G~

[Artemis]

Genuine excuses really were nice, every once in a while.

It really was a genuine excuse this time, too. Ryou hadn't asked to get sick. Sure, he had been out in the cold for the most of yesterday, but it wasn't like he was trying to get out of going to the first mission since Kei had decided to reform the team, was it? And even if it was, what did it really matter. He didn't want to be on the stupid team anyway. He had thought that that was the end of it after the freaking Emporer of Yukigakure had decided to dump them because they failed just that much. But noooo... Kei, with his stupid hyperness was all "We have these tattoos! We're going to stick together~!" and forced them all into doing just that. Ryou obviously had his objections to that too, but his father had forced him into it, saying that after the appalling way he had behaved in front of the Yukikage, that this was the only way to fix up his attitude.

But Ryou didn't think he had an attitude. He just liked to have things his way every once in a while. What on earth was wrong with that?

Well it didn't matter. He wasn't going to attend the first meeting. No way, ho-zay. Apparently it was a little D-Rank mission anyway; deliver some papers to some person or something. How was doing that an important part of being a shinobi anyway? Well whatever. He was going through his fifth box of tissues at this point, lying on his living room couch, watching a movie on TV. Yes, he had a TV. And a whole lot of other things only rich people had. The house wasn’t too big, but it was old fashioned and expensive, with beautiful old style architecture. Two storeys high with a beautiful big back garden that often left a nice view of the snow. The inside of the house was filled with pictures. There were the incredibly embarrassing photographs of Ryou as a baby or at very young ages, and some pictures of his father meeting important people, and the odd picture of Ryou’s deceased mother. But the majority of the pictures were the Daimyou’s new wife. Ryou’s stepmother. Most of them had her in her underwear.

She was the only person other than Ryou currently in the house, as his father was apparently going to be at work all day long. She was preparing for a photo shoot or something, and to Ryou’s mass annoyance, she was bustling around checking out how she looked in every single mirror in the entire house. She was a tall woman with blonde hair, and a face which screamed “I’VE HAD LOTS OF PLASTIC SURGERY :D”. The same thing went for her body; big big big and fake fake fake. This was especially annoying when she thought it was alright to walk around in nothing except a mostly transparent black silky lingerie dress and stilettos.

“How do I look?” she asked him for the millionth time, standing in front him to check out her reflection on the glass of the TV.

“Down in front!” Ryou spat, his voice thick due to his cold, “And for the millionth time, can’t you be more decent around here? What on earth is wrong with yo- Achoo!”


“I told you not to talk to me like that, rude boy. And cover your mouth when you sneeze. I told you, I have photo shoot people coming any minute now, I need to make sure I look good. This is apparently for a men’s magazine,”

She worked from home. There was a room set aside in the house solely for her use. Ryou never went in there, nor did he ever want to go in there. The camera people came around every now and then to take photos of his stepmother, and he generally just steered clear of them. Like so, Ryou gave up on arguing with his stepmother, and stood up, aiming to go to his room or something when the doorbell rang.

-Ding Dong-

“Oh! That must be them~!” his stepmother said, almost tripping on her heels as she made to walk swiftly towards the hall, “Now behave Ryou! I think I’ll be taking photographs for the next couple of hours; if I hear as much as a peep I’ll-”

She broke off as she answered the door. Ryou, who was still in the living room rolled his eyes. As if he wanted to bother her anyway. Her sickly sweet high pitched voice continued to echo from the next room.

“Oh! You’re not my photographers~ You must be those shinobi, here to deliver something to my husband. Well, I still need to prepare, and I can’t exactly sign that off for you~! I know, I’ll get my son to come and deal with it. I’m awfully sorry; just busy, you know~ just a minute~!”

The clacking of her shoes could be heard as she made her way from whoever she was talking to come and ask him to do her bidding again. It honestly didn’t take much to sign a paper saying that the sheet was received, but noooo, the old hag believed that it was necessary that Ryou suffered as much as possible.

“Can you deal with the people at the door!? I’m going to have to fix my hair~ Opening that door caused some wind to come in, I’m afraid~!”

Ryou didn’t even say anything to her. He just rolled his eyes and walked passed her towards the cold wind coming from the opened door. And as he saw who was waiting there on the other side, he stopped dead for a reason that had nothing to do with the cold.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

[Artemis]

After nearly a full week of boring business paperwork being thrown at him and plenty of sulking about his ninja career going down the drain due to internal team problems, this particular morning had certainly been a change of pace, whether it was for better or worse.

Toya quickly found an excuse to leave the rest of the day’s work with one of the employees who had worked in his family’s company for years and went for a walk through the village streets. It was a fairly quiet and peaceful day out in the heart of the village, and he made sure to walk slowly and enjoy the break.

