Chapter Text
“Today’s mission will be simple…” Shining like the sun on a green field was Minato Namikaze, with his students surrounding him, like eager flowers open to his words: Rin in the middle (as always) with Obito to her left and Kakashi to her right. They wore serious expressions, expecting his solemn air to lay upon them like morning fog before the warmth of his teasing voice and his classic jovial “- but a little dangerous!” burns upon them like afternoon rays. He was always quiet when he started announcements, - just so he can observe each of his students’ reactions. To see how far they can take it before caving in. Hm. They’re doing better today. They can hold it in longer. He thought, evilly.
Kakashi had a harder edge to his usual serious, hooded eyes. Rin, beside him, was attentive, her doe-like expression betraying nothing but curiosity and a slight threatening aura. He sweat-dropped. And Obito… was uncharacteristically quiet, with glaring eyes. He often used anger- anger directed at nothing but his impatience- to hold in his usual “UGHHH JUST HURRY AND TELL US, SENSEI!”
“Today’s mission will be simple…” He repeated. And then he unleashed silence, letting time speak for him.
Tick. Kakashi didn’t move. Tock. Rin let out a tiny sigh. Tick. Obito clenched his jaw. Tock . Kakashi inhaled sharply, yet quietly. Tick. Rin was now stone. Tock. Obito huffed, still concentrated. Tick. It was now Kakashi's turn to clench his jaw. Tock. Rin stared into Minato’s eyes. Tick. Minato sweat-dropped. Tock. Obito ground his feet into the dirt. Tick. Minato opened his mouth. Tock. Rin’s eyes widened. Tick. “...but…” Tock. Kakashi’s heartbeat quickened.
“Delicious!” Minato brightly announced into the air, brandishing his wallet and a little wink. Obito blanched. Kakashi scowled. And Rin… well, Rin stared at the wallet.
“You made us wait for you to say THAT?” Obito shouted. Kakashi nodded and crossed his arms.
“Sensei, it’s foolish that you’re taking us out to eat. I thought we were having a real mission.”
“Ah,” Rin piped up quietly. The two boys immediately jumped, giving her undivided attention. “It will be at a restaurant or at a public dining area, I’m assuming.”
“Bingo!” Minato flashed a smile at his students. Rin placed her arms behind her back, pleasantly smiling at Minato as Kakashi stood silently and Obito wiggled about, bumbling incoherently.
“Uh-right, yeah, I knew that!” He shouted.
“No, you didn’t, you idiot.” Kakashi muttered, admittedly a little annoyed at himself for not thinking what Rin thought.
“I heard you, Bakashi!”
“Oh, good to know you have ears. What about a brain?”
“What about some politeness from you for once?” Obito shot back.
“That’s rich coming from you.” Kakashi cooly said. Rin sighed.
“You guys…” She whispered in half exasperation and half concern, and a little bit of amusement (but she wouldn’t show that to them). Obito, always eager to please her, turned his attention to her. Kakashi was silent. She looked at Minato.
“Sensei, will we be actually eating during the mission?” She asked. Perhaps the boys might feel better with some food in their stomachs. A peaceful meal would be nice…
Minato nodded. “Well… yes, at some point. As you may have guessed, we’ll have to go undercover.”
“Yesss! Like spies!” Obito exclaimed, earning a chuckle from their sensei. Rin could only warmly smile at him as Kakashi sighed in annoyance.
“There are rumors circulating of a dangerous drug overlord using the basement of a cafe in a nearby village as his headquarters.”
“So we’ll be posing as regular civilians ordering like customers,” Kakashi said.
“Correct.” Minato affirmed. Obito nodded, trying to understand how that would help. Rin did the same, and she vocalized the thought.
“Well… how would posing as customers get us closer to headquarters without looking suspicious?”
“Well, I’m glad you asked, Rin! Because, not all of us will be posing as customers.”
“Then who?” Obito asked. He paused. “Oh! Can I be a chef?”
“You’re not old enough to be hired as one, idiot!” Kakashi barked. Rin put a hand on his shoulder as she turned to smile at Obito. She made eye contact with the Uchiha, willing up words that could appeal to him before he starts feeling bad (and before he starts yelling at Kakashi).
