Fujin, Teru, Hoka and Mieko took their seats around the round table. Mieko asked Fujin, "Did you tell them about the dialogue we had?"
Fujin nodded, "Yup."
Mieko looked at Hoka and Teru and asked, "So, what do you think guys?"
Teru answered, "It is a good idea. My current squad takes a lot of breaks between missions. If we form a team, then we can take missions continuously and reach the required number of missions for Elite Chunin promotion quickly.
But, even if we reach the required number of missions, we won't get promoted anytime soon. And, taking missions with our current squads ensures that we may be able to handle the mission even if it goes wrong."
Hoka nodded in agreement. Fujin said, "That's true. But the current rank B missions are very boring and don't challenge us much. My idea is that we should take rank B missions that have a low chance of going wrong and do them rapidly. Even if we don't get promoted at the end of it, we may get asked to assist with rank A missions more often if our mission record is good."
Teru replied, "That is true. I'm guessing that your plan is to reach 50 missions quickly with our team and then try being a part of stronger teams."
Fujin nodded, "Yeah. That would be ideal for us. Though it'll be better to finalize such a decision after we reach that stage. We may as well continue with this team if we can take tougher missions."
Mieko agreed, "Yeah, that's true. So, is everyone on board?"
Hoka nodded, "Yeah, I talked with my parents and teammates. I am in."
Teru nodded, "Same here. But, why didn't you invite anyone else?"
Fujin answered, "Well, the only other two I could think of were Hana and Yori. And their skills would be very similar to Hoka and Mieko respectively. Not to mention that Hana is still in her genin squad. So I figured that it'd be better to go with just us 4. All four of us are good at Taijutsu. We cover all elements except Lightning. We will have 2 Doujutsus and 1 sensor in the squad. So pretty much all aspects get covered."
Teru thought for a bit and said, "Alright."
Since no one asked anything else, Mieko said, "So now the main question is…"
She looked at all three and said, "Who will be the team leader?"
Hoka and Teru too looked at everyone. Meanwhile, Fujin thought, 'I never considered this… Makes sense though as every team needs to have a leader.'
Hoka, Mieko and Teru prepared themselves for an intense debate.
Hoka asked Mieko, "What do you suggest?"
Mieko replied, "Of course, it should be me."
Hoka saw her with a deadpan expression as he thought, 'Why am I not surprised?'
He asked, "Why?"
Mieko answered, "Because I am the only one who is an expert at Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. You guys don't have any skills in Genjutsu."
Hoka argued back, "What does Genjutsu have to do with leading? My ability to see up to a kilometer is more important. This way, I can pass orders quickly and get us more time to react."
Mieko said, "You can do that even when you aren't a leader."
Teru entered the debate saying, "Yes, and you can use Genjutsu even if you aren't the leader. The most important aspect of a leader is experience. And I have been a ninja for a year longer than you three."
The three entered into a heated debate. At some point, the Sharingan and the Byakugan got activated. Chakras began flaring. Fujin didn't speak and just watched with amusement. He thought, 'Wow, this looks awfully like those pre-interview debates for placements in my previous world.'
The trio continued arguing for 15 minutes when Hoka's eyes fell on Fujin. He saw that Fujin was eating the fried chicken alone and realized that Fujin never spoke a word.
He asked, "Why are you eating chicken and not talking? Aren't you interested in becoming the team leader?"
Fujin answered in his mind, 'Unfortunately I don't have popcorn.'
He said, "It's more amusing to see you three arguing. Don't worry, I won't let the food go cold."
Mieko suddenly realized. She complained, "Hey! Don't eat all the food!"
Fujin shrugged and continued eating.
The change in the subject made the trio calm down. Teru realized that arguing was pointless and said, "It doesn't look like we will reach any conclusion."
Fujin replied, "You sure? Maybe another 15 minutes of debate might provide a result."
Mieko, Teru and Hoka's faces went dark. They realized that Fujin was mocking them. Mieko said, "Alright, stop being a prick and tell us what great idea you have!"
Fujin put up a sad face and sighed, "But I wanna see you guys debating."
All three stared at him. Having teased them enough, Fujin said, "I don't recall where I read or heard this quote, but it went something like this - A great team is where no one knows who the Leader is."
Fujin's words made the three of them enter into thought. After a while, Hoka asked, "Do you mean that we shouldn't have any team leader?"
Teru shook his head, "No, having a team leader is compulsory. Otherwise, we won't get the missions."
Mieko said, "Well, we can just lie."
Fujin interrupted their conversation and said, "No, it means that everyone should be capable of leading. So we will take turns in leading the missions. This way, all 4 of us will become capable leaders."
Teru replied, "Nice idea. I never thought in this way."
Hoka and Mieko nodded.
Mieko said, "So now we just have to decide in what order we will lead."
Once again, Mieko, Hoka and Teru looked into each other's eyes. Fujin looked in anticipation while eating chicken. He could almost see sparks flying between them once again.
However, Mieko suddenly looked and pointed at Fujin and yelled, "Stop taking pleasure from our arguments!"
Hoka and Teru too looked at Fujin with irritated looks.
Fujin said, "Hey, unlike you three, I live alone. There aren't many opportunities to see something this fun!"
Mieko, Teru and Hoka ignored Fujin's lousy excuse. Though they knew that he was an orphan and felt bad about it, they never saw Fujin complain about it or feel down due to it.
Hoka said, "Alright, you have had your fun. Now say what you think."
Fujin said, "The order that I think is ideal would be me first, then Hoka, followed by Mieko and lastly Teru."
Teru and Mieko immediately complained, "Why are we last?"
Fujin replied, "Teru, I put you last because you have never gone on a mission with us before. In fact, in the last 2 and half years, we have fought just once. So by leading last, you will be able to understand more about us three."
Teru thought about it and nodded his head. He said unwillingly, "Alright, that sounds reasonable."
Fujin looked at Mieko and said, "You are second last because you just got injured. Though you have healed, it will be better for you to take it easy for a couple of missions."
Mieko wanted to argue, but she recalled the medical nins asking her to take it easy for a week or so. She too begrudgingly agreed.
Hoka asked, "Why am I after you?"
Fujin smirked and said, "Because you like to engage in pointless battles instead of taking the easy way while I do the opposite."
Hoka immediately complained, "Hey, that's not fair. I only do it when our opponents are very weak. And it doesn't give them any chance at success."
Hoka expected Fujin to counter back, but instead, he saw Fujin shrugging. Fujin said, "Well, that's pretty much all I got. The only other way I see is if we fight to decide the leader."
Normally, Hoka would be excited to face Fujin. However, he frowned and said, "You will just keep your distance and fight with clones, right?"
Fujin smirked and said, "As I said, I prefer the easy way."
Hoka was annoyed by his smirk. But he thought rationally, 'Fighting with Fujin would only make me more annoyed and I won't win. Worse, if the fight becomes intense, I'll be left with a lot of cuts on my body. We may have to delay our missions if that happens.'
Hoka sighed and said, "Leave it. I'll be the bigger man and let you lead first."
Teru and Mieko immediately realized their opportunity and said the same thing. Fujin watched them with a deadpan look as he thought, 'Man? Woman? Should I get them a mirror?'
With the order of team leaders decided, the group began enjoying the food. They discussed their abilities and thought of some combination of jutsus they could use.
After discussing everything they wanted to discuss and finishing off all the food, Fujin said, "We will start taking missions from the day after tomorrow. Let's meet up outside the mission center at noon."
Everyone nodded and left.
