" …Well, I'm sure our mission's still gonna be cooler; it's a B-rank, and we're guarding cargo going all the way to Wave."
'Wait, what!?'
Okay, I need to look at this logically.
First of all, simply because Team Eight is going on a mission to Wave doesn't mean that it has anything to do with Gatō.
Contrary to how it had seemed in the story, The Land of Waves is in reality a big place. It is an island, true, but it is still a sovereign nation with a population of almost two million people.
It has a ruler, The Wave Daimyō, three cities, dozens of smaller towns, a standing army, and honestly, it is not the kind of place that a single corrupt businessman could take control of.
Add to that the fact that, as an ally of The Land of Fire without its own Hidden Village, most of Wave's ninja needs are seen to by The Hidden Leaf. If The Wave Daimyō had been compromised, which he certainly will need to be for a private businessman to hold sole control of all of Wave's ports, the village would know and would definitely have done something about it.
In conclusion, Team Eight's mission tomorrow is likely a routine one. In fact, the only likely reason it's a B-rank is because of the high probability of combat, thanks to the vast number of pirates roaming in and around Wave's borders.
Despite knowing all of this though, the knowledge that Team Eight will be going on a mission to Wave still unsettles me. After all, regardless of all the differences between my world and its portrayal in Kishimoto's story, the mission that started the "Wave Arc" was also supposed to be simple, routine, and safe.
Unaware of my turbulent thoughts, Naruto naturally pays attention to what he feels is the most important part of Kiba's last words. "What? B-rank? Wave!?"
Kiba must be able to tell from Naruto's tone that their mission is, as he said, 'cooler', because he laughs triumphantly.
"Let me guess," the Inuzuka says, "you guys are going on some lame, kiddy mission. Like dog walking, or something."
"Hey! It's a birthday party, you bastard."
Kiba's laughter doubles.
"Ah, even graduated from The Academy I still can't avoid you noisy guys," a lazy drawl complains.
We look and find Team Ten (Ino-Shika-Cho) and their sensei exiting the little corner store at the intersection we've been standing at since we met Team Eight.
The speaker had been Shikamaru, and he has a finger massaging an ear as though Naruto and Kiba's noise has damaged his hearing.
To be honest, I understand the feeling.
Upon spotting Shikamaru, Naruto demands: "Hey, Shika, tell Kiba that his mission's dumb."
Shikamaru takes one look at the boy, sighs, then sticks his hands in his pockets and begins to slouch off.
His teammate, Ino Yamanaka, grabs him by the collar.
The three teams exchange greetings then, Shino and I throwing out a few nods.
Ino and Sakura exchange glares.
"Pig," Sakura says to the Yamanaka.
"Forehead," the Yamanaka says back.
I hold back a sigh; 'I guess that's still a thing.'
One of the small blessings of my life, that I've only come to appreciate after getting Caleb's memories, is that the fangirling, which seemingly every prospective kunoichi in my academy year did over me in the story, was, in reality, restricted to Sakura alone.
In fact, back in The Academy, most girls, and people in general, avoided me, finding me intimidating and even snobbish.
Sakura was really the only one in The Academy who made any effort to get close to me. Especially after The Uchiha Tragedy, as it's been called.
Nevertheless, this lack of competition for my 'love' didn't stop Sakura's rivalry with Ino from sprouting.
I don't know what caused it, but somewhere along the line, the two girls apparently decided that they despise each other and trade barbs at every opportunity, while also trying to one-up each other at every turn.
A lot like the blonde idiot and the dog idiot actually.
Pleasantries exchanged, the question naturally comes up of where Team Ten is headed, and it turns out that they too have been training all morning, and were headed to one of Choji's family's restaurants for a meal.
Naturally, they ask for us to come along, and just like that we're a group of twelve headed for a late breakfast.
Great.
——
The meal is as noisy as I thought it would be, but it isn't unenjoyable either.
The jōnin sit separately, and us nine genin take one large table together.
Sakura not-so-subtly sits herself next to me. I let her have it, not really having the energy to fight her over it.
Besides, it's not the worst thing.
It turns out that Team Ten will also be going on their first mission tomorrow, courier duty, a C-rank, so the meal somehow becomes a sort of pre-mission celebration for us.
Since it's his family's restaurant, Choji even declares everything on the house, and that's when the big eaters of the group, namely Naruto, Kiba, and Choji himself really dig in.
This is not how I would have spent my day if I'd had a choice; it's noisy, it's rowdy, and Sakura looks a little too comfortable sitting next to me.
However, as I've already said, it's not unenjoyable.
——
Later, as everyone went their way after the meal, Ino asked Shikamaru; "Sasuke was kind of different, wasn't he?"
"You noticed huh?" Shikamaru said, drawing an offended expression from his teammate and lifelong friend.
"Of course I noticed," she said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Choji asked.
"Sasuke," Ino said by way of explanation. "He's different. Like he's angrier… but somehow not as angry as before."
"Scared too," Shikamaru pointed out.
Ino nodded. "Yeah, he's more scared… but also not as scared. It's weird. Like he's changed in so little time."
Choji, ever the straightforward thinker, shrugged. "Maybe he's finally processing what his brother did," he said. "You're the one who told me that trauma can be very weird in how people react to it."
Ino looked thoughtful. "Yeah, maybe," she said, though she didn't sound too sure.
Shikamaru meanwhile, noticed how Asuma-sensei was fastidiously not noticing their conversation even as he walked mere feet away from them.
'What a bother,' the boy thought with a sigh.