Chapter 14
"I can hear everything and nothing. The 'everything' is just really muffled."
Libraries seemed to have a magical sort of power to them that tended to incite a reverent awe in their patrons. Even without the colorful signs reminding patrons to be quiet, Konoha's library had a sort of atmosphere that naturally compelled visitors to be as quiet as possible. People spoke in hushed whispers if they had to speak at all, and ninja unconsciously reverted to their stealth training to mute their footsteps. The silence had a sort of weight to it, and it felt like even the smallest sound would shatter it painfully.
That natural compulsion to produce as little noise as possible made Masaru's current task rather uncomfortable.
Wrinkling his nose as he slid a dusty book off a shelf, the Uchiha found his face scrunching up almost painfully as he tried to fight off the urge to sneeze. Ultimately he lost the battle and winced as his sneeze seemed to echo in the silence, grimacing as he placed the book in a basket next to him. Looking at the thick layer of dust coating the other books, he felt his shoulders sag in dismay. Great.
Recently the library had purchased some new shelves to replace the original ones due to some concerns about their integrity, and rather than spend hours trying to reorganize them the librarians chose to hire genin to handle the grunt work. Given the size of the job, the library hired multiple teams, and since Masaru had no official team he was a perfect fit. All of them had been subjected to a one-hour crash course on the organizational system and then thrown right into work.
Unlike most D-rank missions, this one didn't have a strict time limit. The library had pretty long hours to accommodate the busy schedules of the ninja population, so the genin had to work around the presence of patrons throughout the day. They did so by breaking into groups and tackling the shelves one by one, stripping them of the books, replacing it, and then reshelving it. None of the steps could be rushed since the books needed to be organized properly, so it made for slow progress.
The Konoha Public Library had a total of eighty-eight shelves on the first floor. Today marked the second day of the mission, and between eleven genin they had managed to replace seven bookshelves.
Dust tickled his nose as Masaru grabbed another book, prompting a loud sneeze and another wince as it echoed loudly. As someone who did not do well with massive amounts of attention, he did not feel comfortable with the amount of stares the sneeze garnered. Sighing in mild frustration, Masaru scrunched up his nose as he grabbed another book, trying to block out everyone else.
As a result, he didn't notice someone approach him until he heard a voice whisper from his right. "...-un? Masaru-kun?" He gave a small start as he finally heard his name, whirling to face the newcomer while unconsciously tightening his grip on the book in his hand. A silver-haired young man with glasses stood next to him, and Masaru relaxed as he recognized him.
"Hi, Kabuto-san," he greeted in a hushed tone, rubbing his nose. He and Kabuto's team had worked together on two occasions, and while his teammates seemed rather intimidating, so far he liked Kabuto. He seemed kind and polite, and clearly more intelligent than the average person.
"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" he asked, looking mildly apologetic, and Masaru shrugged.
"A little. You, ah, snuck up on my deaf side." Instantly he regretted saying it, as Kabuto's face lit up with surprise and barely concealed curiosity.
"You're deaf in your right ear?" he asked, frowning slightly. "I didn't know that."
"I... don't like to talk about it much." Masaru shrugged as he turned back to the shelf, hoping Kabuto wouldn't press for more details. He didn't like to think about his ear, it brought back too many bad memories. Reaching for another book, his fingers barely brushed the cover before he jerked his hand back. His already dirty fingertips now looked almost completely gray from the dust coating the book, stunning him.
"That is a lot of dust," Kabuto commented lightly, offering Masaru a napkin. "Here, wipe your hands real quick." As Masaru obediently took the napkin and wiped his fingers, Kabuto produced a white surgical mask and extended it to him. "I keep a couple masks on hand for allergies and such, and I thought you might want one. That's why I came over, actually."
Smiling faintly, Masaru nodded and took it, quickly pulling it over his face. "Thanks, Kabuto." The silver-haired youth offered him a few more words of encouragement before returning to his team, leaving Masaru to work alone.
The rest of the day passed with minimal sneezing on Masaru's part, and when he finally left at five, he stopped at a convenience store to buy some more masks for the next day before heading home. Masaru liked the library, but the long hours of silence had started to get to him. He looked forward to getting home and spending time with Sasuke, hoping tonight would be a bit livelier than usual.