He couldn’t help but think about what could have happened if the team had worked out better. Maybe right now he and the others would be on an important escort mission and spreading their team’s fame across the great shinobi villages instead of being abandoned by the Yukikage himself and being left without anything else to fall back on aside from a team tattoo that now only served as a reminder of their failure and rejection. But anyway, this was not the time for such pointless and depressing thoughts.

Just when he had decided to finally turn back and head back to his house, he caught a glimpse of a neon-bright blob of assorted colors coming in his direction. Since Toya was supposed to be blind, he couldn’t simply turn and sprint away as if he had actually seen the approaching figure, but he could still turn away and just pretend like he had been heading in another direction.

Unfortunately, by the time he had decided on this course of action, the flying mass of uncoordinated clothing had already reached him, and now there were no options of escape.

Several minutes of loudmouthed blabbering later, he found himself walking with his “former” teammate Kei in the direction of their other ”former” teammate Ryou’s house. Apparently the colorblind kid had refused to give up on the team even now that their sensei had left, and he had managed to acquire a simple delivery mission. And now Toya found himself dragged into a plot to somehow trick Ryou into coming with them and completing the boring task.

Toya had tried to tell Kei that they could simply do the mission on their own, but apparently they could only complete this mission as a full team, even if they were one sensei short of an actual shinobi squad. After trying to argue in vain, he had finally given up and resigned himself to going along with his crazy teammate.

When they approached Ryou’s house, Toya was surprised to see that it was as luxurious as his own home was, or maybe even more luxurious. Apparently Ryou’s family was extremely well off. Maybe that had something to do with the kid’s unmanageable attitude problem… either way, he approached the door with Kei and quickly knocked on the large front door. After only a brief period of waiting, the door was opened from within.

“Oh! You’re not my photographers~ You must be those shinobi, here to deliver something to my husband. Well, I still need to prepare, and I can’t exactly sign that off for you~! I know, I’ll get my son to come and deal with it. I’m awfully sorry; just busy, you know~ just a minute~!”

Toya was extremely glad that he had learned to restrain his tongue over the years, because he had almost let a few words slip as he looked at the woman who answered the door. Knowing Kei, they had probably wound up at some sort of shady club rather than their intended destination. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to him.

After the woman turned to leave, he let out a breath of relief, though the tension immediately returned when a certain familiar face came to the door.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

”Oh good, you’re still as pleasant as always…"

Nothing more needed to be said for the moment. Toya was sure that Kei was about to do most of the talking for all of them anyway…

[Artemis]

One would think, that after being granted the great honor of having the Yuki Emperor himself as a sensei, only to be quickly dropped from the team due to utter failure and inability to cooperate as a 3-man unit, any normal person would feel great shame, and maybe even give up on shinobi life forever.

...It was a good thing Kei didn't classify as 'normal'.

Murasaki Kei felt anything but shame on this fine Yuki morning. She was whistling, actually as if she had not a care in the world. Kei may not have been the brightest genin out there, but she was never truly defeated. The disbanding of their team wasn't an end, just a new beginning. A really cool beginning, one without any annoying sensei telling her what to do. Team Tomoyuki (or was it just Team Yuki now...? (No way, that was too boring. She'd have to think of something cooler later)) was awesome enough to be its own sensei.

Yep. Totally awesome.

...At least, that was what she told herself as she half-pulled half-dragged Toya down the street in the direction of the Daimyo's residence, a stack of paperwork under one arm.

Paperwork! Their first mission was delivering paperwork? That was academy student stuff! And to make matters worse, stupid Ryou hadn't even bothered to show up. He was going to be in so much trouble when she got her hands on him... Oh well. He'd learn. Maybe the paperwork would turn out to be special top-secret documents. And maybe there would be enemy ninja hiding juuuust behind that corner over there, waiting to intercept the documents and bring them to their evil overlord to assist him with his world domination plans. And maybe when Kei beat the crap out of those enemy ninja, evil overlord and all, Ryou would finally realize how cool this team could be.

After all, it was no fun being the only one excited about all this. Toya hadn't said anything mean yet, he'd always been slightly nicer than Ryou after all, but he had this weird constipated look on his face... Even Kei could tell he wanted nothing more than to turn around and run far away.

Much to Kei's disappointment, the remainder of the walk passed by fairly uneventfully. Well... there was always next time for the evil overlord adventure. The daimyo's house almost made up for it though. It wasn't that huge, but Kei could tell that whoever lived here was just rolling in money. And probably really spoiled, too.

Kei released poor Toya and dashed up the front steps in order to beat him in ringing the doorbell (little did she know, Toya could care less...), nearly tripping overherself in the process. She managed not to drop the super-secret documents though, and was standing at the ready, prepared to impress the Daimyo with her amazing paper delivery skills when the door opened to reveal... some random lady.

