Three months later.
"This sucks!" Yuki Seisui groaned as he held his nose and stuffed the last bit of trash into the bag, his face full of despair.
"Stop complaining," Minato said with a frown, pulling open his own garbage bag. He'd even clipped a clothespin to his nose, trying his best to block out the stench.
Uchiha Haru, silently holding her nose, used a net to scoop floating debris from the water. "Once this mission's over, we get two days off."
"Finally." Seisui leapt out of the reeking ditch and onto the road, dusting off his hands. He sniffed himself and immediately gagged.
"Urgh!"
"If I have to do this again, I'm sending a shadow clone instead!" he said indignantly.
He had tried that once before, used a shadow clone for one of these filthy missions, only to get thoroughly scolded and whacked by Jiraiya, who insisted it was cheating. Since then, clones were strictly forbidden for chores.
"Ahahaha!" Jiraiya suddenly descended from the sky with his signature over-the-top entrance, arms crossed and landing with a dramatic thud. He always made a point of appearing right when they finished a mission.
"Excellent work! Not a single failure in the past three months!" he beamed. "I hereby declare: you've passed!"
With a triumphant thumbs-up, clearly a move he'd picked up from Minato, Jiraiya smiled wide. Where Minato learned it from was obvious enough.
The three of them looked at him with hopeful, gleaming eyes. Did this mean they were finally free from these gross, menial tasks?
Sensing their excitement, Jiraiya subtly took a few steps back to avoid the sewer stench still clinging to them. Clearing his throat, he announced, "In light of your outstanding performance, I've decided to take you outside the village for your next mission!"
"Go get ready, we leave tomorrow!"
"Yes!" all three responded in unison.
Seisui was practically buzzing. Finally, a real mission! These past three months had been nothing but cat chasing, dog wrangling, cleaning canals, and running errands.
He was going stir-crazy.
Minato quickly flung his garbage bag toward the distant bin and asked eagerly, "Jiraiya-sensei, what kind of mission are we taking on this time?!"
His voice rose with excitement, he couldn't help it.
Jiraiya, who had been preparing to teleport away to escape the smell, paused with a sly grin.
"There's a gang of bandits on a major trade route in the Land of Fire. Your mission is to wipe them out."
Then, with a mysterious smirk, he added, "You might want to ease up on your meals the next few days."
"See you tomorrow!"
And with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Wipe out bandits?" Seisui scratched his head. He'd expected maybe an escort mission or something. But they were starting with extermination?
From catching stray cats and dogs to killing people? That felt like quite a jump.
Still, looking at Haru and Minato, he realized maybe he was the only one overthinking it.
Haru was calm and expressionless, while Minato looked positively thrilled.
"Minato, why do you look so excited?" Seisui asked curiously. "I thought you'd be the type to hesitate at the idea of killing."
In his mind, Minato might be different from the original story, but deep down he was still the same, Konoha's little sun, warm and kind to everyone. Always smiling and greeting old ladies on the street.
Minato blinked, then gave Seisui a serious look. "Being assigned to higher-level missions is a good thing, isn't it?"
"And the moment I chose the path of a ninja, I was prepared, whether to kill, or be killed."
His tone was uncharacteristically solemn.
The sudden gravity in Minato's expression made Seisui pause, then nod slowly.
He understood.
Minato's sunny nature was reserved for the people of Konoha. To enemies, he was a weapon. A lethal one.
In the original series, he may have seemed gentle, but that was a matter of perspective, of sides.
This was the real shinobi world.
Not some sanitized story from a past life.
As Seisui processed all this, Haru came up beside him and gave his shoulder a gentle tap.
"You okay?" she asked, her face tinged with concern, maybe wondering if the weight of the mission was bothering him.
"I'm fine." Seisui smiled and ruffled her hair. "Let's head back and get ready."
"We're leaving the village tomorrow. Better to be overprepared than under."
"Mm." Haru nodded.
"I just feel bad. I was planning to take you out to have some fun during our break."
Haru shook her head, her voice soft. "We can have fun after we get back."
Minato, watching them from the side, quietly turned and walked away.
I don't belong here. I should still be in the sewer.
He'd spent three months trying to get closer to Uzumaki Kushina. Their relationship had improved a bit, but he was still far from winning her over.
Meanwhile, these two were practically glued together every day.
Tch. Disgusting.
==========
Time waits for no one.
In the blink of an eye, night passed.
The next morning, inside the Hokage's office, Jiraiya stood at attention while the three Genin lined up behind him, facing Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Jiraiya's squad, forty-eight D-rank missions completed over three months, zero failures," Hiruzen said, skimming through their mission record.
Looking up with a warm smile, he added, "You've done well. You're qualified to take on C-rank missions now."
Minato nearly burst with excitement, and even Haru's normally expressionless face twitched slightly.
Seisui glanced at her and chuckled inwardly. She was clearly thrilled, but still tried to act like she didn't care.
Classic Uchiha. Gotta love it.
"Team Jiraiya, listen up!"
"Yes, sir!" the three responded in unison.
"From this moment forward, you're authorized to accept D- and C-rank missions without needing approval!"
"Thank you, Grandpa Third!" Seisui replied cheerfully, not Hokage-sama, just Grandpa.
That brought a smile to Hiruzen's face.
This kid really embodies the Will of Fire, he thought fondly.
Minato, meanwhile, was frozen in shock.
Since when were you two on such familiar terms?!
Haru looked equally stunned, as if she'd seen a ghost.
From behind his desk, Hiruzen handed a scroll to Jiraiya. "Here's your mission."
"Got it," Jiraiya replied, not even bothering to look. He already knew what it was.
"We're off," he said, motioning for the three to follow.
Once the Genin had left, Jiraiya leaned in close and whispered to Hiruzen, "I'll bring back the latest celebrity photo book for you."
Hiruzen blinked. "You brat! I'm not that kind of old man!"
"I saw your crystal ball last time," Jiraiya replied with a smirk.
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