The Fox, The Cat, The Rabbit, The Wolf and The Exhausted Caregiver

An Echo Of A Heartache

Team 7 is finally back in Konoha, bringing both nostalgia and heartaches as usual.
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"So let me get this straight," Sandaime said gravely, mouth frowning and eyebrows pinched as he tried to make sense of what he had just read and heard, "the bridge builder, Tazuna had lied about his comission,"

"Yes," Sakura primly nodded.

"-and instead of reporting back, you chose to continue, despite knowing that... Gato?" he squinted at the report, "Yes, Gato, had hired the Demon-Twins from Mist, making the mission possibly a B-rank or more."

"Yep!" Naruto agreed happily.

"Then, you three met the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza and instead of retreating, you... befriended him?" he asked in bafflement.

"He's a great guy once you get to know him." Sasuke signed at him in a mix of Anbu code. The Sandaime has a lot to say about the Uchiha's sudden selective muteness and how he even knows Anbu codes but chose to put it aside for another day and focus on the current issue.

"And the reason why a one week mission turned into one month is because..." he squinted again at the words written on the report, "...you overthrew Gato and helped Tazuna build the bridge?"

"The Great Naruto Bridge!" Naruto corrected him proudly.

Both Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes at their teammates. "I knew we shouldn't let you name it. You have terrible naming sense." Sakura sighed.

"Hey! I won the right to name it fair and square!" Naruto defended himself.

"Pretty sure you cheated," Sasuke muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I didn't cheat! Plus, how can you even cheat in rock-paper-scissors anyway?"

"Fox luck." theu both answered.

"Well I did most of the work-!"

"Enough." Hiruzen interrupted. "Just... is there anything else I need to know before I relieve you of your duties for the day?"

All at once, the three children shook their heads no. "Nothing comes to mind, sir." Kakashi answered in a professional tone, his three genins nodding in agreement.

Hiruzen eyed them carefully. Their behavior indicates that they're not lying but he can't help but feel like they're hiding something from him. Maybe it's just his paranoia acting up again. Or maybe he's right.

Whichever it is, considering the fact that he is dealing with the Team 7, he learned that it's best to assume ignorance and just accept the absurdity of it all. Makes it less stressful for him in the long run.

With that in mind, the Sandaime merely sighed and dismissed them from his office, a headache starting to build as he once again read their report. "How can they be different people yet cause me as much heartache as yours did?" he stared at the picture of a certain blond Hokage. "This must be the Team 7 curse." he sighed heavily.

The Anbus guarding him could only watch their Hokage in silent sympathy.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and his genins are now making their way to Ichiraku's to celebrate their first C-rank completion with Iruka.

"Are we really not telling the Hokage about Zabuza and Haku's promise to visit us during the chuunin exam?" Sakura looked up to her sensei with concern. "Is that really okay?"

"I'm sure it is," Kakashi assured her despite the fact that it's actually not because two ex-Mist ninjas coming to Konoha is a disaster waiting to happen and procedure says to inform the Hokage about any security risk but Kakashi's been particularly petty these days against Hiruzen so he thought, why not let it be a surprise? An eye for an eye and all that.