Chie and Riku fill hours of silence with a constant stream of chatter. Chie gushes about the mission and daydreams aloud about the adventures they'll have. Riku spouts facts about Yugakure and gemstones. For once, Chie doesn't complain about his 'nerd' talk - so eager she is to lap up every bit of information she can get.
Issei keeps up with them for a couple of hours before he grows bored with Chie and Riku's conversation. Mori can tell by the way he stops rolling his eyes and scoffing at his teammates in favor of watching the trees and their surroundings.
Issei slows his pace down, just enough that Chie and Riku jog on ahead and so that he's keeping pace with Mori.
"Not joining the conversation?" Mori asks.
"No," Issei says, blunt and without shame.
Mori makes a noncommittal sound as they continue their trek through Fire Country. The forest is thinning out, the trees around them becoming skinnier and less leafy. They've been moving for quite a while now, at a pace meant for covering long distances - not leisurely, but not too quickly, either.
Issei and Mori move in silence for a few minutes. The only sounds around them are Chie, Riku, and the birds in the trees.
Mori takes in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. It smells of pine and dirt, but there's also a hint of cleanliness that's hard to come across in Konoha.
Mori closes his eyes as they make their way forward. Nature.
Beside him, Issei remains quiet, dark eyes constantly darting around. He can't use his chakra for sensing, not yet, so he makes use of his senses and keeps watch. The woods are quiet.
Issei cracks first.
"How many gemstones are we guarding?" Issei asks.
"It's an entire exhibit," Mori answers.
"And they're targets?" Issei asks.
"For thieves and bandits, yes."
"How likely are we to run into enemies?"
Mori thinks for a moment before he answers his student. "Not likely," he decides. "Yugakure's a vacation spot, not a ninja village. They have their fair share of thieves, but they're civilian thieves who likely have never encountered shinobi before. Our presence alone would deter most of them. That's what the museum owner is counting on."
"So any enemies would be low-level, foolhardy bandits."
"Yes," Mori answers. He flicks his eyes over to Issei. "I trust you can handle that?"
Issei smirks. Mori smiles at Issei's enthusiasm - perhaps not as obvious as his teammates, but definitely still there.
Ahead, Chie laughs at something from their conversation and Riku grins back. Mori's glad that they're enjoying their first time out of the village, but he makes sure to speak up.
"Try not to be too loud," he calls out. "Don't want to attract any unnecessary attention."
Riku flushes, looking appropriately embarrassed.
"Yes, sensei!" Chie salutes.
Issei rolls his eyes as the two continue their conversation in a slightly hushed tone, but he has an amused smirk on his face.
They're looking more and more like a team everyday, Mori thinks with pride. Months of bonding over D-ranks and training deepened the bonds between them. At first they were three genin who happened to share a sensei - now, Mori can say that they really are a team.
They've grown a lot.
He remembers the potential he'd seen the day of their genin test, of the way they fit together and played their strengths in ways that made them stronger. If he tilts his head sideways and squints, he can see the beginnings of a strong, solid team.
Suddenly, Chie trips over a rock and falls forward with a wild shriek. Riku, startled, grasps her arm and pulls her back, but then he falls backward in the process and they both slam into an angry Issei.
Mori sidesteps them as they hit the ground, dust flying into the air.
Issei chokes from the bottom of the pile. "What the hell?!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Riku exclaims, hopping to his feet.
Chie dusts off her clothes and smiles sheepishly. "Oops."
They've grown a lot, Mori thinks with a rueful shake of his head, but they still have a long way to go.
It takes two days to reach Yugakure, and by the time they reach the edges of the city, His genin look about ready to explode with anticipation. They practically run into the village, and immediately start looking from building to building.
"Which one is it?" Chie asks.
Mori shrugs and pulls out a map.
It takes a few minutes to find the museum they're going to be guarding. Most of the buildings are tourist shops, selling t-shirts and keychains and towels. Chie and Riku look around, fascinated. Issei frowns and turns to Mori.
"This used to be a ninja village?' he mutters, looking skeptically at an old lady shouting at the passerby, advertising her fancy glass figurines for a price far higher than they should be. Tourists with cameras wander the streets, occasionally stopping to take pictures for no apparent reason.
"Look at the architecture," Mori suggests, leaving Issei to puzzle it out for himself as he squints at the map and tries to determine where they are in the village.
Yugakure is smaller than Konoha, but due to its status as a popular tourist stop, it's also more dense. The buildings are crowded together. The stands are crowded together. The people are crowded together.
They press in on all sides and Mori has to suppress his reflexes, consciously reminding himself to not pull out a kunai. In Konoha, at least, the civilians knew to steer clear of shinobi; the citizens of Yugakure knew of no such rule.
"They have a bookstore!" Riku exclaims.
Chie facepalms and Issei rolls his eyes.
"I wasn't going to go in!" Riku protests. "Mission first!"
"This way," Mori says, moving towards an alley to their left. They stay close and weave their way through the crowd until they're in the shadows of the buildings.
Mori leads his genin through the unfamiliar streets, keeping an eye out for the address of the museum.
"Are you sure this is the right way, sensei?" Riku asks hesitantly. "It's kind of… Um…"
"I'm sure sensei knows where we're going," Chie says in an attempt to reassure him, but she keeps shooting questioning looks at their lonely surroundings. It's a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the main street, and also a bit confusing.
"Oh," Issei says, as they pass another building. He's looking up. Chie leans over and looks up, too, but she frowns in confusion.
"'Oh', what?"
"The roofs," he says. "Flat and similar in level. And the windows are wide with thick windowsills, for when the ninja use them."
