Morning light had only just crept onto the windowsills of the mission hall, and the sheet at the top of the assignment board was still pinned there.
Naruto had planted himself on a bench early that morning, tapping his toes against the floor. Another squad waited in front of the assignment board. They received a weeding job and shuffled out with weary sighs.
Kakashi raised a hand and took down the topmost sheet.
"Today, a C-rank."
Naruto sprang off the bench. It was still rocking when he landed.
"It's here! It's here! Finally!"
He craned his neck to see the paper, but Kakashi lifted his wrist out of reach.
Sakura stood with a little cry, clenching both hands into fists at her sides. Sasuke said nothing, but he was already standing straight, one hand resting on the ninja tool pouch at his lower back.
Kiyoshi stood at the rear of the team and straightened along with them.
For the first time, all four stood straight at once.
The hall got a fresh batch of requests every day. Weeding, delivering letters, finding lost necklaces. Kiyoshi thought the jobs all looked the same, whether they stood straight or not.
The hall doors opened.
The smell of alcohol came in first, followed by the man.
The chatter dropped a notch. The middle-aged man who entered was short, with a bulging pack on his back. Dried mud clung to it, as though he had traveled through the night. He stopped at the counter, swept his gaze across the rafters first, then lowered it level by level, scanning every face before finally settling on Kakashi.
Only after that full sweep did he draw his gaze back. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed something down.
He slapped a crumpled application form onto the counter. Its