The Boy in the Team

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"YOSH. YOSH. YOSH!"

Shinku had been sleepy. He had been. The extreme screaming of a man wearing a green spandex suit however had woken him up completely in the span of a few minutes. For self-defence purposes, he had actually taken a few steps back to hide behind Sasuke's body.

The green was blinding, when mixed with the shining sun up in the sky. They were standing at the gates of Konoha, him, Sasuke and Naruko. Uzuki-sensei and Fu-san had both gone to 'catch' a 'tardy' 'sensei'. His mind actually placed the air-marks of its own…and he hid a bit more to avoid eye contact with the strange green-things.

"Yosh! Sensei! This must be your hip rival's team!" a bushy-browed boy wearing another green spandex suit screamed, before the kunoichi of their team groaned.

"Lee! Stop yelling! What first impression are you going to make if you talk like that?"

The other boy —a Hyuga judging by the eyes— grimaced and looked sideways, his arms crossed in front of his chest. There was a moment of silence, just a heartbeat, before Shinku found himself stared at.

"Why do you have a flak jacket on?" it was the girl who asked the question first. She had her hair tied in buns and was wearing a pink dress with navy blue shorts.

"Safety," he replied curtly, staying behind Sasuke who appeared amused.

"We told him it was going to be all right," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "He actually refused to leave without it on."

"That just makes you a bigger target, Shin-chan," Naruko mumbled, "But no…he had to grow a spine on something like this. We're letting him keep it —if it helps him, why not?"

"I'm not taking it off," Shinku grumbled. "You get your own jacket."

Naruko sputtered. "I don't want yours! It's half-broken anyway!"

"I saw you trying it on," Sasuke snorted, "really, Dobe."

"T-That was just because it looked kind-of cool!"

"It isn't against regulations?" the Hyuga asked his sensei, who smiled brightly.

"Of course not! Shinobi of the past wore armour to protect themselves! If he can withstand its weight and not slow down with it, he can carry it! I'm proud to see that the fires of youth burn brightly in another student, who wishes to challenge himself with such a burden!"

"YOSH! Sensei! We should present ourselves!"

"Lee! You're right!"

Flashing another blinding smile —Shinku was starting to believe it was some sort of technique— the man went first.

"I am Konoha's MIGHTY GREEN BEAST MAITO GAI, YOSH!"

"YOSH! I am Rock Lee!"

Tenten dropped her head beneath her shoulders. "I'm Tenten…unfortunately; I'm in the team with these two."

"My name is Neji," the Hyuga said crisply. "You already understood my surname if you looked at me in the eyes."

Naruko gave the boy a dirty look, before huffing and putting her chest up.

"You already know my name and surname if you walk along the streets for more than a minute," she mock-said with a shrill voice, "But I'll do you a favour and present myself! I am the awesome kunoichi Naruko Uzumaki, future Hokage!"

Sasuke slammed a fist against the girl's head. "And dobe extraordinaire," he added calmly.

"I think that actually hurt her," Shinku muttered.

"Sorry," Sasuke added hastily.

"Muuh…it's all right," Naruko rubbed her head gently, before gazing back at Neji with something akin to 'I don't like you, and I am going to make your life hell as soon as possible'.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said, "I'm in charge of keeping the level of Dobe-ness to a minimum."

There was a heartbeat of silence.

"I'm Shinku," Shinku said then lamely.

There was another awkward moment of quiet.

"Where's my hip and cool rival?" Gai asked to defuse the awkwardness, looking around vividly.

"He's late," Naruko pouted. "So we sent Yugao-sensei and Fu-chan to get him."

Tenten frowned. "You're a six man team?"

"Yep!" Naruko smiled. "We're awesome like that."

"Or maybe you just need more babysitters," Neji replied curtly.

"Ohi! You want to start something," Naruko snarled waving her fist in front of her. "I can totally start something if you want me to."

"Yosh!" Maito Gai exclaimed, "Enough with this uncool attitude! You are all shinobi of Konoha! Be friendly! Burn with the fires of youth!" then he flashed a smile as a sunset formed behind him.

"Gai-sensei!" Rock Lee had tears in his eyes, "That was awesome!"

"ROCK LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Then the two hugged, and Shinku aptly brought his hands to his ears to kill out the sound of spandex rubbing against spandex.

"Note to self," Sasuke stated plainly. "Never activate sharingan with those near. Never. Ever. Ever."

"Uke-chan," Naruko whined. "Hit me, please…I want to forget…"

"Can I have a fist too?" Shinku muttered in disbelief, "Or maybe some bleach…"

Sasuke snorted, and shook his head. Five minutes later, Kakashi appeared with a bleak look and ruffled hair —as if he had just woken up.

"YOSH! MY HIP AND COOL RIVAL!"

"You said…something?" Kakashi snapped back, before taking out his Icha-Icha. "Students, onwards to the land of waves…last team to arrive sets camp."

