Archive of Our Own

The day started like any other, so of course Kai woke up to a face full of dog slobber, unable to breathe. It was Bull, all one-hundred pounds of him crushing Kai’s chest. Just when Kai thought they were going to perish, pair of hands guided Bull off the bed, allowing their lungs to expand.

“Gross!”

Their father laughed. “He’s just worried about you.” Kakashi said, mask absent. He brushed Kai’s spit covered hair from their face. “Today is a pretty big day, huh?”

“I’ll be fine ,” Kai groused. They wiggled away from Kakashi’s touch and glared at Bull, who stood graying and resolute at Kakashi’s side.

Kakashi wasn’t cowed by Kai’s irritation either. “Come on, get up,” he ordered, and poked their forehead. “Papa made enough breakfast to feed the entire village.”

“Ugh.” Kai pulled their blanket back over their head to block out Kakashi as well as Gai’s awful singing, which echoed from the kitchen along with the smell of bacon. “Five more minutes!”

Kakashi bounced onto the mattress, tackling Kai in a hug. “Nope, sorry!”

The playful tussling became an all-out brawl once Bull entered the fray. “Dad!” Kai protested to no avail as Kakashi overpowered them, Bull panting happily at their feet.

Pressed against Kakashi’s chest, Kai peeked out from under their blanket with a scrunched frown.

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi used the only leverage he had. “If you eat fast enough, you might be able to sneak off before Papa demands that he walk you down to the gates himself.”

“No way! That’d be so embarassing!”

Kai jumped up, incensed. Their socked feet slid on top of the tangled bed sheets - Kakashi braced their leg with a steady hand. “Let him have his moment,” he said, “and I’ll distract him.” He pushed Kai, encouraging them to hop down, which they did, then stood and moved to the door with Bull. “Hurry up and get dressed.”

Kakashi shut the door behind him. Alone at last, Kai donned their short-sleeved, short-legged jumpsuit and orange arm warmers in a speedy whirl, but slowed to a stop in front of their mirror to tie their hitai-ate around their waist with great care; it’d been passed down from their papa, who wore it when he was a genin himself. Then they slung their characteristic green scarf over their neck to cover the lower half of their face once they left the house. Nothing could be done about their shaggy mop of silver hair, though Kai raked a hand through the worst tangles. They finished by donning their tanto sword at the small of their back.

By the time they reached the kitchen all the loud singing and bacon-sizzling had stopped. Suspicious, Kai halted at the doorway and scanned the room.

Kakashi waved from the table, coffee mug in hand and Pakkun in his lap. Bull and the rest of the aging ninken sat drooling for bacon at the kitchen stove - but Gai was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Papa?” Kai asked.

“Oh?” Kakashi looked around. “I don’t know. He was just here…”

“Dad,” Kai groaned.

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!!”

Kai yelped and spun around, right into Gai’s full throttle charge down the hall. Gai’s massive arms wrapped around their tiny frame in a hug rivaling Bull’s inadvertent suffocation, against which Kai ineffectually struggled. “Let me go!”

“Never!” Gai yelled. “Today is the proudest day of my life! My little Kai, about to go on your first real mission!”

“Dad, save me,” Kai beseeched.

Kakashi shrugged. “Eh.”

Kai changed tactics. “Papa, please, I’m dying - oof !”

Gai abruptly tossed Kai over his shoulder, wheeled them to the table, and plopped them in the chair next to Kakashi’s. “Sit tight, my dear child!” He set the table with inhuman speed.

In mere seconds a spread fit for a daimyo laid before Kai. “Thanks,” they deadpanned.

Kakashi snorted. “Gai, if they eat all this, they won’t even be able to walk.” He grabbed a large helping of eggs and winked at Kai.

“Well, excuse me for ensuring they’re as prepared as possible!” Gai paused in piling a huge stack of pancakes on Kai’s plate to frown at his husband, and then at Kai, who couldn’t help giggling. “What?! What is it?”

“I think that’s enough pancakes,” Kai said - Gai had given them six already and was on his way to a seventh.

“Have some eggs then!”

“Oh, whoops.” Kakashi shoveled the last of the eggs into his bulging mouth. “Sorry,” he apologized mid-chew.

“Agh!” Gai reached across the table. “Bacon! Wait - where’s the bacon?”

“The dogs stole it,” Kai informed. Pakkun grinned from the floor alongside his compatriots, bits of meat clinging to their jowls.

“My bad,” the ninken burped.

“For the love of…” Gai dropped his head into his hands. “Why will none of you ever let me do anything nice around here?”

Kakashi audibly swallowed. “It’s funny,” he said, flecks of eggs stuck on the corners of his lips.

“Yeah,” Kai agreed, “it’s funny.” They poked Gai’s hand.

Gai parted his fingers to glare at them. “Do not speak to me.”

“Aw, Papa, no big speech?” Kai pouted. “I could really use some motivation...”

“Don’t die, stay with your team, and listen to Sakura,” Kakashi offered. He took a sip of coffee. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Most certainly not,” Gai argued. He let go of his own face to cup Kai’s cheeks and leveled them with a serious gaze, large brows comically furrowed. Kai understood this was a Serious Father-Child Moment and withheld any sarcasm.

“You are a Shinobi of the Leaf,” Gai began, “a representative of Konoha and its newest source of pride and power. You must fulfill this responsibility with utmost honor and professionality.” He sniffed loudly, eyes beginning to water. “You are at the cusp of your Youth! This is a new beginning! From today onward, you will be able to determine your own destiny! Oh, look at you,” he murmured, beginning to cry in earnest, “you’re so big .”

Kakashi sighed, lowered his coffee, and came around to stand beside Gai, who gathered Kai gathered in another monstrous embrace. Kakashi carded his fingers through their hair, trying to smooth it down as Gai cried into the crown of their head.

Kai allowed the indulgence for a few seconds longer, then forcefully disengaged from Gai’s hold. “I’ll be fine,” they promised. “I’m your kid, aren’t I?”

“You sure are,” Kakashi said, offering Gai a napkin to blow his nose. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, though.”

But Kai knew it was. It put them leagues above their peers. “I’ll be fine,” they repeated, mostly for Gai’s benefit. “I’ve got the Gates.”

Instead of reassuring him like Kai thought it would, Gai looked stricken. His tears immediately subsided, and his countenance firmed. “Kai, never speak lightly about the Gates. They are only a last resort when you have no other options.”

“I know that,” Kai quickly amended, not wanting to appear obtuse. “It’s just - If anything bad happens, I can use them.”

Kakashi sent Gai a wary look. “I told you they were too young.”

Kai scowled. “I’m not, I swear!” They were the youngest genin of their generation! They weren’t too young for anything!

“I wouldn’t have taught you if I didn’t think you were ready,” Gai said. He gripped Kai’s shoulders, inspiring Kai to silent attention. This was the Ultimate Serious Father-Child Moment. “But I need you to understand that you can only use the Gates to protect the ones you love. The Gates are not a method of attack, but rather a method of defense. Do you understand?”

Kai remembered all the times they overheard Gai and Kakashi discuss the cost Gates when neither of them thought they were listening. Discussions of sacrifice, mortality, and miracles might’ve gone over the head of any other five (and a half) year old, but Kai was a prodigy for a reason.

They nodded once. “Yes, I understand, Papa.”

Gai held their gaze for a long moment - then relinquished them and leaned back in his wheelchair. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Kai parrotted. The moment had ended. They finished eating, then looked between their fathers. “Can I go now?”

“Oh, my!” Gai checked his watch. “What time is it?!”

“Why don’t you grab the camera?” Kakashi asked. “So we can take incriminating pictures of Kai and their team to embarrass them when they’re older.”

Caught up in his own excitement, Gai had only heard the first part of Kakashi’s suggestion. “That’s a great idea - I’ll be right back!”

Kakashi steered Kai to the front door as Gai sped down the hall. “We’ve got five seconds,” he said, and dropped to his knees in front of Kai. “Don’t die. Stay with your team. Listen to Sakura. And…” His eyes sharpened. “What else?”

Knowing what was prompted of them, Kai straightened. “Those who break the rules are trash,” they recited, “but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.”

“That’s right.” Kakashi handed them their pack which sat beside the door, having been prepared the night before. “Remember that, no matter what.”

Gai called for them from the other room, so Kakashi ushered Kai outside.

“We love you,” he said, turning wistful despite feigning otherwise.

Kai wrapped their scarf around their face. “I love you too,” they replied - and set off for the village gates.

/

Unlike Kai, Mirai didn’t need any bullying to get out of bed. She arose early all on her own, got dressed in a black sleeveless shirt, red pants, and a waist wrap similar to her mother’s old dress, then catalogued each of her weapons, double-checked her supplies, and reviewed the mission’s parameters - all before dawn.

Intending to wake her up at a reasonable time, Kurenai didn’t seem surprised to see Mirai already awake, or her show of tactful time management. She leaned against the open door, arms crossed, and watched Mirai tie her hitai-ate around her forehead with a fond smile.

Mirai jolted when she caught a glimpse of her mother in the mirror reflection. “Mom!”

Kurenai chuckled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well, you did.” Mirai adjusted the pouch on her thigh for the upteenth time, then spun around. “How do I look?”

“Like a formidable kunoichi,” Kurenai said.

Mirai beamed. “Thanks.” She shouldered her pack. “I should go, I want to get there a little early - “

Kurenai barred her exit with a hand on her arm. “Wait a second.”

“Huh?” Mirai stilled and looked up at her mother with confusion. “What is it?”

“Just…” Kurenai’s hand moved up from Mirai’s shoulder to her chin. “Let me get a good look at you, before you head off.”

Mirai blushed. “I look the same as always…”

Kurenai investigated her gaze. “No, there’s something different. You’re determined. I can see it in your eyes.”

“I’d hope so.” Mirai expertly ducked out from Kurenai’s touch and put her hands on her hips. “This is my first official mission, you know!”

A low voice, turned gravelly from years of habitual smoking finally given up when Mirai was born, came from the hallway. “Relax, kiddo; it’s only a C-rank, isn’t it?”

Mirai turned. “Dad!”

Asuma stepped into the room, flipping a toothpick between his teeth - he’d been chewing on stuff ever since Mirai could remember, to quench his oral fixation - and ruffled her hair. “Morning.”

“ Dad ,” Mirai repeated, now with indignation as she fixed her hair. “Cut it out!”

“Stop being so serious,” he reprimanded. “You’re worse than your mother.”

Kurenai lifted a brow. “What’s the supposed to mean?”

“Yeah!” Mirai peered up at him. “What’s the supposed to mean, Dad?”

“Nothing, nothing! I’m just kidding.” When neither of their glares abated, Asuma lifted his hands. “Honestly…”

Kurenai elbowed his side. “Sure, whatever.” She sat down on Mirai’s bed to watch their exchange. “Didn’t you have something to give to Mirai…?”

“Ah, yes…” Asuma patted the sides of his pajama robes. “Now, where did I put it?”

“Put what?” Mirai asked, tugging his sleeves. “What are you talking about?”

Asuma planted his palm on her forehead to hold her back. With his other hand he flourished a bundle wrapped in embroidered silk. “Aha!”

Mirai glanced at her mother. “Go on,” Kurenai encouraged.

The silk felt smooth and luxurious in Mirai’s palms, but the real treasure laid underneath - flat and cold, even through the cloth. “Is this what I think it is?”

Asuma shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

Mirai sat down on the floor. Slowly, carefully, she untied the knot in the silk. The fabric fell away to reveal two handheld blades. Sharp as the day they were made, they glinted in the sunlight drifting over Mirai’s shoulder.

She gently wove her hand through the knuckle inserts in one of the blades. They were made for a grown shinobi, so the fit was a little awkward and the heft cumbersome, but if she tightened her fist the discomfort was negligible.

She held the blade up to the light, mesmerized at how the teeth above her knuckles shined, at the graceful arc of the blade’s tapered end.

“Fire ‘em up,” Asuma said, his expression soft and unreadable.

Kurenai, too, watched Mirai sentimentally. “You can do it.”

Theoretically, Mirai knew she could do it. She graduated at the top of her class, and had a better understanding of chakra semantics than even Kai Hatake-Matio. Still, she hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Asuma squatted down in front of her. “Of course I am. What makes you ask that?”

“What if you want them back?” she asked. Inheriting her mother’s genjutsu techniques was one thing; nothing had been taken from Kurenai, only transferred. But this was different. This was bigger. This was an heirloom, her father’s weapon of choice - something to be cherished and respected. He was giving her his legacy in combat. “I’m just a genin , Dad. And the mission’s a C-rank, like you said. What if I’m not ready?”

“Mirai…” Asuma took her free hand in his own. “You’re the smartest graduate of your class. You’re my kid . How could you not be ready?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to let you down. What if...what if I fail the mission?”

“You could never let us down,” Kurenai promised. “We’ll always be here for you. Even if you fail, it doesn’t matter.”

Mirai’s grip on the blade tightened; the metal painfully dug into her skin. “It matters to the village. It matters to Sakura-sensei, and my team. It matters to me .”

Asuma shared a glance with Kurenai, toothpick flicking between his lips, then inhaled deeply and met Mirai’s nervous gaze. “That’s why I’m giving these to you,” he explained. “These blades have helped me out of countless sticky situations. They can save the mission - they can save your life , and the lives of your teammates. Also, you’re pretty cool. So you need a cool weapon.”

“Asuma,” Kurenai warned. “This isn’t a joke.”

“And I’m not joking.” Asuma pressed the remaining blade into Mirai’s other hand. “They’re yours now, kiddo. Okay?”

Mirai looked down at both of the blades. She had the same affinity for wind just like her father and these blades had decades of experience with Sarutobi power. With a little focus, they accepted her chakra readily, flaring to life. “Whoa…”

Asuma smiled brightly. “That’s my girl!”

Mirai performed a couple practice swings; chakra lanced out from her hands, leaving scorch marks in the wall.

“Wow!” She laughed excitedly, the blue aura reflected in her red eyes. “That’s awesome! I mean, uh - “ The blades snuffed out. She bowed before her parents. “Thank you.”

“You really are worse than your mother,” Asuma chided, and threw his arm over her shoulders. “Get over here.”

She happily leaned into the embrace, pride and self-satisfaction swelling in her chest. As long as her parents believed in her, she could do anything.

/

Yuai barely got any sleep, too excited to rest. She snapped awake at the sound of her mother returning home from her shift at the hospital, tossed her blanket aside, and barrelled out of her bedroom downstairs to the main floor of their expansive apartment. Neither of her parents much cared for the affluence that came with Obito’s position; therefore Yuai paid no mind to the china vase she knocked over in her haste.

