Fandom Squad Shithead: A Naruto AU

[Pine]

Continuation from here.

cw: drug/alcohol abuse, depictions of mental illness and ableism, violence and gore, animal death, themes of child abuse/neglect, suicidal ideation
several things have been retconned because we've had this rp going for fucking years. unofficial start to our rp canon is here.

Haruki

Mizu wasn't at all subtle about wanting to be cut down. Uncertain, Haruki's eyes cut over to where their sensei had been domineering over their other teammate. The girl's thrashing had evidently drawn his attention, because Katsuro had already been looking over in their direction.

He gave his admission to cut her down. Haruki was relieved, less that for her sake, but rather that she could stop writhing in her restraints. The first time she did it, he couldn't help but flinch at her sudden violence.

A gentle smile replaced his concerned gaze. "Alright!" He flipped open the holster on his right leg and stuck his finger through the ring of his kunai, withdrawing the knife. He stepped behind the pole and pinched the a piece of rope, then cut down on it. As he continued to cut the complex tangle of ropes, he stayed tuned to what their sensei was saying. Katsuro said he could cut down his other teammate, but only once he started behaving. He glanced at the other boy. Tetsuo was still and quiet now. Haruki doubted that would last long.

Then Katsuro instructed them to guard the shrine for the night. Haruki had no idea what they needed to guard a shrine from, but his confusion was soon forgotten in light of an exciting new prospect. As he cut the last of Mizu's bondage, his grin turned into a beaming smile. "So it'll be like camping!" He was giddy at the thought, forgetting for the moment how disagreeable some, or at least one, of his teammates seemed to be. "I've never camped before. This should be fun."


Tetsuo

As though his displeasure couldn't grow, he felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach. He was already on thin ice with Katsuro, he knew that, but his demands had grown taxing. Nagging worries he had all but forgotten before began to eat again at his conscious. Should he sneak away, hope somehow a jonin wouldn't noticed, or risk the conversation?


"I have to do something first." The words blurted from his mouth, jumping in excitement from the growing anxiety he felt. Tetsuo stared at the man, blinking very little. He hoped the intensity of his expression, neutral save for the slightly widened eyes, would be sufficient to convey his statement was an unspoken request.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

Tetsou continued to surprise yet annoy the grizzled Jonin. "You, have something to do?" he questioned, wondering just what he would have to do this late in the day. For christ sakes, it was training day! Katsuro wondered if the instructors at the academy told them to not have any plans this day, or were they too busy preaching technique?

For a brief moment or two he looked away from Tetsou and stared into the fire that he had recently lit. The expression on his face lightened up a bit, as his muscles relaxed into place. He was annoyed, but relieved that Tetsou was finally speaking to him like a human being. "Alright..."

"What do you have to do?" He asked in a much less confronting voice "Tell your team why you want to leave,".

Mizu

Haruki's enthusiasm definitely helped Mizu ease the numbing sense of embarrassment residing in her. She just got beaten in almost all aspects of combat. On the feet, he dominated her in Taijutsu, which she expected but...not at that caliber. He was fast, strong, and he had endurance. Even his cardio was amazing...but what really bothered her wasn't any of this. It was the IQ he showed. You wouldn't guess it by looking at Katsuro, but he was a master tactician. He made fools of them; he toyed with them.

Now Mizu's squad probably saw her as a weak link. Though she was curious about Haruki's level. She barely knew anything about him. While Katsuro and Tetsou were busy squabbling about whatever-the-hell it was now, Mizu began to look over her team mate, summing him up if you'd call it that. Curious to learn more about him, she might as well try to start conversation.

She leaned back onto the palms, sitting on the dirt "What the hell do you think those two are blabbering on about now?"

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo

The condescending tilt of how Katsuro said "you" instantly sparked a flash of temper in him. "I'm not five," Tetsuo said. "Some of us have-"

But he caught himself, biting down the rest of his words. His eyebrows lifted in annoyance, huffing a scoff. He couldn't forget the jonin's threat from earlier. He couldn't let his mouth get him in trouble again, no matter how much of a stupid stuck-up shit-faced obnoxious arrogant asshole Katsuro was. He couldn't be sent back to the academy like that.

Talking to his anointed sensei was like defusing a bomb, but with a hammer. Someone with more expertise in not pissing people off might be able to do it. Tetsuo wasn't that person.

He stared at Katsuro's head, fidgeted in his restraints as his threadbare patience grew thinner by the second.

He was still, however, when the jonin gave his consent to leave. For a moment, he doubted if he had even heard the man right.

He hadn't misheard him, though, and this was confirmed for him in the most disappointing way. Katsuro ordered him to tell the whole squad why. Of course he wouldn't just let him go. Tetsuo was certain this was all just a ploy to humiliate him. The thought made his face heat.

"It's personal." No. Wait. That was too curt, and if his teammates were listening, they might make some wrong assumptions.

Tetsuo tried again, "I just have to go by my house real quick." His arm twitched to turn in gesture, but the ropes tying him barred his action. He was becoming acutely aware of how tight the material felt around his wrists, how much it pressed into his legs and kept his knees nearly locked. "And I mean, you wanted me to have my gear, right?" he continued. "I can just grab that."


Haruki

Haruki had been watching his sensei, waiting for any further instructions when the girl by him spoke. His looked down to where she was sitting, brows lifted to show his attention.

At her question, he laughed a little. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe they're arguing about whose head is the largest." Haruki tapped his head with both hands, then stretched his arms out in a growing gesture, a big grin on his face.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

"Yah' got 20 minutes, kid." Katsuro exclaimed. "And I expect a pack of smokes when you get back."

