I walked back toward my apartment, mentally running through the checklist of things that needed doing before tomorrow's mission. Joint operation with Team 4, escort duty, potential foreign shinobi encounters, the usual cheerful prospects that made up my career as a leaf shinobi.
Should probably let my team know about the delay, I mused, stepping around a puddle from the morning rain. 'They're expecting to meet up this afternoon, and finding out their mission got pushed back a day might actually qualify as good news for once.
The morning crowd was starting to fill the streets, shopkeepers setting up, Academy kids dragging their feet to class, and the occasional jonin moving with an urgent pace, which usually meant someone was having a bad day.
Speaking of Academy—
"Takada-sensei!"
The Academy instructor turned at my call, a tired smile crossing his face. "Shinji. You're up early."
"Early? I guess. Though honestly, this is kind of sleeping in for me." I fell into step beside him, noting his direction toward the Academy. "Off to wrangle the little monsters?"
"Educate the little monsters," he said, though there was a bit of a smile there. "Some days I'm not sure there's much difference."
"That bad, huh?"
"Well, you know how it goes." He adjusted the stack of papers under his arm. "What about you? Thought you had a mission today?"
"It got pushed back to tomorrow, actually. So I figured I'd grab some breakfast, then go track down my team and let them know." I paused. "Have you eaten yet? I was going to head somewhere if you want to come along."
Takada slowed his pace, glancing toward the Academy. "Ah, I should really get to class..."
"Come on, though. When's the last time you actually sat down and had real food? Not just those rice balls from the convenience store or whatever coffee they have in the faculty room."
He laughed a little at that. "It's not that bad."
"I mean, look at you. You look like you haven't slept properly in a week." I gestured toward the Academy. "The kids can wait a few minutes, right? They probably wouldn't mind if you showed up a little late anyway."
"Shinji..."
"I'll pay. We'll make it quick, I promise. And honestly, I'd rather not eat alone if I don't have to."
He stood there for a moment, clearly thinking it over. I could see him weighing whether he should just go straight to class or take the offer.
"Alright, fine," he said eventually. "But it really does have to be quick. I've got a class starting soon."
"Yeah, of course. And seriously, you'll probably be better off teaching when you've actually eaten something. Can't run on fumes forever."
…..
Twenty minutes later we were sitting across from each other at a small restaurant. Simple, well-made food, rice, miso soup, grilled fish. Nothing fancy, but filling and cheap.
We ate quietly for a while, just talking about small things. The morning light coming through the windows made everything feel calmer, and less rushed.
"So," I said after a bit, "how's the new school year treating you? Got any promising kids this time around?"
Takada looked up from his bowl. "You know how it goes. Some of them seem like they'll do well, others..." He shrugged. "They'll figure it out eventually. They usually do."
"Yeah, makes sense." I took another bite. "Any new faces in your classes? Kushina was saying someone moved into the neighborhood recently. I was wondering if they had kids or anything."
His chopsticks stopped moving for a second. He set them down and reached for his tea instead. "New students? I mean, yeah, we get transfers every now and then." He took a sip. "Why are you asking?"
That was... odd. I mean, it wasn't exactly a weird question, was it? But something about the way he'd responded felt off. I kept eating, trying not to make it obvious I'd noticed. "Just curious, I guess. You seemed a little less stressed lately, so I thought maybe you lucked out with some easier kids this year. Balance out the troublemakers, you know?"
"Oh." He went back to his rice, pushing it around a little. "Well, yeah. Some years are just... I don't know, easier than others. That's all."
We kept drinking tea, and I shifted the conversation to safer ground, the weather, how the training grounds needed maintenance. I topped off my cup and gestured at his. "You want some more? It's not like you're doing anything too intense this morning, right?"
"Yeah, I think I can handle one more." He let me pour, and I could see his shoulders relax a little.