Rin had just traded her sandals for house slippers when Yuai jumped onto her back. “Mom! Hey! Good morning!”

“Whoa! Good morning, Yuai!” Rin quickly adjusted to the sudden weight, slinging her arms underneath Yuai’s knees. She grinned over her shoulder, her usually pristine, purple face markings smeared after a long night of work. “You’re up early today!”

“Duh,” Yuai exclaimed directly into Rin’s ear. “I’m going on my first mission!”

“Oh no,” Rin lamented, sighing dramatically, “how could I ever forget?” She deposited Yuai back on her feet. “Is your father up yet?”

Yuai snorted. “Of course not!”

Rin shook her head. “I’ll go wake him…”

“No, I will!” Yuai rose onto her tiptoes to prod her mother’s ruined facepaint. “You need to shower.”

Rin batted her hand away. “Thanks, honey.”

“I’m just saying!” Undeterred, Yuai dropped back to her heels. “ I’ll take care of dad. You go take of yourself. You’re a mess.”

Rin snorted. “It amazes me how you can say something so kind and yet so insulting. You must get it from your father.”

Yuai barely heard Rin’s comment, already on her way back upstairs. She burst into the master bedroom and tackled Obito’s sleeping form in an impressive leap. “Wake up, Dad! C’mon!”

Obito waved his hand around in a poor attempt to push Yuai off of him. “Quiet down,” he groaned.

But Yuai only screeched louder. “ Wake up !!! I’ve got my first mission today!!”

“Your mission,” Obito mumbled, still swaddled in blankets. “Your mission, right…”

He jolted up in a rush, throwing Yuai off the bed and onto the floor.

“Shit! Your mission !”

Yuai rolled her eyes. “You forgot, didn’t you?” She sat up and hooked her chin over the edge of the mattress with a concerted frown. “ Didn’t you?”

“No! No, I didn’t.” Obito rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “It just, uh, took me a second to remember.”

“That means you forgot, Dad. That’s okay. It’s just the most important day in my life so far. But I get it. You’re the Hokage, you don’t have time to worry about little old me, it’s fine…”

Obito sighed. “Yuai, that isn’t it at all. I got home from the office late, there’s all kinds of shit going on…”

Yuai snickered. She always liked it when her dad cussed around her - which he did worryingly often, but only when Rin wasn’t around. It was like their little secret. “I’m just fucking with you,” she said.

Obito froze. “You’re just…” His face twisted into a put-on scowl. “You’re just a little shit!”

He launched off the bed. Yuai giggled helplessly, trapped in his attack. They rolled around until smacking against the wall with a pronounced thump.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the hall. A professional shinobi through and through, Rin was of the habit to shower and change in less than five minutes. She poked her head into the bedroom, her hair dripping wet and her face bereft of paint. “What are you two getting up to?”

Yuai and Obito simultaneously hopped to their feet.

“Dad forgot about my mission!” Yuai tattled, pointing at him.

Obito pointed back. “Yuai was being a punk!”

Rin’s eyes narrowed. “Both of you be quiet!” She addressed Obito first. “You’re an adult and the Hokage. Act like it!” Then she pointed at Yuai. “And you - stop messing around! If you’re so excited about your mission, you should be ready by now.”

The father and daughter lowered their heads, cowed. “Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“Honestly,” Rin huffed, stepping out of the room. Her grumbles could her heard for a couple moments longer, until she padded downstairs.

Yuai and Obito glanced at each other - then broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Go,” Obito said, once they recovered, “before she comes back.”

Yuai saluted him. “Yes, Rokudaime!”

She sprinted back to her own room, rifled through the mess of clothes strewn across her floor, and wrestled into her uniform after performing a cautionary sniff test - ignorant, or more likely apathetic to, its disheveled wrinkles.

The top was a customary Uchiha navy blue with sleeves of a lighter hue specifically made to protect her skin from fire release jutsus. Brown leggings went on next, covered by an old, flouncy yet durable skirt of Rin’s. Yuai held her hitai-ate between her teeth as she cinched her black hair in a messy half-bun and applied purple facepaint diagonally along the hollows of her cheeks. She then tied off her forehead protector and, finished by striking a cool pose.

“Today is the day,” she declared to her reflection. “You’re a real kunoichi now! You gotta impress Sakura-sensei, and one up Kai, and outsmart Mirai, and prove to everybody the Hokage’s daughter is strong as she ought to be…” Her voice trailed off as she realized the impending list of obligations. “Oh, jeeze.”

“That sounded like a lot .”

Yuai startled, whirling around to face her father, who stood in her doorway now dressed in his Hokage robes.

The strange, spiraled scars deforming half of his face crinkled as he smirked. “What are you worried about all that stuff for?”

“Pft!” Yuai recollected her cool and crossed her arms. “I’m not worried! What makes you think I’m worried? I’m totally not worried at all!”

“You can’t fool me,” Obito drawled. “I was a genin once, too. I know how it is. But back in my day we were in the middle of a war.”

“I know, Dad,” Yuai groaned. If Obito was going to start another when I was your age story she’d jump out the window.

“I’m just saying you’ve got less pressure than I had to deal with. So chill out. You’ll be fine.”

“I know that!”

“Of course,” Obito said. He dropped the act. “Really, though. What’s wrong?”

Yuai hated it when Obito made her talk about her feelings, partly because it was generally Rin’s job, so when he did it that meant she was being totally obvious. She looked down at the floor. “I haven’t activated my Sharingan yet,” she mumbled. It’d been on her mind a lot, recently, partly due to Kai incessantly mocking her about it. “It’s super important. I could be a lot stronger if I had it already, but I don’t.”

Obito stiffened imperceptibly. “It’ll happen when it’s meant to happen, and not a moment sooner.” He passed a hand over his empty left eye socket, as he was wont to do when speaking of the Uchiha clan’s dojutsu. “You know how it happens, don’t you?”

Yuai blinked, surprised at her father’s uncharacteristically somber tone. “When you’re in trouble, right?”

“When your life is threatened,” he clarified. “And only then.”

Yuai knew that in abstract - but to hear her father state it so starkly, on the morning of her first mission outside of the village, turned the Sharingan’s advent into an inevitable reality - one, perhaps, she wouldn’t mind waiting for. “Oh. Um… O-okay.”

Obito clapped her shoulder. “Don’t rush it. The Sharingan is powerful, yes, but it has its...drawbacks. Some of which you aren’t ready for.”

“Like what?” Yuai asked.

Obito shook his head. “I’ll tell you one day. But I hope that day never comes.”

Yuai’s brow furrowed. “Dad…?”

Obito didn’t reply right away. Before he could speak, Rin cheerily entered the room, holding Yuai’s bag. “I packed you some food and a couple of my trusty kunai…” She slowed to a halt between her husband and daughter, sensing the tense atmosphere. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No,” Obito said, face shuttered. He slid his hand into Rin’s own. “It’s fine.”

Yuai took her pack from her mother. “We were just talking.”

Rin didn’t look like she believed them but let it slide, squeezing Obito’s hand. She understood there were some things she could not intrude upon - like Top Secret Uchiha Stuff, as Yuai thought of it. “Okay, then… Are you all ready to go?”

Sharingan momentarily forgotten, Yuai grinned. “Oh, hell yes.”

/

Despite their first initial meeting, Sakura was diligently early to all of their affairs and expected the same from her students. They theorized it was because of Kakashi’s own serial tardiness from days gone by - or it could’ve been another just facet of Sakura’s unpredictable personality.

She rounded on them once they had all arrived at Konoha’s gates - Mirai first, then Kai, and lastly Yuai. “You’re all late!”

“No we aren’t,” Yuai protested. “We’re right on time!”

Kai offered no reaction, emotionless as usual, but Mirai grimaced, always abashed at every single one of Sakura’s critiques. “I was going to come early, but my parents wanted to talk”

“Mine too,” Yuai said, falling quiet as she remembered Obito’s cryptic explanation of the Sharingan.

“My parents tried to kill me,” Kai said.

“What?!” Thankful for the distraction Kai’s awful personality provided, Yuai socked them in the shoulder. “That’s a lie!”

Kai didn’t budge under the impact of Yuai’s forceful punch. “No, it’s not. I have to fight to stay alive every morning.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Yuai accused.

“Spend the night at my house,” Kai suggested, “then you’ll know what I mean.”

“Ehhh…”

Yuai stepped an inch closer to Mirai. Kai’s parents were kind of terrifying for opposite reasons - one was a huge creep and the other intolerably ecstatic about everything, everywhere, at all times. Mirai, for one, could see the truth behind Kai’s words, and shivered herself.

“Nevermind,” Yuai muttered.

“Pay attention!”

Sakura snapped her fingers, and the genin focused back on their sensei. She gave them each a slow, sinister glare, bolstered only by the violet Strength of a Hundred Seal permanently etched into her creased forehead. Her normal red attire had been replaced by a traditional jounin uniform as well, flak vest and all. She meant business .

“You might be genin still, but that doesn’t mean you can slack off,” she said. “Anything can happen the second we leave the village. And this might be a C-rank mission, but I want all of you to act like it’s an A-rank! I don’t want any fighting, either - you need to stay vigilant. Do you hear me?”

They nodded.

“Alright. Now, you remember what I told you about my first real mission? Take it as a warning. Your guard should be up no matter what. The success of the mission - and your own lives - depends on it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sensei,” the genin chorused.

“Okay…” Sakura chuckled, and lowered her gaze. “It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Mirai frowned. “Uh… Yes, it is.”

Sakura looked up, smiling brightly, and pumped her fist in the air. “You bet! We’re gonna kick some ass, huh?”

Yuai mirrored her sensei. “Totally!”

Kai glowered. “We have to actually leave before we can do anything, you know.”

“Oh, Kai.” Sakura grinned. “So young, and so determined. And Yuai!” She dropped her fist onto Yuai’s head. “Full of moxie and zest!”

Mirai lifted her hand as Yuai gleamed with praise. “Kai’s right, sensei. We should probably head out…”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you, Mirai!” Sakura pulled her into a headlock. “My little straightlaced kunoichi!”

“Little?” Mirai slumped, surrendering to her sensei’s hold. “I’m the oldest .”

“Hehe! You’re right! And I remember when you were a baby. So cute, ugh.”

Sakura released her fondly. Mirai shuffled backward, frowning, and adjusted her hitai-ate.

“Is everybody ready?” Sakura asked.

“ Yes ,” Kai confirmed impatiently. “Let’s go already.”

So off they went.

/

Ever since the end of the Fourth World War the allied shinobi nations often enlisted each other for help on random, but important, assignments. It encouraged goodwill within the infantile alliance and generated trust between shinobi of all nationalities. As trade routes between countries sophisticated, it was common practice for foreign merchants to recruit local genin for simple fetch and delivery jobs.

Konoha was no exception. As a centrally-located political and military superpower with rich natural resources, many of the new trade routes passed through the Land of Fire. Team Sakura had been contracted by a jeweler to deliver an expensive order to the heiress of a lumber company. But the job was not without risk. Despite the prevailing peace among leaders and shinobi alike, non-affiliated mercenaries, warlords, and bandits prowled at large. The trade routes in particular proved to be new ground for stolen bounty.

Due to its might, the Land of Fire’s routes were fairly safe. This allowed genin the taste of a real mission with a low chance of unexpected complications. Bandits generally worked solo or in small, unorganized groups - anything larger would be detected and squashed by Konoha’s far-reaching forces.

Team Sakura traveled to a village on the country’s northwestern edge. The small township, bloated with fresh wealth, acted as a trading post among miners and jewelers hailing from the Land of Earth. But the team couldn’t stop and enjoy the idyllic cafes, shopfronts, and scenery. As much as Yuai badgered for real food , they had a job to do.

The village held a distribution center that housed all sorts of goods. Food, precious stones, clothing - anything and everything one could think of that didn’t require specialized transportation was housed here. After flashing papers certifying their clearance, the team weaved between stalls overloaded with a diverse variety of merchandise.

Sakura’s back was turned as she tried looking over the bustling crowd to find the stall belonging to their contractor. Yuai seized the opportunity to poke around a bit, and pulled her teammates to a display of shining gems.

“Check it out,” she squealed, and held a blood red ruby up to Mirai’s face. “It matches your eyes, Mirai!”

Mirai forced her hand down. “Cut it out ! We’re supposed to behave .”

“That’s kinda gay,” Kai said to Yuai.

“What?!” Yuai glared at their shorter companion. “It’s funny .”

Kai looked at her like she was the stupidest person alive - although, to their credit, that was their general disposition no matter who they were talking to. “No, I mean, that’s literally gay. You’re basically saying Mirai’s eyes are pretty as rubies.” This was an analogy Kai picked up from their dad’s romance novels.  

Yuai dropped the stones like they branded her skin. “No I’m not! That’s stupid , Kai! You’re such an asshole.”

Mirai shuddered. “Drop it, Yuai, okay? You too, Kai. I don’t even want to think about that.”

Yuai wholeheartedly agreed. “Me neither!”

Kai shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Whatever?” Yuai echoed. “Stop being such a faker, acting like it’s not a big deal. You’re the one who brought it up! What, do you think about me and Yuai together a lot?”

“Please stop talking,” Mirai begged.

Kai didn’t stop talking. “No, do you?”

Yuai stuck her tongue out. “No way! Mirai’s boring .”

Mirai frowned. “I’m not boring!”

Kai and Yuai both glanced at her. “Yes you are,” they said at the same time - then looked at each other awkwardly.

“Maybe you two are gay,” Mirai said. She cocked her head in Kai’s direction. They weren’t really a boy or a girl - did that mean they weren’t gay or straight, either? “Or whatever.”

“I’m five and a half,” Kai quickly reminded her.  

Yuai wouldn’t accept the excuse and sprang to offense. “Oh, so you’re old enough to call me and Mirai gay, but you not yourself?”

“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” Kai asked.

Yuai growled, seconds away from starting a fight. “I hate you!”

“The feeling is mutual, trust me!”

Mirai covered her face with her hands.

All of a sudden, Sakura turned around, waving the team’s paperwork in celebration like a flag. “I found it!”

Mirai looked up. “Found what?”

“The merchant booth!” Sakura paused at Kai and Yuai’s stare-off, her expression falling to scary suspicion. “What’s going on?”

“Kai’s being a dick,” Yuai said.

“Yuai’s having a sexuality crisis,” Kai said.

Yuai slapped their arm. “I am not !”

Sakura passed the papers to Mirai. “Hold this please. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay!” Mirai watched with glee as Sakura dragged Kai and Yuai away by their ears.

