[KAKASHI]
The two teams walked into the town, slightly shivering at the cold brisk air that nipped at any exposed skin. Their shoes crunched on white snow and as they walked through the town (after handing a scroll to the guards at the gate) they earned many stares and whispers. It seemed like all eyes were on them and they weren't sure if the eyes were inviting and kind or standoffish.
"Why do they keep staring?" Uzumaki Naruto, the blond whispered, his bright blue eyes darting around.
"They must not be used to visitors." Nara Shikamaru replied, and he was right.
This town near the borders of the Land of the Rivers did not get many visitors. New faces were a rarity, one that sometimes aren't welcome. After observing the new faces for a while, the townsman went on with their work. The town, the new ninjas noted, seemed peaceful. Children ran freely without supervision, the streets were clean and they assumed in spring that the abundance of trees would be blooming beautifully. The town was surrounded by walls with guards and ninjas at their post who observed the new faces with a watchful eye.
"Is that were we're supposed to meet the family?" Kiba asked, pointing at a large palace like compound in front of him. It was positioned on a hill so the rest of the town can look up to see the grand architecture, even from a distance it looked grand and the ninjas began to feel self-conscious of their own dusty appearance.
"Yes, now remember, we are here to gather information. Do not engage. We don't know much about this village and whatever operations they deal. Understand?" Kakashi said followed by a nod from the rest of the group.
Tsunade had sent Team 7 (Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi), Team 8 (Kiba, Shino and Hinata) and the newly Chunin Shikamaru to travel to the town of Mikamoto, a town owned by the Mikazuki-Morimoto family. The family was facing many suspicion that had been going on for centuries. In the past decade the Mikazuki and Morimoto family were at constant war but in the past few years they had merged together and have been relatively quiet but Tsunade knew better- the families had been suspected of illegal drug trafficking and organising an underground battle ring. The hokage knew that as time passed they would get stronger and more powerful, it was time to take action but not without some information.
"You must be the Konoha Shinobis! Welcome to our town! Kazuki-sama and Harumi-sama would like to welcome you to their home. My name is Satou, the head of the house. Please follow me, I'll give you a tour and will accompany you to your new quarters."
Kakashi thanked the man and the 8 ninjas followed the man. The house was unnecessarily grand and even he was in awe of it. Satou, the head of the house happily chatted away as he took them on a long, long tour of the house before moving to the gardens. Now the gardens was another thing.
The grounds was just as elaborate as the house and even though the trees were dead from winter and the snow covered the ground, Kakashi could imagine how beautiful it would have been in the other seasons. He nodded at Shino, giving him the signal to release a few bugs. That was for surveillance. The Morimoro-Mikazuki family had given them a warm welcome and while he had not been swayed he couldn't say the same for Naruto. The blond boy trusted too easily but he was glad he had Sasuke and Sakura to rein him in.
"Kakashi-san," Shino whispered, "I've got eyes on someone. Around the corner and straight down."
"Oh Satou-san, do you mind if I use the bathroom?" Kakashi asked.
"Of course! I should let an escort take you, you might get lost!"
Kakashi mentally groaned, how the hell was he going to get out of this one? Reluctantly he took an escort and walked towards the castle. When the group was out of sight, with a few hand signs he placed a genjutsu over the man escorting him. His eyes glazed over and Kakashi put his body in a closet and transformed himself. He'll come back for the man later.
Following Shino's instructions he walked down the long walkway that was overlooking the garden. In the distance he saw a figure sitting on the wooden pathway. He wasn't sure if the person was a man or a woman but as he got closer he realised that she was a teenage girl, around the same age as his students.
Her hair was messy and it looked like she coarsely chopped it off herself. Her skin was fair but it looked unhealthy. She seemed to be shivering slightly but she didn't make any effort in moving, she sat there silently and stared into the garden.
Her bright red eyes flashed at him and she jumped up, "S-Sorry. I'll go back to my room." She apologised.
Before she could walk away Kakashi grabbed her wrist, "Wait. Who are you?"
She looked at him curiously but Kakashi could understand why. He was in the disguise of a guard but he quickly removed it and soon the girl relaxed.
"Konoha huh? Did they send only one?" She asked as he released her hand.
"No but who are you?" He pressured but she brushed off his question.
"You know, they wouldn't like that you're wondering around by yourself," she stated much to the surprise of Kakashi, for some reason it sounded like a threat, "I won't tell them but let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
She smirked, "I help you, and you help me. It's a win win situation."
"How?"
The girl's ears perked up and she eyed the corner of the hallway, Kakashi heard it too, footsteps.
"Meet me here at 11pm, you're a shinobi, you can sneak in." She whispered before quickly moving away from him. Kakashi put on his disguise again and softly called out to the girl.
"What's your name?"
"Makoto."
Kakashi barely heard her reply when she disappeared around the corner and a few seconds later two guards was walking in his direction. He decided to ignore them and went back to get his escort from the closet. He wondered about that girl, who was she? At first he thought she was a servant but even the maids, servers and cooks dressed better than she did. Why was she apologising to him when he was under the disguise? She was just sitting there doing nothing, just what the hell is going on?
Going back to the gardens he met Satou who continued his long-winded tour but Kakashi was no longer admiring the gardens but realised that it was a facade to awe any visitors. Many thoughts ran through his mind and he soon realised that this mission; the Morimoto-Mikazuki family was much more complicated than he had initially thought. What were they hiding? He thought back to the girl with the light brown hair and red eyes.
Just who the hell was she?
A/N: This chapter is written in the point of view of the one and only, Kakashi! When a character's name is written in this bracket: [NAME], with capital letters and in bold, it is in that characters point of view. Previously I made her hair black but it was too similar to my other character so I decided to make it light brown which in my personal opinion, suits her. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please, as always, review! Reviews literally make me happy.
Reviewers:
*a scribble with fangs: Thank you so much for your review :) and I'm happy that you liked this fic, I'll definitely be continuing!
