Chapter 2

[Yota Hirano]

'There's… room for improvement, I guess,' was all he had to think in regards to his new team's fighting abilities.

He wasn't a fan of his change of situation, but his sensei had gotten a mission she couldn't say no to and one that she couldn't bring him to. She'd also said that she couldn't tell him what it was about or talk about it at all. So, that meant only one thing.

S-Ranked Mission.

He wasn't happy about it, but he could understand it, at least. On the bright side, he at least had something that felt important to do with his new mission regarding the Chunin Exams. Because it was a mission, not an exam. They had to do well and they had to impress. That was their mission for this event.

Fortunately, Yota was fairly sure that his team would be up to par. Sure, Karin left a lot to be desired, but she seemed like a very skilled sensor and her healing bloodline would be great in a pinch. Still, she was half of the reason why his opinion on the team was just okay, at the moment. Her abilities might be good, but her actual skills? Those would need a lot of work, if they could even get anything done in regards to that before the Exams.

Kazuhiro, for his part, seemed to be almost as strong as Yota himself and his skills allowed for a much more annoying combat style than he could ever hope to achieve, which many would consider to be more dangerous than straight power. His attitude, however, was the other half of his problems with the team. The heir was really not doing himself any favors.

All in all though, he still liked their chances for this mission… even if he had some… worries.

So, he silently got out of the shower that Kazuhiro had "provided" – more like forced him into – and went to dry himself as quickly as possible. It was a bit of a conundrum, whenever he had to take a shower, because he needed to be fast, but he couldn't be quick. He needed to take as little time as possible but he couldn't rush things or he'd just exert his body.

His very weak body, and without being able to have his mask with him.

Ultimately, it'd been a full minute since he started coughing when he finally dressed himself with the expensive black yukata his teammate had given him – that boy really liked his pompous stuff, it seemed – and went to put his mask back on his face. Once his mouth and nose were properly covered and the thing was locked in place, he took a slow, deep breath in. It was loud, compared to his usual breathing, but that was because he'd had to change the setting to battle mode.

The soothing, almost numbing feeling of the medicines in the small filters on each side of the mask spread inside him. His quickly developing coughing fit receded and he started evening out his breathing while the pressure and pain in his chest was assuaged. With a twist to the filters and a click, he set it back in the regular mode, spending less medicine but not allowing for much activity. At least it wouldn't numb him, which was always uncomfortable.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he pictured the million flaws that his golden spoon-raised teammate would find in his appearance and amused himself with that for a moment. He missed the band aids on his skin, but he'd get new ones soon enough, he was sure. At least the matte black polish remained on his nails…

Still another visit would be in order soon, he thought with a slight smile hidden by his mask.

For the moment, he had teammates to talk with now… or "talk" with, he supposed. At least Kazuhiro talked for both his own and Yota's share of the conversation, he supposed. Maybe Karin would grow to trust them a little more, but then again, from what he knew and what he could pick up on… She probably had a good reason to be that way.

Hopefully things would get better in that regard.

That aside, Yota walked out of the bathroom and then down the hallway towards where they'd met before, close to where they held the spars that they'd used to get to know each other and their styles better. Kazuhiro had said to meet there, at least. Yota was sure that he'd be the first to get there, considering everything. Karin was a girl and Kazuhiro didn't look like he took less time than one.

So, once he arrived there, he just sat down and waited.

Eventually…

"Y-You are done already?" he heard someone say and he turned to look towards the door of the room they were meeting at inside the house – Mansion more like, but whatever – to see Karin there, with a red and pink yukata of her own. One could say whatever they wanted about Kazuhiro, he supposed, but he really didn't care about spending his money on other people. Yota did wonder where he'd even gotten clothes for them in such quick notice though.

In response to his new teammate's question, he just nodded.

"R-Right," Karin mumbled, shuffling nervously until she was sitting to the side of the table. He wasn't too surprised about that. She looked like she might have a panic attack if Kazuhiro or Yota himself did something particularly startling. He really hoped she wouldn't though.