Kai winced. “It’s her fault. She’s too sensitive.”

Yuai wiggled like a fish out of water. “Ow! Let go of me, sensei!” When Sakura did not let go, she besieged the passerby instead. “Save me from this crazy lady!”

Arriving at a secluded corner, Sakura threw them both against the wall. “Be quiet!” she yelled, absolutely furious. Her voice echoed, causing nearby stall keepers to look their way.

Yuai and Kai silenced immediately.

“You’re acting like complete fools, ” Sakura admonished. “Did you not hear what I said before we left Konoha?!” Her glare darkened further when they didn’t reply. “Answer me!”

“No fighting,” Yuai grumbled.

“And stay vigilant,” Kai added.

“That’s right!” Sakura grabbed each of their shoulders and spun them around. “Look over there, at the stall with the kimonos. Do you see it?” The two genin nodded. “Look closer. That man in the cloak, something’s off about him. What is it?”

Kai narrowed their eyes. “He’s a thief.”

Apparently, he wasn’t a very good thief, because he didn’t notice the three Leaf shinobi staring at him as he folded a kimono into his cloak - and revealed the sharp glint of a hidden dagger in the process. “He’s armed,” Yuai exclaimed.

“Correct,” Sakura said. “That man preys upon the weak and oblivious. You two were so busy fighting you probably wouldn’t have noticed him if he came up to attack you - and neither would Mirai, since you always distract her.”

Yuai lowered her eyes, ashamed. “I’m sorry, sensei.”

“Me too,” Kai mumbled.

Sakura knocked their heads together. “Sorry’s not gonna cut it!” She pushed them back into the wall, then asked, “Do you want to die?”

Yuai rubbed the bruise forming on her head. “N-no!”

“Well, if you keep this up, you’re going to,” Sakura snapped. “There’s no time for your petty arguments anymore. I don’t care if you can’t stand each other. When we’re on a mission, you’ll work together as a team . Otherwise I’ll send you home right now and fail both of you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sensei,” they said.

“I don’t think you do,” Sakura objected. “Unfortunately, the only thing that’ll make you learn is encountering a situation where you’re forced to work together. I pray that you’ll be ready for it when the time comes. You’re not only putting yourselves in danger, but me and Mirai as well.”

Kai lifted their scarfed chin. “I’ll be ready.”

Yuai nodded, equally determined. “Same here.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Sakura’s tone lost its bite, and her expression turned somber. “To be honest, I was really excited to be your guys’ sensei. But you’ve just continually disappointed me.”

Somehow, this was worse than even her most ferocious anger. Kai and Yuai shared a serious look, a silent truce - they’d bury the hatchet for Sakura, Mirai, and Konoha’s sake. They had to. Or else their careers as shinobi would end just as they began.

The conversation was interrupted by Mirai’s timid voice. “Um, sensei?”

Sakura sighed and turned around. “Yes?”

Mirai’s gratification at Kai and Yuai’s scolding had disappeared, replaced with unbidden nervousness. She was hesitant to answer Sakura’s question, and, noticing this, her team’s interest - and concern - piqued.

“What is it, Mirai?” Sakura prompted.

“Uh, you see,” Mirai stuttered, wringing the papers in her hands, “I found the same stall you did, and went to pick up the order for the mission. Our papers were fine. But, um. The order was stolen.”

“Stolen?” Sakura questioned. She whipped her head in the direction of the cloaked thief - who had vanished from sight. “Damn it!”

Kai stretched as high as they could go, trying to locate the culprit while Yuai cursed, “Shit! We just saw him!”

“Who?” Mirai asked. “Saw who?”

“A thief,” Sakura answered.

“It’s probably the same one who stole our stuff,” Yuai said.

“Did either of you get a good read on him?” Sakura asked.

Kai easily rattled off information. “Black cloak, knee-length, average height, thin build. Armed with a knife, possibly more. I couldn’t make out his face that well, but he definitely had dark hair, and maybe blue eyes.”

“And he looked like a complete bastard ,” Yuai supplemented.

“That too,” Kai said.

Mirai’s countenance firmed, now that they had a lead to go off of. “Let’s find him!”

“No, wait.” Sakura rubbed her forehead, at the spot where her Strength of a Hundred Seal laid. “We can’t run after him blind, we don’t even know if he’s the same thief. We need to gather intelligence.”

“Let’s split up and look for clues,” Yuai eagerly suggested.

Kai snorted. “We aren’t detectives .”

“No, no,” Sakura wagged her finger at Yuai, “that’s a good idea.”

Pleased, Yuai smirked at Kai. Kai avoided her gaze.

“What should we do?” Mirai asked.

“I’ll check out where we saw him last,” Sakura said. “You three go back to the stall and see if they know anything there. We’ll meet up outside.” Her gaze lingered on Yuai and Kai. “Stick together, alright? This mission just got complicated.”

/

Despite their best efforts the search offered no conclusive results. Sakura was unable to pick up a trace on the thief, and the jeweler's stall keeper hadn’t witnessed the theft take place.

Sakura checked the team into an inn to rest and eat, but even a hot meal couldn’t lift their dejected spirits, and they returned to their room forlornly.

Mirai sat on the floor, Asuma’s blades in hand which burnt on and off with chakra. Yuai laid on the bed next to her upside down, glaring at the wall. Beside Yuai, Kai threw shuriken at the ceiling - each dull thunk part of a repetitive rhythm. And Sakura paced back and forth across the room, ruminating.

Kai tossed another shuriken. “Clearly, we need to go after this guy.”

“What we need to do is go back to Konoha,” Sakura said. She sank down into the lounge chair in front of her students. “Technically this exceeds the mission’s parameters. It’s supposed to be a delivery, not a retrieval.”

Yuai rolled onto her stomach, chin cupped in her hands. “But if we do that then the bastard’ll get away!”

“She’s right, sensei,” Mirai said. “We can’t waste any time. And you said it yourself - missions can be unpredictable. Does that mean we just give up?”

“That’s some lame morals you’re teaching us,” Yuai said.

“Well,” Sakura began. She sat up straight and retrieved something from her vest. “I found this.”

The genin leaned forward to get a better look. “A piece of his cloak,” Mirai observed.

“Yep,” Sakura confirmed. She turned to Kai. “You made your summoning contract, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Kai said,” she’s just a puppy, though.”

“Puppy or not, her nose is better than any of ours. Can you summon her?”

“Sure.” Kai climbed off the bed.

Yuai and Mirai watched with interest as Kai procured another shuriken and pierced their thumb, then smeared their blood on the floor. Face clenched with effort, chakra surged down their arm, and a little basset hound with droopy eyes appeared at their feet in a cloud of smoke.

“Whoa!” the puppy yelped. She stumbled backwards onto her butt, long ears splayed out on either side of her disproportionate head. Her tail started wagging when she looked up at her master. “Kai!”

Kai’s eyes crinkled in what was undoubtedly a smile, hidden though it was behind their scarf. They bent down to greet their summon. “Jun!”

“It talks?” Yuai asked, flabbergasted.

“Most summons do,” Mirai said.

Kai scratched Jun’s tummy. “We need your help, Jun.”

“Oh, boy!” Jun rolled onto her stubby legs and licked the cut on Kai’s thumb. “Whaddaya need?”

Sakura held the piece of cloth out. “We need you to identify someone for us. Can you smell this?”

“Sure, yeah!” Jun sniffed Sakura’s offering and grimaced. “It smells gross!”

“Like what?” Kai asked.

“I dunno…” Jun took another whiff. “I’m not really good at this yet!”

“That’s okay,” Sakura assured. “Just try your best.”

Kai glared at their teammates as if daring them to say something negative, but Mirai only studied Jun seriously whereas Yuai still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Oh! Oh!” Jun braced her front two paws on Sakura’s arm, tail a blur. “It smells like - like a dead person!”

Sakura paled considerably. “A dead person?”

“Yeah!” Jun looked at Kai. “I’m certain! Pakkun had me practice this a bunch, ya know! He taught me good, I promise!”

“I know,” Kai said.

“So he isn’t just a thief, but a murderer, too,” Yuai said. “Right?”

“I don’t know,” Sakura sighed. “Whatever he is, it’s not good.”

“We’re still going to go find him, though,” Mirai insisted. “We have to.”

Sakura slumped down further in her chair. “This is definitely entering B-rank territory, at least.”

Yuai grinned. “Kickass.”

“No, it’s not kickass, it’s dangerous,” Sakura corrected. “And way above your level. And my paygrade.”

“What’s it matter?” Kai asked, petting Jun between her ears now. “We aren’t your average genin.” They gestured to Jun, who grinned with pride, as if to explain their point.

Mirai held up her chakra blades. “That’s true.”

“Totally,” Yuai seconded. “We’re the best!”

“You’re dysfunctional, immature brats is what you are,” Sakura groaned. “I’m starting to understand how Kakashi felt…”

Jun perked up. “Kakashi?”

“He was my sensei,” Sakura said. “Way back when.”

“Wow!” The ninken looked up at Sakura in awe, her tail thumping on the floor. “That’s so cool! Which student are you?”

“The sane one.”

“Oh, you must be Sakura then,” Jun said. “Kakashi says you’re his favorite because you aren’t stupid.”

Sakura smirked ruefully. “That’s nice.”

“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Yuai demanded. “We’ve got a bad guy to track down!”

Forced to choose between abandoning the mission or putting her young students in danger, Kakashi’s most important lesson came to Sakura’s mind. “I think we’re gonna bow out of this one, guys,” she regretfully decided.

Yuai crossed her arms. “That’s bullshit!”

Mirai was more conservative with her disapproval. “Sensei, your concern is touching but unfounded. We’ve got what it takes,” she promised. Kai nodded in agreement.

Before Sakura could retort, Jun barked. “Plus, I can track down the bad guy no sweat!” She tugged the piece of cloth out Sakura’s hand.

‘“Hey - Jun! Look, I appreciate your help, but this just isn’t a good idea.”

The puppy deftly dodged her grasp and went back to Kai’s side. Eager to prove herself, she held the cloth down with her paws and took a deep, long sniff. “Ah, yes. I’m detecting something… Dirt… Someplace deep underground...”

Yuai flicked one of Jun’s floppy ears. “Anymore dead people?”

“No,” Jun said, “but…” She looked up excitedly. “I got him! He’s definitely alive!”

“The thief?” Mirai asked.

“I guess,” Jun yipped, and turned to Kai. “I did it, boss!”

Kai stroked her short flank. “Good job, Jun.”

The genin marveled over the puppy in celebration, and Jun rolled back to her feet once she tired of the attention. “So what now?” she asked Sakura.

Sakura chewed on her thumbnail for a bit. Eventually, she relented with a sigh. “Can you follow his scent?”

“Totally!”

The jounin sensei stared at each of her students, measured their many strengths against their many weaknesses. Perhaps this was what they needed to finally cooperate as a unit.

“Okay,” she said.

Yuai rose onto her knees, anticipation bubbling in her chest. “Okay what?”

“Okay,” Sakura repeated. “Let’s do it.”

“Yes!” Yuai cheered.

Mirai smiled, equally ecstatic, but she had enough wherewithal to hide the most of her excitement. Kai simply waited for Sakura to continue.

“You have to do everything I say,” she instructed. “If I tell you to fight, you fight, and if I tell you to run, you run. It’ll be tricky, but we have a job to do. Since you’re all being so adamant about it, I expect you follow through. For now…”

She assessed her students’ condition. Try as they might, they weren’t yet skilled enough to disguise their fatigue after a long day of travel and dead ends. Yuai’s eyes burned with determination, but they were sunken in; Mirai’s concentration broke as she stifled a yawn into her shoulder; and Kai sat with their back pressed against the side of the bed, Jun between their splayed legs.

“For now, we rest,” Sakura said. “We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning. We’re going to encounter real combat, which means real bloodshed, and, potentially, real death. If anyone is opposed, say something now.”

When no one said anything, Sakura stood from her seat.

“Get ready for bed. I’m going to send a message to Konoha.”

“Dibs on the bathroom first,” Kai said as Sakura sidled into the desk on the opposite side of the room. Yuai stuck her tongue out at their back; they flipped her off before shutting the bathroom door.

“I’m so sick of you two,” Mirai huffed. She gathered her blades, retrieved a whetsone from her pack, and climbed atop the room’s only windowsill.

With nothing to do but wait, Yuai watched Sakura unravel a scroll and pen her message. “How are you gonna send that?” she asked.

Sakura lowered her brush pen, rolled the scroll up, and grinned. “Why don’t you come see?”

Yuai followed her outside. Sequestered to a small corner high above the rest of the town, the inn featured a substantial, grassy courtyard. Sakura walked to the crest of the hill. Yuai stood a couple paces away, confused. “Shouldn’t we be going to the post office?”

“I prefer more secure channels of communication,” Sakura said - and chomped the meat of her hand.

Yuai jolted back at the sight of blood. “What’d ya do that for?!”

“Patience is a virtue you need to learn, Yuai.” Sakura knelt down and let her blood coalesce in the tall strands of grass. “Just watch.”

She proceeded to summon a small hawk with mottled brown feathers.

Yuai’s jaw dropped. “What the hell? Does everybody have a summon besides me?”

“Mirai doesn’t, either,” Sakura reminded.  The bird crowed and alighted on her arm. “They’re not necessary, but helpful for specific purposes. I only had healing slugs for the longest time.”

“Huh.” Stepping closer, Yuai drifted her fingertip over the hawk’s feathers, which were surprisingly soft and silky to the touch. “How’d you get this one, then?”

“I was recommended by a friend.” Sakura pulled the scroll from her pocket and offered it to the hawk, who clasped it with one set of talons. “Go on,” she commanded; the bird nipped her earlobe, then took off in the direction of distant Konoha. Yuai followed the bird’s departure until it was just a dark silhouette against the darker evening sky.

After it disappeared she appraised her sensei, whose gaze remained fixed on the horizon. Sakura stood tall and strong, her pink hair gently swaying in the light breeze. One of Konoha’s most formidable warriors, known across all elemental nations as the Slug Sannin, the world’s best medic-nin, and, apparently, a parttime hawk summoner to boot. And here she was, playing teacher to a group of ragtag runts who barely got along.

“I hope I’m as strong as you one day, sensei,” Yuai murmured.

Sakura slung her arm around Yuai and pulled the younger girl into her side. If Yuai knew her better she’d recognize the melancholic nostalgia in her green eyes. “You will be if you want to be. That’s really all it takes.” She smelled like mud and sweat, harried from their travels, but underneath Yuai detected the fresh aroma of cherry blossoms. This, coupled with Sakura’s sisterly embrace, compelled Yuai to admit her nagging anxiety.

