AN: Shazam.


"Hello, Ryuji, Koharu."

I greet the two members of team three.

"Uzumaki-san." Ryuji doesn't merely look the part of the Hyuga, he acts it too. He is a member of the Hyuga bunke, which, in his book, makes it okay to barely spare me a nod and not really look my way.

"Hello, Naruto." Koharu Sarutobi, a distant niece of the Hokage, offers me a slight bow and a smile. She is, thank the Sage, much bubblier and friendlier. My and my sister's privileged relationship with the Hokage is known to the Sarutobi clan mates and as a result, they don't behave like we're roaches to be erased. They are mostly indifferent.

I eye my teammates for a few seconds. Ryuji breathes the spindly elegance typical of his clan, with his lean limbs, his straight spine, his flowing hair and his moon-like eyes. Koharu is shorter, stockier, built like a brawler even though she is a girl. She bears her hair short, messy and spiky and has black eyes that burn like coal.

I know they are both strong, physically, mentally and technically speaking. They didn't achieve the highest ranking but ninja care very little about the rank of their children in the Academy, only that they pass the trials. Taking first place was a matter of many things for me, one of which was respect. They didn't need it so they didn't bother. Ryuji wasn't first in taijutsu practise because he wasn't allowed to use his clan's juken against us and I'm positive Koharu knows at least one katon gaijutsu, as is the custom in her clan. That's one more offensive gaijutsu than me, who has none.

People often both under- and overestimate what resources can be found in the Academy library. Full-fledged chunin and jounin keep visiting the place to further their knowledge. There is no actual ninjutsu there, per se, but a treasure trove of hints, tricks and gimmicks to better your craft as a shinobi, hidden within a mountain of treatises. What I could read there started me on the path of ninjutsu creation but I have a long way to go. And when I say a long way, I mean it. After two years of endless hard work, I'm the proud inventor of a single gaijutsu and the co-creator of one genjutsu.

I helped my sister crack her Oiroke and I built a Suiton: Bunshin from the ground up. It took me two years, caused me a lot of chakra burns and almost made me quit everything that has to do with ninjutsu theory so I don't know if I should be proud of myself or tearing my hair out.

"I must apologize, as I'm the one responsible for our team meeting this late. I was caught in an accident and wounded."

"Are you okay now?"

I smile and nod at Koharu. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fit, thanks for ask-"

"Perfectly fit, huh?" whispers a voice right in my ear.

I've already crouched and fired a perfect snap kick behind me. Whoever thought it a good idea to blow in my ear should receive it right on a knee. "Should" being the keyword here. My foot goes through the leg of a woman dressed in a skirt and trench coat (really, who is her stylist? She should change). The clone crumbles into specks of dirt. Smoke goes up all around me in a sudden burst after I crack a pellet.

"Ryuji, who is that?"

My voice comes out, slightly distorted, of everywhere and nowhere in the classroom at the same time. It is a useful parlour trick I picked up while raiding the library.

"Outfit, age and general behaviour would indicate a jounin," the Hyuga answers dryly. His voice is a little bit strained. Is he annoyed at what he considers to be an overreaction on my part or is there something else?

"Koharu, everything okay?"

Her voice comes out, modulated by a soft application of chakra, as per the updated tone of emergency of the shinobi forces of Konohagakure. "Yes," she says. She doesn't mean it.

"You can get out from under this table, kiddo," says someone right above the desk I'm using as cover. "Both your teammates are my hostages so come out if you don't want them hurt."

I bite down a curse. That was a test, I just know it and something is telling me that we failed. I run through the possible scenarios in a second. Should I consider the exercise over or does it continue? My teammates and I have a hitai-ate now; we are full-fledged shinobi. I decide to apply the Rules of Conduct in Operation: any teammate captured by the enemy is to be rescued or terminated. I slowly come out of my hideout, hands raised and open to show my palms are empty. The sting of a blade tickles the nape of my neck. Then, two things happen at once.

A kunai spears through the desk from underneath and pierces through the right foot of whoever has me at the end of their blade. Meanwhile, my head briefly swells up to comical proportions before it bursts in a shower of water droplets and a flashbang tag goes off in the room.

I can't take two steps out of my cover before I am slammed on the ground by an immovable weight. My decoy Bunshin wasn't enough, it seems. A finger presses against an atemi on the side of my neck and I feel my body locking up. I groan; the taste of copper invades my mouth.

"Half-assed, kiddo. You didn't have any visibility on your teammates and didn't know the abilities or the number of your opponents. You were offered to surrender. Why not take it?"

I grit my teeth. The Rules of Conduct, that every student of the Academy has learned thoroughly over the years, come to me, unbidden. I slur. "Surrendering to a hostile party may mean interrogation. Konoha shinobi are sworn to safeguard Konohagakure above all else, even if it means death."

"Congrats, you can bleat like a good little sheep and repeat the silly rules you were taught here. Where do your teammates stand regarding the mission?"

