Painting Heist (1)

Night in Konohagakure had always been serene and quiet.

Hikari had made a habit of walking Akamaru out at night since last year. The Anbu had eased off their surveillance on her, figuring that it would be better to guard the village walls instead of watching over a little girl all day long. As long as she didn't cause any trouble, they weren't likely to intervene with her business.

The currently-peaceful era had allowed for a more relaxed atmosphere. There were fewer Anbu members patrolling the street, and civilians didn't have to worry about sudden ambushes like in the three previous wars.

The marketplace had lost its hubbub, replaced by a portrait of emptiness. It was a drastic contrast to the daytime, which made walking around there at this time of the day more interesting.

Tonight, she opted to go a bit farther from the village center, toward a less-populated civilian area. By chance, she caught sight of a lonely tea shop within a row of semi-abandoned houses. The screen door was glowing from the light inside.

"It's still open? At this time of the day?"

"My. What a peculiar place."

Akamaru was perched on Hikari's shoulder, allowing him to whisper words to her without other people noticing. His keen nose sensed the distinctive smell of tea leaves, which roused her interest.

"This smell is not bad. Huang'er, should we go in?"

"Sure, why not?"

The two liked to drink tea, a carryover from their previous lives' habit. Regrettably, no shops in Konoha had been able to satisfy their longing for the taste of their hometown, although those shops were alright on their own merit.

They hadn't tried this little shop yet. Their heart began to fill up with expectations.

"Welcome!"

The waitress, a blonde-haired young girl with a mole under her lips, guided them to the second floor where they could watch the street below.

Hikari ordered two cups of tea, which momentarily confused the waitress. Sensing her bewilderment, she pointed toward the dog sitting on the table while wagging his tail.

The waitress just got even more confused.

Was this guest telling her to give the tea... to the dog? Was that even possible?

"...Certainly. Honored guests, please wait just a moment!"

Whatever. As long as the girl paid up, the tea could be given to the entire flocks of cats and dogs in Konoha for all she cared.

"How's life as a ninja dog?" Hikari mumbled after the waitress had left.

"Fairly thrilling," Akamaru, or more accurately, Daji, replied.

"I heard that you guys had been in real missions these days."

"Yes. The little girl called those missions 'D-rank'. Nothing too hard. Looking for cats, searching for missing trinkets... oh, yesterday was more interesting. We helped to find a lost child. Apparently, she got carried away playing in the woods and couldn't find her way back home."

"Huh... so mundane."

"It certainly is."

"At least there's no real danger, then..."

Hikari lazily murmured, prompting a wide grin on Akamaru's face.

"Awh, is Huang'er worrying about that sweet little boy?"

"Who? Kiba? You know it's not him that I'm worried about."

"Hmmhmm."

The dog lowered his head, not continuing any further. The grin faintly turned into a soft smile.

"Your tea~"

The waitress returned with two cups made of clay on her tray. She put one in front of Hikari, and then she hesitated for a few seconds before putting the other before Akamaru.

"Hmm, what exquisite pottery," Hikari lifted the cup, scrutinizing it under the light of the lamp.

While it was crude, there was the subtle hint of talent hidden within. The craftsman was quite promising.

"Thank you for your kind words, I'm sure that my father would love to hear that," the waitress said bashfully.

"Oh?" Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Is your father the owner of this shop?"

The waitress nodded.

"This place is also a restaurant. My father is the chef, while I'm in charge of brewing the tea and taking care of the customer. In his spare time, Father likes to make pottery."

"Interesting."

A shame that it was a mere hobby. Maybe she should have a talk with the man himself sometime in the future...

"Oh well, let's give it a try."

The girl took a slight sip, while the dog jutted out his tongue and then gently licked the surface of his tea, causing the waitress to flinch.

Oh god, the dog can really drink tea!

In such a calm and composed manner, even. It was as if an actual connoisseur was doing the tasting!

Because she was so intent on watching the dog, she didn't notice that Hikari's face had turned grave.

No wait, the dog gradually showed the same expression...

The two slammed their forehead repeatedly on the table, trying to forget the horrible taste that had assaulted their tongue just now.

"W-w-what the heck is this?!" Hikari roared.

The waitress blinked at her a few times.

"Sen... Sencha?"

"How the heck is this sencha?!?"

At first, she was greeted with the familiar taste of green tea. After that, came a warm sensation that seemed to melt her tongue. But then, it was immediately ruined by the sudden rise of bitterness, accompanied by a horrifying mix of various miscellaneous tastes.

"What did you put inside the tea?!"

"Err... um... let's see..." she said while rubbing her chin. "Green tea leaves, and a dash of black pepper. Oh, also, a drop of honey."

Hmm, weird choices, but not too bad. Hikari remembered that some tea in the Yang Dynasty was also a bit adventurous in their ingredients.

But the waitress didn't stop there.

"Then... I mistook salt for sugar, so I put more sugar to counterbalance it. Oh, and a bit wasabi to make it warmer. Since the color is getting darker, I tried to make it green again with some bitter melon..."

"Enough, enough! I want to puke now!"

This was no longer adventurous, this was trying to achieve a breakthrough by sheer blunder! No wonder the place was so deserted!

"I see… so you don't like my tea, huh... tch," the waitress clicked her tongue. "It's always like this! People only come to eat my father's cooking! Even when I offered the tea for free, they always left without drinking any!"

The brown-haired girl and the puppy stared coldly at the waitress.