"Very good, Issei," Mori says, and he finally pulls to a stop in front of a tiny wooden door guarding the entrance to a simple-looking building. The only identifying mark of a museum is a small, nondescript sign hanging above the door, reading 'Yugakure Natural History Museum'.
Riku's eyes light up. Chie looks decidedly disappointed. Issei doesn't care.
Mori checks the address one more time before reaching out and opening the door.
"Hello?" he calls out as he and his team step into the museum.
Issei snorts and Chie has to stifle a laugh at the decor: pink and yellow curtains, vintage flower wallpaper, and a chandelier with glass shards hanging down. As light passes through the single window of the museum and through the chandelier, it casts rainbows of varying intensity across the far wall.
Riku stares, a dubious expression on his face.
"Oh!"
A muffled voice. The sounds of scuffling footsteps reach their ears, followed by a muffled thump and a sad cry of dismay.
Two seconds later, a harried old woman rushes into the lobby of the museum, looking a little ruffled but otherwise unharmed.
She beams at the four of them and rushes forward.
"You must be the Konoha ninja!" she gushes, pumping Issei's hand up and down. She quickly moves on, shaking all of their hands.
Issei carefully wipes his palm on his pant leg. Chie catches him and steps on his foot.
"Kochiyama Akimi?" Mori asks as she enthusiastically shakes his hand.
"Yes!" she agrees, adjusting her crooked glasses and stretching a smile across her weathered face. "A pleasure!"
Issei looks around the museum with a blank gaze, taking in the garish curtains and lopsided pedestals displaying different rocks. His eyes land upon a plaster pillar covered with bright red mosaics, and the little water spout that sticks out on top of it.
"Is that a drinking fountain?" Riku whispers, and they can only stare at it.
Issei opens his mouth. "This place is -"
"Lovely," Chie cuts him off, elbowing him in the gut. "It's lovely."
Mori can't help the way his mouth twitches in amusement.
"Thank you!" Akimi smiles brightly. She turns around, looking back in the direction she came from. "Sachiko-chan! Come here!"
Grumbling sounds come from the direction that Akimi came from. After a short pause, a young teen with a disgruntled expression on her face appears, brandishing a broom.
She glances at the three genin before her eyes settle on Mori. There's a flash of surprise on her face.
"Hello," she says. "I'm Kochiyama Sachiko." Sachiko points a thumb at the older woman with an apathetic expression. "I'm her great-niece."
"A pleasure to meet you," Mori says out of politeness.
"Sachiko is helping me take care of the exhibit!" Akimi chirps.
Janitor, Mori translates, noting the broom and the way the teen's clothes are covered with dust.
"I'm so glad you're here, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow! Ninja travel quite quickly, don't they?"
Chie, Issei, and Riku simultaneously break out into wide grins.
Ninja.
It's their first time being acknowledged as ninja outside of their village, and they all radiate pride and excitement.
"I didn't realize you had hired ninja, obasan," Sachiko says.
"Oh," Akimi says, looking confused. "I didn't mention it? Well, this is one of our special exhibits, we should guard it."
Sachiko shrugs, seemingly uncaring.
"This is the collection you'll be guarding," Akimi says, drawing their attention, and she sweeps them forward to a section of the room filled with rocks.
Chie blinks, the grin disappearing from her face only to be replaced with disappointed confusion. "I thought they were gemstones?"
"There's more in the back rooms," Akimi assures her. "I just thought I'd give you the full tour! Here, we have some raw elements in their solid form - very hard to find naturally!"
"Did you mine them?" Riku asks.
Akimi laughs. "Ah, I'm much too old for mining," she says. "No, most of these rocks here are from our museum's private collection. Many have been sitting in the back rooms for years. With this rock exhibit, we finally have a chance to show them off."
"Whoa," Riku says, reading the plaque underneath a rather boring chunk of rock. "Does this really blow up when it comes into contact with water?"
"Oh, yes," Akimi gushes. "This is sodium metal! See, when it comes into contact with water, it reacts and releases hydrogen gas which can ignite…"
Akimi ushers a fascinated Riku through the rest of the exhibit. The young boy peppers her with questions, and Akimi is happy to answer them.
Sachiko looks horrified. "There's two of them," the teen mutters.
Issei and Chie mirror the girl's horrified expression.
"Ugh," Chie says, making a face at Akimi and Riku's retreating backs. "At least one of us will have fun on this mission."
"We're not here to have fun," Mori reminds her, and Chie salutes in response.
"Remember, this is a mission," Mori says, moving to follow Riku and Akimi through the museum. "Pay attention, okay? You're guarding all of this stuff."
At that comment, Issei and Chie start looking around the room, looking beyond the obnoxious decor and focusing on the essentials.
Sachiko sighs. "Well, I'm glad you're here," she says. "It's always nice to feel a little more secure."
"No problem, Kochiyama-san!" Chie declares.
"Sachiko is fine," the teen says.
"Sachiko-san!"
The girl laughs before gripping her broom and returning back to the hallways. Mori turns back to his students, watching them as they start counting entrances and exits and other important features of the building.
Mori himself has already been planning out how he would distribute his students to guard the museum, taking notes on their surroundings ever since they stepped foot into Yugakure. But he keeps his thoughts to himself. Unless his kids make some glaring error or something goes seriously wrong, he'll simply lay low and observe.
Team Four is smart and balanced, and they have good teamwork. Mori trusts them to not mess up too badly.
After all, what's a genin's first C-rank without a little responsibility?