They are expandable. So am I. A shinobi bleeds and dies for the mission, in order to best serve the village. We are the kindles that the Will of Fire consumes. These rules make my skin crawl and I know for a fact that no mission would ever be worth my sister's life or even Shikahime's or Choko's. It's just what we were taught in our time in the Academy.

"I'm asking again: where do your teammates stand regarding the mission?"

"The mission primes over everything else." The answer escapes me, out of sheer conditioned reflex. Whoever is sitting on me slaps the back of my scalp.

"Try it again, kiddo."

"I don't like it either," I chew out, "but that's what we were taught."

"Conditioning" would be more apt to describe the only class in the Academy that directly integrated corporal punishments as a way of teaching. We had to fire off the Rules of Conduct as fast as possible or risk a nasty shock. Even my sister relented and learned them by heart at some point. We all have a love-hate relationship with these rules.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The woman answers dismissively. Steel enters her voice when she continues. "You don't give up on your teammates. Ever. You can fuck up as many times as you want, as long as you're alive and your target isn't lost, you'll get a chance to set things right. But you can't serve the village or defend it at all if you're dead. So, you bid your time and seek every opportunity you can to keep yourself and your teammates alive. You feel me?"

I do. In fact, not only am I totally on board, I am also relieved. I can't fathom abandoning someone who relies on me, not anymore. That is just too reminiscent of what I did to my sister. My teammates, whether I like them or not, rely on me. I try to nod but fail. I'm still too numb. "Yes!" I gurgle.

"Ryuji, Koharu, you weren't on guard. A shinobi expects the unexpected. Naruto, surrender doesn't automatically mean defeat. A shinobi only fights the battles he can win. That's how the war is won."

I can feel my limbs tingle and itch as feelings return to my body. The woman steps off me and I slowly push on my hands to get myself up.

"The war?" Koharu asks.

"The war about staying alive, little monkey. Staying alive means you can give it another shot. Being dead mostly sucks."

Koharu and I cannot help the snort that escapes us both, though Koharu does seem pissed by the nickname. Ryuji scowls. The woman gives us a bright smile.

"Now that that's out of the way, I'm Anko. Mitarashi Anko. I'll be your captain for the duration of your probation."

Ryuji raises his hand. "Probation, captain?"

"Our little scuffle right now didn't quite convince me, I must say. I gotta admit though, Fishcake showed some spunk while you and Little Monkey remained perfectly calm. She even slipped a hint about your situation. So, not good but not horrible."

"How are we to pass this probation?" The Hyuga inquires.

"I think you know that already. What you really want to know is what happens if you fail." Captain Mitarashi - I'm not giving her a surname yet, I don't want to die - grins even wider and a sinister glint enters her eyes as she motions us to come closer. "You're strapped to a table and cut open to serve as spare parts for shinobi more deserving than you," whispers the jounin.

We all turn a few shades paler and recoil. I know she is kidding, she has to be, but by the Sage, the joke is still dark.

"Hehe, got you. You're sent back here. Though, after a month together, you might wish to fail." She smirks and it's downright threatening. "Who knows?"

She lets us go after setting up a time and place for our next meeting, telling us to prepare well before disappearing in a burst of smoke. I send a nervous look at Ryuji and Koharu, who are both eyeing me, and each other, sideways. The atmosphere is heavier than on a summer night before a storm. Mitarashi abruptly made the factual meaning of the Rules of Conduct much clearer and unpleasant. I cough to clear my throat.

"Hum… Just to be clear… I was just reciting what we were taught, 'ttebana." I ball my hands into fists. "I don't like these stupid rules, alright?"

Koharu and Ryuji both nod. I recognize in their eyes the same look I had two days ago in the hospital. They feel useless, diminished. They are probably afraid too, as I am. My brain can't help but loop the thought in an endless cycle: what if it had been an actual enemy on a real mission?

"I'm… I like it better her way anyways," I add, motioning towards the dissipating cloud of smoke that our new leader left behind. I wouldn't abandon my sister. I wouldn't abandon my teammates.

I don't feel hungry at all but I still offer them lunch at Ichiraku. Koharu turns green at the idea of food but she and Ryuji accept nonetheless. I hope the atmosphere will clear up a bit. In the end, we don't reach halfway there before everyone just goes their own way, too caught up in their thoughts. I am not surprised, I am too. We learned the Rules of Conduct through a lot of pain and now, our jounin captain tells us to disregard them. It isn't easy. It can't be.

The following morning, I meet my teammates in front of the Hokage Tower. Ryuji spares me a stiff nod and Koharu gives me a smile, though it is brittle. We exchange a few pleasantries under the looming mass of the most important building of Konohagakure, the village's central bastion. It is stilted: Koharu and I don't have a lot to share, I like to read, she is into music, I never had much time for hobbies, she has a lot. In addition, what happened yesterday is still with us. I lend a polite ear all the same. I physically cannot ignore people when they chat me up on their own accord, it goes against every fibre of my being.

"Hello, my little ducklings," cackles captain Mitarashi right behind us.

I know we are all surprised to just see her appear from the crowd. That's the stealth of a jounin. We suppress any reaction as best as we can and give her our greetings.