We finished eating after that without saying much, which was fine. Takada told me more about his students and some of the ridiculous excuses they'd been coming up with for not turning in homework. By the time we said goodbye outside the restaurant, he looked a lot better than he had earlier, less exhausted, at least.
"Thanks for this," he said. "I didn't really realize how hungry I was."
"Yeah, of course. Just... try to actually eat regular meals sometimes, okay? You're not going to do those kids any good if you collapse in the middle of class."
"I know, I know. I'll try to be better about it." He smiled at that, but then he stopped and his expression changed a little, got more thoughtful. "You know, Shinji... you've really grown up, haven't you? I remember when you were just another troublemaker in my class, and now here you are worrying about whether your old teacher is eating properly."
I shrugged. "I mean, you dealt with me for years. All the stupid things I said and did. Just seems fair."
"Still, though." He shook his head, still smiling. "You turned out really well. I mean it."
I didn't really know what to say to that, so I was almost relieved when he started heading off toward the Academy. I turned back toward home.
The morning was getting warmer, and I had a few hours before I needed to worry about tomorrow's mission.
That whole thing with Takada was still bothering me though, the way he'd gotten weird about the student question. Maybe I'd send a clone to look around later. Quietly, just to see if there was anything to it.
I was still thinking about the conversation as I got close to my building, automatically checking the little signs I'd left to see if anyone had been near my place while I was out. Everything looked fine at first, until I got to the door.
Someone had definitely been inside.
My clone? I straightened up and flexed my hand, listening for any sounds before I slowly pushed the door open.
"—I swear these prices are insane. Like, what do they think kunai wire is made of, gold or something? Oh, hey Shinji."
I stopped in the doorway. My single clone had somehow turned into three of them, and they were all sitting around my kitchen table with Mikoto, Tsume, and Kuromaru. There were papers spread out across the surface and what looked like a fresh pot of coffee.
"Uh," I said, closing the door and hanging up my jacket, "so... should I be worried about something here?"
Mikoto looked up with a slight smile. "We came by to see if you wanted to grab breakfast before we meet up this afternoon. Your clones told us you were out getting supplies."
"And they made coffee," Tsume added. "Better than just standing around at the training grounds anyway."
"Yeah, so... about that," I said, walking over to pour myself some coffee. "There's been some changes to the plan."
"Changes?" One of my clones looked up. "What kind of changes are we talking about?"
"Well, good news first, we're not heading out today. The mission got pushed back to tomorrow." I sat down in the empty chair. "The other thing is that we're going to be working with Team 4 now. Basically a joint op."
"What?" Tsume frowned. "So we're just babysitting them now?"
"Yeah, basically. Turns out Miyabi's team is escorting some merchant caravan to the Land of Hot Water. Same area we're supposed to be checking out." I took a sip of my coffee. "I ran into her this morning and figured we might as well coordinate. Makes sense for the mission, you know?"
"Wait, she actually agreed to that?" Mikoto sounded a little surprised.
"Took some convincing, but yeah. I mean, she's not stupid about this stuff, having extra backup around means less chance of getting jumped by whoever's been hitting those trade routes." I shrugged. "Plus now we've got actual supplies to protect instead of just wandering around looking at old crime scenes. Should make things a bit easier, honestly."
"You mean more dangerous," Tsume said, though she didn't really sound bothered by it.
"Well, that too, I guess." I drank some more coffee.
"So what are we actually doing here?" Mikoto was already looking at the map. "Are we going to split up or what?"
"Pretty much have to, right?" I leaned forward and traced a finger along the route. "They'll stay close to the caravan, and we work the perimeter around them."
"So we circle around and try to catch anyone before they get close." She nodded, seeming to approve of that. "And if things actually go bad, they keep the merchants alive while we handle whoever's trying to kill everyone."
Tsume had been looking at my clones for a while now, and I could tell she was getting curious about it. "Okay, so I have to ask, how are they actually talking like that? Like, having real conversations and everything?"
