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Fandom Squad Shithead: A Naruto AU

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Tetsuo

Graciously, he wasn't downwind from Katsuro when he decided to take a long, long drag from his cigarette. His face fell, annoyed. He began suspecting his glamorous new instructor intended on puffing his whole cancer stick down without so much as acknowledging his question.

He continued staring, until finally Katsuro revealed to him little to no new information.

He didn't ask any further questions, fully expecting, as he had said before, for the Jōnin to leave them completely in the dark. He would probably order them to pointlessy stay and guard the monument just to get rid of them so he could take care of his adult business.

But instead of that, he instructed them to follow him to the interrogation core.

Tetsuo's shock could be visibly seen on his face. It took him a second to register that he did, in fact, want them to follow, before Tetsuo stood up and actually did.

Surprise turned into a spark of excitement. He'd only ever seen high-ranking shinobi going in the Intelligence Division, but now he was going to be able to stand there with the interrogation core. Maybe Katsuro would even let them watch the interrogation happen.

He bit his lip to try to conceal his excitement, but he couldn't help but walk a little bit faster and a little bit closer to Katsuro. In that moment, he could ignore the stench of smoke, if only to get there a little faster.


Haruki

Haruki's surprise came from the apparent Katsuro-not-realizing-the-entire-team-had-gone-gallivanting-off-into-the-woods-to-spy-on-him affair.

Katsuro had barely spared him a glance. Not noticeably having every single one of his moves scrutinized, Haruki relaxed a little.

He jogged to catch up to his new sensei, but stayed just far enough back to stay out of the noxious cloud of smoke that hovered around him.

It was a huge relief for no one to be in trouble, probably for the longest period of time since the squad's first meeting. He was almost certain this was because Tetsuo wasn't running his mouth right then.

But then Haruki started doubting himself a little. 'Discussing the future of the team' could just as easily mean 'I know you three disobeyed me and I'm about to tell you how I'm going to destroy your future career.'

"What needs to be discussed?" Haruki asked, some timidity in his voice.
 
Katsuro

Katsuro began to walk down the path toward Konoha in a casual manner. To the genin he probably seemed unusually calm given recent events, but Katsuro had experienced worse before. He was just glad that no one got hurt. Combat really didn't bother him anymore, not like it used to anyway. Most genin could shake off combat like he could, it just came with the territory. As he finished his cigarette, Haruki asked what needed to be discuss. With the question in the air, Katsuro finally got down to business.

"We gotta work on a lot of stuff, but I'll take you all into my team." Katsuro said bluntly. He peered his head over his shoulder. "You've all got issues, but at least you showed me you can operate as a unit. But I do wonder, which one of you convinced everyone to stay at the shrine. I thought for surely you'd all abandon the shrine to come see what was happening."

"Unless you left and came back before I could notice." Katsuro said, eyeing Mizu down specifically. A small grin formed across his face before he turned back to face the path. Maybe these three wouldn't turn out so bad after all....

Meanwhile, Mizu awkwardly looked to Haruki and Tetsour. A cold bead of sweat dripped down her forehead as she tried to figure out if Katsuro was joking, or if he actually knew. Why the grin? She didn't think that Katsuro was even capable of smiling.

"When this is done, I'll submit the paperwork to make it official. We're officially a team, so act like it."

Katsuro didn't say another word on the way back to the village. The walk back was oddly peaceful given recent events, the sky was clear, and the air was cool. In the background the sounds of the busy streets of Konoha grew louder and louder as they ventured near. In half an hour, they were walking through the streets en route to the intelligence corp.

Even this late into the evening, Konoha's streets still bustled with activity. Merchants still prowled, looking for their next customers. Civilians still roamed about, looking for something to occupy their evening with. Occasionally, the foreign shinobi could be seen as well, exploring the open borders of the Konoha village. All these different kinds of people cluttered the crammed streets. It would make moving efficiently difficult. However, Katsuro had no intentions of moving through a crowded street with whatever was in his bag. Instead, he motioned toward his students to follow him, and took to the roof tops, jumping roof to roof in order to get to the intelligence core.

In just minutes they had arrived. Katsuro knew every shortcut to get there, making it all look easy. Hopping down from the final building, he waited in front of the door for his students to come.

"I'm only saying this once: This building is is not a playground. It's the intelligence center, which houses the interrogation core. Behave in there, or it's your ass."

Katsuro didn't wait for a response, he opened the main door and entered, leading his students into the lobby of this strange building. It looked like any normal lobby, complete with a receptionist desk and a waiting area. The reception desk was manned by a chunin in his grey uniform, who immediately nodded to Katsuro upon him entering. His clones had already explained the situation to the staff. With the press of a button, a large metal door opened on the left side of the lobby.

"This way. Stay close." Katsuro ordered, walking into the hallway. INTERROGATION CORE was marked on the concrete walls of the hallway. Strangely, this part of the building resembled more of a prison than anything else, but for good reason. Potentially dangerous people were being held here, and thus it needed to be secure. Their footsteps echoed throughout the empty hall. After a few turns, they found thesmelves in yet another reception area. However, this one was less inviting than the lobby, with thick metal doors scattered throughout the room and concrete benches for chairs.

Katsuro approached the next receptionist, who was housed into a small office shielded by some sort of glass. "Katsuro Katashi. I've got contraband."

The receptionist, also a chunin, leaned into a microphone. "What kind of contraband?" A small intercom rang out.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this."

"One moment please...." The receptionist replied, taking a moment to make a quick phone call. After about a minute, he leaned back to the intercom system.

"You'd better come in Katsuro, but the genin have to stay."

Katsuro simply nodded, turning back to his students "Remember what I said."

Two heavy metal doors then opened, and a woman walked out of them. She was obviously a jonin by how she dressed, wearing the same type of flak-jacket that Katsuro bore, with a long-sleeve black shirt underneath and tight black pants. Standing at 6 feet tall, she wasn't that much shorter than Katsuro. Mizu immediately took notice of her long black hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. As the woman walked out, she stopped immediately upon seeing Katsuro.

"Katsuro? What brings you here at this hour."

Katsuro didn't stop to talk, and walked right past her. "Contraband." was all he said as he vanished into the hallways.

The woman chuckled slightly, rolling her eyes as she watched Katsuro leave. Soon the large metal doors closed behind them, and all that remained in the lobby was her and the genin.

"Soooo....." The lady playfully stated, turning to Tetsou, Haruki, and Mizu.

"What brings three genin into the interrogation core? Are you three stuck with Katsuro?"

She then walked in front of the three genin with a welcoming smile on her face.

"By the way, my name is Matsuda Uchiha. Who are you all?"


(Matsuda's Appearance)
Matsuda.png
 
Haruki's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull when his sensei mulled over what his squad had done in his absence. Katsuro gave them a knowing grin, and Haruki's mouth cracked into an enormous smile and he bellowed a loud, awkward, forced laugh.

As soon as Katsuro turned his face away, Haruki looked back at Mizu. He covered up the side of his face closest to Katsuro and mouthed a silent what-in-the-world-does-he-know-how-does-he-know to her.

Tetsuo just pinched his lips tightly together. He wanted to be annoyed that Katsuro was treating his assumption as a fact, but he ended up just annoying himself with the fact that Katsuro was absolutely right.

The two were quiet for the rest of the trek to the intelligence core. For Tetsuo's part, he was just grateful for the path across the rooftops. Up there, he didn't have to worry about an angry drunk with a vendetta over some stolen cigarettes.

- - - - -

In front of the intelligence core now, Tetsuo rolled his eyes at Katsuro's warning. How stupid did her think they were, he wondered, to tell them not to play around in the building where interrogations took place.

He didn't dwell on it for too long, because shortly after they were inside the building and on their way to the interrogation core.

Tetsuo's excitement got the better of him, taking every ounce of self-control he had to not run down the concrete hallway.

The further in they went for Haruki, the more uneasy he felt, but he kept to himself with only a small frown.

At first, Tetsuo was a little underwhelmed by the plainness of the reception area. He didn't know what he had expected, but it certainly wasn't this. The lobby was completely devoid of decorations. The only place to sit was occupied by the chūnin receptionist, and he was completely boxed in.

It must have been so bare, he thought, for the extra security needed. He was certain that some of the most dangerous men in the world were behind those two metal doors.

Then the receptionist said the three of them were not allowed any further.

Tetsuo gave an annoyed huff and scuffed his sandal against the floor. The chūnin raised a brow at him and Tetsuo glared back, as if this had been a personal attack on him.

A woman of towering stature came out at the same time as Katsuro was entering. Tetsuo tried desperately to catch a glimpse of what was behind her, but the exchange was over too soon for him to really get a good picture in his mind. That and the two giants of jōnin were standing there, their large frames taking up the whole doorway.

Haruki was relieved to find someone who seemed even remotely friendly in this stuffy building. He smiled back easily when the woman started talking to them.

"I'm Haruki Okabe. That's Mizu, and that's Tetsuo," he introduced, pointing at each of them. Haruki hadn't really taken any time to memorize their family names, and he didn't really care to ask at the time. "We just joined Katsuro-sensei's squad today. We were supposed to be guarding the memorial, but then this old man and this lady with a big sword started attacking us. We almost died."

Tetsuo squinted at him, wondering what the fuck he was on about. "No we didn't."

Haruki ignored him. "The old guy was carrying this big bag with some weird metal glow-y juice-"

"Haruki," Tetsuo hissed, face starting to redden. The boy was really running his mouth. None of them knew who this lady was and he was just blabbing on about things they weren't supposed to know. For all they knew, she was a regular correspondent with Katsuro and would gab about whatever shit Haruki was saying, then they'd be in trouble. He had half a mind to gag him right then and there.

Haruki looked back at him in confusion, wondering what the big deal was. He knew Tetsuo was just a cranky guy by this point, but if she was free to roam around in this building, she was probably someone who dealt with stuff like this all the time, right?

Then he remembered that Katsuro never showed them intentionally what was in the bag. "Oh, oops," he said, a little quieter.

Tetsuo found himself rolling his own eyes again before looking back at Matsuda. "Are you with the interrogation core?" he asked.
 
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Matsuda

Matsuda looked attentivley at the three genin as Haruki introduced themselves. These two boys she didn't know, and this would be her first time meeting them. However, as for the girl standing quietly beside them, Matsuda knew all too well who that was: The bastard child of Hokage Soruto Uzumaki, Mizu Kimura. She was a hot topic amongst the jonin due to her jinchuriki. Every Jonin in Konoha was briefed about her, and her special 'predicament'. While a lot of the villagers were frightened of her, most of the Jonin pitied her, Matsuda especially. Glancing at the scar running across her cheek, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. If she only knew...

She then listened to both Haruki and Tetsou's exhange of words, still keeping a warm smile on her face. Both of them were telling extremely different stories. Haruki was saying some wild things, like how they almost died and found something strange. Tetsou, while not spinning a tale of his own, didn't seem to keen about it.

Meanwhile, Mizu just remained quiet, patiently awaiting for Matsuda's response. She bit her lips together as Haruki seeped more and more information that they weren't supposed to know out to this Jonin. At this rate it would be no secret what was going on. Right before she could intervene, Tetsou did. For once she actually agreed with Tetsou's course of action.

"Why yes, I am with the Interrogation Core." Matsuda replied.

"However... it's kind of like a part-time job nowadays." She said, winking to both the boys.

Little did these two boys know it, as Matsuda's facial expression would not show, but they had peaked her curiosity. Just what had Katsuro dug his team into this time? How the hell does someone guarding the shrine end up with glowing-green contraband? Now she was done for the day interrogating actual criminals, she'd have a little fun with these genin. Though she'd keep it small, and not bring out her sharingan. First she took into account the way the two boys were behaving. Haruki had given plenty of information, while Tetsou had given little. They were clearly hiding something, and the easiest route to get the information she wanted would be by baiting Haruki.

While she couldn't completely gather the dynamic of the group from this small interaction, she could gather that Haruki liked to talk, due to giving out way too much information and that Tetsou likley had an attitude probably had an attitude from his tone, body language, and how he'd cut off Haruki. Normally in a situation ike this she'd establish a base-line question that she could gather their habits when they're telling the truth, but this didn't need to be that extensive. Matsuda just wanted to know what was in Katsuro's bag, much like Tetsou did.

Matsuda made sure to look Haruki in the eyes, and not look into Tetsou's. This was an attempt to put pressure on Haruki, while passively make Tetsou feel unimportant in the conversation. "If I may ask you, how does one come upon 'green juice' when guarding a shrine? I find it hard to believe that someone tried killing you over guarding a shrine."

This was a simpler tactic. Matsuda was trying to both a grasp of how this all began, while also botching details of the story in the hopes that either Haruki's eagerness would correct it. Sprinkling in a bit of doubt on top of that just might launch a response as well. That or maybe Tetsou would be annoyed enough by being ignored that he'd have an outburst and fill in the gaps.
 