They catch up to Riku and Akimi, the two of them animatedly discussing the history and geology of the stone before them.
"Look, sensei," Chie says, pointing out a reflective orange rock. "Orange!"
"It's a nice rock," Mori agrees, the corner of his mouth tugging up in amusement.
The rocks in this section are far more eye catching and aesthetically pleasing. Different colored rocks are proudly displayed around the room, all with varying degrees of shine and size. Some are polished, others are not. There doesn't seem to any organization in how they are placed around the room, but a single pedestal standing taller than all the rest does catch Mori's eye.
"Are these the most valuable rocks in the collection?" Issei asks Akimi.
"Yes." Akimi nods seriously, gazing out at the collection. "Only two of these ones are from the museum's personal collection, small as we are. Most of these are borrowed from Iwa's collections, which is why we need to guard it so carefully."
Chie nods, her face the picture of serious professionalism. "We understand, Kochiyama-san. We'll guard it to the best of our ability!"
Akimi smiles fondly at that, her old eyes softening at Chie's youthful enthusiasm.
"Which one is the most valuable?" Riku asks.
Mori nods in approval - a good question. It would certainly be relevant information, knowing which stones are highest priority.
Akimi's eyes settle on the tallest pedestal, and she drifts toward it. "The real gem - no pun intended - is this beauty right here," she declares.
Inside the glass case sits a small stone, rounded and smooth like a large marble. It's dark, nearly black, but when Mori shifts his gaze the light catches on its surface, iridescent.
"The third largest specimen of black opal in the Five Nations," Akimi says with pride. "A beauty, isn't it?"
Chie stares at the gem with wide eyes. "Wow."
"It's worth over three million ryo," Akimi says. "And it's not ours, so we have to guard it very carefully."
"Understood," Chie salutes, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"The exhibit opens up tomorrow, yes?" Issei asks as he studies the room around them.
"Yes," Akimi nods, "and it will last seven days."
"We'll have to work up a schedule," Riku murmurs. "At least one of us should be watching this one at all times."
"I counted three entrances, and there's four of us," Chie says, including Mori in her head count. "One of us at the front door, one at the back, one at that side door, and one in this room."
Issei lifts an eyebrow. "Did you count windows?"
Chie smiles sheepishly. "... Um."
"Well, Mori-sensei said there's probably not going to be ninja, right? It's more likely that they'll come in through the doors." Riku speaks up.
"Plan for the worst, hope for the best," Issei says.
Chie rolls her eyes, muttering 'what a pessimist' under her breath.
"Guarding three doors and one in this room should be more than enough," Riku argues. "We can just rotate the guard then."
"Your rotation doesn't include a slot for sleep, dumbass," Issei says, and suddenly all three genin are hissing at each other, arguing over patrol patterns and scheduling.
"Ahh, youth," Akimi beams, as she flits over to stand next to Mori. "They're quite the team, aren't they? They get along quite well for genin."
As the words leave her mouth, Chie huffs and crosses her arms as Issei smirks triumphantly. Riku sighs and nods.
Mori glances over at the older woman. "You're familiar with ninja?" He asks, a curious frown on his face.
"My brother was a shinobi of Shimogakure, up north in the Land of Frost," Akimi explains. "Sachiko is his granddaughter."
"I see," Mori muses.
The genin stroll up to them. Issei takes the lead on the explanation, outlining a plan for guarding the museum. Chie and Riku chime in with extra commentary, occasionally sparking quick changes to the plan as it's said aloud.
Mori smiles as he makes little adjustments to their layout.
"Not bad," he tells his team, and all three grin in response.
It's exciting for the first two days. Then the novelty wears off, and Mori is tasked with the incredibly difficult feat of keeping three twelve-year-olds focused on guarding a room of rocks.
He catches Chie and Riku playing rock-paper-scissors against each other on the second day, even though they're on opposite sides of the exhibit. When he confronts them, Chie flushes with embarrassment while Riku grins sheepishly. Even though he constantly reminds them to pay at least a little attention to their surroundings, they still find ways to distract themselves.
Chie has taken to chatting with Sachiko the janitor while she's watching the museum lobby. It's not too bad, until she and Sachiko both let someone inside without paying for a ticket, too busy with their conversation. They're lucky the person wasn't a thief, because that would have been an embarrassing failure of a mission.
Riku ends up playing tour guide instead of a guard; he animatedly chats with the visitors, sharing all the facts about rocks and gemstones he's learned from Akimi. On the one hand, he's keeping a regular watch over the stones; on the other hand, the back entrance was left open and unattended for two hours before Riku remembered where he was supposed to be standing.
Issei, of course, stays at his post. Mori almost is proud of the way Issei can stand at attention for hours on end, at least until he learns that the kid can sleep standing up and with his eyes open.
It's disturbing, to say the least - his bored and lethargic expression never changes. The only way Mori can make sure he's awake is by sensing Issei's chakra. Mori has to check on him, every so often, just to make sure he's still awake.
Mori sighs - yes, it's their first C-rank (and being a guard is a special kind of boring in its own category) but surely they could at least try to pay a little more attention?
Right now, Chie and Sachiko are carrying on a conversation about their respective villages.
"It's warm and bright most of the year," Chie says. "Except for the two months of rain we get in the winter time. If we're lucky, we might get an inch or two of snow."
"That sounds nice," the older girl sighs. "Shimo is always cold and snowy. We're lucky if we get two months without snow."
"Really?" Chie asks. "I can't even imagine somewhere that cold!"