“What if you want something really bad,” she asked, “but it might never come?”

Sakura frowned. Like what?”

Yuai shrugged. “You know…”

“Oh, I understand. You know... That friend of mine, he’s an Uchiha.”

“Sasuke,” Yuai realized. Of course. Who else could it have been? She seldom heard her father speak of Sasuke, but when he did his voice was always tinged with sadness and regret. Even though he was technically her second cousin she’d only met Sasuke a handful of times in her life, and fleetingly at that.

“I saw him awaken his Sharingan during that mission I told you about,” Sakura continued. “I couldn’t do anything but watch - of course, back then, that’s pretty much all I did. He was cornered by a stronger opponent, and then, boom - just like that, his eyes turned red.”

“So he was okay?” Yuai asked. “He got the Sharingan, and it helped him win?”

“No. He almost died.”

Yuai stiffened.

“The Sharingan won’t save you, Yuai. Just like a summon can’t fix all of your problems. There’s nothing in this world that acts as a failsafe.” Sakura tapped the seal on her forehead. “Even this. You can achieve a special power or ability, but it’s useless if you don’t have a proper foundation behind it. Do you know how I got so strong?”

Yuai wordlessly shook her head.

“I came from a civilian family,” Sakura divulged. “I didn’t have a kekkei genkai or a limitless supply of chakra. All I had was my own will, and it took me far too long to take advantage of it. You’re different. You’re so motivated. But it’s for all the wrong reasons. Stop worrying about what you don’t have and focus on the skills already at your disposal.”

“But…” Yuai looked down, unable to meet her sensei’s eyes. She acted so confident all the time - and it was just one big lie. “But Kai’s great at everything and Mirai’s a genius. Compared to them, all I’m worth is the Sharingan I haven’t even unlocked yet.”

“That’s not true.” Sakura squatted down so that Yuai was forced to look at her. “Kai might be great at everything, but that means they’re ambivalent and lazy. And Mirai is too smart for her own good. Most things might come naturally to them, but that’s to their own detriment. The more you have to persevere, the better off you’ll be in the long run. It’s difficult, and it’s unfair, but it will provide you with a tenacity Kai and Mirai can’t hope to achieve. Trust me; I was a lot like you, once.”

That was hard to believe. “Really?” Yuai asked.

“Really,” Sakura said. “I’ll tell you all about it sometime. But right now we’ve got a mission to finish. And you need a bath.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Sakura stood up. “Are you feeling better?”

Yuai nodded. “Yeah. I am.”

“Good.” She started down the hill.

Yuai raced forward and caught her in a hug from behind. “Thanks, Sakura-sensei. You’re the best.”

Sakura glanced down at the girl, smiling; she was totally going to tell Kakashi about how much better she was at being a sensei than him. “You’re welcome, Yuai.”

/

The team awoke before dawn the next morning, scarfed down gluey porridge at the inn’s cafe, and embarked.

The town laid a measurable distance away from the border and lacked neighboring villages. This meant it had no competition; it also meant that it was the only speck of civilization within miles of wilderness buttressed by several foreign nations, located right between the Lands of Grass and Waterfalls, with the Land of Earth a mere hopscotch away.

Thus a minimum amount of caution was required, especially once Kai’s ninken lead the team off the official trade route deep into the uncharted forest. They brought only essential weapons and supplies, under the assumption that whoever their culprit was worked alone in a meager base of operations.

Sakura took point behind Jun’s focused crawl along the forest undergrowth. Kai stayed right behind her to keep a watchful eye on their summon. They were followed by Mirai, who catalogued every sound and shadow in the forest. Yuai came last at the rear of the group,kunai drawn, ready for attack.

The genins’ above average skills were exhibited in their stealth. Unlike other shinobi in their age group, they walked soft footed in a tight line, eyes focused in different directions so that their collective field of vision encompassed as wide a field as possible. They’d been training under their renowned parents long before joining the Academy, and it had all lead up to this first mission. None of them wanted to fail in upholding their respective llegacies.

Grass gave way to sticks and stones as they advanced deeper into the thickening forest. Wild animals hooted and hollered, some far off and others too close for comfort. Sakura used hand signs to give orders - left, right, stop, proceed - as Jun continually reoriented their path.

The forest canopy blocked out most of the rising sun but it could do nothing to deter the rising temperature. Sweat collected under shirt collars, throats dried up, and legs burnt with lactic acid, but the children ignored these discomforts and pressed on, following their indomitable sensei.

The team was climbing over a series of dead tree roots when Jun suddenly halted, nose held aloft. Sakura lifted her hand and the genin paused mid-climb.

“He’s close,” Jun announced. “But…”

Kai fought against the urge to duck under Sakura’s arm and move closer to their summon. “But what?” they asked.

Jun looked up at Sakura. “There’s more than one person.”

Sakura knelt down before the ninken. “How many more?”

“I don’t know,” Jun said, “I can’t tell. I’m sorry, Sakura-sensei.”

“That’s fine. You got us this far, didn’t you?” Sakura scratched the underside of her chin. “Where are they?”

“Umm. A couple kilometers east, at the most.”

“Thank you.” Sakura gave Jun one last scratch, then rose to her feet. “You should go, now.”

“What?! Why? I don’t wanna!” Defiant, Jun snarled and clawed at Sakura’s shins. “I promise, I can help!”

“Quiet, Jun,” Kai admonished.

Jun sat down, dejected. “Yes, boss.”

“We’ve got it from here,” Sakura told her. “I’ll make sure to let Kakashi and Pakkun know what a good job you did once we get back. They’ll be very proud of you.”

“Sakura-sensei is right,” Kai added. “You did everything you could.” They squatted in front Jun and bopped her nose. “Thanks.”

“Fine,” Jun sighed. “Stay safe, boss.” She then glanced at Sakura, Mirai, and Yuai. “You guys, too. We’re kinda like a pack now, right?”

Kai blushed. “Um, I guess?”

Jun’s tail wagged. “Good. I’ve always wanted one of my own!”

Sakura laughed, Mirai grinned, and Yuai stared at Jun like she’d grown a second head, surprised at how true her assessment of the team was. They were kind of like a pack; or at least, the start of one.

“Bye, Jun,” Kai said.

“Bye-bye, boss!”

Jun disappeared. The team stared at the vacated space for a moment.

“Two kilometers east,” Sakura said, serious again; her voice spurred the genin to reanimate. “Let’s go.”

/

The team picked across the forest, chakra carefully concealed. Sakura often stopped to listen for activity. Kai kept their enhanced Hatake senses perked as Mirai swept a fortuitous gaze across their path. In the rear, Yuai trembled with excitement, sweaty hands tight around her kunai. They had all noticed the shift in atmosphere, a subtle foreboding sense that this was the real deal and there was no going back.

Sakura gestured upward to a thick, ancient tree. The team walked up its trunk with chakra-infused feet and emerged at its uppermost branches, camouflaged by waxy leaves.

The forest unfurled below them. One klick southeast a modest shack laid in plain view. A handful of shinobi, barely visible from their vantage point, patrolled the premises.

“This is bad,” Sakura muttered. “I think we’ve found something we weren’t supposed to.”

Yuai narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look. “What is it, a thieves guild?”

“Something like that.”

Mirai frowned. “I thought there weren’t any left.”

“So did I,” Sakura said. Her nails dug into the tree bark as she weighed their options.

“They’ve probably got more than just our order,” Kai guessed. “And they’re not going to go down without a fight.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Mirai said. “I thought everyone reported theft to Konoha so something like this wouldn’t happen.”

Kai shrugged. “Maybe someone does know, but they’re in on it.”

Yuai bit her lip. “That’s...not cool.”

Mirai nodded. “They probably cross the border and sell everything on the black market.”

“I’d bet my left arm somebody in town gets a huge chunk of cash out of it, too,” Kai said.

Sakura interrupted their speculations. “And those are all very good reasons to go back home.”

“No way,” Yuai snapped. She stabbed her kunai into the tree branch and spread her arms. “We’re already here!”

“I’m not sending three genin who have never been on a mission before to infiltrate an operation of this scale,” Sakura insisted. “And that’s final .”

“It’d be good practice,” Kai muttered.

“Well, this isn’t practice! This is real life!”

Mirai tugged Sakura’s arm. “Sensei…”

Sakura brushed her off. “We’re leaving, now . Get up!”

Yuai yanked her kunai out of the tree, sneering. “You keep telling us we need to work together as team, but then you won’t even let us try.”

“That was before this entire situation went off the rails!”

Kai tisked. “What a waste of time…”

“ Sensei ,” Mirai implored.

Sakura whirled. “What?!”

But Mirai didn’t have time to say anything. She shoved past her sensei and launched out from behind the tree leaves, brandishing her chakra blades.

“Damn it, Mirai!”

Sakura jumped after her, just in time to witness Mirai slash a dark-clothed assailant in the chest.  He screeched and collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from the wound; Mirai landed next to him, chest heaving, and flipped him over with the toe of her sandal. “He’s dead…” Flecked with blood, she looked up at Sakura, eyes wide. “Sensei, I killed him...”

Before Sakura could parse her statement, Mirai flickered out of sight

Yuai and Kai both gasped.

“Where’d she go?” Yuai shouted. “Mirai! Mirai!”

Kai clapped their hand over her mouth. “ Shut up ,” they hissed.

Sakura raked a hand through her hair, looking between the corpse and the spot where Mirai had vanished. “Shit, shit, shit !”

Perturbed to see their sensei lose her cool, Yuai and Kai clambered down the tree.

“They must’ve taken her to that building,” Yuai said. “Don’t worry! We’ll get her back!”

“This is all my fault,” Sakura moaned. “I never should’ve agreed to this.”

Kai knelt beside the corpse and checked its pulse. “She really killed him…”

The team fell quiet for a moment, each lost in their own spinning thoughts. Then, the sun blotted out and a hawk cawed above their heads.

Kai stood. “What the hell is that?”

Unperturbed, Yuai scrambled to Sakura’s side as the bird rested on her shoulder. “What does it say?!”

Sakura unfastened a small scroll sealed with Konoha’s emblem and read Obito Uchiha’s messy scrawl.

“It’s your father,” she informed. “He told us to proceed with caution. That’s all.”

“It’s a little late for that,” Kai said, hands on their hips. They peered at Sakura’s hawk with suspicion, still unaware of its origin.

Sakura thrust the scroll at Yuai. “Burn this.”

Yuai’s palms sparked in a small fire release that incinerated the message. She brushed her hands together, ashes falling to her feet. “What now?”

Sakura patted the pockets of her flak vest but came up with nothing. “I’d send another message if I could, but I don’t have any scrolls or ink.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kai stated. “The Hokage gave us permission to continue.”

Yuai imagined him sitting in his office reading Sakura’s terse report. “Kai is right,” she said, broadening her shoulders. “He believes in us. We can finish the mission.”

“This is so against protocol,” Sakura groaned.

“Fuck protocol!”

Sakura and Yuai winced at Kai’s uncharacteristic outburst.

The young genin stepped forward. “We aren’t leaving Mirai behind. If we wait any longer who knows where they’ll take her or what they’ll do to her. I don’t care if you two come or not, but I’m going!”

“Kai, wait!”

Sakura reached out and grabbed the tail end of their scarf before they could leave, inadvertently loosening the green garment.

The scarf fell as Kai turned around, revealing an altogether plain, if strange, face - round eyes beset by a large nose and full mouth, a small mole dotted on their square jaw.

“ What ?” they snarled, their sharp teeth visible to their teammates for the first time.

Yuai struggled to process the sight. As it turned out, Kai wasn’t hiding anything at all - nothing besides their own face, at least. Yuai didn’t know why , unless they just wanted to copy their father, Kakashi - but that begged the question as to why he stayed hidden away, too; and Yuai wasn’t equipped to decipher Kai, let alone their entire weird family.

“We aren’t going to leave Mirai,” Sakura promised, one end of Kai’s scarf clutched in her fist, the other end trailing in dirt. “This is my fault. I wasn’t paying attention. I’ll save her - but I want you two to go back to the village.”

Yuai regained enough wits to protest. “No way we’re going back! It wasn’t just your fault, sensei.” She glanced at Kai. “We were being a distraction, just like you said yesterday.”

Kai nodded in agreement. “We’ll either go with you or on our own. But leaving isn’t an option.”

“That’s right!” Yuai marched to Kai’s side in a show of support. “Who cares if this mission is a total bust or not? It doesn’t matter if we’re outranked either! What’s important is that - “

“You don’t abandon your comrades,” Kai finished for her.

Sakura shakily exhaled, hopeless against her students’ conviction. “You really are Obito and Kakashi’s kids, huh?”

“You bet,” Yuai exclaimed. Kai smirked, one canine peeking out over from their upper lip.

“Fine. Fine!”

Sakura passed the scarf to Kai and her hawk ahead to scope their surroundings.

/

The hawk was a lesser summon incapable of speech, but Sakura must’ve had some means of communication because she looked pleased upon its return.

Kai didn’t react when she dismissed the bird and thereby confirmed it was her summon. Instead, they waited patiently for their next orders; Yuai fidgeted next to them.

“Good news and bad news,” Sakura said. “There’s not as many guards as I thought there’d be. Three outside and two inside.”

“Did he see Mirai?” Yuai asked.

“That’s the bad news,” Sakura said. “However,” she closed her eyes and the genin followed suit, “I want you to concentrate. Pay attention to the chakra around us. Ignore what you don’t recognize. Can you sense it…?”

“Mirai,” Yuai gasped, opening her eyes. Like a beacon, Mirai’s chakra signature flared in short intervals from far away, barely perceptible.

“She’s trying to let us know where she is,” Sakura explained.

“That’s smart,” Kai said, not one to give praise that often.

Sakura nodded. “She’s very resourceful.”

Yuai slammed her fist into her open palm. “Let’s go get her, then.”

“Patience, Yuai. We can’t just barge in and make an even bigger mess of things.” Sakura gave both of the genin a serious look. “Stay back and let me handle the heavy work. I don’t want either of you taking initiative unless I specifically tell you to.”

“Yes, sensei,” they said.

The team took to the treetops, spanning the remaining distance from Mirai in short time.

The report given by Sakura’s hawk was accurate; three armed guards stood outside the base of operations. The structure was old and decrepit, cobbled together with rotting planks of wood. The guards paced back and forth across the small clearing, occasionally partaking in trivial conversation. One even stopped to light a cigarette.