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Tetsuo narrowed his eyes at Matsuda when she winked at them, wondering if she was being condescending. He couldn't think of any other reason she'd do that other than she was trying to dumb down her business here for them.

Haruki just smiled bashfully, embarrassed both by the wink and his slip-up.

In the back of his mind, he wondered what someone could possibly do for the interrogation core part-time. He also wondered how she even went about interrogating people to begin with. Haruki had always imagined someone that did interrogations to be as gruff as Katsuro, but Matsuda seemed impossibly nice. Maybe she just helped with paperwork.

He blinked at her question, wondering if he'd said something wrong earlier. "Green juice? Oh, no, it was more like a bright blue..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tetsuo glaring daggers at him.

He hurried to correct himself. "I mean, I don't actually know. I didn't- we didn't see what was in the bag. I don't know why they started attacking us, either. They seemed nice at first." Haruki started fumbling his words, vaguely aware his story was making less and less sense. "I mean, I think the lady said something to the man, they started walking away but Katsuro started following them..."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Tetsuo mouthed to himself, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. He couldn't take another second of how absolutely incompetent Haruki was. He wouldn't have let Mizu intimidate him into going back to the memorial early if he'd known that his teammate was just going to tell everyone in the village about it later.

He came up beside Haruki and stomped his sandal on the other boy's toes.

Haruki swallowed a yelp, grunting with his lips pressed tightly together, and pulled himself back away from Tetsuo.

"Why don't you go back and ask the old man himself what went down?" Tetsuo asked, making sure to look directly at Matsuda so she had no doubt he was talking to her. "He knows more about it than us."

Behind him, Haruki danced on one foot, holding the other in his hand and testing the tenderness of his toes.
 
Mizu

"Tetsou!" Mizu snapped at her teammate. He was making an absolute ass of himself in front of Matsuda, and it was starting to get on Mizu's nerves. She looked over at Haruki in pity as he hopped on one foot, in pain from getting his foot smashed. Tetsou is such a hypocrite! She thought to herself. Afterall, if he didn't go and snoop in on someone else's business then they wouldn't be having this conversation. This in mind however, she shifted her focus back to Matsuda.

Matsuda was being extremely friendly, which contrasted heavily their sensei. She was dressed proper in shinobi attire, with her hair up kept neat manner. This jonin even didn't smell of alcohol and cigarettes like Katsuro did, but instead had a fragrence of some flower. Mizu couldn't help but stare in awe of this Shinobi, from the way she carried herself in confidence to how she interacted with others. Even in front of a punk like Tetsou she didn't break composure or focus, while meanwhile Katsuro would always snap and lash out at him. All of her years in the academy, she'd never seen a woman shinobi who carried herself like Matsuda did.

Matsuda

Things were unfolding in an interesting manner. The verbal bait worked, and she got a little more information on what happened. So far here's what she had gathered: They were guarding the shrine when two strangers must have approached. For some reason they were nice, but left and Katsuro pursued them. Somewhere in the timeline there must have been a skirmish, otherwise why would Haruki say they almost died? At some point they must have been able to see what was in the bag as well.

Before she could squeeze Haruki for any more information, Tetsou put an end to it. He stomped on Haruki's foot, making him recoil in pain and ending their conversation abruptly.

"Why don't you go back and ask the old man himself what went down? He knows more about it than us." Tetsou questioned Matsuda, looking her straight in the eyes.

Katsuro's really got his work cut out for him with these three...Matsuda thought to herself as she looked back into Tetsou's eyes, still keeping the same warm expression. She had only known this kid for a few minutes, yet it was blatantly apparent that he had an attitude problem. It seemed he didn't want to share anymore information on the topic, so he silenced Haruki. It was a small roadblock, but that wouldn't stop Matsuda from getting the information she desired. If being an interrogator for the ANBU black-ops taught her anything, it's that even the most stubborn of people can reveal information without knowing it. Tetsou may have been intent on not sharing anymore information, but that wasn't going to happen. Rather than try to trick him like she did with Haruki, she'd try charming the hormonal adolescent with her natural looks. With her eyes already on Tetsou, Matsuda went into action.

"Relax, I don't want to talk that crab." Matsuda said, as she continued to look Tetsou in the eyes and shifted closer to him. She then gently caressed her fingers across his left cheek, smoothly sliding them down the side of his face and under his chin. Gently, she lifted his chin so that they'd be directly looking each other in the eyes. "I just want to know why you've been so uptight since I laid eyes on you." She said in a somewhat flirty tone.
 
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Tetsuo ignored Mizu, not even looking her way when she snapped at him. She could go baby Haruki for all he cared. As far as he was concerned, his new teammate needed to learn how to shut his damn mouth one way or another.

For Haruki's part, even after determining his toes didn't hurt that much, he continued making a show of how much pain he was in, oohing and ahhing each time he reached down to touch his toes. If he acted pitiable enough, maybe Mizu or even Matsuda would rush to comfort him.

Neither of these things happened.

Tetsuo was pleasantly surprised too see Matsuda, a whole ass other jōnin, casually calling Katsuro names. It amused him knowing that even the old man's own peers found him grouchy, even if this meant Matsuda wasn't leaving and ceasing her questioning like he had intended.

Whatever small affection he may have developed for the kunoichi was replaced with wariness as she walked closer to him, then shock as she traced a finger down his cheek and lifted his chin.

Haruki's jaw dropped to the floor, unable to believe his eyes. There he was, pure, innocent, and clearly suffering, yet Matsuda was doing whatever she was to Tetsuo. Tetsuo. Four-foot nine-inches pasty never-smiling always-mad-about-something Tetsuo. Surely even after meeting him for less than a minute she had to see what an absolute menace he was to be around.

It didn't take long before Tetsuo was batting her hand away and recoiling from her. He was baffled and repulsed. "Don't touch me," he snapped at her, a sneer of absolute disgust on his face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

If she thought he was uptight before, she would think he had an entire log shoved up his ass now. She was acting beyond inappropriate. He wanted to leave then and there, hopefully never see her again, but the thought of Haruki just spilling everything the minute he left the room stopped him.

Then a fury boiled up inside him, almost certain she did that just to mock him.

In spite of himself, without even realizing it, Tetsuo found himself wishing Katsuro would hurry up and come back.
 
Matsuda brought her hand quickly as Tetsou snapped at her, wondering just what his problem was. She did not see that coming, and as a result the smile left her face, yet she continued to look Tetsou in the eyes. Puzzled for a moment or so, her eyes narrowed, still looking straight into Tetsou, as if she was reading him like a book or something. Why that reaction? Most boys or men would freeze up or blush from such attempts at charming, yet Tetsou didn't look flattered in the slightest. In fact, he looked absolutely disgusted....

It then hit Matsuda, just why Tetsou reacted the way he did. Upon the realization, her puzzled look left her face, and the smile grew back. This was some juicy information! At first Matsuda just wanted to know what happened to Katsuro's squad but now...she'd found out personal information that Katsuro's entire squad may not have even realized! Finding out such a thing made this whole encounter worth it, in Matsuda's eyes.

"Oh, now I see why you're so uptight..." Matsuda remarked, taking a step back. "You shouldn't be ashamed of what you are though. There's nothing wrong with not liking girls."

Mizu's jaw dropped at everything she was witnessing. First, Matsuda was teasing, maybe even mocking Tetsou, and now....was she actually suggesting that Tetsou was homosexual? She shielded her mouth with one hand to try and hide her expression, while pulling Haruki away from Tetsou to shield him away from whatever outburst might come next.
 
Tetsuo didn't trust Matsuda's warm smile for a second, and for good reason, because the instant she opened her mouth, all he could see was red.

Haruki allowed Mizu to pull himself away, grateful to be out of the blast zone before Tetsuo's inevitable explosion.

"What the hell are you implying?" Tetsuo said, even snappier than before. His cheeks had boiled lobster-red by this point. He wanted desperately to punch something, but she was a jōnin, and he had no doubt he'd just embarrass himself trying even more than he already felt. For a lack of better things to do with his hands, he balled them into fists. "Just because I don't want shit to do with your crusty vagina doesn't mean anything else!"

He knew that 'crusty' was a stretch. She looked like she was maybe mid-thirties at her oldest, and objectively she wasn't ugly at all. But she wasn't even a girl, she was a full-grown woman! And she was taking the piss on him for that!

Haruki, by this time, had covered his own mouth with his hand, which was still gaping open in shock. After a few more seconds of processing everything, he gave an inaudible "Ohhhhhh" under his breath, as if a grand divination had just been revealed to him by Matsuda's wisdom.

He covered his face with a hand when he turned to Mizu to whisper. "Do you think that's true? I think it could be. Like, it totally makes sense, he's so crabby all the time-"

"And what the fuck do you think you two are whispering about?" he turned on his teammates to yell, hazel eyes alighted with rage.

The chūnin behind the receptionist desk leaned into the intercom then. "Please keep your volume down. This is an official building for the village."

For lack of something to kick, Tetsuo stomped his foot again, nostrils flaring. He spoke again, only marginally quieter now. "Where the hell is Katsuro anyway? How long does it fucking take to turn in some goddamn contraband here?"

The answer was likely longer than a minute, like the actual amount of time that had probably passed.

Haruki cut his eyes back over to Mizu, giggling soundlessly with a conspiratorial grin on his face.
 
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Katsuro

"So what is it?" Katsuro asked to the lead interrogation officer, Makoto, as he carefully examined the strange device. Of all the shinobi in this building, Makoto probably looked the strangest. He stood shorter than Katsuro at about 5'11 in stature, with pale skin and medium length jet-black hair that was slicked to one side with gel. Over his head bore a Hidden Sound headband, and an eyepatch that covered his left eye. He had multiple piercings running through his nose and lips, and wore a heavy black trench coat.

"I don't know. I've ran over all of our records and nothing like this has ever come through here." Makoto replied, in a monotone voice.

"You don't know?" Katsuro scoffed

"Frankly Katsuro..." Makoto stated, ignoring Katsuro's attitude. "We're gonna have to take this to Intelligence....maybe even Forensics. Yeah....That might be our best bet."

"What?" Katsuro scoffed., "You don't have anything here to find out what this is?!"

"No. This is the interrogation core, not the intelligence core. You followed proper procedure bringing the captured contraband with the detainees, but as for now we don't know what it is. In time we will through our procedures. Now that those two you apprehended are in this building there's nothing they can hide from us. We just need time."

"Well how long?" Katsuro demanded impatiently.

"A while." Makoto replied, still unaffected by Katsuro's attitude.

Katsuro gritted his teeth together, but didn't further his agitation. He knew that of all places to lose his temper this would be the last place. Plus, Makoto was an old friend who didn't deserve an outburst.

"We've got them both detained and going through procedure. The man you captured is being prepped for interrogation. Our best officers will be using their best jutsu to infiltrate his mind. We don't want to make any errors however, so it could be a day or two before the process is complete. As for the girl...."

"What?" Katsuro asked.

"We have to put her through concussion protocols. You did a number on her, and we have to be sure we can keep her memories and mental capacity in tact. Don't know how bad the concussions are, but the medical unit that visited here isn't taking any risks. They want at least a week before we can tap into her."

Katsuro pounded his fist against the wall, shaking the concrete room briefly. This was bullshit! He was frustrated at both himself and the medical core. On one hand, this 'protocol was worthless. She got knocked out because she tried to kill Katsuro. In his eyes they should just interrogate her and get her overwith. But on the otherhand Katsuro was also mad at himself. Had he known the implications of inflicting such a hard attack on his foe, he would have taken her out another way. Now progress was impeded because of him.

"I'll let Kaito know when we have our answers. You'll be the first he informs."

"Yeah, yeah...." Katsuro muttered, as he walked out of the room and left for the lobby.


Matsuda & Mizu

Mizu still stood covering her mouth, absolutely bewildered at the situation. She had never seen Tetsou this upset before. Matsuda really struck a nerve with him, more so than she ever witnessed Katsuro do to him. When Haruki asked her if she thought it was true, she looked over to him slightly, shaking her head to agree with him. It could explain a lot of things....However she stopped shaking her head when Tetsou yelled out them, and she just patinetly waited for whatever to happen next to occur.

Matsuda just stood like she had before, with a satisfied smile on her face as Tetsou began his enraged outburst. She'd finally cracked him, and it was showing. The poor little genin was holding nothing back, to the point that he even began to insult her. However, his insults only made Matsuda verbally chuckle at him. Crusty vagina? In all of her days as an interrogator, Matsuda had been called worst things, but that was definetely one of the most creative things. She'd have to remember that one for the future.