He tried not to stare at her to make things worse, at least, but she clearly didn't share the same courtesy. He saw her looking rather intently at his collar and his hands- 'Oh, the band aids,' he realized after a moment. Well, she could ask, if she wanted to know.

Not that he'd answer, but she could ask.

"No wounds," Yota heard her mumble, probably not even really intending to be heard. He did hear here though, so he turned towards her and tilted his head. "S-Sorry!" she squeaked then, jumping her she sat and stiffening. When he just blinked at her, she seemed to relax a little. "I just… I thought there were wounds under the band aids," she said softly.

Yota shook his head.

"Yeah, I can see that," she continued. "But then why… That's none of my business, is it?"

Raising an amused eyebrow at her, he shook his head again.

"Right, sorry…" she mumbled, looking back at the house and then at him again. "This is… I'm not the only one that thinks this is a bit much, am I?" she asked, as if afraid that he'd disagree with her and that would somehow end with someone dying or something. The girl was really nervous. Entirely too nervous, really.

He shook his head, because really… What the fuck was up with Kazuhiro? He got that the guy was probably raised very high society and all, but… Showering right there after a spar in the middle of a team meeting? If he'd called it a day, it'd have been fine, but no, he wanted them to shower at his place to keep going after and…

"Oh, good. I… I think this is the best set of clothes I've ever used," Karin commented, laughing nervously and poking at her yukata like she was afraid to tear it apart with just that.

"... Same," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. His teacher had always had to remind him that he needed to talk at times. Especially with people that weren't used to him. Even if it was one word responses at times, it'd help…

Or so she said.

He found that to be a bother and a pain, literally at times, but it was what it was.

"... You two are really strong," she said after a moment, and he blinked. Yeah, they were. He wasn't sure where that had come from or what it had to do with anything… Then again- "And I'm not," she added, and then it made sense. She must have been worrying about that even before.

He just turned to look at her. She wasn't looking at him. Instead, her eyes were locked on her lap as she fidgeted with her hands. She was uncertain of something, but of what? Of her place in the team? That seemed to be clear already. Of her own skill? Probably, but that didn't seem to fit too well. She had her own areas. Her sensing was great and her bloodline was useful.

"I don't know if I can do what the village wants me to," she said then, making him tilt his head curiously. "I can heal you, but if you are in trouble… Then what could I possibly do?"

Well, that was a complex question.

Yota hated complex questions.

They required complex answers.

So, he brought his hand up to his medicine filters and twisted one. After it clicked, he took a deep breath in. 'This better be worth it, because I swear to God…' he thought, feeling the numbing effect together with the rest of the medicine.

"We can deal with trouble," he said, feeling his lungs constricting inside his chest, just a little bit at a time with each word. "You help before and after the trouble," he added before making the filter still in his hand click again. That'd do and he didn't even start coughing.

Nice.

"Right, I guess I'm overthinking it," Karin mumbled, to which he nodded. She obviously was, but he didn't know her well enough to know why she was so nervous. Really, not to sound overconfident, but he rather doubted there'd be anyone at the Exams that could be a threat to both Kazuhiro and him.

'Then again, teamwork might be a problem,' he mused. Maybe they could work on that. If not, they'd just have to hope that individual strength would be enough to carry them. That was slightly more troublesome, he supposed. The Great Five were no jokes, he knew, but maybe they could manage that too.

"I just… I want this team to work. My last one was…" she commented, looking like she might not even really be talking to him. "... Not good."

He nodded, as if he understood when he didn't, not really.

"Do you think this team is good?" she asked then, but he was pretty sure the actual question was 'Do you think I'm good?'. The answer to that was complex, but sometimes complex questions could be answered simply. He could only wish that were the case more often. This was one such instance though and he was grateful for that.

He nodded.

Karin responded to that with a hesitant smile and Yota patted himself in the back.