Their lack of situational awareness made things easy for Sakura. She made a hand gesture, ordering Kai and Yuai to stay hidden. The two genin pressed close to the tree trunk and watched as their sensei dropped to the ground.

Sakura stalked around the clearing perimeter, waiting for the guard farthest away from his companions. She launched from the shadows just as he took another drag off his cigarette, hooking an arm around his neck and clamping her hand over his mouth. She dragged him down into the underbrush, silently snapped his neck, and popped back up a second later.

Ignorant to his demise, the other guards continued their stroll. Sakura moved to the opposite side of the clearing and disposed of the next furthest guard.

The guard in the middle of the clearing finally noticed his comrades had fallen. Before he could announce the presence of intruders, a kunai whistled through the air and impaled his neck. He crumpled to the ground, choking on his own blood. Sakura stepped forward and severed his head with a flick of her wrist.

She dislodged her kunai, wiped the blood off onto her pant leg, and sent a thumbs up to Yuai and Kai. They climbed down from their hiding spot and assisted Sakura in concealing the bodies.

A set of stairs lead up to a wraparound porch. Undoubtedly creaky with age, the shinobi forewent the porch and leapt onto the awning instead. Crawling upside down by their hands and knees, they circumvented the front door in favor of a small window.

Sakura slowly pushed the conveniently unlocked glass pane aside - it was lucky they were dealing with amateurs - and hopped inside the empty room, followed by Yuai and Kai.

She shuffled to the doorway, checked the hall, and held up two fingers to communicate that two persons had been sighted, then jerked her thumb to the left. In such close quarters it would be impossible for her to dispose of both assailants undetected - her students would have to take one of them on.

They split off to either end of the hall.

Kai sprinted ahead of Yuai and dove between the guard’s legs. The guard whirled around only to find Yuai standing in front of him.

She waved cheerfully. “Hi!”

He grasped the hilt of his small broadsword. “Who the hell are - “

In quick succession, Kai jabbed every chakra point along his spine, rendering him immobile from the neck down.

Taking this as her cue, Yuai danced forward and punched him square in the face. He fell to his knees with a loud thump. But Yuai’s confidence flagged when she hesitated, unable to deliver the finishing blow as she remembered Mirai’s shellshocked words - Sensei, I killed him.

Noticing this, Kai unsheathed their tanto sword and emotionlessly skewered the guard’s abdomen. Mouth open in a silent scream, he dropped face first into the floor.

One foot braced on his back, Kai pulled their sword out of his body. The blade oozed with thick, red blood. Yuai watched as Kai finished him off with a stab through the head, radiating quiet vengeance.

Kai sheathed their sword and impassively observed their first kill. Blood spread across the floor at an alarming rate. Yuai jerked backward once it touched her sandals.

“Thanks,” she said, breaking the silence.

Kai looked up, eyes dark and unreadable. “Don’t mention it.”

They turned at the sound of approaching footsteps, but it was just their sensei.

“Rest of the floor is clear,” she said. “I found a cellar in another room - “ She broke off at the messy sight before her, looked up from the corpse to see Kai covered in blood.

The sensei and student shared a gaze which communicated a myriad of things Yuai didn’t understand. Sakura’s lips pursed, though Kai must’ve abated her worries somehow, because she proceeded to toss the corpse over her shoulder without comment.

She deposited the corpse on top of the second, cleaner body down the hall, then lead the two genin to the cellar door she’d located. They paused, squatting, though none of them could discern what laid below other than Mirai’s enduring chakra signature.

Sakura crasped the door’s handle. There was nothing she could say, no words of wisdom she could offer to prepare her students. She merely counted down, under her breath, “Three, two, one…”

She flung the door open.

Illuminated by scant light from above, the team ran down a flight of rudimentary stairs into the dark basement.

A couple of sitting guards scrambled up from their seats. One of them felt oddly familiar. His identity was confirmed when he smirked at Sakura.

“I knew you’d show up,” he said. “Looks like you brought the other two kiddies with you.”

Sakura growled and rushed at him, wielding a chakra-infused fist. Her punch sent him flying into the wall.

The standing guard made to dive for Kai and Yuai, but before he could do so Sakura threw him on top of his partner. She then picked both of them up by their necks and slammed them against the wall.

“Who are you?”

“Simple businessmen,” the first guard goaded, breathlessly obstinate. “Market’s been a little dry since the alliance, so we’ve had to resort to unorthodox methods. Lucky for us, you dropped another kid at our doorstep. The boss is gonna put her up for ransom, kill her if you Konoha shinobi don’t comply. I’m sure your great village has got the funds to spare - “

Sakura ended his rant by choking him to death. His neck crunched under her fist.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” his partner said, “take it easy, lady. You don’t gotta kill me , I’m not an asshole - “

Sakura killed him too.

Yuai and Kai watched with trepidation as Sakura abandoned the bodies. She looked over her shoulder, cast in shadow and fury. “Are you guys alright?”

Yuai nodded hurriedly. “Y-yeah.”

“Yes,” Kai said.

“Good.” Sakura strode further into the basement.

They passed several rooms laden with stolen goods, increasing their speed as Mirai’s chakra signature wavered ahead. Wooden walls turned into hard packed dirt as they continued through evascated corridors. Endless tunnels branched off from the main hallway, no doubt secret passageways leading across the border - which explained how the guild had passed under Konoha’s radar; they navigated below the official trade routes, not through them.

The hallway abruptly ended at a heavy door encumbered by several padlocks. Sakura broke through them with ease, tearing the door off its hinges entirely.

The team raced inside the small, dank room bereft of any light.

“Mirai?” Sakura called out.

“S-Sakura-sensei?!”

Yuai’s palms erupted in a contained fire release, filling the room with warm light.

Mirai stood in the middle of the room, a hand sign held out in front of her. Sweat streaked down her temples and her frame shook with exhaustion. She stared ahead, eyes locked with an older rouge bedecked in ornate robes - the group’s boss, frozen in a genjutsu.

Sakura swept forward. “We’re here, Mirai, it’s okay. You can let him go.”

Mirai released the genjutsu. The boss reanimated, gasping for air. Sakura pushed Mirai behind her.

Kai caught their teammate as she stumbled backward, panting and disoriented. They looked strangely young, cradling their older friend. Yuai was reminded that they were barely five years old as she watched them guide Mirai a safe distance away.

The boss struggled to his feet, glaring at Sakura. “I’m impressed you arrived so quickly.”

“Your enforcements were easily eliminated,” Sakura said. “Just like you will be.”

“So assumptious,” the old man croned. “As to be expected from Konoha, inflated with pomp.”

“Kidnapping children for money, smuggling goods across the border; you’ve kept your operation under wraps for a long time, haven’t you?” Sakura asked. “Too bad it’s going to end - right here, right now.”

The man was no fool - he knew he couldn’t hope to defeat Sakura Haruno of Konohagakure. “Yes, this is the end, isn’t it? For all of us.”

The boss flashed through a series of hand signs and slammed his foot into the ground. A ninjutsu caused the earth around them to rumble - chunks of dirt fell from the ceiling.

Sakura slid her foot in an arc, forcing her students out of the room with a wave of shifting earth. “Run!” she yelled. “Take Mirai and go!”

The room imploded, burying Sakura and the boss underground.

“Sensei!” Yuai screamed, clawing at the flooded doorway.

Kai yanked her away as the hall began to fracture. “We need to leave, Yuai! Now!”

“We can’t! Sakura-sensei, she’s - “

“She’ll be fine!” Kai fisted Yuai’s shirt and started dragging her behind them while pushing Mirai ahead.

Panting with fatigue, Mirai eventually regained her footing and shrugged Kai off. “This way,” she yelled, pivoting into one of the secret tunnels. “They brought me in through here!”

She lead Kai and Yuai up a rickety ladder, elbowed a hidden door until it burst open. Sunlight rained down upon them, blinding and bright.

They scrambled into the open air but couldn’t afford a moment’s rest. The ground burbled underfoot as the entire ecosystem of carved shafts collapsed. Trees groaned and creaked around them, threatening to fall.

Yuai and Kai could finally see Mirai clearly. She looked terrible, her face pale and dirtied, clothes still covered in blood. But, reunited with her team, her eyes blazed with new strength. “We need to go back to town,” she said, immediately strategizing a plan. “We can send a message to Konoha for reinforcements - “

“We need to find Sakura-sensei,” Yuai shouted.

“We don’t have time,” Kai said. “She told us to run - we ran. We followed her orders!”

“I don’t give a damn! We didn’t leave Mirai behind - we can’t leave Sakura-sensei, either!”

“She can take care of herself,” Kai insisted.

Yuai scowled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “She could die!”

Mirai inserted herself between them. “Just shut the fuck up! Can’t you two stop fighting for one second?! We can’t look for Sakura-sensei, this entire place is about to blow!”

“But - “

The ground shivered again and a terrible, yawning screech cut off the rest of Yuai’s words. The tree above them splintered in half; its giant trunk crashed down, sending the adjacent trees toppling as well.

The genin leapt out of the way, losing sight of each other as the forest folded in on itself and erupted in a cloud of dust.

/

Mirai ran blindly. The crumbling forest offered no clear direction. She tried searching for her team’s chakra signatures, realized they were probably hidden as they were still alone in enemy territory, and cloaked hers as well. Maybe if she’d find them once she made it back to town.

Her captor threw her inside the locked room without thinking to disarm her, and she was able to trap the boss in her genjutsu before he’d even touched her. It was tantamount to her skill that he’d been unable to throw it off; not for the first time, Mirai considered herself lucky to be the daughter of Kurenai Yuuhi.

That being said, she still had her father’s chakra blades, and pulled them out now. With such little chakra left, she wouldn’t be able to use them for long, but they were comforting to wield nonetheless.

She continued running until she emerged to safe, firm ground, where her body forced her to stop. She braced her arm against a tree, chest burning, eyes wet with panicked tears. Her sensei was buried alive, her teammates were missing in action, and she was all alone on the brink of collapse. They had failed their mission - and, more importantly, Mirai had failed herself in getting captured.

She scrubbed her face and attempted to calm down. Deep breaths, in and out. She thought of her parents waiting for her back home and all of the exams she’d passed at the Academy. She knew how to survive.

Not wanting to use up any more chakra than necessary, she climbed up the tree the old fashioned way. It was slow going, but she eventually managed to surmount its peak. She traced the forest’s trees as they descended lower and lower, eventually thinning out to what must’ve been the trail leading back to town, and let out of sigh of relief.

Knowing where to go, Mirai began shimmying back to the ground. She froze halfway, though, her primal senses suddenly on edge, and glanced down below her feet.

A man stood at the tree’s base, dressed in the same garb as the other thieves. He smiled up at her cruelly. “Lost?” he asked, making no attempt to engage in combat.

Mirai swallowed thickly, rapidly discerning the best course of action. She’d have to stall him.

“No,” she said. “Are you?”

The man shrugged. “Just came back from town and saw you up in that tree. You wouldn’t know, by chance, what happened over there?” He pointed to the east, where the thieves’ tunnels sat in ruins.

Mirai shook her head. “No, sorry.”

“Really?” The man reached into his cloak. “For some reason, I don’t believe you.”

“Well,” Mirai hedged, “I’m just a boring little girl.”

He lifted a brow. “Boring little girls aren’t usually covered in blood.”

“Look me in the eye,” she implored, “I promise.”

Humoring her, the man stilled in retrieving his weapon and did as she asked.

Mirai sent chakra to her feet, freeing her hands in the process, performed a few hand signs, and deployed a genjutsu that left the man in excruciating pain.

She wouldn’t be able to hold it for long, so she dropped to the ground and readied her blue, flaming blades. The man snapped out of the genjutsu but didn’t have time to evade her swift uppercut. The added chakra gouged a deep gash through his clothes, unzipping a large portion of skin in his torso.

He pulled out a long sword and raised it above his head, indifferent to the blood spilling from his wound. Mirai whipped her blades up to parry his downward thrust - a loud clang echoed through the forest.

Mirai gritted her teeth, her stance weakening under the force of his push. Forced to break free, she couldn’t manage to avoid his sword as it sliced her left leg.

All of her weight braced on her right foot, she reared one of the blades back and sent it flying through the air.

The blade aborted the man’s next attack as it shot clean through his heart. He crumpled listlessly to the ground, dead before the blade had even thunked into the tree behind him.

Mirai dropped to her knees, eyesight wavering. Asuma’s blades fizzled out with her consciousness.

/

Stragglers from the surrounding area encroached upon the site of the fallen base, attracted by the loud collapse. In total, Kai detected three unknown chakra signatures. One snuffed out shortly upon detection, presumably downed by a teammate.

There was no telling who did it, but if Kai had to guess they’d place their money on Yuai, given Mirai’s condition. If it was Mirai, Kai worried about her status. She’d sustained a high level genjutsu for the entirety of their separation - additional combat would’ve pushed her already strained limits.

Kai headed toward the two remaining signatures, one of which broke off in Kai’s direction. Judging by their trajectory, they’d cross paths quite soon, so Kai hid up in the trees and waited.

Their opponent arrived loudly, cursing up a storm as he crashed through undergrowth. He didn’t hear when Kai dropped behind him.

Kai unleashed the Gate of Opening. They couldn’t afford to waste a second, not when they needed to find their teammates; Mirai was probably down for the count, and Yuai would be easily overpowered. Either way, there was another threat still at large, and both of their teammates were vulnerable.

Kai folded their arm behind their back and held their other hand out in front of them. Their chakra system surged, overloaded with energy. Pain racked their body, but, having expected it, Kai was unbothered.

Noticing the electrified air, their opponent turned around - and laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “How old are you, three?”

“Five,” Kai corrected. “And a half.”

“Get lost, kid. I’ve got shit to do.”

“Like what?” Kai asked. “Your base of operations is decimated. All of your co-conspirators are dead, and so is your boss.”

The man’s mirth disappeared. “How do you know all that?”

“I’m going to kill you now,” Kai said in lieu of an answer - then flash stepped out of sight.

The man whirled around, confused. “What the - ?”

Kai reappeared mid-air. The man crossed his arms over his head to block their devastating kick; Kai launched off his arms into a backflip and resumed their relentless assault. The man had no time to retaliate, forced to block each of their attacks without room to strike.

Sick of playing around, Kai ripped their scarf from their neck and wrapped its entire length around the man’s body, effectively cocooning him. The Gate of Opening made up for Kai’s smaller size; the extra speed gave them enough momentum to catapult the man into the air, and the additional strength allowed them to lock their arms and legs around his body in order to commence the the first stage of the Front Lotus.

