock and fear of being in trouble wore off. He watched as Mizu turned to board the train with Katsuro shortly following suit. Haruki looked down at the extra shirt he'd been meaning to fold into plastic wrap for packing, both of which were still in his hands. His knuckles had whitened from how hard he was squeezing them.

Haruki grabbed what he'd unpacked and shoved everything back into his sack. He snatched his taiyaki off the bench seat, just as ill-tempered in his movements as he'd been with everything else. He nevertheless complied with Katsuro's demands and followed them to the train.

When he caught up to the group, Haruki found that not only had Tetsuo shown up at some point, but the other boy was staring him down with narrowed eyes. Haruki was tired and he hadn't even had a bite of his breakfast yet. He was not in the mood to deal with the nasty attitude his supposed 'teammate' always had.

After Katsuro had taken his first step into the train, Haruki brushed past Tetsuo to follow, trying his best to glare away from the other boy. Tetsuo continued to not say a single word as he uncrossed his arms, readjusted the strap of his sack and stepped up into the train cart's railing. He caught a glimpse of their jonin-sensei already bringing out the flask he kept tucked away in his flak jacket. By this point, Tetsuo could recognize when Katsuro was taking a swig of whatever he was always drinking by him knocking his head back alone.

Haruki had barely a moment to get his footing on the train cart's main floor before the heavy hand of Katsuro had fell upon him. "Hey—!" he started to protest, but was cut short by the older man shoving him into the bench seat, then wresting his sack from the hand that wasn't holding his food. It was the first time he could remember Katsuro laying a hand on him, and Haruki stared back at the jonin with his jaw hanging open, aghast. He glared up at Katsuro as the man gave his orders to Tetsuo, instructing him to sit next to Mizu. After a moment, Haruki pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and turned his back to their sensei, punching out commands into his phone with his free hand.

Tetsuo had been taking in stride everything that had been happening thus far. For once, everyone was on the receiving end of Katsuro's temper except for him, and he'd been enjoying the relative peace of that. But now just as they were moving on and taking the first step in a long process of him getting this mission over with, Katsuro was looking at him and ordering him to sit next to Mizu. Mizu, who was freshly pissed off from someone else's bullshit and despised him.

For a second, he just stared back, lips parted in disbelief. But as his eyes left Katsuro's and roamed over the last of the train's passengers sliding into their respective benches, he realized that once again, there were no other seating options.

If he was being completely honest with himself, there was a small part of him that had been hoping, if he had to sit next to anyone in their squad, it would've been Katsuro. The last time they had ridden in a train together for a mission, the two of them had barely needed to exchange a word and they had just been able to sit in silence together for however many hours it had taken them to get to the Land of Birds. Granted, he had slept for most of the ride, but he doubted that it would've changed anything if he had been awake during any other part of it.

Tetsuo knew this would not be the case if he was stuck next to Haruki. There was no doubt in his mind that the other boy would manage to find some way to get on his nerves, and with the fresh revelation that Haruki had some sort of amicable connection with Taro Yasuda, Tetsuo was predisposed to getting irritated by him in that moment even more than usual. As his eyes tracked to where Mizu's head was pressed almost flushed up against the window of the back of the bus, the small silver lining that he could find was that with sitting next to her, he wouldn't have to sample Katsuro's reeking odor the entire way to the Land of Sound. He may be able to suffer all the animosity between himself and Mizu in exchange for that.

Tetsuo huffed a sigh. "Fine."

He squeezed past Katsuro, leading with his shoulder, and made his way to the back of the train.

Haruki, meanwhile, had pulled open the text thread he had with Mizu. He had felt it was fun and had taken some pride when he had given Mizu's name in his phone an extra flair, not just honoring her with the emoji he had composed, but also giving it the special touch of adding in whiskers. Now, seeing the cutesy, joyous face next to her name and hovering right over the text he hadn't meant to send, but she nevertheless didn't respond to, stirred in him a bitter resentment. He did his best to cover his phone screen with his back as he tapped furiously on the keypad.

Thanks for getting me in trouble​

He sent the text without a second thought then clapped his phone shut. Haruki took a bite from his taiyaki. The filling had cooled by that point, and the waffle-y fish exterior had hardened from its previous, delicately soft texture. Haruki nearly turned completely around to glare at Mizu in the back of the train, watching to see if he could tell if or when she would see his text.

