Hello everybody! Moonshae here... you know, the author and all XD. I've finally made it through the third (fourth) chapter and I'm really sorry for the long delay. I'm really really sorry, but since I've got exams and all, I haven't had much free time. And then I had to wait for it to be beta'ed, since my friend also has exams.

To fill up on the last questions, we now know that Kinai's team consists of Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru. They are headed to the Mountain Country, but we don't know their exact task. Whereas Kakashi... Well, he probably decides to sleep during the whole mission.

And thanks to all those who actually reads the author's notes! We really appreciate that our few words reach the people.

Special thanks to all my lovely reviewers!!! You all made me so happy!! I'm especially sorry that you had to wait longer this time, but I'll definitely do something about that.

But anyways, here it is! The chapter which changed title five times before I was satisfied with it XD

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only Kinai and Wolf. Did you know that 'Kinai' is a pun on 'kunai'?

Warnings: Beware of the many countries...

Chapter 3: Thunderstorm

The darkening sky had been following them for a few days by now and Kinai was getting more and more worried. Although the sun still shone before them, the storm luring in the dark approached them far too fast. They hadn't gone as far as she had planned, and she still needed to decide which route to take. Glancing one final time at the sky, she held her hand up and landed soundlessly on the ground. By experience, no one spoke until Kinai lowered her hand and turned. Everyone relaxed and looked around.

"So," Kiba started. "How come we've already stopped? It's not that late."

Kinai smirked and took her bag off. "Nothing goes by your nose, ne, Kiba-kun? Well, not usually…" she added with a tiny hint of sarcasm and pointed at the darkening sky. The obscure clouds had come much closer within a few minutes, and Kiba kept looking at them almost dumbfounded.

"I would rather have continued for a couple of hours," Kinai continued, "but I fear that we can't run from that thunderstorm… It would be safer for us to stay here until the worst has drifted away. Besides, there are some things I need to discuss with you."

Hinata and Kiba looked intensely at her as she let her last words linger in the air.

Kinai rose energetically and clapped her hands. "Well then! We need to set camp before the storm reaches us!"

Hinata and Kiba exchanged a brief glance, but immediately started setting the tents while Kinai secured their food and equipment. If the storm decided to let its water spill on them, she would at least make sure their provisions were safe. Or else it would be a long journey.

When Kinai turned around, Kiba and Hinata had almost finished setting the camp. She smiled to herself and patted Wolf on top of his head. It was nice the kids had become this independent by themselves. With a frown she turned to look at the sky one final time before taking off in search for firewood, so that they could have at least one proper meal. Sure, Soldier's Pills were satisfying, but they couldn't outdo the smell and taste of real food.

It didn't take long before Kinai had gathered enough wood to start a solid fire and soon, the fire was crackling peacefully. Hinata was preparing the food since Kinai had given almost fifty different reasons why she wasn't able to cook at this moment and had shoved various things into Hinata's arms, earning a suspicious glare from Kiba and Akamaru. But fortunately, Hinata knew how to cook in less than no time and soon, they were all equipped with a delicious bowl of simple miso soup. They ate in silence, which allowed them all to gather their thoughts, but soon enough, the pressing silence got too much for Kiba. He placed his bowl for Akamaru to lick and folded his arms annoyed over his chest.

"Say, Kinai-sensei. We've travelled for almost three days by now, but as far as I know, we are not exactly sure what is going on!"

Hinata lowered her chopsticks and stared at the ground, but proceeded to give a small 'Mm' in approval. Akamaru just yapped and jumped into Kiba's jacket. Wolf gave the little ninken an irritated stare and yawned unaffected.

Kinai just continued eating her ramen much to Kiba's exasperation. When she finally put her bowl down, she looked at her teammates with a humoured glint in her eyes. "You both know that our mission is about escorting a Feudal Lord, correct?"

Both nodded.

"His name is Chichiya and he is the Daimyou from the Marsh Country, Numa no Kuni. The Marsh Country has been allied with the Fire Country and Konoha for many years, and they appreciate us as their escorts, which is why most of the missions we accept from them is about escorting. Lately, they haven't needed us; however, with the commotion in the surrounding countries, they are compelled to seek help elsewhere. "

Kinai trailed off and leaned back a bit so that she rested on her hands. Kiba and Hinata exchanged a look.

"Where does the Daimyou stay at this moment?" Hinata fixed her gaze on their captain. Kinai sighed and scratched her head.

