"So..." Kakashi sidled up next to you, his usual orange novel in hand, "Did something happen yesterday after I left? The four of you seem kind of tense."
You acknowledged his question with a hum, the two of you watching the genin under your care scramble about the fields to wrangle livestock. Today's mission required Team 7 to help out at a small local farm, as the farmer had come down with a sudden illness and his wife was unable to complete all the tasks herself.
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
"... And does that 'nothing' have anything to do with the burn scar that suddenly appeared on Sasuke's arm?"
"We had a small training session." You relented with the slightest twitch of your brow, "I might have scared them a little."
"Yes, I can only imagine." Your superior dryly commented as he turned a page in his book, "Go make amends with them. We'll all be stuck together for a very long time, so it benefits no one to prolong this tension."
"But sir, I'm not permitted to interfere with them in any way."
"You're permitted by me."
"But sir, Hokage-sama has instructed me to only watch—"
"Hokage-sama has instructed you to monitor the Kyūbi under my direction. In other words, you answer to me, and I'm ordering you to fix whatever mess you caused." With an easygoing smile betraying the poison laced within his words, your pain-in-the-ass superior snapped his book shut, signalling the end of the discussion.
You let slip a rare display of dissatisfaction within your gaze, yet your smile did not waver, "Hm. Buntaichō wasn't exaggerating so it seems."
"Hm? Buntaichō?" Kakashi blinked rapidly in confusion, "Who's your buntaichō? What're they saying about me?"
"Apologies sir, we can resume this conversation some other time. Right now I have to fix whatever mess I caused."
The three genin had finally finished herding the livestock back into their respective buildings, and had split off into different directions to carry out their remaining tasks. You spotted Naruto in the crop fields, Sasuke near the adjacent outbuilding, and Sakura in the chicken coop. Knowing that your blonde and pink-haired juniors were the most wary of you, you decided to approach Sasuke first to show them that there's no bad blood between you two.
"Uchiha-san. How's your injury?" You greeted the brooding boy. It appears that he'd been assigned to keep inventory of the harvested crops and transport them from the fields to the nearby outbuilding.
"Fine," came his clipped reply. Oh dear, he was annoyed with you. Perhaps he thought you were still making fun of him? You fished a small circular ointment jar from your person, holding it out to him as a peace offering.
"An antibiotic," you explained mildly to his questioning gaze, "It can also soothe the stinging, so use it as liberally as you'd like."
"... What brand is it?" He cautiously took the jar from your fingers to spin it around his own, analysing the packaging with scrutiny.
"Homemade," you responded cheerfully, "I don't often possess the privilege of partaking in this village's wares, if you understand what I mean."
He did, but a little bit of sympathy didn't mean he'll readily accept anything you handed him (especially on account that this remedy of yours was supposedly concocted by your own hand. The same hand you used to wield your blade and made to plunge right into his—)
"Don't want your pity." With that, he returned the jar back to you.
"A shame." Well, you tried. You accepted the jar back and tucked it away into a tool pouch strapped around your thigh.
YOU ARE READING
善狐・ZENKO
AdventureFOR THE WORDS OF ZENKO FOXES WERE RESERVED TO RELAY MESSAGES FROM THE DIVINE (AND THE MESSAGES CURRENTLY BEING RELAYED INTO YOUR BODY WERE CALLING FOR OBEDIENCE). In which the nine-tailed monster you worship sheds its divinity so that it can teach y...