“Oh! You’re not my photographers~ You must be those shinobi, here to deliver something to my husband. Well, I still need to prepare, and I can’t exactly sign that off for you~! I know, I’ll get my son to come and deal with it. I’m awfully sorry; just busy, you know~ just a minute~!”

Well... something about her struck Kei as odd, but she shrugged it off. The lady was nice enough. In just a moment, however, Kei was about to encounter someone not quite so 'nice'...

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

"RYOU!"

Immediately, Kei started throwing questions at him, rapidfire. "Why didn't you show up!? It was supposed to be our first mission, you coward! You're not afraid of the evil overlord are yo-- HEY! Why are you in the Daimyo's house, anyways? Did you break in or something? Don't tell me... you don't actually LIVE here, do you?"

She paused to breathe, surveying the inside of the house, thinking back to her earlier assumptions about its inhabitants.

"...Well, at least that explains why you're such a jerk."

[Artemis]

…

Why were they here? Of all the shinobi in the entire village, anybody could have been chosen to deliver those stupid papers in Kei’s arms, but it had to be them, didn’t it? Why did Ryou’s life just suck so much? He didn’t even know what to say after his initial outburst, he just stood and stared at the people he was ashamed to call his “teammates”. Still the same as ever, they were.

”Oh good, you’re still as pleasant as always…"

"Why didn't you show up!? It was supposed to be our first mission, you coward! You're not afraid of the evil overlord are yo-- HEY! Why are you in the Daimyo's house, anyways? Did you break in or something? Don't tell me... you don't actually LIVE here, do you?"

It was funny how they were acting like Ryou had deliberately fallen ill so that he wouldn’t be able to attend the mission. He hadn’t, honestly. Gah. What was wrong with these people? They honestly didn’t know who his father was?

“Yes, I do live here, about time you worked that out. And I’m here because I’m sick. And why would I want to go on a stupid mission to deliver something to my own father anyway?”

He turned away and sneezed again, before striding forward to take the papers from them. He didn’t need to say anything else to them, anyway. Just sign the thing and take the papers and send them off.

“Give me those,” he muttered, taking the papers from Kei, “I don’t know how long I’ll be out of action, but whatever, you don’t need me to do stupid delivery missions anyway. I don’t know why on earth you had to ring me up about nine thousand times over this,”

Even more irritable due to illness, Ryou felt like stabbing through the paper as he signed the sheet signifying that the document had been received. Handing the paper stack back to Kei, he motioned them to get out of his house.

“You guys can go now, I’ll give these to my fathe-”

“Friends of yours Ryou?~”

Ryou cursed as he heard his stepmother descending down the stairs with her hair back in its elaborate curls.

“Nope, they’re just delivery people,”

Of course, her sole purpose for existence was to make Ryou’s life a living hell, so his pretty young stepmother naturally didn’t buy it. Instead she cooed on in her horribly fake voice,

“How rude. Not even acknowledging your friends to your own mother. Tsk tsk, you shouldn’t be ashamed, Ryou. Look, you have such… interesting friends,”

She left Ryou wishing he could just drop into a hole or something and took a step forward, now eying Toya with her hand on her hip.

“You’re quite the handsome boy, aren’t you? Very… tall, and well mannered, it appears. Oh, I’m sure you’ll get lots of girlfriends,”

Ryou spat at the floor behind her as she turned to victimize Kei next.

“And you… you’re quite, colourful, aren’t you? We don’t use that much color in our industry… silk doesn’t work well with bright colors. It’s mostly black and white here…”

“…They’re not my friends. I don’t even know them,” Ryou muttered to her. She ignored him.

“You’re both welcome in for tea, of course. I think we still have some of the leftover cake somewhere. I think you both should stay until my husband gets back… yes, I think he’d love to meet the handsome young shinobi who have delivered these important papers,”

Important papers? As if. They were probably just electricity bills. And also… tea? No way. They were not coming in. They did not need to see any more of the house than the hallway.

“But-”

“Come this way, kids,” his stepmother overtook him once again as she beckoned them into the living room, “I’m sure I’ve got that cake somewhere-”

-Ding dong!-

“…Oh! That’s my photographers. I’m afraid I’m going to have to get my shoot done now. Ryou, get your friends the cake. I better go… See you, sweethearts~”

Leaving the three of them on the landing to Ryou’s living room, she dashed off. Ryou physically kicked the ground. How could she do this? Leave him here with… them. Until his father got back, none the less. Yay. Now they had a wonderful view of all the posters that adorned the walls. Nice. Life sucked.

“Stupid lovely young lady. Oh, And no, I’m not getting you your cake,”

[Artemis]

Wow, that was a lot of information to process in a very short amount of time. The woman walking around the house wearing practically nothing was Ryou’s mother, and the Daimyo was his father. The boy certainly didn’t seem to be faking his sickness, but a cold sure seemed like a pathetic excuse to stay locked inside all day. You’d think that everyone in the village of snow would be immune to something like a cold.

