Chapter 189: A mission?

Homura found himself facing a dilemma after being officially assigned to a team. He had tried to convince the Hokage to reverse the decision before and assign him elsewhere, but his efforts were futile.

The Hokage cited budget constraints and a lack of available teams for Homura to currently join. This caused many things to spiral. Kakashi seems to be wanting for the team to either polish their skills more or work on their teamwork, which wasn't exactly something cared about but the pay was nothing big.

Frustrated, Homura realized he would not be earning a decent income for possibly a few months, which was a big deal since he planned to vacate his current flat the next month. Though he would still receive a subsidy for a while, it wasn't enough to sustain him indefinitely.

Not only that but missions and training were now taken according Kakashi's own schedule, making a living on the side was hard since he did not have a fixed schedule. Homura had to learn the hard way that the only shinobi capable of maintaning a job on the side were business owners, or the children of business owners. 

"Damn that old man," Homura muttered to himself, seething with frustration. "What's he thinking? I won't put my life at risk to save Naruto! We don't all have demons inside of us that give crazy ass power-ups!"

Feeling irritated, Homura hurried through the streets until he reached the Hokage's building. However, upon his arrival, Naruto greeted him with a taunt about his tardiness. "Homura! You're late again!" Naruto exclaimed, his tone filled with mockery.

Homura rolled his eyes, annoyed by Naruto's comment. "You see, that's the different about sheep like you and guys like me, I don't follow the rules and that's why I am a heartthrob *wink*," he retorted.

"Yeah, right? Says the guy who gets mad if he wasn't the best at something at the academy, if you're gonna make up some nonsense at least make it believable, bookworm,"

"Tch! Whatever! It's probably going to be a finding-a-lost-pet mission, or gather some more trash. why should I care about being late?!" he declared. 

However, their truce was short-lived as they charged toward each other, only to collide with Homura at the center.

Amidst the chaos, Kakashi suddenly appeared, perched atop the pile of tangled bodies. "What is going on here?" he demanded, his voice laced with frustration. "I can't believe my entire squad was about to have a fight in front of the Hokage's office building."

Naruto sighed in agreement, clearly tired of the repetitive missions. "Argh! I'm so tired of it too!" he exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice.

Homura chimed in, expressing his impatience with Kakashi's perpetual lateness. "Hey! So where is Hatake?" he asked, his tone laced with irritation.

Naruto shrugged, his frustration growing. "He's late once again," he replied, his voice tinged with annoyance.

Homura sighed, feeling a sense of resignation wash over him. "Yeah, that guy's always late, huh? I wonder if there is more to this than laziness..." he muttered, his tone resigned.

Sasuke nodded in agreement, his annoyance clear. "Coming from the two losers, that's rich! Hmph!" he scoffed, his voice filled with disdain.

Naruto bristled at Sasuke's comment, feeling his temper flare. "What is this!? You looking for a fight, Sasuke!?" he challenged, his voice tinged with aggression.

Sasuke smirked, his competitive spirit ignited. "Hmph! As if you could ever be worth my time... Dead-last!" he taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.

Naruto clenched his fists, his anger boiling over. "What did you say!? Grrh! T-this is no longer the academy! I will show you my real strength!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with determination.

Homura sighed inwardly, feeling a sense of frustration building within him. "Here we go again," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head in exasperation.

Naruto took a fighting stance, Sasuke seeing Naruto seemingly trying to challenge him took a more ready stance as he stood straight, but not so far as taking an actual fighting.

"Why, you punk!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards Sasuke.

"*sneer*" Sasuke sneered as he began to rush towards Naruto, ready to deal the first blow as he raised his fist. 

"What the?" Homura who was caught near the middle of all this didin't think much of it as he thought the 2 were just bluffing. 

Before the situation could escalate further, Kakashi intervened, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and causing the boys to crash into each other in a comical pile on the ground.

Kakashi then proceeded to step on Naruto who was at the top of the pile, which caused all parties currently on the ground feel a strong pressure. 

Homura groaned as he found himself at the bottom of the pile, sandwiched between the hard, dusty ground and Sasuke and Naruto who were on top of him. "This is..?" he muttered, feeling the weight of his teammates on top of him.

He couldn't stand back up. 

Kakashi surveyed the scene with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he mused, his tone filled with amusement.

Naruto scowled, feeling embarrassed by the situation. "Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing!?" he demanded, his voice tinged with frustration.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "What am I doing? What are you all doing?" he replied, his tone tinged with disappointment. "I can't believe that my entire squad was about to have a fight in front of the Hokage's office building. You three are too much to handle," he scolded. " After all this time, you can't even work as a team properly. It always turns into a fight for a stupid reason."

Homura winced, feeling a pang of guilt wash over him. "Wait a sec? I had nothing to do with any of this!" he yelled his cheeks flushing with embarrassment and due to the strong pressure put on him.

"You? You were in the way this time, besides, as a their teammate you didn't even try to calm things down" Kakashi stated.

"(B*stard)," thought Homura.

" Anyway, it's been several weeks now, and I feel like I'm babysitting three dysfunctional brats pretending to be ninjas. Did I make the wrong judgment?"

The weight of Kakashi's words hung heavy in the air as the boys fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

"No, you didn't! Now, all of you just get off of me already!" Homura grumbled, breaking the tense silence.

"Me too! This is very uncomfortable and extremely embarrassing, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto added, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

The onlookers were clearly making fun of the situation as they passed by or in and out of the hokage building.

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, waiting for him to offer an apology as well. "Fine... me too. Just, let me go already," Sasuke muttered begrudgingly.

"Good," Kakashi said simply, releasing them from their awkward pile.

Feeling a mix of relief and embarrassment, the boys dusted themselves off and followed Kakashi inside the building.

As they walked, Homura couldn't help but reflect on their dysfunctional dynamic. "This is so embarrassing... Sakura... I can't believe I am saying this but... This team 7 sure seems worse. She was the glue that could keep this dysfunctional group together."

Unbeknownst to each other, all three boys shared the same thought as they entered the Hokage's office, ready to face whatever mission awaited them next.