Haru ran all the way back to her meager living quarters, braving the thunderstorm, oblivious to the pelting rain and hail. Her mind was a storm of its own, feelings and thoughts ricocheting off each other as one ludicrous plan formed after another. She reached her quarters, sopping wet, almost without realizing it.
She had no time. She hadn't had time since the moment Kaiyou and Mizuri had walked into that supply cache. She didn't know what they had in store for her, but she could guess. They planned to infiltrate Konoha, and who better to do that than an unassuming genin? It was suicidal and with the threat of execution hanging over her, there was no way she could remain in Kiri.
She reached for her rucksack, ready to stuff it with supplies and a few essentials when she froze. Something was not right... a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature swept up her back as she slowly withdrew her hand, reaching instead for her kunai.
"Oh, don't worry, you're safe – for now," a voice said in the dark.
Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, her kunai still at the ready. "Kaiyou!" she snarled, not at all reassured.
"I must admit, I was rather pleased that you and I are of a kind. You see, I too have a gift for erasing my presence."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just checking in. See, if I were you, I'd be tempted to run," Kaiyou said, leaning non-chalantly against a wall. "…though of course, you weren't planning that, were you?" he finished silkily. Haru glared at him, not really caring if he could see it.
"And by the way, it'll be either Kaiyou-taicho or Kaiyou-sensei, as I am still your commanding officer. Take your pick."
Haru did not retort. She was thinking fast. If she could get to the door, she could disappear into the storm. In a split second, she dashed for the door, forgoing supplies and clothes in favor of freedom. She was fast, but Kaiyou moved between her and the door with blinding speed. He delivered an open-handed palm strike to her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. As Haru lay on the floor gasping for breath, a tendril of water flowed down Kaiyou's arm and coalesced into a thin watery blade.
"No need to be so hasty, we will be departing soon enough," Kaiyou said smoothly. The watery blade pulsed with latent chakra. Haru understood his threat perfectly. She could only grit her teeth.
As Haru got up from the floor, Kaiyou made a quick slash at Haru's forehead. A horizontal gash appeared on her forehead protector, between the flowing water symbol of Kirigakure. "You are now officially dead. Whether your death is one of a traitor or a hero, I leave to you."
"Come on, get up!" Kaiyou snapped impatiently at a slow Haru, "We still have some distance to cover before sunrise." They had traveled all night on a fast, unmarked clipper from Kirigakure north to an archipelago which Haru assumed to be the Land of Waves.
She had sat herself down on the dewy ground, and was glaring at Kaiyou. "Forgive me for not being overly enthusiastic about going to die in a foreign land."
Kaiyou leaned on the innocuous-looking staff he was carrying. "Look at it this way: if you die, you will be commemorated as one of the saviors of Kirigakure. That's what we're doing, you know. Saving Kiri from extinction."
"That's nice, but I prefer to live," Haru shot back, stabbing at a patch of moss underneath her sandals.
"I'm sure it would make your parents proud..." Kaiyou said, turning his back on her. "Think about it-- their only child, a Hero of Kirigakure. Only a genin and she was willing to give her all for the good of the village."
"What good does that do me? They're dead."
"That's what you think."
Haru froze, her mouth working soundlessly as Kaiyou moved further up the bank. She scrambled to her feet, sprinting to catch up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Kaiyou smiled humourlessly. "Ah, I see I've gotten your attention. See, I happen to know that they're rotting in a damp, submarine prison somewhere in Kiri-"
"Cut the crap, taicho!" Haru literally spat out the last word. "They're dead!"
"If that's the way you want to think," Kaiyou shrugged. "I wonder, did you actually witness them die? Did you see their bodies?"
Watching Haru closely, Kaiyou was smugly pleased to see a thread of doubt start to wrap itself around her thoughts. "I'm making you an offer. Be a good little spy, and when this assignment is done I'll see to it that they're released. If you fail, or betray Kiri, however…… well, let's just say that Mummy and Daddy may look forward to the personal attentions of a knife in the dark."
Haru shot up. "You wouldn't dare."
"You wouldn't know." The waning moonlight glinted off Kaiyou's unnaturally sharp teeth as his face split in a chilling grin. Haru shuddered, and looked away. He had done his job, the seed of doubt was planted. Haru had thought herself an orphan for longer than she cared to remember. She would give anything to be able to see her parents again.
They moved further along the coast, keeping off the road as harried-looking families hurried along it, their entire lives strapped to their backs. As they neared what looked like a town, Haru spotted groups of uniformed soldiers stationed along the road at regular intervals from inside the foliage. From the symbol on their tunics, they were from the Land of Water.