"Good morning, captain Mitarashi." Ryuji, ever uptight, gives her her formal rank.

I imitate him. After what she showed us the morning before, she deserves my utmost respect.

"Hello, sensei." Koharu, not one for formality, prefers to call her "teacher".

"Show me your equipment."

I blink at the woman's commanding tone and my spine straightens automatically. My teammates react the same and we all open our holsters in order for captain Mitarashi to inspect our weapons. The ass-reaming that follows lasts five minutes at most; it isn't any less legendary.

Our captain tears through our pitiful arsenal, reminds us that "a shinobi expects the unexpected", calls us names that make us all blush and orders us to carry the war-time harness at all times starting tomorrow. We are frozen in shock, feeling like children caught drawing doodles on the wall with a permanent pen. Then, captain Mitarashi switches off. One second, she is bellowing like our drill instructors in the Academy, red in the face and swear words foaming from her mouth, the next she is completely calm, poised and proper.

"Understood?" She asks us with a perfectly sweet smile.

We nod frantically.

"Good!" She starts sauntering towards the Hokage Tower. "Let's get ourselves a mission or two, m'kay?"

We go through security and find ourselves in the Mission Office. The first of the three floors of the Hokage Tower is entirely occupied by this large hall, where shinobi receive requests and meet their clients. Supposedly. In truth, Konoha shinobi are dispatched in long term missions all over the country and receive requests in local mission offices established throughout Fire Country. This way is much, much more practical.

So, what is the use of the Mission Office in the Hokage Tower? It's for genin to feel important, as they are assigned their mission by the Hokage himself, to give them the opportunity the maybe meet the legends they have heard about, as some jounin go through here to receive A- and S-ranked missions and for Konohan to keep the small business afloat by publishing their request.

We kneel before Hiruzen "The Professor" Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. He is a small old man, with a very wrinkled face, a hawkish nose and piercing eyes underlined by a thin black line of kohl. He has an easy smile on his lips and gives me a wink. It isn't Jiji; his robes and hat don't smell of tobacco enough. It must be some form of Bunshin. I wink back.

"Greetings, Lord Hokage." We all chant at the same time. I'm not going to risk calling him Jiji in front of captain Mitarashi.

"Ha! Team three! I've been waiting for you. Here for your first mission, I presume?"

"Indeed, Lord Hokage. I request one or two D-rank tasks for team three," says captain Mitarashi.

"It will be my pleasure," answers not-really-Jiji before he lists off a series of D-ranks.

The tasks are chores, pure and simple. Most of them sound boring, many seem outright humiliating and they are paid... actually more than I would expect such easy, if time-consuming, work to be. I knew that it would be the case and I am still disappointed. The salary, however, gets me thinking. I barely hear captain Mitarashi accept two missions in our stead. There's something about walking some dogs and washing laundry.

In Konohagakure, shinobi receive a salary depending on their rank and seniority. Generally speaking, a genin is paid less than a chunin who is paid less than a jounin. There are five classes per rank, that don't really matter much except precisely to calculate your salary. I'm genin fifth class. As time passes, I will be promoted up to first-class… if I don't achieve the rank of chunin first.

Every mission, however, comes with a bonus, depending on the danger, evaluated from the rank. I didn't know before today but even D-ranks come with a bonus, which, financially speaking, doesn't make any sense. Why not pay little kids in need of some pocket change instead of hiring overqualified shinobi to do your laundry? The easy answer is, you cannot because the state enforces what labour you can rent. Why would Konohagakure do that?

"Captain Mitarashi?"

"Yes, Fishcake?"

I bristle at the surname but ignore it. I learned how over the years of being called such.

"What's the point of D-rank missions?"

My tone, dead serious, betrays no annoyance but genuine curiosity. It must have reached captain Mitarashi because she smiles. "Oh oh oh, already, huh? Well, a shinobi must look underneath the underneath, after all, so that's good."

"Underneath the underneath, sensei?"

"A shinobi must keep in mind that any situation they face might have several hidden ramifications. They should always ask themselves what lies underneath the appearances and underneath that even."

"Then, what is the point of D-ranks, captain Mitarashi?"

"Now, now, my little grumpy owl, you don't think I'm going to answer that, do you?"

I look at my teammates as we make our way through the town and the mess of concrete blocks and interlacing of steel columns that make up Uchimichi. I slow down to walk between Ryuji and Koharu.

"Any idea?"

"Team building seems like an obvious answer," remarks Ryuji dryly. I nod. "Market control is another," adds the Hyuga.

"Humbling any of us who got an inflated head," grumbles Koharu. "I mean, laundry?"

"Yeah, doing laundry would do it…" I blink. "By the way, you two know how to wash bed sheets?"

It's a legitimate question. After all, when you are an orphan like I am, you know about cooking, doing your laundry, haggling in the market and painting a wall. Shizuna and I had to do this stuff ourselves.

Koharu blushes and shakes her head no. Ryuji coughs and looks away.

"Guess I'll teach you then," I say offhandedly, absorbed by what Ryuji said.

