Chapter Two
Team unity is vitally important to mission success; where most new captains go wrong on this, is equating teammates liking each other to unity, no one needs to like each other, they just need to get the job done.
–Captain Hatake
I survived, barely.
After our warmup we did six gruelling hours of drills and ended with rounds of one-on-one sparring. My injury from the warmup did not help matters, and I got my ass handed to me, leaving me with a bruised ego to add to my elbow, rib and shoulder injuries.
All in all, not bad in my book.
Captain Hatake dismisses us to clean up for dinner and I stiffly hobble behind the others as we head for the shower block.
“Haruno, wait” Captain Hatake calls, and I turn back to him as the others also turn to listen to what he has to say to me. “You’re on kitchen duties, go make dinner now before you shower. If you burn it, you’re doing laps.”
I can hear the guys snickering behind me at Hatake’s order and I clench my jaw as I nod stiffly and turn on my heel making for the kitchen and dining hall. The dining hall is off to the right as you enter from the training facilities and through that is the kitchen. I turn the lights on as I go and grab one of the aprons from the hook by the door to cover my disgusting clothes. There is a recipe card also hanging from a hook that looks like it pre-dates civilisation and I gingerly pick up the sticky pages and flick through the food schedule.
Today is Thursday and according to the little card on the front that means it is spaghetti meatball night. I read over the list of ingredients and grimace at the blandness of the stock card recipe. One of my favourite things in the world is to cook and my old team were the happy beneficiaries of my skills, which meant they hadn’t needed to be subjugated to the torture that is the Konoha Army food. Placing the card on the bench I wash my hands thoroughly in the sink and wonder over to the fridges and cupboards surprised with how stocked they are considering the crappiness of the recipes on the card.
I have everything I need to make a much fancier and delicious Bolognese if I so choose.
Too bad my new team are complete assholes, and I am a petty bitch.
Grabbing the pasta, ground beef and tinned tomatoes, I set about committing the worst crime in culinary history as I dump it all in a large pot with a bunch of water and turn the heat up. Hatake had only said to not burn it, he did not specify anything about it needing to taste good.
As the monstrosity on the stove cooks away, I dig out some fresh bread and cured meats I had seen earlier and make a decadent sandwich that I happily munch on as I stir the slop in the pan. Clearing all evidence of my actual dinner away, I find a large serving bowl and pour the now cooked pasta and beef into it. Carrying it out to the table, I set it in the middle and fetch cutlery and bowls leaving them next to it.
Smiling at my handywork, I take my apron off and put it back on the hook and then head for the utility closet where I had left my bag. The closet is right off the dining hall, and I hear when the others, now freshly showered and changed, enter and spot the “food”.
“What in the fresh hell is that!?” Shikamaru says in disgust, and I think Naruto is even gagging.
“Surely, she should run laps for this Cap? No one is this bad at cooking” Sasuke demands, and I hear the wet noise of flood slopping.
“I only told her not to burn it” Hatake reluctantly replies, and I huff a laugh as I gather my clothes and toiletries.
I exit the little cupboard and stroll past the open kitchen door where they are all seated and staring at their bowls of food with disgusted looks on their faces. Not acknowledging them, I head into the showers and snag a towel from the linen closet before shutting myself into a stall. Turning the hot water tap on, I avoid the frigid spray as I wait for it to heat up.
And wait. And wait…
The water stays a relentless downpour of freezing cold and I push a long sigh through my nose. I should have put chillies and too much salt in their damn food.
Accepting my fate, I step under the spray and wash the blood and mud off me as fast as I can. Teeth chattering, I hastily get dressed into my fresh clothes and towel dry my long hair. Nothing sounds better than a hot cup of tea and a sleep, so I gather up my dirty clothes and place them into the laundry chute before heading for the kitchen again. The others are still seated and choking down the slop of pasta and watery tomato beef and I purposefully act nonchalant as I walk over to the coffee cart and start fixing a paper cup of tea.
“Not joining us for this delightful dinner you have cooked Private?” Sasuke asks as he pushes the food around in his bowl with a scowl.
“Just making tea” I say as I hold up my steaming cup and take a seat at the large table.
Grabbing a bowl, I fill it with a small amount and pretend to dig in like it’s the best food I have ever eaten.
“I’ve never made spaghetti before!” I say in a falsely cheery voice as I take a third mouthful and chew it slowly.
“Yeah, no shit” Naruto mutters into his bowl, taking another morose bite of his food.
“You actually shouldn’t ever make it again,” Shikamaru says shaking his head as he watches me eat another bite with a scowl.
“What, you guys don’t like it? I followed the recipe” I say innocently finishing my bowl.
“Just throw this shit away, I wouldn’t even feed this to a pig” Sasuke spits as he stands and dumps his bowl back into the serving dish.
The others dump their bowls as well with muttered curses and leave the dining hall until it is just me and Captain Hatake left. He has an untouched bowl in front of him and he watches me with distrust clear on his face for an awkward beat of silence. Sipping my tea for something to do with my hands, I stand and begin gathering the other bowls from the table.
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing, Haruno?” Hatake says and I stop and look at him with a blank expression.
“What’s that, Sir?” I ask as innocently as I can.