That was the least this kid could do. Leave the mission? Did he not just tell him that it was his duty to guard this shrine. Yes, it was a dumb and tedious task but the point of it was to get them to obey any command. Sadly though, this was not the case. Right now it would seem that Haruki just might be the smartest on the squad because he obeyed orders. But by no means was he easy, or else Katusro would not have ended up with him. He prided himself on breaking down the troublemakers and turning them into functional shinobi. Truly, that's one of the few reasons why he was still allowed to be at his rank in spite of his temper.

"I don't like my time being wasted you know."

Mizu

Mizu let out a small giggle. She was starting to ease up a bit. Her shoulders loosened, and she stopped fiddling with her hair so much. There was still the slight awkwardness in the hair; She didn't really know her teammates all that well. Not even Tetsou...though she didn't necessarily care to get to know him. There was a difference between being difficult and an ass, and Tetsou walked that line very finely.

"It's Haruki right? I'm Mizu." She exclaimed awkwardly. "Sorry for not properly introducing myself earlier...."

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo

Tetsuo's posture perked, eyebrows peaking. Was that really all he had to say? He felt light on his feet, enough to bounce the entire way to his house. Twenty minutes? He could be done in ten, Tetsuo thought.

Then Katsuro threw in his second demand.

Tetsuo's expression became that of incredulity. "I'm fourteen," he said. "How am I supposed to get cigarettes?"


Haruki

The instant she giggled, Haruki was giggling too. He idly fit his fists into the pockets of his drop crotch pants and rolled back to the heels of his feet.

"Haruki, yeah. Good to meet you, Mizu." He may have extended his hand to shake had she not be sitting on the ground. Instead, his brows furrowed in confusion, smile dropping to a frown. "I don't know why you're apologizing," he said, the statement sounding more like a question. Katsuro had thrust the three of them into training the moment they had gathered together. There wasn't any chance to make proper introductions when their sensei told them to all compliment each other upon meeting.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

"You're not five" Katsuro belittled. "So figure it out."

There were lots of ways that Tetsou could get smokes...In fact, WAY more than Katsuro could count on both hands. He used to get smokes for his Sensei all the time when he was Tetsou's age. So, in otherwords, if Tetsou couldn't accomplish this he'd be very disappointing.

With the evening sky beginning to darken with every minute, and the color fading to a beautiful orange, pink, and violet mix, Katsuro took off his now taped glasses (No thanks to Tetsou) and let his geen eyes sit exposed to the world around him. For a few moments they were looking at Mizu and Haruki, who were giggling among themselves. At least these two get along....for now. Just thinking about the stress of trying to get Tetsou to work with them gave him a headache, which only made him crave his cigarettes more.

"Don't bicker. Get going, timer starts now!" He ordered out impatiently, pointing back to the village.

"One....Two....Three...."

Mizu

Knowing that they'd be here for a while, and thinking of the answer to Haruki's question, Mizu began taking the pins out of her hair and undoing her pony tail. Each pin she temporarily stored between her teeth in a feral manner.

"Well." She undid the final part of her pony tail and her wavy hair fell straight down to her shoulders. This was much more comfortable. "Because I can." And with that she shrugged, and stored her pins in her pouch. Useful tools for both locks of hair and metal alike.

"That and I still should have introduced myself."

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo

Tetsuo's jaw dropped. He was being completely unreasonable! How the fuck was he supposed to get cigarettes? He'd spend the entire twenty minutes trying to get his hands on some! It's not like he could just buy them. No way anyone's going to buy him posing as an older guy. What, was he supposed to infiltrate the underground system of selling cigarettes to minors? He didn't even have the money to buy from his imaginary vendors!

No. This time, Katsuro had absolutely lost his mind. This was an impossible task set up just to watch him fail.

"But—!" Tetsuo's protest was cut short by Katsuro's counting.

His face contorted into a scowl, teeth bared. "Tch!" Tetsuo's foot twisted and pushed off the ground towards the village.


Haruki

His expression deepened, eyes squinting in confusion as his brow knit closer and closer together. Her answer didn't make any sense to him, but he also wasn't interested enough to pursue the topic further. "Okay... if you say so..." The implicit you're being weird was easily read in his tone.

Haruki looked away from her and back to where their sensei was looking over at them. Their small teammate looked absolutely flabbergasted. Haruki couldn't read his sensei's face, even if there was anything to read. There was something unnerving about the way the man looked without his glasses, however, which made him look away again and back at Mizu.

With her ponytail taken down, her hair looked a lot longer than before. Any other features about the girl's face was offset by the distracting markings on her cheeks. "Hey, why do you have whiskers?" he asked. "Is that a clan thing or something?"

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

He dragged his fingers down the sides of his face as he listened to Tetsou's whining.If this bottom feeder couldn't get a simple pack of smokes then by no means should he be a shinobi. Tetsou had far difficult trials in the academy. Besides, had it not struck him yet he could simply use the transformation jutsu?

"The apple does not fall far from the tree." he mumbled quietly as he watched Tetsou scamper off. "That's for damn sure..."

He would have lit a cigarette to celebrate his 20 minutes of peace but he was out. Hence the point of getting a minor to buy them for him. For just a moment or so, it was truly peaceful. The sky was absolutely astounding, with it's variety of colors. The wind, sifted in just the perfect fashion. The heat, beautifully radiated off the skin in almost the perfect temperature...

Then Haruki opened his damn mouth...

Katsuro's head turned slightly upon hearing his question. Has this kid been living in a box? Everyone knows what those whiskers are! Eagerly he awaited the response, ready to break anything up.

Mizu

As the conversation tone changed, Mizu's facial expression lessened to an annoyed state. She could tell Haruki thought she was being weird, but she really didn't care. Everyone thought she was weird, so this wasn't really anything new to her. What made her eyes open wide and her mouth drop slightly was how he didn't know what the whiskers on her meant. Most recognized its meaning before they even spoke with her. Yet Haruki just sat there, ignorant as a rock, he really didn't know what they were.