The idea of team building opens up interesting avenues of reflection. Through this lens, the actual mission consists of thinking up a way of working together, so that the task is done efficiently, as quickly and as well as possible. It might help us too, psychologically, to fix ourselves some objectives somewhat grander than "clean the sewers or catch a lost cat".

We eventually reach the Inuzuka compound. It's a closed-off neighbourhood of little one-storey houses girdled by a wall. Our first mission is to "walk the Inuzuka dogs". How complex can it be? Walking a few dogs should be a piece of cake. We are welcomed by an Inuzuka with twin crimson fang-like markings on his cheeks. Captain Mitarashi shows him our mission seal and we are led to the kennels.

I immediately see the catch. Because of course, there is a catch. The dogs we are supposed to walk? There are merely three of them but they are absolute units. I'm not kidding; these mastiffs almost reach my elbow while I'm standing up. They are bouncing up and down with the energy of young puppies. We are going to die crushed underneath their weight.

The Inuzuka briefs us quickly. The dogs are a specific breed of beasts of burden, used to haul goods and drag carts and sleighs through dangerous terrain. They are prized in times of peace and outright strategic resources in times of war.

I find it quite interesting but practically speaking, it means no physical violence is to be used against the dogs - not that we would be stupid enough to risk it, the beasts would tear our head off - and bribing them with treats is forbidden too. I look at Ryuji and Koharu pleadingly. The dogs are going to walk us if we go in blindly!

They look back at me, eyes wide and scampish. A few ideas come to me but none are conceivable… for the very simple fact that we are underequipped. I now understand the lesson of captain Mitarashi much better. I swallow thickly as I accept a leash. The doors of the kennels open and I don't have time to yelp before I'm dragged away by the overly eager mastiff.

Hours later, after a humiliating experience being dragged around by monstrous dogs and an almost disaster organizing the laundry of one entire floor of one of the largest apartment blocks of Uchimichi, team three is sprawled over the counter at Ichiraku. Our everything still hurts from being walked by the mastiffs and some of the things we had to wash were so disgustingly dirty, we barely have an appetite. D-ranks are the worst.

I forced myself to eat a serving of ramen because captain Mitarashi told us we would be training during the afternoon and no one can train on an empty stomach but it's a far cry from the four to five bowls I usually wolf down when I come here. Koharu didn't finish hers and Ryuji is painfully swallowing his final bite.

"We need to get our heads together tomorrow," I groan. "What happened today can't happen again."

"Yeah," spits Koharu tiredly.

"Agreed."

"Actually, we should prepare right now. We need to go home and get our war-time harness for this afternoon."

"You believe that captain Mitarashi will force us to use what is contained in the pack."

It's not a question but I look at Ryuji and nod. "Yes."

"I think Fishcake is right, sensei does seem like the type to do that."

"Shut up, Monkey Girl, don't go and think you can imitate captain Mitarashi."

"Oh? Or what?"

"Or I'll remind you I did earn my first rank, 'ttebana!"

"Bring it on, Fishcake."

"Just wait until I can move again without my bones hurting, I'm gonna give you the ass-whooping of your life."

Koharu chuckles.

"We should go now if we want to be on time," remarks Ryuji, who rolled his eyes at our exchange, certainly finding us wanting in the manners department.

"Grumpy Owl is correct."

"I'll slap you where your bones are hurting, Fishcake."

"Haha, let's go you two, we meet in training ground five in half an hour."

"Since when are you the boss of me, Monkey Girl?"

Something swishes through the air and Ryuji yelps. I think Koharu nailed him with a chopstick or something.

Training ground five is unremarkable. It's a circular clearing, surrounded by tall trees. As in every other standard training ground, a little canal to the Naka river has been dug up so that there is some fresh water around. There are three wooden posts in the middle of the clearing.

I enter the training ground clad in the standard blue fatigues fitted to my size, courtesy of the Academy. Very few genin actually wear them, preferring to dress more casually. The fabric is quite comfortable and extremely sturdy. I've got weapons strapped virtually everywhere on my person, too, courtesy of my graduation. The war-time harness is given to every newly-minted genin and contains several holsters worth of shuriken and kunai of various shapes and sizes, rolls of explosive and flashbang tags, pools of steel wire, smoke pellets of different colours, decoys puppets sealed away in snap-seals for almost instant Kawarimi Jutsu, ration and chakra pills and a canteen. It's twenty-two pounds of steel, leather, paper and sealed containers distributed equally on my body.

Ryuji and Koharu are dressed exactly like I am.

"Ah, my little ducklings! I see you are ready this time!"

The smile on captain Mitarashi's face makes me recoil.

"We'll begin with a little strength training, alright? Drop and give me a hundred! No chakra!"

Speaking frankly, the conditioning in the Academy was easy and, weirdly enough, barely enforced. I mean, some girls were dieting and could still meet the barest of requirements. Shizuna and I - and any of our classmates who were serious enough - put much more work into physical exercises than required. Kata are a great way to mix strength, flexibility and speed training while being fun and looking badass so it never bothered me to triple the amount I needed to do.

I still wasn't prepared for this.