"Don't try and play the ignorant card when you've been acting smart with me from the get-go." Matsuda stated to the enraged boy. "You know exactly what I'm implying, otherwise you wouldn't be so upset. Like I said before, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

With that being said, Matsuda began to walk away. As she walked by, she winked to Haruki, playfully flicking his forehead with her finger. "Try not to look into anymore strange backpacks from now on, alright?"

She then opened the door to leave, before looking to Mizu.

"By the way. I love you hair!"

Matsuda then vanished behind the thick metal doors, leaving as suddenly as she had entered the building. Ironically, as if it were set up by destiny itself, Katsuro stomped into the lobby.

"Tetsou!" Katsuro roared. The nearby chunin behind the desk simply lowered himself out of view of the lobby, not wanting to be apart of whatever would soon happen.

"What part of 'behave' did you not understand you little shit? Everyone in this entire section can hear your dumb fucking voice!"

He stomped towards the group frustrated. "This shit's why people don't bring genin into this building." he muttered to himself.
 
Tetsuo was pissed. Pissed that Matsuda laughed at him. Pissed that she was so sure of herself. Pissed that she so smugly "reassured" him on whatever she thought she knew. Pissed that his "teammates" were getting a laugh out of this. Pissed that all he could do was stand there and fume while she just to walk away, go home to her husband, dog, and 2.5 kids behind some white picket fence and regale the tale of some queer little boy she met on her way out of the interrogation unit.

While Tetsuo stewed over this, Haruki was quite enjoying himself.

He blushed bashfully when she winked at him and rubbed the spot she flicked on his forehead. "I'll try, have a good night!" he replied.

Katsuro's arrival was, of course, synonymous with him chastising his most loud-mouthed pupil. It was a wonder why just seconds before Tetsuo had been wishing he was there.

"I'm so not in the mood for one of your lectures right now, you old geezer!" he snapped back without thinking.

Then immediately he turned away from Katsuro, grunting loudly because he knew that if he wasn't in trouble before, he certainly was now. Tetsuo slapped his cheeks forcefully and dug his nails in his hair and into his scalp but the heat in his face would not stop burning.

"That lady was so fucking annoying!" he seethed, only marginally at a room-appropriate volume, and he kicked his foot at an imaginary object on the floor. The whole display was not too much unlike a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Haruki either did not read the mood of the room or didn't care to, because after just a moment's thought he chimed in, "I thought she was nice."
 
Katsuro

"Do you think I give a flying fuck what mood you're in?!" Katsuro retorted to Tetsou, who looked as if he was throwing a tempter tantrum in the lobby of the interrogation core of all places. As Katsuro looked in anger toward his young pupil, he heavily fought the urge to shove his foot up his ass. Tetsou had pushed his buttons before, but this time he was really pushing it. This place was no joke, and the fact that Tetsou was acting like this made Katsuro look bad. Just what the hell happened to put him over the edge? For a moment or so he thought about it until he remembered the last thing Tetsou bitched about.

"Wait, what lady?" Katsuro asked puzzled, before glaring down the window of the hall to see none other than Matsuda walking away. She did this, didn't she? Matsuda always liked digging into other people's business, even if it meant pissing Katsuro off. Ever since the first day he walked into the academy, 'The prodigy' as she was so dubbed by their peers was a major pain in his ass.

"Matsuda Uchiha?" Katsuro asked intently to the group, and not just Tetsou.

"Yeah?" Mizu asked curiously, somewhat surprised that her Sesnsei was able to put things together that quickly.

"Fucking damni-" Katsuro muttered in frustration, drugging his hand across his temple as he tried to hide his frustration.

"Calm down Tetsou." Katsuro remarked a forcibly calmer tone. "You just played got by a former ANBU black-ops interrogator. She does this for a living. Congrats."

With that being said, Katsuro motioned for his group to follow him out of the building.

"Come on, we've got nothing left to do here."

Katsuro made his way back down the hallways, walking at a more brisk place than previously. He wanted out of here, especially with the scene that those three genin made. Right now, as mad as he wanted to be at them, he couldn't entirely blame them. Matsuda was especially good at getting under people's skin to get information she wanted. Perhaps she even got a little bit of enjoyment out of getting the best of the little brat Tetsou, who knows?

Eventually, the group found themselves outside of the building. The cool night air weighed down on Katsuro's skin, calming his pulse slightly and easing his breathing. Now that he'd had a moment to calm down, he did as he normally would and lit a cigarette. Taking a moment or two to enjoy it, he then turned to his three students.

"All right. We've had a long day. Pack it up and go home, and get some sleep." Katsuro ordered to his three students.

"Tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM sharp you will meet me in front of Sakura Haruno hospital. It's the nearest location to where you three live. I will have our agenda for the day and you'll begin your first official day under me as your instructor. I dismiss you."

That being said, Katsuro didn't wait around. He immediately walked away, heading home. After a long day of having to put up with the three knuckleheads he needed a rest. Walking around the corner in a relaxed manner, he soon made his way toward his apartment complex. Making his way down the darkened streets of Konoha, he took a nice long pull of whiskey from his flask, taking in it's burning sensation into his throat. Most people walking around the area knew very well who he was, and stayed out of his way for fear of an outburst. This was the way Katsuro preferred it, nice and peaceful. No one would bother him anymore for the night.

Unlocking his doors to his single apartment, he opened the door, before closing and locking it behind him. Everything in his apartment was neat and tidy, just like a shinobi's apartment ought to be. Though he lived a rugged and messy lifestyle, that didn't mean that his sleeping quarters had to be the same way. After taking off his heavy flak jacket, he sat down at his table positioned near the window. Katsuro then took out his phone and began to read through whatever messages he may have missed while having to deal with his squad. Most of them involved breaking the news about to Hokage's death. Tomorrow morning the news would be broke, and it would be his job to break the news to his students: Mizu especially.

Katsuro reached into a drawer, and pulled out a new pack of cigarettes. Lighting one up, he slid open his window and let it rest outside the window. Smoking wasn't allowed in the building, but his landlord and him had reached a civil agreement where he'd be allowed to do this. Thinking of everything that happened today, he leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes. Finally, some peace and quiet...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Three swift knocks pounded on the door. Katsuro immediately rose. Are you fucking kidding me? What would anyone want at this time of the night? Annoyed, Katsuro made his way to the door to open it, finding none other than Matsuda Uchiha outside of his door. She stood there with a serious expression, arms crossed and standing tall. Oh great, just when this night couldn't get anymore stressful.

"What do you want?" Katsuro demanded. If Matsuda was here to piss off his genin some more than she was already too late, as he'd sent them home.

"You know why I'm here, Katsuro." Matsuda remarked in a calm, yet serious tone.

Katsuro scratched the back of his head, and looked off to the side uncomfortably. "Yeah....I do. You might as well come in."

With that being said, Katsuro walked back over to his table, and resumed smoking his cigarette. Matsuda followed, closing the door and slipping off her shoes to respect his home. She walked across the room and sat down across from Katsuro.

"What the fuck did you say to Tetsou, by the way?" Katsuro remarked, looking back at Matsuda intently. "I've never seen him that mad."

"I only pointed out an insecurity of his, how he reacted is on him."

"Well, you fuc-"

"I don't want to talk about Tetsou." Matsuda responded sternly, interrupting Katsuro. She watched Katsuro glare at her in annoyance at being cut-off by his former rival, but let a large sigh out of his nose, and nod in agreement.

Having this small sign of confirmation from Katsuro, Matsuda continued: "What's the plan with Mizu? What's all going to happen with her?"

"Don't you already know?"

"Yes." Matsuda replied. "But I want to hear it from your end. You know what she means to me."

"Yeah...." Katsuro sighed, taking in a whiff of smoke before exhaling it out the window. He looked out at the stars for a brief moment, taking in their beauty to collect his thoughts. This was all a lot to take in from the last 24 hours. Things had moved all so fast, and the plans had radically shifted. After a moment or so, he turned to Matsuda, with answers.

"We meet in front of Sakura Haruno hospital at 6:30 AM. I will then break the news about Soruto's death to them. After that we head straight into Kaito's office. He's already messaged me that he wants us out of the land of Fire. Kaito's giving us a mission, that they're not gonna be ready for." He took another puff of his cigarette, letting the fumes burn through his nostrils. "I can barely get them to work together, this won't be easy."

"Then...we'll probably take off from the village around 8 AM to wherever the hell we're getting assigned."

Matsuda nodded, leaning back in her chair more comfortably than before. "How do you think she'll take the news?"

"Of her dad?" Katsuro asked. Matsuda nodded in confirmation. "I don't know. Right now I have no idea what she even thinks of the bastard. Probably hates him."

"The Uzumaki family certainly doesn't like her back. You know, you probably know what she's going through better than anyone else in this village."

Katsuro didn't reply to Matsuda this time. He just rubbed what was left of his cigarette in his ash tray, thinking about Matsuda's words.

"Soruto was a piece of shit, just like him."

"He was our leader, Katsuro! An icon, a symbol. The Uzumaki family name is sacred in this village."

"Look where that got the fucker? How much did being an icon save his life? Bastard didn't even take care for his own kids."

"Enough." Matsuda stated, "I don't like him either, but we have to be respect him for what he was. Hokage."

Katsuro just shook his head. Matsuda stood up, and prepared to leave.

"I'll see you around." Katsuro remarked.

"We'll see about that." Matsuda replied, before heading out.

One last time, Katsuro locked the door behind her, before finally heading off for bed.


Mizu

Mizu walked back to her uncle's house, which was technically her house, alone. They didn't live too far away from the intelligence core, so all it took was just a few turns and blocks before she was sliding her front door open and closing it behind her. Right away, Mizu took off her shinobi shoes and put them neatly on the shelf, just as she was taught to do by her uncle, Hisoka.

Walking out of the entryway and into the main room of the house, she was half expecting the place to be empty. However, sitting there alone at the table was Hisoka himself, reading a book. Hisoka was youthful in appearence, not looking much older than 30's. He shared many similar characteristics to Mizu, from the tone of his skin to the color of his short hair. Covering his face was a thick amount of fuzz over his lightly squared jaw. For clothing, he just wore simple slacks and a T-shirt. For once he must have been off duty.

"I was wondering when you'd come back." He remarked. "How was your first day as a genin?"

"It was fine..." Mizu replied, as she started unpacking her things and putting them back in their designated area. "My sesnei is a hardass, and one of my team-mates is an absolute prick, but other than that it's fine."

"You know." Hisoka said, flipping the page of his book. "You're not always going to be paired up with people you like. That's just part of the job."

Mizu just nodded, and started stretching to begin her daily training routine. However, her uncle interrupted.

"Mizu, it's late. Don't worry about that today! Enjoy the rest of your first night as a genin." Hisoka remarked.

"Thank you." Mizu replied, walking straight to her room.

"Hold on a second!" Hisoka remarked. Immediately Mizu stopped in her doorway. "Your mother was looking for you earlier today."

"Great." Matsuda replied sarcastically, before vanishing off into her room to go to sleep.

"Just....thought you should know." Hisoka muttered, before going back to his book.




 
Mizu Kimura's Really Shitty Day
  • Index
    • Tetsuo wanted to bash his head through a wall. Or through Katsuro's skull. He couldn't decide on which.

    He wanted to storm out of there and away from everyone, but just a little way down the hallway was her and he'd rather bite his teeth down on the steel doors than deal with any more of her smartass attitude.

    He had anticipated so much for Katsuro to launch him from the building and have him endure whatever ridiculous punishment he could think of, it took him a second to process what seemed to be Katsuro letting him off the hook.

    When he told him to calm down, Tetsuo actually made an effort to listen. He pressed his hands against his face, rubbing up and down and around his eyes as though to physically soothe out the tension. In the back of his head, he knew his temper had gotten the better of him and he'd made a scene. This was the last place he would want that to happen in, and yet it was as though that lady Matsuda had used a mesh of steel wool to prick under his skin and grate him with it.

    He knew also that Katsuro's remarks were the closest he could get to sympathy from the man and he shouldn't toss away the proverbial olive branch he'd been handed, no matter how bent out of shape it was.

    Tetsuo was quiet the rest of the way through the building and in their dismissal outside.

    Haruki, also, had been quietly attentive. He was surprised, too, when their sensei dismissed them, without punishment or making them return to the memorial. It was a pleasant surprise, one that he thought he might celebrate with his teammates...

    But Tetsuo had hurried off, taking to the nearest rooftop to get away from his squad, and Mizu more disappointingly had turned to walk off onto a path separate from his own.

    He frowned a little to himself, but took the hint and started walking back home. Haruki did suppose his teammates would be tired after the exercise earlier today, which he'd graciously missed thanks for a mixup with the squad assignments earlier that morning. At least, that's what had happened to the best of his understanding. And he supposed that Katsuro was having them meet up pretty early in the morning...