Girl, what do you honestly expect with that kind of esoteric taste?!

"We're leaving..."

Hikari slammed a few coins on the table, and then quickly picked up Akamaru before bolting away from the tea shop.

"Come again~"

The waitress waved at the disappearing shadows. When they were finally out of sight, her gaze turned dark as she lamented about her rejected recipe.

"...Failed again, huh... must be the bitter melon... okay! Next time, I'll try citrus peel!"

She hummed while walking back in, clearly not learning from her mistakes...

---

Team 8's new routine consisted of a training session in the morning, followed by the mission of the day, which would be briefed by Kurenai.

Due to their specialty, the team was especially pushed toward missions that required tracking to some extent. With Kiba and Akamaru's excellent sense of smell, Hinata's Byakugan, as well as Shino's insects that allowed them to communicate at long range, they handled each mission with relative ease.

Still, Tsume wasn't joking when she said that Kiba would be worked to the bone. There was virtually no idle time between missions. Even though he was the lowest-ranked shinobi in the Inuzuka household, he had ended up being the busiest one.

Hardship was crucial for growth. For the sake of preparing them for the harsher future, Kurenai had hardened her heart to temper her new pupils.

"We'll continue our chakra control practice. I have shown you the tree climbing method before. Today, I'll show you another one," she said, pointing at the nearby pond.

Shino raised his hand.

"Is it the water surface walking practice?"

"Correct. Did you hear it from your clan?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Uncle mentioned it to me."

"Water surface walking... so we have to walk over water this time?" Kiba asked.

"It'll be faster if I demonstrate it to you."

Kurenai approached the edge of the pond. She put one foot forward, and then planted it on the surface of the water. Miraculously, she didn't sink. The water surface somehow had enough traction to support her weight.

She put her other foot in as well, standing completely still over the pond.

"This practice has the same principle as tree climbing. Focus your chakra on the part of your body that comes into contact with the water surface, and then use it to support your weight. However, this method is many times harder than the tree climbing practice. Do you know why?"

Kiba drew a blank look on his face, while Hinata seemed to know but was too shy to answer. Shino sighed before raising his hand again.

"It's because we have to keep changing the output of our chakra. Is that correct, Teacher?"

"Exactly," Kurenai nodded. "I'd like for you to give it a try first. We'll adjust accordingly depending on how far you can get today."

As expected of a Byakugan user, Hinata managed to succeed on the first try. Shino, on the other hand, took a bit of time failing at the start to familiarize his insects on how to output their chakra. After that, he was able to stay afloat as well.

Kiba was the problem. He kept on sinking in again and again.

"Damnit, why is it not working?!"

"Because, you're outputting too much," Shino commented.

"Tch," he turned to Kurenai. "Teacher, do I really have to stand still on the water? Can I walk or run over it?"

"Well... sure? But you wouldn't be able to walk if you can't even stand..."

"Not necessarily. Let me show you!"

Kiba took a deep breath, and then dashed toward the pond. He circulated his chakra, giving off a bluish glow around his body.

Splash. Splash. Splash.

While maintaining his breathing, he trotted over the surface of the pond in one go, as if he was gliding. He turned left, and then ran in a circle around the perimeter of the pond before turning around once again toward his team.

Kurenai kept on blinking her eyes. By the time that Kiba had leaped back to the ground, she was still blinking rapidly.

"Wow... y-you did it, Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Heheh, I told ya so!" The boy scratched his nose.

"Kiba! What, how... what was that?!"

Kurenai's hand was trembling, her brain unable to keep up with what had just happened.

"That..." Kiba frowned. "If I remember correctly, it's called king-koong..."

Qinggong, the art of body-lightness. That was what that girl had told him. Back then, he had somehow got dragged into learning the techniques when she needed someone as test subject.

Shino and Hinata naturally couldn't understand a single thing of what he'd just said. They just stared blankly at him.

Kurenai sighed.

"Haaah... you... you're ridiculous, Kiba... your chakra control is all over the place, yet they somehow just work... What kind of training did your clan put you through?"

Not my clan, but that idiot of a girl... but he couldn't say that, so he just threw an innocent smile.

"Anyway, keep doing the training. I'll return at the usual time for your new mission."

She left after saying that.

"Man, I hope it's something far more interesting than looking for someone's wallet," Kiba groaned.

"I-I'm happy that we can help them..." Hinata said with a smile.

"Well, that's not wrong... but still! Oi, Shino, you agree right? You want something more thrilling right?"

Woof!

Akamaru, who was lazing around nearby, barked along.

"See, Akamaru agreed with me!"

"I just do the mission. That's all," Shino replied curtly.

"Tch. Spoilsport!"

"There, there... l-let's train a bit more, s-shall we?"

With Hinata's persuasion, Kiba finally dropped the topic and resumed the training. By the time that Kurenai returned a few hours later, the boy was already drenched heavily from head to toe.

"...Don't worry about it. You can only get better from here."

Her words were encouraging, but somehow he just felt sadder as a result...

"M-Miss Kurenai, o-our mission...?"

"Oh, right. Fufufu, after three months, I believe that you've grown bored of the same old same old, hmm?"

Seeing her mischievous grin, Kiba's eyes brightened in an instant.

"Don't tell me-!"

"That's right."

Kurenai pulled out a scroll from her pouch. As she rolled it open, the letter 'C' could be seen on the topmost part.

"Rejoice. This will be your first C-rank mission."