The sun is now low on the horizon, slowly setting, and I can barely stand. My legs are shaking and burning and it takes me all I have not to crumble to the ground. My arms, core and neck are locked up, painfully heating up too. My breath comes out choppy and raspy, it feels like my lungs are too small. My eyes sting from the rivulets of sweat that just won't stop dripping from my forehead. It seems to me like the war-time harness weighs ten times what it normally should.

Ryuji and Koharu are both on their back, physically unable to stand, gasping for air. The reason I'm holding better is that I'm second only to my sister when it comes to stamina. Captain Mitarashi whipped us a regime that might not be outright hellish but sure feels close enough. She put us through the wringer, making us go through a mix of callisthenics, stretches, runs, dashes and spars, as individual exercises or group challenges, for the entire afternoon, with nary a break.

"A shinobi knows no weakness, whether physical or mental! Get up, you limp larvae!" Captain Mitarashi bellows, nudging my teammates with her feet just hard enough that it makes them wince. They struggle to get back up.

"A shinobi is steel and stone, you lot hear me?!" She barks like an enraged dog. "A shinobi endures everything and anything and remains stoic! Repeat after me, a shinobi knows no weakness!"

"A shinobi knows no weakness!" We spit the maxim in-between shallow breaths; our throats are parched and itchy.

"So what the hell are you doing on the ground?! You want a hug?! Maybe I should coddle you?! Kiss your booboos better?! Want me to remind you what happened when we met yesterday?! You were dead! All three of you! Fishcake, spine straight, stop holding your knees! Monkey Girl, Grumpy Owl, fucking get on your feet or I swear to the Sage I'll kick you in the ribs for real this time! You are warriors! You don't know pain! You don't know exhaustion! You don't know weakness!"

I grit my teeth; I right my back and force my diaphragm to expand slowly. I walk slowly towards Ryuji, my nearest teammate, forcefully setting my breathing into the rhythm of a recuperation technique. I grab the Hyuga and haul him up. My arms scream at me that I'm a complete lunatic and that they currently do not have the strength to do such a thing; my jaw hurts. I inhale deeply and scream my heart out as I pull Ryuji to his feet. He is half leaning on my left shoulder. My knees buckle but I hold.

We trudge towards Koharu, who is struggling against her own limbs trying to get up. It's the same circus again to get her up; Ryuji helps, if barely. We stand shoulders to shoulders, me in the middle half supporting my teammates who are not so discreetly leaning on me.

"Well, that took you long enough! Is that what passes for genin today?! What the hell did they teach you in the Academy?! Lemme guess, did they actually kiss your booboos better?! Fucking disgraceful!"

I can't help it, I glare at my captain. I know the language is intended to toughen us up. You cannot be a shinobi if you fall to a little teasing and captain Mitarashi has been very mild up until now. However, I'm sweaty, exhausted, covered in grime, exhausted, supporting my teammates and myself by sheer force of will and exhausted. I'd like her to stop so I glare.

Of course, it's a mistake.

"Oh, oh, oh, what is that?" drawls captain Mitarashi as she plants herself right in front of me and invades my personal space. Her nose is an inch away from mine as her eyes spear through mine. "Someone still has some spunk left? Good! You'll need it for my last little challenge!"

The way her voice went down several degrees into freezing territory instils a great fear within me. Before I can react, I feel that my ankles have been joined to Koharu's left and Ryuji's right. I look down and I probably have this stupid "what's happening" look all over my face.

Captain Mitarashi points in a direction and gives us a smile that has way too many teeth to be friendly. "Now, little ducklings, run," she says as she will lightning to arc between her fingers, "run."

A jolt of electricity courses through us. It's nowhere near dangerous but Sage damn it all it is fucking painful. We start moving, scrambling as we can to run… only to fall flat on our face. I had already forgotten about our ankles.

"You're gonna run ten miles," announces the devil standing right above me. "Each time you fall, you're going to start again. If you don't run fast enough, I'll motivate you. Now, get up."

We groan. We receive a shock.

"Now!"

I scream as I get up. It motivates me. It helps me breathe. It lights up a fire in my veins, refreshes my tired limbs, even if it's only for a second. I pull my teammates with me and start counting. We immediately fall again. My brain tries to tell me something, but my exhaustion is a thick haze that no idea can cut through. It turns into a nagging feeling, an itch that tells me the problem can't be solved.

We rise. It seems to take everything we have each time we have to. We fall. Then, we find this one last dredge of will that gets us on our feet. The pain comes and we take a few disorganized steps. The bindings get in the way in a matter of seconds. It's impossible to run; it just is, I know it. If I lift my right leg, Koharu's left drags me down or I drag her up and we fall. If I lift my left leg, the same happens with Ryuji, only inverted, and we fall. The pain comes and scrambles my train of thought.

At some point, Koharu starts crying. I cry too, from sheer exhaustion but it feels distant, unreal.

"Ko and I, we run same," says Ryuji after who knows how long. He sounds like sand rubbed on granite. Our canteens are long since empty.

