Bellicism Arc: Home?

They didn't go to mission services. They reported directly to the Hokage which put her on edge, but otherwise went fine. She left while Orochimaru stayed behind. Probably because of whatever information he collected from Jiraiya.

She walked down the streets of Konoha eager to go home, wash up, and switch into a fresh pair of clothes.

Though, she couldn't help but consider it weird. The streets. The homes. The people. They were all the same as before. She knew them, and yet coming back didn't give her any sense of nostalgia or relief. It was like going to school or a work office. Familiar and part of a routine, but a lack of emotional attachment.

"Yuina? Hey, Nao, that's Yuina. Yuina! Hey Yuina, it's us!"

Yuina looked back in the direction of the voice to see two of her old classmates. Mayumi ran towards her while Nao continued to approach at walking speed.

"Mayumi," she greeted unsure what to say to them. She had only known them a year and hadn't spoken to them in about eight months – which she still couldn't figure out why months were named like the roman calendar.

"How have you been?"

"A little tired, but I'm much more engaged."

"Are you coming back from a mission?" asked Nao as she reached them seemingly knowing that she isn't currently the most put together. Yuina hoped she didn't smell that badly. She had some opportunities to bathe, but not as often as she would have liked.

"Yeah. I just checked back in."

Mayumi's eyes glittered with interest. "You have to tell us all about it. Tell me it was something exciting."

It was probably safe to say it was a scouting mission. It was vague enough, yet she found herself hesitating.

Non-disclosure wasn't anything new to her, but there was a vast difference between research and information for a military state. She knew people talked to a degree, but how many degrees of separation those stories were shared with and to how much detail was a different matter. It would have been better if she didn't have suspicions.

Nao nudged Mayumi and shook her head.

"Nothing tragic happened." Yuina assumed Nao might have thought the mission went south with her unresponsiveness. "Though I did have someone question my abilities."

"I bet you showed them." Mayumi made a punching motion. "Kichiro still says stupid things. Asuma has tried to slack off but Yuuhi can usually convince him to participate. Ibiki totally likes that Mai girl in the other class. What else…?"

"Jun and Hoshi thought it was a good idea to skip class and stalk out mission services so they could meet cool shinobi only to get lost and ended up somewhere they weren't supposed to be. They won't say where, but someone carried them back to class," added Nao.

"And Nao here is making more friends." Mayumi threw her arm around Nao's neck who blushed.

"Don't tease me."

"I should be getting home before my mom starts worrying, but we should catch up sometime." Mayumi waved and walked off with Nao.

Yuina was glad Mayumi didn't push to schedule plans immediately. She wouldn't even know what to say. Time moved forward. They were people to once pass the time, but they were never particularly close. They'll hopefully graduate with normal timing and she'll be nothing more than a footnote in their lives too.

She continued to walk home.

She opened the door in the middle of dinner. A third person out of place in their home. Their home. Her safe space. Her bubble from the outside world. She'd met him once before in passing, but that didn't make him any less of a stranger.

"Minato." She courteously dipped her head before glancing to Sakumo. "I'm home."

"It took you long enough. I did three missions in the time it took you to do one." Her eye twitched as Sakumo ushered her to join them.

"It's not a competition."

Kakashi took another mouthful of rice. "Of course it is. Minato-sensei wouldn't sign me up for this chunin exam, but if I complete enough missions he promised to recommend me for the next one."

Yuina stared. It hadn't even been a year yet and Kakashi already wanted a promotion. Please, someone tell her that he was joking.

"I'm judging your physical abilities and your decision making too. It's not only your mission rate," added Minato to which she was grateful for. Good to know he wasn't pushing Kakashi to move up the chain as fast as possible even if that was obviously what he wanted. Why couldn't he slow down just a little? If it was to beat some record there was plenty of time.

"Have I done anything wrong?"

"Nothing we haven't discussed."

Kakashi cut Minato off, so he must have felt secured in their mentor-mentee relationship. "Then I'll be ready by the next exam. I'll prove it to you." He was so eager and assured. It frightened her a little. If Kakashi said he was ready there had to be at least a foundation for him to believe so. It wasn't above him to be swept up in some idealized version of himself, but he wasn't so disconnected from reality that he would make such wild claims without some basis. She hoped that was still the case.

It was one thing to have childhood dreams and another to be able to fulfill them at such a young age. Yuina worried this would come back to bite. "Next summer might be a bit too soon for me. I'll be rooting for you." Rooting for his safety. Warming up to the idea of missions didn't mean that she didn't recognize that the higher up the chain the greater the threats.

"Are you slacking without me?" Kakashi was confused at how Yuina was falling further and further behind him.

She gave him a flat look. She took some of the pressure off herself when she realized Kakashi's progress was no means normal, and she spent time in the lab, but the actual hours spent training hadn't deviated. She gave a pleading look to Sakumo who stepped in and changed the topic.

She didn't want to know what Kakashi's teen years will be like if he was already like this now.