There had been very few people to impede Tetsuo's progress to the end of the train cart. No more than three people had still been sliding their luggage into the compartment above and hogging the aisle while they did it. He waited with an impatient stare, which the very last man seemed to notice, and pressed himself tight against the bench's edge so as to allow Tetsuo to squeeze through. Eventually, he did make it to the one open seat left on the train — the widest berth the cart's capacity would allow for the train's passengers to get away from the Nine-Tails' host.

"Katsuro's making me sit here, so don't get pissy with me," he told Mizu with barely a glance at her. Tetsuo slid his sack off his shoulder and onto the floor, then nudged it under the bench's seat with his foot. "I'll move when I can."

It was only then, as Tetsuo turned around so he could actually take his seat, that it really registered with him how nearly everyone in the latter half of the train cart had their attention on Mizu, and some of that was being passed onto him by association.

The hairs on the back of his neck raised.

It did not matter how subtle people were trying to be about it. He caught every over-the-shoulder side-eye, knew every hushed tone was to keep them from hearing. Tetsuo slowly took his seat next to Mizu. There was something more than the usual reaction he knew from when someone lost their temper in public, and both the concern and social ostracism that came with that. There was something in the atmosphere that disturbed him, and for lack of knowing how else to react to the attention, it agitated him.

Tetsuo fixed the couple seated directly across from them with the meanest stare he could manage. The young woman's lip curled in a disgust she was trying to hide at seeing his expression, but it had the overall effect that he wanted. She averted her eyes and tried pull something out of her bag to occupy her time. Tetsuo passed his glare onto the next set of eyes, not discriminating between the train's passengers that had fully turned their head around or the ones who thought they could get away with pretending to look at something on their shoulder. One by one, he picked them off, until eventually he had reduced the number of people willing to look back at them down to a much more manageable size.

He relaxed marginally, letting his back sink against the bench just a little more. In his conquest to squash out every living thing that couldn't seem to mind their damn business, Tetsuo had nearly missed the cardinal culprit of people he did not want looking their way. Even from clear across the train cart, he could see Haruki peering over his seat and glaring back at them.

Tetsuo shot every bit of a menacing stare Haruki's way as he could manage. The other boy seemed to notice briefly and locked eyes with him, but his eyes immediately wavered and locked back onto Mizu.

 

[Gilzar]

A wave of emotions stirred over Mizu as she stared out the train window. She was angry at Haruki and his rotten friend Taro, this was obvious. Yet underneath her rage, feelings of embarrassment and regret lingered in her hollow stomach. Mizu was embarrassed she let Taro get the better of her. In spite of all of her efforts to be a professional as a kunoichi, she knew she looked like a fool. Everyone in the village would no doubt be talking about how the Nine-Tails caused a ruckus at the train station. No doubt Hisoka would be giving her a stern lecture for this. Yet in spite of these feelings, she didn't regret telling off Taro; she regretted trusting Haruki.

Before she could get anymore lost in her thoughts, the vibration of her cellphone spurred her back to reality. She raised her head up and away from the glass as she adjusted herself to reach into her gear pouch for her cell phone, only to inexplicably freeze up at the sight of Tetsuo standing next to her bench. Her eyes awkwardly traveled around the rest of the cart before she came to the realization they had to sit next to each other. Tetsuo assured her that he wasn't there voluntarily as he sat down.

"Fine." Mizu simply replied to him. After everything that had just happened, she didn't feel like starting another argument.

Earlier in the day Mizu dreaded the idea of being forced to sit next to Tetsuo. Now she was so vexed with Haruki that she surprisingly didn't mind. Mizu didn't care who sat next to her right now just as long as it wasn't Haruki. Tetsuo was an ass, but at least he never tried to hide it. He always seemed to speak his true thoughts, something Mizu didn't realize she respected until having to deal with the social enigma that was Haruki.

As Tetsuo situated himself next to her, Mizu went back to her intended task of getting her cell phone out. Digging it out from the rest of her gear, she quickly turned on the screen only to be greeted by Haruki's unpleasant message. Even on the train, he was still pushing it. A fresh swell of rage washed over her. Immediately her head shot up, looking for him. Ignoring the looks everyone else was giving her, it didn't take long to spot Haruki eying her from the front of the cart. Immediately she returned him an angry glare that ironically mirrored Tetsuo's expression.

