Summary: Satoko's not getting answers to any of her questions ft. Shino

"Holy SHIT."

I spoke without thinking and immediately clamped my hands over my mouth, still staring wide-eyed at the genin and their...captives? Prisoners? ...Hostages? I wasn't quite sure what situation they were in. Gatou looked predictably annoyed, but Haku was very calm, so it was hard to say.

The older genin looked at me and I froze, quickly trying to pinpoint something to yell about that wasn't the last two people I expected to see in Konoha. Seriously, Haku was supposed to be dead. Thankfully, my brain had become used to processing plot-changing revelations by then because they were quickly pushed onto the backburner as a Currently Rejected but Acknowledged Problem - or as I liked to call it, a huge load of CRAP.

"That sword is huge!" I exclaimed, pointing at Tenten's sword. I wanted to get a closer look, but it felt awkward to get any closer with Haku hovering around her. "Holy shit that's so cool!"

"Calm down!" Sakura snapped the same time Sasuke hissed, "Shut up."

Tenten's face lit up and she flashed a toothy grin. "Isn't it?! I picked it up during our mission. It used to belong to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," she said, looking just as smug as she was happy to show it off.

"That's so cool!" I repeated, then looked back at Kakashi. "Who are the Seven Swordsmen?"

"I'll tell you about them later," Kakashi said, looking tired. "Right now it looks like they have their hands full, so we should get go-"

"Not to fast, Kakashi!" Gai shouted, trapping Kakashi in a friendly headlock. "You haven't even introduced me to your team!"

Kakashi slipped out of Gai's hold and stretched his neck. "Are you sure you have time for this?" he asked warily, glancing at Haku and Gatou.

"Of course! We always make time for pleasantries," he grinned, looking back at me and my teammates. I took it to mean that there was no rush, considering how unthreatening and calm Gatou and Haku were respectively. "My name is-!"

"This is Maito Gai," Kakashi interrupted, holding his hand out as though presenting him, despite his complete lack of enthusiasm. "He's the jounin leader of Team 3."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you!" Lee shouted, straightening his posture as he greeted us with a salute. "I am Rock Lee, Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast!"

Sasuke and Sakura made a face while I stifled a laugh. I had braced myself for Lee to make an advance on Sakura, but thankfully the context seemed to stop him from doing so. Despite being in high spirits, I could imagine how tired they were. Having just returned from a mission gone wrong with a prisoner in hand probably wasn't the best time to profess his love for a girl he literally just met.

Tenten sighed at Lee's introduction, but flipped her expression into a pleasant smile as she introduced herself. "I'm Tenten, and this is Neji," she said, pointing at her teammate with her free hand.

"I can introduce myself," he sighed, looking back at us. "Nice to meet you."

"Who are they?" Sakura asked curiously, gesturing at Gatou and Haku. "U-Unless you can't tell us, of course!"

"It's fine," Tenten said, but then cocked her brow and looked up at Gai. "At least, I think so. Sensei?"

"Not a problem, my dear pupil! Haku has been a model prisoner. It would be rude to ignore him!"

I tried not to laugh at the fact that everybody was blatantly ignoring Gatou, which wasn't very surprising. He was gagged and bound, and stood as far away as he possibly could. Haku looked like the restraints were just a formality.

"So you're Haku?" I asked, looking at the taller boy. I tried my hardest not to lose my shit over actually seeing him in person. All I could think about was how he was supposed to dead. Very, very dead.

"That's correct. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a polite smile. "I'm sorry our first meeting had to be this way."

I laughed warily and decided to change the subject by introducing myself. "I'm Satoko," I said, remembering Sakura's weird thing about not using surnames even within the village. Which, seriously, what was the point if Sasuke went around flaunting his clan symbol like a literal target on his back?

Then again, he's a bit of a special case, I guess.

"I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet all of you," she said with a short bow and smile.

"Sasuke," he said simply. "Your eyes," Sasuke continued unexpectedly, looking at Neji. "You're a Hyuuga?"

The air thickened and I resisted the urge to groan.

"Yes," Neji answered stiffly. His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. "What of it?"

