Chương 70: The Kenjutsu Squad — Assembled!

Shin was up early the next morning, same as always. He washed up, ran through his morning exercises, and sat down to the breakfast Hana had made. Before heading out, he stopped in front of the mirror and adjusted his forehead protector. A smile came and went on its own. He glanced at the uchigatana hanging on the wall — the one in the black lacquer sheath — and after a moment's hesitation, lifted it down, cradled it in both arms, and walked out toward the Academy.

The classroom was already filling up when he arrived. It was the first day as genin, and most of his classmates were buzzing with it.

"You think we'll end up in the same squad?"

"Who knows. I want to be with Naki."

"I hope I'm in Neji's squad."

"I want to be with Shin-kun." Clusters of students were scattered everywhere, trading hopes about team placements. Most had their forehead protectors tied across their foreheads, though a few wore theirs on their arms or around their necks. Shin drew a string of greetings on his way in and returned each one with a quiet smile. He settled into the same seat as the day before and set his sword on the desk. Tenten was in the seat beside him, already turned toward him.

"Good morning, Shin-kun."

"Good morning." He smiled.

"Who are you hoping to end up with, Shin-kun?" Her cheeks had gone faintly pink when she asked it.

"I don't have a strong preference either way," he said, spreading his hands.

"I don't really know most of my classmates."

"What about us — do you think we'll end up together?"

"No idea." He shook his head, still smiling. They talked a while longer. Then the chunin instructor came in carrying a roster, and the noise settled.

"I'm going to announce the genin team placements now. Three students per squad. When I call your name, that's your team. Your jonin-sensei will come and get you." He looked down at the list.

"Neji Hyuga."

"Rock Lee."

"Tenten."

"You three are Squad One." Every head turned toward the three of them. The three of them looked at each other. Not with Shin-kun... Tenten's heart sank.

"Shin Takami." He blinked. He hadn't expected his name this early — he'd figured he'd be somewhere near the end, like yesterday.

"Sai."

"You two are Squad Two." The room went quiet in a different way. Squads were supposed to have three people. Why did Squad Two only have two?

"Your squad has a slightly unusual composition," the instructor said.

"Your third teammate isn't here at the moment." Shin nodded. That tracks. He glanced over at Sai's seat — of all the people to end up with. He hadn't expected this. The third member, though. He thought back to something Kiba had mentioned — every squad usually had one girl. If that still held, their missing teammate was probably female. The instructor called out the remaining names, gave the room a few reminders, and left. The chatter picked back up immediately.

"OH——!" A single voice hit the room like a thunderclap. Everyone froze. BANG. The classroom door flew open, shuddering in its frame, and a green blur burst through it.

"Where's my beloved student?!" The man filling the doorway was wearing a green jumpsuit beneath a standard flak jacket, a bowl cut sitting flat on his head, and eyebrows so thick they shouldn't have been possible. Every student in the room stared at him. Shin recognized him. He was one of Kakashi's friends." Please don't be my sensei, please don't be my sensei..." Tenten was breathing beside him, barely above a whisper.

"Squad One." The man turned with a raised thumb, his teeth catching the light in a single brilliant flash. Tenten went still. The look that came over her was the look of someone receiving catastrophic news.

"Go ahead," Shin said.

"He's a very powerful jonin." She turned and looked at him with eyes that held nothing good in them. Then she made herself stand and shuffled out." YOUTH!" Another roar from outside. He seemed perfectly ordinary standing next to Kakashi, Shin thought. Just dressed strangely. I didn't expect this. He was quietly, privately glad. The door opened again — softly this time — and a woman stepped through. She was tall, with purple hair falling in long waves past her shoulders.

A standard flak jacket over her blacks, a sword belted at her back. The classroom went still in an entirely different way. It's her. Shin straightened slightly. Yugao Uzuki.

"Squad Two." Her gaze moved across the room and settled on Shin for a single second. Then she turned and walked back out. She's my jonin-sensei? He was genuinely surprised. Of all the coincidences. He picked up his sword, tucked it under his arm, and walked out under the envious eyes of half the class. Sai fell into step beside him. It was only then that Shin noticed Sai also carried a blade — a kodachi, the short sword standard to the Konoha corps. Simple. Unembellished.

"Hey," Shin said. Being teammates, it seemed right to start somewhere.

"Nice to meet you."

"Shin-kun." Sai's face broke into a smile. Shin almost said something back — and then didn't. Something in that smile didn't sit right. He couldn't have named what. He filed it away and followed Yugao. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. …… She led them across the village to a covered footbridge. As they crossed it, Shin spotted a familiar silhouette waiting at the far end, and his step almost faltered. No. Come on.

He'd recognized her before she even turned around. Sōen Kuriyama turned to face them as they approached. Something in her expression stiffened — as if she also hadn't expected to see him. Neither of them said anything. The four of them gathered on the bridge, each with a sword at their side.

"Mm." Yugao looked at the three of them and let out a breath.

