Tsk tsk, can't have a crack story without a happy ending now can we?
I just want to take a moment to give a big thank you to everyone that read, followed, favourited and reviewed. I'm glad that I have been able to bring some measure of enjoyment and entertainment to your life.
I also apologise to those readers that don't like long chapters, this epilogue is much longer then my average chapter length, but I had a lot to stuff in and tie up. Anyway, enjoy.
Cheers
Epilogue
Slowly Hidan started to become aware of the fact that he was freezing cold. Faintly voices drifted around him and he became aware of an overall dull ache throughout his body. He gave a quiet groan as he tried to move. The voices above him became clearer.
"Hey, hey he's coming around." This voice was female.
He felt a light tapping on his cheek, "Come on wake up. You need to be conscious." A different female voice this time.
Hidan just moved his head away, his brain running sluggishly slow. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
"That piss weak tapping isn't going to do shit." The first voice scolded.
"Well what do you suggest?" the second voice snapped back.
"This."
There was a moment of quiet before a sharp pain bloomed over Hidan's cheek. His eyes shot open and he jerked upright with a curse, now very much awake.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" he grabbed his abused cheek, "What the fuck!?"
"Heh, heh. See? That worked." The first voice sounded smug.
Hidan blinked a few times, trying to get his blurry vision to focus. Something warm was draped over his shoulders and that was when he realised that he was still freezing cold and the blanket that had been put over him was incredibly warm. A hand gently grabbed his chin and moved his face to his right.
"Hidan, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"…the fuck?" he muttered squinting at the blurry shapes, "I dunno."
A muffled snort of laughter was heard on his left. The hand that was in front of his face moved forward and was placed over his eyes. He felt warm chakra seep into his face and he relaxed, slumping forward a bit. His initial adrenaline rush from the face slap was wearing off and fatigue was settling back in. A pair of arms wrapped around his chest from his left.
"Oh no you don't. You need to wake up or do I need to slap you again?"
"Fuck you." Hidan growled at the mystery woman, "What the fuck is happening anyway? How long have I been out? And who the fuck are you two?"
The warmth that was seeping through his body was starting to restore his mental facilities and he remembered that he was supposed to be frozen indefinitely. The hand over his eyes was removed and he opened them, glad to find that they actually focused into clear vision this time. He straightened up and the arms holding him up were removed.
"How is it now?"
"Better." He grunted as he looked up at the owner of the hand and blinked a few times, "You look familiar." He said trying to get his brain to supply the answer.
Dark green eyes shone with deep amusement, "You have been frozen for roughly fifteen years Hidan. Kids tend to grow up in that time."
Hidan's eyes widened as he realised who she was.
"Shina?"
Shina just gave a warm smile and put her hands on his shoulders, pushing more chakra into him.
"Yes."
He turned to the other person, "Holy fuck, Princess?!"
Ayame crossed her arms with a smirk, "Who else?"
"Fuck. This is so weird." He said staring at their faces.
"Wait til you see the others. I swear Akira and Daiki are taller than you now." Shina commented as she shifted her hands to his legs and pushed more rejuvenating chakra into them.
Hidan just couldn't stop staring at the pair.
"Anyway, you're nice and awake now so when are we doing this Shina?" Ayame said.
"Doing what?" Hidan asked as he rubbed at his face.
"Not yet Ayame, let him wake up some more first." Shina replied.
"What the fuck are you going to do?" Hidan growled out.
Ayame clapped a hand on his shoulder with a grin, "You and me, kitten, are in for a rough ride."
Hidan scowled, "Did you just call me kitten?" he asked her in a low tone.
"Yes."
"Why the fuck would you call me kitten?" he ground out.
Ayame just gave his cheek a pat, "Because I can. And because you aren't the scariest thing in this village anymore."
"Wha….?"
"Hmm, she's right." Shina said absently placing her hands back on his chest and sending her chakra in, "It's partly because of Ayame here that we were able to convince the council to allow the hearing."
Hidan was just extremely confused now. Shina noticed his expression.
"Sorry," she said removing her hands, "We should start at the beginning."
"That would bloody help." Hidan muttered.
"Alright," Shina took a deep breath, "After you were frozen we had to keep our heads down for a little while, but we didn't stay completely idle. Over the past fifteen years we have all gathered information, mostly about your religion, in an effort to figure out your immortality status."