Kaiyou signaled Haru to stay down. What? He indicated for her to move away from the road. "What's going on? Weren't those-" Haru began when they were a safe distance away from the road.
"Yes, yes, they were Water soldiers," Kaiyou said irritably. "A few weeks ago, our fool daimyo ordered the departure of all Kiri shinobi from the Land of Water, under the insistence of the daimyo of the Land of Fire."
"So we're not actually supposed to be here," Haru said.
"No, we are not, but…" Kaiyou shrugged. "We are shinobi. We do things our own way, whether our dear daimyo would admit it or not."
As they continued away from the road, Kaiyou said, "I don't suppose I have to tell you to regard any agent of the Land of Water as a hostile. The secrecy of our mission is paramount." They were heading towards a column of smoke rising from the ground. As they neared, Haru spotted a patrol team of three Water soldiers huddled around a fire, on the edge of an abandoned village. Kaiyou stopped and turned to Haru. "Hand me your forehead protector."
Haru hesitated. "What?"
"It won't do you much good now anyway. Hand me your forehead protector."
When Haru reluctantly untied it from her forehead and handed it over Kaiyou pointed in the direction of the soldiers. "Wipe them out."
Haru scowled in the direction of the fire. "But what-" she began to ask-
But Kaiyou was already gone.
Haru considered the task. In the few weeks she'd been a genin of Kirigakure, she'd mostly been doing D-rank missions—not even real missions, in Haru's opinion. Even so, with careful planning and a little luck, she should be able to take them all out without undue fuss.
Haru reached down to the shinobi pouch at her belt for a kunai, but felt her hand close on nothing. A surge of panic washed over Haru. That pouch had held all her kunai and shuriken. Fearing the worst, Haru felt for the oilskin pocket where she hid her explosive tags. Her fingers brushed flayed leather-ends. It had been cut as well. Kaiyou… you bastard.
There was a whizzing sound and a quiet thunk as a single kunai embedded itself in the trunk of a tree.
Haru gritted her teeth but resigned herself. Closing her eyes, she drew upon memories of her parents for strength. She took a deep breath and drew her focus inwards, imagining her mental self shrink and shrink until she disappeared. When Haru opened her eyes again she moved stealthily into a thicket right behind one of the soldiers and waited for an opportunity to strike.
Haru didn't have to wait long. One of them stood up from around the now-sputtering fire and muttered, "I gotta take a shit." The other two looked up and grunted an acknowledgement. Now's the time! Bursting out of the thicket, Haru grabbed the head of the first soldier from behind and slit his exposed throat. The man rasped wetly, and fell limp.
Abstractly, she realized it was the first time she had ever killed someone, but she did not have time to dwell on that as the dead soldier's teammate picked up his halberd and swung it at her. She ducked, but the soldier utilized the momentum of the first slash, and his next attack came in fast, slicing at her torso. Haru barely had time to block the halberd with her kunai. Haru managed to deflect it, but the force of the cut sent the kunai flying from her hands.
Haru stumbled backwards to avoid the long arc of the soldier's halberd. As Haru felt the faint heat of the dying campfire behind her, she was seized with a sudden idea. Gritting her teeth, she thrust her hand into the dying flames and grabbed a handful of embers. The embers crumbled in her hand as she held them. Before the embers burned her hand, she flung the hot ashes in the soldier's face.
The soldier let go of his halberd in surprise and clawed at his eyes, howling obscenities. Seeing the opening, Haru closed the distance between her and the soldier quickly, depriving him of the advantage of range bestowed by the length of the halberd. However, the soldier soon recovered his composure, and started to batter Haru with his bare fists. Haru blocked blow after crude blow partially with her arms, but she gave ground, realizing that even though the man wasn't particularly skilled, she wasn't likely to win a contest of strength. Instead, she retreated from the clearing, luring him into the forest.
When Haru had a tree behind her, she turned, ran up the tree with the aid of chakra. Doing a neat flip over the soldier's head, she landed behind him. Taking advantage of his momentary surprise, Haru grabbed his head and slammed it hard into the trunk. The foliage from above drifted down around her with each hit. It didn't take more than three or four blows before he fell limp in her arms. Haru dropped the bloodied body in disgust.
Haru was so absorbed in the melee that she did not immediately register the return of the other soldier, his pants still unbuckled. Haru noticed a makeshift club coming towards her head an instant too late to block it. As it connected with her skull, Haru felt a sharp pain, and stars blossomed in her vision. Shit, she thought as she collapsed, unconscious.