As it turned out, his wish was granted.
"Hey, can you hand me the tomatoes?"
"Hn."
"Thanks."
"Ugh, come ooonnnn, can't we have ramen?"
"Naruto, you idiot! You can't just eat ramen for every meal!"
"Why not?"
Masaru stood in the doorway of the apartment in mild shock, wondering if he'd gone to the wrong one as he watched Team Seven flit about the space. Spices wafted through the air as Sakura hovered in the kitchen over a large pot with a bored-looking Sasuke standing nearby chopping up tomatoes. Naruto meanwhile slumped at the table with a sulky expression on his face at the lack of ramen.
"You need more variety than just ramen!" Sakura scolded, shooting the sulky blond a glare as she sprinkled the tomatoes into the pot. "There's no way you can get all the nutrients you need from just that!"
"Yeah right!" Naruto sat up and pounded the table with his fist, his face screwed up with fiery determination. "There's all kinds of ramen! I can eat a different kind every day for a month!"
"That still doesn't mean you'll have all the nutrients!" The pinkette rolled her eyes and turned to Sasuke. "Hey, can you chop up the mushrooms for me? I think the rice is almost done."
"On it," Sasuke replied, walking over to the cutting board where several mushrooms with brown tops rested. Slowly taking in the strangely domestic scene, Masaru didn't notice Kakashi next to him until he spoke.
"Sorry for the intrusion, Masaru-kun," the silver-haired jounin greeted jovially, leaning against the wall by the door with an orange book in hand, though his eye flitted over to look at him. "Sakura suggested we have a team dinner, and by process of elimination we decided your and Sasuke's apartment to be the best place."
The three members of Team Seven perked up when they heard Kakashi address the new arrival, having failed to notice him while caught up in cooking. Sasuke nodded at him in acknowledgment and Naruto flashed him a bright grin, though Sakura meanwhile looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry about the intrusion," she greeted. "My house can get pretty loud at dinner, and apparently Naruto's apartment isn't fit for human habitation—"
"Hey!" Naruto snapped irritably.
"It's true," Kakashi offered blandly, turning a page in his book. "You have an armchair made out of empty ramen cups."
"What the—how do you even know that!?" Naruto sputtered, pointing at him accusingly. "Did you break in?"
"Well, I have to keep an eye on my cute little genin, don't I?" Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile, while Masaru shot him a sour look. Leaning forward slightly, he glanced at the cover of the man's book before sharply raising his head to glare at Kakashi.
The jounin returned his glare with an unaffected stare, before sighing and closing his book. "Alright, I get it. I could have phrased that better. I never broke into Naruto's apartment, the Hokage took me to visit it when I got assigned this team. Just so you know, despite my choice in reading material I'm not that kind of pervert."
"Aha!" Naruto leaped up from his seat and pointed to Kakashi. "So you admit you're a pervert—ow!" He yelped as Sakura tossed a wooden spoon at his head.
"Naruto, stop being so immature!" she scolded, turning back to the pot with a huff. Luckily they had another wooden spoon, seeing as the other one currently lay on the floor. Naruto just rubbed his head and stuck out his tongue at the back of her head, totally disregarding her words.
Eying the jounin warily, Masaru slunk over to the table and sank into the chair next to Naruto's, pointedly positioning himself between Kakashi and his friend. The blond brightened at the proximity and sat back down with a grin, pleased to have his old friend next to him. The sight made Masaru's glare falter, unable to stay mad for long in the presence of sunshine incarnate. "Hey, Masaru! How's your training going?"
Masaru smiled and shrugged, relaxing as he soaked in Naruto's beaming cheer. "It's pretty normal, I guess? Gaku-sensei's arm is still healing so he can't do too much hands-on stuff with me, but we've mostly been working on my aim and chakra control. Last week he got some guy he knows from ANBU to help me with kenjutsu to see if I might be any good at it."