"Eh, mostly it was Shina that did the research." Ayame said casually picking at her nails, "The rest of us just got little bits of info here and there."
"Anyway," Shina continued, "a couple of years ago we started to petition for your release."
Hidan frowned, "Why the fuck would you do that?"
Shina gave a wry smile, "Like I told you so long ago, we like you. You're our friend."
"So, what? I'm free now?" he asked .
"Not quite," Shina said, "First is the hearing. If it goes well then yes, you could be free, with conditions."
"And if it goes badly?"
"They're gonna kill you." Ayame replied.
"Oh, so they found something big enough to blow me to pieces then?" Hidan said sarcastically.
"No, I imagine they would go for something simple. You know, lethal injection or maybe the ever popular sword through the heart." Ayame said casually.
"What?"
Shina rubbed the back of her neck, "I figured out how to remove your immortality."
Hidan just gaped at her in surprise.
"Before you go to the hearing, we have to remove your immortality. It's one of the conditions; we also had to put the constriction seal on you as well." Ayame said holding up his wrist.
That's when Hidan noticed the familiar chain pattern wrapped around his wrist. He looked up at Shina.
"So, back to being my keeper then?" he asked.
Shina shook her head, "No. I have to perform the procedure, I can't be linked into your nervous system and do the immortality removal at the same time."
"Why not?"
"Because apparently it's gonna hurt like a bitch." Ayame said cheerfully as she pulled down the collar of her shirt revealing the starburst seal on her chest, "And because I have a very high tolerance for pain, I'm your primary controller."
"Oh." Hidan didn't have anything else to say as he stared at the seal on Ayame, suddenly and forcefully hit with the fact that they had indeed grown up and were most definitely not children anymore as he took vague note of the way the bottom points of the star curved over the top...
A whack across the back of his head drew his attention back to Shina.
"Stop perving." She said with a scowl.
Hidan's face went red as he realised that was exactly what he was doing; "I was not." He grumbled. Ayame just grinned as she released her shirt collar, whilst Shina rolled her eyes.
"Well, we might as well get this over with now." Shina said, "Just lie back down and try to get comfy."
But Hidan didn't. Instead he looked at Shina.
"Why are you even doing this for me?" He looked down at his hands, "I mean, I'm a fucking mass murderer, a former member of Akatsuki and I haven't exactly been the nicest fucking person. So why didn't you just leave me frozen?"
"Because you deserve the same chance that you gave us." Ayame said quietly, "Yeah, you weren't the nicest person in the world, but you did save our lives once and you gave us each something we were missing at the time." She reached out her hands and grasped his head, turning his face towards her so that she could put a kiss on his forehead, "I wouldn't have become the person I am now if it wasn't for you."
Hidan was just in shock as he stared up at the Uchiha. When Shina pressed his shoulder to get him to lie down, he didn't resist. She got something off a little table behind her and bought it to his mouth.
"Here, bite down on this."
He opened his mouth and bit down on the mouth guard she placed in his mouth before handing Ayame another one. Ayame grinned at him before placing it in her mouth. Shina moved to the head of the table and took a couple of deep breaths as her hands moved to make three seals before placing her hands on his abdomen. A large seal bloomed over his abdomen crawling all the way up his chest.
"Alright. Now for the painful part." Shina said as she formed another three seals and placed her hands back on his chest.
As soon as she touched his skin he drew a sharp breath in through his nose. Sweet fuck! It felt like she was pouring liquid fire through his body and it was just getting worse. He screwed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth on the mouth guard.
"Keep him still." Shina said to Ayame and she concentrated on her task.
Ayame nodded, a grimace of her own on her face as she put her hand over the seal on her chest and activated it, forcing Hidan's body into paralysis. Hidan didn't even notice, all he could feel was the fire crawling through his veins. It crawled through his chest and started to slowly make its way down his arms and legs. He was sweating and breathing hard now, how much longer was this going to last?! The pain reached the tips of his fingers and toes, flaring up for a moment before finally fading away leaving a hollow feeling in his entire body.
He opened his eyes and looked at the girls. Shina wiped her sleeve over her forehead as Ayame leaned over the table with her hands braced on the edge. She drew a hand up to her chest and released the paralysis on Hidan. He spat out the mouth guard.