And his sensei said he was hopeless in social settings. He wished she could see him right now… On second thought, maybe not. She'd likely take the opportunity to tease him and he'd rather not deal with that. 'Thank God for small mercies.'

"Kazuhiro is… intense," she said then and he nodded his agreement. That was one way to put it, at least. "He scares me. I wish I didn't have to talk to him… at least as much," she added, making him smile behind his mask. "Lucky you, huh?"

And just like that, his smile was gone.

He turned to stare – glare, more like – at her for a long moment. A long moment that was what it took Karin to realize that maybe she'd fucked up. Her eyes widened then and she paled, gulping.

"I-I didn't mean- What I was trying to say is…? I," she stammered then, but he just kept his silence and his stare. "I'm sorry."

With a deep breath in, he nodded tersely. It was fine. She was nervous and on edge. He knew that. It was fine… He was still allowed to be annoyed though.

'Lucky me,' he thought bitterly to himself.

They both remained silent after that. Yota would call it awkward still, but he'd rather that than having more of Karin putting her foot in her mouth. It wasn't long before the sliding door of the room opened anyway.

Then in came the clan heir himself wearing a new yukata that somehow looked even more pompous than the one he was wearing before. Two older women that he could only suspect were either maids or assistants bowed to him and them at the door, before giving Kazuhiro a small pile of papers and closing the door behind them, leaving them all three as the only occupants of the room.

"Now that we have gauged each other's general skill level and we don't reek of sweat and dirt, we can continue our talks," he said as he sat at one end of the low table. His posture was straight and looked very proper and refined. Yota almost felt like looking more haggard for the contrast. "First of all, you…" he said, gesturing towards Yota, before… staying silent for a few moments? "...I will admit that your skills at combat are…adequate. I certainly can see why you were chosen for this mission."

Yota smiled behind his mask. He was pretty sure that was as close as Kazuhiro would get to a compliment. It was honestly more funny than it was annoying. He didn't need the heir to tell him he was good anyway.

"That said, I have to say that your stamina leaves too much to be desired." It seemed the man couldn't just leave it at the praise, Yota thought, his smile turning wry. Then again, he wasn't wrong. He was well aware of that flaw of his. "I understand that this is due to your… unfortunate lung condition. Are you positive that it can't be treated? I can have the most renowned doctors in Kusagakure examine you. If the problem for this is financial, then rest assured that I am not afraid to cover the fee," Kazuhiro inquired with a raised eyebrow in his direction.

Ok, now he was a little annoyed.

"I'm positive," he replied out loud, holding back a glare. He wished money could solve his problems. As it was, nothing short of getting Tsunade of the Sannin would even stand a chance. And even then it wasn't a guarantee.

"I see," Kazuhiro said, not shying away from his gaze. "A pity then, but I guess we will continue with the mission regardless," he continued mumbling to himself. "As for you," he directed his gaze towards Karin, who shrunk back a bit. "If it was in my power to do so right now, I would either send you back to the academy or take your headband right here and now and force you to retire," he said with a frown. He looked almost as angry as he did when he fought their new sensei.

'Gee, tell us how you really feel, man,' Yota thought to himself. Not that he could blame the guy, but that was a little too harsh, probably. They didn't even need a third teammate between the two of them anyway. They could have had a toad and it'd have been fine.

"I-"

"You are beyond weak in a fight. I have seen toddlers with better stealth than you, and you continued to make mistakes that should this have been a live scenario against a proper enemy, would have gotten us all killed." Karin looked to be on the brink of tears at that. Her lips wobbled, and she sniffed slightly as she clutched her hands on her lap.

'Ok, this is going from bad to worse…' Yota thought to himself, looking between both of his teammates. His posture tensed slightly as he prepared to interrupt with something that would at least attempt to salvage the situation. Because Kazuhiro wasn't wrong, but tearing apart their teammate wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Or perhaps you thought your skills were enough. Did you think that you could coast on your sensor abilities and that bloodline of yours alone?" Kazuhiro's tone had become positively stoney as he stared at their red teammate, who flinched as if struck. "Did you think that they would have been enou-?"