If Haruki wanted an apology, he wouldn't find one. Mizu debated about sending him back a text message to put him in his place. She brainstormed the various insults or callbacks to embarrassing moments to get back at him. If she was lucky, maybe he'd freak out and Katsuro would get after him. But the longer she thought about it, the more she realized the best course of action would be to ignore the message. He wasn't worth getting into any more trouble over. Once again Mizu leaned back over to the window and waited for the train to depart.

Meanwhile, Katsuro had finally situated himself in the seat next to Haruki. Since he forced him into his seat, the social butterfly had been suspiciously quiet. Looking over at Haruki, he wasn't entirely sure what the boy was doing but he had a rough idea. Clearly looking back at Mizu and Tetsuo, Katsuro figured he was waiting for a response of some kind or trying to egg them on - neither of which thrilled him.

"Hey dumbass!" Katsuro gently smacked the back of Haruki's head to get his attention. "You mind tellin' me what the fuck happened back there?"

 

[Pine]

From all the way across the cart, Haruki didn't have the clearest view of either of his teammates' faces. He squinted to try to focus in better, but even with the sight of them unfocused, he could see that they were both giving him the same look. Haruki wasn't surprised that Tetsuo or even Mizu was glaring at him, but it further spurred the anger in his gut knowing that Mizu didn't feel a shred of guilt over this. He waited with impatience for her head to dip back down to look at her phone and text him back. His brow twitched as, instead of doing thing, he saw her turn her head back to the window. Completely ignoring him.

Haruki's nostrils flared and his lips tightened. He could not believe she was giving him the silent treatment right now. Haruki brewed up a volley of texts to shoot her way, demonstrate that he would not be easily ignored, when he heard Katsuro's stern voice, followed by a thump to his head.

Haruki grunted and threw his hands up to cover the back of his head where his jonin-sensei had smacked him. He spun around in his seat to give the man an indignant look, even though there was no way that Katsuro could have actually hurt him with that much force. "Taro invited Mizu to come hang out sometime and Mizu just flipped out for no reason. Started acting like a complete jerk." As if it helped emphasize his point, Haruki looked over his shoulder to shoot her a quick dirty look.

- - - - -

Tetsuo stared Haruki down long enough to see the satisfying conclusion of their instructor intervening with a decisive thwack to the head. If the other boy's staring contest had gone on any longer, Tetsuo would've had to have started brainstorming ways to hit him with a wad of paper from clear across the train cart. Whether this would be the easier alternative for Haruki or not, Katsuro had managed to get him to turn around, which meant finally there were no more prying eyes — or at least there were few enough that he could ignore those that were left.

He wanted to bask in that moment of faux privacy, but he couldn't truly relax. He had leaned forward to better glower at Haruki, but even with no more need for this, his back was still not touching the bench. Part of it was that it felt like he had been glaring at everyone around them for so long, his face may have gotten stuck in a perpetual scowl. The other part was, of course, Mizu.

For the first time since joining her at the back of the train, he looked at her intentionally from the corner of his eye. This was what he had been wanting. Ever since the incident with her uncle that morning, he had been planning for the opportunity to admonish her away from the rest of the squad... and yet now that Haruki was a seventy feet away from being able to give any annoying commentary and Katsuro was equidistant from being able to turn it into a lecture on how he needed to be nicer, he couldn't. It was clear to him that Mizu was still stewing from whatever had happened between her, Haruki and Taro, so there was no chance that she would be receptive to whatever he had to say, but it wasn't just that.

In that moment, he felt like he knew exactly how she must've been feeling, because he'd been in that exact same position over and over again. He knew the veiled insults and threats that others use to make themselves feel superior. He knew how when you retaliate against them, they make it seem to be as though you were the one blowing things out of proportion and just how exactly grown-ups respond to that. Then he knew how, in the aftermath, everyone avoided you and waited until you were out of earshot to talk shit about or laugh at you. He knew how isolating that felt, and he knew the need to distance from others so as not to feel the full impact of it. He didn't want to make that worse for her.

He cursed the timing of it all. Under any other circumstances, he would not have hesitated, he thought, but because the universe had a way of working against him, he would have to swallow his frustrations and wait.