"YOSH! Such is my rival's fire of youth! Then this is a challenge! COME, MY GENIN! WE SHALL ARRIVE FIRST!" Shinku winced at the sheer noise, before Rock Lee retorted.

"YOSH! SENSEI!"

And with that, the two began to run forward without waiting an instant. Fu and Yugao blearily looked at the dust clouds settle over at the horizon —as the two were already long gone.

"Now we can have our own trip in peace," Kakashi muttered.

Tenten looked at Kakashi with awe.

Neji actually exhaled in relief.

"Onwards now!" Kakashi cheerfully said, "Towards our cake-walk easy-peasy mission of boring delivery!"

Then he began to walk at the slowest pace conceivable for a Jounin.

"Hatake-san," Yugao remarked dryly, "Stop acting like a child."

Kakashi sulkily took the front of the formation, while Yugao took the rear. Naruko stood just behind Kakashi with Tenten, while Sasuke and Neji were side by side in the middle and Shinku was just next to Fu.

They had a leisurely pace, albeit quite faster than the snail walking Kakashi had attempted to use. The peace and quiet during the travel lasted for approximately less than an hour, before Fu began to talk.

"It's exciting, isn't it?" she said brightly, turning to look at Shinku. "We're going out on a mission, all of us!"

"It isn't actually a picnic," Sasuke remarked from ahead, "We are on a D-rank mission."

"Indeed," Yugao acquiesced.

"Why is all of this manpower needed to deliver materials? How much do we need to guard the scroll anyway? A single courier-nin could have done the delivery," Tenten stated.

"We are also to help protect the bridge until it is built," Yugao affirmed. "As well as cooperate in the construction effort."

"Glorified builders," Sasuke muttered darkly, "And that's because our sensei is incapable of teaching."

"You said something?" Kakashi asked, his single eye boring a hole into Sasuke's own gaze. The boy actually looked sideways after a while. "Thought so," and then he returned to his book.

"Still," Fu exclaimed, before gripping on to Shinku's arm, "It's exciting, seeing new places."

Shinku warily smiled. He rather preferred keeping to the good and old places that while boring, at least were safe.

"I have a question for you," Neji said suddenly, turning his head towards Shinku. "Do you think wearing a flak jacket will make you stronger? As the dead last of the class, what you wear is inconsequential to your ability. It is your destiny to fail after all."

"Neji!" Tenten exclaimed, "That's rude!"

Naruko growled slightly, "Ohi, you picking a fight with Shin-chan? He's going to kick your butt all the way to Konoha, you know?"

"The Dead-last?" Neji chuckled. "It is a nice joke, Namikaze-san."

"I wouldn't think so lowly of him if I were you," Sasuke retorted calmly. "You might be surprised."

"I will be surprised if this mission will end without accidents. Accidents the dead-last will cause."

Naruko stopped walking. Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction, before the girl's hand went to clutch at Neji's shirt while showing her teeth. "You apologize to Shin-chan now," she growled.

"Naruko, stand down," Kakashi said crisply.

"Naruko, it's all right;" Shinku exclaimed. "Really…it's fine," he shrugged. "He isn't wrong."

"Bullshit!" Naruko snapped back. "You're lucky, Hyuga," she hissed then, letting go of Neji. "But I'm sparring with you once we get there, and I'll take that stick you have up your ass and beat you with it so much you'll go crying back to your mother by the time I'll be done with you."

Then she spat to the side and began to furiously march forward.

"Neji, really?" Tenten grumbled, before turning to gaze at Shinku. She bowed lightly. "I'm sorry for him."

"There's…no need," Shinku waved a hand in dismissal. "He didn't say anything that wasn't true…"

It didn't matter if it hurt or not, it was the truth. He was the dead last of his class. Even if he had, by a string of lucky events, saved his teammates…in the end he wasn't hero material. He was fine with it.

"That's what troubling with you," Sasuke grumbled, grabbing a hold of Shinku and starting to walk further ahead. "Then you wonder why Naruko think you're abused," he whispered hastily as they moved forth breaking formation to reach Naruko. "Have some self-esteem!"

"B-But!"

"No buts," Sasuke quipped back. "I understand not being arrogant about your achievements, but there's nothing bad with taking pride in what you did!"

They were now leaving behind the group —as Kakashi hadn't even increased his pace— but Yugao and Fu instead had.

Naruko had stopped to catch her breath a few meters ahead, and once she saw the two of them arrive, she sniffled. Shinku had to hold on to his disbelief, because the next thing he knew, Naruko flung a punch at his stomach.

"Baka-Shinku!"

"Gah!"

"Ohi!" Sasuke exclaimed, "Pipe down."

"You can't let people walk over you like that!" Naruko yelled, "You need to stand your ground, you Baka!"

Then she turned to Sasuke. "You're the Teme, and he's the Baka. Now we've got the insults down," Naruko nodded to herself, and then began to fuss over Shinku —who was kneeling on the ground holding his stomach.