"First — welcome to Squad Two. Until you make chunin, I'll be responsible for everything during your time as genin. After that, I'll still be your teacher." She paused.

"Let's start with introductions. I'll go first."

"My name is Yugao Uzuki. Jonin. Age — classified. In my free time I read, watch flowers, and train with my blade. I dislike deception and death. And as for dreams..." A soft smile.

"A quiet life ahead, I suppose." She looked at the three of them.

"Use that as your format." Shin caught her last words and turned them over. A quiet life. From what little he knew of her, it made a certain kind of sense. Yugao looked at Sōen.

"My name is Sōen Kuriyama. Age — classified. Interests — classified. Dislikes — classified. Dreams — classified." She smiled, prim and composed. Shin stared at her. Yugao stared at her.

"Sōen," Yugao said, with great patience.

"That's not really an introduction."

"But a young woman's secrets should stay secret, shouldn't they?" Sōen looked at her with wide, reasonable eyes. Shin decided to step in before this went any further.

"Shin Takami. Eleven. I like sitting quietly and training. Favourite food — red bean dango. Nothing I particularly dislike. As for what I'm working toward..." A beat.

"Getting stronger." Yugao relaxed visibly. Her eyes went to Sai.

"Sai. I enjoy painting. No particular dislikes." A steady smile.

"No dreams." No dreams. Shin and Sōen both looked at him.

"Everyone has something they're working toward," Sōen said. Sai kept smiling and shook his head.

"All right. Then—" Yugao started. She paused. Brought one hand up to her chin. Thought for a moment. Then turned away, reached into her pocket, and pulled something out. A Beginner's Guide to Leading a Genin Squad. Shin caught the cover before he could stop himself. Sōen's expression became very, very controlled. Shin's expression did the same." Ahem." Yugao tucked it away.

"Moving on — we're going to lunch." Shin exhaled slowly. This squad, he thought, is already a lot. Though maybe not entirely bad. He glanced sideways at Sōen's profile. There's at least that. The truth was that Yugao's feelings right now were complicated. This team had been assembled through scheming from the start. That wasn't fair to Shin — and in its own way, it wasn't fair to Sōen, who deserved better. Yugao had promised her own teacher she would look after Sōen.

All she could do now was keep that promise as best she could. As for Shin... She looked across the table at the quiet, composed boy sitting across from her, and felt the weight of it settle. I'm sorry. For Shippu's sake, I have no other choice. [TL note: "Shippu" — name pending confirmation]"You should eat too, Yugao-sensei," Sōen said, noticing her distraction. She placed a piece of grilled meat in front of her.

"... Sō—" Shin started, and then caught himself. He still hadn't figured out the right way to address her." Cousin," Sōen said, cutting in without looking up. He gave a pained smile.

"... Cousin."

"Good boy." Her expression warmed, and she set a piece of grilled meat in his bowl too.

"For being well-behaved."" Cousin? You two know each other?" Yugao looked between them, genuinely surprised.

"He's my cousin," Sōen said, as though this were the most ordinary thing. Yugao went quiet. She turned it over. If this squad was built around Shin, and Sōen happens to be his cousin... She couldn't tell anymore whether the design ran deeper than she'd thought, or whether the world simply folded like this sometimes.

"Cousin," Shin said then.

"Why are you on this team?"

"Why can't I be?" A wounded, doe-eyed look.

"Are you saying you don't want me here?" I do, he thought. Very much, actually. What he did notice was that Sōen's real personality — playful, lightly irreverent — kept pulling against the slot he'd been unconsciously slotting her into. He kept reaching for Yuko and finding someone else. For her part, Sōen had arrived today planning to play the part of someone poised and reserved — a composed, carefully measured kunoichi. Then she'd seen that it was Shin, and the inclination evaporated.

As for their other teammate, Sai — his fixed smile suggested an easygoing temperament. She could work with that.

"Sōen was already a genin for a year before this," Yugao said, stepping in.

"Her previous two teammates were killed in the field. She's been operating alone since then — we've brought her in to complete the squad." Shin nodded.

"You use a sword, Shin?" Yugao said, her gaze settling on the uchigatana propped against the table. He thought about it, then nodded.

"Then we're a kenjutsu squad." Something in her voice lifted slightly. She herself carried a uchigatana. Shin did too. Sai had his kodachi. And Sōen, who had unstrapped her sword from her back and set it on the tabletop, was carrying something that made everyone look twice. The fittings were ornate. The lacquer was deep and fine. The blade — the full length of it in its scabbard — came to well over six feets. Nothing about it resembled a standard tachi." Ōdachi," Shin said, a beat before Yugao could.

An ōdachi — sometimes called a nodachi, or field tachi — was among the longest blades in existence. The length that made it beautiful also made it impractical in close quarters, which was why it had largely retreated from battlefield use into ceremony and formal display. Practitioners who could actually fight with one were rare. Swordsmiths who made them rarer still. Which made it genuinely strange that Buichi Yamamoto's student was standing here with one. Yamamoto worked with an uchigatana.

