Chapter Text
Not everything interesting is important — and not everything important looks interesting.
Clink. Clank. Clink.
The clinking of the chopsticks on the plate grabbed the attention of the people seated at the dinner table. Osamu was usually quiet during dinner but tonight he was piercing the roasted makrel a little bit harder with his chopsticks, breaking them into smaller pieces.
His father and mother exchanged questioning looks while his two older brothers did the same before their gaze went back to the youngest member of their family, watching as he pressed deeper into his fish with hidden irritation.
His mother cleared her throat before speaking. "Um, is there something wrong, 'Samu?" The young boy looked up from his innocent roasted fish and he shrugged.
"Everything's fine." The young genin grumpled as he shuffled rice into his mouth.
"Osamu, you sure?" His father asked, voice treading lightly.
"Yep." Osamu swallowed his rice.
The four exchanged looks between each other as Osamu stared to nom on a piece of carrot while staring aimlessly into the distance where brother sat. Ryuu, the middle child, had to look back just to make sure there wasn't anything behind him that was making his younger brother look like that.
An unspoken plan to try to lighten atmosphere, their father cleared his throat slightly before turning over to Masaru, the oldest child. "So Masaru, how was the mission? I heard you were in charge of escorting some doctors to the Land of the Sand."
The oldest brother, Masaru was sixteen years old but as a chunin, he was often off to missions outside of the village and even staying for periods of time. The more that he advanced into his shinobi career, the more he valued the time he gets to spend with his family and the mundane. Their parents would often ask him when he returns about the places he visited and things that intereted him on his travels. Of course, he would never disclose anything confidential from the mission, not that his parents cared too much unless it was related to Masaru's safety.
"Yeah, there was some nobleman who had a sick daughter that required some advanced medical attention."
"No doctors in the world can be as talented at the ones we have here," His mother conceded. "Haruno-sensei has certainly made sure of that."
"Was the daughter of the nobleman cute?"
"Ryuu!" His mother smacked his arm lightly.
"What? It's a genuine question." Ryuu chuckled as he rubbed the sore spot his mother left.
Masaru rolled his eyes and picked a piece of radish to munch. "I was busy doing my job to worry about whether there was a cute girl. I'm not too girl crazed as you, Ryuu."
"Nii-chan, you're too mean." Ryuu pouted. "Did you fight anyone on the way?"
"Didn't really have to because it was a simple escort mission but there was some shady people along the way."
"Ah, would've been a good way to praticing your attacking skills and—"
A long drawn out sigh interrupted any further conversation from the other side of the table. Eyes went to the young boy with his chin on his hand as he continued to stare off into the distances.
"Ookay?" Ryuu said, his eyes went back to his older brother who tilted his head, questioning. A silent agreement between the brothers as they knew what to do in this situation.
The family seemingly agreed and continued their dinner as usual.
After dinner, the three brothers were seated in their living area with the TV playing a random game show. Their father sat in his favorite chair on the opposite side of the space near the sliding glass door that led to their balcony.
The Takamoto family were fortunate to get a house in Konoha. Like everyone else in the village, the land was completely decimated after the attack from Pain and the village had to rebuild itself. It left families homeless, having to deal with starting again.
Being that they were a family of five, they were able to get a three story home that fits them perfectly and located in a quiet residential area of the village, a contrast from the booming excitement of the village’s center filled with shops and restaurants.
The three brothers were on their couch, eyes locked on the screen. Osamu was seated in between his two older brothers. The two brothers looked at each other over their youngest’s head, both telling the other to act first.
It was his oldest brother who spoke first. “So…what’s wrong with you today, 'Samu?”
“Me? Nothing.” He grumbled, his response curt.
Ryuu rolled his eyes at this. “Yeah right. You’re just all pissy today for no reason.”
Osamu sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest and leaned back. He figured there was no point in trying to hide things from his family. “Masaru-nii, Ryuu-nii, when you were genin, what did you do?” Osamu asked.
“Oh man, Genin felt like ages ago!” Masaru said, reminiscing on the past.