"What in the fucking hell was that!" He gasped out between heavy breaths.
"That was an experimental procedure. In stupid speak, I stripped the outer layer off your chakra network, my theory being that with a more normal network you will lose your immortality." Shina blew out a breath, "However what the council doesn't know is that I suspect that the effect is not permanent."
Ayame pulled out the mouth guard, "You didn't tell me that." She accused.
Shina shrugged, "The less people that knew the better. Besides, the rate that it would come back at is very slow. Although I do hold the theory that the sacrificial ritual that he does actually accelerates the process."
"Ah, what a pity." Ayame said with a grin, "Looks like we'll be taking this ride again."
"What?" Hidan groaned, "Why?"
"I work in T&I." Ayame answered with a grin, "If all goes well in the hearing, you're gonna be working for me. And I'm sure as shit not letting your skill set go to waste."
"If I'm not fucking immortal anymore, how the hell am I going to sacrifice the heathens?"
Ayame patted his shoulder, "The same way you did it before you came immortal." She said cheerily, "I think it would make a wonderful interrogation technique."
Hidan couldn't help himself, he gave a laugh. Even Shina gave a grin as she gave Hidan a pat on the shoulder.
"You can rest now. I'm finished so I'm going to go home now." Shina said rubbing her eyes, "I need to get some sleep if I'm going to be defending your ass at the hearing tomorrow."
Shina gave a half wave before leaving. Ayame poked Hidan in the ribs.
"Come on get up. I'm beat and I wanna get out of here, this place creeps me out."
Hidan slowly sat up with a groan the blanket slipping off his shoulders, "Where the fuck are we anyway?" he asked actually looking around the room for the first time since he woke.
"The hospital morgue." Ayame answered.
Hidan suddenly skittered off the steel table he was sitting on, feeling strangely energised for a moment.
"What the fuck?!" He said.
Ayame shrugged, "They already had a freezer running permanently, made sense to stash you here." She grabbed his upper arm, "Come on, this way."
Hidan was more than glad to be out of the morgue. She steered him down some corridors before going out a back door.
"Where are you taking me?" Hidan finally asked as she released her hold and walked down a street with him following.
"My place."
He gave a light frown, "Your place? Why?"
"'Cause you're my responsibility. By the way, you're on the couch and if I hear you snore then I have a ball gag handy."
Hidan processed that sentence for a few long moments as his brain latched onto one fact. Ayame just grinned.
"What are you doing with a ball gag?" Hidan finally asked a small frown of confusion and a little trepidation on his face.
"Hmm, I use it." Ayame replied, watching Hidan's reaction out the corner of her eye.
Full realisation processed itself in Hidan's mind at that moment and he wisely didn't ask anymore, however Ayame wasn't done needling him.
"Maybe if you ask really nice, I'll use it on you anyway." She said in a low voice, biting her tongue so that she didn't laugh as Hidan missed a step and gave her a surprised stare.
Her composure didn't last long though as she gave a snort that evolved to full out giggles. Hidan's face went from surprise to irritation rather rapidly.
"Oh fuck, I've been waiting forever to do that to you." Ayame gasped out.
"That's not fucking funny." Hidan grumbled.
Ayame wrangled her laughter under control but continued to grin widely as she led Hidan into an apartment complex. Opening the door to her residence she waved Hidan in first, following him in and closing the door behind her. She pointed to her couch.
"I'll just grab you a pillow and blanket." She said opening the closet in the short hallway.
Grabbing the items Ayame delivered them into Hidan's arms and gave a little half wave.
"Right, I'm off to bed. See you in the morning." She then walked off towards the direction of her bedroom, leaving Hidan in the middle of her lounge room still holding the bedding.
With a slight scowl, Hidan tossed the pillow on one end of the couch before shaking out the blanket. As Hidan laid himself down on the couch and pulled the blanket over him a wave of fatigue swept over him and he was asleep before he knew it.
0o0o0o0
Hidan was woken the next morning by the rather inglorious method of a cushion to the face. He shot up with a curse only to find Ayame standing next to the couch casually chewing on a piece of toast.
"Get up, we have to meet up with Shina and Hiroshi before the hearing. Bathroom's down the hall on the left. I left you a towel and a change of clothes."