Kai careened upside down. They leapt away with seconds to spare, their scarf unspooling from the man’s form, and landed in time to watch the man collide with the ground. Blood and viscera sprayed everywhere as the earth exploded upon impact.

Two down, one to go.

Kai redonned their scarf with stiff movements, their body protesting the Gate of Opening’s strain. The Gate of Healing offered a temporary resurgence of energy, and Kai sped off to chase the last remaining chakra signature.

/

Yuai escaped the falling trees and debris, only to turn around and run right back once everything had quieted. She didn’t know where her teammates went and, frankly, didn’t care. They could abandon Sakura-sensei if they wanted, but Yuai certainly wouldn’t.

It was impossible to tell where anything was - the radius of demolition left behind a mess of uprooted trees, plants, and dirt. Yuai climbed over the loose and precarious ground piled with rubble. Footing uneven, she tripped a couple of times and accidentally sliced her palms, tore holes into her leggings, and skinned her knees. She attempted to heal these superficial injuries but didn’t have the stamina or focus, and gave up.

Stranded, lost, and in pain, Yuai crested a peak of debris to assess her surroundings. The wreckage went on for a good kilometer and a half, beyond which the forest abruptly rose like a giant wall. Unable to gauge her position laterally, Yuai looked upward. The sky gleamed in fragments through the broken canopy - some gaps larger than others, jagged tree branches stabbing into the blue fields. The sun glared fat and apathetic to Yuai’s plight, fastened to the left side of the sky.

Yuai failed to calculate the time; so much had happened so quickly, it had probably only been a couple hours since the team had left town, but to Yuai it felt like an entire day. She spun in a circle, unable to pinpoint the sun’s position, east or west.

Hopeless, there was nothing to do but move onward. Yuai used an errant branch to poke the ground as she walked - the dirt occasionally sank, funneling down into pockets of empty space where underground tunnels used to be. Yuai followed these sinkholes with great caution, assuming that they would lead her back to the fallen base where she’d be able to dig Sakura out.

It was an arodrous hike. The ground fell out multiple times as the sinkholes increased in frequency, and Yuai had to brace her stick across overhanging tree trunks and pull herself to safety.

Wary of the ground’s integrity, she started hopscotching across rocks and debris, leaping in time to avoid their successive collapse. She tried not to think about the possibility that she was making things worse and might’ve inadvertently crushed Sakura with her own heedlessness.

Eventually, Yuai paused to rest, leaning against her stick for support. The earth beneath her shifted. With a curse, she made to leap to higher ground - but something snatched her ankle before she could get away.

Yuai fell onto her behind, alarmed. It was a hand . “Sakura-sensei?!”

Dreadful hope ignited in Yuai’s chest. She crawled forward and began to dig, throwing armfuls of dirt over her shoulder.

“I’m here, Sakura-sensei,” she said - and started cry. “I came back for you, don’t worry!”

An entire arm pierced the loosening dirt. Yuai gripped it tight and pulled with all of her might. Another arm followed, then a head and torso.

But it wasn’t Sakura.

A man climbed out of the ground, coughing. His dark clothes were dirty and torn; bleeding lacerations decorated his bared skin.

“You’re not Sakura-sensei! Get away from me,” Yuai screeched, terrified tears running down her face. Her feet loosened waves of dirt as she scrambled backward, kicking.

The man staggered to his feet, an arm wrapped around his waist, and spat blood out of his mouth. “You’re that Leaf brat,” he said. “I saw you in town.”

Yuai’s eyes widened upon recognition. It was the thief from the distribution center - the one who Jun had identified.

He advanced toward her. “This is your fault, isn’t it? What did you do ?”

“It - it wasn’t me,” Yuai whimpered. Her back pressed against a tree trunk. She was absolutely cornered. Sakura was right - she wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t feel like a kunoichi; she felt like a little kid. Except no one would be swooping in to save her - her parents were miles and miles away, and her sensei was probably dead.

The man leaned down, close enough so that Yuai could smell his blood. “If it wasn’t you, who was it then? Was it the rest of your team ? I don’t see them around,” he leered.

Yuai’s throat bobbed. She felt like she was going to start puking, or hyperventilate - or both.

The man scoffed, reaching for her neck.

Something awoke deep inside of Yuai, straight from her gut - the primal need to stay alive. Heat coursed through her veins, culminating in a fire behind her eyes.

She gasped and covered her face with her hands. Something wet dripped down from her eyes, but it wasn’t tears. It was blood .

She lowered her hands and blinked. The world sharpened around her, as did the man in front of her.

He froze, expression falling to blank shock. “That....that’s the Sharingan ,” he said. “You’re an Uchiha…”

It’ll happen when it’s meant to happen, and not a moment sooner , Obito had said. When your life is threatened. And only then.

Emboldened, Yuai stood up, a single tomoe whirling in her crimson eyes. “Yes, I am.”

Yuai rapidly formed several hand signs, the last of which she brought to her mouth, and exhaled a whip of fire.

The man ran away from the heat, but Yuai followed him with her Sharingan, incinerating the flammable debris he left in his wake. The ground darkened with crumbling ash, lessening the amount of footholds the man had available to him. Incensed, he leapt into the air and discharged a water release.

“Just my fucking luck,” Yuai muttered to herself as the torrential wave killed her jutsu and its resulting wildfire. Smouldering columns of pungent smoke drifted into the sky.

Clothes and hair plastered to her body, Yuai backtracked to firmer ground, the man following at a breakneck pace. She turned around just in time to evade his punch, and released another jutsu.

He doused each bullet of fire and laughed. “It’s hopeless,” he said. “Your little tricks can’t hurt me.”

It was true. Yuai lobbed three fireballs at him which he easily dissolved. She knew she didn’t stand a chance against him at hand-to-hand combat, but her long range technique was proving to be entirely ineffective.

Then a blurred form jumped into the fray.

Yuai never thought she’d be happy to see Kai. But there Kai was, standing between her and her opponent like a miraculous sentinel - haggard and disheveled and pertinacious as always.

The man groaned. “Great - another kid!”

“Yuai,” Kai greeted. “Congratulations.”

Yuai frowned. “Huh? Oh - “ The Sharingan, of course. She touched below her eyes. “Thanks.”

“Ready to work as a team?”

Yuai nodded, smiling. “Fuck yeah I’m ready!”

“Let’s do this, then,” Kai said.

They spread their feet and roared.

“Third Gate - OPEN!!!”

A whirlwind of green air whipped around them, kicking up leaves and chunks of earth. Yuai lifted her arms to protect her face from the storm.

“Kai…,” she breathed in awe. Her teammate’s skin turned red, veins bulging along their limbs and temples. This was the power of the Eight Inner Gates, and at five (and a half) years old, Kai had opened three of them.

“ Now , Yuai,” they yelled, shattering her trance.

She unfurled a wave of fire. Their opponent had no choice but to jump out of the way. Before he could retaliate with his water release, Kai appeared before him.

Yuai barely followed Kai’s movements even with the Sharingan. They swung their first into the man’s chin, launching him even higher into the sky, then followed with several kicks. Up and up and up they went - until a downward chop sent the man hurtling back to the ground.

Yuai sped forward, ready with another whip of fire. This time, the man couldn’t wash it away. Flames lanced up from the ground and encircled his body, and the ground split apart underneath him into a smoking crater once he crashed.

Yuai slid down into the crater to investigate. Kai landed behind her, emanating waves of energy.

“He’s dead,” Yuai said. “Holy shit! You saved my life, Kai!”

Kai’s body heaved with fatigue, their eyes glowing white. “Don’t mention it.”

“We did it!”

“Awesome,” Kai said. “I think I’m going to pass out, now.”

“What?!”

Yuai dove onto her knees. Kai fell limp into her arms hot to the touch, their skin pink and raw. Yuai laid them flat on their back, brushed the sweat and hair away from her eyes, and placed her hands over their chest.

“Please, please, please,” she prayed, recalling every bit of training Rin had given her, palms glowing green, but it was no use. All of the damage was internal; Yuai couldn’t even begin to heal the infinitesimal muscle tears. She thumped Kai’s chest with her fists. “You idiot!! You can’t make me like you and then die! What kind of teammate are you, anyway?! We haven’t even found Sakura-sensei, and Mirai’s still out there somewhere! They need our help! So wake up, dummy!”

Kai didn’t budge. Yuai sniffed, falling to despair, and threw herself on top of their unconscious form.

“Wake up,” she sobbed. “Please, wake up… I’ll never make fun of you again, I promise. Just wake up...” Right now, Kai was all she had; she couldn’t bear to lose them, or live with the guilt that they’d died in saving her life.

She got up once her tears subsided, lifted Kai in her arms, and started climbing the sloping side of the crater. Her sorrow transformed to anger; a psychological survival mechanism Yuai knew all too well.

“This is just like you, to act all badass and then force me to pick up your slack,” she continued to narrate. “You pretend like you don’t care about anything, but you do! You care about us, I know it! That’s why you came back for me - and why you wanted to go save Mirai! Admit it, loser!”

Yuai shook Kai, as if it’d bring them back from the brink of death.

“Ah, screw it,” she grunted. “You’re probably faking, actually. You just want to see me struggle, I bet. Well, I won’t give you the satisfaction! Nope! I’m totally fine! I’m not freaking out at all. In fact - “

Yuai halted at the familiar sound of crackling wood. A pile of broken, burning trees, their interiors glowing with red embers, suddenly collapsed inward and toppled over the edge of the crater.

“Shit!”

Yuai jumped over the wave of hot debris. The disturbance created a slide of dirt, and the already loose ground slackened further - resulting in a chain reaction as sinkholes converged into one underneath.

Encumbered by Kai’s weight and at the limits of her chakra, there was nothing Yuai could do. She landed on an upended tree root, but that, too, fell out from under her, and she was swallowed by the sinking earth, Kai held close to her chest.

/

Yuai woke up in total darkness with a pounding headache. She groaned, then realized she could breathe . She had air . She had room to sit up.

She activated a small fire release and found herself in a cavern braced by two trees slanted against each other in a cross support. Kai laid several feet away, bloodied and unconscious. Yuai scurried toward them and pressed her ear against their chest. She listened to their heartbeat, felt the shallow rise and fall of their lungs.

Kai was alive, and so was she, and they were both trapped underground with no way out. Yuai barely withheld her enraged scream. One flaming hand held high above her head, she dragged Kai by their arm and investigated the perimeter of the cavern.

As she feared, there was no escape, no light piercing from above, no current of fresh air leading outside. Yuai let Kai’s body plop to the ground. She sat next to them and curled into a ball.

She was going to die. Kai was going to die too. They should’ve listened to Sakura and went back Konoha. Yuai wanted to go home so, so badly. She’d never get to see her parents again, and neither would Kai. Yuai wondered what Kakashi and Gai would say at Kai’s funeral. They wouldn’t even have a body to bury. Her own parents wouldn’t have a body to bury. Obito would be heartbroken - he was the Hokage, after all; he’d approved their mission. Rin would put on a brave face for her husband’s sake, but she’d be just as depressed.

And Mirai. Smart, courageous, boring Mirai. She’d think it was her fault. It’d only be logical, in her mind - she got kidnapped, forcing her team to come after her, unknowingly sending them to their deaths. Poor Mirai. Yuai wished she could see her one more time, tell her she was just jealous and that’s why she was so mean. Yuai was mean to a lot of people.

She was mean to Kai. Stupid Kai. Yuai peeked over her knees to stare at their face. It looked like they were sleeping, almost. They were so young. They were only five years old, but they were so strong - Yuai knew they could’ve been the strongest shinobi of their generation. But not anymore.

What would they say, if they were awake? Would they be just as scared as Yuai? Would they face their death with dignity? Yuai didn’t know. Kai was unpredictable. She never knew what they were going to do or say next. Maybe, she thought, they would’ve been friends, one day. But that was too sentimental. No, they wouldn’t be friends - at least, not in the traditional sense. But they could’ve been rivals. That sounded right.

It was pointless, though. Yuai let the flame in her hand die out. Ensconced in darkness, it was almost like she was already dead. She laid down beside Kai, pressed against their back.

So, this was the end.

Maybe she should kill Kai and herself to save them from the torture of death. She wasn’t sure if they’d run out of oxygen or starve first; either possibility seemed likely. For now, she simply closed her eyes, and tried to focus on the world around her.

Chakra was life was chakra. It felt good to let her perception stretch out. Somewhere, far away, she detected Mirai’s signature, soft and steady. Yuai hoped Mirai was alright. She latched onto her friend’s presence, comforted by the knowledge she was still alive.

Wait…

Mirai was coming closer . Someone else was with her too, someone familiar…

“Sakura-sensei,” Yuai gasped. Sakura had survived - but how, and here had she been this whole time?

“Calm down,” Yuai told herself. “Think. Be smart.” She needed to be smart, like Mirai. What would Mirai do?

She’s trying to let us know where she is , Sakura had said when Mirai was captured.

That’s it!

Yuai had awful chakra control. Frenzied fire jutsus didn’t require a lot of finesse, unlike medical ninjutsu. It was why she took so poorly to Rin’s teachings. But there was no better time to learn than when your life depended on it.

She gathered her scant remaining chakra and projected it at full blast. It was kind of like screaming in your own head - but with your life force, not with your thoughts.

Mirai and Sakura sped up. They’d located Yuai!

Yuai laughed into Kai’s back, relieved tears pricking in her eyes. “It’s okay, Kai,” she said. “Everything’s gonna be okay!”

Sakura’s chakra signature arrived directly above them.

“Down here!” Yuai yelled. “We’re down here!”

The sound of breaking earth spurred Yuai to sit up. She pulled Kai into her lap and emitted another flame from her hand.

A column of wood slowly snaked toward them. Flabbergasted, Yuai watched as it dipped low to the ground; she had no idea Sakura could use wood release jutsu! The cavern started to shake, weakened by this disruptive element, and the wood widened to form a horizontal semicircle. Yuai clambered inside of it, Kai in her arms. Unsure of how to communicate their safety, she slapped the side of the wood.

Sakura must’ve understood because the circle grew into a complete orb, and they were pulled above ground, high into the air.

“Sakura-sensei,” Yuai yelled. She punched the orb’s interior, desperate to see her team. “Sakura-sensei, let us out!”

Muffled by the wood, Sakura’s reply was tinged with desperation. “Just hold on a little bit longer, Yuai, it’s not safe.”

Mirai’s voice came next. “Yuai?!”

“Mirai!” Yuai pressed her forehead against the wood. “Wow, am I glad to hear you!”

“Is Kai with you?”

“Yeah! They’re hurt, though.” Yuai leaned back and fumbled for their friend, unable to see them in the dark. “They opened the Gates.”