    Haruki walked a little faster, making his way straight into Konoha's shopping district.

    Originally when his family had moved into Konoha, they had been living in an apartment, leased out to them by the village, along with refugees from other villages who had also endangered their families by aiding the Land of Fire during the war. The number of people needing residence had increased the longer the war dragged on, and so did the pressure increase for them to find some other means of establishing their living quarters. And so Haruki's family had taken the weapon shop his dad had opened up and built some space in the back for them to live in. It was cramped, so he spent a lot more of his free time walking around the shopping district and the rest of the village than he did at home.

    The crowd of the street had thinned out now, with many shop owners shutting their blinds and sliding "CLOSED" signs against the windows. There seemed to be more moths flying around the lampposts than there were people, so for once Haruki wasn't having to squeeze in between groups of adults to make his way home.

    He knew his father's store would be closed, so before he even reached the tiny shop, garnished with a battle fan on display in one window and a long sword in the other, he was already reaching in his pouch for a key.

    There was a quiet "ding" from the bell above when he opened the door. "I'm home!" he announced to an empty shop before pausing. The shop had counters along both walls, making two upside-down "L"s meet midway along the backwall. There was a small flap connecting the counters, secured by a childproof latch, which you could lift up to get behind them. Immediately after that was a thick curtain, which could be pulled back to enter their "home" extension.

    "I guess everyone's gone," Haruki said to himself, a little disappointed. Usually there'd be a glow behind the curtain from the lights behind, but it was completely dark underneath. If he had to guess then, that meant his parents were out gambling again.

    Haruki crouched under the lift-up flap and pulled back the curtain. Before descending the tiny stairwell, he flipped the light switch to the side on with his knuckle.

    "Surprise!" his family shouted at him in unison.

    He had to squint while his eyes adjusted again, but he was grinning ear to ear as he searched the the faces of his family, all crammed in impossible spaces in their tiny kitchen/living area. His sister had popped out from crouching under the table to hug him, while his mom had been squeezing herself into a corner, who also jogged over to hug him.

    His dad had somehow managed to squeeze most of his body into a cabinet under the kitchen counter, and when they all realized his lower half was stuck, they all laughed before trying to help pull him out.

    His parents were middle-aged, but Haruki could feel the strength in his father's hand when he clasped it on his shoulder being pulled from the cabinet. It'd been years since he'd been in the mines, but his physique still showed the history of it.

    "Haruki, my boy, finally a genin," he said, looking at him with watery eyes.

    He still had a toothy grin on his face. "Come on, Dad, it's not that big of a deal."

    But he knew just how much his father was passionate for Konoha and their service during the war. It'd been his dream to have his son enroll and graduate from the academy, and now that was what he had.

    Before he could launch into a long-winded speech about what an honor it was, and how proud his should be, his sister physically butted in. She pinched Haruki's cheek, almost painfully, with her long nails, then draped her arm around his shoulders.

    Aimi was nearly twice his age, and given that, they hadn't spent that much time together. Unlike her brother, her hair was a long, golden brown. In the past, she would always pull her hair back into a braid. Nowadays, however, she always wore it down, in an effort to cover up the gnarly scar left behind from where Kumo ninjas had cut her ear off.

    "Good job, dork. Dad called me insisting that I be here. Lucky you," she said, grinning down on him.

    "Aimi, don't call your brother a dork," their mother chided. "He's a shinobi now."

    Aimi rolled her eyes and smirked at her brother.

    "Come on, this is a celebration!" their dad said. "Barbecue tonight. Haruki, you eat as much as you can handle. If my boy's going to grow big and strong, we gotta' put some meat on those bones."

    His laugh was booming as he corralled Haruki out of their shop-home and into the streets of the shopping district.

    It was apparent to the two siblings how much more of a big deal this was to both of their parents, mother included, who smiled big and walked with a hurried excitement to the restaurant, than it was to Haruki himself. They nevertheless played along, neither speaking a word of it.

    Haruki only hoped he could get enough sleep tonight.


    Tetsuo

    Stress buzzed around his head and squeezed his temples. After his initial escape from his squad, he would have very much have liked to enjoy the cool, quiet night air with a leisurely night stroll. If he had done that, maybe he would have time to sort out his thoughts and feelings, but he knew he didn't have time for that. Not if he was going to get a decent amount of sleep.

    So Tetsuo hurried home, his body still feeling way too warm with emotion.

    When he arrived, he found that very little had changed since he was last in there. It was completely dark, except for the light coming from under his sister's door. By the time he'd slipped his sandals off, his eyes had adjusted.

    The smell of stew wafted through the home. Shoes still in hand, he walked into the kitchen. The stove was still on. Tetsuo sighed heavily through his nose, turning the heat off and moving the pot from the stove.

    While he cleaned up the kitchen – bowls, ladle, cutting board, empty bags carelessly thrown everywhere – he could hear the gentle puffs of his mom snoring, and snippets of whispers coming from his sister's room, no doubt thinking she could fool him yet into thinking she fell asleep.

    When that was done, not bothering to take a bowl of stew for himself, he went into the master bedroom. In there, his mom was buried somewhere beneath the mound of blankets, sleeping soundly. Tetsuo didn't look for her, but instead inspected the wastebasket next to her bed. The smell of vomit hit him before the sight of it did.

    This was the second time she'd thrown up recently. The first time he'd found her running a fever.

    He covered his nose in his jacket as best as he could and tried not to think about it. He hastened to refresh the basket.

    After that, he made his way to the bathroom. He opened Sōtō's drawer and grabbed the toothbrush in there. He tested the bristles with his thumb. They were dry.

    Tetsuo shook his head to himself, grabbed a bottle of ointment from one of the cabinets, then hoisted himself to sit up on the counter. He unwound the bandages Katsuro had wrapped on his feet before. Tetsuo poked at the skin, looking at the cracks, sores, and feeling where there was still a faint burning sensation. He rubbed the ointment in before grabbing a fresh bandage to wrap around it.

    Then it was Sōtō's room.

    When he walked in, a flurry of movement, where the two girls had pulled the blanket over their heads. To the credit of his neighbor, she tried making an almost-convincing snore.

    Tetsuo flicked the light on and off. "Sōtō, I know you're not asleep. Come on, it's time for bed."

    For a few seconds, the wriggling of little girl forms ceased under the cover. She was really making an effort now.

    This didn't stop him from ripping the cover off from both of them.

    "Hey!" Sōtō yelled in protest. "I was sleeping!"

    He ignored her and pointed at her friend. "Is she sleeping over?"

    Sōtō nodded in affirmation, though her lips were still pouting.

    "Did you ask her parents if that was okay?"

    "Yes, they said it was fine," Sōtō said, making a huge display of annoyance by rolling her eyes up to the ceiling.

    "Is she going to be sleeping in the same bed as you?"

    "Yes, Tetsuo."

    "Okay, then no complaints if you don't have enough room. Now both of you, go brush your teeth."

    "We already did!" Sōtō lied. Behind her, Michi nodded her head along.

    "No you didn't," he said, in the kind of voice of someone who's had this conversation numerous times. "Come on, it's bedtime."

    He nudged his dental hygiene prisoners out of the room and back into the bathroom, where arranged Michi with a spare and brushed his own teeth alongside them, to ensure that they spent the proper amount of time on it.

    After tucking them into bed, he finally was able to make it to his own room and drop his sandals down. A crushing exhaustion weighed down on him only then, but he still had a few more things to do. He shed his shinobi tools and outfit with a clatter on the wooden floor and slipped into a big, plain t-shirt, which had been passed down to him from his dad. He slept in it almost every night.

    He barely managed to make the mental leaps to plan out what he would need to take care of before leaving in the morning, and calculate how much time was needed in order to do that.

    When he finally set his alarm and slipped under the covers of his mattress which, like Sōtō's, was on the floor with no bedframe, he did not fall asleep so much as he passed out.

    - - - - -

    Haruki had been the first to arrive. This may not have been the case except that, since they were meeting at the hospital his mother was a receptionist for, she made him get ready and walk to work with her.

    His eyes stung, sitting cross-legged on the pavement outside of the hospital doors. His mother had been eager to meet his sensei, but Haruki kept reminding her that their meetup time wasn't for another thirty minutes, and so she reluctantly had gone into the hospital. He wasn't entirely sure she would stay in there when the time arrived for the rest of his squad to be there, however.

    He had been up until midnight, at least, and Haruki knew that he would've been up much later without the help of his sister to drill into his parents' heads that he needed to be up early. His parents easily could've gone for another couple of hours, drinking and sharing in merriment. The restaurant would've shut down by then, but that wouldn't have stopped them from trying to party at home.

    By contrast, Tetsuo had arrived by only hugging onto the very last second of their allotted meetup time, and he'd come running.

    Indeed, for different reasons, both of the boys had sleep still in their eyes there in front of the Sakura Haruno hospital, at 6:30 AM sharp.
     
  • Index
    • Mizu

    Her alarm went off at 6:00 AM, awaking Mizu from a seemingly dreamless night. Scrambling over to her alarm, she slammed the snooze button down then turned off the alarm. Why she did such a thing was a mystery, by the time she always woke up to do her routines her uncle was always gone. Mizu's uncle lived an interesting life: he was never around, but at the same time he was. Hisoka was a member of the ANBU blackops, and he made no effort to keep that a secret from Mizu. Him being gone was a common theme from her childhood with him. However, just whenever she thought she was alone, he'd always pop up, or some random note would just appear in the house. Despite this, he was the closest thing to a parent Mizu had. By no means was Hisoka an affectionate person, but he straightened Mizu out from her delinquent childhood years and taught her the discipline and logic needed to be a shinobi.

    Rolling out of bed, Mizu walked into the bathroom to ready herself quickly for the day. Walking to the mirror, she was still slightly stunned by her new look; she still wasn't used to having short hair. Staring at her reflection, Mizu debated between tying her hair into a ponytail or just leaving it hang loose. One would still leave her somewhat stylish and feminine, while the other would likely work out the best for proper function. While debating this, she stared at the scar on the left side of her face, splitting her middle left whisker mark down the middle. It was a constant reminder of her past, and what she was to the village around her: A monster. She'd thought about covering up her face with a mask, much like the famed hokage Kakashi Hatake, but it would be no use. Everyone knew who and what she was regardless of being able to see the markings.

    Mizu splashed water on her face from the sink, and tried to clear her mind of the negative thoughts. In that moment, she also decided that she would still wear her hair out the way it was yesterday. Afterall, if Matsuda complimented her hair, it couldn't be that bad, right?

    Heading back to her room, she slipped on her shinobi gear, which would be different from yesterdays: Today's gear consisted of her forehead protector, wrapped around her head, followed by a dark bark blue shirt, with a V-neck collar and loose fitting sleeves. Underneath the shirt, shinobi-mail was visible from the V-neck, and black leggings that ran all the way down her legs. To finish things off she slipped on her normal toeless shoes. Stepping out of her room, there was no sign of Hisoka. However, there was a note left on the table, with an long piece of cloth next to it. Mizu walked to the table, and examined the note:

    Mizu,
    Congratulations on becomming a genin. It pleases me very much to see you beginning your career as a shinobi. Because of this I decided to give you a gift: A fighting staff, much similar to the ones I would train you with. However, unlike the training staffs, this one is made of a light-weight metal. Strong enough to deflect blades, yet still light enough to be quick.

    Mizu put the note down. Across the table sat a large piece of cloth, covering what was likely the staff. Mizu pulled off the cloth, revealing a metallic staff, nearly Mizu's height. It was also accompanied by a sling, to strap the staff to her back. While Hisoka's writing seemed somewhat unattatched and distant, this note and gift still contained more emotion and affection than he'd show. 'Stone-Faced-Hisoka' is often what she'd heard other Shinobi call him, and for good reason. Even when her uncle relaxing at home, he never showed emotion. Nothing, not happiness, not sadness, not anger, nothing. He just always looked bored.

    Strapping he polearm to her back, Mizu grabbed an apple for breakfast and took off. Though she dreaded having to see Tetsou again, she couldn't hide her feeling of excitement, and as mile grew over her face. Today, for the first time she'd get to be a real shinobi. No more academy, just duties and missions. Barely able to contain herself, Mizu happily dashed across the rooftops, taking as many shortcuts as she knew to get to Sakura Haruno hospital ASAP. Within a few minutes she arrived, coming in after Haruki. Mizu then sat herself down on the steps, patiently waiting. 10 minutes later, Tetsou came stumbling over, barely making it.

    Typical. Mizu thought to herself as she watched Tetsou stumble by. Clearly, Tetsou lacked discipline in his life. Why else would he be so late when the time was clearly explained? If Mizu was late to this, Hisoka would have never let her hear the end of it. It was funny how he had a way of finding things out like that.