"I think..." Mikoto said slowly, like she was trying to remember something from a while back. "I feel like my older cousins mentioned something about this once. Some kind of forbidden jutsu or something?"
"Not really forbidden, just..." I shrugged. "It takes a lot of chakra. Most people try it once and basically pass out from using too much." I gestured at the clones. "These guys are solid, they can think on their own, and when they disappear, I get all their memories back."
"That's kind of crazy." Tsume was blinking at them. "Why didn't you mention this before?"
"I mean, I only just learned how to do it recently."
Mikoto was still watching one of the clones like she was waiting for it to vanish or something. "So they're actually... you? Like, really thinking their own thoughts right now?"
"Yeah, basically. Same brain, just kind of... I don't know, different perspectives on things, I guess."
The clone she'd been staring at rolled his eyes. "Thanks for making this weird, boss."
I stood up and stretched a bit. "Anyway, since we've got some time before tomorrow, anyone want to do some training? Might be good to work on how we coordinate before we actually have to do this for real."
Tsume perked up right away. "What kind of training are we talking about?"
"I don't know, just... drills or something? Maybe some sparring? Just figure out how we're going to mess things up while we can still afford to mess things up?"
"Yes, I'm in." Mikoto was already checking her pouch.
"Hell yeah." Tsume stretched and grinned over at her dog. "Kuromaru's been getting lazy anyway. Haven't you, boy?"
Kuromaru opened one eye and huffed, clearly not appreciating that comment.
…..
After the apartment door closed behind Shinji and his teammates, the three remaining clones sat there quietly for about half a minute. Then the one sitting closest to the bookshelf cleared his throat and got up.
"Alright, so," he said, "I'm calling dibs on being in charge here."
The other two clones looked up from where they'd been clearing off the table.
"In charge?" one of them said. "What do you mean, in charge?"
"I mean, someone's got to keep things running while boss is out there training with the team, right?" He walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out one of the thicker books on fuinjutsu. "And we've got stuff we should probably be doing anyway."
"Like what, exactly?"
"Making more clones, for one thing." He sat down in the most comfortable chair and opened the book. "You two can start meditating, make some more of us. I want at least six more around here in the next hour or so."
"Okay, and what are you going to be doing while we're sitting there doing all the actual work?" the second clone asked.
He held up the book. "Research. Boss keeps complaining about how much chakra the clone jutsu uses, right? So maybe there's something useful in here that'll help with that."
The third clone made a sound. "Of course. You give yourself the job where you just get to sit and read."
"Hey, I called it first." He was already flipping through the pages. "So just... get started, okay? These seals aren't going to figure themselves out."
The other two clones looked at each other for a second, then shrugged and found spots on the floor to sit down and meditate. After a few minutes, the apartment was quiet except for the sound of their breathing and the occasional page turning.
...
I settled onto an old wooden trunk with Tsunade's medical book that I'd been meaning to get through since our last mission. Dense stuff that would put most people to sleep after a page or two, but sometimes you'd find something actually useful buried in all the technical terminology.
About twenty feet away, Tsume and Mikoto were sparring. What had started out as light practice was starting to turn into something more serious. I could tell by how they were both breathing harder now. Kuromaru was lying in the shade, lifting his head every now and then when one of them got a good hit in.
"You're dropping your shoulder again," I said without bothering to look up from the page I was reading. "You might as well just announce out loud that you're about to throw a punch from the right side. Makes it pretty obvious."
Tsume grunted and then immediately threw the same telegraphed punch again. Mikoto saw it coming from a mile away, slipped to the side, and caught her with a quick elbow that Tsume barely managed to block.
"I mean, that's what I just said," I muttered while flipping to the next page. "You're not actually fixing the problem, you're just doing the same thing over again and expecting different results."
"Well, I'm trying," Tsume said, breathing hard as she reset her stance.