With a muttered groan, Hidan hauled himself out of the surprisingly comfy couch and stretched out all his joints with satisfying pops. He slouched off to the bathroom to shower.
Half an hour later he emerged, cleaner, dressed and feeling much more awake. Making his way into the kitchen/dining room area he saw Ayame sitting at her small table, sipping her cup of tea.
"Feel better?" She asked finishing off her drink and standing up.
"Yeah." Hidan replied absently as he scratched lightly at his abdomen, "I'm bloody hungry though."
Ayame walked past him to dump her cup in the sink and gave a wave around the kitchen.
"Find something to eat then. Just hurry up, we have to go soon."
"Great fucking host you are." Hidan said sarcastically as he went to rummage through the nearest cupboard.
Ayame just gave him a toothy grin. It didn't take long for Hidan to find something he could munch on whilst walking. Ayame dragged him out, locking the door behind her, and lead him off down the street. Hidan chewed his food, looking around the Village in curiosity. It didn't seem as if much had changed in the past fifteen years that he had been frozen. Suddenly he heard something whizzing straight for him. With eyes going wide, Hidan tried to dodge the projectile heading straight for his head, suddenly acutely aware of his mortal status. But his reflexes were sluggish and couldn't respond in time.
The wooden kunai hit him square in the forehead.
He heard Ayame giggle next to him as he clapped a hand to his forehead and let out a curse.
"FUCK!" Hidan scowled at the Uchiha, "Stop fucking laughing at me!"
Shina and another ninja appeared before them.
"Okay, you were right, that was a lot funnier then I thought." Shina said with a grin.
Hidan swung his scowl around to shoot at the two recent arrivals. Next to a grinning Shina stood a Hyuuga sporting a smug smirk. Shit, Hidan thought, that must be the all grown-up Hiroshi.
"I apologise." Hiroshi said without any hint of apologetic tone in his voice, "Shina told me that your reflexes would still be compromised due to the freezing. So this would've been the only chance I would get to do this."
Hidan just made some indistinct grumbling noises. His eyes suddenly widened as the words really sunk in and he was struck with a horrible thought.
"Do the twins know this?" He asked.
All three of them suddenly found the surroundings utterly fascinating. Hidan gave a growl.
"Have all of you fucking brats got some sort of similar greeting for me?!"
"Maaaybe." Shina said, false innocence dripping in her voice.
Hidan just levelled a glare at them, "I fucking hate you all right now."
Ayame threaded her arm around his, "Don't be like that. The only ones you really have to worry about at the moment are Kimi and Gin. Daiki is out on a mission with his genin team and won't be back until late this afternoon and Akira is on Hokage bodyguard duty today."
Hidan just gave her a glare which quickly morphed into confusion when Ayame suddenly detangled herself from him and quickly took three steps away. No sooner had she left his personal space Hidan was tackled to the ground.
He hit the ground with an 'oof' as the air was knocked out of him. Suddenly something wet and long started to assault his face. That managed to spur him into action. He swatted his hands at the offending assailant, only to find his hands encountering nothing. Cautiously he cracked his eyes opened and was confronted with a large furry face.
What. The. Fuck? With a growl, Hidan realised that it was a dog and sat himself up so that he could shove the creature from his lap. But the dog was huge and resisted his attempts to push it off, even going so far as to plonk its furry ass on his legs, effectively pinning him.
"Get the fuck off!" Hidan yelled, giving another futile shove.
The only response he got was that large wet tongue swiping up his face.
"ERG! Don't fucking lick me! You lick your own ass with that! I don't want that on my fucking face." As Hidan wiped the dog spit from his face, he became aware of laughter. A face popped into his field of vision and he instantly recognized the red inverted triangles running down the cheeks. Which could only mean one thing.
"Kimi, get the fucking dog off me." He ground out.
Kimi gave Gin a scratch around the ears.
"Awww, Gin's just saying hello." Kimi said with a toothy grin, "She won't move until you give her a scratch."
Hidan just levelled a deadpan glare at the dog sitting on top of him. Gin dropped her bottom jaw in a doggy grin before sticking her nose under Hidan's chin.
"Oh for fucks sack, fine!" Hidan raised his hand and gave Gin two scratches on the top of the head, "There, now get the fuck off."