Tenten shot Neji a look while I hissed at Sasuke, "Quit trying to pick a fight!"

"I'm not!" he hissed back.

"Then it's a wonder how you always manage to sound like you are!"

"Be nice," Kakashi said, clapping his hands onto our shoulders. "Those three are your senpai."

"Senpai?" Sakura repeated to herself.

"They graduated the year before you," Kakashi said. I tried not to look to amused at how conflicted Sasuke looked about having a kid who looks like Lee as his senpai. "Anyway, you should handle your business before the sun sets. We should be going, too" he said, looking back at Gai. "Take care."

"Yes, may we meet again soon!" Gai exclaimed, waving enthusiastically as Kakashi pushed us along.

Before we got to far, I spun around and yelled, "Tenten-senpai! Let me take a closer look at your kickass sword sometime!"

"S-Senpai?" I heard her gasp, cheeks flushed, before she called back with a grin, "Sure thing! I can show you some other cool stuff, too!"

I smiled back before catching up to my team, who so kindly went on ahead without me. "So cool," I said again once I fell into step with them. Shortly afterwards, my stomach growled loudly, and I held my stomach with a frown while looking at my team. "Hey, wanna grab dinner before we head home?"

"I'm really tired," Sakura yawned. "But it would be nice to get some comfort food after being away for so long. Especially after that mission."

"We were given a banquet for lunch," Sasuke said. "Satoko even brought home leftovers."

"Hey, so did you!"

"That's a good idea," Kakashi said with a smile. He materialized several bills and handed it to me. "It's nice to unwind with something familiar after a tough mission. Consider it my treat."

I flicked through the money and gasped. There was more than enough for all of us to get at least two bowls each. I looked up at him, confused. "You're not coming?"

Kakashi shook his head. He looked tired the same way he did after we'd met Hidari.

Oh.

"It's okay if you three hand in your reports tomorrow, but I should go talk to the Hokage about what happened, first," he said, patting me on the head. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Without another word, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. I looked at Sakura and Sasuke, then back at the money.

"So, uh...you guys up for some ramen?"

I wasn't nearly as big a fan of ramen as Protagonist was, but Ichiraku's seemed like the obvious choice. It wasn't just the food that was warm and welcoming, but the atmosphere as well. The countertop seating is what made it cozy, and I could never say no to being greeted by Teuchi's and Ayame's bright smiles.

"Welcome home!" they said in unison as we took our seats. "Kakashi-sensei isn't joining you?" Ayame asked.

"He's busy, but he's still treating us," I said, slapping the money he'd given me on the counter. Teuchi laughed and took enough money for three bowls. "I'll have a tonkotsu ramen, please!"

"Shoyu for me, please," Sakura said.

Sasuke skimmed the menu before ordering, "I'll have shio, please."

Teuchi grinned, already getting the noodles ready. "Coming right up!"

The rich scent of broth filled the air as we waited for our meals. Meanwhile, the image of Kakashi's weary expression lingered in my mind. I sighed, propping my chin in my hands as I wondered what he was really talking to the Hokage about right now.

I'd send a clone to eavesdrop if it wasn't guaranteed to get caught immediately , I thought. Even if I tried to disguise it as an animal or an insect, between Kakashi and the Hokage, of course they would catch me.

"-toko!"

I jumped in my seat, snapping my head up to see Ayame setting a bowl in front of me.

"Tired from the mission, huh," she said with a smile.

I laughed shortly while grabbing a pair of chopsticks. "Yeah, it gave me a lot to think about."

"Oh? Why don't you tell us about it? If you're allowed."

"Everything went wrong," Sakura sighed. She thanked Ayame as her ramen was served and continued, "It was supposed to be a simple escort mission, but instead it became a huge political mess!"

"We took down an entire drug cartel," I said, at a bit of a loss. It didn't really sink in how wild our mission was until I'd said that out loud. "Holy shit," I said, looking at my teammates. "We took down a freaking drug cartel. On our first C-Ranked mission. "

"And exposed a prolific politician for extortion, blackmail, and murder," Sasuke added, accepting his ramen. We chanted itadakimasu in unison before digging in.