I blink. He is looking at me, his moon-like eyes are bloodshot and crazed, as if what he just said, or maybe the mental effort to come to the conclusion, took everything out of him.

"You run inverted."

I nod. Of course, it makes perfect sense.

"One is right for us, left for you," continues Ryuji.

I turn to Koharu and take her hand.

"One is right, two is left. Ko, squeeze my hand if you hear me."

The pain comes but I've already gotten used to it. I feel Koharu squeeze my hand. She looks lost, I'm not sure how she is even standing, much less if she heard me at all.

"One!" I start counting. Left for me, right for the other two.

"Two!" Right for me, left for the other two.

"One!"

"Two!"

We start walking. We walk a yard, two, a dozen without falling. I count a little bit faster, not much but just so we can at least pretend that we are running. I'm still holding Koharu's hand. She is still squeezing it with surprising strength as if her life depends on it. At some point, we must probably reach a mile. I don't know anymore.

The world around me is a stultifying blur of deep dark blue, almost black, bathed in an ivory glow. A cacophony of sounds blends together in a slick of noises. I've disappeared too. I've got no name. I'm just part of a block, a block of three that must reach an objective, somewhere, somewhen. The block must keep going. The block must not fall. The block cannot stop. I must keep running and so do the two other nameless beings next to me. They are part of the block too. I'm running and anything that isn't the path before us, our feet, the count and the slightly smaller hand in mine do not matter.

The weight of the world increases. The hand in mine turns limp. I keep on counting. I keep on advancing. The block must keep going. The block must not fell. The block cannot stop. The weight is too much. The hand worries me. The breeze brings an acrid, pungent smell to my nostrils. I can't stop the tears when I fall. My throat narrows so tightly, I can barely breathe through my sobs.

Hot water washes away the sickly grime and the acrid smell. My head nods beyond my control and my eyelids flutter to a close. I've forgotten about pain save for the sensation that my brain is turning into a fiery mush. I distinguish spots of flesh, bodies lying next to mine before I fall asleep.

"Naruto, I'm bored," whines Koharu, shoulders slumped and head resting on the counter of Ichiraku, the best ramen restaurant in Konohagakure.

A week of team building does wonders to open people up. When you spend your entire day with the same two people (three, if you count captain Mitarashi) and you're not allowed to gut them out of annoyance, you do your best to at least be cordial, at best become friends.

Koharu and I never quite connected in the Academy. We were friendly towards each other but not friends; not out of any particular animosity but sometimes, that's how it is. She was more my sister's buddy than my gal-pal, or whatever.

"Let me think of a trick to distract you… Or would you rather eat a banana?"

"I'm going to hit you when I find the motivation to move."

"I can show you a banana," mutters Ryuji, almost more out of reflex than really thinking about it.

Yeah. Ryuji Hyuga, all proper and straight like a Hyuga ought to be, has an absolute potty mouth and a dirty mind. We became fast friends once he understood he didn't have to maintain any sort of facade with us. I snort at the joke. Then, I fall off my stool when Ryuji receives a faceful of soja sauce. He blinks like the grumpy owl that he is.

"No playing with the food!" Ayame, the daughter of the owner, warns us menacingly, a ladle in hand. I've learned to fear this ladle.

"It's good Fishcake taught you how to do laundry, Monkey Girl. You're going to have to wash that."

"You mean your mouth, Grumpy Owl? That'll be my pleasure."

"I'll wash your mouth with something else, Monk- ouch!"

"You speak to the little lady better, you rude caveman!" Ayame snaps, having hit Ryuji on the head with her ladle.

Koharu blows a raspberry at him.

"She threw soja sauce at me!" Ryuji protests.

"If you can dodge a kunai, you can dodge soja sauce," retorts Koharu mercilessly.

"You're still doing my laundry, Monkey Girl. And you got some in my eyes, it stings like a bitch and a half."

I grimace and look at Koharu. She frowns for a few seconds before her stern visage crumbles and worry actually shines through. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Ryuji shift.

"You alright?" The Sarutobi girl asks.

"I'll feel better with you eating my banana!"

Ryuji has darted out of his stool and is gone before the half-full bowl of ramen can crash against his head. I catch it and watch Koharu holler at our Hyuga teammate to come back here immediately. I smile, then realize the pair de facto saddled me with the note. I sigh and get my wallet out.

"How much, Ayame?"

"Fifteen ryo."

Three ryo per bowl, five bowls, it checks out. I give her twenty; my finances are healthy since I became a genin. "For the food fight," I say before I wave her goodbye and go after my teammates.

They sped off at a breakneck pace and I realize I have not idea where their chase led them. I look up and approximate the time by the position of the sun. It's setting right now. We have an hour before we meet at my place to prepare for tomorrow.

Captain Mitarashi has established a rather simple schedule. Our mornings are dedicated to missions. Once we understood that D-ranks could be, in their own way, legitimately hard, we took to strategizing before going in.

We got the mission to walk the Inuzuka dogs again. This time, we formed a triangle, one in front, two behind, linked our waist with a solid length of rope and formed a block too heavy for the dogs to move. Ryuji even advised us to send chakra to our feet to stick to the ground. We might have looked dumb but ever since that day, almost all genin teams who receive this mission imitates us.

