07:05 AM
Tap. Tap.
"Shorai, wake up." Cat's voice was a mere vibration against the morning air. She gently nudged the boy where he sat perched in the high branches of an oak, gesturing for him to activate his comms.
Shorai stretched, suppressing a yawn that felt years old. He reached into his storage scroll, retrieved his fox mask, and settled it over his face. The transition from sleeping child to "Fox" operative was instantaneous.
"The mission was issued sixty seconds ago," Boar's voice crackled through the earpiece, underlying with a suppressed chuckle. "The 'sacrifices' you suggested have walked right into it. Get in position. On my mark, release the target and rejoin the observation line."
Shorai dropped from the branch, landing in the grass with the soundless impact of a leaf.
Ten minutes later, the comms buzzed. "Release the present."
Hidden beneath a canopy of dense leaves, Cat and Boar watched as Shorai carefully placed Tora on a sunlit patch of grass. He gave the beast a final, surprisingly respectful pat, removed the metabolic suppression seal, and vanished upward to join his team.
They tracked the cat from a distance for an hour. Tora, ever the creature of ego, spent her first minutes of freedom grooming herself before deciding to terrorize the local wildlife. Shorai scanned for predators, his thinned chakra sensory web ensuring no wolves or large hawks interrupted the "crisis."
By 8:00 AM, Team 7 entered the sector. From his vantage point, Shorai watched his peers: Naruto's loud, uncoordinated searching; Sakura's focused but anxious scanning; and Sasuke's cold, methodical tracking. Behind them, Hatake Kakashi strolled with a book in hand, appearing lazy but, as Shorai noted, keeping his center of gravity perfectly poised for a sudden Shunshin.
Sasuke spotted her first. Tora, sensing the "heroes" had arrived, sprinted toward the brush, leading them on a merry chase that justified every ryo of the mission's cost. Finally, they cornered her.
Naruto made the catch. As he beamed with pride, Tora's amber eyes narrowed. She didn't just scratch—she used Naruto's face as a launching pad, stomping fiercely across his nose and grounding him.
"Pff..." Shorai let out a tiny sound. Beside him, he felt the subtle tremors of Cat and Boar trying not to vibrate the entire tree with laughter.
Sasuke's head snapped toward their direction, eyes narrowing in suspicion at the phantom sound.
"Comms secure," Boar reported after Eagle confirmed the retrieval at the Tower. "Trial complete. Fox, you're cleared to return to civilian status."
Shorai nodded to his mentors, watched them vanish into the shadows, and began the process of peeling back the layers. Mask off. Wig away. Field clothes swapped for his signature black, white, and turquoise gear.
He moved toward the village center, passing the mission hall entrance where he spotted the client—a drunken, disgruntled man sitting on a bench, smelling of salt and cheap sake.
The Land of Waves is calling, Shorai thought.
Entering the hall, he was met with the expected chaos. Iruka was shouting, Hiruzen looked like he had developed a sudden headache, and Naruto was vibrating with orange-clad fury.
"Yo," Shorai said, walking toward the group with a warm, casual smile. "Good to see you all. Kakashi-san."
He felt it immediately: Kakashi's visible eye locked onto him. It wasn't the bored gaze of a teacher; it was the clinical appraisal of an ex-ANBU Captain. Kakashi was measuring his footprints, his breathing, the way he carried his weight. The silence stretched a second too long.
"Good morning, Lord Hokage. Iruka-sensei," Shorai continued, feigning ignorance of the tension.
"Shorai! Maybe you can talk some sense into him!" Iruka fumed, pointing at Naruto.
"I know all this, Grandpa!" Naruto shouted at Hiruzen. "I'm not a prankster anymore! I need a mission that proves it!"
Hiruzen took a long puff from his pipe, his eyes shifting between Naruto's passion and Shorai's calculated stillness. Meanwhile, Lady Shijimi rushed past, and her "precious" Tora, gasping for breath, looked at Shorai with a pitiful, pleading look.
Sorry, majesty, Shorai thought. A crisis requires a victim.
"Alright," Hiruzen finally said, setting his pipe down. "If you insist. I have a C-rank bodyguard task."
The door slid open, and Tazuna stumbled in. His first words were a drunken insult directed at the Genin's competence.
"He's talking to you, Naruto," Shorai smirked, subtly nudging the blonde boy toward the spotlight.
"I'll kill him!" Naruto lunged, only to be caught by Kakashi's collar-grab.
