At Konoha's Mission Assignment Post, the Third Hokage looked over the members of Team 7 with a complicated expression. His gaze finally settled on Hatake Kakashi, his thoughts even more difficult to read.
Team 7's jonin leader had a thick bandage wrapped around his arm. The wound was new, acquired during the survival exercise.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the arm and took a slow drag from his pipe. "Kakashi, is that injury healing all right?"
This Kakashi was truly an oddity among jonin instructors. For years, his graduation assessment pass rate was zero. This year, he finally passed a team, only to get injured by the very genin he approved.
Kakashi reached up to tidy his messy silver hair and sighed. "It should be fine. I can still handle ordinary ninja missions..."
The Third Hokage nodded, taking another puff from his pipe. "Hmm, so helping Lord Kawasai watch his grandson, clearing the downstream river channel, or weeding farmland?"
"Let's pick the one with the highest reward!" Naruto Uzumaki announced, raising his eyebrows from his spot next to Kakashi.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at him. "Naruto," he said patiently, "there are many people in the village who need help. Every mission needs a ninja to complete it. If everyone is picky, those who need help will be left waiting."
"But isn't the mission difficulty related to the reward?" Naruto pushed up his ninja headband and spoke quietly to the Hokage. "Besides, now that I'm a ninja, the living expenses the village gives to orphans will stop this month. I'll need mission rewards to get by."
Hearing this, Hiruzen paused. He flipped through the mission book in his hand and pulled out a sheet. "Is that so? Well, there happens to be a long-standing mission request here. Because the environment is so troublesome, no genin team has ever completed it."
"Coincidentally, it's a D-rank mission your team can accept: clearing the downstream channel of the Naka River. The maximum reward is 10,000 ryo." He added, "Although the client is no longer around, the reward will still be paid in full."
Naka River.
When Sasuke Uchiha heard the name, his expression flickered. However, seeing Naruto's calm face, he chose not to speak up.
After Team 7 arrived downstream of the Naka River, Sakura Haruno couldn't help but cover her nose. The smell was overwhelming. A thick tree trunk blocked the river, trapping a mess of floating trash and attracting swarms of flying insects. The water below was choked with weeds, and lush aquatic plants grew densely over the garbage, releasing a thick, pungent stench.
Kakashi sighed. "Looks like this is even harder than a typical trash-collecting mission. No wonder no genin has been willing to take this request."
"I shouldn't have listened to Naruto!" Sakura complained, fanning the air in front of her nose, her face pale. "It would have been much better to do errands like delivering mail or finding pets. This place is not at all suitable for a date with Sasuke-kun!"
"..."
Sasuke's face darkened. He glanced at the unfazed Naruto and said, "This place has always smelled terrible. I rarely come near here. I remember Dad mentioning once that he was going to post a mission request for this..."
The Uchiha clan had always been proud. They would never send a jonin from their own clan to handle something like clearing a river. He just never expected that this request, posted by the former head of the Uchiha clan, had been sitting uncompleted in the village's system for all this time, even after the Uchiha were reduced to a single survivor.
So many years had passed, and Konoha had never dealt with it.
Kakashi seemed to know something. He pointed to his bandaged arm and sighed. "My wound hasn't healed yet, and the doctor told me not to get it wet. It looks like this mission will have to be completed by the three of you..."
Sakura: "..."
Sasuke: "..."
Naruto, on the other hand, just nodded nonchalantly and began forming hand seals. "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant, thousands of shadow clones filled the space around them. No matter how many times they saw it, the scene was still astonishing.
Kakashi was dumbfounded. "..."
Sakura's eyes widened. Watching a group of Naruto's clones get ready to work, she said happily, "It looks like Naruto can complete this mission all by himself!"
"I'll help too..." Sasuke said quietly, rolling up his pants and sleeves. "This place isn't far from our clan's compound... and... it was my father's request when he was alive."
"Then... I'll help too!" Sakura rolled up her sleeves, gritting her teeth as she chose to follow Sasuke's lead. But from her pained expression, it was clear she wasn't happy about it.
The sun rose slowly, its heat making the smell downstream of the Naka River even worse.
After they had cleared all the trash, Naruto and Sasuke worked together to push the massive tree trunk to the riverbank. Just as they were breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura's scream echoed from nearby.
The members of Team 7 leaped towards the sound and found the pink-haired girl looking frantic. With tears in her eyes, she pointed a trembling finger at the base of a cliff not far away. "There... there's someone... a body..."
"On guard!" Kakashi commanded, darting forward in a single leap.
Because of a certain ninja on his team, he had to be cautious. Since Konoha's founding, there had been no shortage of spies sneaking into the village. If a murder had occurred here, it was no small matter.
However, when Kakashi saw the corpse, his expression gradually stiffened. He turned his head and slowly looked at Sasuke.
Sasuke's heart jolted. "Kakashi-sensei, who is it? What happened?"
"Come and see," Kakashi said, rubbing his white hair.
Under the shady cliff, amidst dense weeds and bushes, lay the body of a ninja in an ANBU uniform, emitting an unbearable stench. His body was already decomposed. Perhaps because of where it was located, no birds or beasts had come to gnaw on the bones. The faint outline of his face was still visible.
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who was slowly walking over with a dazed expression. "My guess is that the river washed him here," he explained in a low voice. "Because it's near the water and shielded by the cliff above, it was preserved..."
After speaking, he took a nameplate from the corpse and handed it to Sasuke. "You should... know him."
Sasuke stared at the name on the plate. He slowly knelt before the skeleton as two streams of tears flowed down his cheeks. He sobbed quietly, "It's Brother Shisui..."
Sakura looked puzzled. "Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi sighed and helped Sasuke to his feet. "Sasuke, this needs to be reported to the village. Shisui was a jonin of Konoha. He's been missing for six years, and now it seems he was assassinated by someone who infiltrated the village. This is a serious matter..."
Sasuke clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as his face twisted with rage. "Many people in our clan knew back then! It was him who killed Brother Shisui!"
"For power, he killed everyone!"
"It had to be him!"
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Bonus:
Uchiha Itachi: Do you know that because of you, neither my brother nor I can explain things properly?
Uchiha Shisui: What happened?
Uchiha Itachi: He keeps thinking that I was the one who killed you…
Uchiha Shisui: Actually, I left a message there…
Uchiha Itachi: A message?
Uchiha Shisui: Itachi, protect the future of Konoha.
Uchiha Itachi: And then?
Uchiha Shisui: I didn't have the strength at the end… I only managed to carve your name…
Uchiha Itachi: …