Sachiko laughs and leans on the front desk. It's a slow day today, and the teen is in charge of the front desk and admissions. Chie is guarding the lobby and the front room. Mori flits around from student to student and generally keeps an eye on things, making sure that they don't get too lax, even on a C-Rank in 'practically-a-vacation' Yugakure.
He slips into the lobby and starts timing how long it takes for Chie to notice him standing there.
"It's annoying," Sachiko informs Chie. "We have to shovel the snow every single day, and our electricity gets knocked out every few weeks or so. The worst part is running out of candles in the middle of a blizzard. We have to store food all year, because sometimes we get snowed in, and then we can't get food from outside."
"Wow," Chie says. "That's extreme! The worst that ever happened in Konoha is…" she trails off. "Well, that was an outlying occasion. But other than that, Konoha doesn't really get many disaster-type things."
"'That?'" Sachiko asks, a curious glint in her eye.
Mori is pretty sure that he knows what Chie is referring to, but Chie doesn't confirm it, instead shaking her head.
"Nothing," she says. "But we do have a really famous training ground - The Forest of Death. Doesn't that sound so cool?"
"'Forest of Death'," Sachiko muses. "It does sound quite intimidating. Speaking of forests, isn't that your sensei's name? Mori-san?"
Mori looks up at the sound of his name and frowns.
"Oh, yeah," Chie says. "I guess. Why?"
"It's kind of funny," Sachiko says. "You know. Mori, from Konoha. The leaf."
Chie giggles.
Mori is tempted to just walk out and leave, because Aya and Yuko have brought that up many times over the course of their friendship.
"What does he do?" Sachiko asks.
"He's our sensei," Chie answers automatically.
"I mean, yeah," Sachiko says. "But jounin usually have a specialty, don't they?"
At this, Mori stiffens. Why would the teen ask about his skills? Is she fishing for information? Or is it just an innocent question?
Chie looks uncomfortable with the question, responding with a shrug. Though she likes to talk and gets along well with Sachiko, she does know to not bring up too much about ninja things. "Um…"
Her eyes dart around the lobby before finally landing on Mori. "Sensei!" she calls out in relief.
Sachiko's eyes dart over and widen ever so slightly.
Mori keeps his expression carefully blank as he moves closer. "Forty-two seconds for you to notice me, Chie," he admonishes her. "You can pay better attention than that."
Chie salutes and gets to her feet, scooting back to her post. "Okay. Sorry, Sachiko, I need to guard some rocks!"
"You go do that, Chie-chan," Sachiko says, smiling at the younger girl as she scampers back to her post.
Mori scrutinizes the teen, who leans back in her chair at the front desk. She catches him staring and lifts an eyebrow, as if to say ' what of it?'
Shaking his head, Mori goes off to walk around the perimeter and make sure Issei isn't dozing off on the job.
It's Mori's turn to guard the lobby and the front entrance. He hates to admit it, but he completely agrees with his students: guarding jobs are mind-numbingly boring.
Nothing ever really happens on these types of jobs, especially C-ranks. This particular mission is exceptionally boring, as well, because they're in some hole-in-the-wall unknown museum that no one ever visits.
Outside the window, Mori can see Sachiko sitting against a wall, half-asleep. She's supposed to be attracting visitors, but judging by her dazed expression and tired body language, she isn't having much luck.
"What made you want to run a museum, Akimi-san?" Mori asks, part out of boredom and part actual curiosity. He hasn't opened his mouth in three hours and he can't understand how someone would willingly enter this business.
Akimi, who is running the front desk, looks up at the sound of his voice. She blinks at the question, before a slow smile spreads across her face.
"I love learning," she confesses. "And I love sharing knowledge with others. Always have."
"I can tell," Mori says, thinking of the way she and Riku would spend every spare moment talking about anything, from history, to geology, to politics. Akimi is old and wizened; Riku is young and eager. It's hard to get mad at their constant chattering when it's clear both of them enjoy it so much.
"That's why I moved to Yugakure," Akimi muses, lost in memories.
"Oh?"
"Yes," Akimi says. "I was born in Shimo. Not into a ninja clan, although my brother became one."
Mori remembers that bit of information: Akimi brought it up on their first day.
"My family didn't approve of it," Akimi says. "They arranged a marriage for me, to a wealthy merchant back in Shimo. But I didn't want to marry him, so I ran away from home."
"Oh." Mori says, pointedly coughing.
That got personal, he thinks with a bit of alarm. It seems that Akimi is getting ready to share her life story. Mori bites his tongue and regrets opening his mouth in the first place.
"I ended up in Yugakure," Akimi says. "It was still a ninja village, then. I showed up, poor and young with nothing but the clothes on my back. There was an open position as a history teacher in the school, and I needed the money. So I took it."
"Huh."
"I started saving up money," Akimi recalls. "I've always wanted to run my own museum. But I knew it would take a lot of money to do it. But a few months after my arrival, the Second Shinobi World War broke out."
"... Oh." Mori can't think of anything to say to that.
"It was hard," Akimi says softly. "The school shut down because they recruited all the children to become ninja. I had to take odd jobs and share a room with seven other people for the entire duration of the war. And then the fighting came to us - it was terrifying."
Mori closes his eyes, remembering his own experiences with war. Konoha had never become a battleground itself, but he'd been to many of those outlying villages in Fire Country. Trash and weaponry littered across the streets. Buildings burnt to the ground. He shivers involuntarily.
"War is terrifying," he agrees, his voice solemn.
Akimi falls silent, then, sinking back into her mind as she brings up old memories. Mori is quiet, too.
"...And now it's history," Akimi murmurs. "A textbook article. An old tale."