    Just as Tetsou had arrived, Katsuro could be seen walking down the street toward them. In typical Katsuro fashion he had a cigarette in his mouth, blowing a cloud of smoke their way. Mizu readied herself for whatever foul odors she may encounter from her strange sensei.

    Katsuro

    As Katsuro walked down the street toward the hospital, all of his students were on time. This was a pleasant change, as yesterday the genin were fashionably late to their first training session. Looks like all the hard work of yesterday was paying off, at least for now. Looming closer, Katsuro looked over each of his students from behind his glasses. None of them knew it, but this day would be much different than yesterday. Today they would leave the walls of this village for probably the first time in their lives as shinobi, and not civilians. Right now, the thought of them all operating in the field gave Katsuro an empty feeling of dread in his chest. Then Katsuro looked at Mizu, who had a new weapon on her. Seeing her only reminded him of the bad news he had to bear, deepening the empty feeling in his core.

    "Alright." Katsuro muttered out of the free space of his mouth that was unoccupied by his cigarette. "Before we begin today I have news for all of you."

    Katsuro took his cigarette out, and stomped it out. He wanted them all to hear this loud and clear so that he'd get no annoying questions from them.

    "Hokage Soruto is dead. Him, and all the other kage of the 5 great nations have been assassinated. That's all I know, but you're hearing this before anyone else does."

    The empty feeling settled. There, he finally did it. Katsuro eyed Mizu primarily, trying to anticipate how she would take this news. Katsuro couldn't help but think about the conversation he had with Matsuda the night before.

    .......

    There was a silence in the air as the news settled into Mizu. She remained sitting with her legs crossed on the stairs, mouth open agape with eyes staring forward at Katsuro in shock and disbelief. For Mizu, those few moments felt like forever. The silence consuming her, it felt as if the world had stopped turning. Soruto....is dead? In that moment, a wave of feelings were overcoming her all at once. She was shocked, as the expression on her face gave away. However, there was also a sadness creeping deep within her that she tried her hardest to hide. For some reason, her body was urging her to tear up, but Mizu fought the urge. In front of her team, she wouldn't allow herself to look weak. Not here, not now.

    She tucked her lips together, and narrowed her eyes. Shifting her gaze down to the stairs, Mizu said nothing. All her life she was told that Soruto was her father, yet he was never apart of her life. That's exactly how she looked at him as well; Someone who wasn't apart of her life, but was responsible for her life. It was odd that she couldn't shake this feeling of sadness toward someone who didn't care for her. Then there was Katsuro. He looked so indifferent, standing there with his arms crossed. Mizu could feel his gaze weighing down on her, making it even harder to hide her emotions.

    In spite of this though, Mizu held strong. She just looked down at the stairs, and waited to for everyone else's reaction.
     
    Tetsuo felt a small relief upon his arrival. The running had paid off, because he'd beat Katsuro to the spot.

    Then he noticed that Mizu was watching him. He felt her stare, more than anything, and even though he couldn't tell exactly which way she was looking at him, he knew he didn't like it.

    Tetsuo glared back at her wordlessly. He noticed the polearm and his first instinct was to make a snarky remark, but his brain wasn't quite functioning yet, and very soon he smelled the tell-tale stench of Katsuro's arrival.

    That same smell alerted Haruki to crack his eyes open. He had decided to take advantage of the time before their official meetup to try to squeeze in a for more minutes of rest. He had barely looked up before hanging his head again with each teammates' arrival, but with their sensei standing, puffing a cigarette in front of them, he made an effort to return to the land of the living. He patted his cheek a few times to try to help with this.

    He and Tetsuo both tried to focus on Katsuro as best as they could with his announcements, and when their sensei bluntly delivered the news of the Hokage's death, they were stunned silent for a moment.

    Haruki's own jaw had dropped open. "No way..."

    He tried to wrap his best to wrap his mind around it. The Hokage was dead? He had never met the man personally, but he couldn't help but think that he wouldn't be where he was right now, or gotten to celebrate like he had with his family last night, if it hadn't been for him.

    Though he was technically a resident of the village now, he felt this strange foreignness mixed in with his sadness at the news. This must have been much harder for the rest of his squad.

    But when he looked at Katsuro, then between his two teammates, none of them had burst into a hysterical fit of tears. Katsuro was unreadable, but both of his teammates just looked blank.

    Then a thought occurred to him. "The other Kages too...?"

    That meant the Raikage was dead. He felt an uneasiness in his gut.

    The Raikage had made his family's life hell. It was the Raikage that had instigated the war, flipped the life of his childhood home upside-down. The school funding had been cut and the miners were made to work longer hours. As a kid, this strangely left him and his peers with an almost unprecedented amount of free time. They would spend hours in the street playing with each other, some kids because they wouldn't have a family to go home to until well after dark. While it was some of the most fun mischief he'd ever been able to enjoy, there was also this tense edge to it. Anytime a noise was just a little too loud, they would tense, thinking it might be from a skirmish starting nearby to their village. It was the Raikage that had their families into tools of war, and it the Raikage's shinobi that had made his sister sustain unimaginable torture.

    But it wasn't just the Raikage that was dead. It was all of them. This had nothing to do with any one political grudge, and it hardly felt like a victory worth celebrating.

    He tried putting his feelings into words.

    "That's... just sad..." he said finally, frowning to himself, since he had no one in particular to frown at.

    Tetsuo was also having trouble registering the realness of the news. Katsuro had no reason to lie to them, but it didn't feel real to him.

    His father had always told him of Soruto's strength. He was an Uzumaki, after all. With how his father talked about it, Tetsuo without realizing it had immortalized the man, imagining he would stay alive forever. Or at the very least, he thought he would retire from his position as Hokage, not be assassinated.

    He swallowed his spit as the truth of the matter sank in. It was a harrowing feeling, and it felt like it was physically trying to drag him to the ground. One thing he took for granted, just assumed it was a fact of life that the Kages were figures of uncontested strength, had suddenly become something that not only good but had been disproven.

    Katsuro had been so succinct and matter-of-fact talking about it too, which made the reality just seem all the more surreal.

    That reality came with a sudden sense of danger. The alarm ringing in his temples was enough to finally drag his conscious from its previously lethargic, drowsy state.

    "What do you mean that's all you know?" he started questioning suddenly. "How can you not know more than that? Five Kages are dead. When did this happen?"
     
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    Katsuro

    The genin all had somewhat similar reactions of shock and confusion. Of all of them, it looked like Mizu might be taking it the hardest. To Katsuro, Haruki looked sad and confused, just like Mizu. Tetsou definetely was more on the confused than sad, maybe even more alarmed than the others. Immediately questions came shooting out of Tetsou, questions that anyone in his position should be asking. Katsuro felt pressure begin to build inside of him from frustration. He had tried to avoid getting questions, and he still got them.

    What was the most frustrating was that Tetsou was right for once. Katsuro did know more than he was letting off, much more. He knew that a new version of the Akatsuki was behind the attack, and he also knew when and where. Of all the Jonin, next to Kaito and Matsuda, Katsuro knew the most of the events that transpired. He had to, being Mizu's instructor. It'd be foolish for the village not to inform him of the risk. Yet then again, that's also why they put Mizu under his watch, because they knew he could protect her. Kaito told him in the hospital the other day that he was to tell no one what he knew, and Katsuro would obey that order.

    "All I know is that it happened yesterday. Other than that, I know just as much as you, kid." Katsuro replied in his casual annoyed tone.

    Although he was annoyed, he figured he might make a quick lesson out of this, before he got the day rolling.

    "Information like this never travels freely through the shinobi world. It trickles down from the top brass, and is filtered through every level. Starting with the whole situation being sent to the Kage, information like this travels down each level and gets less and less detailed. Not everyone needs to know everything. I don't know the whole story yet. If it becomes important, they'll tell me. If it's not, then they won't. You're a cog in a machine now, this is the way things work."

    "Right now, Kaito is now the temporary Hokage since he was the head Jonin. We're going to see him to get our assignment for the day. Get your asses up and follow me, we can talk more on the way there."

    Katsuro then turned, and started walking toward the Hokage office. It was strange walking toward the building, as he hadn't set foot there in years. These days, most missions are handed out by the head Jonin, which was Kaito. Whenever Katsuro needed a mission he'd just head to Kaito's office at the Jonin's assigned building. Now he was headed to the top levels of Konoha, and for good reason. If the Akatsuki was really back, they had to get Mizu out of the village. She'd be harder to track on the road, and less of a sitting duck.

    Mizu

    Mizu kept to herself still, torn on the inside and unsure how to feel. Much like Tetsou and Haruki, she was also stunned at how every-single-kage could be dead. Who was capable of doing such a thing? They were always taught in the Academy that the Kage were the elite of the elite, and not pushovers. Even Hisoka had mentioned to Mizu that Soruto Uzumaki may have been the best shinobi he'd ever seen. Now he was dead, and she didn't know how to feel about it. Unlike Tetsou and Haruki however, Mizu had ties to him and his family. On one hand, Mizu felt a bitter righteousness about it: Soruto was the man who put the Kyubi inside of her. He abandoned Mizu's mother, and in Mizu's eyes was the source of all the pain in her life. Then there was sadness on the other hand. Mizu always dreamed of the day when she'd be a strong enough shinobi to corner Soruto and demand answers from him. Now that day would never come. Inside, Mizu felt a strange hollowness. It was as if someone had taken a piece of her and torn it out, leaving a gaping hole in her.

    She could hear Katsuro speaking, but she wasn't listening. Every now and then she'd pick out a sentence or two, but for the most part she was too consumed by her inner thoughts to focus. One of the last things she picked up was Katsuro motioning them to follow, and immediately Mizu stood up and followed. Right now a mission sounded wonderful, she needed anything to take her mind off of things.

    "What's the mission?" Mizu asked out of the blue, shattering her silent act.

    "I don't know. We'll find out." Katsuro replied, keeping things simple. Within a few minutes they'd be at the Hokage office, and she'd get her answers.
     
    Both of the boys were completely unaware of Mizu's inner turmoil.

    Haruki had never really heard of her or jinchūrikis up until yesterday. It wasn't the kind of gossip his parents were attuned with, barely even knowing the Uzumaki reputation in the village. Because of this, he'd never heard of the rumored relationship that she had to the now-late Hokage.

    Tetsuo, on the other hand, knew about the rumors of Soruto Uzumaki's illegitimate daughter. He wasn't sure if he believed them, but he simply just was not thinking about it at the time. What he was thinking about much more was how much deep shit they could all be in.

    It wasn't necessarily that he actively thought that Katsuro was lying or deliberately withholding information. Maybe it was Katsuro saying they were the first to know that rooted the seed of doubt out of Tetsuo's mind and made him miss out on the you're-at-the-bottom-of-the-hierarchy-so-you-don't-get-to-know-shit hint the jōnin had given him. It just didn't make sense to him, or maybe he just hadn't sorted everything out in his mind yet.

    Right now he wasn't thinking about the upcoming mission, and moved right past that to question Katsuro further as they walked onwards to the Hokage's office.

    Once again, he could get past the smell of smoke and alcohol that seemed to ooze out of the jōnin's very pores and walk closer behind him, as though his proximity could pressure the older man into revealing more to him.

    "How can it not be important?" Tetsuo said, starting his second round of questioning. "If the Kages are dead, that doesn't leave a lot of room from you and the top. Jōnin would basically be second-in-charge."

    Haruki wasn't really thinking of questions of his own, but jumped in at that point. "Wouldn't it be more like the ANBU or something, then the rest of the jōnin?"

    Tetsuo pursed his lips to look back and squint at him. He was annoyed by the correction, but he knew he wasn't wrong. "I guess, but still."

    Yesterday. It was so baffling to him. Just yesterday, every village had been starting to put the treaty into action, integrating with one another, primarily in their own village. Then at some unknown time at some unknown place, something had happened with the potential of destabilizing every one of the hidden villages.

    As though to echo Mizu's own thoughts, he continued, "Who could even do something like that? The Kages are supposed to be the strongest shinobi."
     
    Katsuro just shook his head as they walked to the office. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to answer any of these questions, yet they kept pestering him about the same things. The sun hadn't escaped the horizon yet, and already these three were getting on his nerves. From this he could already tell that this was going to be another long day. Reaching into his flak jacket, Katsuro took out his flask and had a quick shot of whiskey to prepare himself for the stress to come.

    "Doesn't matter if it's important, the answer isn't going to change. I don't know."

    Katsuro approached the outside of the building, still draped in red just like it was back in the days of Naruto Uzumaki. Much like he did when they reached the intelligence core, Katsuro turned around to face his students before they entered.

    "This is where we're getting out mission. Be on your best behavior." Katsuro then turned, and opened the door. "And for fuck's sake, pay attention!"