Catching rowdy stray cats has become a routine "seek and capture" mission. With Ryuji as our spotter, we have no trouble with this kind of assignment. Koharu was surprisingly helpful on babysitting missions; apparently, Sarutobi children help taking care of the infants of the clan. I saved a number of laundries (seriously, you don't put colours with white, that's obvious, right?) and taught my teammates to haggle as if their lives depend on it.

Civilians aren't that inventive with their requests, though. Actually interesting D-rank missions do exist, believe it or not, and they are given by the clans. Well, they are interesting if you're kind of a nerd, like me. They give a sneak peek at the inner workings of Konohagakure as an autarkic city-state of sorts. The Akimichi clan takes care of almost the entirety of the food we eat, through various channels (who knew there are that many fields and paddies around Konohagakure?). The Nara clan sources most of the medicine consumed in the village (they aren't just lazy shogi players, their deers do have a purpose!). The Aburame clan produces nearly the entire combat-grade fabric that we use to spin fatigues (they aren't raising bugs for shit and giggles or merely for jutsu, no sir!). The Sarutobi clan are excellent smiths, using their katon gaijutsu to temper steel (Koharu received the authorization to make us visit one of the forges, it's amazing.).

It goes on; each clan of the village, major or minor, provides services or goods to ensure the safety of Konohagakure. It is actually a requirement to establish and remain a clan. Certainly, the taxes are almost non-existent for them but in exchange, whatever they provide is almost free. Apparently, the Senju and Uchiha are only considered to still be clans, legally speaking, because they are the ones that founded the village. In practice, they should lose their status as they fail to provide adequate compensation for their privileges.

Much like our mornings are dedicated to missions, our afternoons are reserved for putting our abilities through the wringer.

Beyond the close to hellish basic strength, flexibility, speed and endurance training, we must survive challenges that are designed to make us bleed if we don't face them as a team.

The "tied-ankles run" has become a classic and our personal nightmare. Captain Mitarashi has upped her exigence level throughout the week. This exercise, I think, is what really welded us, as a team. It was what truly demolished any barriers there were between us. Once we saw each other bleeding and crying from bitter exhaustion, after we had to carry each other whenever we fell, after Anko made us all soak naked in a hot spring after the first session, everything else felt small, insignificant.

My one and only regret is, I was too tired to perv on Anko and Koharu. I think Ryuji regrets it too. We were just too empty to act like properly hormonal teenagers. I still rubbed the fact I saw two women naked in the face of Kiba Inuzuka, because Kiba is an idiotic braggart and it's supremely amusing to make him mad. Hinashi, who is on the same team, blushed up a storm and that was funny too.

I direct my steps towards my apartment block, deep in Uchimichi. Ichiraku is on the village's outskirts, still in a fairly densely populated area as it is near the main entrance. A few people make a show of swerving away from me, a heavy grimace of disgust on their face and a curse on their lips and a few more obviously turn their back on me, refusing to even spare me a glance. When I was younger, I used to plant myself right in front of them and squeak nonsense, just to annoy the shit out of them. One or two look at me with reproachful eyes.

Most Konohan just routinely stays a good two yards away from me. Shizuna always gets the worst of the heat. Today, I do my best to ignore the rudest behaviour, channelling my sister's masquerade and pushing away the anger I feel. I still give a cruel smirk at those who seek to guilt-trip me, basking in the schadenfreude. I know they hurt and it feels good to know it. Cowardly assholes.

I trail through the back alleys of the town, those that aren't covered in tar and remain mostly natural. Here, the path is simply a narrow strip of packed dirt, there, large flat slabs of stone pave the way. Around me, majestic trees sway lazily in a shy breeze, under the orange glow of the sun. Houses are built in-between the katsura sentinels, testu-oaks, crimson pines and jousai cedars. The habitations are dwarfed by the wooden giants and appear smaller than they actually are. Their cream-white, pale-yellows and fresh-green walls contrast starkly with the brick red and slate blue of their roofs.

In Konoha Central, the buildings are high, all concrete and steel and glass, but in the districts around Uchimichi, individual houses prime over large apartment blocks. I like to walk through these parts. I daydream about one of the houses belonging to my family. I hear Shizuna laugh as she runs in the backyard, our father running after her. He has her long red hair. Our mother is much quieter and reads me a book. She has my spiky blond locks.

I like it here because people are less obviously mean to my sister and I. Maybe the relaxed atmosphere has something to do with it?

I reenter the hubbub of Uchimichi. The passers-by swerve around me as soon as they see me. After so many years, it's a reflex by now; they don't even have to think about it. They register my presence, identify me thanks to the strange, whisker-like birthmarks on my cheeks and their brain commands them to walk away from me. I'm surrounded by this weird bubble of void, wherein no one dares to step. This is ridiculous, annoying and hurtful all at the same time.

