The sound of birds chirping woke Akira from his restless sleep. The first rays of sunlight peeked through the leaves above, warming his face as he blinked away the fatigue.
His back ached from sleeping on the hard ground, and his stomach groaned louder than before. Still, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
With a sigh, he stood up and dusted himself off. His clothes were wrinkled, and his hair was a mess, but there was no time to worry about that. Kurenai and the others would probably arrive soon.
He didn't want to look pitiful in front of them again.
'Step one,' he thought, stretching his arms and legs. 'Act like I didn't sleep in the dirt.'
Just as he finished stretching, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. He turned to see Kiba and Shino walking into the clearing, with Hinata trailing a few steps behind.
Kiba spotted him immediately.
"Whoa, were you here all night?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
'I hate this fucker so much.'
Akira forced a casual smile. "Nah, I just decided to come early to do some practice by myself."
Kiba snorted. "Were you training to be a wild animal? Because you sure look like one."
Before anyone else could say anything, Kurenai appeared behind them.
"Oh, Akira, you're here. Satoshi asked me to tell you that the Hokage wants to meet you. Since your memory loss doesn't seem to be recovering and all the documents about you seem to be wrong for some reason, the Hokage wanted to talk to you in person."
Akira froze, his forced smile fading away.
"The Hokage wants to see me…?" he repeated slowly.
Kurenai nodded, her expression unreadable. "You should go now. He's expecting you."
"Right," Akira said, trying to sound composed. But he was screaming inside.
Kiba elbowed Shino. "Told you something was weird about him."
Akira shot Kiba a glare but said nothing. He turned and started walking without waiting for anyone else.
Hinata stepped forward nervously. "G-Good luck…"
He paused for a moment and looked at her. Her concern seemed genuine, and it made him blush a little.
Control your feelings. I am a grown-ass man inside, not a horny teenager. I can't be catching feelings for a 14-year-old.
"Thanks," he muttered before hurrying off.
Akira followed the same path to the Hokage's office that he had followed yesterday with Satoshi, but this time it felt longer for some reason.
Maybe because he was really scared… and was walking as slow as humanly possible.
He swallowed hard as the towering building came into view.
With a gulp, Akira entered the building and climbed the staircase.
The Hokage's office was a large room filled with scrolls and papers. Behind the desk sat an old man Akira recognized instantly—Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
Despite the old man's kind expression, his eyes were sharp.
"Do you have any business with me?" the old man asked in his usual calm, energetic voice.
Akira hesitated before stepping fully into the office, clearing his throat. "I… I got a message from Kurenai-sensei. She said you asked to see me."
Hiruzen studied him, then gave a small smile. "Ah, yes. Akira, isn't it?"
Akira nodded quickly. "Yes, sir! Akira. Akira."
The Hokage chuckled, setting aside a scroll. "For the past few days, there's been quite an unusual issue surrounding you. I've been informed of your memory loss, and… troublingly, your records appear to be incorrect. Completely, in fact."
Akira gulped. "Y-Yeah… I don't know what's going on either. I really don't remember anything."
Hiruzen looked down at a paper on his desk. "Here it says you passed the academy with minimal scores, but no teacher remembers anyone called Akira."
Akira stood there frozen in fear. 'Guess this is it for me.'
"You don't have to worry. I'm not doubting you. Records being manipulated at this scale… well, it can't be possible by another village. So until we figure out what's going on, you don't have to worry. Just focus on getting your memory back."
The room went silent. Akira kept staring at Hiruzen, who had already gone back to his paperwork.
'Wow! I don't know how I'm doing this, but somehow I'm being saved every single time. Not like I'm complaining or anything…'
Akira turned back and was getting ready to leave, but before he could, the door burst open.
"We're back, old man!" came a loud, familiar voice.
Akira looked at the people entering the door sharply, eyes wide in disbelief.
It was them.
Naruto Uzumaki stormed in, followed by an expressionless Sasuke and a visibly annoyed Sakura. All three looked like they had just wrapped up a minor mission, covered in dirt and scratches.
Behind them walked Kakashi, who also looked pretty tired—probably because he knew Naruto was going to argue with Hiruzen.
"I'm tired of these stupid chores!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Hiruzen. "Give us a real mission already! Something cool! Something dangerous!"
Akira stared at Naruto like he was seeing a celebrity. And in a way, he was. Team 7. The actual Team 7.
He knew these were the faces that were going to determine the future of this world—and lead it to better times.
Hiruzen sighed in mock exhaustion. "Naruto, we've been through this…"
Sasuke sighed. "He's not entirely wrong."
"I'm tired of picking up garbage," Sakura muttered.
Hiruzen looked from Team 7 to Akira, who still hadn't moved or stopped staring.
"Akira, why are you still standing here?" the Hokage said.
"Huh?" Akira blinked, snapping out of it. "Sorry—I just—They're—Um…"
Naruto squinted. "Hey, who's this guy? Never seen you around before."
Akira opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His brain wasn't working ever since he laid eyes on them.
The Hokage stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Hmm. Actually… this might work out quite well."
"Maybe a B-class mission will be a nice change of pace for you," Hiruzen said, his eyes lighting up, clearly planning something.
Everyone looked at Hiruzen with a confused look.
Hiruzen continued, raising a finger. "It's a B-rank assignment—an escort mission to the Land of Waves."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yes! Finally!"
Sakura looked slightly pale. "B-rank? Isn't that a bit… serious?"
"With Kakashi by your side, you have nothing to worry about," Hiruzen reassured her. "However… there is one additional detail."
He gestured toward Akira.
"This is Akira. Due to… unusual circumstances, I am temporarily assigning him to your team for this mission."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow but didn't argue.
'No. WTF. Land of Waves is the mission that turns into an S-class! I thought I would be safe until the Chunin Exam. With my current skills, I'll definitely die on the bridge—or maybe even before that.'
Akira clenched his hair in panic and fear.
But he had to act calm in front of the others, or they might all get suspended.
So he waved at the team as they looked at him. "Uh… yeah… hi."
Naruto blinked. "Huh? This dude?"
Sasuke scoffed. "Great. Another dead weight."
Hiruzen laughed at their reactions, but his tone quickly turned serious.
"All right, you all may leave now. I have something to discuss with Kakashi privately."
Naruto made a weird face, clearly not wanting to leave, but Sakura punched him and dragged him away.
Akira looked at Hiruzen one last time before exiting with the rest of Team 7, waiting for Kakashi to come out and start the mission.
Even after exiting the room he was still shaking.
'Calm down, Akira. You'll be alright. I know all the major enemies in this arc—I just gotta avoid them somehow…'
He slapped his face lightly, trying to stop his body from shaking.
"You got this, Akira," he whispered to himself.
"Great. Another weirdo," Sakura said, eyeing Akira from the corner of her eyes.
Akira gave a half-hearted smile and looked away. 'That wasn't a great look, I suppose,' he thought.
Team 7 was chaotic as usual—Naruto kept shouting, and Sakura kept beating him up.
This kept happening until Kakashi finally stepped outside, his face a lot more serious.
He gave Akira a weird look from the corner of his eyes that Akira didn't even notice.
"All right," he said. "Let's head out."
And with that, the entire group was walking down from the Hokage's office to meet the client they had to escort.