"ANBU?" The three genin members of Team Seven visibly snapped to attention at the comment, Sakura and Sasuke both turning to regard him with rapt focus. Even Kakashi seemed interested, his single eye boring into him from behind. Wilting a bit under their combined gazes, Masaru shifted in his seat and glanced away.
"Uh, I think so, anyway," he muttered with a small shrug. "He never says it out loud, but I'm kinda guessing that's what's going on." Since meeting Kobayashi Gaku he noticed that neither he nor his coworker with the baggy eyes wore shirts that exposed their upper arms, even in casual clothes. That, combined with their vague answers to questions about their work history led him to conclude they most likely worked in ANBU.
The fact he couldn't find any records of a "Kobayashi Gaku" certainly added to his suspicions.
"Woah, that sounds so awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, clearly awestruck. "I mean, ANBU are, like, the best of the best, right? Besides the Hokage, of course."
"I guess?" Masaru shrugged, not sure if that might be true.
"I'm actually kinda jealous of you," Sakura offered, catching him by surprise. "I want to be a captain, so learning directly from ANBU agents would be amazing." Leaning over the pot, she sniffed at it and nodded in approval. "Okay, I think the stew's ready."
"Rice is almost done too," Sasuke added. At some point during the conversation he'd transferred the rice from the rice cooker into a large bowl, and at the moment he sprinkled the chopped mushrooms over it. Nodding his head to the cabinet, he added, "Plates and bowls are in there."
"Thanks." Sakura quickly opened the cabinet to retrieve five plates and bowls, and within a few minutes they'd served everyone. Steam still rose from the rice and stew as Naruto, Masaru, Sasuke and Sakura sat at the table, carrying a delicious aroma that made their mouths water. Kakashi sat on the couch with his own dinner, opting to let the kids sit together.
Taking his first bite, Masaru jolted in his seat at the explosion of flavor that coated his tongue. "Wow, this is amazing!" Naruto declared loudly, looking at the stew in shock. Surprisingly he didn't compare it to ramen, which made Sakura smile.
"Thanks, I learned from my parents," she replied. Her eyes briefly flickered upwards towards Sasuke, who sat between her and Masaru, prompting Masaru to glance at him too. His cousin ate in silence, but his face had a certain lack of tension that indicated he liked it. Noting Sakura's stare, he glanced at her briefly before pointedly looking away, making the pinkette deflate.
Typical. Sighing softly, Masaru lightly stepped on his cousin's toes to get his attention. When Sasuke snapped a startled look in his direction, Masaru gave him a pointed look and let his eyes flicker towards Sakura. Sasuke followed his gaze and his shoulders sagged with mild annoyance, but he sighed and relented to Masaru's silent demand anyway.
"It's good," he intoned flatly, resuming eating with a bored look. Sakura immediately perked up though, her eyes shining with delight as she looked at Sasuke.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun!" she replied, smiling at him sweetly, and Masaru felt his breath suddenly hitch.
If Naruto embodied sunshine, Sakura embodied spring. Gentle warmth radiated from her without being too overwhelming and full of energy like Naruto could be, her green eyes a soft shade full of fresh life and enthusiasm that promised to blossom into something greater. Staring at her pleased expression with a strange sense of awe, Masaru tensed when she glanced at him and quickly averted his gaze to her food.
"It's good," he offered with a lame smile, and then remembering Sasuke literally just said that he quickly expanded, "It's the most amazing home cooked meal I've had in years." As soon as the words left his mouth he froze, his face frozen in a strained smile as the others looked at him with varying levels of surprise. That might have been a bit too strong. After a long moment he just sank into his seat with a groan, hanging his head in shame.
"...Are you okay?" Naruto asked.
"I am lucky ninjas do not need social skills to survive or I'd never leave the academy," Masaru mumbled, not looking at him. Naruto snickered and Sasuke just shook his head with a sigh, though Sakura offered him a reassuring smile.
"It's okay," she assured him quickly. "I get what you mean, I used to be pretty shy too. Thanks for the compliment, really." Masaru raised his head and gave her a feeble smile of his own.
"I'm a bit surprised myself," Kakashi commented from the kitchen counter, reminding them of his presence. He set the empty bowl and plate next to the sink and turned to face them, reclining against the counter lazily. "You work with different teams almost every day, so I'd assume you'd be used to talking to relative strangers."