Tetsuo rolled his eyes away and gave a moody sigh. He finally let his back rest against the bench. With annoyance, he remembered that there was no place to rest his arms on these trains. With nothing else to do with them, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned his head back as far as it could go. He glared up at the ceiling. Unlike the last time he had been on a train, he was wide awake. If he made himself sleep now, he would be groggy when they actually got to the Land of Sound, and he didn't want anything to impede his progress in getting this stupid mission over with as fast as humanly possible. He desperately wanted the window seat. The changing environment could keep his attention, but Mizu needed it more than he did. He would just have to hope that their next stop would come soon, and a vacancy by a window would open up. Privately, he cursed Katsuro for making him wait to board the train. He should've just gotten on when he could. That way he could've avoided this situation altogether.

To pass the time, he tried to content himself with finding every imperfection he could in the train cart's ceiling. There were very few to be found. Then he tried to think over whether he had forgotten anything in his preparations for this trip. There wasn't a thing he could think of that he hadn't done to prepare his family for his absence. In no time at all, he slipped into ruminating over what had happened in the station again, just as thoughts of Miya's apartment had festered during his breaks in training with Katsuro.

A long time would pass before Tetsuo would say anything. Whoever came on the intercom to share announcements had already given their speech of the current time, estimated time of arrival to their next stop, and reviewed basic safety guidelines. The train jerked forward slightly to start before settling into a smooth acceleration. The faces of everyone waiting on different platforms smudged as they passed, until finally the train broke from the station's roof, and the early morning sun filtered in through the cart's windows.

"You were right, by the way," he said without turning his head to look at her. "That guy's a fucking prick."

 

[Gilzar]

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Katsuro ordered loudly to Haruki.

"She flipped out for no reason?" Katsuro responded in a skeptical yet condescending tone to Haruki's account. He was a troublemaker kid once, and he knew all too well that excuse was always a lie. Had it been Tetsuo instead of Mizu he may have believed it, but Mizu only seemed to act up when pushed over the edge. Although Haruki didn't give him a clear story about what happened, one thing stuck out to him: Taro. He didn't recognize the Daimyo's son at that distance, especially since his recent change of hair color. But given Taro's reputation it wouldn't have surprised him if he was involved. The kid had a reputation for stirring things up when he was in the academy. It was the type of company Katsuro preferred his students to stay away from.

"Just cut the shit and give me the details. There's obviously something that set her off."

--------------

There was a small feeling of relief inside of Mizu as the train finally moved out of the station. After a long morning the team was finally out of the village and headed out to their next mission. As the morning sun pierced the windows, Mizu anxiously watched the trees roll past her window. She should have been excited for this mission. However, after dealing with the likes Sando and Taro, Mizu dreaded having to put up with the nuisance of the upper class even more. Even worse, she'd now have to deal with Haruki's attitude. It just felt like they were off to a bad start and they hadn't even gotten off the train yet.

Before her anxious mind could drift off further, Tetsuo spoke. Mizu slowly shifted her gaze away from the window and over to Tetsuo. It was the first time she'd clearly looked at him in weeks. Her mouth gaped underneath her surprised gaze. The two hadn't spoken in almost a month, yet for once they were on the same page: They both held disdain for Taro. There was a small feeling of satisfaction in her, knowing she wasn't alone.

"You've got that right." Mizu replied to Tetsuo. "If that's who Haruki hangs out with, then it's no wonder he acts like he does."

 

[Pine]

Haruki immediately whipped his head back around, wide-eyed. As heated as he'd been in the moment, it hadn't fully sunk in with him that Katsuro was really getting onto him. His sensei had shoved him into his seat and whacked him on the head, yet only when the man ordered him with the very grownup, authoritarian phrase to look at him when he was being talked to did the spell seem to break and Haruki remembered just who exactly he was dealing with. If he wasn't careful with what he said and how exactly he said it, he may very well be made to reckon with a degree of Katsuro's temper he would never want to bear witness to up-close. The very thought of that made him pale.

Haruki made absolutely certain, now that his exact predicament had come into focus, there was no room for doubt in Katsuro's mind that his attention was anywhere but on him. He ensured this by staring so hard into the man's sunglasses, he could almost see his eyes behind them.

Katsuro's second demand, however, was a little more tricky. He told him to give him the details, but Haruki had a feeling that he didn't actually want the full story, and if he tried to give it to him, he would only get yelled at for not getting to the point quick enough.