"NO!" Karin exclaimed, making Yota pause and Kazuhiro's mouth click shut. Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Her teeth bared in anger and her hand clutched the table so tightly Yota was sure he could hear it crack a little- "I'm not-" she whispered, shaking where she sat as the wind behind her sails seemed to be taken away. "I'm not like that," she muttered, looking down and glaring at the table.

"..." Kazuhiro remained quiet for once. The judgment and annoyance in his expression diminished a little as he stared with his piercing yellow eyes at their redheaded teammate. His previously stone-like expression relaxing, if still not showing a hint of emotion before opening his mouth. "I see…" was all he said.

"I think-," Yota said, his voice even and eyes locked on Kazuhiro. He wasn't glaring, but he didn't think he needed to. "-that we should see about making…" he trailed off then, grimacing before he clicked the medicine filter of his mask and took a deep breath in. "... this team work," he finished then.

He wanted to continue, but he needed to take a moment. He'd battled not so long ago in the spars to show what they could do and he was still kind of catching up. He really would rather not have this talk, but that didn't seem likely to happen. As it was, this whole reunion had been just a mess so far…

Kazuhiro nodded in his direction, agreeing with his opinion, before turning to Karin. He didn't seem angry like before, but it was more than clear that he still didn't approve of their redhead teammate.

"I still don't approve of you," he said, confirming Yota's thoughts. "I don't think you are someone that should be in this team."

Yota sighed. Honestly, he was so done with the two of them already that he'd take that.

"-But… I made a promise that I- We would succeed, that we would show the Elemental Nations the glory of Kusagakure," he said, a hint of steel that Yota recognized as determination in his voice, before he directed his gaze to both of them. "I refuse to fail that mission."

There was a moment of silence then. Every one of them was unsure on how to proceed when their first team meeting had gone… Well, Yota certainly wouldn't call it good, that was for sure. However, that didn't matter because this wasn't about them. Kazuhiro took a moment to study both of them before continuing.

"Our relations started on the wrong foot, but that is alright. Whether we like each other or not is irrelevant. After we complete this mission, we can never meet each other again and continue with our lives as they were. But until then, we shall train, act, and work as a team. We will grow from our mistakes and cover each other's weaknesses," he said, a hint of anger there, but mostly just determination. Yota could very well agree with that.

He had a feeling Karin wouldn't enjoy what it entailed though.

"I-I am not strong or skilled… but I want to make this work. I-I know that I am not good enough. But…" Karin trailed off as she floor, her eyes red and puffy, but there was something else there too. Her eyes moved up and straight into the clan heir's ones for the first time since her outburst. Defiant red met scrutinizing yellow, which was already surprising, at least for Yota. "But I will show you that I can change that. That I am not what you think I am."

"We can make it work," Yota said, turning his canister once more. He didn't remember the last time he had talked this much. His throat felt dry and his lungs burned fiercely, it took all his concentration to keep his coughs and heaves under control. He felt it was necessary to say something at this moment, however. They were all trying, so pushing things a little seemed like the better call.

The team had just met and they already seemed a breath away from falling apart, after all. He had a feeling that if he left things alone for Karin and Kazuhiro to deal with, they'd kill each other. Or the latter would kill the former, most likely.

He couldn't have that. They had a mission. He had a mission.

"And so we will," Kazuhiro nodded seriously before he rose from his seat and distributed copies of the papers he had brought with him when he entered. Yota had honestly forgotten about them after everything that happened. "Here is some information about some of the confirmed participants of the exams. The information is far from complete, but is all that I could get in such a short notice."