Mizu blinked a few times in disbelief. "They're...." Another awkward pause, and she blushed slightly when she saw her Sensei's head turn to listen to the conversation. Do I really need to say it? Rarely she spoke about her Jinchuriki. It was very frowned upon.

"They're not clan markings? It's Jinchuriki markings. I have the nine tailed fox in me."

 

[Pine]

Haruki

Again, confusion shaped the grimace on his face. His jaw gaped open just enough for his lips to form a variety of shapes as he tried to craft together what she said. Mizu talked about it as if he should already know, but it wasn't ringing any bells to him. Was Jinchuuriki some sort of organization? How could she have a fox in her? Was it a spiritual thing? He'd never seen a fox with more than one tail and—

His eyebrows lifted, mouth still hanging as it hit him. "Oh," he breathed out.

It had been a long time since Haruki heard about Jinchuurikis. He had heard his parents over dinner in the past, talking about how the Jinchuurikis were being used in the war at any given point. It must have been a long time since he asked, though, because what exactly that meant was lost on him. It was just one of those words he heard people use and he never really gave more thought to it. All that he could recollect was that all the major villages seemed to have one, they must have been weapons of some sort, and they had... foxes in them? With more than one tail?

The closer he came to piecing things together, the more confused he felt.

Haruki's arm reached back over his head, running his hand over and through his bright copper hair. "So..." He spoke softer than before, squinting again as though he was thinking hard about what to say. He scrunched his nose and looked back at her. "Does... is it like... a real... fox, like... inside... you—?" He brought his hand back down in gesture, poising his hand so that the tips of his fingers tapped his stomach.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

The uncomfortable look on Mizu's face couldn't be anymore obvious, and Katsuro dragged the palm of hand hand over his face in frustration. Normally Katsuro would scold such behavior. But, according to Haruki's case file he grew up in a small village. "What kind of dipshits raised this kid..." Katsuro whispered to himself. How did he get out of the academy without knowing what Jinchuriki were?! Did he not know of the legend of the nine-tails from Naruto Uzumaki?

"No." Katsuro said loudly. "That's not a normal fox inside of our friend. It's a tailed beast - A 'being' I guess you could say with extremely large amounts of chakra, greater than even that of our Hokage..."

He hesitated for a second, remembering he wasn't supposed to tell the students about the demise of their recent Hokage.

"You know...Like Naruto Uzumaki, or Gaara of the sand. Or did you not did you not pay attention in the academy, Haruki?"

Mizu

Jesus this is awkward... Mizu thought to herself as Katsuro rambled on about what was...inside of her. Truth be told she didn't even know all of the specifics about it...Thanks Dad!

Mizu just simply sat next to the fire with her legs crossed and starred into the fire. The blushing from her face was now gone, and instead she simply looked unmoved. If anything she was annoyed of the topic. She hated being a Jinchuriki. Being one wasn't like the glamorous stories of Naruto Uzumaki; Not that she would have chosen it even if she were aware of such stories.

She folded her arms, and pressed them tightly against her chest. Then she turned to the both of them.

"Let's change the subject."

 

[Pine]

Haruki

Haruki jumped at the sound of their sensei's booming voice and looked over at him. He hadn't realized the man had been listening in on their conversation.

He was interested in listening to Katsuro though. The man was a jonin, so he should have a lot of knowledge about it!

But as he spoke, he became increasingly apprehensive about the cross tone their sensei's voice. It would be a lie to say he wasn't at least a little afraid of the man, especially after getting knocked out so quickly by him in their last task. He could already imagine the horrible punishments a man like Katsuro would bring on him if he didn't find Haruki's knowledge sufficient. He vividly pictured his sensei dropping a stack of textbooks in front of him, tasking him to read every page of them, even the index.

He hesitated. "I mean..."

How could he explain that he did... probably pay attention to the history lectures? Yes, he had heard about Gaara and Naruto, much like he had heard about Yagura and Killer B. The thing was, once he came to the academy in Konohagure, the narrative for all these historical figures changed significantly. The people of his village didn't necessarily hold Naruto in bad taste, but in comparison, the people here seemed to revere him as a demigod. These inconsistencies confused him so much he could almost feel his brain shutting down in each new lesson.

Needless to say, he was still confused about what exactly it meant to have a fox or a beast "inside" of someone, and using historical figures as reference did not help him conceptualize it one bit. Greater chakra than a kage? Where does something that great sit in a person? In the stomach?

He looked at Mizu when she spoke.

A frustration began to swell in Haruki's gut. "What? I'm just trying to understand better. What's wrong with that?"

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

Haruki still wasn't getting how taboo this subject was. Katsuro felt a great irritation bulging in his head.

"Did I stutter? Was your village full of inbred dipshits Haruki? Or are you just plain stupid?!"

Katsuro began pacing toward the two genin now, nostrils visibly flaring as he heavily breathed in the cool evening air. Haruki

"Mizu obviously doesn't want to talk about it. However, being the upstanding shinobi I am, I refuse to let the younger generation descend into utter stupidity since apparently our Education system is too fucking stupid to gave you a common sense education. I'll talk nice and slow this time.The Nine Tailed Fox is an entity of pure chakra. It probably has more chakra in this village than all the Jonin in this village. You know, lots of chakra! Really powerful! The Nine Tail leveled this entire fuckin' village at one time I hear. It took countless shinobi to fight it, and cost the fucking fourth Hokage his life to seal it away! So in case you still don't get it, it's really, really powerful. And there's eight more of these fuckers' either running around or sealed in someone else."

Katsuro took a moment to breathe, frustrated that he lost his temper yet again over a child's curiousity. He let out a sigh.