Ryuu, the second oldest and middle child, snickered. “That’s because it was ages ago!”
“Shut up. I’m only two years older than you,” Masaru scolded and smacked the other boy on the shoulder before giving his attention to his younger brother. “Hm…I mainly did a lot of work around the village as a genin with little missions here and there. When the war happened, I was only five and by the time I was a genin, there weren’t big missions for us to go on. Just some rebuilding and maintaining good relationships with other villages nearby.”
Osamu pouted a bit. “Hm…”
Ryuu leaned back in his seat with his nose up in the air. “When I was a genin though–”
“Which wasn’t that long ago, might I add.” Masaru interrupted.
Ryuu didn’t mind as he continued his thought. “I did a lot of deliveries. Oh, one time I had to guard a princess. That was cool and she was cute.” He wiggled his brows.
“Why do you ask?” Masaru asked Osamu who was starting to tuck himself inwards.
“Because…”
In hindsight, the three should’ve just gone home after a long day of training at Third Training Ground. But they were walking towards the center of the village when their classmates caught them and insisted that they hang out for a little bit before the sun officially sets.
So the students were hanging out at the playground but instead of playing, they were sitting at the benches gossiping and sharing stories.
“Our missions are so cool! We were sent to a small town to protect their leader because there were threats to his life!” One of their classmates bragged. The others gathered around him since he was the most talkative and eager to talk about his experiences so far.
Another student perked up and added. “Oh really? We delivered a very important scroll to Suna the other day.”
“Dang! You guys got to leave the village? Lucky!”
The trio were off to the side while the others were all huddled together. Osamu, not only to entertain small talk, climbed up a strong tree and sat on the large branch. But just because he doesn’t like small talk doesn’t mean he doesn't pay attention.
“What have you three been doing?” A meek girl asked Usagi and Keiji, most likely trying to let them be a part of the conversation.
Despite her attempts, they were not particularly eager to talk about their experiences so far...it wasn’t much.
Usagi was the first to speak. “Uh...things. You know...around the village.” She shrugged.
Her dismissal wasn’t noted as the others were all looking at them. “Like what?”
“Uh...y’know. Stuff.” Keiji rubbed the back of his head and shrugged just like his teammate.
“Psst. I bet you three are still chasing cats and stuff. Lame.” One boy sneered.
“No!” The two kids protested.
The first kid, the one eager to brag about his genin missions, mocked. “Yes! I knew it! Uchiha-san isn’t as cool or scary as what the older kids said. He’s just lazy!”
“Yeah, you three aren’t going to be great shinobi with that kind of teacher.”
For some reason, there was a bubbling deep inside the three’s stomach hearing their classmate mock and disrespect their teacher.
“Hey! You take that back!” Keiji shouted at their fellow genin.
“What? What are you going to do? Fight me?” They prodded.
Before the boy had the chance to pounce on them, Usagi pulled his arm back to stop him. “Keiji, no. I’ll do it.” She started to roll up her sleeves in preparation for her to pounce on them and show them how much their training has taught them.
Despite how much Osamu wanted to see that, he couldn’t let them cause any trouble so he hopped from the tree branch and placed himself between the two sides. “No, Usagi.” He said. “We are better than this. Let’s go.” He started to walk away without even acknowledging the other students who watched as the two followed their teammate but not before making a face at them to let them know their displeasure of seeing them.
“Oh look, they're walking away like cowards. Still babies, haha.”
“I see…” Masaru said after Osamu concluded his anecdote.
The younger boy had his knees up to his chest, hugging them close as a security. Osamu didn’t want to say that his classmates making fun of his team was something that bothered him but there was something gnawing at him on the inside when they started to laugh at them.
Ryuu had his hands behind his head, leaning back into the sofa. “Your teacher is Uchiha-san, right?” Ryuu asked.
“Yeah.”
Ryuu perked up. “That’s cool to have such a strong teacher!”
“If he actually teaches me…” Osamu grumbled.
Masaru thought for a moment, his finger under his chin. “Huh, I figured being Uchiha-san’s student, you’d probably get the most exciting missions.”