Yota scanned some of the papers and started reading through them. One in particular depicted a redhead with a gourd on his back. Apparently, the youngest son of the current Kazekage, and if his mission records were anything to go by, a true monster in the making. 'Maybe I was a little too confident before…' he thought, narrowing his eyes. That one alone looked like he could give him or Kazuhiro trouble, depending on how accurate the report was.

He pursed his lips behind his mask.

"Peruse them as you wish when you get home and at your own pace. We will dedicate a part of our time tomorrow discussing possible tactics against them," the clan looked at the clock at the end of the room, making Yota do the same and realize that it was later than he expected. "We are already past schedule, and I have other matters to attend to. Feel free to use the clan compound until you decide to return home."

The heir said as he walked towards the door and the two maids from before opened them for him from the outside. Were his maids sensors or had they just been pressing their ears to the door, waiting? Both sounded kind of crazy, but then again, this was one of the four clans' heir so… Nothing was really impossible, he supposed.

"As for you," Kazuhiro said as he turned towards Karin at the edge of the sliding door. The girl startled slightly and almost threw all the papers she had been skimming through from her. "...I expect you to prove me wrong," was all he said before the doors closed behind him.

It wasn't long before Yota found himself walking under the starry sky illuminated by the moon. The plains of tall grass rustled and swayed at the tune of the unseen wind of the night. The lights of the center of the village were already far behind him as he made his way home.

He pondered over this new team as he did. He thought about their start and how there was… room for improvement indeed, a lot of room for improvement. He wondered if they would truly make it through the whole mission without killing each other. It took time to make people work together correctly, months of knowing and understanding each other. And the three of them… Well, they had less than two weeks and he was sure each of them had thought of killing the other two at least once already.

Maybe that was a bit extreme though. Karin had been… twitchy and had made some unfortunate… decisions all around, but she wasn't terrible. He could live with having her as a teammate. Kazuhiro wasn't wrong that she left a lot to be desired, but she wasn't a bad teammate.

Then again, she was a non-factor at best and a liability at worst. 'Me and my soft spot for beaten dogs,' he thought to himself, shaking his head. The team had been formed like it had been formed, in the end. Kazuhiro as a clan heir might be able to get Karin kicked out, but Yota? Yota would do what he was told and go through the mission. They had said that Karin was their teammate, so she was. If they had to carry her through the Exam, then that's what they would do.

Speaking of Kazuhiro, he was… Jury was still out on that one, as far as Yota was concerned. The heir looked spoiled and arrogant, but he seemed to be taking the mission very seriously and he could respect that. He would have to build a better opinion of them with some time, he supposed.

Ultimately, it didn't matter.

They had to make it work, and that was that.

Stopping his trek for a moment, he evened his breathing and then reached up to his mask to take it off for a second. The pure air of the land he called home was a wonder to behold, truly. It was just a shame that he couldn't enjoy it as thoroughly as he would have liked. His lungs burned slightly, but at that particular moment he didn't care, he needed it. He needed the help of nature's air to clear his mind.

He would make it work. Just like Kazuhiro stated just that morning, "even if I have to drag you two along". Yota would do it for himself. He would do it for the land that had given him so much. He would do it for his sensei who had given him a second chance at life when he'd been less than a nobody.

No matter what happened, or who they might face, Yota would complete this mission.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Well, the team is off to a great start! You can just feel the love, can't you?

Arc: Things, admittedly heated up for a second there… Yota, any opinions you can give us about the whole thing?

Yota: stares

Adrian: Exactly! Don't know what you're talking about, Arc. They are doing great already. Truly, Konoha nin should take notes on teamwork from these three.

Yota: sighs

Arc: I… don't think you are very happy about the whole thing….

Adrian: What do you mean? You tell him, Yota.

Yota: … I hate you both…

Adrian: On that delightful note, we hope you enjoyed the chapter, having some of Yota's perspective and the story so far if you've just started it. We'd appreciate a comment with your opinions and such. That really helps with motivation and to know what stories are more well liked.

Yota: …Favorite and Follow for more… cough.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