Muta wasn’t the type of person to get into politics, even among the notoriously unaffected Aburame that rarely sided with or against other clans on any matters. He barely had a perception of the subject in the first place, as it just wasn’t important to him- until it was.
“Hey, Kako, don’t we need to turn that way for Mari’s?” Shisui paused by the intersection, brows furrowed as he glanced down the turn and back the direction they’d been walking down.
Kako shook her head. “You’re right, but that’s not the right grocery store. The client specified ‘Fresh Nin’s’. Has the best deal on salmon this week.”
Muta wasn’t familiar with either grocer, but the client had said-
“What? He definitely said it was Mari’s!” Shisui scowled. “I paid attention to the briefing, even though it’s literally just grocery shopping. Which is boring, even for a D-rank.”
Kako paused for a moment, and then made a short sound of understanding. “You’re right, he did say that, but the directions he gave us have the other place written down.” She held up the ‘map’, a hastily sketched-on napkin from a man that clearly didn’t trust three new genin to complete a simple task despite hiring them. It also had the other grocery store written down on it.
Shisui grabbed the napkin, stared at it, and then let his shoulders slump. His face slumped as well, and Muta was suddenly at a loss. For an uncomfortable moment, Shisui said nothing, and even without Kikaichu pheromones to help, Muta could feel the surrounding positivity drain away.
Then,Shisui brightened up with a wide smile across his face. “Oh well! Sucks to be that old geezer, Mari’s is way better.” Like the mix-up hadn’t even happened, Shisui marched forward, catching up to and then passing Muta and Kako both.
Muta wanted to stop, to say something. He knew he wasn’t great at reading people’s moods or understanding micro-epressions- something to work on, but there was a reason that Aburame didn’t do espionage. But, he was sure that Shisui looked more upset than he should have been from a simple error based on the client’s own misinformation. Should Muta say something comforting, like “It’s okay, mistakes happen.”? Or “It’s not your fault, clients are expected to be clear and accurate about their missions and you can likely file a complaint about it”? Or maybe he shouldn’t say anything at all, because Shisui might be embarrassed or Muta himself might be reading too far into it.
“Hey, Kako, let’s switch!” Shisui spoke again suddenly. In his hand, lifted to eye-level dangled the moneybag that was their mission allowance. The same moneybag that Shisui had eagerly called dibs on at the start of the mission.
Kako tilted her head, frowning as if she also didn’t quite understand where the request came from. Then, something about her posture changed as well, though it wasn’t as obvious, and she nodded. “All yours,” she said lightly, passing the paper over.
Muta opened his mouth, and then closed again. He was missing something. Kako’s movements were a bit sharper and more abrupt as she stared forward more intently than before. His kikaichu shifted, crawling inwards in response to his tense concern. But what could he say, really? Muta had known these people for two weeks and four days- for all that they’d both been more friendly than expected, he couldn’t just interrogate either of them.
With another turn and three more blocks, they arrived at the store. Kako went in quickly, while Shisui stopped at the door. “Hey, Muta, you should go help Kako. I’ll wait here and,” Shisui’s mouth twisted, smile dropping for a moment,” Uh, I’ll secure the entrance. Guard it, I mean. It’s good practise for a real mission.”
“This is a real mission,” Muta found himself saying, as the only response he could think of. And then, because it was getting too strange and confusing, he bit the bullet and added, “Is this about the client’s mistake? Are you... okay?”
Shisui’s eyes went wide. “What!? No, of course not. It’s just- a real mission, like you said!” Shisui fake-laughed, badly.
“Are you sure?” Muta tried again. If something was wrong, he wanted to understand.
“Of course, it’s fine! Now go on in, or it’ll look like Kako’s doing all the work, and you know, I’m pretty sure she’s Amano-sensei’s favourite already.”
Frustration churned with Muta’s kikaichu, but outwardly he only breathed and abstained from making the obvious correction that Amano-sensei is too good to pick favourites. Then, he nodded and went into the store, feeling confused and out of depth.
The first thing Muta registered after opening the door was that Kako was most definitely angry. If she was an Aburame, her kikaichu would be practically spitting mad, buzzing at a low rumble, a thunder to be wary of. Instead, she stared silent daggers at the cashier. The cashier, meanwhile, avoided her gaze to studiously bag the small pile of items.
Muta only stared, stepping briefly out of the entranceway as another customer stepped in. Kako dropped the money on the counter, still glaring, and swept the bags up, stomping straight out of the store without looking up even once. Muta resolved to force a conversation about it after the mission- he needed to know his teammates better, what set them off and what didn’t. Before he could turn and leave, however, he heard something.
“Hey,” The customer that had just walked in made a beeline to the cashier. “You know there’s an Uchiha loitering outside, right?” They stressed the clan name, something seeping into their voice.
The cashier’s eyes darted around, focusing briefly on Muta before disregarding him. “Yes, but don’t speak so loud. There was this girl with him- I thought she might murder me!” They scowled at the customer’s immediate scoff. “You never know when Uchiha are involved.”
“Seriously, though?” The customer lowered their voice, likely thinking that it would prevent Muta, the only other person in the store, from overhearing. “I don’t think even they would get away with that. The Hokage would have to take care of them if they started disappearing people. And even if they did, normal people like us are probably beneath their notice” Venom dripped from their lips.
Muta, for his part, felt the world tilt. The Uchiha were a highly respected clan. One of the founders. People couldn’t just believe things like this, could they?
The cashier wasn’t done. Responding in an equally low voice that was nothing to Muta’s trained senses, they huffed, “ I did have to kick some of their spawn out of the store the other week. You’d think they’d know by now we don’t want their business here.”
Muta felt cold. He’d heard enough. With a quick, sharp movement, he turned on the spot and left before he could get in trouble for threatening a civilian.
His teammates were a short distance away, just out of sight of the front door. Shisui still had a fake grin on his face, while Shikako’s sharp expression softened just enough to give him a look of understanding, like she knew what Muta had heard.
With a painful jolt, Muta realized that she did. She knew that some people hated the Uchiha enough to refuse them service- knew from the moment where Shisui asked not to hold the money anymore- not to be the one paying, when he’d heard they were going to this particular grocer--
“How often does this happen?” He asked.
Shisui’s smile fell flat, and he let out a great gust of air. “It’s not a big deal, Muta, really.”
“How long has this been happening?” He asked. Shisui looked away.
“Since the Kyuubi.” Kako answered, eyes catching his and holding them in a steady stare.
For once, Muta understood the words unspoken. Konoha was slowly rejecting an entire clan, and their teammate by extension. Something like this didn’t just happen, and when it did, it meant something very ugly and very serious. They would both have to keep on the lookout, for Shisui’s sake.
Perhaps, Muta decided, it was time to learn more about village politics.