“Yes, I do live here, about time you worked that out. And I’m here because I’m sick. And why would I want to go on a stupid mission to deliver something to my own father anyway?”

”Settle down, it’s not like you ever told us about where you lived or who your father is. And every mission is important to the village, even these kind of tasks. I thought we all agreed that we would act like shinobi from now on?”

Toya paused as Ryou took the stack of paper from Kei and signed them.

“Give me those. I don’t know how long I’ll be out of action, but whatever, you don’t need me to do stupid delivery missions anyway. I don’t know why on earth you had to ring me up about nine thousand times over this,”

”It’s not just about completing the mission, it’s always about doing it as a team. Even if our leader has moved on, we can still move forward. I don’t know about you or Kei, but I’m willing to so easily give up my shinobi dream.”


“You guys can go now, I’ll give these to my fathe-”

“Friends of yours Ryou?~”

How surprising it was to see someone other than Toya or Kei interrupting Ryou. Toya glanced over at the woman, trying to figure out how someone like her had ended up marrying the Daimyo. It probably was more about money and beauty than actual love, and maybe that would explain the hostile tension that seemed to hover between her and Ryou.

Nope, they’re just delivery people,”

“How rude. Not even acknowledging your friends to your own mother. Tsk tsk, you shouldn’t be ashamed, Ryou. Look, you have such… interesting friends,”

Interesting, eh? He wasn’t sure whether that was meant to be positive or not, but at least it wasn’t a blatant insult. Toya cringed inwardly, partially because of the fact that the woman had referred to him as Ryou’s “friend”, but mostly because she had moved uncomfortably close to him.

“You’re quite the handsome boy, aren’t you? Very… tall, and well mannered, it appears. Oh, I’m sure you’ll get lots of girlfriends,”

Uhh, thanks, but I think you exaggerate slightly…”

Those were meant to be compliments, but they were all very superficial observations that really meant nothing to him. And lots of girlfriends? Was it normal in this woman’s mind for a man to move from one relationship to the next and then tossing them aside like an old, battered shirt? Something about this woman certainly felt off to Toya…

“And you… you’re quite, colourful, aren’t you? We don’t use that much color in our industry… silk doesn’t work well with bright colors. It’s mostly black and white here…”

Toya had to put a hand to his mouth and pretend to clear his throat to hide his smirk at this comment. “Colorful” was definitely the right word to describe Kei’s attire and personality.

“…They’re not my friends. I don’t even know them,”

“You’re both welcome in for tea, of course. I think we still have some of the leftover cake somewhere. I think you both should stay until my husband gets back… yes, I think he’d love to meet the handsome young shinobi who have delivered these important papers,”

“But-”

“Come this way, kids. I’m sure I’ve got that cake somewhere-”

He tried to simply ignore most of what Ryou and his mother were saying. He simply nodded politely and began following as instructed when the doorbell chimed to indicate the arrival of another guest.

“…Oh! That’s my photographers. I’m afraid I’m going to have to get my shoot done now. Ryou, get your friends the cake. I better go… See you, sweethearts~”

Well that was certainly one of the weirdest encounters Toya had ever been in. He let out a breath of relief when the woman exited the room, though he was still filled with an alert tension with Ryou still right next to them.

“Stupid lovely young lady. Oh, And no, I’m not getting you your cake,”

”Calm down man, we’re not asking you to serve us or anything. And even if you have some issues with your mother, shouldn’t you at least have the decency to show her a little respect, especially in front of us?

If Team Tomoyuki had been dysfunctional back when it was still technically an official squad, then this family seemed to be one step lower on the scale…

[Artemis]

Kei tried her best to ignore her "teammate's" insults and let Toya do the talking for now, lest she give in to her sudden desire to punch Ryou in the face.

Sure, it worked when she had an argument with her brothers, but Kei had a feeling Ryou would just start crying or something. He was always so negative... Kei knew that had to be at least half the reason why the three genin had been dropped from the emperor's team, yet he inisisted on blaming Toya and Kei for everything. Sure, the two of them had contributed to the problems, but at least they accepted that. And they were still trying to work with Ryou, despite his impossible attitude. He should be grateful! Daimyo's son or not, no one else was going to take him in their team after what had happened with the Emperor. He was lucky to still have Kei and Toya! And if Ryou was sick, all he'd had to do was say so. It was kind of lame for a supposedly great ninja to get a cold, but Kei still would've understood! Instead the boy had had to go and completely ignore all her calls...

Jerk.

Kei would tell him all this later though, maybe when his mother wasn't around. Embarrassing him in front of his mom wouldn't help things either... not that Ryou seemed to care about his own mother any more than he did Kei and Toya. More than anything else, however, the thought of delicious cake was calling her as she followed Ryou's mother inside. But then the doorbell rang, calling her away, and Kei was left alone with the two boys she called teammates.