He tried to find a middle ground. "I got to the station a little early, so I sat down to try to eat my breakfast and finish sorting my stuff a little before I came to meet up with you guys." Already, Haruki's speech had slowed to a much more conversational pace, and on the surface, his tone seemed much more even and calm. "That was when I ran into my friend, Taro. We talked a little, then he noticed you guys and invited Mizu over to come and talk. He asked her to tell him a little about her, then he did the same. Then he told her she should come hang out sometime with him and some friends, and for whatever reason, she thought he was just trying to insult her or something."

His pitch began to raise, as did the pace of his cadence and the excitement of his vague hand gestures as he continued to talk.

"I tried to tell her that he didn't mean it like that, but she didn't believe me. She just told him off, and then when he left, she started yelling at me!"

- - - - -

Tetsuo looked at Mizu from the corner of his eye without turning his head.

The last time he checked, she and Haruki had been friends with each other. Though he tried not to show it too much, her comment had chaffed him, and he could not completely hide the irritation he felt as his lips drew into a thin, stern line.

Mizu wanted to bring Haruki's behavior into this, but she'd seemed to have no problem at all with the other boy when he'd whispered and laughed conspiratorially with her at the interrogation core at his expense, nor when he'd found some great amusement with Katsuro putting him on the spot their first night of the mission, nor when he'd made some sort of smart ass remark about him when he'd been trying to talk business about their mission the following morning at breakfast. All of these slights, Mizu had been there to see. In fact, she had most commonly been meant to be on the receiving end anytime Haruki tried to make him into some kind of inside joke. Now that they had gotten into one little fight, only when it had something to do with how she had been treated, Mizu wanted to come out as being against Haruki's character.

There was no use in pointing this out to her though. Even if he somehow got her to see past her own hatred of him enough to see the wrongings against him, Tetsuo neither expected nor wanted her pity.

Just as much, even if he agreed with her comment, Tetsuo took no pleasure in talking about someone behind their back. If it were up to him, he wouldn't spend a second of his free time talking or even thinking about Haruki, even with nothing else to do.

So with nothing he wanted to say, he simply shrugged his shoulders a little and rolled his eyes away. He hadn't known what he'd expected by making the comment he did, but if any more was going to be said between the two of them for this trip, he wasn't going to be the one starting it again.

 

[Gilzar]

With Haruki's full attention now on him, Katsuro keenly listened in on his explanation of what went down. The enthusiasm his student spoke with, along with his hand gestures, almost made it seem like he was enjoying recalling the events. In spite of Haruki's apparent effort however, Katsuro was neither amused nor satisfied. There was clearly a major chunk of the story missing, because nothing Haruki described would have been enough to push someone over the edge.

Haruki's last statement stuck out to the grizzled jonin. "He didn't mean it like that?" Katsuro asked in his usual annoyed tone.

"What the hell did he say that he didn't mean?"

-------

Mizu waited for a response from Tetsuo. Seconds would pass between the two, with still not a peep out of him. All she would get instead was a shrug and an eye roll that Tetsuo made no attempt to hide. She leered at him for such a blatantly disrespectful response, well aware he would see it out of the corner of her eye. If he didn't want to talk then what was the point of saying anything to begin with?

"I don't get you. Or Haruki." Mizu admitted in a clearly irritated tone before she turned her head back to the window.

"I wish I didn't have to be on this stupid squad." She muttered underneath her breath as her eyes gazed toward the morning sun.

It was true. She hated being on this team. Katsuro had told them this squad was the last stop for problem shinobi. So why was she here? Mizu dedicated all of her time toward being a shinobi. At the academy she studied hard to be one of the top members of her class. In spite of what the other students might have thought about her, it always seemed like her instructors were pleased. Their gratification and words of praise meant something to her. Her superiors always said that her hard work would pay off and that one day she would be rewarded. Clearly that wasn't the case. Now she was stuck with two of the most loathsome genin in the village.

Whatever fragile group dynamic they had felt like it had fallen apart. There was no love lost between her and Tetsuo. At this point their bickering didn't bother her. She woke up every morning expecting it. What kept flashing through her mind Haruki. They weren't close, and by no means was he dependable, but Haruki was the only person on the team she could openly interact with. Mizu had even tried to be his friend, but that backfired on her. Now it seemed everyone would be at each other's throats.