"Man," I murmured, grinning at my teammates. "We're pretty awesome!"

Teuchi and Ayame laughed as though they'd heard it all before, which I was sure they had. They must've heard the stories from every rookie team for the past two decades.

"Sounds like a typical first C-Rank," Teuchi said. "It looks like you three had a rough time, so here," he said, setting a plate of gyoza in front of us. I didn't even realize Ichiraku had side dishes until now. "On the house."

I gasped, quickly slurping up my bite ramen so I could reach for one while they were still fresh. "You're the best, Ojisan!"

We finished our meals in relative silence, simply relaxing and enjoying our food to our heart's content. It really had been a long few days, and now that we were finally safe and sound in Konoha, all the exhaustion came crashing down on me at once. I sipped my tea and could feel the warmth relaxing the tension in my muscles.

"Agh," I groaned, suddenly remembering all the stuff we had left to do. "I'm so tired, but we still need to write our reports! How do we even do that? Did we ever learn how to do that?"

"Yes," Sasuke and Sakura answered in unison, giving me that You're a Complete Idiot look again.

"Did you listen at all in the Academy?" Sakura scolded. "It's like you don't even have ears!"

Shit, of course we would've learned this from the academy. I made the effort not to change my expression despite the realization. Although I bet it's like how I once "learned" how to write essays in high school. Five-paragraph structure my ass.

"I don't listen to the boring stuff," I said with a huff. "More importantly, it's our first report and a lot happened, so we should make sure it's done properly, right?"

"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked warily.

"I'm saying we should go to someone's house and write them together!"

"No," Sasuke said without a second of hesitation.

"You suck."

Sakura looked like she was about to agree, but then gave it a moment of thought. "Actually…that might not be a bad idea," she said, leaning towards Sasuke. "Do you really trust Satoko to write a proper report?"

Sasuke looked between me and Sakura and sighed. "You're right. That idiot probably doesn't even remember the client's name."

"Man, you both suck," I mumbled. Well, whatever gets them to agree. "Whatever. It's settled then! We're going to Sasuke's house!"

"I never agreed to that!"

"We can go to my place!" Sakura interjected before we could argue any further. She was getting better at knowing when to step in. "It's nearby, and my parents keep asking to meet you two, anyway."

"They wanna meet us?" I repeated.

Sakura shuffled in her seat. "Well, yeah… They've already met Kakashi-sensei, of course, but they keep nagging me about properly introducing you to them." She snapped her head towards me and huffed. "Just don't read into it! It's not like I want you to come over - it's just convenient!"

"I didn't say anything!" I retorted, raising my hands in defense. "It's settled for real then; we're going to Sakura's place!"

"You two should drop your things off, first," Sakura reminded. "Don't you still have leftovers in your bag?"

"Oh, right." The food I took wasn't likely to go bad too quickly but it was always a good idea to store leftovers as soon as possible. "Okay, then me and Sasuke will make a pit stop, then we'll all meet at Sakura's place!"

After downing the rest of our tea, the three of us said our goodbyes to Teuchi and Ayame and set off.

Ah, shit, I still have Shino's letter. I guess I'll take care of it tomorrow.

I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I walked through the door and toed my sandals off. My feet ached and my body threatened to give out all at once. I almost regretted suggesting to work on the report together. I didn't really think I needed the help - it was pretty self-explanatory to just write about what happened on the mission, but they actually went along with my excuse for team bonding, so there was no way I was giving it up.

I put the leftovers in my fridge, washed my face, and changed my clothes before heading out again. At least the evening breeze was refreshing and helped wake me up.

I followed the directions Sakura gave us and saw her standing outside when I arrived. I waved when she saw me and jogged the short distance over.

"Thanks for waiting!"

"I was starting to think you got lost," she said. "Sasuke-kun's already here."

"Ah, my bad! I took a rinse before I came."

After heading inside, we got settled at the dining room table where Sasuke was already seated and got straight to work. It was a pain, to review everything that happened during the mission, but it was better to do it sooner rather than later, and it gave us time to review the details to make sure we were all telling the same story before the debriefing tomorrow.