With a wag of her tail, Gin stood up and backed up a few steps allowing Hidan to climb back to his feet. With muttered curses Hidan slapped his hands over himself dislodging dust and dog hair off his clothes. Kimi just gave a laugh.
"It's good to see you again." She said, "I have to go but I'll find you guys after the hearing."
With a cheery wave, Kimi and Gin took off bounding over the rooftops.
"Don't worry Hidan, the trauma is done for today." Ayame said, slipping her arm back around his again.
Hidan just shot her a look that clearly said he didn't believe her.
"Come on you two." Shina said giving a wave of her hand, "We need to discuss what is going to happen in this hearing."
Five minutes later found all four of them in a secluded corner of a teahouse. Once they were all settled Shina turned to Hidan.
"Ok, the purpose of this hearing is to determine whether or not you should be allowed to live out your life as a Konoha shinobi or if your past crimes are too heinous to allow that. Now, what you have…"
"Wait, wait, wait," Hidan interrupted Shina, "Who says I want to be a pansy little leaf shinobi?"
"We do, now shut up and listen." Ayame said.
"Fuck you Princess, this is my fucking life we're talking about." Hidan shot back.
Shina sighed, "Hidan, you don't have many choices, especially now that you're mortal. It's either be a Konoha shinobi or death."
"Oh fan-fucking-tastic." Hidan said sarcastically, "real great fucking choices there."
"Stop being difficult Hidan." Hiroshi said calmly, "I know that it seems like we are just taking over your life, but please have a little faith that we are doing what is best for you in the long run."
Hidan planted his chin in his palm with a scowl looking away from the other three. Smart ass Hyuuga, he thought grumpily, thinks he knows everything. Hiroshi was correct though, Hidan hadn't even been defrosted twenty-four hours yet and the entire time he had been bossed around by a group of former brats. The lack of control over movements combined with the greetings given had left him irritable and feeling childish.
With no more protest from Hidan Shina decided to continue on, "You have two things going in your favour. One, the crimes you committed were done over a hundred and fifty years ago. Intellectually they know the crimes are heinous, but at the same time they are not emotionally invested in killing you, which is a good thing. Second, you saved our lives and during the time you were free you didn't harm any Konoha citizens. That's what's going to give you the biggest brownie points of all."
"So what the fuck do I need to do?" Hidan finally muttered.
"They are going to ask you a lot of questions about the time between when you were dug up and when you were frozen."
"What kind of questions?"
Shina shrugged, "That I don't know, I'm sorry."
Hidan let his hands slide forward on the table, his chin dropping until it rested on the wood surface between his arms.
"I just want this fucking hearing thing over with." He grumbled.
"We all do." Ayame said patting his head.
The next half hour was spent in the teashop with Shina, Ayame and Hiroshi filling Hidan in with what the group had all done with themselves. Hidan found himself not terribly surprised at where they all went with their ninja careers. As she stated last night, Ayame worked in T&I, privately Hidan thought it suited her just right. Considering she had no problems stabbing him, once upon a time, torturing enemy ninja would be a breeze for her. Akira was in ANBU, which explained the Hokage bodyguard duty. Hidan was a little surprised that Daiki wasn't in ANBU as well considering that he regarded both of them as shady little bastards. But then again, Daiki had a genin team, his shady skills were still put to good use torturing… sorry training the little brats.
He wasn't the only one with a genin team, Kimi had one as well. And according to the others, she took great pleasure training them as well. Ayame had found out that Kimi's genin team thought she was a little sadistic. The biggest surprise was what Shina was working towards. She wanted to be Hokage. That had caused Hidan's eyebrows to rise in surprise. He had pegged her for going primarily in R&D. What wasn't surprising was Hiroshi supporting her ambitions. As a jounin from the prestigious Hyuuga clan, his support would go a long way to Shina obtaining her goal.
Which made him think, did the pair ever end up together? And whilst he was at it, did Ayame ever get her Sharingan? However he never got to ask as they had to get up and leave for the hearing.
Hidan didn't want to admit it, but he was actually a little nervous walking into the deceptively innocent room.
It turned out to be one of the most mind-numbingly boring things he had ever had to experience. The only thing that stopped him from snapping in irritation at the Hokage and council elders was Ayame and Shina's sharp elbows in his sides. The others were also questioned, but not as much as him.