 

[Pine]

The exact bit of information that Katsuro was honing in on in his interrogation was exactly the bit of information Haruki had been hoping he could gloss over, and this was evident from the wide-eyed 'Can you believe this?' look on his face shifting to a bare-teethed cringe. As adamant as he was being, Haruki knew how bad his friend's words were going to sound when he repeated them back. This was often the case whenever he tried to explain Taro to anyone else.

Taro had a tendency to be very... blunt. Throughout the entirety of their friendship, he had always been like that. When he had first come to the Leaf Village, like clockwork, Taro would visit his desk every day and make some comment about how meek he was, or point out how distrustful others were of him for originating from the Land of Lightning. At first, much like Mizu, he had thought Taro was doing this just to pick on him, and often he would go to his new home in a foreign land with loneliness and resentment in his heart. However, as the weeks went on, Taro's persistent effort to invite him to socialize wore him down. Spending time with him, Haruki learned that, as much as Taro's unfiltered commentary pricked at the insecurities of everyone around him, he never actually thought lesser of anyone for them. Even now, around five years into their friendship, Taro would still say things that stung for the rest of the evening, but Haruki knew logically these were just things meant to be taken in stride.

Explaining the nuances of this social dynamic to the likes of a man like Katsuro felt like a monumental task, one that Haruki felt uncertain he had the wherewithal to undertake himself. When Haruki tried to picture Katsuro 'hanging out' with anyone, all he could think of was a brooding council of men, slamming whiskey shots and gruffly recounting events of the war back and forth to each other. Nothing that actually entailed the fun time that getting together with friends was supposed to bring. He wasn't even sure if Katsuro had ever had fun once in his life.

Now that Katsuro had latched onto that one detail in his storytelling, however, Haruki knew he couldn't completely avoid telling his sensei what he wanted to know. He had no idea what the jonin would do to him if he caught him lying, but with how he'd seen him rough handle Tetsuo, he didn't want to take that risk. He instead tried the next best thing: to pick and choose his words carefully. Unfortunately, his friend had left him with very little material to work with this time.

"He just said... you know... that she doesn't seem like she really gets to hang out with people." Then he said a little quieter, "And that's probably why she doesn't have any hobbies."

Haruki tried again to move past this by returning to his previous volume and cadence. "But the point is, he was trying to help her. And I was trying to explain that to her, but she wouldn't believe me even though she has no reason not to trust me."

He sank back a little and finally took a second bite of his taiyaki, all while giving Katsuro a sulky frown as he chewed.

- - - - -

What had he done now?

Tetsuo had done so much to be not mean to Mizu ever since they had been forced into the back of train cart together. He set aside his frustrations with the events of this morning to keep from egging her on. He didn't say anything when she made a hypocrite of herself just so they didn't get in a petty argument. He shrugged just to make sure she didn't think he was completely ignoring her, and now he continued to not make a fuss about her getting the window seat even though he really wanted to put his cheek against the cool glass of a window pane and glare at the passing landscape right now. Yet even with all of these efforts he'd made, she still found a reason to glower at him.

Agitation rising in him, he turned his own glare back at her, just as she was turning her head back to the window. He kept it brief, though, and went back to scowling up at his ceiling.

Tetsuo, once again, had nothing to say at first. He maintained that he didn't want to waste a second of his time thinking about Haruki, or Mizu's dynamic with him. As for her comment about not understanding him, that much was obvious. Part of that was intentional. He didn't need someone like her thinking she knew a thing about him and casting judgments anyway, as much of a teacher's pet as she was. There was no missing her second comment though, even if she meant it more for herself than for him to hear it.

He puffed a gentle snort. "Yeah, well, that makes two of us," he said.

Tetsuo sank further back into his seat and raised his leg to prop his foot against the bench in front of them, arms still crossed, brow still furrowing. By no means did he yearn for the company of his old squad. The genin he was forced to work with then were a headache all of their own, and his old instructor was completely useless and taught him nothing. Even with that in consideration, he couldn't exactly call the current setup with his new squad an upgrade. As much as he hated his old sensei, at least he never felt like his livelihood was majorly threatened with him, and as annoying as his old squadmates were, Haruki consistently managed to disappoint him with his incompetence, even when he was expecting nothing. If that wasn't enough, then he had the demon fox of their village as their third, and all the baggage that came along with that.