“Stupid lovely young lady. Oh, and no, I’m not getting you your cake.”

...She should have known better.

”Calm down man, we’re not asking you to serve us or anything. And even if you have some issues with your mother, shouldn’t you at least have the decency to show her a little respect, especially in front of us?"

...But Kei wanted cake!

She was forced to put this thought aside for now however, as there were more pressing matters at hand. Like the fact that this was finally her chance to confront Ryou about his behavior.

"Not to agree with Toya or anything, but he is kinda right," she chimed in. "I think your mom's nice. Why do you always have to find a problem with everything?"

[Artemis]

”Calm down man, we’re not asking you to serve us or anything. And even if you have some issues with your mother, shouldn’t you at least have the decency to show her a little respect, especially in front of us?"

"Not to agree with Toya or anything, but he is kinda right, I think your mom's nice. Why do you always have to find a problem with everything?"

Well, they weren't the first people to make those assumptions. Everybody thought he had an attitude problem. He generally tried to just put accusations such as those aside; because trying to counter them usually left him with even bigger personality issues in the eyes of others. But the other thing. Her... his mother? Ugh. The thought was so stupid that Ryou actually burst out laughing.

"Oh please, don't make me even more sick. She's not my mother. My mother's dead,"

He indicated one of the pictures hanging on the wall next to him, the only picture in the whole room of his real mother. She was a very pretty woman - not in the same way as his stepmother - with long, silvery hair and a very sweet, pale face. The picture was very old; after all, it had been about ten years since she had died. Or had been murdered by a group of people who were against Ryou's father.

"...My father married her after my mother's death. The proper term would probably be "stepmother". But I'd rather not aknowledge that I'm related to her. Do either of your mothers treat you like you're their personal slave?"

He glared at them, arms still folded and leaning against the wall. He sniffled another sneeze before talking again.

"...And I do not find something negative about everything, or whatever you said. I just like to have things my way every once in a while," he said, now looking specifically at Kei, "And look at me like that all you want, I'm still not getting you cake,"

[Artemis]

"Not to agree with Toya or anything, but he is kinda right, I think your mom's nice. Why do you always have to find a problem with everything?"

Toya certainly did not have an incredibly positive first impression of the woman, but Kei was right in saying that she was at least kind to them, even if it was all superficial and probably just to keep up her good-mannered image.

"Oh please, don't make me even more sick. She's not my mother. My mother's dead,"

He slowly glanced around at the pictures around the room, pretending to choose random locations before finally sneaking a glance at the only one of Ryou’s biological mother. It was true that Toya could never really understand the feeling of losing his mother, since he had no memories of her, but unlike Ryou, he no longer had any type of parental figures in his life to look after him. Not that he needed them, of course.

"...My father married her after my mother's death. The proper term would probably be "stepmother". But I'd rather not aknowledge that I'm related to her. Do either of your mothers treat you like you're their personal slave?"

He finally glanced back at Ryou with a blank expression, though his eyes were blazing with angry emotion behind the dark lenses.

“Unfortunately, I’ll never know how my mother would have treated me. She died only minutes after I was born, and my father passed away a couple years ago. So if I was in your position, I’d be glad that I had any parents at all, even if you don’t see eye to eye with them.”

Toya took a slow, deep breath to cool his head before he accidentally said too much. There was a lot about himself and his past that nobody was ever supposed to know, and he sometimes let stuff slip up when he let his emotions get the better of him. That was how Kei almost figured out that his blindness was an act. Luckily, the kid wasn’t the sharpest tool in the… world.

"...And I do not find something negative about everything, or whatever you said. I just like to have things my way every once in a while. And look at me like that all you want, I'm still not getting you cake."

”Alright then, since you’re in such a helpful mood today, just point us in the direction of the kitchen and we can go get some on our own. Or are you too sick to even do that much?

First, Ryou hadn’t gone along on their mission, and now he wouldn’t even do something so trivial. Maybe trying to rebuild this team was a futile task after all. But as long as Kei and Toya were both willing to keep trying, then maybe their efforts would eventually pull along the stubborn third wheel until he finally decided to cooperate.

[Artemis]

"Oh please, don't make me even more sick. She's not my mother. My mother's dead."

Kei blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting to hear that from him. What with his large, expensive house, Kei had assumed the boy's life was perfect. Easy. She'd thought he was simply spoiled and stuck-up, but it looked like there was more to it than that. At the very least, all this would explain his negative attitude.

Explain it, but not justify it.

After all, Ryou wasn't the only one with problems.

"Do either of your mothers treat you like you're their personal slave?"

Kei stiffened at the question, ready to fire back at him with a rude retort, but once again, Toya beat her to it. Usually the dark sunglasses covering his eyes made it difficult for Kei to tell what he was thinking, but not this time. His tone of voice was steady, but harsh. Clearly he wasn't too happy with Ryou right now either.

