Chapter 1

Border patrol

Moriko Haru stretched as she exited her room, yawning loudly. She scratched her unruly red hair and proceeded down the hallway. However, she didn't make it all the way. She was forcefully tackled onto the wood floor below. Thankfully, she managed to catch herself before her skull came in contact with the floor. Her knees, however, weren't so lucky. They made a nasty thud as they hit the floor. Great, now they'd bruise.

"Ohayo Mori-neechan!" A child's voice shouted. Moriko twisted her head to see that her cousin, Kazuo, was on her back...again.

"Kazuo, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times..." It was a phrase that Moriko used quite often with the irritating little ball of energy.

"Ne, Mori-neechan, what have you told me a thousand times?" Kazuo asked, eyes begging to know the answer.

Moriko sighed and pulled the child off her back, "I honestly don't know why I put up with you." She set the boy on his feet and pushed herself up. Kazuo ran ahead of his cousin, giggling happily. Moriko followed at a more sedate pace, popping her assaulted back along the way.

"Ohayo, Moriko-chan," her aunt, Ruka, greeted as Moriko took her seat at the table. Baby Mami, squealed happily from her highchair and held out her arms.

Moriko walked over to the little girl and picked her up. The baby giggled and reached for a lock of her cousin's short red hair. Her fat little baby fingers curled around one of the strands and she tugged- hard. Moriko winced and barely managed to pry her hair from the baby's death grip. Deciding it was best to set the baby down, Moriko set Mami back in her chair and handed her a spoon to brutalize instead.

Her uncle, Hibiki, shuffled into the room a few moments later looking very tired and very rumpled. Ruka and Hibiki took turns taking care of Baby Mami at night and the duty had fallen to Hibiki that night. Kazuo had taken to calling her 'Bat Baby' because she never slept at night. So, by default, Hibiki didn't either.

"Ne, Mori-neechan, aren't you going out to the Kanabi Bridge today?" Kazuo asked, his big green eyes sparkling.

Moriko rubbed the back of her head, "Actually, we're just scouting the perimeter of the village barrier. We won't get to go all the way to the bridge. The closest we'll get is the eastern portion of the tertiary barrier. We'll be checking on the condition of the seal and all that other boring stuff. It's no big deal, really." She looked a little put-out at this.

Ruka looked at her niece while she set breakfast down on the table, " Isn't that a little too close to all the fighting?" It was common knowledge to those living in Hikarigakure that the Kanabi Bridge and the areas surrounding it were very dangerous during war times. It was a primary trade route for Iwa and during wartime it was practically one giant target.

Moriko waved her hand dismissively "Eh, don't worry Ruka-obachan, just have faith in my ninja abilities. 'Sides, ninja from other ninja villages can't engage our ninja during war times, it's against the law."

Ruka sighed and sat back in her chair. Her niece was so stubborn sometimes. Sometimes she wished that Moriko wasn't that way, but that was like asking a dog not to wear it's fur.

Ruka sighed again. Somehow, she couldn't help but think something...interesting was about to happen.

"Aw, c'mon Kaede-kun~!" A female voice squealed from down the street. Moriko sighed- she was late. She had to be if Kei was already there. Still, she took her time, it wasn't like getting there was urgent. Barrier patrol was actually a D-rank mission during normal times. However, due to the war, it had been bumped up to a B-rank. Her sandals scuffed along the cobblestone streets and she tightened her bright green headband; it was a boring day.

"Don't be shy Kaede-kuuuuun~!" Moriko winced at the shrill voice. Kei was always after Kaede. Sighing, she quickened her pace.

"Kei, stop harassing him," Moriko said while pulling her blonde teammate off the pale teen, "Honestly, you're a chunin now, act like it."

Kei was in love with Kaede(or so she said) and always spent as much time with him as she could. She would always cling to him like her life depended on it. And, quite often, she would squeal at him about something or another. Whatever it was, it grated on Moriko's eardrums.

But it wasn't like Kaede didn't deserve the torture. He was always so quiet. He never talked to anybody and he pushed anyone who tried away. Unfortunately for him, he was the village heartthrob, so he had to do a lot of pushing. Moriko herself had liked him when she'd first started the academy. It only lasted for a week, though. Her crush had basically evaporated when she'd tried to talk to him and he'd called her a 'useless waste of space'. After that, she never bothered with him again. Until they were put on the same team, of course.

"I didn't need your help," Kaede muttered while glaring at the red-head. Moriko rolled her eyes and turned to Kei.

"Where's sensei? He is coming with on this one isn't he?"

Kei shrugged, "Well, I know he's coming, but-"

Poof!

The trio turned towards the noise to see their sensei, Jun Fujitaka, standing there.

"Ohayo, everyone," he smiled at the three teens. Kei pouted.

"Sensei this is the first time in a long time that we've all been assigned to the same team and all you have to say is 'Ohayo'?"

Jun scratched the back of his head, "Well-"

Kaede interrupted, "Our mission is of the utmost importance, surely trivial conversations can be held later."

Jun frowned, but nodded, "Alright, our mission today is border repair. We are to do it quickly, silently, and," he turned towards Kaede and Moriko, "without incident. Am I clear?"

"Hai, Jun-sensei!" The three chorused before they all took off into the forest.