"Hey! I didn't hurt you that much, right? I didn't really mean it, you know? It's just…argh! It makes me mad when people don't defend themselves."

Shinku swallowed his nervousness as he hastily smiled and slowly wobbled back on his feet. "It's…all right," he acquiesced. "I didn't feel a thing thanks to the flak jacket," he made a strained smile.

"Then why did you double over?" Naruko pressed on.

"Nothing important," he shrugged. "Let's just get moving or we won't reach the Land of Waves ever."

"Indeed," Yugao said sternly, before moving closer and dusting off the sides of Shinku's flak jacket —holding an extremely serious face as she did that, before evening the shoulder pads to boot. "And remember, armour is an important piece of equipment that must be thoroughly checked for imperfections."

"Understood, Uzuki-sensei," Shinku replied.

"Good, have a chocolate chip," the moment the chocolate chip ended up in his hands, three pairs of eyes —albeit Sasuke will forever refuse to admit it— looked at the delicacy. Shinku felt surrounded by sharks.

Exhaling, he swallowed the chip before taking out the chocolate bar —the melted one still in his pocket, still bringing him luck.

The chocolate 'party' was over in the next five minutes.

Then, they proceeded at a steady pace towards their destination.

The Land of Waves smelled of rotten fishes and salt. The acrid and pungent smell reached Shinku's nostrils for the first time, making him wince and nearly gag. An angler's boat carried them over quickly, bringing them directly at the piers overlooking a giant bridge —where a Kirigakure shinobi stood in wait with a frown on his face.

"Konoha sent another batch of kittens and puppies," the man drawled out. His face covered by a white bandage, and a giant sword strapped to his back, his spiky black hair dully moved due to the breeze.

"Hello there," Kakashi said cheerfully. "We weren't told about a Kirigakure team in the area."

"We were paid to make sure the bridge was built," the man shrugged.

"They must have paid quite the hefty prize, for one of the swordsmen of the mist to be here."

"One?" the man chuckled raucously. "You mean four."

Kakashi just hummed. "Do you know where the Konoha team here is, Zabuza-san?"

"Depends," he replied thoughtfully, "What is your mission about, Konoha-Nin?"

"Only to ensure the bridge is built, I assure you," Kakashi kept up his carefree tone, even though the silence around the two shinobi was dreadful.

I would throw that piece of chocolate away, Shinku.

I'm inclined to agree. Someone HAS to be bringing misfortune.

"Then we won't have a problem," 'Zabuza' shrugged. "Welcome to Wave…where the food tastes like rotten fish, the sake tastes like rotten fish, and the only thing that doesn't taste like rotten fish is rotten fish covered in enough salt to make it taste like salt."

Then the Kirigakure Jounin turned and left without a worry.

Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Where is Gai-san?" Yugao asked then wearily. "Wasn't he supposed to be already here?"

"He must be challenging himself by trying to run across the water's surface…without using chakra," Kakashi remarked. "He'll probably drowned…hopefully."

Kakashi then sighed in relief. "A man can dream…"

They then reached the village near the bridge itself, and Shinku carefully brought a hand to his kunai pouch. It was rundown, in a word. There were beggars, people eying from the dirty alleyways with gleaming eyes their group and so much grime and filth around the streets that he felt as if he had mistakenly ended up in the night district of Otafuku Gai during the day.

Not that he had ever been in Otafuku Gai.

Not that he would ever go there to begin with.

"Uhm, uhm, uhm…Tazuna-san's house…" Kakashi hummed, walking boringly through yet another street, before stopping short of a shop. "Oh."

In that moment, a Konohagakure Genin walked out.

Shinku cocked his head to the side.

The Konohagakure Genin did the same.

"Shinku?"

"Hibachi?"

So…

It was Hibachi's team?

Well, it wasn't bad then. Hibachi was…giving him a murderous look.

He couldn't ask about that, because the next moment Kakashi took the cue.

"You're with Team four, right?"

"Hai," Hibachi replied. "You're the relief team? Sensei said we were going to get some more materials for the bridge from a team…"

"Indeed," Kakashi smiled. "I gave the scrolls to Maito Gai —he was all too happy to be entrusted with the responsibility of carrying them!"

Putting his thumb up and eye-smiling, Kakashi shrugged. "Until he arrives…"

"You did that on purpose," Yugao hissed suddenly. "You knew he would be side tracked."

"Who? Me?" Kakashi mock-pouted, "I would never!" he brought his hands to his chest.

"Why…you…" Yugao gripped at the handle of her katana.

"Bring us to your sensei on the double," Kakashi said crisply, eying Hibachi. "Understood?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

And with that, they headed off.

I would have thrown the chocolate away already.

If it turns badly, then I will.

That much, Shinku promised to himself…

He chuckled then. He had a promise to himself.

Author's notes

This. Is. Not. A. Wave. Mission.

(This is not a pipe-painting)