“Play innocent all you want. This malicious compliance shit is all very amusing for you I am sure, but I can make your life hell. This ends tonight, you’ve had your fun, and you will do better tomorrow night, and the night after that, and the night after that. Until you get it through your head that you serve this team and me, and I will not have someone on my team defying orders” Hatake says threateningly, and I slowly straighten as he stands and rounds the table towards me.
“What orders have I defied, Sir?” I ask as he gets uncomfortably close and towers over me.
“Captain Genma is a good friend of mine” Hatake says pointedly, and I keep my face blank at that nugget of information, “clean up this mess and get to bed.”
Hatake stalks out of the dining room, and I watch him go with an annoyed scowl as I gather up the dishes. Hatake wants to make my life hell if I don’t play good soldier and maid for these assholes? Fine.
Pride aside, I am not one to roll over easy, and so long as they keep their sexist elitest shit up, over my dead body am I going to cower and fold to them. Hope they have a strong stomach because I can do a whole lot worse.
Luckily clean up does not take me very long at all and I retreat to the supply closet and look at my less than stellar accommodations. I mean I’ve definitely slept in worse conditions, but my whole body is a giant bruise after our gruelling day of training, and there is a soft and perfectly good mattress not even three hundred metres away in what should be my room. Like hell am I going to ask Hatake for help or take this higher though over a damn bed and if they thought I am so precious that sleeping in a cupboard would make me drop out or transfer from their team then they seriously misunderstand the depth of my stubbornness.
I hunt through my pack for my mission bedroll and also pull out my favourite oversized hoody as I try and make the dirty floor of the cupboard as comfortable as possible. The door does not block the stark white light from the hallway outside completely, so while it is dim, it is not pitch black in the small, cramped space. The hoodie is a small reprieve from the freezing floor thankfully, and I know I am in for a long night as I wriggle and readjust trying to get warm and comfortable enough to sleep.
Eventually I must pass out, as dreams of closing walls and a failing coms systems playing my teammates desperate pleas for help on a haunting loop chase me before I wake with a crick in my neck. I blearily reach for my standard issue watch and press the worn button to illuminate the screen for the time. It is quarter to five in the morning, and I debate going back to sleep for a moment before I hear the stirring of people outside my room. I climb to my feet, my side and elbow aching in protest, and change quickly and efficiently into my training gear for the day before exiting my room in need of the bathroom.
As I cross the hall, I notice Hatake’s office light on and I can hear slightly raised voices from inside the shuttered off room. Creeping across the hallway, I catch the end of a whispered heated argument between General Tsunade and Hatake.
“General, I urge you to see reason, she is not a good fit for this mission and this team. Lieutenant Nara has the battle skills and tactical knowledge to be a much better second in command on this” Hatake urges in an angry murmur.
“I would remind you, Captain, of who you are talking too. Lieutenant Haruno is an asset to this team, and she will be a valuable resource in ensuring all operatives return home so I trust you to make this situation work.” General Tsunade replies, the finality in her tone brokering no room for argument and I take it as my cue to move down the hallway to not be caught eavesdropping.
Slipping into the bathroom I go about my business, and as I am exiting to make my way into the kitchens, Hatake marches out of his office. We both pause and take in one another and I see the simmering anger and annoyance at my very presence written plainly in his eyes.
“Haruno” Hatake clips as he breezes past me into the dining room, and I follow a pace behind.
We both ignore the other as we grab our respective choices for breakfast. As Hatake reclines at the table with his bowl of muesli, I dump two sachets of instant coffee, cream, and enough sugar for a coronary explosion into a Styrofoam cup as the tension in the room mounts at the prolonged silence. Snagging an apple and protein bar from the cupboard I sit as far from Hatake as I can while I eat.
The others slowly trickle in and by five thirty Hatake is clearing his throat and standing to address us all.
“General Tsunade believes it is prudent to test our new team dynamics and skills in some mock scenarios today” Hatake begins, and the room grows deadly silent. “We will be tasked with a retrieval and extraction of an intelligence file and two hostages from Team Beast.”
The others all let out moans at this and Hatake lets them for a moment before raising his hand and commanding silence.
“Haruno and Uzumaki you two will handle extraction of the hostages; myself, and Uchiha will handle the extraction of the intelligence file. Nara you will be over comms and team movements from radio control” Hatake continues and there is an outbreak of outraged expletives at the assignments.
“Captain why am I being sidelined? I am always Naruto’s partner” Shikamaru asks angrily as Naruto agrees and shoots me a dirty look.
“This does not come from me but General Tsunade” Hatake admits bitterly with a glare my way and the room feels a little stifling with all the pent-up aggression being directed at me. “They are expecting us in thirty minutes, so I want you to gear up and be ready to leave for their base in twenty, understood?”
“Yes Captain” I chorus with the others before standing and making for the weapons store.
I know why Tsunade is demanding this mock mission but something in my gut feels off about the timing. It's a little too fast for me to have really gathered enough intel about my new team to pass to her and who I think the potential leak is, which can only mean something must have gone wrong for the retrieval mission of the captives to be moving up the timeline so fast.
All I know is it is more important than ever to keep my guard up around these guys and watch every shadow and whisper.