Koharu and Ryuji have noticed, of course, they aren't stupid. Not that it would take a genius to figure out something is wrong between the village and me. I dread the day they ask about it. I don't know what I am allowed to say. I fear lying would break our cohesion but then again, I can't just ignore the Sandaime's law.

I return the glare of a middle-aged woman who is looking at me with eyes burning with blame. Why are you here? she silently asks me. Can't you see that your presence is painful? Leave and don't come back! I can almost hear it. You're not welcome in Konohagakure.

I spit all my disdain in the woman's general direction. Obviously, some people start muttering. I pick up some distasteful whispers, about the danger I represent, how I shouldn't be a shinobi, how living with that thing obviously twisted me. Cowardly assholes.

I climb the outer stairwell of my apartment block and open the door to my flat, a little more forcefully than necessary. I hear someone slurping on noodles and I smile, tension bleeding off my shoulders.

"Hi, 'Nana!"

"'Ruto, welcome home!"

My sister tumbles in the hallway, a cup of instant ramen in her hand, a large grin on her face.

"How are you?!"

"I'm fine, 'Nana. The day was routine. How was yours?"

When my sister is sad, it's like seeing the sun suddenly hidden by a thick, dark cloud. I frown.

"Still not good, huh?"

She shakes her head no. Shizuna is having some trouble with her team. "Some trouble" is putting it mildly if I'm to believe what she tells me. Sasuki is about as immovable as a rock, set in her assholish ways. Sakuro is just an idiot fawning non-stop over the Uchiha and not taking his training seriously. As for her captain, Kakashi Hatake, it seems he just can't be bothered. He talked about teamwork on their first day but cannot be arsed to enforce it.

Captain Mitarashi might be a demon in human skin but she knows a thing or two about team building and I'm thankful for it. I know my teammates and I are tightly knit after the week we had. It's a gut feeling almost as strong as the one telling me I'll never abandon my sister.

I sigh. I've no idea what to do. What could I even hope to do anyway? I am a genin. It's not like I could give Hatake a talking-to. I'd be put under house arrest… or most likely, completely ignored if my sister's description about her captain's utter lack of fuck is true. Still, I'm worried. Shizuna's team, number seven, has apparently no cohesion, only the barest bone of teamwork and their members have barely upped their training since the Academy. I mean, hers is one of the only teams who still struggle to catch Tora the cat after more than a week together and literally the only one who still hasn't adopted our patented method to walk the Inuzuka dogs. Add to this that newly minted teams will soon start taking C-rank missions and I cannot help my rising anxiety. The danger isn't high but to pretend that there is none is like pretending being a shinobi is easy and safe.

I hug Shizuna and we sit on the sofa, in the living room. She still has her ramen in hand and takes a bite. She listens intently as I tell her about my day. It makes her happy to hear about the "adventures" of team three; wistful, too, but mainly happy. She likes it when I explain whatever stratagem we cooked up to avoid working too hard. When I tell her our latest find involves using chakra in order to stick to a wall and walk up to it, she starts bouncing on her seat. She loses it when I demonstrate the technique, using the wall of the living room.

"What, what, what?! That's so cool! How does that even work bro?! You hafta tell me, 'ttebayo! Please, please, please, please, please!"

"Wow, calm down, 'Nana! I'll tell you everything but you need to let me talk."

She is like a puppy, looking up at me from the couch with wide, amazed eyes. I puff my chest out. I can't help it. You try having your sister or brother look up to you like that and not puff your chest out.

"Okay," I say, trying not to sound like a rooster parading at dawn, "the trick is obviously to send chakra to your feet, through your soles to be exact." I lift three fingers. "It's difficult for three reasons. One, sending a controlled amount of chakra to your feet isn't that easy. Two, you really need to control the amount of chakra: too much and you'll burn or break your feet, your sandals or the surface you're walking on, too little and you won't be stuck. Three, you need to imprint your chakra so that it's like a really fine brush."

There are technical terms to describe how someone should mould and imprint their chakra but my sister isn't too familiar with them. To be fair, the fresh genin who are familiar with them are rare. It pays to be a nerd, sometimes. Instead, I give her an image, a sound, a smell, any sensation she can associate with the imprinting of her chakra. It works for her, more or less.

I see my sister get up and walk towards the wall, a determined look on her face. I drop from the ceiling and stop her.

"Nope. You aren't trying this here and now. You'll destroy the wall. You can train in your training ground."

She stares at me. I stare back. She relents.

"Alright, alright, fine." She rolls her eyes. "Stupid bro," she mutters as she walks to the kitchen to throw her empty cup.

"I get no respect. Remember to stay calm and focused when you try that tomorrow."

"I know, 'ttebayo!"

"I'm telling you because it's your weakness, 'ttebana!"

"Urgh! You're such a nag!"

My teammates knock on my door and interrupt our sibling spat. I open and swallow my laughter when I see Ryuji now sports a nice, round black eye and a busted lip and Koharu's face is paralyzed in an abominable grimace. These two really have a tendency to escalate things a tad.

"Shut up," she slurs.

"Not a word, Fishcake."

My sister snorts and that's the end of me.


AN: feel free to leave a review.