The one good thing about reports is that they were somewhat standardized in that we had a form to fill out for basic information, like our names, team number, our client, and so on. The actual details of the mission were to be attached to the form.

"Ok, I think that's everybody," Sakura said after we finished listing over a dozen people involved in the mission. Between us, the caravan, and everybody we met in the capital, the list was long. "Next is-"

She was cut off with a sudden clang that startled all of us into looking towards the kitchen, where the sound had come from. There was no yelling or anything to suggest that something bad had happened, so after a moment of silence we got back to work.

"Anyway, next we have to explain how-"

Another clang interrupted Sakura again, and this time I saw her eyebrow twitch the way it does before she usually smacks me. More sounds came from the kitchen - someone was presumably cooking something - and Sakura opened her mouth, looking like she was going to yell. After taking a deep breath, however, she exhaled slowly and instead stood up calmly, jaw clenched.

"Let's go to my room."

We resettled on the floor in Sakura's room after she pointedly closed the door. Now that it was quiet, we could get some proper work done.

"Okay," Sakura huffed, taking her seat between me and Sasuke, "let's start from the beginning."

It wasn't until we started writing the report that I realized how quickly the whole mission was over. Getting to the capital took way longer than expected - between getting attacked and split up, it took well over a day to actually get there, but then we formulated and executed our plan on the same night, and everything was over before the sun was even up. By the time we left the banquet and returned to Konoha, only three days had passed.

The exhaustion accumulated over the past three days crashed down on me all over again, and I slumped onto the table.

"Man...this mission was wild ," I said, staring blankly at my incomplete report. We'd only written notes so far so we didn't miss any details when actually writing the report and still managed to fill up two pages double-sided.

"No kidding," Sakura sighed, rolling her neck. "My wrist is already sore and we haven't even started writing it yet."

"We need to address the socio-economic issues implied by the bandits attacking us, in relation to the more obvious ones." Sasuke said.

I propped my chin onto my hands. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"If the issue was that veterans weren't getting enough income, then it's likely that the bandits attacked us for similar reasons," he explained. "They could've even been relatives of veterans. It's unlikely they themselves were veterans, though, given how inexperienced they were."

I took a moment to process what he was saying and made several connections in my head. "Wait...doesn't that mean that if, say, the bandits were related to any of the assassins that attacked us..."

My teammates fell silent, and we all sat staring at nothing in particular for a moment.

"It's in the past," Sasuke finally said. "And we're not wrong for protecting ourselves."

"Yeah, there's no use in over-analyzing it," Sakura said, although her expression still looked troubled. "C'mon, it's getting late so let's hurry up and finish writing this."

I nodded and pushed the thought aside. I could let it keep me up at night later, after we were done writing our reports. Retrospective guilt aside, at least it gave me an opportunity to finally get Sasuke and Sakura to tell me what happened while they were high. Or, at least, I tried.

"Nothing happened!" Sakura said, even though I knew she was lying given the flush in her cheeks. "We just got dizzy and disoriented."

"We got attacked, but managed to escape by using-" Sasuke stopped himself, and I could see his entire posture sulk as he recalled the memory.

I grinned widely and shuffled closer to him. "Using...?"

He shoved me away and I laughed, catching myself before I fell over. "Shut up! There was nothing useful in your damn bag. I just threw the first thing that I saw!"

"I don't care if you meant to use it. What matters is that it worked, " I said. "You guys are always making fun of my weapons, but it totally saved your ass! And it helped me and Sensei help find you guys later, too! Admit it - my glitter bombs are useful."

Sasuke and Sakura groaned simultaneously as I continued to grin cheekily.

"Fine , " Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "It was useful, but only that one time! It doesn't mean it's a good weapon. It's unreliable, and the cons aren't worth the risk!"

"And it's messy," Sasuke added. "Just use normal weapons like everybody else. They're standardized for a reason."

"It's a work in progress," I offered as a compromise. "More importantly, I think it's super important that you guys recall every detail about being high as a kite. Konoha could stand to know the effects of opium."