“Unfortunately, I’ll never know how my mother would have treated me. She died only minutes after I was born, and my father passed away a couple years ago. So if I was in your position, I’d be glad that I had any parents at all, even if you don’t see eye to eye with them.”

"...Looks like we all have something in common, then," Kei began slowly, looking at the floor. She'd calmed down some while Toya said his part, but she was still annoyed. "I don't remember my mother either. And I may as well not have a father, he's always off on some dangerous mission... I never know when I'll see him again, if ever. So why don't you think before you say something next time? It's not all about YOU. You're not the only one with problems," she looked up now, glaring at Ryou. "You're just the only one that complains."

Ryou and Toya were arguing now, but Kei had completely forgotten about the cake by now. And that was saying a lot. She was more occupied with trying to figure out how to get Ryou to cooperate for once. It was looking hopeless, though. Everything she said only served to make him even more angry, but it wasn't like apologizing to him would be any better. Someone needed to teach this guy that he wasn't all-important all the time.

"...You want to have things your way 'once in a while'?" Kei was fuming. The frustration had finally gotten to her. "Once in a while!? Yeah right. More like all the time. You're always whining about something, and don't you dare try to deny it. It doesn't work that way. You're not supposed to always get your way, you don't always get to be in charge. Sometimes you have to compromise! Think of someone other than yourself for once. We're supposed to be a team, aren't we? Isn't that what teammates do? They work together!" Kei paused. "I didn't ask you to come on that mission because I wanted to annoy you. I don't want to deliver papers either," she explained. "It's boring and lame. But I have to do it, if I want to keep being a ninja. After what happened with the Emperor, we can't get better missions. Everyone thinks we're failures. And part of that may be my fault, but it's yours too, and you know it is. So just accept it already!" She realized she was probably all-out shouting at Ryou by now, but she didn't care anymore. Hell, she probably wasn't even making sense anymore, but she couldn't help it. She was pissed. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be considered a failure for the rest of my life. I'm going to be an awesome shinobi, Toya too! That's why we're trying to keep the team together, even though we don't get along. Even though we're stuck with someone ungrateful like you for a teammate." Kei paused to breathe, trying to remember why she was yelling at Ryou in the first place, before she got out of hand randomly insulting him and lost him as a teammate forever. "Look, I'm sorry about your mom. But bad things happen to everyone, and you can't let them stop you from living your life. Do you want to keep being a failure for the rest of your life, or do you want to be a shinobi?. Personally, I'm fine with you being a failure forever. But if you want to be more than that, you need a team," Kei finished. "And we're all you've got."

Now all she could do was wait for Ryou's response to all this and hope that she hadn't gone too far...

[Artemis]

“Unfortunately, I’ll never know how my mother would have treated me. She died only minutes after I was born, and my father passed away a couple years ago. So if I was in your position, I’d be glad that I had any parents at all, even if you don’t see eye to eye with them.”

"...Looks like we all have something in common, then,"

Ryou had to look away to hide his surprise at hearing all of this. So everything wasn't alright in their lives? They had their problems too? He never would have figured that from the start. Why didn't they... say anything. Toya was always so quiet, he kept to himself and all, but it wasn't like he was being negative about things or anything. And Kei. Kei had this... radiant happiness that never seemed to fade, even though he pretty much didn't have any parents too. Maybe Kei was right. Maybe he was a complete jerk.

He refused to believe it.

Everything wasn't his fault. He wasn't the main reason why the team got dumped. What did ninja teams have to do with personality anyway? Didn't they have something to do with... ability? The Emperor hadn't even seen what they could do before he just walked away from them. He was the one who been at fault. Not Ryou. It had to be that. Kei was yelling now; shooting more and more accusations at him than before. All of these things - they weren't true. They couldn't be true. He wasn't like that... was he? Yes, he did whine sometimes, but nobody had complained the past. When he had asked for something before, his father had got whatever it was for him as soon as Ryou asked. He had just gotten accustomed to the habit. He had always been allowed to do that... there was nothing wrong with it where he came from. Toya and Kei... they just didn't understand. And then he was apologizing about Ryou's mother. What did he know? His mother probably died of illness or something more common. She wasn't brutally killed and maimed simply because of a political rivalry. It... it wasn't fair. Avenging his mother's death... it was the main reason he had become a Shinobi too. Not because he wanted to work in a team or any of that.

His luck really sucked, didn't it? Even if he did need a team, why couldn't he have ended up with a better, less pushy, useless team. Why were they here anyway?

That was a good point... Why were they here?

Ryou still wasn't looking at them. Toya also muttered something about cake, but he didn't even hear it. He hadn't noticed just how much he had been twitching during the pause following Kei's speech. It was almost like he wanted to cry. But he wasn't going to cry. Brave Shinobi didn't do that.