    Inside, the layout hadn't changed much from over the years. There was a lobby area beneath, with stairs leading up to the Hokage office. Katsuro didn't wait around for the secretary to arrive, he just walked upstairs and waved for the genin to follow him. The stairs lead to yet another hallway, with doors leading to the Hokage's office and the room where the elder council would meet. Halting in front of the Hokage's door, Katsuro knocked a few times before opening the door.

    Inside the Kage's office sat none other than Kaito Sonkei, the head Jonin of Konoha and now temporary Hokage until a replacement could be found.
    A man with a rather wise looking appearance, Kaito had a light medium build with fair skin. Though he was sitting, it was obvious that he probably stood at a height of 6 feet tall. For facial characteristics, Kaito had long black hair that he had tied into a ponytail behind his head, complimented by his black goatee and mustache combination. His eyes are a very noticeable blue color, granting him a very trusting appearance. For his clothing, Kaito wore a rather simple outfit despite his now complex position in Konoha. On his torso he had on a dark red button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up partially up his forearm. On his lower body he wore the standard blue jonin pants with the toeless ninja shoes. All of these fine colors of course are complimented by the dark blue Konoha forehead protector he wears across his forehead.

    "Good morning." Kaito remarked, with an emotionless expression on his face. "I assume you are here for your assignment?" he asked, clasping his hands together and bringing them close to his face in a casual manner.

    "Yeah." Katsuro remarked, not giving his genin the chance to answer for him.

    With that said, Kaito opened up the drawer of his desk, and brought forth a scroll.

    "You'll find your mission specifics in here. I'll verbally go through them with you for now though." Kaito said, before he folded his hands back to the way they were previously.

    "Your team is to head to the Land of Birds. More specifically, you are to the small Village of Ansu on the eastern part of the country. There you will be assisting in the search for a missing girl. She's been lost for a day or two now, and they need help scanning the woods."

    Katsuro grabbed the scroll, and began reading over the details of it.

    "You'll find four train tickets found in the scroll. Your train departs at 8:30 AM. Go on and represent our village."

    With that being said, Katsuro began to head out of the room.

    "Katsuro. A word." Kaito said. Katsuro halted, and motioned for his students to leave.

    "What is it?" Katsuro asked.

    "Akatsuki have been spotted in the Land of Fire. Do not let your guard down at any point." Kaito said in a stern tone.

    Katsuro nodded, before walking out into the hallway. He gave the scroll over to his genin, allowing them to read it over officially.

    "Alright. We're going to be out in the field for a while. By my guess it'll be at least four days. Pack your bags accordingly and meet me at the train station at 8:00 AM. That gives you an hour to pack. Should be plenty of time."


    Meanwhile....

    Matsuda appeared from out of the shadows of the office, having been hidden there the entire time. She approached Kaito's desk as he nodded to her.

    "The plan has not changed Matsuda. Same as always. You know what to do."

    Matsuda simply nodded back to Kaito, knowing full well what must be done.

    MISSION NO. 4762

    MISSING PERSON: FIND REI TAKARA!
    ​
    DESCRIPTION: Approximately 74 hours ago Rei Takara was reported as missing from the Ansu village, located in the Land of Birds. She is believed to have gone missing while trying to pick berries in the forest. The Land of Birds has a very treacherous wilderness terrain, with many forested hills, ravines, and caves. Due to these features, the family has requested and paid for the services of Shinobi to assist them in the search for Rei Takara. Your team is to head over to the Land of Birds and aid in the search as best seen fit.

    This mission is in a foreign land, so represent Konohagakure well. You will likely be gone for 3 days at least, so pack accordingly. In order to ensure a timely arrival, train tickets have been arranged for you to depart at 8:30 A.M. Do not miss the train, otherwise you'll have to cover the cost of transportation on your own.

    OBJECTIVES:

    1. Locate Rei Takara and return her safely to her family.
    2. Aid the Takara family in any way seen fit until Rei Takara is returned.

    (Scroll information below)
     
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    Tetsuo's expression darkened when Katsuro took out a flask and took a swig of it. That wasn't water, he was sure. Here he was, a shinobi, his superior, and he was day drinking. The sun was barely even up yet. It was pathetic.

    Katsuro wasn't reliable. Tetsuo had somehow forgotten that, but he made a mental note not to make that mistake again.

    He still didn't know if the man was deliberately withholding information or if he really didn't know, but it was very clear now that pressing the issue would get him nowhere. Katsuro would just blow him off like he did just now, or he'd start yelling at him.

    He fell back a little, glaring silently at the back of Katsuro's head as they headed up to the Hokage's office (or more aptly put, the Recently-Deceased-Ex-Hokage's Office).

    If Katsuro didn't know, then at least the Hokage's stand-in should know something. It would be a much better use of his time, anyway, than trying to cross-examine a drunkard.

    Entering the office then, Haruki couldn't help but notice how sparse of decoration everything looked. The man sitting behind the Hokage's desk looked rather plain, himself. If it weren't for where he was sitting, Haruki could just as easily mistake him for any other civilian. He wondered if the Hokage's office was always so empty, or if someone had come in to take the late Soruto Uzumaki's decorations down themselves.

    He and Tetsuo were both attentive as Kaito covered the details of the mission, but in the back of his head, Tetsuo was thinking about how weird this was. It was like seeing something that was off-white for the first time. He'd be in this office with his old squad getting missions from Soruto, which were mainly menial tasks he'd vocally complain about. Now this was a man he'd only seen in passing sitting alone by himself, giving them a much more interesting mission... but it was completely outside the parameter of the mission.

    He frowned when Katsuro ushered him out, sharing a private word with the Hokage's stand-in. He complied, expecting them to be invited back into the office after for some final details. A description of the missing girl, perhaps. He strained his ears to hear the exchange between Kaito and Katsuro, but he couldn't pick up on a word of it.

    Outside the office, Haruki read over the scroll, which he would then pass over to Mizu. It felt like a lot of pressure, being tasked with finding this girl. Was it possible that she just got lost, or could she be in legitimate danger? It was thrilling in a way, though, like they were about to play detective like it was a mystery novel. Nervous but nevertheless excited, he started thinking over what kind of things he'd need to pack.

    Then he heard the door to the Hokage's office click shut again, noticed a missing Tetsuo, and looked wide-eyed back at Katsuro, waiting to see his sensei's move.

    Tetsuo entered the stand-in's office with urgency. He knew he was on borrowed time before Katsuro dragged him out of there. He hoped that Katsuro's professionalism would outweigh his alcohol-fueled rage and he would manage to get at least a few questions in before he had to deal with Katsuro.

    What he didn't expect was that very same fucking lady just from last night to be standing in the office across from Kaito.

    He blinked at once in both surprise and rage, and it stopped him from walking any closer to the stand-in's desk.

    "What are you doing here?" Tetsuo demanded. And for that matter, when and how did she get there?

    But then he remembered why he was here and how he didn't have time for a reunion with that nightmare of a woman. He shook his head forcefully, as though to banish the thoughts from his mind. "It doesn't matter."

    He then looked directly at Kaito. "Why are you sending us away on this mission? Shouldn't we be here helping with the village?" Tetsuo snorted lightly, frustrated that he wasn't explaining himself as clearly as he wanted. Either that, or the nagging fact that she was there God why can't she just fucking leave. "I mean, I get that we're just genin, but there's gotta' be a better use of our time. The Hokage's dead. Doesn't that make us vulnerable? Shouldn't we have as many men here as we can in case, you know? Isn't the person who did this still out there?" His stream of questions almost left him breathless by the time he was done with it.
     
    Matsuda

    The door opened once again, much to Matsuda and Kaito's surprise. What did Katsuro want now?

    Matsuda turned around to face Katsuro....only it wasn't Katsuro. Barging into the room was Tetsou, an occurrence that that Matsuda didn't see coming. This pent-up, frustrated boy was just full of surprises. Behind him in the doorway, she could just see Katsuro's face reddening. She could just feel the rage fuming from her former rival's head. Once again, just like when where they left off, a smile grew across her face. If Matsuda wasn't looking forward to seeing an enraged Katsuro rain hell down on this boy, she'd be lying to herself.

    "You should be more observant of your surroundings Tetsou, someone's gotta guard the Hokage." Matsuda said, as she walked back over to the wall she previously occupied.

    Kaito stared at Tetsou with the same expression he had before. However, he sat silent for a moment or so in an awkward silence. He knew very well who Tetsou was, having read over his file thoroughly since he wanted to know the company Mizu was with. To say that Tetsou had an attitude would be an understatement. Plus...the things that Matsuda had told him earlier about him....

    "You do know, that I am the Hokage right now, correct?" Kaito asked, raising one eyebrow in curiosity as he looked over Tetsou, and then Katsuro. For a moment, Katsuro halted his slow advance toward Tetsou. Kaito then continued.

    "Hokage Soruto may be dead, but that doesn't stop the wheels of this village. There are still tasks at hand that must be finished, such as your mission. You've been assigned this mission because it's a C-ranked mission. That means that experienced genin or young chunin usually get these missions. From what I've read on your team's file, you have plenty of experience as a genin, Mizu had an ANBU blackops member as a mentor, and Haruki seems to be of good ability as well. Your sensei also happens to be one of my best Jonin next to Matsuda. Most genin are eager to leave the village, I see you're not one of them."

    Kaito paused, mainly to allow his statement to sink into the insubordinate genin. He then continued: "Furthermore, since your records show that you performed well in the academy, I'm sure you're aware of the armistice we signed? If not, let me explain: We agreed to have complete cooperation with the other 5 great nations. There are hundreds of veteran shinobi from other lands stationed here in the village at this moment. Likewise, we have shinobi stationed in those lands too. You're worrying about things that are beyond your reach as a genin."

    Kaito then looked away from Tetsou, and went back to organizing files in his desk. From the outside perspective, it looked as if he had completely dropped their conversation and had moved on.

    "Now get going. I'd hate for you to fail your first mission due to tardiness."


    Katsuro

    With that verbal cue, Katsuro marched across the room to Tetsou. He'd been mad at Tetsou before, but not like this. There were so many things he wanted to inflict upon Tetsou in his rage - but they'd probably cause him to be demoted. Instead he opted to grab Tetsou by the arm with the full strength of his grip. Katsuro then wrangled Tetsou out of the office before heaving his hand forward, and tossing Tetsou toward the wall of the stairwell.

    "YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Katsuro roared, marching toward Tetsou. Mizu visibly recoiled, backing up to the other end of the hall to get away from Katsuro's rage.

    Katsuro didn't stop there though. Showing no hesitation, he grabbed Tetsou by the collar of the shirt, and dragged him down the stairs behind him, pulling him all the way out into the street. Then, with just one arm, Katsuro heaved Tetsou through the door and into the street face-first. Even after that, this wasn't the end. Walking up to Tetsou, Katsuro pressed his right foot down firmly onto Tetsou's back, so that he'd be stuck with his face pressed into the dirt.

    "You're not going to keep doing this." Katsuro said, as people in the street all watched in horror. He casually pulled out a cigarette, taking time to light it with his lighter before continuing. This was his way of belittling Tetsou, keeping his ego in check. Right now, Katsuro could do anything he wanted to. But he wouldn't do anything to extreme.

    "If you're gonna act like a dumb little kid, then I'm gonna treat you like one!" Katsuro took a puff of his smoke, then tapped the ashes off the end of his cigarette so that they'd land right in front of his face.

    "I told you at the interrogation core to be on your best behavior, and you made a scene. Then I tell you at the fucking Hokage's office to be on your best behavior, AND YOU MAKE A SCENE!"

    "You clearly must be def or just fucking stupid, because you clearly don't understand me!"

    To contain his rage, Katsuro took yet another hit of his cigarette before continuing. "I already told you that you're not going to walk all over me. You've treated me like a doormat twice now. So, here I am, standing on you like one. Doesn't feel to good, does it?"

    With that said, Katsuro let out a sigh. He felt like he'd proven his point to Tetsou. Everyone around them was staring, but Katsuro couldn't care less what the people of this village thought of him. All he wanted to do was prove to Tetsou that he wasn't to be ignored. He let his foot off of Tetsou, and backed up.

    "I don't want to hear your annoying fucking voice. Don't say a fucking word, or I'm gonna put you back on the ground. Go get your shit, and meet us at the train station. That's an order."


    Mizu

    Mizu stood in the doorway of Hokage building, absolutely mortified. She had always thought that Katsuro was intimidating, but now she thought he was terrifying. The speed at which he hauled Tetsou out, and how he just made him look like a rag-doll...he was clearly their superior in terms of raw power. She turned back to Haruki's direction (Assuming he came down stairs with her), with the same mortified expression on her face. "I uh...."

