The mission scroll was already on Morita-sensei's desk when we arrived.
He hadn't opened it.
That told me everything.
---
"This one comes with expectations," he said.
Not orders.
Expectations were worse.
---
It was a C-rank.
Of course it was.
Those were the most flexible.
Official objective: Supply route verification. Unofficial implication: See what breaks.
---
Jun read the scroll twice.
"No backup listed," he noted.
"Backup attracts witnesses," Morita-sensei replied.
That was the closest he came to commentary.
---
The route cut through a trading corridor that had changed hands three times in the last year.
Maps said Konoha controlled it.
Maps lied.
---
Halfway through the patrol, Hana stopped.
Her hand rose.
Then tightened.
Contact.
---
They weren't bandits.
They weren't enemy ninja.
They were locals.
Armed.
Nervous.
Waiting.
---
Morita-sensei stepped forward.
"We're passing through," he said calmly. "No trouble needed."
The leader laughed.
"You already passed trouble," he replied.
He gestured behind us.
Smoke rose where the supply carts had been.
---
Jun swore.
Hana shifted her stance.
I did the math.
---
This wasn't an ambush.
It was a message.
---
"Withdraw," Morita-sensei ordered.
The locals didn't move.
Someone threw a rock.
It missed.
That was enough.
---
The fight was short.
Not clean.
Locals weren't trained.
Which meant they were unpredictable.
Jun took a blade to the shoulder.
Hana disarmed someone and broke his arm.
I threw a kunai without thinking.
It went into a throat.
---
The body dropped.
No scream this time.
Just surprise.
---
We pulled back fast.
Left the carts.
Left the smoke.
Left two bodies behind.
---
The report wrote itself.
Supply route compromised by hostile non-ninja elements. Engagement unavoidable. Losses incurred.
True.
Also useless.
---
Administration's response came within hours.
Route flagged temporarily unstable.
Mission archived.
No escalation.
---
"They wanted to see if we'd push," Hana said later.
"Yes," I agreed.
"And?"
"We didn't."
She looked relieved.
That scared me.
---
Jun bled through his bandages that night.
Mika treated him.
She didn't look at me.
---
"You killed him," she said quietly, while stitching.
"Yes," I replied.
"On purpose?"
I hesitated.
"In time," I said.
She flinched.
---
Morita-sensei filed an addendum.
Short.
Neutral.
Necessary.
---
The next morning, Team Nineteen was reassigned again.
Same rank.
Different label.
Flexible Response Unit.
Unofficial.
Unsigned.
---
Morita-sensei looked tired.
"This is where it stops being accidental," he said.
I checked my gear.
"It already did," I replied.
---
That night, I finally added a new rule.
Rule Eight: If you are useful enough, you stop being protected by ignorance.
I cleaned my kunai until my hands hurt.
Some stains didn't come off.