Shisui stood there for a moment, his expression distant as if weighing something in his mind. A faint hesitation lingered in his eyes before they sharpened with quiet determination. "Let's go to the Hokage building," he said, voice steady. "It's time to take a mission."
Sena's reaction was subtle. She didn't shift her smile. It was still the same picture-perfect expression, however her body language was practically saying, "I am ready." Kaen, on the other hand, looked like someone had just told him we were about to hunt down a notorious S-rank criminal. His eyes lit up with excitement as he announced, "It's time to prove myself." I kept my thoughts to myself, remembering enough about low-rank missions to know they were mostly glorified chores. Internally, I sighed and braced for the inevitable.
Shisui started walking, and the three of us naturally fell in behind him. The streets of Konoha were alive with their usual late-morning rhythm. Merchants called out prices over the chatter of customers, kids wove between market stalls, and shinobi leapt across rooftops with the casual grace of people who knew every shortcut in the village.
Sena walked at Shisui's right side. Each step was smooth and deliberate, the sort of walk that belonged to someone who was always aware of being watched. On his left, Kaen all but vibrated with restless energy, his hands flexing slightly like he was ready to start throwing kunai at the nearest target. I stayed a step behind, hands in my pockets, letting my gaze drift over the village. Every time my eyes met a merchant's, they glanced away in a hurry, as if they had just seen a demon. I tried not to dwell too much on that, focusing instead on mentally preparing for the reality of sweeping floors or pulling weeds.
We crossed the main avenue toward the Hokage building, its red roof tiles and pale stone walls standing proudly against the clear sky. The carved faces of past Hokage loomed from the mountain behind, their stone gazes locked on the village below. As we climbed the broad steps, villagers and shinobi alike moved out of Shisui's path. Some gave polite nods. Others kept their eyes forward and their expressions neutral.
Inside, the air was cooler, scented faintly of polished wood and ink. The smooth floorboards amplified the sound of our footsteps as Shisui led us to one of the employees at the main mission desk. The clerk behind it looked up, and for a split second, his expression tightened before a polite smile slid into place.
"Shisui," he greeted, voice measured. The words were courteous, but there was a stiffness underneath, like he was forcing them out. "What can I do for you today?"
"We're here for my team's first mission," Shisui replied, his tone steady and controlled.
"Of course." The clerk began shuffling through a stack of scrolls, but his movements were slower than they needed to be. Every so often, his eyes flicked toward Shisui, and the look in them was hard to miss. Part mild irritation, part thinly veiled reluctance. I didn't need anyone to explain why. The Uchiha clan's reputation had been rocky for some time now, and not everyone in the village bothered to hide their feelings about it.
Kaen noticed it too. His jaw clenched, and the faint heat radiating from him was almost visible. His shoulders squared, and I could tell he was on the verge of saying something sharp enough to cut. Before he could open his mouth, Shisui turned his head just slightly, his eyes locking with Kaen's. He didn't say a word, but the look was enough to stop him cold.
Kaen's hands curled into fists, but he swallowed whatever retort he had been building. The tension between them eased, if only slightly.
After what felt like far longer than necessary, especially when I could see how quickly other shinobi were being handed their assignments, the clerk finally plucked a scroll from the pile and placed it on the counter. "This came in a while ago, but no one picked it up," he said, his tone flat. "D-rank. Delivery of sealed correspondence to nine separate locations within Konoha. All must be delivered within two hours. Sign here."
Shisui signed without comment, tucked the scroll away, and offered a simple, "We'll take it from here."
No protest, no sign of irritation. Just a calm exit, as if the needless delay had been nothing more than background noise.
We left the mission center with the scroll in hand, Kaen moving like he had just bitten down on glass. The clerk's tone and the way he had spoken Shisui's name without so much as an honorific had been enough for me to catch on. Kaen, though, looked like he was two seconds from turning around, storming back inside, and planting a kunai in the mission desk.
After a short walk from the Hokage building, Shisui turned into a narrow side alley. The sounds of the main street faded into a muffled hum, replaced by the faint drip of water from a roof edge and the echo of our footsteps against the close walls. The sounds here felt muted, more contained, as if the village itself had stepped back to give us space.
He stopped, turned to face Kaen, and spoke in a voice steady enough for all three of us to hear.
"Kaen, you probably noticed the delay back there," Shisui began. "And you probably also realized it had nothing to do with the paperwork. The Uchiha name carries weight… but right now, it also carries suspicion. There are people in this village who will use every chance they get to remind you of that."
Kaen's jaw tightened. "We didn't do anything wrong."
"I know," Shisui said, his tone calm but edged with something unshakable. "But the shinobi world doesn't operate on fairness. Shinobi history lives longer than shinobi themselves, and the weight of that history falls on those still alive. If you meet that with anger, you hand them exactly what they want. The only way to silence that bias is to do the work. Again and again, until even your harshest critic has no ground left to stand on."
Kaen looked away, muttering, "I still don't see why we should have to prove anything."
"Because that is the reality of our situation," Shisui replied, his gaze steady. "You can either fight that reality with discipline and results… or let it crush you before you even step onto the front lines. Every mission you take, every success you earn for the village, is a piece of proof they can't deny. That is how we defend our clan's reputation and place in the village."
He didn't raise his voice, and he didn't soften the words either. It was the kind of truth that didn't need force to be heard. The message wasn't meant for Kaen alone. Sena stood beside me, her eyes focused in a way that told me she wasn't missing a word. I kept quiet, filing it away. It explained exactly why the mission clerk had been so eager to waste our time earlier.
Shisui glanced between the three of us before unsealing the mission scroll. Inside were nine neatly folded envelopes, each stamped with the Hokage's seal in fresh red wax.
"These go to nine different locations around the village," he said, passing the stack to Sena. "You have less than two hours to deliver them all. Once you're done, meet back here."
He stepped back. "The plan and execution are yours. I won't be stepping in. Think about speed, efficiency, and making sure nothing goes missing. I'll be watching… but only to see how you work together."
I caught the hint immediately. So did Sena. This was less about delivering letters and more about seeing whether we could operate as a unit without Shisui holding our hands.
Kaen, of course, heard a completely different message. His eyes locked on the top envelope, the one sealed with a thicker layer of wax and a bolder marking than the rest. The words "high priority" were written across it in neat, firm script. Before anyone could react, he plucked it straight from Sena's hand with a smug flick of his wrist.
"I'll deliver this one first," he said, every syllable soaked in self-importance. Then he turned to me, his expression tightening into something almost hostile. "After that, I'll catch up to you, Sena, and help with the rest."
Sena raised an eyebrow, her voice smooth but edged. "And how exactly are you going to find me? Also, it would make more sense to split the deliveries and..."
But she was talking to air. Kaen had already slipped into the crowd, moving with the focused speed and intent usually reserved for chasing a real enemy. The noise of the street swallowed him in a second.
Sena turned toward me, her polished smile still in place, though I could see the faint exhale that said she was already recalculating. I let out a long, tired sigh. "Fine. Just draft the best route for the rest. I don't know half of the higher-end districts in this village."
She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small, leather-bound notepad. With quick, practiced movements, she began sketching a delivery path, her pencil strokes clean and efficient. In less than a minute, a neat, well-planned route had taken shape on the page.
When she finished, she tore the sheet free and handed it to me along with a noticeably larger stack of letters than the few she kept for herself. "You're faster," she said simply. "Take these and follow the route. I'll cover the rest."
I glanced over the map once. "Got it."
And with that, we split up, each heading off in a different direction. At least two of us had decided to stick with a plan.