She shuddered at the foot of a clump of tall reeds, not only at the cold wind, but at the utter and unnatural silence of the marsh. The mist that shrouded the marsh was still and thick. As she cowered where she stood, a sudden cutting breeze blew through the swamp, clearing the fog slightly. The breeze brought with it a slight metallic tang and the din of a battle raging behind the impenetrable screen of mist. "Mother! Father!" she cried into the fog, terrified.
The torrential rain pelted Kirigakure, as it always did this time of the year. Quite unlike the rains of the eponymous Amegakure on the mainland, the rains of Kirigakure were savage and freezing, with cutting winds and the rain leavened with the occasional hailstone.
Mizumoto Haru balanced herself precariously on the beams of the hall and inched forward. The beam was old, and creaked when she shifted her weight. She kept her eyes on the hatch. She had found the hatch last week, when she was looking for mushrooms that commonly grew along the insides of roofs. There was a sort of supply cache behind the hatch, full of dried foods and soldier pills.
The first time, she didn't take a lot (there was only so much you could cram in a genin outfit), but she came back with a small sack a few days later, and raided the place with glee. Haru was aware that she was stealing, and the penalty if she was caught, but she didn't anticipate losing much sleep over it. Unlike other genin, Haru had to support herself on a genin's salary since her parents' death. The salary of a Genin had always been lean, moreso in these times of famine and downsizing.
Once her sack was full to bursting, Haru shifted on her perch, preparing to wriggle her way back out the small skylight she'd entered from and head home. Just as she was preparing to hoist herself up onto the roof, the door burst open, allowing the shrieking of the rainstorm and occasional flashes of lightning to filter in. Amid the cracks of lightning and the booms of thunder, she could hear two male voices, arguing.
Arguing...about what? she thought, keeping very still. Her survival instinct warred with her curiosity. It wasn't that uncommon to hear adults arguing. Political strife seemed to do that to people. She, personally, was more interested in paying her bills and keeping food on the table, but it was good to keep in touch.
"We need to act now! This is too good to miss, Mizuri-senpai – if we let this window of opportunity pass, we may not get the chance again in a long time!" Haru recognized the speaker with a jolt. Kaiyou-sensei! He was a veteran jounin to whom Haru and two others had been assigned to only a few weeks before.
"I know that," the jounin called Mizuri snapped. His weather-beaten face was distorted into a look of frustration as he raked a hand through his sandy blonde hair. "Do you think I disagree? But we need to tread carefully here. Our annexation of Wave has already made the Land of Fire very wary. Konohagakure-" Mizuri held up a hand to silence Kaiyou-sensei, who had opened his mouth to speak. "Even now they still have far more shinobi than we do. If war does break out-"
Kaiyou-sensei snorted scornfully. "Then let them come. Numbers are nothing! A single Kiri shinobi could take on five, ten of them! Most of them are green, untested in combat, unlike us Kiri shinobi."
"They have the Konoha Eleven."
Kaiyou-sensei had no reply to that. The Konoha Eleven were renowned around the world for their prowess in battle. Charismatic and talented, they had led the armies of Konohagakure from victory to victory. It was also left unsaid that fighting Konoha also meant fighting Suna, which, if nothing else, meant the Kazekage. The Demon of the Sands was at least as dreaded as all the Konoha Eleven put together.
The jounin Mizuri pressed on in a more conciliatory tone. "Look, we can't risk war with Konoha and Suna just yet. But I agree that we must do something. My plan for infiltrating Konoha would-"
At this moment, Haru lost her footing, and slipped on the mildewed surface of the beam. Instead of the cold, hard floor, she felt a vice grip on her throat, suspending her in the air, cutting off her airway. "My, my…… what's this?" Mizuri drawled.
Her sensei scowled incredulously at her. "Haru?"
Mizuri raised an eyebrow. "One of your brats?"
Kaiyou-sensei nodded tersely by way of acknowledgement.
"So you're the one who's been ransacking this supply closet. I wondered which jounin had the audacity to pilfer from the village." Haru felt Mizuri's grip tighten ever so slightly, constricting her windpipe. Bone-chilling cold crept from his hand up her throat. Haru grasped desperately at Mizuri's arm.
"The penalty for theft of military supplies from Kirigakure is execution," Mizuri said, "without court martial." He smiled cruelly, revealing rows of sharp filed teeth.
Haru's heart beat erratically Summary execution....she should have been dead already. She was guilty of theft, Mizuri was her commanding officer, there was no reason for her to still be breathing. Already struggling for breath, she managed to squeeze out, "Cut… the crap already… what do y-you want?"
"You have some raw talent in stealth and concealment. You seem to be an excellent candidate for what I have in mind," said Mizuri.
Haru opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't manage more than a strangled rasp. Instead she glared at Mizuri with watery eyes, considering the implications mutely.
Mizuri seemed satisfied at her silent acquiescence, and let go. She hit the ground, gasping for much needed air. "Good. You have three hours to prepare. Report here at twenty-three-hundred hours. You know where the rations are," he added dryly over his shoulder. For a brief moment, Kaiyou stared at her with an inscrutable expression, and then hurried after Mizuri.
Mizuri and Kaiyou ran through the damp catacombs silently.
Kaiyou broke the silence. "Are you sure about this? She's only a genin—a new one at that."
Mizuri's eyes darted a fraction towards Kaiyou. "Why, you're not suffering an attack of compassion, are you?"
"No. I'm referring to the problems that her inexperience may cause, especially for a delicate operation such as this." The shadows cast by the sparse flickering torches concealed Kaiyou's expression.
Mizuri paused briefly, as if to consider a thought. "Contrary to what you may think, her being a new genin is a good thing. I've been planning this for a while. The unexpected appearance of the girl was only a bonus. Instead of seeding lots of spies into enemy's lower ranks and hope that some avoid detection like we've done in the past, my plan requires that we send a contained two-shinobi team. One a genin to infiltrate the ranks of Konoha, while the other, an experienced jounin, to coordinate the mission from within Konoha itself.
"The plan was to use a genin with more experience, but the girl, for our purposes, is even better. She is inexperienced enough to blend in with new recruits, and for any progress she's made in the last few weeks to be mistaken for potential. But unlike the average genin, this girl seems to be a natural in the art of concealment, and she has some nerve, which is invaluable to us."
Mizuri turned slightly towards Kaiyou. "I thought maybe the part of the coordinator would be filled by you. I should be forthright to you: the chances of success are slim, and, needless to say, operating deep in enemy territory is uniquely dangerous."
They had reached the Mizukage's Office. Mizuri turned to face Kaiyou completely. "It is a top-secret A-rank mission, probably going to be one of the most difficult you've undertaken. Should you fall, there will be no one to mourn your passing. But the success of the mission means war, and for you, my friend, that means almost certain elevation to the Mizu Advisory Council."
Kaiyou's eyes glittered in the torch-lit gloom. Mizuri had hit the spot. The Mizu Advisory Council was one of the highest authorities in Kirigakure, governing every aspect of the hidden village. It was topped only by the Mizukage, and the Mizukage himself (or herself) was traditionally picked from the ranks of the Council.
"It is my honour to accept the assignment, senpai."
Mizuri fished a sealed scroll out of his flak jacket, dispelled the seal and handed it over to Kaiyou. Like all mission briefings of A-rank and above, they were marked TOP SECRET. "Rendezvous with the girl at the stated time," Mizuri said.
"Yes, sir."