From their position, they can see Sachiko yawn and lazily stretch out, dozing in the sunshine outside. Akimi's eyes soften.
"That's why I never went back to Shimo," she confesses. "Not because of the marriage. Or the weather. I didn't want to see war. I didn't want to see ninja."
Mori nods in understanding.
"You have a hard job," Akimi says quietly. "I hope that you're up to the task."
Mori presses his lips together. He's been focusing on the mission, keeping his attention on his genin. But there's still a lot weighing on his mind: the Massacre, the Kyuubi. It's not forgotten, only pushed to the side, but this conversation only reminds him of the burden he bears.
"I hope I am, too," he says, softly enough that Akimi can't quite catch the words.
Day seven of their guarding is slow, slower than it was the rest of the week. The exhibit is getting ready to close, and only a couple people visit the museum. Mori almost falls asleep at his post himself, but he doesn't tell his genin anything about it.
The museum closes at 5:30 pm. As soon as the sign at the front window is flipped around, showing 'closed', the three genin sigh with relief and collectively slump down onto the floor - at least until Mori says 'it's not over yet, do you really think a closed sign would stop a thief'.
"But sensei," Chie gasps out dramatically.
"No buts," Mori says firmly, but he's internally laughing at their exaggerated pouts and worn out faces. "We'll have to stay until the gemstones are being shipped back, and then it's not our problem anymore."
"And how long will that take?" Issei grumbles.
"Faster, if we help Akimi-san put away all the stones."
They help Akimi put away all the stones.
Riku helps Akimi sort the gemstones into separate piles. Chie, Issei and Mori, who can't really tell all the rocks apart, are given the task of packing them into boxes, making sure they're properly stored so that they don't break. Only a few rocks remain in their cases: the raw elements and less flashy types of stones.
"Those are the ones we own," Akimi says. "We'll keep them out for a couple more days, but we don't need them to be guarded."
Working together, they finish packing the stones at around 8:00.
"It's kind of late," Chie says, setting down a box. They're in the back room, stacking the boxes of stones to be ready for transportation. With all the boxes stacked up, it resembles more of a maze than anything else. "We're not leaving right now, are we?"
"We'll take off tomorrow morning," Mori says. "That's when the others come to pick up the stones anyway. Then we'll be done."
"Thank Kami," Issei mutters.
"You were the ones who wanted a C-rank," Mori reminds them, grinning with amusement. "You want to go back to D-ranks?"
"No!" Issei and Chie almost shout.
"No more D-ranks, please," Riku begs, his eyes wide.
"I can't promise you that," Mori says. "Though you all came up with a good plan and worked together, you were distracted. Had there really been a thief, this mission could have failed."
All three kids look properly ashamed.
"We'll do better next time," Chie promises, eyes burning with determination.
"Yeah," Riku says. "Practice makes perfect, right?"
Mori shakes his head, grinning the whole time. "Well, we'll see."
Sachiko, who had disappeared while they were packing up the exhibit, reappears with a broom and tray bearing five cups of tea.
"Here," she says, handing one to her great-aunt, and then placing the tray between Mori and his genin. She smiles at them warmly. "Thanks for helping us."'
"Thank you for the tea," Mori responds, picking up a cup and sipping it. Riku beams at Sachiko and picks up his cup, savoring the warmth in his hands.
Sachiko nods and smiles before disappearing back into the hallways, whistling a tune as she starts to sweep the floors.
Issei takes a cup and sniffs it. He scowls and pushes it away. "Cheap."
Mori rolls his eyes.
Chie studies hers carefully. "What flavor?"
"Sencha," Riku answers, sipping his cup.
Chie makes a face.
"Chie!" Riku says. "Don't be rude!"
"Sencha is too bitter," she complains.
"Everything you like is too sweet," Riku mutters.
This starts off an argument between the two genin, as they start to defend their personal taste and their favorite foods.
Issei scoots over a little closer to Mori and stares at his teammates as they argue.
"Who's going to watch the stones tonight?" Issei asks.
"You and Riku," Mori answers, taking another sip of the tea. "You can handle that, I trust?"
"Of course, sensei," Issei says.
"Good," Mori says.
They sit there in the museum lobby for a few more minutes, all of them winding down to get ready for the night. Riku and Mori finish their tea. The air grows colder as the moon rises.
"We should get some rest," Chie says.
Feeling tired, Mori checks the time. He squints at his watch, trying to make out the numbers.
"It's... almost ten," he says, barely able to make out the minute and the hour hands on his watch.
Why is it so hard to read? It's not that dark, is it?
"Sensei?" Chie asks.
Mori licks his lips, which suddenly feel very dry. He glances down at the hand holding his empty teacup.
"Riku," Issei says, getting to his feet. "We're on guard tonight - whoa, are you okay?"
"'M fine," Riku says, his eyes drooping shut. "I'm just… tired…"
Riku attempts to stand up, but trips over himself, landing on the tray. The cups clatter as they hit the floor; Chie and Issei's untouched tea spill across the ground.
"Riku!"
Chie hops to her feet and grabs Riku by the shoulders, hauling him up to a standing position. He manages to get to his feet, but he sways, unsteady.
Mori's hand is shaking, his vision blurring until all he can make out is a mass of fuzzy colors.
Shit, he thinks . Fuck. Fucking hell.
He gets to his feet, willing himself to stay upright.
"Sensei!" Chie says, alarmed. Riku slumps over in her arms, like an empty bag.
I didn't realize you had hired ninja.
Jounin usually have a specialty, don't they?
I'm such an idiot! He curses himself. He stumbles, trying to count the boxes in the room with his blurry vision.