" Nothing happened! " they both insisted in unison, and they left the matter at that.

I huffed and accepted defeat. For now.

One day. ..

We were about halfway through writing the actual report when suddenly there was a knock at the door and before Sakura could even answer, her father came in with a bowl of fruit.

"You three must be hungry! Here, Yuuta-san picked these from their garden just this morning," he said setting it between me and Sakura.

"Dad!" she snapped, shoving his leg from where she was sitting. "I told you not to bother us, we're busy!"

"Okay, okay!" he laughed, quickly retreating out the door. "Just give a shout if you need anything. I'll leave you alone!"

He did not leave us alone.

Ten minutes later, he came back with reinforcements and tea.

" Mom! " Sakura cried. Her expression was nothing but appalled as Mebuki followed in after Kizashi, who was holding yet another bowl, this time of full of packets of crackers and nuts.

"We'll be quick!" she said, setting a tray with a teapot and three teacups down between Sakura and Sasuke. "You've been at it for almost two hours now, so we thought some tea and snacks would help keep you energized."

While Sasuke and I thanked them, Sakura groaned and shoved her parents out the door. "We're fine! "

It was oddly comforting to know that parents were the same no matter what universe I was in. Mebuki and Kizashi reminded me of my own overbearing parents, at least when it came to forcing various fruits on me every other hour and then complaining when I was too full for dinner. I couldn't say I missed being interrupted several times a day, but it was nice not having to worry about food by myself. It almost made me homesick, but it was nostalgic more than anything else.

I stifled a laugh and happily sipped my tea. "Your parents are so nice, Sakura-chan."

"They're annoying!" Sakura huffed, taking her seat again. "We won't finish at this rate if they keep interrupting."

"Then let's focus," Sasuke said.

With snacks and tea to fuel our minds, we powered through the rest of the report and ended up with three double-sided pages of extensive detail regarding the events of the mission. It was a pain to keep track of who was doing what considering we were almost always separated during the mission, but we managed to account for everything except for whatever happened at the barn on Kakashi's end.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

We gathered all out papers together and made sure no drafts or notes slipped in. Most of our time was spent figuring out how to write everything out linearly. After over four hours of work, we could finally relax.

I leaned back on my hands and sighed. "Man, I'm wiped. What time is it?"

"Almost two," Sakura said.

"Haa..." I groaned and fell onto my back. "I can barely move... Ne, can I crash here tonight?"

"What?! No!"

I made a whining sound and rolled onto my side to face her, arms sprawled out in disdain. "But I'm tired , and we're all going to the same place tomorrow, anyway! Have mercy~"

"It takes you less than ten minutes to get home!" Sakura snapped. "Don't be such a hindrance."

I huffed. "C'mon, even Sasuke's tired."

"What do you mean?"

I nodded over towards Sasuke, who was leaning against Sakura's bed with this head towards his shoulder. Without a scowl on his face, I could see how young he was, and was suddenly reminded that soon his entire future would rest entirely in my hands.

No pressure, though .

I blinked back at Sakura expectantly. She relented with a sigh. "Alright, alright. I guess it's been a long day for all of us. I'll go tell my parents that I'm using the futons."

I pumped my fist into the air and grinned. "I'll help!"

It didn't take long to get ready for bed. The biggest struggle was quickly tucking Sasuke into a futon without stirring him awake, which naturally turned out to be impossible given that he was a trained shinobi and was more or less genetically engineered to be a light sleeper. Thankfully, he was drowsy enough that we convinced him to just spend the night. We were all passed out by 3am.

Kakashi didn't make any comments when we all showed up together, but he did give us a look. We handed in our reports and stood across from the Hokage, who reviewed them briefly.

Eventually, he set the reports down and blew out a long stream of smoke from his pipe as he looked back at us. "It seems like your team experienced several unpredicted setbacks, Kakashi. I'm glad you all made it back safely."

"My team proved themselves to be capable of working well under pressure." Kakashi said.

Hiruzen looked across the three of us and smiled fondly. "So it seems. They've adapted well to the life of a shinobi."