The four-man cell stopped a short distance from the primary border. Jun pulled out four wireless communicators and handed them to his team members.

"Alright, we'll start from the outside and move in. There are eight stones with the seal. You are to check and report on the status of each seal. If a seal is damaged you are to repair it quickly and quietly. You are not to fight any unknown ninja you encounter. Is that clear?" The three teens nodded, "Kaede you take the northern and northwestern stones. Moriko you'll take the eastern and northeastern stones. Kei, you'll take the southern and southeastern stones. I'll take the western and the southwestern stones. Alright, let's go."

Kei's voice crackled to life over the wireless connection, "This is Kei. The southern tertiary seal secure. Moving to southeastern tertiary seal. Over."

Moriko sighed in irritation. For whatever reason, she was having a hard time sensing out the eastern seal. It would be so much easier if they just recorded where the seals were each time, but due to the constant border checks, the seals were moved at least once a week. Which meant that instead of recording the seal's location, they had to use a sensory team to do border patrol. A poor idea in her opinion, but it was tradition. And, like most tradition, it was meticulously executed and was expected to be done perfectly. Something that annoyed the younger generation, specifically Moriko, to no end.

"Kaede reporting: The northern tertiary seal is secure. Moving to northwestern tertiary seal. Over."

Moriko quickened her pace. She was the best sensor on the team, why couldn't she find it?

"Jun here. Western tertiary seal is secure. Moving to southwestern tertiary seal. Over."

Moriko was moving as fast as she could now. There was no sign of the eastern seal at all.

"This is Kei. The southeastern tertiary seal is secure. Moving to southeastern secondary seal. Over."

Moriko burst through a set of trees and into a clearing. Well, not a clearing, exactly. It was more like a clearing filled with rubble. She had felt a trickle of chakra come from this area. If the seal was here, it would take a bit of work to unearth.

Suddenly, the chakra signal spiked. It wasn't large. In fact, it was rather pitiful. But it was a spike nonetheless and a seal wasn't supposed to do that.

"Jun here-" Moriko turned down the sound on her headset so that it was an inaudible murmur. Right now was not the time to get distracted. Something was here and whatever it was, it was human.

He had become numb to the pain long ago. Or that's what it seemed like, at least. His thoughts had become a jumbled mess when...when. He closed his eye. When was it? His eye? Something about his eye. The thought process ended as quickly as it had begun. It was getting harder and harder to remember and maintain everything.

Then, he felt something. It was something he knew he should know. What was it called? Chatka? Catra? Cratka? Something like that. Whatever it was called, he knew it and he wanted to find it. The signal was moving and he knew he had to react, but how? He closed his eyes in concentration. Almost out of instinct he spiked his own 'cratka' in an attempt to catch the person's attention. The signal slowed and then came to a full stop. He sent out a signal again, but it was weaker this time. He was running out of 'catra' and it was weakening him faster.

He hoped whoever was out there could feel his signal, for his sake.

Moriko approached the pile of rubble, following the ever-dimming chakra signal. Her fists clenched and unclenched in anticipation. Whoever this person was, they were dieing- fast. She stopped on top of a nondescript section of the rubble pile. They were right below her, whoever 'they' was.

For a few moments she stared at the gray debris, considering whether or not to dig the person up. The were most likely a shinobi, either from Iwa or Konoha considering it's closeness to Kanabi Bridge. The ever shrinking chakra signal proved that they were in no condition to strike. A quick sweep of the area showed no surrounding teammates, suggesting that they had assumed the shinobi below her was already dead. Hikari was a neutral village in the war, so she was under no obligation, nor did she have any permission to, help this shinobi. But he was dieing for Kami's sake!

Moriko set her jaw and nodded to herself. She had to help this person. It wouldn't be right to leave them here. She dropped to her knees and began digging rocks away. She managed to dig a fair distance down before hitting a boulder. Moriko bit her lip. Now what? The signal was almost non-existent by now and was still diminishing. Explosive tags were too risky- the explosion might kill the person below. She didn't know any earth style ninjutsu, so that was out of the question. That's when an idea hit her.

She formed various hand seals and called out, "Jikukan: Bogo Kabe Reberu San no Jutsu!"

A blue barrier flickered into existence around Moriko. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. The barrier shifted towards the boulder. Sweat began to form on Moriko's brow. The barrier approached the boulder and slid underneath it. Moriko's body began to shake. The barrier slid over a body lying beneath the bolder and molded to it, acting as a skin-tight barrier. Careful to hold the jutsu, Moriko reached into her weapon's pouch and pulled out several explosive tags. She slapped them on the boulder and backed a good distance away, straining to keep the barrier up around the stranger. She took a deep breath and triggered the tags.

Jutsu

Jikukan: Bogo Kabe Reberu San no Jutsu- Space-Time Technique: Protective Barrier Level Three

A/N: Ha-ha! I've really re-vamped the first chapter of this story. I've established the characters a bit more, given a bit more conflict, added more explanation, and-best of all- I've made it longer :D. I know I've been a bit late...OK, a lot late, with my updates, but once again, I had a major brain-fart. I've found that listening to songs like Hero by Skillet and Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men help a lot with my writing. I hope you liked the redone version of this.

That is all,

Alias E.