"Jinchuriki, or the demons inside of children like Mizu, kill a lot of people and are viewed as an ultimate weapon. It's a really fucked up idea that I don't like talking about and I can't imagine Mizu likes talking about either. Do you understand now Haruki, or do I need to to dumb it down more?"

He looked around violently, craving his evening smokes.

"And where the flippin' fuck is Tetsou? That dumbass should have been back here 10 minutes ago!"

Mizu

Mizu's eyed down her Sensei as he went on his tangent. It had only been what, eight minutes since Tetsou left? Time must go slow when you're slowly killing yourself with poison. At this point she wouldn't mind that though. Maybe she'd get a new sensei...or something. Clearly she asked them to stop, but they wouldn't! Haruki didn't know why the entire village had outcast her, was that really such a bad thing? Her breathing intensified, and her face reddened.

 

[Pine]

Haruki

Haruki's eyebrows lifted in surprise, first at their sensei's outburst, then at the verbal attack on his home village. "Whoa-" he began to protest, holding up his palms in defense, but quickly realized that the man had gone volatile.

His shoulders hunched forward and he leaned back so as to shrink away from Katsuro storming towards him. If he had been standing straight, he was certain his knees would have locked. Haruki could practically feel the heat of his fuming nostrils puffing onto him, as though he were a bull.

As Katsuro went on his tangent, Haruki found it increasingly hard to concentrate on what exactly was being said. Big chakra. Killed powerful people. That was the extent of what he could process as the greatest present threat to his life was spitting history lessons at him.

When Katsuro asked if he needed to simplify it anymore, Haruki shook his head vigorously. He wasn't entirely sure if he understood, but what he did understand is that he didn't want to hear his sensei talk about it anymore, and that his sensei even more certainly did not want to hear a peep coming out of his mouth. So he withdrew into absolute silence, staring panicked at his sensei in case he decided to lash out.

If their other teammate was here, he'd probably be taking the piss instead of Haruki. Really, where was Tetsuo?


Tetsuo

There was a soft thump after he slid off a neighboring roof and onto his front porch. It took longer than he had thought to get back to his house. Tetsuo had been fine to run at first, but the more he jumped tree to tree, then roof to roof, the more his arches flexed, and he began to feel the skin in his feet split, followed by a faint burning. Now standing before his house, his feet were throbbing, but he didn't have any time to properly nurse them.

He jostled the doorknob, if only for it to turn smoothly. Of course Sōtō forgot to lock the door. He rolled his eyes and stepped in.

The living area was dim. The sun had set now behind the house that eclipsed their own, and now there were only strands of light peeking through the paper door to their backyard. The only other light was coming from under the door of Sōtō's room. He had gotten the family in the habit of keeping all the lights off except for the room they were currently in so as to save electricity. His mother rarely got out of bed to turn them on, and would rather squint in the darkness as she tried to thumb through some spiritual book.

Tetsuo kicked his new shoes off, the price tag ticking on the wooden floor. He would figure out what to do with those later.

He marched over to Sōtō's room, the bandages on his feet dampening the sound of his footfall. Without bothering to knock, he swung open her bedroom door.

The girl looked up, alarmed where she cross-legged across from some brunette neighbor girl her age, a throng of tiny dolls littered between the two of them. "Hey!" Sōtō yelled. "Hello? The sign says knock first."

The sign actually read "NO BOYS ALLOWED" but she forgot about the cool new sign her friend had given her.

Her annoyance didn't faze him. Tetsuo stared hard at her and said, "Sōtō, why haven't you started dinner yet?"

Her nose crinkled in annoyed and she splayed her hand out. "You were supposed to cook dinner. I'm playing with Michi."

"I've told you before, if I'm not home by a certain time, you have to take over dinner," he said.

"What happened to your feet?" Michi asked.

"I was playing with Michi," Sōtō repeated.

The small amount of patience he had left in him snapped. "Sōtō, I don't have time for this!"

Disregarding their house guest, Tetsuo stormed up to his younger sister and yanked her up by her arm, making her drop the toy in her arm. Sōtō let out a loud shriek at this.

She continued screaming and pulling her arm against him. "Sōtō!" he yelled again. "I'm not killing you, just come on." Tetsuo only managed to drag her to the door before he had enough of her shrill screeching and he let go, for fear of disturbing their mom.

Sōtō held her arm and grimaced furiously at him.

"Sōtō, I don't have time for this," he said. "I need to leave. Now is not the time for you to be annoying. Just do what I say."

"I don't know what to do," she snapped back.

"Oh my god, it's not that hard. Come on." Tetsuo held the door open with his arm, scowling at her until she walked past him.

They walked to the kitchen together, Tetsuo practically pushing her onward from behind with how close his steps were behind her.

He sighed harshly at the sight of the kitchen area. "You haven't even set anything out yet." Tetsuo did not shy away from slamming doors as he pulled out all the ingredients for the stew. Sōtō kept a cautious distance as he slung carrots, cream, and let the pot, now sloshing with water and broth, down with a clatter. It was extremely rare for her to see him in such a turbulent mood, and now the her initial anger had faded, the nervous fear could plainly be seen on her expression with every slam of a cabinet that he made.

"There," he said. "Literally all you have to do is cut that stuff up, throw it in there, and turn the heat down if it starts to boil over."

Michi had finally gathered the nerve to creep around the corner of Sōtō's room, a doll clutched tightly to her chest.

Tetsuo's eyes flickered over to the nearest clock, and a spike of anxiety rose in him, not because of the time that it was per se, but rather that he had no starting point, so he really had no idea how long it had been. He didn't say anything else and walked briskly to his room. Michi shrunk against the wall and out of his way as he passed, then once he closed the door, ran over to her friend.