I flashed a smile, but kept my mouth shut. I wasn't exactly sure how these kinds of proceedings were supposed to go, and really all I wanted was for the situation to be over with so I could deliver Shino's letter.

"The mission involved village-level concerns and suppressing shinobi-level forces," Hiruzen continued, "so your mission will be recorded as an A-Rank. You'll also be paid accordingly."

"An A-Rank?!" Sakura gasped, looking as dumbfounded as I did. Even Sasuke was looking shocked at the news. We knew we were going to get compensated, but for it to go all the way up to an A-Rank was almost laughable. How the hell did we make it back alive from an A-Ranked mission ?

"Holy shit ," I said. "Seriously? How much is an A-Rank even worth?!"

Hiruzen laughed and puffed his pipe. "I'll have to determine the exact payment later, but you'll all be paid at least 150 000 ryo each."

"What?!" I jumped on the spot, this time grabbing Sasuke and Sakura by the arms as I looked between them. "That's so much money I don't even know what it means! How much ramen can I buy with that much money?"

"Too much for it to be healthy," Kakashi answered. He set his hand on my head in attempted to get me to stay put, but all it did was give me a chance to grab his hand instead and swing it around in excitement. He sighed, but ultimately did nothing about it. "Make sure you save some, at least."

"Man, we're so cool," I said, finally releasing Kakashi. "I can't believe our first mission outside the village was an A-Rank. We freaking took down a drug cartel!"

Sakura looked annoyed, but the glint in her eye told me she felt the same. Sasuke had already moved on to looking proud of himself, and honestly, who could blame him? Sure, Kakashi carried the team, but we still held our own pretty damn well despite getting drugged, separated, and almost set on fire. Sasuke got Tadashi and Miyako to cooperate with us by figuring out why they were working for Sagi, Sakura learned how to walk on water and barrelled through a burning shed to save Sasuke, and I didn't die!

"I take it you're ready to take on more C-Rank missions after this, then?" Hiruzen asked with a sort of teasing smile.

My excitement dropped and I laughed wearily. "Aha...maybe give it a couple of weeks?"

He laughed in turn and addressed Kakashi again. "I think you and your team deserve a break. This is all for now - you can expect your payments to arrive in the next few days. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"There is," Kakashi said plainly before side-eying us. "Although it's regarding certain individuals in the capital, so the three of you should go on, first."

"Isn't it important for us to be here for this, too?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi patted his head, which Sasuke brushed off with an annoyed glare. "This is a little more complex, and a little beyond your security clearance."

And a little too much about a certain dead relative of yours, I added silently.

"I don't wanna hear about more politics, anyway," I said, resting my hands behind my head. "I've had more than enough of that, thank you very much. Besides, we still need to deliver the letters to Shino."

"I'm not going with you," Sakura said flatly, making a face. "He's so…creepy."

"He's just quiet," I said.

"He's covered in bugs. "

"They live inside him," Sasuke corrected.

A visible chill went down Sakura's back. "That's even more gross!"

"In any case," Kakashi interjected. "I need to talk to Hokage-sama alone. We'll meet in the training field tomorrow morning, so don't be late."

"You're one to talk," I said, rolling my eyes.

The three of us left full of curiosity, but it wasn't like we'd get away with eavesdropping on the conversation, so we went our separate ways.

It was a good thing I could understand the address written on the letters, otherwise I would've had no idea how to find Shino's house. At least, not without awkwardly asking about the residence of the Aburame Head, which feels suspicious even if his son was my former classmate.

After confirming the address, I knocked on the door twice and patiently waited until it opened. I came face to face with none other than Shino, with his dark shades and poofy hair and raised collar.

"Satoko-san," he greeted flatly.

I flashed a smile and waved. "Hey! Long time no see!"

"I agree," he answered. "I'm surprised to see you here. Why? Because a personal visit is unexpected from an acquaintance like you."

"Totally fair, but hold that thought" I said, digging the letters out of my pocket. They were a little wrinkled by then, but not so much that it looked like I wasn't at least trying to take care of them. "I'm here to make a delivery! My team went to the capital on our last mission, and we just happened to meet your mom! She asked us to give these to you and your dad."