“Well, your cooking isn’t that bad, Obito. Maybe they’ll think of hiring you! And if there are people in the staff who are on the mission, they’ll most likely allow you anyway for the sake of it.” Obito smiled and took out his water bottle. He began to drink from it.
Minato chuckled. The sound took Rin's attention back to him, turning her eyes away from Obito and taking her hand off Kakashi. Kakashi momentarily looked at the now-empty spot on his shoulder, watching as Rin pulled her arms behind her back (her signature gesture of attention and politeness) before he also turned his attention to Minato.
Their sensei spoke up, smiling at the girl in the middle. “You are right about one thing, Rin. There are some civilians in on the mission. The cafe they run is actually a maid cafe. And they think that you’d be perfect to pose as one of the waitresses-” Obito spit his water out.
“WH-WHAT?!” Shock flared in his eyes. Minato sweat-dropped. Rin gasped. And Kakashi scowled at the fact that all the water landed on him.
"Now, now, the type of cafe may not be ideal-"
"SO IT'S NOT A REGULAR ONE?! IT'S ONE OF THE WEIRD ONES?"
"Ah, well, I suppose 'weird' is a word you can use-"
“Ri-RIN HAS TO DRESS UP IN ONE OF THOSE CREEPY MAID CAFES?!?”
Minato sighed. He forgot that Obito would get worked up over this. “I know it sounds alarming, and I normally wouldn’t want this-”
“THEN WHY ALLOW IT NOW?”
“It’s simply for the mission and we can always watch over Rin, and the staff will pay close attention to her as well-”
“B-but, that means she has to look- look, y-know-”
Rin inhaled, slowly.
“ Sexy ,” Obito whispered in Minato’s direction. That did nothing since Rin could hear him anyway. Kakashi rolled his eyes.
“Obito-” Minato began.
“I DON’T WANT HER LOOKING LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF SOME RANDO DUDE!” He shouted. Rin sighed, feeling both embarrassed, and well, not really knowing what to feel.
“Obito, that’s not the point.” Minato said, patiently. “Now, Rin, you don’t have to. I just want to ask-”
“Besides, why would you get so worked up over it? It’s not like she’s yours.” Kakashi cooly said. He hadn’t seemed to be paying attention to Minato’s words and had squarely interrupted their sensei. Rin’s eyes widened.
“S-SO?! I don’t care about that! It’s creepy men that make me worried!”
Minato nervously chuckled. “Wait, wait, you guys-”
“No, Rin can protect herself just fine with civilian men. They pose no danger.” Kakashi replied, his voice slightly louder.
“What about the drug overlords?” Obito shouted, getting red in the face.
“Now that’s just a lame excuse. Drug overlords aren’t ninjas. And you talking about this only makes everyone uncomfortable.” By "everyone", he meant Rin, but he didn’t say that.
“I’m talking about it because it’s important! Her safety-”
“Your jealousy-” Kakashi interrupted.
“I’m not jealous!”
“Yeah, you are!”
Rin’s eyes were the size of plates at this point. She didn’t care what they were arguing about. The words were no longer processing in her head. She just wanted them to calm down. “You guys-”
“She wouldn’t want creepy men’s attention!” Obito’s voice was loud. Really loud.
“And she doesn’t want you!” Kakashi’s voice was louder.
Silence. That’s all that followed. Minato gulped, and Rin stood in confusion. She had stopped listening to the conversation a long time ago and was simply horrified by the level of anger that weighed in the air.
“Okay…” Minato clapped his hands together and took a deep breath. “So, as I was saying…” He chose only to look at Rin and not the boys. “This is your choice. If it makes you uncomfortable, we could always have you stationed outside. Your sensing abilities were always impeccable, and I’m sure we could manage without you having to pose as a-”
“I’ll do it.” Rin said, resolute. The two boys looked at her in shock. “A mission’s a mission, right?” She flashed a little smile. And for some reason, that was enough to lift the tension from the air. At least some of it.
“Alright, then! Splendid!” Minato grinned at Rin, still only looking at her for fear of looking at the other boys in the eyes after their little, no big argument.
Rin smiled. “So, what will you three be doing, Sensei?”
Her words lifted even more tension from the air when anger was replaced with curiosity, - on both boys.
“Yeah, Sensei, what will we be doing??!”