The next day, Yami and the other two gathered under the Hokage building as usual, but instead of Hizashi, they were greeted by a messenger sent on his behalf.
Apparently, Hizashi had returned home too late the previous night, tripped over a stone, and broke his leg. As a result, his team was given a seven-day break, and the members were free to act as they pleased.
They could either take missions or train on their own.
After delivering the message, the Hyūga clan shinobi departed, leaving the three of them staring at each other in disbelief.
Tripped over a stone?
Only an idiot would believe that.
"Looks like the Hyūga clan head was pretty ruthless last night," Yami sighed, sounding like a little adult, which made the two girls laugh.
"So, what do we do now?" Kurenai asked. "Take a mission?"
Yami shook his head. "Low-level missions are boring, and advanced missions require the signature of the lead jōnin. Let's skip missions while Hizashi-sensei is resting."
"Of course, if either of you are short on money, go ahead."
Yami didn't take missions to slave away—he was after titles. If there was an opportunity to slack off, he'd gladly take it.
"Please, I'm a little rich lady," Kurenai snorted proudly, while Yugao smiled quietly, also clearly not strapped for cash.
Anyone with a surname in this chaotic world of shinobi likely came from a family with some wealth.
"Let's get breakfast first," Kurenai said, rubbing her stomach. "I was counting on Hizashi-sensei to treat us to a big meal today, but looks like that's not happening. Come on, my treat—let's get some dango."
Since someone was treating, neither Yami nor Yugao had any objections.
The three of them arrived at the dango shop, which happened to be owned by one of Yami's classmates' families.
Since it was morning, there weren't many customers. Only one woman sat at the counter, wolfing down more than ten skewers of dango.
Seeing the familiar figure, Kurenai blinked in surprise, then called out cheerfully, "Anko?"
Mitarashi Anko turned around instinctively when she heard her name and grinned. "Kurenai? You came for dango too? And this is... Uzuki Yugao?"
"Anko-senpai." Yugao greeted her politely.
Kurenai and Anko had been two grades above Yugao in the Academy, so they had met before.
As the three of them sat down next to Anko, she noticed Yami following behind and joked,
"What's this? Babysitting duty?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Yami's our teammate," Kurenai said, rolling her eyes. "Did you just come back from outside? Don't you know about the genius who's surpassed the Uchiha?"
Anko blinked and replied casually, "I just got out from the interrogation department. I couldn't get any intel from inside the village. It's normal that I haven't heard anything, right?"
Kurenai fell silent.
She knew the reason Anko was under investigation: simply because she was Orochimaru's student.
After Orochimaru defected, all his former subordinates were implicated, especially Anko, his only living disciple.
"Will it be okay from now on?" Kurenai asked softly.
"Who knows." Anko smiled indifferently and stuffed three dango into her mouth at once. Her cheeks bulged like a squirrel's as she mumbled, "Anyway, I can't take any missions for the next six months. I'm stuck doing clerical work."
"That's not so bad," Kurenai said, trying to comfort her. "At least you weren't locked up. The Third Hokage wouldn't wrongly accuse you."
"Forget about it."
Anko shook her head, then turned to Yami with interest. "You said this kid is a genius beyond the Uchiha... What's the story?"
Kurenai explained everything to her, including the story of how both she and Yugao had lost to Yami in the squad evaluation.
Anko listened intently, surprised, then turned to Yami with a curious look.
"Brat, you're pretty good. Want to spar with me sometime?"
Yami, who was munching on dango, rolled his eyes, put down the skewer, and summoned the Kusanagi Sword from his storage scroll, slamming it onto the table.
"If you call me a brat again, I'll have you exiled and list you as a missing-nin."
Anko's grin froze. "The Kusanagi Sword? Why do you have the Kusanagi Sword?"
"Obviously, your master Orochimaru gave it to me," Yami said without even looking up. "Jealous? He didn't even take you with him when he defected. Looks like you didn't mean much to him as a disciple."
"What did you just say?!"
Anko shot up in fury, startling the shop owner in the back.
[Host has formed a hostile bond with Mitarashi Anko. Reward: Fire Attribute Chakra (Excellent)]
Kurenai quickly held her back. "Anko, Yami's just a child. Don't take him seriously… kids say whatever, and his face is innocent too."
"If Advisor Danzō finds out you bullied his grandson, you might be back in the interrogation department before nightfall."
Danzō's name still carried weight. Whether among outsiders or villagers, the sentiment toward him was the same—stay the hell away.
Anko took a deep breath and calmed down. There was no point in bickering with a spoiled brat.
She glared fiercely at Yami and stuck her tongue out dramatically just to scare him.
It was so childish she might as well have been a kid herself.
"Kurenai, forget this little... little guy. Let's go drink tonight…"
"...."
The group dispersed quickly. Kurenai was dragged off by Anko to go shopping, and Yugao returned home to practice swordsmanship.
Yami was on his way home when he called Aburame Seiji to his side.
"Go tell the dango shop owner that from now on, all of Mitarashi Anko's dango are on the house."
"She can eat as much as she wants."
"No matter what coupon, discount, or lottery excuse she uses, as long as she leaves satisfied, I'll assign a jōnin as a tutor to her chubby little son."
There were only so many jōnin in Konoha. Most civilian shinobi had to settle for chūnin instructors after graduation.
Though Aburame Seiji didn't understand Yami's intention, he knew better than to ask. He quietly disappeared into the crowd to carry out the order.
Yami sneered.
Anko, huh? You dare to call me a brat? I'll fatten you up decades early!
(To be continued.)
***
Junkdog's Note: While we did well last week, we didn't quite hold up at the end (Rank 93), so back to one chapter per day.
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