    She turned around to see Katsuro staring at her, as she stood in the doorway. While his eyes were hidden beneath his glasses, just the presence of his head facing her direction was enough to send shivers down her spine.

    "I'm gonna go pack my things!"

    Mizu took off in an instant, like a lightning bolt toward her house. It was her mission not to be late, the last thing she wanted to do right now was anger Katsuro.
     
    The woman smiled cooly at him, and once again, made the kind of polite suggestion that made his blood boil.

    She sauntered past him and his jaw tightened just enough for his temple to throb a little. Standing in the center of the stand-in's office, he looked just to see the spot she had been standing before. The whole mission debriefing had felt rushed, but even then he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed her there before. He made a conscious effort not to do any more than narrow his eyes at her. If he full-blown glared at him, he thought maybe Kaito wouldn't answer his questions.

    Tetsuo turned his attention back to Kaito.

    He pursed his lips in respond to his question. If he nodded, then that would mean he would be acknowledging that this office was no longer Soruto Uzumaki's, and instead had been passed onto this stranger with a goatee. He knew that was in what had happened, but he wasn't ready to accept it.

    It was a stupid question anyway. It wasn't as if he'd actually been disrespectful. Tetsuo, much unlike when he spoke to Matsuda before, had made a somewhat conscious effort to not address him with any expletives, even with as frustrated as he was. Why couldn't he be happy with that?

    Kaito's eyes drifted from him to somewhere behind him, and he knew then there was a pissed off Katsuro standing right there, basically frothing at the mouth to get a bite of him. Tetsuo made sure not to look back at him. Making eye contact with him now would basically be suicide.

    As Kaito began explaining mission ranks to him like he were still in the academy, Tetsuo's annoyance was far from abated. To make matters worse, he was completely misunderstanding his reluctance to leave. Had he not made it clear enough it had nothing to do with what he wanted? Why would anyone want to cross the country to go searching for some random girl when their very home could be under threat?

    Then he brought up the armistice. He'd forgotten about that somehow. He didn't know the dictionary-definition of "armistice", but he knew the contents of it, and he knew there were people from all different villages now starting to occupy their own. So no, they weren't being left completely defenseless sending their own away...

    But he couldn't help but think, if the village came under attack, how hard would they fight to defend it? It wasn't their home, after all. How far would someone be willing to go just for the sake of preserving some shaky treaty? The threat was still monumental, whatever it had been that could wipe out every single Kage from the Five Great Nations. Was he just supposed to accept the protection of strangers and this second-rate shinobi?

    He might have brought this up, too, as well as how he'd ignored his question regarding whether whoever had done this has been apprehended yet, except Kaito dismissed him with a turn of his eyes and suddenly the fumes of an enraged Katsuro was billowing behind him. Shit.

    Katsuro gripped his arm with enough force to bruise. "Ow!" he almost yelped.

    Tetsuo didn't try to run away or resist so much as he just tried to have some semblance of control. This was much easier said than done as Katsuro shouted with unfathomable rage and shook him like a maraca.

    Haruki practically jumped back from where he'd been peeking behind the door, narrowly avoiding Tetsuo being launched into him like a missile. Katsura might have broken into a whole new decible, which Haruki hadn't thought possible. He watched in terror as Tetsuo barely caught himself on the wall, if only to be forcefully lugged down the stairwell.

    Haruki was paralyzed for a good few seconds, up until it seemed like he and Mizu seemed to determine they were as safe of a distance away as they could be, then followed as quiet as possible.

    Similarly, Tetsuo suddenly found that he was a mute.

    He stumbled down each step, balling his fists around the space left on his collar because he thought maybe it could protect his throat.

    He didn't have to worry about that, evidently, because just outside Katsuro was hurling him onto the street.

    Tetsuo covered his face with his arms, and by some miracle of God, only burned his arms a little against the pavement. His heart thudded loudly in his ears, and before he could think of getting up, an enormous weight was pressure down on his back, imprinting the pavement on his skin through his clothes. He imagined him leaning his weight forward, cracking a few ribs beneath.

    Katsuro was yelling at him, and his eyes were drawn to Konoha's early risers, who were hiding their gaping mouths behind their hands. The look of 'is this considered child abuse?' was plain in the eyes of civilians and the occasional shinobi with a foreign headband. The shinobi from their own village, especially the older ones, looked at him like they knew better. There was one squad of three genin, accompanied by their sensei, presumably on their way to their own mission debriefing. He recognized all but one. The other two he remembered clearly being slighted by less than a couple of years ago. Or at least, that's how he had taken their comments about his stature when he had decided to pummel the blonde one. Now they were looking down on him with some perverse joy, certainly sharing some common thought about how he was finally being put in his place.

    He curled his hands into fists and glared at the bystanders. Fuck them. Fuck all of them. He didn't care what they think.

    Tetsuo was scared, as anyone would be with a two ton ape pinning them down and spitting with fury would be, but there was some impossibly stubborn part of him ignited by the attempt at public humiliation. Maybe not this exactly, but he knew this would happen, and he had accepted the consequences in advance. If anything, he was the victim here, he convinced himself, when he had to flinch back from the freshly burned ashes that nearly blew into his face. He had only tried uncovered whatever it was he was now convinced all of the higher-ups were trying to hide. He had done nothing wrong.

    Finally, the pressure lifted from off his back, and he could almost take full, deep breaths again. (He would have, had it not been for the cloud of noxious fumes being puffed from above.)

    He stood and brushed the dust from his clothes, attempting to show an inappropriate amount of dignity for someone that was eating concrete just a moment ago, and turned to walk back home. He would do what Katsuro said because he was done here, he thought to himself. Blood was still rushing in his ears, and he had no doubt his face was flushed in some way. He, once again, would not look at Katsuro, because he knew the defiance in his eyes then would just activate his bloodlust.

    When he crossed the throng of civilians, there was one woman who timidly tried approaching him. "Young man, are you okay?" she asked in a hushed tone. Tetsuo, without looking at her, took to the rooftops to hurry the rest of the way home.

    Haruki hadn't let his eyes leave Katsuro, for fear of the disgruntled veteran turning against him. He only did when he saw Mizu look back at him in the corner of his eyes. He exchanged a look with her, but almost immediately she took off, and he could see exactly why.

    Gingerly, as though the slightest ripple in the earth would set their sensei off again, Haruki stepped the rest of the way down the stairs. He cracked an uneasy smile at Katsuro. "I, uh... I'll go do the same."

    With that, he fled the scene as fast as his legs could carry him.


    Tetsuo

    He shut the sink faucet off from where he'd been running his arms under the water, as if it actually did anything to sooth the inflamed marks now burning on his skin. He could hear his sister and her friend starting to rouse in the room next door, maybe having been woken this time from the sound of him packing. He ran over the list again of what kind of things he would need for four days. It was hard to think with Katsuro's booming voice still reverberating in his ears, with a backdrop of Matsuda's own annoying voice buzzing in his ears, telling him to pay more attention to his surroundings.

    He pressed his thumb and forefinger into the bridge of his nose. Focus and remember.

    He came into Sōtō's room, where she had once again pulled the covers over her and her friend's heads to pretend they were sleeping. He sighed through his nose and kneeled down next to the mattress, rubbing the cover where he knew her back would be. She must be aspiring to be an actress now, because after a few seconds, she was fake-yawning and stretching her arms above her head.

    As wired as he felt, he managed a calm and gentle tone. "Sōtō, I need you to listen to what I'm saying. This is important."

    She blinked at him, trying to look her best like she had woken up from a dream. "Tetsuo, is that you?"

    "Sōtō, listen to me. I'm going to be gone for a few days. I'm going to need you to take care of yourself, and Mom." He went on to list every chore he could think of.

    "How am-"

    "I wrote it all down in case you forget," he said, waving a folded paper before handing it to her. "If you can't read it all, get Mom or one of the neighbors to help you. Mom might be due any day now, so if you need to, call the hospital. I wrote their number down too, as well as the Uedas' names." Tetsuo, in the past, had already made a loose arrangement with their next-door neighbors, the Uedas, for such times as this. "Do you understand?"

    She nodded her head along, maybe still trying to look sleepy.

    "I'm serious. If something happens, you're going to have to be the one in charge. I won't be around-"

    "Okay, okay," she said, the annoyed tone in her voice betraying her sleeping beauty act.

    He pulled her into a too-tight hug then. "If anything happens or you start to feel unsafe for any reason, don't hesitate. Go to the Uedas and stay the night there. Don't try to be by yourself. Have your friends over if you can, I don't care."

    She squinted her eyes into the shoulder fabric of his shirt. "What's the big deal? Why are you acting so weird?"

    He was vaguely aware of his hypocrisy. There was nothing stopping him from telling her right then and there that the Hokage was dead, and no one was telling him anything more than that, so he didn't know if they should be expecting an attack on the village or not. There was nothing stopping him, yet when he had the opportunity to tell her, he said, "Just, don't forget what I said."

    Maybe he would justify himself later by saying he didn't have the time to explain everything. Or maybe he didn't want to tell her until he knew everything so she didn't needlessly panic. But then wouldn't that also plausibly be why Kaito and Katsuro weren't telling him more? He was panicking either way.

    "Okay, I gotta' go. If there's an emergency, call me as soon as you can. I love you."

    When he pulled back, she was looking at him like he'd grown a third eye. "Yeah, okay, love you too."

    The rest of his packing was done very quickly, as well as the visit with his mom. Unlike with Sōtō, he had actually needed to wake her up to let her know he'd be gone. He reviewed everything he had told her, though skipped over his borderline paranoid cautions.

    "You're always so responsible. Thank you for looking after us, Tetsuo," she would say and wrap her arms around him. He could feel the bump of a new sibling press up against his stomach when she hugged and kissed him. He could feel the heat from her forehead just with that proximity, so he tried peeling the thick comforter away from her.

    He looked at the nearest clock then and swore under his breath. Knowing he was pressing his time again, he grabbed his bag and raced out of the door.


    Haruki

    He arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare. When Haruki went home, his father took a break from preparing to open the shop to help with packing. He had told his dad everything that had happened in the past hour or so, not even hesitating over the detail of the dead Kages. After he had mentioned that, however, his dad had gotten very quiet, and Haruki had begun to suspect that he had stopped listening, trying to absorb the full impact of this news.

    Maybe shocking him into silence had helped with Haruki's punctuality, but now he was pacing the station, hoping to catch a glance of Mizu. Less hopeful but equally helpful would be finding Katsuro or Tetsuo. There were more people than he had thought would be here, most businessmen and he almost regretted not asking their sensei where precisely in the train station they were supposed to meet at.

    All it took was the mental picture of Katsuro torpedoing his fellow squad member into oblivion for Haruki to forgive his hesitation.

    So Haruki kept wandering around, a sizable duffel bag slung over his shoulder (probably overpacked), squeezing between men in important looking suits, trying to find any familiar faces.

    Tetsuo would eventually show up in a rush with nearly seven minutes to spare before boarding.
     
    Mizu

    Dashing from roof to roof, Mizu was home within just a few minutes. Seeing Katsuro thrash Tetsou around like that really gave her motivation why not to be late. Just the very thought of Katsuro treating her like lit a fire under her. No matter what happened, she would not miss this train. There was no telling what Katsuro would do out of anger if she made them miss the train...

    She slid open the door to her room, and immediately began to pack. Mizu packed nothing special, just an extra outfit and the standard field supplies. One of the keys to packing for the field was always to pack less than you needed, as was instructed by her uncle. In a tedious manner, Mizu folded and rolled everthing so that it would tightly fit in her compact backpack, which she would then sling over her back, behind her staff. With her things packed, she headed into the kitchen and began to pack food. Though she was used to eating 2-3 meals per day, she could make due with eating only one meal per day. Thus she packed only three meals in her pack. Anything else she could probably buy at a market or scrounge up in the wilderness.

    Zipping up her bag, Mizu couldn't slip the anxious, overwhelming feeling of her mission. That, combined with the news of her estranged father, was almost too much to bear in one day. She wished that she'd have a day or two to process this before heading out into the field, but that just wasn't the case. Her village had called on her to do a mission, and now she had to leave. Once more, Mizu slung the backpack on and headed out of the home. Once again though, something would catch her eye and force her to stop: A small picture of her mother gracing one of the shelves of her uncle's bookcase.

    This picture had to have been taken years ago, back when her mother was still an active chunin in the medical core. Why was this here now? Any pictures of her mother were usually kept in Hisoka's room. Mizu had pictures of her mother herself, but didn't care to keep any of the ones she owned out in the open. Why keep pictures displayed of someone who wasn't apart of your life? These days her mother was far too busy drinking herself to death in a bar with the little money she had left. Although, ever since Mizu graduated from the academy she'd been noticing that her mother had been making more of an effort to contact her. Thinking about it, Mizu couldn't possibly piece together what she wanted, and why Hisoka was being so passive-aggressive about this.