Once in his room, he pulled the brown shirt over his head threw it to the floor, followed by his shorts. He sat on the floor and reached into another clothes pile, pulling on his navy, half-calf pants. He tugged a shirt of mesh arm down over his head and at his side, then threw a gray jacket over that. Tetsuo patted around his waist to ensure that his pouch and holster were still there, then slid on his sandals and walked out of his room.

Sōtō looked up from where she had been whispering conspiratorially towards her friend and stared at Tetsuo, wary about what he would do.

Again he down the hall, through the living area and towards her. This time however, he pulled Sōtō's head into his chest, which she tensed up and resisted until he planted a light peck at the crest of her head. "I love you. You'll do fine," he said. Tetsuo ruffled her head a little, making her pigtails lopsided, then walked around the counter and out the door.

He stood outside, breathing in the evening village air. Now where the fuck am I going to get a pack of ciagerettes?

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

That rant made Katsuro feel a lot better. It was good to vent every now and then, even at the expense of someone else's feelings. His students may not have liked him, but he'd be damned if they wouldn't respect him. With respect comes loyalty. He knew that very well. Once again he took a second or two to look at both of his students. Haruki looked like he'd remember that rant for a long time. Maybe some good could come out of that, lord knew that Katsuro didn't need another Tetsou.

"Good. I'm glad we're at an understanding."

His attention then turned to Mizu. Her face was red, and obviously she wasn't happy. But he was in no mood for a temper tantrum, not at the moment. Unlike Haruki, and perhaps Tetsou, Katsuro knew a lot about Mizu. All of the Jonin did. It was their responsibility to watch over her, from the shadows of course. From the moment Hokage Soruto selected her as the vessel of the Nine Tails, Katsuro and all of the Jonin kept their eyes on her. She was a tricky child, but Katsuro almost pitied her...Almost.

"Spare me it, Mizu. Not in the mood for any of your drama shit either."

Yet Mizu's breathing only intensified further. She obviously wasn't pleased.

Katsuro let out another sigh, then folded his arms.

"I'm not going to baby either of you. No bullshit. You're shinobi now. The moment you graduated and left the classroom you accepted that responsibility. This is on you." Katsuro explained to both of his Students.

"From now on I want you to address me as Sensei, or Katsuro Sensei, I don't give a damn which one. I'm your teacher and superior and it's time you both addressed me that way. No more back-talking, and do as I say. In general just don't be like fucking Tetsou and you'll be fine."

"And I expect you two to tell your dumbass of a comrade that too. I've already told him this shit. Maybe he'll listen to you."

Mizu

Mizu didn't say anything. She just let out a sigh and starred down at the fire, still red with anger. But she wasn't going to do anything at the moment.

"Oh, and Mizu. I've been meaning to tell you this for a while...." Katsuro said out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" She said in a monotone voice, obviously not trying to show her anger.

"Your hair is too long. Before our first mission you need to get it cut. Shoulder length at minimum. Shorter the better."

"What!?" She screeched. Not her hair...she loved her hair, and now an empty feeling in her stomach overcame her. Now she was irritated and afraid of what was to come next. "Why?!"

"I don't need my missions jeopardized because some fuck got a hold of your hair. And with the way you like to fight in close-quarters that can happen very easily." Katsuro condescended.

"Fuck..." Mizu whispered, realizing there was no way out.

 

[Pine]

Haruki

Haruki stared at his feet, nodding along. "Yes, Sensei."

He hadn't realized that he had been addressing their sensei improperly. Maybe if he was careful to only address him properly, he could avoid Katsuro getting like, scary mad at him again.

His brows furrowed, however, at the suggestion that they persuade their other teammate to use manners around their teacher. Haruki shook his head at the thought, luckily as Katsuro was looking at Mizu.

He couldn't imagine that Tetsuo was the sort that liked to be told what to do, at least from all that he had seen so far. He complained at having commands from a jonin. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he and Mizu tried to talk to him. Besides, if he kept pissing Katsuro off, maybe it would be impossible for their sensei to be made at him ever again. That was a nice thought.

A nice thought that was quickly interrupted by the idea of being alone with Mizu after Katsuro inevitably kicks Tetsuo off the squad.

Haruki hesitantly looked over to where his teammate sat red-faced. She didn't seem mean, but after hearing what their sensei said about Jinchuurikis, it was like looking at a thing of nightmares, but she was real. Haruki had no idea what would trigger that... thing in her to destroy the whole village.

He tried not to think about it.

Instead, when she seemed to back down from her disagreement with their sensei, he tried to smile kindly at her. "I could cut your hair, Mizu," he said. "I've done it before. Like, my mom and stuff."

 

[Gilzar]

Mizu

The idea did not resonate well with Mizu. Like any with girl her age, Mizu was very self-conscious about her looks. She may not have been raised in a traditional home but she still knew about things like fashion...

Just thinking about it, her face turned to a stern frown, and she exhaled loudly. Her eyes looked to Katsuro in a sort of disbelief. He hadn't moved. It was obvious that he was being serious. Begrudgingly, she looked back at her teammate Haruki. Well, it would kill time...and pleasing her Sensei would do her a huge favor. Especially since she did not want to get the verbal abuse that Tetsou and Haruki were recieving.

"Alright..." She said hesitantly.

"Just...." Once again she glanced at the intimdating Katsuro.

"Be Careful."

 

[Pine]

Haruki

The nervous edge to his smile smoothed out. By her screeching earlier, it was evident that she was not pleased by the idea, but it didn't seem like she was about to take her frustrations out on him.

Haruki walked to where Mizu sat, seating himself behind her with his legs crossed. With the sun only now started to go down, the heat from the day was still warming the ground, and the added fire made it somewhat uncomfortable to sit by, but it was bearable.

"Don't worry, Mizu," he said. "I have a pretty steady hand, so I've been told."