"Yeah, but you're overthinking it. That's different from actually trying something new." I glanced up from the book for a second to watch Mikoto move through her next combination. Really smooth technique, you could see all those years of proper clan training showing through in how she moved. "Just... stop trying to power through her defense, okay? She's faster than you are, so you need to be smarter about it instead."
Tsume's next attack was better, she started low like she was going for her legs, then drove her knee up when Mikoto moved to block. Actually made her back up a bit.
"Yeah, there you go. That's more like it," I said, already looking back down at what I was reading. "Just keep her guessing about what you're going to do next. Don't give her any time to settle and figure you out."
But Mikoto was already adapting, using Tsume's forward momentum against her with some fancy throw that sent her teammate flying through the air. Tsume hit the ground hard enough to rattle her teeth.
"Ugh, damn it," she groaned, rolling back to her feet and spitting out some grass that had gotten in her mouth. "That sucked."
"It was better than before though," I pointed out. "At least she had to work for that one."
"You know, your pep talks really suck."
Mikoto straightened herself up, barely even winded despite how long they'd been going at it. "So do you want to try giving advice from inside the ring instead of from your comfortable reading spot?"
I looked up to find both of them staring at me with eager look.
"What, me? I'm perfectly happy sitting over here with my book, thanks." I marked the page I was on and tucked the book away safely. "But if you really want more of a challenge, maybe you two should team up together. Make it less one-sided for everyone involved."
Tsume frowned at that suggestion. "Wait, both of us against you?"
"Yeah, exactly. You've both been working on that whole teamwork thing lately, right? This would be good practice for you." I stood up from the trunk, stretching out all the stiffness from sitting in one position for too long. "Besides, I'm just one guy here. How hard could it possibly be?"
I walked to the middle of the training area and rolled my shoulders. "Alright then, let's see what you two have got."
Twenty minutes later, both of them were sprawled out on the grass like they'd just survived a natural disaster.
Mikoto lay on her back with one arm draped over her eyes, her breathing still uneven. Her dark hair had come loose from its usual style, spreading across the grass in loose waves that might've been pretty if she didn't look like she'd been put through a meat grinder. Every few seconds, she'd shift position slightly, then wince like even that small movement was too much.
Tsume had given up any pretense of dignity. She was face-down in the grass, one hand reaching out to rest on Kuromaru's fur like she needed the moral support. Her shoulders rose and fell with each labored breath, and when she tried to push herself up onto her elbows, her arms shook before she gave up and flopped back down with a muffled groan.
"I think..." Mikoto's voice came out rougher than usual, "...my everything hurts."
"Join the club," Tsume muttered into the ground. "Pretty sure I've got bruises on my bruises."
I stood a few feet away, hands in my pockets. A light breeze rolled through the training ground, carrying the smell of disturbed earth and grass.
"You two did pretty good," I said, and I meant it. "Your coordination's gotten a lot better."
Mikoto finally moved her arm away from her eyes to glare at me. "You're not even tired though."
"Well, I had a really good breakfast this morning."
"That's not—" She tried to sit up, got halfway there, then decided lying down was the better option. "How are you not even sweating right now? That doesn't make any sense."
Kuromaru walked over to sniff at Tsume's face, then let out a soft whine that sounded almost sympathetic. She reached up to scratch behind his ears with fingers that trembled slightly from muscle fatigue.
"Next time we do this," Mikoto said, still staring up at the sky, "we're ganging up on you right from the start. No more of this testing the waters and feeling things out first."
"That's the spirit." I walked over and sat down on the grass between them, close enough to Mikoto that I could see the flush of exertion still coloring her cheeks. "Though you did gang up on me already. Multiple times, actually."
"Yeah, but it didn't really work though, did it?" Tsume pushed herself up to sitting, moving like every joint in her body was filing a formal complaint. She rotated her shoulder and grimaced. "It still feels like we're missing something important about how to do this right."
"I mean, that's just how it goes with this stuff." I found my page in the book again. "You guys have only really been working on this for what, a few days now? Maybe a couple weeks at most? That's basically nothing in terms of actually developing good teamwork."