What Tetsuo really wanted was to be left alone. If he didn't have a squad to deal with, then he wouldn't have to waste so much of his days getting dragged down by others, and there'd be no one for him to get angry at. Without everyone pissing him off all the time, he wouldn't ever get in trouble and have to deal with all the dumb shit grownups came up with to try to get him to atone.

But the last mission they were on made it clear, even with some of these lower-ranked missions, he couldn't do everything on his own. He may have been able to get Rei out of that psychopath's house, but he wouldn't have stood a chance resisting Genzo or even that chuunin girl on his own. In fact, he probably wouldn't have been able to find Rei without Katsuro's summon. In all likelihood, he would have to be a jonin before he would ever get sent out on to do a mission on his own, and even after month of relentless training, he felt leagues away from that goal, both in terms of his own abilities and having them actually be recognized. That sense of powerlessness, more than anything, embedded a deep-set frustration within him.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro continued to glare at Haruki as the boy awkwardly chewed away at his meal. He carefully stewed over every word his student said, trying to get an accurate picture of everything that went down. It seemed that Haruki had finally given up what he was trying to hide: Taro seemed to be the instigator. The comments that Taro didn't seem too bad, but under the right circumstances he could also see someone taking offense to them. For now, Haruki's answer had satisfied him. Later he intended to ask for Mizu's side of the story, though he didn't look forward to it. He hated having to insert himself into the drama of his students.

Katsuro relaxed himself into the seat. "Alright." He simply said, crossing his arms as his back found the most comfortable position to lean into.

"But I want to know something else. How did your training with Matsuda go?"


---------

It wasn't surprising to Mizu to hear that Tetsuo seemed to share her feelings about being on the team. Afterall, he blew it with his first team. She wondered just exactly what he did to get a Jonin to finally sign his transfer papers. Was it just his attitude? Or was there some big event that was the final straw? Either way, she was stuck with him and there was nothing she could do about it. They were at least speaking to each other when needed, and that hopefully would be enough for Katsuro and her uncle.

Mizu continued looking out the window at the passing landscape. Occasionally she'd eye the isle, looking for anybody leaving their seat. She debated about just leaving the cart to search for a new spot to linger but decided not to. It wasn't worth potentially upsetting Katsuro.

 

[Pine]

For a moment, Haruki looked at Katsuro as if he'd grown a second head. That was it? Just moments before, he had been sneering down on him with barely concealed condescension, barking commands and practically manhandling him. After all of that, he could hardly believe that there was any answer that he would've given that would've been satisfactory enough, yet as he finally took his seat next to him, there wasn't a stern word to be heard. No lecture, no telling him that he had done anything wrong, no derogatory comments. All Katsuro had to give was an inquiry about his past few weeks of training with Matsuda.

Haruki didn't trust it. He conveyed this plainly by watching him with great attention and a wary expression. After he swallowed his bite of the sweet, nutty pastry, he answered shortly, "It was fine."

He was going to leave it at that so as it give Katsuro no further reason to be annoyed with him, but after a moment, a pang of fear hit him. If he came off as too disinterested, would Katsuro bar him from ever training with her again? To say that it had been fine was an understatement. Getting to train with Matsuda had been like a breath of fresh air after the last training session, which had been Katsuro passing on his instructing responsibilities to Mizu and bratty rude know-it-all Tetsuo. When he pictured training with Katsuro, too, he imagined a militant demand for obedience. No room for jokes, smiles. Just down to business sort of work. When he thought of it that was, it was much more to say that training with Matsuda had been very very very very nice.

"I would enjoy training with her again," he added quickly, a tiny spark of panic in his eyes.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro gave Haruki a quizzical look in response to the slight look of panic in Haruki's eyes. He was acting strange, more so than usual. All he had asked was just how training went, so what was his deal? Matsuda was a hard woman to get a hold of, so he had no idea how any of the last three weeks went. Though he was somewhat perplexed, he just shrugged it off thanks in part to the alcohol in his veins. If he enjoyed training with Matsuda, then it must have gone well.

"Matsuda's good, but she's a busy woman." He responded to Haruki.

"Kaito has her doing all sorts of random shit these days. It'll be hard to get her to help out again."