“He’s literally the second strongest person in this village!” Ryuu exclaimed. “Y’know, after our Hokage.”
“I am beginning to doubt that…” Osamu grumbled, looking at his feet. “I mean, there were talks about sensei being really tough and I’m happy to have him as my teacher but…all we do is D rank missions. It’s getting repetitive and boring.”
“Oh, ‘Samu,” Masaru cooed and pinched his younger brother’s nose to which he was given an annoyed glare. “We all started like that! But trust me, things will get better and honestly, who would want to go on dangerous missions anyway.”
“I do.”
“No, you are banned from ever risking your life.” Masaru stated matter of factly and Osamu rolled his eyes at his brother’s overprotective nature.
Ryuu laughed. “Lighten up, Masaru-nii. Y’know ‘Samu, I expected things to be a little more interesting with Sasuke-san as your teacher too.” Ryuu wrapped an arm around Osamu’s shoulders. “You should’ve heard the rumors about him when I was your age.”
“What rumors?”
Before Masaru and Ryuu exchange the stories about the last Uchiha, a loud cough from the kitchen interrupted their would-be gossip time. The two looked over to see their mother standing by the entrance opening between the kitchen and living room, her eyes sharpened at them, throwing daggers and daring them to even consider speaking about that. Their eyes glanced over to the corner of the room where they can see their father looking at them over his newspaper returning back to reading.
Ryuu coughed awkwardly and bent down so his mouth was close to Osamu’s ear. “Mom and dad don't really like to talk about rumors here.”
“It’s because it's not our place to tell.” Masaru lightly shoved at his younger brother’s arm. “If you want to know, it is best to ask from the source.”
Osamu leaned back on the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest and a pout present on his lips. What rumors could there possibly be about his teacher?
It had been a month and a half since Sasuke was assigned the three students he found himself stuck with. He had found it easier to tune out their incessant nagging and bickering. But there are a few times a day that it would break through his barrier.
“Can you walk normally?" Usagi shoved Keiji sideways because, for some reason, Keiji would slowly start to sway over to the side and apparently infringing on Usagi’s walking space. "Stay on your side of the walkway.” Keiji was able to balance himself before launching himself to bump into Usagi’s shoulder.
“What? I didn’t know you own the whole street!” Keiji bounced back and knocked his shoulder into hers.
Osamu trailed behind the two, his arms at his sides, and watching the interaction with a tired expression that said he has watched this scene too many times to count.
Sasuke was walking ahead of them, guiding his students towards their destination and clearly not paying any attention what they are doing. Usagi and Keiji were arguing for the second time and it was only two hours since they met that morning.
It was another day where he was asked if they would go on a "real mission" that didn't require the three to help out the adults of the village again. Sasuke, not necessarily ready to bring the three to any mission outside of the village yet, decided today would be a good day to do some training. Being a shinobi wasn’t something innate that would suddenly click during a mission, but a testament to hard work and dedication to honing strengths and covering weaknesses. He wouldn't be the strongest avenger if he just simply let his birthright be the sole reason for that title.
If he was to call it "training" though, he suspects he would get an earful from the children about their teachings at the academy. Now, while it was normal for Sasuke's character to dismiss the annoying ramblings of any person, he was trying to practice a bit more patience to others, especially those considered the future of the village.
Sasuke stopped at the edge of market, the abruptness caused the bickering students to bump into their teacher's behind, though it had no effect on the dark-haired teacher.
Rubbing the sore spot on his nose that smacked into Sasuke's thick back, Keiji shook his fists at Sasuke. "Hey! You can't just stop in the middle of the road, sensei!"
"Have some respect for others, you imbecile." Usagi pulled at Keiji's earlobe, causing the other to yelp in pain.
Osamu lingered behind the two with his hands in his pockets as he looked at the large market in front of them. He observed the flow of villagers passing between them and each other, weaving like water around stone.
