"Wipe that miserable look off your faces and get back to work. Finish by sundown, and I'll treat you to hotpot. If you don't finish, then we're working overtime. You'll go home when the job's done."
Usually, a Jonin instructor would treat their students to a meal. However, Takuya had no intention of taking on disciples. After all, in the world of shinobi, students often end up turning on their masters.
Takuya had no interest in taking disciples—teammates were fine, though. Treating teammates to a meal wasn't a big deal, especially when it was at his own restaurant. Convenient and affordable.
At the mention of hotpot, the three students immediately perked up. Despite their exhaustion, the thought of food filled them with new energy, and they worked harder than ever.
Under the promise of a delicious meal, they finished the task before sundown.
Takuya led the freshly cleaned-up trio back to the village and straight to the hotpot restaurant.
"Takuya!"
Kushina, who had been lounging idly at one of the tables, lit up at the sight of him, jumping up excitedly.
"Huh?"
Noticing the three mud-covered figures behind him, she blinked in surprise and asked curiously, "Are these your students?"
"Teammates," Takuya corrected her, emphasizing the word.
Kushina giggled, eyeing the three muddy figures. "They look like little mud dolls!"
"..."
What's so funny about this? Ryoji gritted his teeth, glaring at her.
But when Kushina smiled and met his gaze, a chill ran down his spine. Suddenly, he felt like he had just been cornered by a dangerous beast.
This red-haired woman was terrifying.
"Alright, stop scaring them. They just graduated; they don't know anything yet," Takuya said as he patted Kushina's arm. Then he called out, "Hey! Can you set us up with a mixed hotpot?"
"Got it," came the reply from Mikoto Uchiha, who was helping in the kitchen.
"I was just teasing them! Who knew they'd be so timid?" Kushina giggled, bouncing into the kitchen to lend a hand.
As they headed into a private room, Takuya explained to his team, "This restaurant is a joint venture between Kushina and me. If you want hotpot in the future, come here. I'll give you a discount. Oh, and..."
He gave them a brief introduction to the restaurant.
Once seated, Aida Sui leaned forward, eager. "Captain, is that woman the 'Red-Hot Habanero' everyone talks about in school?"
"Pfft!"
Takuya spat out his water, completely caught off guard. Even after all these years, Kushina's infamous nickname still circulated.
Crash!
The room's door was suddenly ripped off its hinges.
Takuya sighed in exasperation as Aida turned around to see Kushina standing there, holding the door with one hand and glaring at him with an icy smile.
Uh-oh…
Aida knew he was done for.
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it was about to land him in deep trouble.
Kushina's hair started floating, her eyes turned red—it was clear she was furious.
"You, Aida Sui. Come here for a minute. We need to have a little chat," she growled through clenched teeth, eyes practically blazing with anger.
Aida was so terrified he almost dove under the table. Desperate, he looked to Takuya for help, but his captain ignored him completely.
That's what you get for running your mouth. You can handle this on your own.
"Forgive me, please go easy!" Aida pleaded as Kushina dragged him outside.
Ryoji's face twitched as he listened to Aida's cries of pain from outside, silently thanking his lucky stars that he hadn't said anything to upset Kushina earlier.
A short while later, Aida returned with a black eye. It was obvious Kushina had given him a beating.
Captain, you're so heartless. You didn't even try to save me.
Takuya completely ignored Aida's accusing looks. You caused your own problems—you can deal with the consequences.
After the meal, Takuya addressed his team, "You can all go home and rest now. When it's time for the next mission, I'll send someone to notify you."
"Captain, what about the mission pay?" Ryoji asked.
"I'll distribute it the next time we have a mission," Takuya replied.
"Is there any set time for that, Captain?" Aida asked. Normally, new teams were put on a tight schedule, with missions back-to-back to build up experience.
"As of now... no set time," Takuya responded casually.
Unlike most Jonin instructors, he wasn't in a rush to have his team complete mission after mission. Even if the missions were simple and required minimal effort from him, he preferred to work at his own pace.
"Well, alright then."
With their captain's decision made, the trio had no choice but to accept it and leave.
As they walked out of the hotpot restaurant, Suzune, who rarely spoke, suddenly asked, "Why do you think the captain doesn't want us to call him 'sensei'?"
"Who knows?" Ryoji shrugged, putting his hands behind his head as he answered nonchalantly.
"I've asked around. Some of the older guys in my clan say our captain's a bit... strange. They warned me not to make him angry."
"And apparently, we won't be doing that many missions," Ryoji added.
"What? Aren't we supposed to do a lot of missions to gain experience?" Aida asked, clearly confused.
Suzune also looked puzzled. It didn't make much sense.
"How should I know? Let's just go," Ryoji said, dismissing the question.
Had Suzune asked, he might have answered in more detail. Even if the Uchiha and Hyuga clans didn't get along, she still deserved some respect.
But as far as Ryoji was concerned, Aida, a civilian ninja, wasn't worth his time.
From the beginning, neither Ryoji nor Suzune had seen Aida as their equal. This was one of the ongoing tensions between clan ninjas and civilian ninjas. Clan ninjas tended to look down on civilians, and this wasn't exactly a secret. Few civilian ninjas dared compare themselves to those from powerful clans.
After all, shinobi like Orochimaru, Jiraiya, or Minato were rare among civilians.
In terms of numbers, civilians had the advantage. But when it came to overall quality, they were on a different playing field.
Aida had a long way to go if he wanted to earn the respect of Ryoji and Suzune.
"You know, there seems to be some serious tension within your team," Kushina remarked as she and Takuya sat by a window on the second floor, watching the trio go their separate ways.
"It's no surprise. With four people in a team, you've got four different mindsets," Takuya replied with a small smile.
"Ryoji Uchiha and Suzune Hyuga are both heirs from major clans. Of course, they look down on Aida, a civilian ninja. Meanwhile, Aida's desperately trying to fit in with the team. Unless something external forces them to bond, or Aida works really hard to gain their respect, the divide between clan and civilian ninjas will remain."
"Are you going to help him?" Kushina asked, gazing at Takuya curiously.