51) Security

While Kimura is responsible for the bulk of his work, Sasuke still has weekly meetings with the Hokage. Though most of his meetings subsist of casual small talk, this time, he has a mission: the paperwork back log Kimura keeps having that intern deliver is officially starting to spiral out of control, and he needs references to look up whatever code Kimura was now writing his reports in, references that the librarians wouldn't let the "fresh-meat genin" access.

"Hokage-sama, even though Kimura is acting in my place as the KPF's Chief until I gain more experience, I am still the Chief of Police, correct?"

"Of course, Sasuke-kun. Why do you ask?"

"In the Konoha Charter, Article 6 Section IV Subsection 3-409(1)(a), it states that the KPF Chief's clearance is equal to the Jounin Commander's during peace time."

"That's correct, Sasuke-kun."

"And while we've agreed that my clearance might not be quite as high until I'm further promoted, I should have a higher security clearance than non-ANBU genin and chuunin currently, correct?"

"That is what we agreed upon."

"Then why in the world do random teenagers have access to the basement floor files when I don't?"

52) Woodwork

He feels eyes on him, watching him from the shadows, though the few times he turns to check who they are, no one is there. While that isn't anything new (though the hype surrounding the "Last Uchiha" is thankfully not anywhere near as bad as it was back when he was the Boy-Who-Lived (twice!), he still gets regularly gawked at for some bizarre reason), the number of eyes following him into the Uchiha District have been steadily increasing over the past few months.

Did the Hokage put another ANBU watch on him like he did back when Itachi-nii… well… pulled an Itachi?

53) Embarrassment

Today's D-rank mission involves scrubbing down the holding cells at the station. To be more specific, the holding cells in the KPF station that he is the Chief of. A Chief of Police that definitely does not remember signing off on this particular mission.

Sasuke decides to swear minor vengeance on Kakashi. And possibly upgrade Kimura's vengeance level.

"Awww, it's the widdle Chief," Matsumoto coos in a syrupy, high-pitched, voice while pinching and squeezing his abused cheeks.

"Why are you here? You're not even on shift for another 2 hours," Sasuke says while trying to bat her hands away from his face. Considering her hobby of scrapbooking blackmail-worthy photos of her acquaintances, she is one of the last people Sasuke wants to see at the station today.

"I swapped shifts with Kyoko today. She has a hot date or something, apparently," Matsumoto answers cheerfully. "Now smile for the camera!"

Sasuke frowns.

54) Overwhelmed

"So wow, that's the KPF, huh," Sakura comments once they're finally free. All of Team 7 (with the exception of Kakashi, who's still busy holding his porn) has their arms full of baked goods and sweets his less psychotic officers plied everyone with.

Too tired to respond properly, Sasuke gave her a succinct, "Hnn."

55) Wistful

Team 7 is waiting for their wayward jounin-sensei to turn up, as usual. Sasuke is reading one of the scrolls he checked out from the library basement, hoping to make progress on the paperwork that was piling up uncontrollably now; the piles in his room are almost about to reach the ceiling, and some of it is starting to encroach into the living room. Sakura seems to be reading something as well, while Naruto looks like he's cloud gazing while face up on the grassy field.

"Neh, Sasuke," Naruto speaks up, turning his head away from the sky to face him, "those onee-san yesterday seem like they really care about you. 'Must be nice…" he trails off.

"I guess so," Sasuke replies back. Is it nice? It's not like they know each other all that well; he just happens to see them during their shifts when he goes to pick stuff up from Kimura. Except when Yoshino invites him to dinner. And Hayashi-baa-san tried making him treacle tarts, based on his description of it. And Suzuki and Akimichi gave him advice regarding the Academy material. And Matsumoto and Sasaki…

Huh. Somehow, when he wasn't looking, his officers managed to embed themselves into his life.

It really is kind of nice…

56) Revolt

Never mind. He takes it all back; it's not nice.

"Oh, Team 7. Today's mission is with the KPF station again. They commended you for doing a great job last time," Iruka-sensei begins.

"No, no, no, no, no. I refuse. Absolutely not. Last time was embarassing. Please, haven't we done enough D-ranks already?" Sasuke pleads uncharacteristically. "Matsumoto keeps handing out photos, my officers made a list of things they want to foist on to me the next time we get the assignment, and I'm sure even the intern has added some of his duties to that list. And none of them will confirm, but I've heard whispers of outfits when they don't notice I'm standing nearby. Anything but this mission, please…

"Anything." Sasuke completes his rant with his brows furrowed, trying his best not to think of humiliating things his sadistic officers might have thought of for him to do.

"Sasuke-kun," Iruka-sensei begins, "I know this mission might be hard on you, but D-ranks are-"

"Now, now," the Hokage interrupts. "While I was expecting Naruto to break first, they have been doing well on their missions so far, haven't they? Why don't we give them a C-rank to do. I think they're ready for one."