The Konha market district unfurled in front of them. A long open-air corridor lined on both sides with stalls and storefronts, busy even at this house. It had been one of the first areas rebuilt after Pain's attack, and it showed: the stalls were newer, the walkway wider and paved smooth, the signage painted in clean colors that still held their brightness. There was a deliberate order to the way it had been reconstructed, an optimism built into the layout, though the village had also kept its habits—the same families running the same shops in the same spots they always had, the new wood already starting to wear in familiar places.
Osamu always thought of the market as an overstimulating area of the village. All his senses were activated against his better judgement. Merchants called out their prices to potential customers, giggling children weaved through legs with sticky hands, and the scent of grilled skewers clung into the air. There was a flow of people entering and exiting the market through the large gate. A mother carrying her child in her arm that held an ice cream cone to allow him to taste the sweet treat, a couple holding hands as they entered the market for their date, and man brushed past them carrying a basket of oranges, bumping shoulders with a distracted traveler before disappearing deeper into the crowd.
Osamu’s eyes followed the rush of people. A slight frown appeared on his face before he returned his attention to his teacher. Sasuke was already looking down at the young shinobi. Osamu immediately averted his gaze back to the bickering teammates.
Sasuke’s gaze shifted once across the moving crowd before returning forward, as if nothing had caught his attention.
Usagi shoved Keiji once more which caused the red-haired boy to chuckle as her annoyed expression. He looked up at his teacher again. "Wait, so what are we here for, sensei?"
"Is there something we need to get at the market?" Usagi asked.
Keiji groaned. "Please don't tell me we have to help someone sell tomatoes. AGAIN."
Sasuke shook his head. "You're not going to do that today."
Keiji perked up. "Do we have a mission today?"
"You wish." Usagi muttered. Keiji shoved her arm.
"You wished too!"
While Keiji was correct about her desires to finally leave the village and go on a real mission, Usagi was not going to admit that the red haired idiot had an inkling of her mind. She would rather crawl up and die than to admit he was right.
"I brought you here for one thing," Sasuke said in his usual monotone. "Observe."
The three exchanged side glances.
Keiji looked at the market behind their sensei. "Um…observe what?"
Sasuke tilted his head to gesture at the interweaving people. "Everything."
The three genin exchanged questioning glances upon hearing their task from their teacher. It was simple enough; to watch their surroundings and observe…everything. What Sasuke failed to mention was exactly what they were supposed to be looking for, much to the irritation of the three.
At first glance, there wasn't anything notable besides the flow of peole walking in and out of the market.
People moved in a loost current through the stalls, drifting between vendors and displays like leaves carried along stream. Their sense were constantly pulled in different directions: the clink of coins against wooden trays as customers paid for their purchases, the faint metallic scent of fresh cut meat linger near the butcher's stall, and the vibrant colors of vegetables that line up along a merchant's display.
There was too much to see, but nothing important.
At least, to them.
Sasuke instructed them to look around for two hours and to come back to him when they figure it out.
The first hour passed with the three slowly walking up and down the long stretch of the marketplace. They greeted a few familiar faces along the way. Usagi, especially, as her grandparents' shop was located within this district.
Keiji was the first to grow restless after their fifth lap around. Usagi walked alongside him with Osamu lingering behind the two.
"This feels so stupid." Keiji groaned.
Usagi rolled her eyes at her teammate. Her eyes then darted around the people that surrounded them, trying to find an cause for alarm. "I'm sure sensei has a good reason for this exercise."
"I'm tired of exercises," he slouched forward. "I want some action!"
"Need I remind you, we literally graduated the academy one month ago."
"So?" The red haired boy replied back. "I'm sure the Hokage didn't do these stupid 'exercises' when he was starting out."
"The Hokage also didn't graduate with the lowest score ever."
Osamu glanced up at the rooftops for a brief second, catching a glimpse of black hair. "You do realize sensei can probably hear you, right?"
Keiji frozed in his tracks. "…He can't."
"How can he not with your loud mouth, idiot." The girl crossed her arms over her chest with her eyes narrowing at Keiji.