“Don’t worry, Sakura-sensei will fix them.”

“How did she find you?” Yuai asked.

“You’ll see,” Mirai said.

“We’re almost there,” Sakura added. She was soaring through the air, holding the orb above her, Yuai could feel it.

They finally landed on solid ground a couple moments later and the orb receded.

Sakura stood before them caked in dirt, her uniform torn. Black ribbons emanated from her Strength of a Hundred Seal and wrapped around her arms. Mirai was on her back, though she quickly wiggled down and launched at Yuai, wrapping the other girl in a giant hug.

Yuai returned the embrace just as fiercely, only pulling away when Sakura bent down to assess Kai.

“Are they gonna be okay?” she asked.

“Most of the Gates aren’t fatal,” Sakura assured, already performing a diagnostic scan of Kai’s body. “Kai will be fine; they just need to rest. How many Gates did they open?”

“Three, I think,” Yuai replied.

“Wow,” Mirai said.

“Oh, Kai…” Sakura paused, overcome with emotion, then proceeded to expertly heal the countless abrasions under Kai’s skin.

Yuai slumped into Mirai’s side. “So, what happened to you?” she asked the older genin. “Everything got so crazy - I didn’t know where you or Kai went.”

“I didn’t know where I was either, to be honest,” Mirai admitted. “I ran for a long time, climbed a tree to figure out where to go next. Then, this guy showed up - “

“What!” Yuai interjected. “Somebody found me, too! How many survived?”

“At least three,” Mirai said, “since Kai fought one, too. Anyway,” she continued, “that genjutsu I used took a lot out of me. I barely had any chakra, so I put it all in my blades, and then,” her voice lowered, “then I killed him.” She brightened with false cheer. “Two in a row! Afterward, I passed out. When I woke up, Sakura-sensei was there, with her hawk and her seal all, well, you know.” She gestured at their sensei, who remained bent over Kai.

“Damn,” Yuai said. She had a basic understanding of the seal’s nature. “Is that how she made it out alive?”

Mirai nodded. “It practically turns her invincible. The seal is like a storehouse of extra chakra that, when released, replenishes every cell in her body. So, if she broke any bones, or crushed her lungs or something, it all healed on its own. It makes her really strong, too, which enabled her to climb up out of the ground.”

“Why didn’t she do that to begin with?” Yuai asked. “I thought… I thought she was dead .”

“She couldn’t,” Mirai explained. “If she broke out, the entire place would’ve collapsed with us still inside. Plus, she had to make sure that creepy boss or whatever was really dead.”

“Oh.” Yuai frowned. “I guess that makes sense.”

Mirai leaned back on her hands, smirking. “Of course it does, because I just explained it to you perfectly.”

Yuai nudged her shoulder. “Know-it-all.”

Mirai laughed, carefree and a little manic with relief. She bent her left leg to her chest and pointed at her calf. “Sakura-sensei healed me, too, right there. She’s the coolest.”

Yuai leaned back on her hands as she watched Sakura work. “She really is. Did you know she could do that wood release stuff?”

Mirai shook her head. “No. I’m assuming it’s a mix of her water and earth techniques. You have to be an expert to manage that, though. Nobody’s done it on their own since the First Hokage. It’s like...mixing oil and water, in terms of chakra control.”

Yuai’s nose scrunched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Water and oil,” Mirai said. “They don’t combine…”

“I’m not a chemist!”

“You don’t need to understand chemistry to know that. Just…forget about it, Yuai. Nevermind.”

The girls perked when Sakura stood. The black ribbons dwindled back into the diamond on her forehead. “Kai’s fine,” she informed. “I mitigated most of the damage. They won’t wake up for awhile, though.”

Yuai wasn’t surprised. She’d seen Kai’s augmented abilities in real time; it made sense that the Gates tore them up from the inside out.

“How are you, Yuai?”

“Me? I’m - I’m fine!” Which was true, she realized. Besides some superficial injuries, she was unscathed - thanks to Kai, mostly.

Sakura knelt in front of her anyway and healed her knees and hands. “Just to make sure,” she said.

Yuai grinned. “Thanks.”

Sakura lowered her hands, gaze softening. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at Mirai, too. “Both of you.”

Yuai’s grin turned into a frown. “Why?”

“I should’ve trusted my gut. I had a bad feeling about this all along. Look at where it got us.”

“But we’re all okay,” Yuai said. “You saved us.”

“After putting you in danger, first.”

“None of us are perfect,” Mirai said. Sakura blinked, shocked at Mirai’s laidback statement. Yuai, too, looked at her teammate with confusion. Mirai blushed. “I mean... we’re all kinda new at this, right? You’ve never been a sensei before. We all make mistakes. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t,” Sakura sighed. “We’ll have to give the Hokage one hell of a report once we get back to Konoha.”

Yuai waved off her sensei’s concerns. “Let me worry about my dad.” Her cool demeanor faltered at the thought of him. “Speaking of… Can we go home, now?”

“Yes, Yuai,” Sakura said. “We can go home.”

/

“...And that’s pretty much it,” Yuai finished.

She stood between Mirai and Sakura in front of the Hokage’s desk. They’d all showered and changed, so at least they didn’t look as tired as they felt. Kai was at the hospital and therefore excluded from the report.

They’d been at it for over an hour. Sakura’s extrapolation was thorough and professional, albeit interlaced with self-chastisement and various apologies. Mirai spoke with tact and respect, recounting details Yuai hadn’t even thought to remember. Yuai simply rushed through her memories, making sure to insist that everyone was okay and it definitely wasn’t Sakura’s fault that everything went to hell, though she glossed over the part where she and Kai had almost died.

Obito had shucked off his hat and robes halfway into the meeting. Presently, he rubbed his forehead, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.

“Well,” he said. “That’s...a lot.”

Sakura stepped forward. “Hokage-sama, I take full responsibility for the turn of events. I should have returned to Konoha immediately once it became clear that the mission’s scale exceeded my team’s capabilities. Please, if you wish to discipline us, do not punish my students; they did nothing wrong.”

“Come off it, Sakura. You asked permission to continue with the mission under new parameters, which I granted. If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

Yuai scowled. “But Dad! You didn’t know it’d turn out the way it did, either - “

“That’s enough, Yuai,” Obito snapped, in full Hokage Mode. “It is my duty to predict every possible outcome. In this instance, I failed to do so.” He looked at Sakura. “No one is going to be punished. Though I will enforce a temporary leave for your team, given Kai’s condition.”

Mirai and Sakura bowed. “Yes, Hokage-sama,” Sakura said. Yuai just crossed her arms.

“I should thank you guys, actually,” Obito continued. Mirai and Sakura looked up, surprised, and Yuai dropped her arms. “If it weren’t for you, we never would have known about that crime syndicate. It’s unfortunate that the evidence of their operations was destroyed, but that’s how things go, sometimes. I’ll dispatch a group of personnel to oversee the rest of the investigation.”

Yuai elbowed her sensei. “See? It all worked out.”

“Yup,” Obito agreed. “Looks like you all got something valuable out of this, as unfortunate as it was.”

His knowing gaze lingered on Yuai; she preened under her father’s attention. “That’s right!”

“Good.” With that, he waved the team away. “You’re all dismissed - except for you, Yuai.”

Yuai stopped halfway to the door. Mirai and Sakura paused ahead of her and shared a glance.

“We’ll wait outside,” Sakura said.

“You don’t have to,” Yuai said, “it’s fine, really.”

Mirai shook her head. “We want to. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair if we got to see Kai before you did.”

Fond appreciation swelled in Yuai’s chest. “Okay.”

They smiled at her, then shut the door behind them.

Yuai turned around to face her father.

Professional pretenses discarded, Obito swept out from behind his desk and pulled Yuai into a tight hug. Yuai shuddered, wrapping her arms around his waist. She’d missed him.

“How are you?” he asked. “Really?”

Yuai shrugged, her voice muffled in the fabric of his shirt. “I’m okay.”

“You don’t sound like it.” Obito hooked his thumb under her chin, encouraging her to look into his eye. “The Sharingan… That’s a pretty big deal.”

“It happened it when it was supposed to, just like you told me,” Yuai said. She really didn’t want to talk about it right now.

“We’ll have to do some training. Maybe Kakashi can give you some pointers - or Sasuke, if he ever shows up again.”

Yuai’s brow furrowed at the mention of her second cousin. “Did you know he gave Sakura-sensei a hawk?”

“No, but that was pretty cool. I’m kinda jealous.”

Yuai giggled. “Right? Kai’s summon is cool too.”

“Maybe you can have one someday. For now, let’s just focus on one thing at a time, alright?” Obito flicked her nose. “I can’t let you surpass me while I’m still in office.”

“Just watch me,” Yuai said. She jumped into an offensive kata. “I could be the next Hokage, after all!”

Obito clutched his chest and fell to his knees, feigning defeat. “I can see it now… Obito Uchiha, bested by his own daughter.”

Yuai slung her arms around his neck. “You’re stupid.”

“You’re stupider,” Obito countered.

“You’re stupidest!”

He laughed, and gently disengaged from her hold. “At least you haven’t lost your sense of humor. You know…” He tugged at her topknot. “Shinobi business is serious. It’s only going to get more intense. Things like this happen all the time - missions fail, stuff goes sideways, you lose track of your team. You can’t let it bring you down.”

“I know,” Yuai said. She knew that, perhaps in an alternative universe, there could have been a version of her father who had succumbed to his own failings. In that universe, he’d never returned from Kanabi Bridge - he’d never married Rin, he’d never became Hokage, and Yuai had never been born.

But that wasn’t the universe Yuai lived in. In her world, she had a loving father, a loving mother, and a team who finally managed to get their act together. The future laid before her bright and promising. Despite its inevitable complications, Yuai wouldn’t give it up for anything.

“Promise me,” Obito said.

Yuai lifted her chin. “I promise.”

Obito leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Alright. I’ve got a report to process, and you need to go be with your team. Plus, your mom is working, and I’m sure she’s dying to see you - ”

Yuai grappled him in another hug. “I love you, Dad.”

Obito stilled with a gentle smile. “I love you too, Yuai.”

/

Mirai and Yuai insisted on bringing Kai flowers, so they stopped at the Yamanaka shop before heading to the hospital. Sakura spent a couple minutes telling Ino about their mission as the genin searched for the prettiest bouquet; Sakura blanched at its price, but Ino told her it was on the house, and sent them off with well wishes.

Rin was standing outside Kai’s door when they arrived, slotting a clipboard into its proper shelf under the plaque that read Kai’s name and patient number. Yuai broke away from her team and, as per usual, jumped onto her mom’s back.

“Mom!”

“Yuai!” Rin swung her around and held her tight. “How are you?”

“Who cares? I’m okay, I’m great, I’m spectacular. How’s Kai?”

“Just fine,” Rin assured, lowering Yuai to the floor. She held her hand out to Sakura as she and Mirai approached. “Sakura… Thank you for keeping my daughter safe.”

“Oh.” Sakura belatedly accepted Rin’s handshake. “You’re welcome. But it was really her own doing.” She grinned at Yuai and Mirai. “The team worked great together.”

“Kai told me all about it,” Rin informed.

“They’re awake?” Mirai asked.

“They were for a little bit,” Rin said. “They’re asleep now, but you can go inside.”

“Bye Mom, love you,” Yuai rattled, then raced into Kai’s room with Mirai in tow.

The girls halted to a stop once they entered the room, shushing each other. Kai laid in bed, swamped by blankets and machinery, a white cloth covering the lower half of their face. Kakashi was absent, but Gai sat vigil at Kai’s bedside, and looked up upon their teammates’ arrival.

“Mirai-chan, Yuai-chan! It is so great to see you,” he boomed. “And you’ve brought flowers, oh my!” He wheeled forward and took the bouquet from Mirai’s hands before either genin could return his exuberant greeting. “They’re beautiful - absolutely magnificent! I’m sure Kai will love them.” He glanced at his child, as if Kai could hear them, and added in a conspiratorial whisper, “But they wouldn’t admit it outright, as I’m sure you know.”

“Sure,” Mirai said. “Kai is...not forthcoming.”

“Indeed! Too much of their father in them, that’s for sure!”

The girls pulled up two spare chairs to Kai’s bed as Gai unwrapped the bouquet. He set the flowers in a small styrofoam cup filled with water and put it on the windowsill.

“Voila!”

Yuai laughed. “Amazing!”

“Shouldn’t we get a vase or something?” Mirai asked.

Gai wagged his finger. “Nay, Mirai - it is beauty itself that matters, not the vessel in which it is contained.”

“But it’s, like, about it fall…”

“Hmm?” Gai turned just as the cup upended with the weight of the bouquet; water and flowers spilled across the floor. “Oh, drat!”

Yuai had no idea how Kai was sleeping through this.

Sakura stepped inside. “Don’t worry, I got it.” She held up a plastic vase. “Rin stole this for me from the waiting room.”

“How thoughtful,” Gai said, scooting to give her room to clean up. “Tell me, Sakura-chan, how did your first jaunt as sensei go?”

“Awful,” Sakura confessed. She placed the flowers back on the windowsill in their new container.

Gai smiled. “Were you expecting anything else?”

“From those brats?” Sakura returned his smile. “No way.”

“We weren’t that bad,” Yuai said. “Well, maybe a little.”

“It was pretty bad,” Mirai told her.

“Hey! Whose side are you on?”

Mirai raised her hands. “I’m just being honest!”

Sakura put an end to the brewing argument: “You’re both terrible.” She looked down at Kai. “Them, too. I hate all of you.”

Everyone in the room stared at Kai for a moment, until Gai broke the silence.

“I meant to ask you, Yuai…”

Yuai looked up. “Me?”

“Kai said you saw them open the Third Gate.”

“Oh.” Yuai kicked her feet. “Yeah, I did. They, um. They saved my life.”

“I see.” Gai dwarfed Kai’s hand in both of his own, careful not to disturb the IV. “The Gates served their purpose, then.”

“What’s that?” Mirai asked. Yuai was curious, too; she assumed they were just another one of Kai’s endless powerful techniques.

Gai’s brow furrowed. “You don’t know? The Gates are meant to protect your most precious people.”

Yuai’s mouth opened and closed. She couldn’t think of a suitable reply.

“You mean a lot to Kai,” Gai said, “all of you do. Whether they show it or not, that much has been proven by their sacrifice.”

“Wow,” Mirai murmured, “I never would’ve guessed.”

Sakura didn’t seem quite as shocked. “It’s true,” she said. “I had to stop them from running after you, Mirai.”