"I suppose, Hokage-sama." While Iruka-sensei doesn't look too pleased, he shuffles through the mission papers before selecting one.

"How do you feel about delivery?"

57) Debt

The mission involves delivering rare plants to some rich noble in Kusatsu, the capital of the Land of Hot Water.

Or well, it was supposed to be a simple delivery mission, low risk enough to be a D-rank mission if it didn't involve a foreign country.

However, apparently, Fujimoto Daisuke, the noble that hired them, couldn't actually afford to pay them; he couldn't afford to pay anybody, which was part of the problem.

He had gambling debts from his frequent trips to Tanzaku Town, and when the ones holding his debt learned that he had hired baby ninja (since of course, the dumb noble lied about what he hired them for), they set bounties on Team 7's heads. Apparently, the man owed a lot of money.

Not knowing why they were being ambushed other than a bounty on their heads (that Kakashi assumed was due to his notoriety and someone holding a grudge because of a dead family member or something), they decided to investigate. While Kakashi tried to convince them to return to Konoha so a different team could take the mission, presumably because they wouldn't have bounties on their heads, Naruto wanted to get to the root of the problem. Since Sasuke and Sakura were also curious, and the thugs after them so far weren't that strong, Kakashi relented, and they continued on to Tanzaku Town; it wasn't worth the effort to complete their mission until the ambushes stopped first.

Somehow, that led to an infiltration attempt for more information, which led to Naruto winning everything from the largest casino in town, which led to a huge fight, which then, somehow, led to Naruto now owning the casino, the place holding the majority of stupid-Fujimoto's debt. Also, somewhere in the middle of the fight, his Sharingan finally activated, and some accidental magic (finally) kicked in while Kakashi was watching ("No, what do you mean that that knife reflected off of air? Are you sure it didn't hit my kunai before bouncing off? Did you hit your head in the fight? Wait, no, I know what happened! Were you watching me because I've finally captured your heart, sensei?" Sasuke pretended to swoon, and Kakashi backed off for now.)

When they finally reached Kusatsu and found out the truth, Kakashi was fed up. While Naruto's stupid bleeding heart stopped people from going after Fujimoto, Kakashi convinced the man to agree to a repayment plan consisting of a lot of interest; he was likely going to be paying that off for the rest of his life. Obviously, Fujimoto was also banned from the Tanzaku casinos as well. He also terrorized the man into letting them stay at one of his onsen for free; they deserved it after cleaning up after his mess.

58) Secrets

"So Hokage-sama," Sasuke begins. "Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted to register a new kekkei genkai to be protected by the clan, how would I go about doing that?"

"You already have a bloodline limit Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah, about that…."

59) Understanding

Hokage-sama is not pleased at his terrible explanation. He is even less pleased that Sasuke wanted to call his potentially new bloodline limit 'magic.'

In retaliation for the headache he's causing, the Hokage gives him another pile of paperwork to fill out for his "new kekkei genkai. Please do not name it magic."

Kakashi is also none-too-pleased at his terrible lack of an explanation as well, but clan secrets don't need to be shared with outsiders, so he relents and backs off. He makes Sasuke write the mission report in retaliation as well ("I'm sure you got plenty of practice with the KPF. Have fun!").

At least he finally figured out Kimura's stupid code.

60) Luck

Their next C-rank doesn't go much better than their first. Their escort mission escalates when some cult members spot Sakura and attack them over her "unnatural" hair. Apparently, the cult also just happen to also have some weird nature energy technique that lets them turn into stone and back, and while dismantling the cult, Sakura finds a scroll describing said technique. Kakashi is not pleased at his female genin's new, occasionally stony, demeanor.

On the plus side, their clients are impressed at their fighting prowess and promise to recommend Konoha's services to their friends and family.

After they return to Konoha, Kakashi decides they need more training because the first instance might have been a one-off, but two missions in a row going haywire is likely a pattern. He forces them onto Gai and his team for a few sessions, interspersing those sessions with more D-ranks, teamwork exercises, and elemental training.

After a few weeks, Kakashi announces he signed them up for the Chunin Exams because he "needs a break from them" for a little bit.

A/N: Hahaha, the world may be a crazy place right now, but at least I got my obligatory I-feel-bad yearly update in kind of early (yay me, lol. What are priorities?)? Not too happy with how this batch of chapters came out (though I'm a little impressed at the amount of stuff I managed to pull out of my ass), but I don't know what else I can do with it.

Maybe there'll be more updates happening this year, though as usual, no promises; I still have work and obligations and stuff (though at least I don't have to change out of my PJs), and I'm a little more of a hot mess than usual (without the hot, haha).

Also, heads up: I uploaded a side story somewhat related to Vindication, just in case you're interested. It's not that good/it's weirder (not in the fun way) because it's where my brain just spits out the stuff that doesn't work for this story, but feel free to check it out if you're bored?