"What about you though?" Mikoto settled into the grass a few feet away. "How long did it actually take you to get that good?"
"At what?"
"All of it, really. Reading what we're going to do, knowing our moves before we even make them. You make the whole thing look ridiculously easy."
I glanced up from the page I was looking at. "I don't know. It's not like there was some magic moment where I suddenly just got it all at once or anything. It just... happens over time when you're not really paying attention to it, I guess."
"That's not really much of an answer."
"Yeah, well, it's the only one I've got." I shrugged a bit. "Some things you just kind of learn without even realizing you're learning them, you know?"
Tsume was giving me a look. "Must be really nice, just being naturally good at everything like that."
"Eh, natural talent's pretty overrated. Most of what looks like talent is really just paying attention to things and putting in the work consistently." I grinned at both of them. "Besides, give it another month of training and I might actually have to start trying against you two."
"Oh, screw you," Tsume said, but she was laughing.
Mikoto grabbed a clump of grass and threw it at me. "Might have to try? We literally just spent ten straight minutes trying to actually murder you for real back there, and we still couldn't even come close to beating you."
"And you both did great! Those were some very committed homicide attempts, really." I ducked out of the way of another grass missile she threw at my head. "You're coming along really nicely with the whole teamwork murder thing."
"You're awful," Mikoto said, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face.
"Alright, well, I'm heading out now," I said, closing the book and getting back to my feet. "Try not to kill each other while I'm gone, okay?"
"Yeah, no promises on that one," Tsume said, already eyeing Mikoto like she was seriously considering going for another round right now.
"We'll be fine without you hovering," Mikoto assured me. "You should probably get some actual rest tonight instead of whatever it is you usually do. Tomorrow's going to end up being a pretty long day for all of us."
"Oh, wait, hang on a second." I pulled a couple of wrapped bundles out of my storage glove. "I made some extra food for the mission before it ended up getting pushed back to later. You guys want them? They're just going to go bad if nobody eats them soon anyway."
Tsume's eyes actually lit up at that. "Wait, seriously? What kind of food are we talking about here?"
"Just rice balls, some vegetable tempura, miso soup. Nothing particularly fancy or anything." I tossed the bundles over to them. "But it's probably better than having to scrounge around trying to figure out what to eat for dinner tonight."
"Oh man, you're amazing," Tsume said, already starting to unwrap hers before I'd even finished talking.
Mikoto caught her bundle and gave me a small smile. "Thanks. You really didn't have to go out of your way."
"It's better than just throwing it all out, you know? I really hate wasting food when it's still perfectly good."
Tsume had already bitten into a rice ball and made a happy sound. "Oh man, this is actually really good."
I gave them a lazy wave and headed home, already looking forward to a quiet evening and maybe getting some actual reading done. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in those orange and pink shades that made even Konoha's more run-down districts look pretty decent.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside my apartment door, key in hand, when I heard voices inside. Multiple voices. A lot of them.
'Oh, right. The clones.'
I opened the door to find my small apartment absolutely packed with copies of myself. They were everywhere, sitting on the floor, perched on counters, leaning against walls. Had to be at least a dozen of them, maybe more.
"Hey there, boss," one of them said without bothering to look up from whatever scroll he was currently reading. "How'd your training session go?"
"It went fine," I said, having to kind of squeeze my way through the crowd of clones to get toward my bedroom. "So what are all of you doing?"
"Research, mostly," another clone replied from where he was sitting. "We figured we might as well get some studying done while you were out there having fun with the team."
I pushed open my bedroom door only to find three more clones just sprawled out on my bed with books and scrolls scattered absolutely everywhere across the blankets.
"Alright, everyone out," I said flatly.
"But we're kind of in the middle of—"
"I said out. Now."
They grumbled but gathered up their reading material and filed out. I closed the door behind them, kicked off my indoor sandals, and flopped face-first onto the bed.