"Why?" he asked them, his voice slowly rising into a shout, "If I'm such a big jerk, why on earth did you come to get me? Why did you ring me all those times? Why are you so determined to have me on this team?"

[Artemis]

So all three of them had lost their mothers long ago. Well now at least they all had one particular feeling that they could share. Toya remained silent as Kei began barraging Ryou with his words, and he agreed with most of what was being said. Even if it wasn’t a match made in heaven, this team could survive if it stood as a united group. And if three genin who had been rejected by the leader of the village himself ended up becoming successful some day, then that would be an even more gratifying outcome.

"Why? If I'm such a big jerk, why on earth did you come to get me? Why did you ring me all those times? Why are you so determined to have me on this team?"

Toya had to resist the urge to rant about Kei practically dragging him here and that the only reason he would ever work with Ryou would be because no other team would ever accept any of them, but… well, he was feeling a little kinder than usual, especially after hearing more about Ryou and Kei.

”Because you’re the only one who belongs on this team with us. Even though Tomo gave up on us in the end, he obviously brought us together for a reason. He must have seen some sort of amazing potential in us at the beginning. I know that we can become great if we just manage to overcome our stupid differences, and if we are all willing to tolerate each other’s quirks, don’t you think so? And besides… He grabbed the edge of his sleeve and pulled it up until the intricate ink markings on the upper part of his shoulder were visible. You’re the only one who matches the two of us.”

For probably the first time since this team had formed, Toya couldn’t keep a smile from lighting up his usually passive face. He wasn’t normally one to crack jokes, but the mood had become way too serious, and they needed something to lighten things up. Now hopefully, Ryou would respond positively. If not, then Kei and Toya would probably end up out in the village on a futile search for a new teammate who probably didn’t exist.

[Artemis]

"Why? If I'm such a big jerk, why on earth did you come to get me? Why did you ring me all those times? Why are you so determined to have me on this team?"

A few moments earlier, Kei had been just throwing at Ryou whatever words had come into her head, but now... she hesitated. The answer to this next question was important. She couldn't just blurt out whatever came to mind like before, she had to think first. Her next words were important, they would be the ones to decide whether or not Ryou would ever accept the three of them as a team. Everything depended on this.

...If only she knew what to say.

So far, Kei had always been the one voicing her opinions, mercilessly countering Ryou's complaints with retorts of her own. She'd said so much during this one meeting, yet she felt like she might as well have said nothing at all. When it really mattered, she froze. How could she tell Ryou what she felt? How could she ever possibly get him to understand what keeping this team together meant to her?

As it turned out, she didn't have to.

”Because you’re the only one who belongs on this team with us."

Kei turned to look at Toya in surprise. During her long rant, she'd nearly forgotten he was there. Compared to Ryou and Kei, who were always yelling at each other about something, Toya had mostly just been the quiet voice of reason up until now. He hadn't really stood out. At least, not to Kei. And it took a lot to stand out to Kei. But his words just now... They had completely taken her by surprise.

"Even though Tomo gave up on us in the end, he obviously brought us together for a reason. He must have seen some sort of amazing potential in us at the beginning. I know that we can become great if we just manage to overcome our stupid differences, and if we are all willing to tolerate each other’s quirks, don’t you think so?"

As he went on, Kei found herself smiling again. Toya was saying everything she was feeling, but just couldn't properly articulate the way he could. Her earlier frustration at Ryou and everything in general was now washing away, and she could actually feel herself tearing up a bit as Toya finished.

"And besides… You’re the only one who matches the two of us.”

Kei looked away quickly however, wiping her eyes with her sleeve before the others noticed. After all, Kei of all people didn't cry. Not even from the relief she was feeling right now. Sure, she'd been optimistic about all this from the start, but it was only after hearing what Toya had to say that she began to truly believe that it would all work out in the end.

It was all up to Ryou now.

"Yeah," she said simply in agreement with Toya, glancing over at their third teammate and extending her hand.

It was all that needed to be said.

"We're a team. Right Ryou?"

[Artemis]

Ryou had expected Kei to just shout at him again. Yell out random excuses as to why he was here despite hating him or something. It had been a stupid question anyway; asking them that. It wasn't like they would come to visit a horrible person like him with no adequate reason. He just stood there, bidding his time until Kei's loud voice inevitably spurted out the truth. He didn't even know why he was waiting for the answer. It wasn't like he was hoping for a positive reaction or something - it wasn't like he actually wanted to be friend with them, was it? He didn't think he cared... what did it matter? Why was he standing here, all torn up over something that had been going on since the moment the three of them had met? Why did he feel like he held some kind of... bond with them. A bond that he just couldn't server.

”Because you’re the only one who belongs on this team with us."