Keiji waved off her comments and pressed his fingers on his temples as he scans the area they stopped at. Usagi raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Why do you look stupid?"
"I'm thinking."
Usagi snorted. "You never think."
"I do!"
Keiji pointed suddenly which caused Usagi to make a face. "That guy look suspicious."
Usagi followed his finger before it landed it on the object of his finger. She looked him with annoyance. "That's just an old man."
The elderly man with shaking legs struggling to lift a sack of rice onto a small cart.
"He could be pretending. He coud be suspicious!"
"He's eighty."
Keiji squinted at the man, clearly unconvinced at his innocence.
"He's also been there the entire time." Osamu said from behind.
Both of them turned to face the quiet boy.
Osamu stood there with his hands tucked into his sleeves, daze drifting lazily across the marketplace. Despite this, his eyes were sharp, categorizing the faces and movements.
"See." Usagi turned back to Keiji. "That means he isn't suspicious. Now let's move on."
"Not necessarily," Osamu replied calmly. "But if he was, he'd be very bad at it."
Keiji frowned and rubbed his hair in frustration. "So…he's not suspicious?"
Osamu shrugged. "If we arrest the first tired old man we see, sensei will probably make us run another ten laps."
Keiji clicked his tongue and looked around once again.
The street bustled with the late morning rush. Vendors shouted prices, children ran between stalls, a pair of shinobi walked past. Keiji scanned with an exaggerated intensity.
"There!" He whispered loudly.
Usagi sighed and once again trailed where his fingers pointed to. "What now?"
"The fruit vendor."
"The fruit vendor?"
"He's watching us." Keiji placed his hand on the side of his face to obsecure the view.
Osamu glanced over. The fruit vendor was watching them. But the reason was most likely due to the suspiciousness of them standing on the side watching others with eagle eyes. With the addiiton of how little discretion they had.
"He's watchign us because you're acting like a weirdo." Usagi muttered, nudging Keiji to drop the hand.
The vendor turned away.
"You guys just don't have the instincts I do." He folded his arms.
Osamu tilted his head slightly at his teammate. "Your instinct is telling you that every civilian is secretly a criminal."
Keiji nodded and tilted his nose up in the air with a level of arrogance that Usagi would gladly smack out of him. "Exactly."
She rubbed her temples, fearing the headache that is coming through.
"We are never getting a real mission."
From the rooftop above, Sasuke spent the better part of the past hour watching.
The loud one pointed at the past seven people. None of them were threats and one was a dog.
The girl was more careful and methodical but looking for the wrong things. Her eyes moved to the unusual, the out of place, the person who looked like they didn't belong.
The quiet one was different, Sasuke as noticed. He didn't stare but let his gaze skim over. He was absorbing. At least one of them was paying attention.
The other two would get themselves killed.
Their two hours were up and with no progress, the three made their way over to the quiet alley their sensei told them to regroup.
Keiji stretched his arms over his head. "Finally," he muttered. "That was a waste of time."
Usagi shot him a look but didn't respond.
Osamu spotted him first. "He's there."
Sasuke leaned against the wooden railing of a small balcony overlooking the street, arms crossed. His dark eyes flicked toward them as they approached. "Report."
Keiji stepped forward immediately. "We checked the whole block. Nothing suspicious."
Usagi fidgeted with her fingers as she added, "Just normal civilian activity. A fruit vendor, an elderly man loading rice, a few traveling shinobi."
Osamu hesitated a second before speaking. "No obvious threats."
Sasuke studied them in silence. Under his scrutiny, the three were starting to question if they messed up and needed to prepare for another ten laps. Then he asked calmly, "And?"
The three of them blinked.
"And... what?" Keiji said.
Sasuke straightened slightly. "You walked the street six times."
"Five," Keiji corrected.
"Six," Usagi muttered.
Sasuke ignored them.
"And you found nothing."
"That's what we said," Keiji replied.
A long pause followed.
Then Sasuke said quietly, "Come with me." Sasuke stepped past them and moved towards the street, cutting through the patrons.