Tazuna took a long, swaying swig from his bottle, his bloodshot eyes drifting from the shouting blonde boy to the brooding Uchiha, then finally landing on Shorai. He paused, the bottle halfway to his lips. There was something about the white-haired boy—the way he stood with his center of gravity perfectly balanced, the lack of wasted movement, and the quiet, calculating stillness in his eyes. For a split second, the bridge-builder's drunken fog cleared. He looked confused, as if he couldn't quite reconcile Shorai's calm poise with the 'brats' he was currently insulting. He shook his head, muttered something about 'quiet ones being the weirdest,' and took another drink.
As the details of the escort mission were laid out—omitting the truth about Gato, of course—the team prepared to leave.
"Wait," Hiruzen's voice boomed. He looked at Shorai with a glance that carried years of shared secrets. "Team 7 is a new squad. I wouldn't sleep well knowing I sent them on a C-rank that might escalate... even with Kakashi's presence."
Iruka blinked. Kakashi's brow rose, his gaze darting between the Hokage and the boy.
"Shorai! You're on an independent study track, aren't you?" Hiruzen continued, manufacturing the excuse with practiced ease. "Consider this your field evaluation. You'll join Team 7 as a temporary fifth member. A special circumstance with special permission. You won't be taking a cut of their reward, so don't worry about the economics."
Shorai's eyes drifted toward Iruka, noticing the hesitation in his expression. Was that a protest dying in his throat? Iruka looked at the paperwork on the Hokage's desk, as if he understood there was no room for debate for those who had outpaced the standard curriculum.
"What about your own team?" Sasuke demanded, his competitive edge flaring.
"Preoccupied," Shorai said smoothly. "Lord Hokage decided my skills were better utilized here than on a training ground."
"Isn't the system built for three?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing.
"The system is built for success, Sakura-chan," Shorai replied smoothly. "I'm just here to ensure we have a hundred percent success rate."
"Great! We're on a mission together!" Naruto cheered, his enthusiasm drowning out any further questioning.
"Shorai," Hiruzen's tone shifted to steel. "While with Team 7, you are under Kakashi's care. Any order from him is an order from me. Dismissed."
The group scattered for a one-hour preparation window. Shorai moved with efficiency, refilling his chakra pills and weapons. He checked his "Kinetic Battery" kunai—still stable, still lethal—and sealed his supplies into his inventory.
When they regrouped at the gates, the contrast was stark. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were lugging heavy travel packs. Shorai carried only a small, sleek mission bag.
"Shorai-kun... where's your gear?" Sakura asked.
"I don't like being slowed down," Shorai said. He unrolled a storage scroll. Puff. A fully prepared bedroll appeared.
Kakashi's eye crinkled. He knew the level of Fuinjutsu required to make storage scrolls that stable. Sasuke and Sakura looked on with pure envy.
"Wow! Teach me!" Naruto shouted.
"Maybe in a few years, Naruto," Shorai laughed. "Fuinjutsu requires a level of stillness you haven't mastered yet. You're a bit... too energetic for the ink-work."
Naruto's face fell, but as they stepped out of the gates and into the sunlight of the open road, his energy surged again.
"My first time outside the village!" Naruto shouted, his eyes wide as he looked around.
The group moved on at an easy pace. Naruto kept looking from side to side, taking in every tree, every bend in the road, every patch of grass as if he meant to hold it all in memory. Behind him, Sakura kept close to Sasuke, grumbling at the blond boy whenever she found the chance. Tazuna walked heavily after them, shoulders tense beneath the weight of his quiet worry. At the back of the line, Shorai kept near Kakashi, both of them watching the road, the trees, and the shadows between them.
Naruto soon began asking questions about the Land of Waves. Sakura joined in, asking about the mission system. Kakashi answered them in his lazy way, reminding them of things they should have learned in the Academy. Naruto and Sakura both looked embarrassed, and complained that it was boring knowledge they would never use after exams.
Shorai said nothing. He kept walking, his eyes fixed ahead.
The road stretched on. The wind shifted now and then through the leaves. Mud clung to the path in dark streaks, and somewhere ahead, Shorai felt the moment drawing closer.
Another bend in the road.
A puddle lay there, dull and ordinary, the sort no one would look at twice.
But Shorai looked at it, and his pulse quickened.
His right hand drifted toward the holster at his thigh. He touched the clasp, loosening it with a small, controlled movement, then gave the briefest glance over his shoulder.
Kakashi noticed it.
Just that.
A silent understanding passed between the young shinobi and the former captain.
The Demon Brothers are waiting, Shorai thought.
Let's see how Team 7 handles blood.