What Hidan didn't know was that the Hokage and the elders were not only listening to his answers, they were also observing his interactions with the young people that had vouched for him. Hisoka hid a smile behind his interlaced fingers. As much as Hidan put on the grumpy, bad ass façade, the truth was that Hisoka could see that Hidan really did care for the kids and no matter his past actions as a member of Akatsuki, he wouldn't hurt them.
Finally after over an hour of the endless questions they were sent out to the waiting room whilst Hidan's fate was discussed.
It didn't take long, which was a surprise to them when they were called in after only half an hour. Quietly the four of them filed in and stood before the Hokage, the council elders nowhere in sight. Hisoka didn't waste any time.
"A decision has been reached. In the matter of Hidan's allowance to live out the remainder of his days as a Konoha shinobi, we have decided…" He paused for a moment giving an internal grin at the way all four of them held their breaths. "We have decided to allow it. From today, Hidan is a citizen and shinobi of Konohagakure."
There was a few moments of silence as the words fully sunk it. Only to be broken my Ayame's loud shout.
"FUCK YES!"
Hidan just about jumped out of his skin at the Uchiha's shout.
"Shit Princess, don't fucking yell like that!" Hidan scolded her.
"Quit your bitching, you get to live." Ayame said grabbing his hand, "Now let's go celebrate."
With that Ayame dragged Hidan out of the room to go find the nearest bar. Shina just shook her head with a smile. Hisoka gave a sigh and waved Shina over.
"Can you give this to Hidan? Ayame dragged him off before I was finished."
Shina took the object from him.
"Thank you." Shina said to him.
Hisoka busied himself with straightening the papers in front of him, "I don't know what you're thanking me for. You kids are the ones that did all the work." He shot a look and a small smile at the Nara girl. Shina just smiled back, she knew he didn't mean just the past fifteen years of research and lobbying. He was also referring to the time that all six of them spent with him when they were kids, how they changed him.
"If you would excuse me, I have to go find the new genin."
Hisoka waved her off. Shina turned and walked out with Hiroshi following.
Luckily Shina didn't have to go far to find Ayame and Hidan. Hiroshi excused himself and Shina gave him a wave goodbye before turning back to the duo.
"Ayame, wait a minute." She yelled out.
Ayame paused just as she was about to turn into the bar. Shina hurried over to them.
"I need Hidan for just a moment." Shina said in response to Ayame's questioning look.
Ayame released her grip on Hidan, "Sure." She turned to Hidan, "I'm gonna go order some drinks. Get your ass in here as soon as she's finished with you."
"You're a really fucking pushy person Princess. I'll come in when I'm good and fucking ready to." Hidan growled at her.
Ayame just rolled her eyes, "Stop whining, I'm shouting you free booze for the rest of the night." She walked off into the bar, not bothering to wait for a reply. Hidan just made some grumpy mutterings before turning to Shina.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"I've got something for you." Shina chirped happily.
Hidan just gave her a questioning look.
"Close your eyes."
He gave her a suspicious squint for a moment before closing his eyes. He felt her put something around his neck and tie it up at the back. Once she was done, she stepped back.
"Ok, you can open them now."
Hidan opened his eyes and looked down at what she had put on him. Lifting his hand, he held the object up to get a closer look.
It was a Konoha hitai-ate.
"Congratulations. You're now a Konoha genin."
Hidan just stared at the leaf symbol innocently etched into the metal plate. He looked from the hitai-ate up to the grinning Shina and a sudden flash of memory crossed his mind. Hidan suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably. Shina looked at him, a little concerned.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
Hidan bent over, bracing his hands on his knees, and took a few deep breaths to control his laughter.
"Just… just something your ancestor said to me before he blew my ass to pieces." He gasped out.
"Oh?" Shina said, "What did he say?" she asked curiously.
Hidan straightened up and pointed to the hitai-ate around his neck.
"He said 'My clan will keep you trapped here forever'." He tapped the metal plate, "Not quite the way he intended but in a sense you are certainly keeping his will alive and well."
Hidan then started to laugh again. Shina just looked at him a little bemused; she didn't see what was so funny. With a shrug she turned and walked away, leaving the hysterical ninja to his own devices.
As she was walking off she gave a small smile and wondered how long it would take him to realise that he was just a mere genin now.