"The stones," he says, leaning against one of the boxes. "The tea was drugged."
"Drugged?" Chie yelps.
Issei's eyes widen. " Sachiko."
"Sachiko?" Chie asks, horrified.
"Give me Riku," Mori says.
Wordlessly, Chie hands over the ragdoll of a boy. He groans as he's passed into Mori's arms.
"Count the boxes," Mori orders. "There should be eighteen."
Issei and Chie look around the room.
"Seventeen, sensei," Issei says, his eyes darkening.
"It's the black opal," Chie says, her eyes wide.
Mori closes his eyes, clumsily stretching out with his chakra. He's not too fuzzy - he can still sense Akimi in the building. Her signature is faint, though - is that the drugs affecting his sensing skills, or is she unconscious?
He focuses even harder. Sachiko is still in the building - but there are two others with her. He scowls.
"They're still here," he says, the words slurring together. "Issei, Chie - go find them. I'll catch up."
Issei and Chie suddenly look very nervous.
"By - by ourselves?" Chie asks.
"They're thieves, not ninja," Mori says, even though he clenches his fists in worry. "You can handle them. And I promise - I'm not letting anything happen to you."
The latter half of that sentence is probably unintelligible with how thick his tongue is feeling, but Chie and Issei nod. After a moment's pause, they rush out of the room.
"Damn it," Mori hisses. He shakes his head, trying to clear away the fuzziness.
He's not dead. His stomach doesn't hurt. The worst of the symptoms is his blurred vision and his messed up balance. If Kochiyama Akimi is unconscious, then it was probably a sleeping drug - hopefully not lethal. Sachiko isn't a ninja; she'd calculated the dosage for a civilian instead. He was lucky.
Carefully, he focuses his chakra inward, speeding up his heart rate. He can't get rid of the drug completely, but he can force himself to metabolize it faster.
"Riku, how much did you drink?"
"Mine. Chie's."
Two cups of drugged tea. It's a miracle Riku can even think right now.
Riku isn't good enough to intentionally adjust his heart rate - best case, nothing happens, and worst case, he dies. Mori takes a deep breath , thinking of what Riku can do.
"Okay. You know how we channel chakra to our feet to walk up walls? I need you to channel your chakra to your stomach."
"You can -" a yawn, "you can do that?"
"It'll help you digest it faster," Mori says. "It'll make you more tired right now, but I'd rather not have to carry you back to Konoha."
Riku nods sleepily. Mori can feel him gathering his chakra together, so he carries him over to the doorway and sets him down.
Mori closes his eyes and stretches out his chakra again. Issei and Chie are there, and so are Sachiko and the two other signatures. There probably won't be anyone else after these stones in the storage, but he's not letting his guard down again.
Grimacing, he gathers up all the chakra he has and forms a seal. He feels the drain on his chakra immediately, but he just turns to his shadow clone and points to his student.
"Riku. Stones."
"Got it," his clone says.
Mori moves as fast as he can through the museum, turning corners and stumbling around the rooms. As he gets closer, his movements become slightly more controlled - the adrenaline rushing through his veins fogs his mind, but gives him more control of his body.
"Chie, don't!"
Mori's eyes widen in alarm.
He sprints forward, almost crashing into a wall, and bursts into the museum lobby. One bandit is knocked out. Another is fighting with Issei.
The pedestals holding the cheaper stones are broken, the glass shattered, and a few of them knocked over onto the floor. The crate that previously held the black opal is open, with the packaging torn out and scattered across the room. Mori rubs his eyes and tries to focus on Issei's fight.
Issei's focus isn't on winning, he realizes after a few moments. He's focused on keeping the bandit away from the windows and the doorway. If Mori squints hard enough, he can almost make out a bulge in the thief's pocket.
He has the stone.
Chie, meanwhile, is engaged in a full-on battle with Sachiko, a burning rage in her eyes. Sachiko is deftly dodging all of her attacks, barely managing to stay ahead of the furious genin.
"Chie," Issei grunts, flinging a kunai to stop the thief's attempt at escape. "Forget her! The stone!"
Chie is oblivious to Issei's calls as she lunges for Sachiko.
"You lied to me!" she yells, fierce and angry, and she tackles Sachiko to the ground.
Mori turns to Issei's fight. Squinting, he pulls out a kunai and flicks it out, aiming for the thief's knees.
Fortunately, Issei isn't in the way and doesn't get hit. Unfortunately, he misses - he can barely make out anything. The kunai flies towards the mosaic water fountain in the lobby and lobs off the spout, and water shoots into the air, spilling across the floor.
Oops.
Mori scowls. He can't trust himself with a projectile weapon right now - his eyes are too blurry - so he jumps into the fray, taking the thief by surprise and kicking out his knees.
The thief drops to the ground, howling in pain. Mori plants a knee on his back and digs in, wincing as his head spins with all the sudden movements.
"Sensei!" Issei yelps, eyes wide.
"Get the stone," Mori says, barely able to see.
Issei's blurry figure comes closer and digs through the man's pockets before he emerges with the black opal in his hands.
"Got it," Issei reports. Mori takes his weight off the thief's back and kicks him in the side for good measure.
"It's over, Sachiko," he calls out. "Turn yourself in."
"Damn it," Sachiko growls. "Have to do everything myself."
Mori swings his head around, preparing to fight - only to stiffen in horror.
Chie swings a fist at Sachiko, full speed and full force. But despite Chie's power, Sachiko is fast. She steps inside Chie's guard, grabs her arm, and slams a knee into the girl's gut.