He scooped a palm full of hair and ran his fingers through it, testing for knows. Mizu's hair was textured and wavy, but presumably thanks to keeping it tied up, any tangles were negligible and his fingers glided through smoothly.

"What length were you thinking, Mizu?" he asked, neglecting the fact that she probably hasn't had the chance to even begin considering what new style she wants. "We can do the shoulders or shorter. I think that makes it easier to style if we go, like, ear-length or something. And if you want it textured in some way, I'm not sure how well I could do that, but I can try."

He continued gathering bundles of her hair and combing his fingers through it as he spoke.

 

[Gilzar]

Mizu

"Just...make it...shoulder length or something like that." She mumbled.

This was odd for many reasons. Number one, she was having her hair cut. As already stated, she wasn't necessarily a fan of this idea. Secondly, she was not used to people sitting right behind her. Maybe it was just shinobi instincts, or perhaps just a lack of trust. But having someone sit just a few inches behind her...with a sharp blade...facing the back of her head...just made her feel uneasy.

And still Katsuro just stood there watching with the same expression on his face. He probably thought this was funny....

Katsuro

"Stop looking at me like that Mizu. You know this needs to be done."

He stood watching them both. This might even help build trust. But truth be told, this mainly had to do with the sightings of Akatsuki. If there really were Akatsuki out there, Mizu needed to change her appearance. They'd have to do it regularly and he'd have to find plenty of excuses to make her change her outfit. Any time they were outside of the village he had to assume they were being followed....Hokage Soruto trusted him to keep his child safe. For the sake of the village, eh was going to obey that.

 

[Pine]

Haruki

His smile began to fade, now with Mizu's back to him and under the pressure of Katsuro's stare which would not stop staring at them.

Haruki stopped combing through Mizu's hair, instead holding all, save a few stray hairs, in one hand. He quirked an eyebrow at her then shrugged. "If you say so."

He wanted to comment that if she doesn't like the look, that's on her for not specifying more. However, some part of him alerted him to an underlying tension. It was a tension where Mizu didn't want this happening, didn't care about anything because her hair was getting cut and it was not her choice and nothing could be done about it. He wisened up instead and decided to hold his tongue.

Haruki pulled a kunai from the pouch hanging off his waist and held it to her hair. He hesitated. He had only ever cut hair before with clippers, and suddenly he felt inexperienced holding the knife in his hand.

Katsuro was still watching.

He tested cutting through it all at once, but her hair was thick in his hands, and he only managed to break a few strands.

He finally figured out to segment it and cut it that way. As meticulously as he could, he began to chop off smaller bundles. With his free hand, he held onto the shed hair.

"Maybe you could keep the hair," he offered. "Like, make them into extensions, if you want."

He sliced off another chunk of hair.

"Or just like wear a wig when we're not on a mission."

 

[Gilzar]

Mizu

Mizu anxiously picked at the grass as she felt the cold edge of the kunai go through her hair. Haruki was giving off good ideas...but she didn't necessarily like any of them.

"Mhm..." She'd mumble to give off the impression she was paying attention rather than just focusing on her shortening hair length. Personally she wasn't too fond of the ideas of extensions...Wearing hair that was already cut off was just..well...weird. Plus she hated wigs. They were itchy and messy...personally she really didn't see why people really wore them.

Patiently she just sat there and waited to get this over with...

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo

He crouched low on the roof of the yakiniku restaurant which overlooked Konoha's busiest bars. While it wasn't a direct violation of any village rules, it was frowned upon for kids to wander around past sundown, and the adults of the area would frequently seen ushering a curious kid out of the area. The bars were easily identified by the haze of smoke that lifted around at night, and the lights, bustling movement and chatter in the dead of night. At present, the sun was on its last limb, and thus still bleeding its light onto the street. There were only a few citizens wandering around the area this early, but with each bar flicking their lights on, more and more booze-addled adults were beginning to hop between scenes and light up their joints.

It was the first place Tetsuo thought to come to. Given enough time, he may have thought of some place else, or at least had come up with a plan for what to do one he got there.

Instead, he continued crouching there, hoping that maybe someone had dropped a pack on the ground.

This was, of course, not the case, and his mind scrambled to look for an opportunity of the only other alternative he could think of.

A young man and woman walked together, arms linked. The expensive jewelry on both his and her wrists gave the impression of status just before they walked into the classier, less rowdy bar.

A group of three men ambled by, shouting over each other and becoming uncomfortably close each time they deviated from their straight-line path. All but the tall one in the middle seemed horribly intoxicated.

A flare of fire blossomed then was covered by a feminine hand at a bar's entrance. When the woman's hand withdrew and slipped the lighter back into her purse, a fat cigar in her mouth was revealed. Her back was to the wall of the bar anyway.

Tetsuo grimaced to himself as a nervous anxiety began to prick at his conscious. It was tough to swallow that his new sensei was forcing him to do something illegal, no matter how you look at it. What kind of a jōnin was he that would let a kid get into a situation like this?

The three men from earlier had seated themselves on the patio of one of the bars, scraping their chairs along the way. The balding one leaned back in his chair, slipping a pack of cigarettes from out of his pocket.

An uncomfortable churning started in Tetsuo's gut. His heart was in his ears, audibly beating.

The man tapped it against the table to push one out when he realized his fat fingers were too thick to pull one out.

But he wasn't five anymore, either, as Katsuro had reminded him. (Tetsuo tried to ignore that still didn't make him any less of a kid, either, otherwise he wouldn't be at Katsuro's absolute mercy.)

Tetsuo took in a shallow breath to steel his nerves.

Then he slid down the roof, grabbing onto the rain gutter to dangle from and drop to the ground silently.

He waited until a lanky man passed heading in the direction of the bar with the patio, then tagged behind him.

