Title: Shinobi don't fail missions
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Yuuhi Kurenai, Tenten
Challenge: Promise
Rating: G
Length: ca 800
Content notes: Vibes of indoctrination that's kinda uncomfortable
Summary: Team 8 share a table with Tenten, and exposes her to their unique team culture fostered by their sensei.


It was Kiba's fault their training ended early, and Shino wasn't happy about it. Because of Kiba, Kurenai-sensei made them all stop and insisted she take them to the dango shop. Shino didn't like dango.

By a stroke of luck they got the last table during the rush hour. They had just sat down and Shino sent out a few small insects, for practice surveying a crowded area, training on his own. Most were civilians, only a few had practiced chakra, and then there was a very skilled chakra practitioner. Shino looked up.

Tenten stood among the full tables, a plate of dango in her hands, looking lost. Hinata looked where he did and spotted her too, and called Tenten's name and waved happily.

Shino nodded at her when she approached. Tenten smiled close lipped.

"Do you need a place to sit?" Hinata asked.

"Oh no, it's fine, I can manage-"

"Of course not, Tenten-chan! Take a seat!" Kiba said with a grin and scooted down the bench. Hinata, Kiba and Tenten on one side, Shino sat next to Kurenai-sensei, and in front of Tenten. Tenten looked around again then sat down, looking hesitant.

They talked for a bit with Tenten, mostly Kiba and sometimes Hinata, Shino didn't spot many chances for him to jump into the conversation, but he tried.

Then Kurenai-sensei cleared her throat, and they all fell silent. They turned to look at her.

"Kiba, about what happened during training. You are too reckless."

"I'll heal in no time." Kiba looked away and glared at a civilian.

"What if you had injured yourself a little more, and pulled a muscle, or broken a bone?" Kurenai's voice was stern, arms crossed on the table. Kiba chewed on some dango and shrunk into his hoodie. Tenten looked awkwardly away as the energy at the table shifted to tense, and no one moved or spoke, except their sensei scolding Kiba.

"If you let yourself get injured you can't do missions, Kiba. And what are missions?"

"Missions are a promise," Kiba said sullenly, looking ashamed. Shino felt bad for him. A little.

"Do shinobi break their promises?" Kurenai continued.

"No." Shino, Hinata and Kiba said in unison. Tenten blinked and watched between them all, but he paid more attention to his sensei.

"That's different from what Gai-sensei says," Tenten said under her breath, chewing on an empty dango stick. Her plate was empty, and Shino slid his own untouched plate towards her discreetly, placed it on top of hers. Tenten picked one up immediately without having noticed her plate had mysteriously refilled.

Kurenai turned her attention to Tenten, who stiffened. Did she think no one had heard her?
"What do you mean, Tenten-chan?" Kurenai-sensei asked.

"We can only do our best, and 'train to push beyond our limits'. If we fail a mission that's too bad, but," she shrugged, "sometimes the odds aren't in your favor. Some missions are impossible to complete."

Kurenai-sensei's expression softened, and her voice was patient.

"That's Gai for you..." she murmured. "When you accept a mission, what do you do? Kiba?"

"You promise to do something!" Kiba exclaimed, any shame he had felt forgotten.

"You give your word in the name of Konoha," Hinata continued softly with a firm nod.

"It's a great dishonor to break that word," Shino finished and turned to look straight at Tenten, who had stopped mid-chew to look back at him, "Why? The clients lose trust in you, and will hire another village, or mercenaries, in the future. In other words the village loses income."

"What happens to shinobi who harm their village?" Kurenai-sensei asked.

"Exiled," the three of them said at the same time again. Kurenai-sensei smiled proudly and looked at all of them, and Tenten struggled to swallow and coughed.

"You won't be exiled for failing a few missions though," Tenten said and reached for some water.

"How many, then?" Kiba asked.

"Mmh!" Tenten groaned in frustration and put the glass down hard, "I don't know, you just stop getting assigned missions!"

"And that hurts Konoha's income and reputation, doesn't it, Tenten-kun?" Shino said. Tenten crossed her arms and groaned again.

"I don't know. I don't think it works like that, though!"

"Makes sense to me," Kiba said, "What use is a shinobi who can't complete missions?"

Shino was about to point out there's lots of things a shinobi could do to help the village besides missions. Like teachers, strategists, researchers. Skills that would be wasted in the field, but Tenten stood up. She glared sharply at Kiba while putting on her shoulder bag.

"Thanks for the seat," she said shortly with a quick bow to Kurenai.

"Give my greetings to Gai for me?" Kurenai asked with a smile.

"Sure," Tenten said and nodded at them in goodbye. Shino raised his hand to wave goodbye, but she must've missed it because she didn't do it back.