Chie doubles over, coughing. Sachiko grabs around Chie's arm until the girl cries out with pain.
Mori sees red.
A growl rises in his throat as he pulls out a kunai, but Sachiko laughs as she whips out her own knife, holding it to Chie's throat.
"You really want to trust your vision right now, Mori-san?" Sachiko asks. She tightens her grip on Chie, who whimpers.
Mori clenches the hilt of his kunai. Water rains down from the broken fountain, spilling across the floor as proof of his current abilities. I'm such an idiot, he thinks, cursing himself for the tea.
Reluctantly, he lowers his weapon.
"I'll cut you a deal," Sachiko says. "Your student for the stone."
Chie bites her lip, her eyes wide with fear. Mori screws his eyes shut, then opens them. Issei clenches the opal in his hand and looks up at Mori for guidance.
"Chie, first," he says.
"You think I'm an idiot?" Sachiko sneers, pressing the sharp edge of the knife to Chie's throat. She shifts it, ever so slightly, and a thin line of blood drips down Chie's neck.
Mori growls.
"Give me the stone and I'll give you your student."
"Why?" Issei asks her. "Why are you doing this? Isn't Akimi-san your great-aunt?"
"Fat lot of help she is," Sachiko hisses. "My family is struggling to survive in Shimo, and here she is, running her own stupid-ass museum in a tourist town. She never cared about my side of the family."
She never went back to Shimo, Mori remembers, and he closes his eyes.
"So you want to steal the stone," Issei says.
"Congrats, brat." Sachiko smiles without humor. Her hair sticks to her face, wet from the broken water fountain. "Now hand it over."
Issei bites his lip. Mori takes a deep breath, opening his mouth to tell Issei what to do -
"Give it to her," a new voice says.
Mori and Issei whip their heads around. Riku stumbles into the museum lobby, with Mori's shadow clone helping him along.
Mori lifts an eyebrow at his clone. The clone shrugs.
"Give it to her," Riku repeats, but Mori can tell he's suppressing a yawn. Riku walks forward, stumbling from broken display to broken display, before he positions himself between Mori and Issei.
Riku trips over his own feet, and Issei catches him.
"I'm surprised you're still awake," Issei mutters.
"Listen to your friend," Sachiko orders. "Hand it over."
Riku twists around, staring Mori in the eyes and trying to convey a message. Mori glances over at his clone again, who puts his arms up in a seal and dispels.
A flood of memories rushes into his head. And suddenly he understands.
"Throw it to her," he says.
Riku coughs as he twists around in Issei's grip again. Issei's eyes widen and he looks down at his hand, clutching the stone.
"Sachiko," Issei says, watching the water falling through the air. "Catch."
Issei chucks the rock across the room. Sachiko drops Chie to the ground, as she reaches out for the stone -
And then screams .
Chie shrieks and scoots backward across the floor. Mori rushes forward, jumping in front of his student and screwing his eyes shut as the museum entrance explodes in front of them.
When the explosion dies down, there's a giant hole in the front entrance of the museum. Sachiko is knocked out on the ground outside, next to a flaming rock.
"What - what just happened?" Chie squeaks out, her hands shaking wildly. Mori grabs her and helps her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" he asks. He rips off a chunk of his shirt and holds it up to her throat, wiping away the blood on her neck.
Chie nods, her eyes still wide with fear and confusion.
Issei smirks and holds out his hand. The black opal sits in it, safe and unharmed.
Riku lets out a tired laugh, slumping over onto the ground. He glances over behind him at the broken displays. "Sodium… metal… explodes in water…" he pants out, closing his eyes. He yawns one last time before falling asleep completely.
Chie blinks.
Then she laughs, tears coming out of her eyes. "Riku, you absolute nerd."
She giggles hysterically, until she slumps over in Mori's grip, crying to herself. She screws her eyes shut, but the tears still leak out, dripping down and mingling with the blood on her shirt. Mori pats her on the back and looks over to Sachiko's unconscious body.
He spits on it.
Giving the report to the Hokage is brief and concise. Chie, the unofficial spokesperson of team four, quietly recounts a couple of details to the Hokage, staring at the wood grain of the desk the entire time.
"... The client declared the mission a success, but will charge Konoha 40,000 ryo for the damages," Chie finishes, a defeated tone in her voice. She fiddles with the scarf around her neck, hiding the bandages on her throat.
Though the cut was small, she still kept it covered. In a way, Mori's glad: he doesn't want to be reminded that his student almost died on his watch.
The Hokage only nods. "I trust you understand what you need to work on?" he asks, in a quiet but firm tone that causes Chie to flinch and Issei and Riku to look down.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Issei and Riku mumble. Chie remains silent, though she nods her head.
"I am glad that the mission was a success, though," the Hokage says.
At this, Riku straightens up, and Issei smirks. Mori smiles at their expressions - really, it wasn't too bad of a mission. Akimi was obviously disappointed with the loss of her front door, but the black opal was safe.
It was also a great learning experience for all of them, Mori included. He'd become lax since leaving ANBU, he thinks. No more tea from people you don't know, he thinks to himself.
The Hokage opens his mouth, ready to dismiss Team Four. Mori begins to turn around, preparing to leave the office.
Suddenly, a subtle flare of chakra catches his attention. A puff of smoke on the Hokage's desk catches his eye, where a small bird deposits a slip of paper before disappearing once more.
The Hokage unfolds the message. His eyes widen as he scans through the words, and his gaze flickers over to Mori before dropping back down to the paper. With a quick fire jutsu, he burns it, leaving nothing but ashes on his desk.