When the man turned to enter the bar, Tetsuo split off toward the patio instead. There were some elder shinobi still clad in their flak jackets, but that wasn't enough to make him in ninja gear of his own stay inconspicuous for long, so there was a very small margin for error.

He waited a beat, then the waiter was coming from inside and out onto the patio, a notepad hidden behind his back. Tetsuo squeezed his tiny body between the bars fencing off the patio and fell into step beside him.

A wave of cigarette smoke crashed into his nostrils, making his nose scrunch up.

"Here comes our savior of the night!" one of the men boasted at the waiter.

"Say, I'm not drunk enough for this yet. There's only one of you!"

The waiter, now standing at the table, gave a polite laugh. "What can I do to help you gentleman tonight?"

The balding man lifted his rear to replace his cigarette pack into his back pocket.

"Tell me what's good, my man! If you were me, what would you get?"

Just before he could reseat himself, deft fingers swiped the cigarette pack from out of his pocket.

The waiter gave another polite laugh. "I actually don't drink too much, sir. I couldn't say."

Tetsuo attempted a fast retreat. He turned his back from the table, hunching in an attempt to make himself as small as he could.

"What do you mean you don't drink too much?" the balding man shouted. "You work at a bar! If I were you–"

The tall man, and the most sober, sat parallel to the balding man. He quirked an eyebrow. "Hey..."

"–I'd have drunk all the bottles here! I'd have put you out of business by now!"

Tetsuo lifted the flap of his back pouch to put the pack in with the rest of his ninja tools. He rested his hand on the rail to slip between the railing.

"Hey! Thief!"

"What?"

Tetsuo looked over his shoulder and instantly regretted it. His eyes connected with the hazel eyes of the tall man.

An executioner's finger dropped down to point straight at him, as though the tall man was finalizing his condemned sentence. "That kid! He stole your cigarettes!"

The waiter and other man looked at him, confused by the sudden uproar.

"What?" This time, the balding man was shouting in rage, roughly shoving the chair out from under him to stand.

Shit! Tetsuo's heart started pounding again. His hand involuntarily flexed, crushing the pack in his hand.

The balding man started charging him, cigarette clenched between his teeth.

Tetsuo shoved the pack deeper into his back pouch, hopping to perch himself on the patio's railing, and switched to grab one of the tiny balls in his pouch. He threw it at the man's feet and a plume of smoke erupting from the ground. Tetsuo's hands clapped together in the tiger seal and he felt his chakra flow to his feet.

The man coughed around his cigarette, slashing at the cover of smoke with his arm. When it dissipated, the boy was no longer there. "Where did he go?" he growled.

The group looked around, dazed and confused, until the other man spotted him in the street.

"Hey!" The man continued to run after him, but it was too late. Tetsuo had shoved his way through the small crowd and launched himself at the yakiniku restaurant's roof and took off running, leaving the balding, intoxicated man to stumble halfway over the railing, yelling long after his friends tried to pull him off the railing.

Haruki

"There!" he said, just after slicing the last lock of hair off.

Haruki plucked at strands of hair with his hand, still holding onto the thick bundle in his other. He ruffled the back to knock off any dead follicles left. He didn't try anything fancy, as she sort-of requested, and just cut straight through. With all the weight cut off, her hair seemed to take even more to the wave it had before, and the freshly cut, healthy ends seemed to lift with life.

He rested the kunai in his lap and put his chin in his palm, examining his work. "Does this look alright to you?"

Haruki suddenly remembered she has no means of being able to see it. "Oh, right... sorry."

He looked to Katsuro instead, eyebrows raised.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

A satisfied feeling overcame Katsuro's smug look as he watched Mizu's long locks hit the ground one by one. With each inch of hair she had gone, it lessened the likelihood that she'd be grabbed by someone. Honestly if it were up to him most shinobi would have very short hair....but sadly rules and regulations would not allow him to do such a thing.

Haruki was now looking at Katsuo.

He raised an eyebrow for a second before quickly realizing what it was that he wanted.

"Oh...right...."

He dug into his pockets deeply. Mirrors were useful out in the field, believe it or not. One could easily check around a corner and not have to worry about getting their head blown off. It was also a great way to signal other team-mates in wooded areas using morris-code. But it also had its uses for just its practical purpose of reflecting one's appearence.

"Here kid."

Katsuro tossed it to Mizu


Mizu

Mizu grabbed the small mirror, roughly the size of a small phone. She squinted at it, through all of the muck and dust on its glass. Using her glove, she wiped it off a bit, and held it out as far as she could so she could see her appearance. Her hair was no longer down to her lower back, but now down roughly a little lower than her jawline. Not the hair that she'd worked so hard to get for a long time....but it wasn't a bad haircut either.

Haruki definitely did a good job. Such a good job that her eyes even widened. Not bad Haruki...not a bad job at all.

"This...."

Mizu looked away from the mirror grudgingly.

"Is actually pretty good."

 

[Pine]

Haruki

Haruki let the last locks of hair fall from his fingers when Mizu responded positively to the new haircut. Katsuro had a good point for making her cut her hair like this, he guessed, but he wouldn't be their sensei forever. If she wanted to, Mizu could always just grow her hair out again.

One thing about the new haircut is that it brought more attention to her face. The whiskers stood out now more than ever, as well as the scar that slashed through them on one side. It wasn't the worst sight to see, but he was certain that if she had just gotten a little more creative with her haircut, it wouldn't be as much of a problem for her.

Still, he managed a small grin. Better that she liked it than be angry with him. She might have tried to kill him otherwise, he didn't care to find out.

He stood up and pocketed the kunai back in the pouch he had grabbed it from. "Glad you like it," he said. "And I hope it works for you, too, Sensei."