Shino tensed when I mentioned the letters, although I wasn't sure why. Then again, Shino was always a little socially reserved. He probably didn't like people getting involved with his personal life, even if it was just as a courier between him and his mother. The letters looked personal, too - now that I was holding them backside up, I saw that Jinguu left a kiss mark on one of the envelopes.

We both looked up and made eye-contact through his shades, and I laughed sheepishly. "Your mother sure is a romantic, huh!"

Shino held the letters against his chest and nodded stiffly. "She's very forward. Thank you for delivering these letters. I apologize on behalf of my mother for causing you trouble."

"No worries! Let me know if you ever need anything. I'm always happy to help," I said with a grin.

There was a brief pause, and I wondered if maybe I'd said something wrong. In retrospect, it really was weird for me to make a delivery. I probably should have passed them on to Kiba or Hinata, instead.

Shino looked me up and down and finally said, "You've changed."

I blinked. "Have I?"

"Yes." Shino was rather blunt, I observed. Not that it took much observing to notice. "Why? Because you never used to be this friendly with me, even though we were classmates for several years during the Academy and continue to be comrades as shinobi of Konoha."

"Ah, I guess that's true..." I laughed nervously. Stupid Protagonist ruining literally everything he comes into contact with. Augh. I continued brightly, "Then, yeah! I have changed! I was wrong to ignore you. I didn't know better. But now it's different! I'm a genin, and I just finished my first C-Rank mission." I stuck out my hand and offered a handshake. "I hope we can get along from now on. It's like you said, we're both Konoha genin, so we've gotta have each other's backs. From now on, consider me your friend!"

Shino stared at me for along moment again. Despite the tense atmosphere between us, he relaxed his shoulders and returned the handshake.

"Thank you. I'm glad you came by. Why? Because it has given us an opportunity to strengthen our bond as comrades." I couldn't see his mouth, but I liked to think that he was smiling underneath that big collar of his.

"No problem! Then I'll see you around, Shino. Let's grab lunch sometime!"

After waving goodbye and parting ways, I jogged down the block until Shino's house was out of sight before slowing to a walk. I was still stuck on the bizarre yet pleasant exchange I'd just had. Is it supposed to be that easy to get on good terms with someone? If so, what the hell was wrong with all my teammates?

"I just wanna be friends," I sighed to myself.

Ah, well. After that chaotic mission and a forced sleepover, I liked to think we'd gotten at least two steps closer in our relationships.

Just like we were told, my teammates and I showed up bright and early at the training field the next day. And just like I expected, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. What I didn't expect for him to not show up at all.

Instead, we were struck by a sudden gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. When I turned around, I was greeted by the blindingly bright light...of Gai-sensei's smile.

"GOOD MORNING, KAKASHI-SAN'S BELOVED TEAM! Are you ready to begin the day with a refreshing 500 laps around the village?!"

Gai's genin were standing behind him. As expected, Lee was already doing stretches and jogging on the spot while Tenten looked simultaneously apologetic and embarrassed that she was associated with her sensei at all. Neji had a similarly embarrassed look in his eye, although he covered it up by wearing his usual grumpy frown and avoiding eye contact with literally anybody.

I looked back at my teammates, who returned the same speechless, confused stare of mild horror as I had, before looking back at Gai.

"Uh...no?"

As I looked dumbfounded at the spandex-clad man, I could only think of one thing: what the hell happened to Kakashi after we left?

Author's Note: I'm going to try to take a new approach to writing my chapters, in that I'm gonna write whatever the FUCK I want, HOWEVER the fuck I want, in as many words as I want, because otherwise I'll be stuck on details and fussing over plot lines WAY too much and the important part is that I have fun with what I'm writing.

Hopefully this will help me write chapters faster, because I really do wanna finish this story. I hope you all continue to enjoy yourselves reading, too!

Also, this chapter marks the beginning of the second arc!
(FUCKING FINALLY. GOD. IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS.)

Thanks for reading!