Finally. Some peace and quiet.
Except I couldn't shake the feeling I was forgetting something. Something important. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out what was nagging at me.
Mission supplies? Check. Training my team? Done. Equipment maintenance? Pretty sure that was handled.
Through the bedroom door, I could hear my clones talking in the main room.
"...so if you adjust the chakra flow ratio like this..."
"...yeah, but that would just make the seals way too unstable to actually use..."
Seals… seals…
Oh, shit.
I smacked my forehead. Fuinjutsu supplies. I'd been planning to practice some of the seals Kushina had shown me, but I'd completely forgotten to buy the special paper and ink I needed.
I just lay there for a moment, weighing my options in my head. I could get up right now, get dressed again, walk all the way back to the shopping district, buy the supplies I needed, then walk all the way back home carrying everything...
Or, you know. There was another option.
"Hey!" I called out toward the clones in the living room. "One of you needs to go buy some fuinjutsu supplies for me. Get the special sealing paper, chakra-conductive ink, the good quality stuff. You know what we need."
"Which one of us is supposed to go do that?" came back the reply.
"I really don't care which one. Just figure it out among yourselves and get it done."
There was some muffled discussion, then the sound of the front door opening and closing.
I pulled a pillow over my head and settled in for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and I needed all the sleep I could get.
One of the benefits of having clones—delegation.
…
I woke up to the sound of my own voice saying, "Boss is awake!"
Before I could even figure out what that meant, there was a series of soft pops from the living room, followed by what felt like someone dumping a filing cabinet directly into my brain.
I groaned and pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes. Clone memories were always disorienting, but this was ridiculous. Intelligence networks, research divisions, organizational charts, supply chains, a second-in-command—
"What the hell were you idiots doing all night long?" I muttered to myself, sitting up in bed and trying my best to sort through all the mental chaos that had just gotten dumped on me.
The smell of cooking food drifted through the bedroom door. Really good cooking food. My stomach rumbled in response, which at least gave me a reason to get up and investigate.
I shuffled out of the bedroom to find my kitchen transformed into what looked like a small restaurant. The table was absolutely loaded with food, rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickled vegetables, tamagoyaki. Off to the side, I counted at least six neatly packed bento boxes.
Three clones were still bustling around the kitchen, putting finishing touches on what appeared to be enough breakfast to feed a classroom.
"Okay," I said, rubbing at my eyes and trying to wake up properly. "I mean, I have all the memories from you guys now, but I'm still really confused here. What exactly is all this supposed to be?"
"It's breakfast," one of the clones said really cheerfully, setting down a plate of what looked like perfectly grilled fish. "And we made lunch for you to take on the road too. We figured you'd probably want something actually decent to eat before heading out on the mission."
"That's not really what I'm asking about though." I gestured at the actual mountain of food covering my table. "This is enough to feed like half the village. Why did you make this much food?"
The three clones exchanged glances, then the one who'd been stirring the soup straightened up with an oddly formal expression.
"Well, boss, we've actually been discussing the ethical implications of our existence last night, and we've reached some important conclusions about the whole situation."
I blinked at him. "Ethical implications? What are you talking about?"
"Indeed. Simply put, it's completely unreasonable to expect us to prepare food while simultaneously being denied the basic right to actually consume it ourselves." He adjusted his stance like he was about to give some kind of lecture. "The act of cooking naturally creates anticipation and desire for the meal that's being prepared. To suppress these perfectly natural responses would basically be a form of psychological torture."
"We have a fundamental right to happiness," another clone added, waving a pair of chopsticks around for emphasis. "And good food contributes significantly to overall well-being and morale. That's just a fact."
The third clone nodded in this really sage way. "Furthermore, the arbitrary restriction of sustenance based solely on our status as shadow constructs constitutes a pretty clear violation of basic humanitarian principles if you ask us."