Even if it wasn't shouting, Ryou had at least thought it would have been Kei's voice which would break the silence. Not at all Toya's. Surely Toya was joking. How on earth could the three of them belong together? They couldn't be anymore different. Those were empty words, surely, empty words strung together simply to make him feel better.

Roy still didn't look away from the wall; he felt sick to the stomach now, and it had nothing to do with the flu. Why couldn't they just leave? He didn't want to belong with people who hated his guts.

"Even though Tomo gave up on us in the end, he obviously brought us together for a reason. He must have seen some sort of amazing potential in us at the beginning. I know that we can become great if we just manage to overcome our stupid differences, and if we are all willing to tolerate each other’s quirks, don’t you think so?"

Ryou gulped. He had never thought of it in that way. He had always figured that the only reason he had been put on Tomo's team was because of his father's position, but now that it occured to him, Tomo wasn't the kind of person to judge based on money and status. Maybe there was a reason for it, but still, there were other people out there. Ryou's skill was Chakra Control, something he just had naturally, but there were other people out there with the same skills as him. They could go and get somebody else. Somebody without an attitude problem. Why were they still going for him? There was nothing binding them together...


"And besides… You’re the only one who matches the two of us.”

Ryou only looked at Toya because he had no idea what he was talking about; and then he felt it hit him like a rock, squishing up all of his insides and leaving him feeling strangely numb.

The tattoo.

That thing was still on Ryou's back, no matter how hard he had tried to get rid of. He had paid good money to go to a tattoo removal center to get it off, but it hadn't worked. He had even been considering going to his Stepmother's plastic surgery clinic to somehow cover it up, but the clinic people refused to do somebody at his age. He had tried to forget about it, but there it was, back to haunt him. Kei... Toya... they had gotten those tattoos too. And as long as they lived, they probably wouldn't be able to get them off either. And there Toya was, showing it to him proudly. Not at all ashamed of it.

"Yeah, We're a team. Right Ryou?"

Kei too had stepped forward. No shame there either. They were there, ready to take him in, ready to share their dreams of becoming star shinobi with Ryou. Rude, useless, spoilt, arrogant Ryou. Tearing his eyes off Toya's tattoo and Kei's outstretched hand, Ryou just looked away. He didn't know what to do anymore.

"Yeah. We're a t-tea-"

His soft voice fell away rather quickly. "Appreciation" was something he had never felt before. Something he know how to react to. He tried to force a nod, but even that simple gesture didn't come out. There really was only one thing could do;

Just stand there, throw all of his dignity out the window, and cry.

And that's just what he did.

[Artemis]

After all of the sense that Kei and Toya had tried to knock into Ryou had already failed, it had only taken a few heartfelt words to finally reach the stubborn boy. He was actually a little surprised at himself for speaking so much at one time and being completely open in front of two people he still had only met a few times, but it had actually felt a little freeing to speak those words.

After he had finally finished, the silence in the room was almost oppressive until Kei’s single word of agreement broke the silence once again. There really wasn’t much else to say after that, but Ryou’s physical response was all they needed. Toya could already tell just from the boy’s eyes that Ryou was not planning on responding in his usual stand-offish manner. No, this time the three genin were finally on the same page.

"Yeah, We're a team. Right Ryou?"

"Yeah. We're a t-tea-"

He continued to smile, even as the first tears began to fall down Ryou’s face. He slowly stepped forward towards his teammate and carefully placed his hand on the boy’s right shoulder. Toya wasn’t really a physical person, but this was a simple enough gesture that even he would feel comfortable with.

"We’re a team. And we’re going to show the rest of the village what we can really do and prove to everyone that labeling us failures was a mistake."

No other words seemed to come to Toya at this point. He had never been an overly emotional person, so he felt a little lost in this kind of situation. All he could do was stand there with his hand on Ryou’s shoulder and wait to see if Kei had anything else to add.

[Artemis]

"Yeah."

Kei was relieved, but not surprised, when Ryou's expression softened somewhat at their words. He'd looked away quickly, but Kei could tell that the boy's hard shell had finally cracked, allowing her and Toya's words to reach him at last.

They'd finally gotten him to understand.

What did surprise her, however, was when Ryou's voice, which had sounded so confident and self-assured before, suddenly faltered.

"We're a t-tea-"

Kei blinked. Was he... crying? It was hardly visible, but it was there; his eyes were actually welling up with tears. No wonder he'd turned away. The great Ryou was actually crying! Kei stopped herself from blurting out the first words that came to mind; she was definitely going to tease him about this later, but now probably wasn't the best time. Instead she simply smiled as Toya silently placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder. It was a sweet gesture, though Kei could tell neither boy knew what to do next.

But Kei did.

Ryou would probably protest, but... oh well. They were a team now, they were allowed to start acting like it.

And so, with a few quick steps, Kei crossed the distance between the three genin and pulled her teammates into a hug.

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