    Not wanting to look at the picture anymore, Mizu placed the frame on its face, hiding its image from the world around it. Mizu then opened the front door, and closed it behind her. She'd talk to Hisoka about this in a few days and get this straightened out. Mizu leaped back onto the roofs, and proceeded to head to the train station. Though she had plenty of time to spare, she still hurried along at a brisk pace.

    Katsuro

    Still in a piss-poor mood, Katsuro marched his way back to his apartment. Villagers still made sure to move out of his way, not wanting to experience any of the wrath that his student just endured in front of everyone. Though he wasn't as angry as before, he still was slightly pissed off. Tetsou made him look like a fool once again. It certainly didn't help his case that he disciplined him in front of everyone, but that couldn't be helped. If he allowed Tetsou to behave that way unpunished, then he would never change. In his eyes, this justified his actions. Right now, the apple didn't look like it fell far from the tree. Katsuro knew Tetsou's father, and refused to let Tetsou grow up to be like that ratty bastard.

    Katsuro opened his door, and slammed it behind him in anger. Why did he end up with a team of snotty kids with daddy issues? Both Mizu and Tetsou didn't have much in terms of positive father figures. Haruki...

    Katsuro awkwardly paused while packing, debating if Haruki's file had mentioned anything about his family life. As he thought more and more about it, he knew the least amount about Haruki compared to the other two. Could it be that Haruki was the most normal of the bunch? Not likely, considering Katsuro ended up with him, but he'd wait and see how things played out. Perhaps when they returned he'd ask for an updated file on Haruki from Kaito, since Kaito loved his damn files...

    He flung his bag over his shoulders, and locked his door behind him on the way out. Now lighting up his third cigarette for the day, he made his way toward the train station.

    "Sir, smoking isn't allowed inside the stat-"

    "Shut your damn mouth, I don't give a damn." Katsuro said to one of the station workers, brushing him off like he was nothing.

    The station was crowded, as the morning traffic was coming to head to the other villages. Finding his students would be hard in this...and Katsuro didn't have time to try and find them all in the crowd. So instead, he got near the train they needed to board and stood on top of a bench. Ignoring the judging stares of the people around him, he continued to smoke his cigarette while scanning the crowd.

    First he picked out Haruki, as his hair color stood out from most of the crowd.

    "Haruki!" Katsuro shouted. "Get your ass over here!"

    That was one little brat down. Two more to get. Next one he could spot, thanks to the staff that was taller than her, was Mizu.

    "Mizu!" Katsuro shouted once again. Even more people were staring at Katsuro now, but that did not deter him. "Here. Now!"

    Mizu instantly saw Katsuro, puffing out a cloud of smoke atop the crowd of people. When your sensei is spewing out more smoke than a damn train, you know he has issues. She made her way through the crowd, and was soon next to Katsuro.

    Last and certainly least was Tetsou. Katsuro continued to scan for him, and after a few minutes he could see Tetsou rushing into the train station.

    "Tetsou, over here shithead!" Katsuro shouted across the train station. People gasped at how rude he was was to his own students, yet this affected Katsuro very little.

    "Come on, let's get on the train." Katsuro ordered, making his way through one of the train doors and into one of the train cars. Scanning through the car, he eventually found his way over to a few empty rows with enough room for all of them to sit next to each other. To be precise, there were two open benches. Each had room for two people. Katsuro sat at one, and Mizu sat at the other. There was no other seats open in the car.

    This meant only one thing. Either Haruki or Tetsou had to sit next to Katsuro...but who would it be?
     
    It wasn't hard to pick Katsuro's voice from the white noise of the train station's crowd. Haruki craned his up in awe at Katsuro's height, boosted even more by the bench he stood on top of. He couldn't help but admire in that moment how much he did not seem to care about how bizarre he must have looked to everyone there.

    Then he remembered just how terrifying his sensei was and skittered his way over to the jounin with haste.

    As his teammates arrived one-by-one, Haruki noticed just exactly how much smaller their bags were. He blushed just a little, embarrassed by how much his buldged out at his side. He'd missed the memo, evidently, to pack with a sense of minimalism. It wouldn't surprise him if his dad had snuck a few things into his duffel bag, too. What's done is done though, he decided, and he made a mental note to get a compact bag like Mizu's when he came back.

    They began boarding, and Haruki stepped a little to the side to grab his ticket. He slung his bag onto his chest, unzipping the side pocket, then the other side pocket. He found the slip there, crammed together with various first-aid supplies, a couple of snacks, and a yellow paper slip he recognized to be something his dad would've put in there, probably wishing him luck on his trip. He'd have to remember to read it later.

    He skipped to catch up with his squad, who had already ascended the steps into the train car. Haruki handed the ticket to the car's attendant with a sheepish, polite grin, then followed the line of people picking their seats, some sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.

    The cloud of smoke hanging over his sensei was an easy indication of where he sat. Mizu's pole was across from him. He figured out the situation he was about to be in very quickly.

    With unprecedented energy, Haruki nearly trampled Tetsuo shoving past him to sit next to Mizu.

    "Hey!" his smaller teammate growled, shoving the buldging duffel bag out of his face, but Haruki ignored him. No way was he going to let Katsuro's chronic explosions ruin his vacation.

    He struggled just a little stuffing his bag in the overhead hanger before plopping down in the seat next to Mizu and smiling at her.

    Haruki leaned forward in his seat to survey the rest of the passengers. He was eager to see if there were any other kids their age on the car that he could spy, maybe chat up later. Bonus points if it was a pretty girl. To his disappointment, all he saw were men and women, suited up, dabbing their noses with handkerchiefs and sniffing indignantly at the smoke, and maybe the occasional toddler. He sunk back in his seat, no longer smiling in his excitement.

    Well, no matter. At least he wasn't in Tetsuo's position. He'd wanted to ask him about what he'd done in the Hokage's office, but that could wait until Katsuro wasn't there.

    The train jerked, hissed, and they were moving forward.

    Haruki turned to look at Mizu, grinning again. "Where'd you get that staff?" he asked. "You didn't have it yesterday, did you? My family own's a weapon shop in the village, you know."

    Meanwhile, Tetsuo was in a less-than-happy mood. He cursed Haruki and the fate he'd damned him to. Try as he could, he didn't find a single other seat open. He didn't particularly want to sit next to Mizu, but at least her pores didn't reek of booze. He wondered if Katsuro would let him sit in another car or if he'd yell at him.

    For now, he decided not to risk it. He laid his bag on the floor, kicking it under the seat, then sat as heavily as his small body could onto the bench.

    Tetsuo made no attempt to hide how annoyed he was, bringing his jacket up to cover his nose and scowl down at the floor below. He knew for a fact smoking wasn't allowed on the train. He was sure Katsuro did too. For all he preached about respect, here he was, poisoning everyone unfortunate to share the car with his fumes.

    He turned his glare at the man, frowning behind the fold of his jacket. He thought maybe he would stop after the doors shut, but that didn't seem to be the case. Tetsuo almost opened his mouth to remind his teacher of exactly where they were and what the rules were, but decided against it. After the incident at the stand-in's office, he knew his standing with Katsuro right then would be shaky at best.

    He tried for a slightly less passive-aggressive option. "Are you going to be smoking that thing this whole time?"

    Somewhere further down the car, a man fingered the cigarette pack in his shirt pocket, thinking maybe he could take a smoke on the train today too.
     
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    Mizu

    There was a feeling of relief when Haruki sat next to her, rather than Tetsou. Between the two of them, Mizu much preferred the company of Haruki over Tetsou. So far, Mizu had no bad experiences with him so far. Plus, Haruki even began to make small talk with Mizu, something that she wasn't entirely used to herself. Most people she knew only spoke to her when absolutely necessary. By no means did this mean Mizu was incapable of socializing, it just wasn't the norm.

    "Oh, this?" Mizu asked, looking at her staff as it leaned up against the walls of the train. Being roughly 6 foot in length, the thing was far too long to slide under a seat or put in the luggage above. So instead, she just made due by leaning it up against the train side, snugly fitted into place by stuffing her backpack under it.

    "I actually just got it today! My uncle left it for me." Mizu replied. "He's trained me to use polearms before to keen my balance, but I never expected him to give me one for field use."

    Mizu then smiled back at Haruki, happy to be having a conflict-free conversation for once. Of everyone in the team so far, she definetely got along with him the best. Though, that might have just because he seemed very foreign to a lot of the concepts in the village. She looked back to the ocnversation they had the other day, where he didn't understand that she was a Jinchuriki. Did he just not pay attention in the academy, or was he not originally from Konohagakure?

    "I had no idea that your family ran a weapons shop! My uncle did say this was custom made though...has a Hisoka Kimura passed by your store recently?"

    Katsuro

    From the very moment that Tetsuo sat down, was annoyed. Rather than just sit like a normal person, he visibly shielded himself from Katsuro's odor with his own clothing. If that wasn't enough, he then had the audacity to comment on his smoking. Katsuro eyed Tetsou through the gap in the corner of his sunglasses as smoke bellowed out of his nostrils, filling the cabin with its toxic essence. Anything Tetsuo said would have annoyed him, but this one was more annoying since it was directed at him, and he couldn't ignore it.

    "I'm gonna enjoy this one as long as I can, kid. I don't want smoke the whole way, but keep annoying me and I just might."

    Realizing that Tetsuo, and many of the other people on the train likely didn't want to smell his fumes, he decided to be at least someone courteous. Gripping at the window, he lowered it down just enough to let smoke escape out of. While there was still smoke floating through the top of the cart, at least no more would fill in.

    He looked outside the window, and watched the changing landscape. These railways were long, and rand through all of the great nations. They'd been there before, but they were greatly expanded upon at the end of the war. The peace treaty stated that an easy flow of shinobi and citizens would help ease tensions. Plus, having a large flow of citizens generating income in other countries countries think twice about war...at least on paper. This train would take them all the way to the border of the Land of Birds, right in the land of wind. From there they'd be walking a while, since the railroads had yet to expand in the rugged terrain of the land.

    Needing to pass some time, and not one for small talk like Haruki and Mizu, Katsuro took the mission scroll back out, and began to study. He put it on his lap in a way that Tetsuo could review it as well if he wanted to, though if he wanted to annoy anyone else he was more than welcome to.
     
    Though he may have been a little disappointed not to find anyone new to occupy his time with, Haruki felt encouraged by Mizu's own smile. He knew they'd get along.

    He 'ah'd and 'hm'd along with everything she said, making sure it was very clear to her that he was paying attention.

    When she asked if a Hisoka Kimura had passed through the shop, Haruki shook his head. "Maybe? I'm honestly not in the shop all that much. My dad is the one that really manages it. I just help out sometimes when he needs it, which hasn't been much recently. They've been wanting me to focus on graduating."

    He pointed at the staff then. "But if my dad did make it, there should be an inscription or something with my family name or crest. Okabe, or it'd be a carving of a mountain. Kind of like the Land of Stone, but more mountain-like. It's because we have a history as miners."

    Haruki gave her a chance to look it over, before asking, "Can I see it?" He didn't think too much of how that might be difficult for her to hand over in a cramped train car and figured she could find a way to manage it anyway.


    Tetsuo

    To his surprise, in spite of his curt reply, Katsuro actually had the decency to open a window and hold hang his cigarette out of it. This was the closest thing he thought he might ever get to reaching some middle ground with Katsuro.

    Slowly, he lowered his jacket from his nose. His nostrils flared, still smelling the reek of smoke and the ripeness of liqour oozing from his skin, but it was a little less now. If anything, he just smelled the alcohol now, but it was a little more tolerable than it was before.

    He half-expected Katsuro to find something to lecture him about, but the man chose silence instead. He could live with that.

    Tetsuo shut his eyes and leaned his head back into the seat. If he could get past the smell, he might be able to sleep the rest of the way. This was easier said than done, however, with the wind still carrying gusts of smoke into the car and the speed of the train rattling his head on the backseat.

    He cracked open his eyes at the sound of unraveling paper. Tetsuo followed Katsuro's gaze, and only then remembered he had never gotten the chance to read over the mission scroll. (More accurately, he had soiled the chance by barging into the stand-in's office and pissing Katsuro off, but he ignored that fact.)

    Tetsuo caught the hint of Katsuro tilting it in just the right angle for him to look over the documntations. He read over it now.

    The scroll seemed to suggest that she might have fallen victim to just the very terrain itself, though this was a noncommital explanation. The other thing too was that they would probably have to spread out and comb the forest individually. If the villagers there didn't give any strong hints, he was afraid this mission would quickly become a tedious and extremely boring mission.

    Satisfied with this knowledge for now, he shut his eyes and leaned his head back to try to sleep again, perfectly content with the silence between them.
     
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