Chapter 14 Npc Tenma Appears

"Starting today, you three will be working under me as genin. Some of our missions will be tough, so you need to rely on each other and make it out alive together!" The man in his forties stood before Itachi, shouting, his forehead protector tied so tightly it looked painful.

Minazuki Yuki had been assigned as the Jonin supervisor for Itachi and the two other new academy graduates. Despite his lyrical name, he had a rough, burnished face. Beneath the forehead protector, which dug into his short dark hair, were thick eyebrows like old, used brooms. His round, fish-like eyes sat above large nostrils, and though his lips were quite thick, his mouth was absurdly small.

"Rely on one another. As if," the genin next to Itachi muttered, too quiet for Yuki to hear.

Izumo Tenma.

He was the same guy who had tried to force Itachi to kneel and apologize back at the academy. While Yuki continued his lecture, Tenma sat with his arms around his knees, staring at Itachi.

"We got the village albatross hanging around this team's neck. To hell with teamwork."

Sitting on the other side of Tenma was a girl, the third member of their squad.

"Look, you, could you just shut yer yap already?" she snapped, interrupting Yuki's speech.

Her name was Inari Shinko. She was the same age as Tenma.

"Ever since school, you been yammerin' about Itachi on and on and on, but you're a genin now, yeah? So just quit with all yer whingin' already!"

"Shut up!" Tenma snapped back. "You're just a girl! And you know, this has been bugging me since we were at school—your accent's so messed up, you stop—"

"Making sense halfway through a sentence!"

"I only moved to Konoha three years ago! I can't help it!" Shinko shouted, pursing her lips.

"Would you both stop it, please?" Yuki timidly tried to calm the bickering pair. But they simply glared at each other, showing no signs of stopping.

"Girls are always nice to good-looking guys, anyway," Tenma muttered.

"Wh-why would I be all up in here for Itachi like that? Look at him, the lad's only seven! I'm thirteen, hear? I definitely don't fancy him!" Shinko shot back, her face turning red.

"Age doesn't matter when it comes to love, right?"

"Wh-what on earth are you talking about—"

"Haah." The three of them were so ridiculous that Itachi couldn't stop an unconscious sigh from slipping out.

Naturally, Tenma took offense. "What're you sighing about?!"

I can't spend time with these people … Itachi stood up, eyes closed.

"You jerk! You running away?!"

"Itachi, go on and give this arse a piece of it!" Shinko urged.

Ignoring both of them, Itachi turned to Yuki. "I was told today was just a meet-and-greet."

"R-right," Yuki stammered. He was clearly the most concerned about Itachi, the youngest member of the team.

"Then we're done here, aren't we?"

"I-I suppose we are."

"Then I'll take my leave."

"Oh! We have a formal mission tomorrow, so make sure you're on time."

Just as he was about to walk away, Itachi stopped and glanced at Yuki over his shoulder.

"I understand."

"You're just running away, you jerk!" Tenma shouted, standing up.

"And I'm not done talking yet!"

Shinko grabbed the hem of Tenma's trousers.

"What are you doing?!"

"Yer such a loudmouth!"

The sound of their bickering rang in Itachi's ears, but he didn't turn around. This was going to be a long journey.

"You on your way home?" Itachi called out to a familiar figure ahead.

The person turned, their face instantly brightening upon seeing him.

"Itachi." It was Uchiha Izumi. "You have a mission today?"

"We were just meeting each other. Missions start tomorrow."

"Huh." Izumi was still at the academy. Itachi found it strange—just a month ago, he had been in the same place. The thought left him oddly nostalgic.

Since their road home was the same, they walked together.

"How's your team?" Izumi asked.

"That senior's on it."

"Huh?"

"The one with the loudest voice that time you took out those three seniors for me."

Recognition flickered in her eyes. "Took them out? I mean, I didn't…" She hesitated, looking down, unsure of how to respond.

Watching her struggle for words, a laugh suddenly bubbled up inside him and escaped before he could stop it.

Izumi's eyes widened. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just funny."

"'Just funny?' You're awful."

"Sorry."

This time, they both laughed. Nothing was particularly funny, yet somehow, they couldn't help but share the moment.

"Can you use the Sharingan now?" Itachi asked.

"If I could, I'd be graduating like you."

Itachi didn't look at her as she pursed her lips in frustration. "I haven't even activated mine yet."

"But you still graduated. You're already a genin. So what kind of ninja are you gonna be when you do activate it?"

"Dunno…"

Ahead, the wall enclosing the Uchiha compound came into view, the clan's crest displayed proudly on the grand tiled gates that separated their district from the rest of the village.

"Hey… don't you think the grown-ups have been kinda scary lately?" Izumi asked quietly as they walked closer to the compound.

"You hear something?"

She shook her head. "No, but sometimes, when I'm walking around, I just… get scared all of a sudden."

Izumi was only seven, but she had already awakened her Sharingan. Even if she hadn't mastered it yet, she had trained as a ninja. And Uchiha intuition was sharp—if she had a bad feeling, it wasn't something to dismiss.

"What's scaring you?" Itachi asked gently.

"Like… maybe the grown-ups are thinking about bad things or something…"

Bad things…

The way she put it was simple, almost childish. But in a way, it was closer to the truth than any explanation an adult could give a way of speaking.