Where had this come from?

"It's pretty," Sōen said. Yugao stared. Shin stared. ……

"HEY HEY——!" A voice loud enough to carry across the entire restaurant. Every head turned. Squad One came filing in, led by their jonin-sensei, who had one arm raised like he was calling a charge.

"Something for my precious students! Make it a feast!" Right, Shin thought. Them. Might Guy's Squad One: Neji Hyuga, Tenten — and a boy Shin didn't recognize. Dark hair, loosely braided at the back. Plain white clothes, simpler than anything the village usually wore. He had eyebrows that wanted to be Guy's, though they hadn't quite gotten there. He stood slightly stiff, like someone still working out where to put himself in a room. Rock Lee, Shin thought, filling in the name.

"Sensei, please, could you—" Tenten reached out and tugged at Guy's sleeve, voice dropping.

"YOUTH has no need for self-consciousness! YOUTH fears nothing — not the weight of a single stare—!"

"Sensei, you're absolutely right!" Lee lit up, eyes blazing with something that appeared to be genuine conviction.

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!" Tenten was looking at the wall. How do two people arrive at this so quickly? She was trying to understand how, at any point, they could have decided to be like this. She was coming up empty. Two complete cases, and back in the squad waiting for her — a class-topper with a personality designed to make everyone around him feel small. She glanced across the restaurant to where Shin was sitting, and her expression went wistful. If only I were on that squad...

"Senpai." Yugao raised a hand from across the room. Guy noticed her and brought his squad over.

"Sōen-nee!" Tenten spotted Sōen and felt a flicker of genuine warmth, quickly followed by confusion. What was Sōen doing here?

"You're Yugao Uzuki, right?" Guy looked at her with a slight uncertainty, working through it.

"Weren't you — you were part of one of Kakashi's ANBU squads, weren't you?"

"Yes. I served under Kakashi-senpai. I've only just made full jonin." She bowed, and the respect in it was genuine. Shin took this in without surprise. He'd already pieced it together — from the self-introductions, from how many times she'd quietly checked the guidebook when she thought no one was watching.

"Kakashi..." Guy shook his head with the gravity of someone about to say something that required it.

"My rival. The man I've measured myself against my entire life." Shin looked at this person, and then held in mind what he knew about Kakashi — that particular impression of depth and danger and total illegibility — and found he genuinely couldn't hold both at once. People aren't what they look like. He thought it and left it there.

"GUY-SENSEI! What kind of shinobi is your rival?!" Lee looked like he might actually burst.

"A fine question, Lee!" Guy produced a thumbs-up, and the teeth came out again.

"Hatake Kakashi is a jonin of the highest order. Known throughout the village as Konoha's Premier Technician, the Copy Ninja. In terms of raw strength, he and I are neck and neck." Shin, Tenten, and Sōen all arrived at the same expression at approximately the same time.

"We've fought countless times. The current score stands at fifty-one to fifty — I hold the edge."

"GUY-SENSEI IS INCREDIBLE!" The volume of Lee's admiration was possibly a structural concern. Is that really true? Shin was honestly uncertain. Kakashi had always read to him as someone too layered to take the full measure of. And the man standing in front of him— You can't judge a book. He thought it quietly and let it go.

"Join us, senpai," Yugao said.

"We're all the same graduating class, more or less."

"Sure." Guy nodded. They pushed the tables together and settled in, two rows facing each other. Yugao, Tenten, and Sōen wound up on one side. On the other side, Shin ended up next to Sōen — or more accurately, he had made his way there without particularly drawing attention to the fact.

"Sōen-nee, how are you in Squad Two?" Tenten kept her voice low.

"I'm their teammate now." Sōen smiled. Tenten stared. Then the envy hit her in full. A calm, beautiful jonin-sensei. Two handsome squadmates. Was there actually a better squad available? Why wasn't I in Squad Two? She was suffering. The two squads traded names and impressions over the meal. Sai and Neji both said very little. The two jonin fell into their own conversation at one end of the table. Tenten kept looking for openings to talk to Shin; Shin kept finding ways to talk to Sōen.

That was the shape of the dinner. In the end it ran later than any of them had planned and only broke up when the restaurant staff started quietly hovering.

"Official missions start tomorrow," Yugao said as they parted, a small smile in her voice. Something stirred in Shin's chest. This is real. It's starting.

"I'd manage your expectations about tomorrow," Sōen said. She had been watching his face, and she spoke now with a knowing, faintly crooked smile.

"... Why?" Shin said.

"YOUTH——!" Guy's voice cleaved the night in half.

"YOUTH!" Lee answered, with everything he had. Tenten was looking at nothing in particular. Shin laughed — quiet, involuntary, genuine. And when it settled, maybe he understood them a little. Understood the feeling, at least. We're young, he thought. Still young. YOUTH! Huh!