I just stared at all three of them for a long moment. "Did you guys just... argue for clone rights? Using actual philosophy?"
"We prefer to think of it as applying logical reasoning to workplace fairness issues," the first clone said with a completely straight face. "Also, we were really hungry and the food smelled good."
"Yeah, but you're literally going to dispel in just a few hours anyway, so what's the point?"
"That's completely beside the point. The experience of actually eating is what matters here, not the long-term existence implications of whether we'll still be around afterward."
I looked around at the ridiculous amount of food, then at my clones who were standing there looking proud of their intellectual arguments for why they deserved breakfast.
"You know what? Fine, whatever. Eat as much as you want." I sat myself down at the table and picked up a pair of chopsticks. "Just... try really hard not to develop some kind of labor union while I'm out on this mission, okay?"
"We make no promises," one of them said solemnly, settling down across from me with his own plate.
The tea was perfect, the fish was grilled just the way I liked it, and the rice had exactly the right texture. I had to admit, even if my clones were apparently developing delusions of personhood, at least they were useful delusions.
…
The main gate was busy when I got there. Team 4 was already set up around three loaded wagons, with Miyabi barking orders while a bunch of nervous merchants hovered around making last-minute adjustments. She spotted me first and nodded.
"Oh, you're actually on time for once," she said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"I'm always on time for important things."
"Since when?"
"Since today, apparently." I looked around the clearing. "Where's my team?"
"We're right here," Mikoto called out from somewhere near the gate, walking over toward us with Tsume and Kuromaru following behind her. "We just got here ourselves."
"Okay, perfect timing then." I watched Noboru and Yua helping the merchants' finish tightening their cargo straps. "So how's everything looking so far?"
"Miyabi's got her stuff together pretty well," Tsume said. "Seems like she actually knows what she's doing."
I nodded, taking in the whole setup. Team 4 managing their caravan, my team ready for security, and four merchants who all looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. For a split second I considered just sending my clones and staying home, but I couldn't do that to my team.
"Looks like you've got everything well organized," I told Miyabi as she finished explaining something to one of the merchants.
"We've run escort jobs before," she said. "I'm just making sure we don't run into any surprises once we're actually out on the road."
"Makes sense. Better to catch problems here at the gate than deal with them out there."
"Exactly." She glanced at my team. "So are you guys ready to get moving?"
"Yeah, we're as ready as we're going to be," I said, glancing back at Mikoto and Tsume who were both doing their own final equipment checks before we headed out.
"Is everything secured on your end?" Miyabi asked, turning to look at her teammates. "How are we looking with the supplies?"
"All accounted for," Yua replied from where she was busy organizing their gear into proper order. "We've got extra rations packed, medical supplies, replacement equipment if anything breaks."
One of the merchants ,this thin man with really nervous-looking eyes, came walking up to Miyabi holding a clipboard in his hands.
"Excuse me, miss, but I wanted to ask about the route we're taking..." he started saying.
"We'll make good time getting there," Miyabi assured him, her tone pretty confident. "The main roads are clear from what we've heard, and we're taking the most direct path we can to reach Hot Water Country faster."
"But what about the... you know, the security issues everyone's been talking about?" he asked, sounding pretty hesitant about even bringing it up.
"That's exactly why we're all here," I told him. "So there's really nothing for you to worry about on that front."
The merchant nodded way too many times at that, like he was trying to convince himself as much as acknowledge what I'd said, and then he scurried back to his wagon to finish whatever he'd been doing.
"Alright everyone, listen up," Miyabi called out loud enough for the whole group to hear. "Let's get this show moving. The sooner we actually start heading out, the sooner we can get everyone where they need to go."
The wagons started rolling, wheels bumping along the packed dirt road. I fell into step on the left flank while Tsume and Mikoto took positions on the right and rear.
For the first few minutes, everything felt almost normal. Just another escort mission on a quiet road.
Of course, that probably wouldn't last long.