Sasuke stopped near a spice stall where a merchant was deep in an argument with a customer, hands flailing around as he gestured broadly over the price of a dried pepper. Behind him, unnoticed, a thin boy, mayube around eight, in a frayed jacket eased one hand towards the pouch that hung loose from the merchant's belt.
Keiji's eyes widen as the boy's fingers closed around the pouch and with a quick pull, it snaped from the merchant's belt.
"Hey—!"
The boy bolted. He made it three steps before Sasuke appeared in front of him.
The boy crashed directly into him and almost bounced hard onto the ground. Before he could scramble up, Sasuke couched, plucking the coin purse from his hand with two fingers, and stood.
Silence fell over the street.
The merchant blinked in confusion as Sasuke tossed the purse back to him.
"Be more careful."
The man stammered out a thank you as Sasuke released the thief and shoved him lightly toward a waiting patrol shinobi further down the street, exchanging a brief nod with the officer.
Then he turned back. His students still staring in disbelief in the sequence of events that occurred before them.
"...That kid wasn't there before." Keiji said.
"He was," Sasuke replied.
Usagi's brows furrowed. "I didn't see him."
"You weren't looking."
Keiji crossed his arms, defensive. "He was a kid."
Sasuke's gaze sharpened slightly. "And?"
None of them answered.
"You were looking for someone who looked suspicious." He explained.
His eyes briefly flicked toward Keiji.
"You pointed at an old man."
Usagi coughed.
Sasuke went on.
"The boy wasn't nervous. He wasn't hiding. He wasn't drawing attention." Sasuke looked out at the street. "He was waiting for someone distracted enough not to notice him. That's not suspicion. That's patience."
Osamu's brow furrowed. "He was watching for patterns," he said slowly. "He knew when to move."
Sasuke nodded once.
"Shinobi who only watch for enemies will miss half of what happens around them." His gaze moved across the busy street. "Observation isn't about suspicion. It's about patterns. Rhythms. What belongs, and what's only pretending to."
Keiji scratched the back of his head.
"...So we failed?"
Sasuke was quiet for a moment. Then he turned and started back toward the main road.
"You noticed civilians." A pause. "That's a start."
The three students trailed behind Sasuke as they walk towards the exit of the market district.
"Ah, Uchiha-san." A merchant in front of the small shop selling vegetables and fruits. His tone was warm, family. "Rare seeing you in the markets today. The usual delivery tonight, right?"
"Yes."
"I'll have to set it aside. Also, got a new pack of tomato seeds so I'll make sure to include that. Gotta have a healthy meal when the new addition arrives!"
"Of course." Sasuke nodded once and turned away before the merchant could say anything else.
Usagi blinked. "'Delivery'?"
He didn't answer. His students exchanged glances behind his back — Keiji mouthing delivery? at Usagi, who shrugged.
That night, the Takamoto dinner table was back to its usual rhythm. Their father read the evening paper. Their mother asked Masaru about a return trip he had coming up. Ryuu was explaining, at length and with great enthusiasm, a technique he'd been refining, and no one had managed to stop him yet.
Osamu was quiet, but differently than the night before. Not turned inward. Just still.
It was Masaru who noticed first. "Training today?"
"Mm." Osamu picked up a piece of carrot. "We stopped a thief."
The table went quiet.
Ryuu stopped mid-sentence. Masaru set down his chopsticks. Their parents exchanged a look that wasn't quite surprise, more like the slow recognition that something had shifted without them noticing exactly when.
"...Yeah?" Ryuu said, carefully.
"In the market." Osamu chewed his carrot. "Sensei caught him. But I saw him first."
Nobody said anything for a moment.
Then Masaru reached over and ruffled his hair, not the teasing pinch from last night, something more deliberate than that. Osamu batted his hand away, but he didn't move far enough to actually escape it.
Dinner continued. The game show came on. Ryuu went back to explaining his technique.
But later, when Osamu was lying in the dark staring at the ceiling, he kept coming back to it.
You saw him. You just didn't trust what you saw.
He turned onto his side.
He'd pay attention differently tomorrow.