Mori frowns, feeling the beginnings of a bad feeling grow in his stomach.
The Hokage stands up.
"You are dismissed," he says, waving them out the door.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Mori responds.
The Sandaime nods, and the four leave the room, lingering out in a hallway a few feet down.
Riku and Issei look subtly relieved that the Hokage didn't flay them alive for an almost failure. At least until Mori opens his mouth.
"We'll be doing D-ranks for a month or so," he says, and the two boys visibly deflate.
"Sensei!" Riku protests. "The only way to get better at C-ranks is to practice them!"
Issei nods in agreement. "We can handle it, sensei - we know better now."
"Maybe you guys do."
The conversation halts as they all look over at the girl who had spoken.
Riku frowns. "What are you talking about?"
The bad feeling in Mori's stomach grows. Oh no.
"It was my fault," Chie says, her voice slowly increasing in volume. She keeps her head bent, eyes downcast as she speaks. "The only reason we didn't fail was because of Riku! And - and it wouldn't have happened if I had just listened to Issei! I'm the one that messed up! I rushed, and I fought Sachiko even though I didn't have to, and then I lost! I can't do anything!"
She bites her lip, her eyes watering.
Oh, Chie, Mori thinks. Was this why she was so quiet on the way home?
"Chie," Mori says, catching her attention. She looks up at him, eyes shiny and threatening to spill over.
Mori kneels down until he's level with her, meeting her gaze. "It was your first time out of the village. It was your first C-rank. You were nervous, you panicked, it happens. It doesn't say anything about you or what you can do."
Chie flushes and screws her eyes shut tight. "No!" she yells.
Riku and Issei stiffen as the tears start falling down her face. Mori reaches out a hand to place on her shoulder.
"Chie -"
"No!" She cuts him off and slaps his arm away. "No! You guys don't understand!" She whirls around to glare at them and waves her arms in the air. "You're all talented and cool and awesome! Riku and Issei are smart, smarter than anyone in our year! Riku lives in a dojo and is awesome at taijutsu! Issei's observant and sneaky and he came up with most of the plans on our missionfor crying out loud, and he can throw kunai and shuriken better than some of the clan kids! And Mori-sensei can fight and spy and teach and everything! Even your other student is a chuunin, he's a prodigy, and he's just barely turned eleven!"
The words flow out of her mouth, hot and angry. Issei's eyes are wide, his jaw clenched. Riku backs up, shrinking away from her fury.
Mori thinks back, far back - thinking of all the times Chie fell silent with that fierce, independent determination in her eyes. How she refused to accept help from Itachi. Her intense rivalry with Issei when they were practicing with shuriken.
Abruptly disappearing as soon as training was over, the way she threw everything she had into their training and spars.
Shit, Mori thinks, feeling as though someone had kicked him in the gut. What kind of sensei was he, to ignore it and just assume it was nothing?
How long have you been carrying that, Chie?
"I can't do anything! I'm not good at taijutsu, or with weapons, or ninjitsu anything! I couldn't even beat some civilian thief! I'm only good at messing up!" Chie cries out. She roughly wipes the tears from her eyes, but they keep coming.
"Chie, that's not true," Riku begins, but he's cut off when Chie shouts and turns away.
"Shut up!" she cries, and she tears down the hall and down the stairs of the Tower.
"Chie!" Riku calls out, sprinting after her.
Issei and Mori waste no time in following them, slipping around the people in the corridors and ignoring the annoyed looks from the guards.
"Stupid Chie," Issei mutters as they rush down the stairs and duck into another corridor. It's quiet, probably not meant for Mori to overhear, especially in the chaos of the chase, but Mori hears it nonetheless.
Mori shoots him a sharp look, but before he can reprimand Issei, the boy continues his grumbling.
"We're a team, loudmouth, you don't have to be good at everything," Issei finishes his complaining, oblivious to Mori's ability to hear him.
Despite the situation, Mori feels a bit of pride. Issei cares for his teammates after all.
They burst out of the Hokage Tower and onto the streets of Konoha. Mori catches a glimpse of Riku and Chie running off to their left, and he takes a step forward to follow them.
And suddenly a scream sounds throughout the streets.
" MORI!"
He freezes.
Yuko's clear voice rings through his ears, the panic and desperation in her shout dragging him back to a burning forest long ago, and fuck the Kyuubi why isn't it over why doesn't it end -
"Sensei!"
Mori blinks again, choking on air as he tries to breathe. The flames are gone. Issei is gripping his vest, tugging.
He grips his chest, muscles tense. He hadn't thought of Yuko's death for a long time. He hadn't heard such a desperate scream in years .
"Mori-sensei?"
He forces himself to breathe, to calm down, but then a sudden hand grips his arm. Mori whirls around in defensive instinct, but even before he can do anything else, Yuko is standing in front of him, her hair messy and her face flushed with exertion. But it's her eyes that catch his attention, white eyes wide with panic and worry and concern.
His stomach flips and the bad feeling in his stomach increases tenfold.
"What's wrong?" He asks, gripping her by the shoulders, and suddenly he becomes too aware of her trembling beneath his grip.
"Izo's back," Yuko says, and Mori can't help the flash of hope that flickers in his chest.
"He's back?" Mori asks, sucking in a breath.
"He's - it's - it's not good," Yuko manages to stammer out, her eyes wide, She bites her lip and clenches her fists, and suddenly Mori becomes aware of the red on the edges of her sleeves, the smeared blood on her palms.
His breath hitches.
"He's in the hospital," Yuko says. "And he's not okay."