Yuai shifted in her seat. “Gai-san,” she began, the honorable suffix awkward on her tongue, “I meant to ask you something, too.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Do you think Kai would accept me as their rival?” she blurted out. “I know I’m not as strong as them, but after seeing what they were able to accomplish… It was inspiring. And I’m not gonna let them overtake me! I want to be just as strong as Kai, and I figure the only way I can do that is if I train with them, to defeat them one day!”

Gai inhaled sharply. His face split in a wide smile and he sent her two thumbs up. “Yes, Yuai! One thousand times yes! Rivalry is one of the most sacred bonds you can share with a comrade! The knowledge that my child’s performance has motivated you to reach your fullest potential… This is the proudest day of my life!”

Yuai grimaced at Gai’s loud show of emotion, while Mirai dropped her chin into her hands. “So what you’re saying is you two are going to be even more insufferable from here on out?” she asked.

“Not at all,” Gai answered on behalf of Yuai. “On the contrary, Yuai and Kai will sow the seeds of each other’s youth! You should not exclude yourself from this awesome opportunity, Mirai! Why not become their rival as well? Your entire team could - “

Mirai cut into his diatribe. “No thanks, I’m good. I’ve always studied on my own.”

Gai didn’t give up. “Think about it, at least!”

“Hmm…” Mirai paused. “Thought about it. It’s still a no.”

“She’s just knows she’ll fall behind,” Yuai told Gai.

“That’s not true,” Mirai said. “I just don’t want to get caught up in your ridiculousness.”

“Yeah, our ridiculous awesomeness ,” Yuai countered.

“It was nice having you guys get along while it lasted,” Sakura said, rubbing her temples. “I’m going to have to invest in therapy - or alcohol.”

“I’d suggest alcohol,” a dry voice intoned.

Sakura looked up. “Kakashi-sensei!”

“Yo.” Kakashi entered the room, two coffees in hand. He walked around to Gai’s side and forcibly sat on one of the arms of his wheelchair. “When did you three get here?” he asked. He passed a coffee to his husband, then grasped Kai’s wrist, right over their pulse point.

“Like, fifteen minutes ago,” Mirai said.

“Yuai asked to be Kai’s rival, Rival,” Gai proudly announced.

“How interesting and entirely unprecedented,” Kakashi droned.

Sakura pushed off the windowsill. “Kakashi-sensei, could I have a word with you?”

Kakashi shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “Shoot.”

“Alone, I mean. Preferably out in the hall.”

“Sakura-chan, I just sat down …”

She huffed. “Can’t you be serious for one second?”

“I’m very serious,” he said, “about being comfortable.”

“This is important!”

“Everyone else should leave, then, because I’m not getting up.”

“What about me?” Gai asked.

“No, not you,” Kakashi said. “You’re my chair.”

Gai relaxed. “Oh, good.”

Sakura raked her hands through her hair. “I don’t know if anyone cares, but I’m about to lose my fucking mind!”

Mirai hopped out of her seat. “Whoa, okay!” She grabbed Yuai’s arm. “We can leave, it’s fine!”

“No it’s not,” Yuai protested.

Mirai leaned into her shoulder and whispered, “Sakura-sensei is going to kill us if we don’t.”

Yuai took a second look and realized their sensei was experiencing another one of her terrifying mood swings. They seemed to be triggered, alternatively, by Yuai, Kai, and Kakashi.

“You’re right,” she whispered back, “let’s go.”

They walked out to the hallway - and immediately pressed their ears against the closed door.

It was strange to hear Kakashi’s voice lack any traces of sarcasm. “What is it, Sakura?” he asked, instantly serious.

“These kids are going to be the death of me,” Sakura said. “We’re only on our first mission, and I already nearly lost them.”

“Been there before…”

“I keep thinking about all the ways it could’ve gone wrong - and all the things I should’ve done better.” Sakura’s breath hitched, her throat presumably clogged with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry about Kai, too. Obito let me off easy, but I know this was all my fault…”

The conversation quieted to hushed whispers, occasionally interrupted by Sakura’s sobs, Kakashi’s deep sighs, and words of comfort from Gai. It was just as well, for Yuai and Mirai no longer wanted to eavesdrop, and felt ashamed for listening in on the first place.

They abdicated to the waiting room, which was luckily empty, and entertained themselves by swapping would-you-rather questions whilst laying side by side on the floor.

Of course, Mirai’s questions pertained to shinobi practice. “Would you rather only take deadly S-rank missions, back to back, for the rest of your life, or have breaks in between missions with an early retirement, but all the missions are C-rank?”

“So, basically, do I want to become an elite jounin or a permanent chuunin?” Yuai asked.

Mirai smirked. “Fair point.”

“S-rank, duh,” Yuai said. “I can’t become Hokage if I don’t have a super impressive resume.”

“Okay. Give me a question. And make it a good one this time!”

“Would you rather eat a worm or a beetle?”

“What!” Mirai propped up on her elbows, glaring. “That’s not a good question!”

“Sure it is,” Yuai said. “It’s a difficult choice to make. Worms are slimy and wiggly and they might crawl down your throat still alive, but they’re really small. Beetles are easier to chew, but they’re big and have lots of parts to them. Like, you could get a leg or antenna stuck between your teeth for days.”

“That’s disgusting. Why have you put so much thought into this?”

“I dunno. Don’t you ever imagine what it’s like to eat bugs?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, I’d choose the worm.”

“You can’t answer your own question, Yuai.”

“ You weren’t answering!”

“I am, I promise,” Mirai said. “I’m just...considering it. I’d pick the beetle, I guess. At least it probably has protein .”

“I didn’t know you were a nutritionist,” Yuai said. She lifted her head when Rin passed by. “Hey, Mom, come here real quick!”

Rin paused, frowning. “Yuai, I am so thankful that you’re safe, and I love you with all of my heart, but I am working .”

“It’ll just take a second!”

Rin crouched in front of the girls. “What is it?”

“Would you rather eat a worm or a beetle?” Yuai asked.

Used to her daughter’s outlandish fancies, Rin didn’t miss a beat. “I’d eat a worm. Is that all?”

“Yup, thanks!” She grinned at Mirai once her mother walked off. “That’s two against one. You picked the wrong answer.”

Mirai scowled back at her. “There’s no wrong answers, that’s not the point. The game is about personal preferences.”

“Well, I’m still right. Maybe we should ask your parents.”

“What?” Mirai rolled onto her knees. “Mom! Dad!”

Kurenai and Asuma waved from down the hall. Mirai hadn’t seen them since she stopped by her home to change, and that had been nearly two hours ago. They approached, arms laden with snacks and blankets.

“Hey, kiddos,” Asuma greeted. “We bring gifts!”

“We assumed you’d stay here for the day to be with Kai,” Kurenai explained. “Why aren’t you in their room?”

“Sakura-sensei is having a meltdown with Kakashi-san,” Mirai said.

“Ah,” Kurenai sagely replied. “Mind if we wait with you?”

“Check it out.” Asuma flashed a deck of cards.

Yuai sat up excitedly. “Sweet!” She had no idea that Asuma had taught Mirai the finer points of poker, and Mirai declined to enlighten her.

/

Three rounds later, Yuai threw her hand down. “This sucks!”

“Don’t feel bad,” Kurenai said, folding as well. “I lose all the time, too.”

The four of them had created a blanket fort of sorts. Rin even popped in for a quick game on her break, and ended up giving Asuma a run for his money. Now, however, it was father against daughter.

Asuma laid out his cards. “Full house, kid. Read it and weep.”

“Nice try, Dad,” Mirai drawled, and revealed her own four of a kind.

Asuma ducked his head, proffering his collection of bite-sized candies with a dramatic flourish. “You win, fair and square.”

Mirai greedily accepted the pool and unwrapped one of the candies. She saw Yuai’s dejected expression, though, tossed it over. “Here.”

Yuai caught the treat swiftly. “Yes!”

Kurenai glanced between them. “Since when were you two being nice?”

“Since she saved me from being kidnapped,” Mirai said.

“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Asuma remarked flippantly, salvaging the lighthearted atmosphere before Kurenai launched into maternal concern.

A door open and shut down the hall, and Sakura walked toward them.

Yuai and Mirai stood up. “Sakura-sensei!”

Sakura smiled, her eyes red and puffy. “Hey, guys.” She nodded at Mirai’s parents, who nodded back. “Kurenai, Asuma.”

“Are you okay?” Yuai asked.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just needed to have a little healthy mental breakdown, that’s all. But I’ve got some good news - Kai woke up!”

“Really?!”

Parents, sensei, and candy forgotten, Mirai and Yuai raced each other to their teammate’s room. Gai and Kakashi barely had time to get out of the way before the two genin pounced on the bed.

“Kai!” they shouted in unison.

Paler than usual but otherwise fine, Kai glowered. “Get off of me.”

Yuai and Mirai situated themselves at the foot of their bed; it was as far as they’d go, for now.

“How are you feeling?” Yuai asked.

“Are you hungry?” Mirai questioned. “My mom and dad brought candy!”

“It’s about time you woke up, we were going crazy waiting!”

“We got you flowers, did you see? Ino-san gave them to us for free, it was really nice of her.”

“Have you ever played poker with Mirai? She’s really good, I don’t even know if you could beat her. Asuma taught her well.”

“If you want to play, I can teach you!”

“You should summon Jun, so she knows that you’re okay! Or just summon her anyway, I wanna see her! Does she know tricks?”

Kai groaned, “Both of you shut up!”

Yuai and Mirai silenced, brimming with excitement. If Kai had enough energy to get angry, everything was okay.

Kakashi turned to Gai. “Let’s leave the kids alone, Gai. Go play some poker with the adults.”

Gai winked. “Ah, yes, what a fine idea, my love!” He leaned down to kiss Kai’s cheek; Kai squirmed at the affection, but didn’t protest. “We will be right outside, my other love!”

The two husbands non-discreetly left the teammates alone to converse.

“So,” Kai said. They looked at Yuai. “Papa said you have something to tell me.”

“Wait, wait.” Mirai scooted to the middle of the bed, to get a good look at the both of them. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Yuai cleared her throat. “Kai, I have been thinking.”

“That’s a shocker.”

“I’m serious,” Yuai scowled.

“Yeah, me too.”

“You know,” Mirai said, “it’s so funny watching you deflect real emotions with sarcasm.”

A blush peeked out from the cloth on Kai’s face. “Okay, okay,” they relented. “What is it, Yuai? Seriously.”

“Seriously,” Yuai echoed nervously. She took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you know this, but you saved my life.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed. “I told you not to mention it.”

“Well, I’m mentioning it! You saved my life. And, in a way, I kind of saved yours after you blacked out.”

“What happened after that, anyway?” Kai asked. “I woke up in this bed, my papa was crying, and my dad was staring at me all funny.”

“It’s a long story,” Yuai dismissed. “I promise I’ll tell you later. The point is, we kind of bring out the badasses in each other, right? So, I wanted to ask you… Well, I just want to ask...”

“Ask me what ?”

“Get on with it,” Mirai groaned.

“I want to be rivals,” Yuai said in a rush. “I mean - shit! Will you be my rival, Kai?”

Kai didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, they started cackling . They laughed for so long their face turned red.

“You could’ve just said no ,” Yuai snapped, embarrassed.

“It’s not that,” Kai said. “Oh, jeeze. Yuai .” They sat up on their pillows and wiped tears from their eyes. “You’re acting like you asked to be my girlfriend .”

The color drained from Yuai’s face - only to return tenfold in righteous fury. “You’re such a dick , Kai!”

“Sorry,” Kai said, calming down. “I’m sorry, I really am. You walked right into that one, though, you have to admit.”

“Can you please give her an answer so we can all move on with our lives?” Mirai beseeched.

Kai squared Yuai with a fierce gaze. “Yes, I will be your rival.”

“Really?” Yuai asked. “Just like that?”

“Now you sound disappointed.”

“I’m not!” In fact, Yuai was far from disappointed. She felt good . She and Kai were rivals, and they had Mirai to act as watchful referee. More importantly, somewhere along the way, they’d become real, tentative friends. “I just...expected you’d need some convincing.”

“Maybe before we went on our mission,” Kai admitted, “but not now.”

Yuai couldn’t even begin to work through the implications within that statement. “I don’t get it.”

“Of course you don’t.” Kai turned to Mirai. “Translate, please.”

Mirai rolled her eyes. “What I think Kai means is that you proved you could possibly, eventually, potentially, theoretically , catch up to them some day.”

Kai nodded their approval, and Yuai gasped. “Really?”

“You saved my life,” Kai said. “I owe you one. If you want to be rivals, we’re rivals. It could be entertaining.”

Yuai didn’t need Mirai to translate that. Kai was grateful . They appreciated her friendship. She’d proven herself to them - not in activating her Sharingan, though that certainly helped, but in staying by their side to the very end.

Memories of being trapped in that cavern underground, facing death with Kai as her only companion, surged to the forefront of Yuai’s mind. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and her bottom lip wobbled.

Kai lifted one of their giant eyebrows. “Do you need a hug?”

“Y-yeah,” Yuai stuttered.

Kai opened their arms. Yuai cried into their small chest, overcome with equal amounts of joy and sadness, and Kai awkwardly rubbed her back.

“Mirai,” they said. “Help.”

Mirai shuffled forward and wrapped her long arms around Yuai’s back.

“This is the only time this is ever going to happen,” Kai established.

“Don’t ruin the moment,” Mirai chastised. She tucked her head into Yuai’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Yuai. We’re all here, all together, and that’s all that matters.”

Sandwiched in between her teammates, Yuai eventually quieted down. “I think I love you guys,” she mumbled.

“We love you too,” Mirai said. “Right, Kai?”

Kai madea noncommittal sound. “I guess.”

The moment was abruptly broken by the loud click of a camera.

Mirai broke off from the group hug first, then Yuai, then Kai. Startled, the three genin turned to the door.

Kakashi grinned at them cheekily, a camera held in his hands - and ran away.

“I got it, Gai! I fucking got it !”

“Really?!” came Gai’s reply.

Sakura spoke next. “No way! Let me see!”

“Oh, shit,” Asuma said.

“I can’t believe it,” Kurenai stated.

“What’s going on?” Rin asked. “Oh, that’s adorable . Wait until Obito sees!”

The incriminating picture would be printed, copied, and shared between parents and sensei. It’d end up in each home, proudly displayed on refrigerator doors as evidence of the first time the students of Team Sakura exhibited true affection for one another. And, yes, it would serve as an endless source of embarrassment.

But Kai, Mirai, and Yuai would also have their own copy of the photo tucked away, cherished for years to come as the first of many fond memories.