An unnatural rustling of foliage and the padding of sandals against the ground drew his attention away from the group.

Tetsuo

Tetsuo was still running when he came into the clearing where his squad was. Surely now there was no way that they had followed him this far. He checked over his shoulder just in case. Nothing.

His throat felt raw and there was a cramping in his stomach. It was infuriating to think that a couple of weeks of minimal training had already gotten him out of shape. He dismissed it as the nerves that had pricked his body and made his hands want to shake because he had never stolen something from someone before and he did not like how he was almost caught. There was a nagging worry in his mind that someone was going to remember his face and someone was going to want to bring him to the authorities for it, and he was even more certain that Katsuro had no intention of jumping to his defense. Maybe he would lose his job if they knew he had coerced an adolescent into committing a crime.

Tetsuo was stubborn, though, and refused to show his exhaustion from panting. He kept his mouth shut, but the labor of his sprint was evident by his heaving chest and how audible the breathing from his nostrils were.

He fumbled for his back pouch, hands shaking a little as he did. He undid the flap and rummaged for Katsuro's coveted pack of cigarettes. He felt now how the soft packaging had been crushed from the initial scare he had earlier. Tetsuo pulled it out and tried to return the package to its normal form by squeezing at the sides, but the damage had already been done. There were still wrinkles in the packaging.

"Here," he said, sounding a little breathless. Tetsuo tossed the package in Katsuro's direction. He couldn't be bothered to aim for anywhere other than the ground in front of the jōnin. He fixed his eyes on Katsuro's, expecting some outburst at any moment. Tetsuo was too tired to preemptively excuse himself now, however, so he remained silent and tried to focus on keeping his breathing at a regular volume.

 

[Gilzar]

Katsuro

Eying the haircut intently, Katsuro's gazed at both of them while they both sought his approval. In truth, he did approve. The haircut was short enough to be functional in nature yet still feminine. However, what satisfied Katsuro was that he told them to do something and they got it done. There was a little bit of nagging, but they at least obeyed orders. Somewhat. All three of these genin had gained a reputation for being difficult, and hence why they were sent to him rather than the more flashy, sterotypical Jonin. He was the only one with the stones to deal with them.

For a moment he looked at Mizu, and the sour expression on her face. He could tell by how much she fiddled with her long hair that she probably was very fond of it. Truly he did have no desire to make Mizu mad, especially given her rather...'unique' disposition. But too much had he witnessed the long locks of an aspiring shinobi be grabbed in the heat of life-or death combat. It was better this way, especially given the fact that Mizu would be without a doubt targeted because of the nine tails.....

Just on that thought, behind them was a sudden rattling in the foliage, and Katsuro immediately shifted his upper body to face the noise. Just Tetsou. He relaxed his shoulders a bit, and eased his breathe. It was about damn time that kid showed up. Tetsou chucked a pack of cigarettes in his direction, to which Katsuro moved towards and caught immediately.

The packaging was wrinkled and battered, but right now Katsuro didn't care. All he wanted was the sweet sensation of nicotine numbing the god awful headache he was having. Without hesitating he tore the packaging open, put the end of it between his lips and lit the end using a military-grade lighter. He inhaled, then visibily exhaled the smoke out of his mouth and nose simultaneously. Instantly all the stress and fog inside of his head cleared, and the tenseness of his body eased.

"You're late."

Katsuro took off his rounded sunglasses and neatly folded them away in his vest. For the second time since he'd met these kids his green eyes were actually exposed to the world around them.

"But.... no one followed you so I'll cut you some slack."

He took the smoke out of his mouth and held it between his fingers. Sweet sweet cigarettes made him forget about the troubles of the world. Now was probably the first time to give his students their first actual lesson.

"Tetsou, could you stand next to Mizu and Haruki and explain how you got these for me?"

 

[Pine]

Tetsuo

A part of him was disgusted by how the jōnin ravenously tore into such a shabby packet of cigarettes. He would have liked to wrinkle his nose, but Tetsuo was still winding down from the invasive thoughts he was having about his clumsy theft.

He bit his tongue at Katsuro's first remark. It was easier than usual with the latest altercation making him feel drained. There was still some residual frustration that he had ever been put up to the task, and with such an unreasonable time limit to boot, but he let his frustration simmer.

To say that no one had followed him, however, may have been a stretch of the situation. Tetsuo was lucky that he had not picked some shinobi to steal from, or at the very least, shinobi sober enough to remember that they were. Otherwise, undoubtedly, there would have been one or two very angry men that would have followed him to the memorial.

He still couldn't get it off his mind that he had just stolen something.

"Wh-" The question began forming automatically in response to Katsuro's request-not-a-request, but he stopped himself. It seemed ridiculous to him that Katsuro wanted him to stand by the other two genin. Really, Tetsuo should be counting his blessings that the word "could" was even in the jōnin's vocabulary. Katsuro's temperament was completely different from earlier. It was still unsettling to see him without those dumb glasses on, but he was so much more tame than before. Almost acted courteous. As grateful as he should be to know that all it took was nicotine to sate the man, it only served to make him more deplorable in Tetsuo's mind.

He walked over to where his new teammates were, unable to contain an eyeroll and a soft sigh when he turned.

Finally he noticed Mizu's haircut, which made his brows furrow and had him fleetingly wonder what he had missed while he was away, but decided he didn't care enough to ask. Haruki, for his part, also seemed to be feeling a little awkward with Tetsuo being forced to stand by him. The taller boy was trying to smile politely to himself.

Tetsuo looked away as soon as he could, looking back at Katsuro. "I got them from some guy at a bar," he explained shortly. In truth, he was still processing what exactly had just happened, but he didn't want to elaborate beyond that at that moment anyway.

He could see Haruki frowning a little out of the corner of his eye now.