"So we won't be cleaning dog-shit...?"

It took a second for the three to take it in. Looking at Jiraiya, a mixture of relief and anger appeared on their faces... The only one still calm was Minato, who just sighed in relief.

"That was a horrible prank!"

"I'll remember that... I swear it on the Uchiha."

Hearing Nozomi's and Jun's words, Jiraiya laughed once again. He adored the feeling of messing with these three… It brought so much joy to him, yet he didn't know why.

Maybe it was because he had lost to them? Who knew.

In his head, Jun swore to remember this grudge. Sooner or later, he would allow Jiraiya to feel Madara Uchiha's wrath in its full glory… The man didn't know who he had offended.

Watching them talk, the old lady smiled warmly and walked away with her hands behind her back. One of her favorite things was to meet new Genin teams each year. It brought her great satisfaction when she heard of their future exploits.

"Woof!"

The dogs barked as they started getting impatient. Seeing this, team Jiraiya got to work immediately.

Now spared from kennel duty, they cleaned the dogs with renewed enthusiasm, as if it was their favorite pass-time. Even Jun, who had never done such a thing before, felt compelled to do it seriously, for some reason.

As a result, the dogs all gave a ten-out-of-ten rating in their reviews, which were recorded in little pamphlets, featuring their paw-prints.

Surprised by the perfect customer satisfaction-rate, the old lady called over team Jiraiya once again, congratulating them for having the best all-time score for the mission.

She then took a picture of the four of them... In it, Jiraiya was grinning from ear to ear as he held up two peace signs above Nozomi's and Jun's heads, who both came out with venomous looks aimed at their sensei.

In the middle, Minato had a calm smile, serving as a contrast for his teammates. Ironically, he looked like the only adult in the picture.

---

That evening, Jun walked back to the cabin, exhausted. Not physically, but mentally.

Even his hardened will, that could resist the clan head's pressure, had cracked under the possibility of having to clean dog shit. Being honest with himself, he felt completely relieved.

Once he arrived back home, Jun noticed Aito training by the lake. He was diligently doing push-ups, showing his dedication, even when Jun wasn't present.

Waiting for him to finish, Jun sat nearby, watching him. Aito was so concentrated that he hadn't even noticed his presence.

Once he was done, he dried his sweat off with towels and realized his brother had come back.

"Aniki! Welcome back!"

Throwing the towel away, Aito ran towards Jun with a smile.

"How was it?!"

"How was what…?"

"Your first mission! How was it?"

"Let's not talk about it…"

Reminded of some things, Jun felt sick to his stomach. Evading Aito's question, he made a break for the cabin and locked himself inside.

"What happened to him...?"

Aito just stood there, disoriented. What sort of hell could've driven his brother to such a state?

Inside the cabin, Jun sat on his bed and tried to forget it all, telling himself that tomorrow, he would be back to normal. After all, he was the legendary Uchiha Madara.

Dog shit couldn't hold him.

---

#

A month later, team Jiraiya had successfully completed a large number of D-rank missions. They took care of anything, ranging from cleaning dogs to pulling out weeds on a farm.

This constant cycle of labor brought them closer to each other, but Jun was starting to get annoyed. On his own, he continued getting stronger, but he was stuck doing these insulting missions.

'Like I said… Peace can sometimes bring unforeseen circumstances upon us…'

Jun sighed... As of right now, there was nothing he could do about it.

In the past thirty days, his strength had made tremendous leaps. His physical training finally showed results, as he noticed the first traces of muscle pop out. Not to mention that his chakra levels were also steadily increasing.

At this point, he had mastered both the great fireball and the flicker. He took the latter to such a level that it literally seemed like he could teleport, leaving no trace behind.

The most important thing was his Sharingan's awakening. After so much training, it finally felt like it was about to appear.

Of course, Jun only knew this because of his extensive knowledge of the eyes. He could feel his brain getting stimulated, showing signs of awakening... It wouldn't be long before it finally happened.

On the other hand, Aito was also progressing well. Although he couldn't form a perfectly spherical fireball, the size was decent. Unlike his older brother, it seemed like he was born with better talent.

At this rate, he would graduate from the academy in just his second year.

As for Jun's teammates, they were also improving. Jiraiya seemed to have taken Minato under his wing, becoming his master.

Anyways, today was an important day. Finally, they would stop going on D-rank missions…. Instead, they would meet the Hokage and personally receive a C-rank from him.

While Minato and Nozomi were excited to see the Hokage, Jun found it amusing. He wondered how the monkey would react if he knew of his identity.

Once there, Jiraiya knocked on the door to announce his presence.

"Old man! We're coming in!"

Not waiting for a reply, Jiraiya simply opened the door and strode in as if he owned the place, like usual. Seeing him, Hiruzen sighed, creating a cloud of pipe-smoke around him.

"So your team is ready for a C-rank?"

"Yeah, they've been progressing fairly well."

'To tell you the truth, they've been ready since the first day... If I told them that though, they'd witch-hunt me.'

Hiruzen smiled, reaching into his cupboard. Taking out a red scroll, he threw it at Jiraiya, who opened it to check its contents.

"An escort mission, huh? Typical for the land of tea… Hm, hm."

Reading through it, Jiraiya smiled. This mission was just perfect.

"Where's the client?"

"Yamanoue-san, you may also enter."

"Greetings, Hokage-dono. Are these four great shinobi my escorts? If so, yours truly must say that I am infinitely grateful, degozaru"

'Great shinobi…'

Hearing the man's praise, Jiraiya rubbed his nose. He liked the way this man spoke.

"Of course, we always treat people from Cha No Kuni[1] with the utmost sincerity. Jiraiya, this is Yamanoue Sōji-san, a famous tea merchant from the land of tea. He also happens to be your client."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, degozaru. I've heard great things about you, Jiraiya-dono!"

Yamanoue walked over to Jiraiya and bowed. He had a small build, and his hair was tied up in a man-bun. He wore a kimono, with a large Haori[2] that had the land of tea's symbol engraved on it.

The symbol was a white, upside-down arc, with three squiggly lines over it. It literally looked like a cup of hot tea.

---

[1] 'Cha No Kuni' Literally meaning: Land of Tea.

[2] Here's kinda what he looks like, without the swords: bit.ly/2RkyW07