"Oh yeah, you don't have a team," Sakura mused aloud, eyes rising to the ceiling in thought. "So I guess you work with other teams for D-rank missions instead, right?"
"Pretty much," Masaru confirmed with a nod. "Most of them are older genin with no teams anymore though."
"Wait, what happened to their teams?" Naruto asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Lots of stuff?" Masaru shrugged. It tended to vary from person to person.
Noting Naruto didn't seem satisfied, Kakashi decided to elaborate for Masaru. "Generally, while the members of genin teams will have a lifelong bond, they won't be together forever. I've seen genin teams get dissolved after the deaths of multiple members, or members resigning after traumatic incidents." A heavy atmosphere fell over the room as the four genin contemplated the dark nature of his words.
While Masaru understood better than anyone that the life of a shinobi meant death, he didn't like to be reminded of it. Uncomfortable in the tense silence, he decided to try to alleviate the atmosphere. "Yeah, but most of the people I work with got left behind when their teammates became chuunin."
"Wait, that can happen?" Naruto seemed honestly surprised by this piece of information, making Sasuke scoff.
"Of course it can, dobe," he scoffed. "Do you even know how people become chuunin?" At this point Sakura and Masaru both glanced at Naruto curiously. The blank face and long silence provided their answer. Seeing as he had learned quite a bit about the exams due listening to his occasional "teammates" complain about it, Masaru felt sufficiently informed to explain it to him.
"Every six months, one of the villages hosts Chuunin Exams open to genin from all the villages," he began. "The village hosting it changes each time. I don't know much about the first two phases, but the third phase is a big tournament with guests from all over the world, including daimyo and other nobles."
His explanation left Naruto looking at him in awe, his eyes wide. "Seriously? That sounds awesome! When are the next ones?" At this point Masaru paused, frowning slightly as he tried to remember.
"June, no, July," he finally answered. "The summer exams are always on July First. I think it's being held here this time, too." The three members of Team Seven instantly exchanged pointed looks, their gazes calculating. Nodding, they turned to look at Kakashi with near-identical expressions full of fierce determination.
"We want to take it," Sasuke declared, and the other two nodded in firm agreement. The jounin looked back with a bland expression, seemingly apathetic in the face of their sudden resolve.
"You realize you haven't even been genin for a month, right?" he reminded them.
"You realize I'm gonna be Hokage, right?" Naruto retorted with a cheeky grin. "And what better way to get started than to become chuunin right off the bat?"
"We still have a couple months to get ready," Sakura added with a sly smile. "It's only April." Kakashi sighed and shook his head.
"You three might be underestimating the chuunin exams a bit," he commented casually, his lone eye sliding over to regard Masaru. "Don't you think, Masaru?"
"A little," he admitted sheepishly. When the others turned to look at him with looks of betrayal, he retained his composure and offered, "The exams sound pretty hard. One of the people I work with said he's taken it five times, and he seems kinda strong?" He hadn't actually seen Kabuto fight, of course, but he seemed smart enough to make up for most physical disadvantages.
"F-five times?" Naruto stared at him in shock, his jaw hanging wide open.
"That is an excellent point, but not totally conducive to rating the difficulty," Kakashi interjected. "The standards for the exams vary from village to village, too. Konoha for example requires teams of three to take the first two phases, but other villages will allow for individuals to take it alone. Of course promotion is ultimately up to the examinees' native village, but that doesn't matter if they can't make it to the third round."
"So basically, you could theoretically pass if you take it in one village, but fail on the first phase in another?" Sakura asked thoughtfully, and Kakashi nodded.
"Pretty much. In any event though, there's still some time until the Chuunin Exams and it's still too early for me to decide whether or not you guys are ready for them yet. For now you should focus on improving yourselves first and foremost. Don't even worry about the exams yet."
Team Seven looked vaguely reluctant but still mumbled various forms of assent as they resumed eating. Masaru just eyed his friend and cousin thoughtfully, taking a bite of the mushroom rice. He had a feeling they wouldn't let it go.