"At this moment he resides in Yama no Kuni, by a fellow Feudal Lord due to some negotiations. It seems as though he succeeded, but that is irrelevant to our mission. What is important is that the Mountain Country is two countries ahead of Hi no Kuni. Which leads us to the unspoken problem." Kinai shifted forward, pulling a map out of her hip pouch. She spread it out in front of her teammates.

She pointed at a spot near a border village. "We are currently around this area. The village there is called Fukutaza, and in a few hours we will arrive to it. This also means that in a half day or so we will reach the border."

She shifted to look at her two teammates.

Kiba folded his arms over his chest once more and looked at the map. "The straightest way to Yama no Kuni will go through both Rain and Bird…"

Kinai nodded. "Going through Bird won't be a problem. Toki-sama vouched for that we could travel safely through Bird so we don't have to worry about that. Rain has been very quiet as of late, so we can't be sure about them. But what worries me is Earth."

Wolf raised his head and concentrated on the conversation, as did Akamaru. Hinata and Kiba leaned a bit more forward and Kinai spoke again.

"Through my sources, I have come to now that the Earth shinobi have started stirring. Rumours have it that Earth and Mountain holds a grudge towards each other, and Toki-sama's courier ninja have let us know that Earth shinobi have been seen around."

Hinata started fidgeting with her sleeves. "But… Isn't it possible to take another route?"

To this, Kinai nodded. "I have thought of that possibility. It is possible to travel through River and Sand which leads us round Rain. This way we won't have to deal with possible stray shinobi. However, the journey through Sand is long, far longer than the other, and the deserts will slow us down. Earth won't dare try invading Sand so this way, we will be safe if we can get the Daimyou escorted through Mountain and get there, but we have to be fast to keep the time limit. The Daimyou needs to be in the Tea Country on a specific time. Our job is to escort him back to Fire where we meet up with a group of travellers. When the time comes, it is up to the Daimyou to decide which way he wants us to take."

Kiba nodded and sniffed. "So to keep the time limit, we either have to be extremely fast, or extremely lucky."

Kinai chuckled at his obvious sarcasm. "Exactly, Kiba-kun." Kiba huffed.

"I don't know which I prefer."

Kinai smiled. She didn't want them to think they were a hindrance to the mission, though she had to admit they would have a hard time keeping up with her. They were only kids, for Kami's sake. Nevertheless, their trip to the Sand border had already taken a bit more time than Kinai originally planned it to, so that left her with the only decision possible…

Kinai sat back and looked intensely at her teammates. "Due to my worries of Earth and a little of Rain, I say we are better of being safe than sorry. It's better to be a little late than ending up killed."

To this, Akamaru yapped and Wolf let out a small sound as if snickering. Kinai fixed her gaze at to two ninken. "What's so funny?"

Akamaru yapped again and hid in Kiba's jacket. Wolf rose and trudged off. Kiba snickered as Akamaru continued laughing and Hinata blushed with a small smile.

"What?" This only left Kinai in utter confusion? "What is so funny?"

"… Was it the 'being late'-part?" This made Kiba's knees buckle in laughter and Hinata's blush deepen.

"…"

Wolf barked and lay down again.

"… Come on, guys? It wasn't that funny…"

Kiba just continued laughing.

When the laughing finally had stopped, Kinai was finally able to send them off for the night, leaving her alone by the fire. She sighed and stretched, making her back pop. She had singlehanded decided to take watch, just in case. Even though they were still inside the borders, a ninja was never able to relax completely. With yet another look at the map, she quickly sketched the route which would be the best to take. She decided not to lead them too close to Earth, but since they still needed to keep the time limit, they couldn't take the route through River and Sand. However, since Kinai had decided to stay as far from Earth as possible, they would travel parallel with the River and Sand borders. That way they even avoided Amegakure. Then, when they came further into Rain, they could pick up the straightest and shortest way to Mountain. This way they were both avoiding unnecessary contact with other ninja and being fast. Kinai nodded and rose, stuffing the map back in her hip pouch.

Wolf padded towards her again and she allowed herself a small yawn. This was already getting on her nerves. With two countries around them with an unsure status towards Konoha, the situation wasn't going to be easy.

Dusting herself off, she started checking the tents and the provisions, making sure that everything was tied properly. With a small sigh she eyed the sky once more and shuddered. It was going to be a long and cold night.

The thunderstorm hit them suddenly that even though Kinai had been prepared for the worst, the thunderstorm still took her unawares. It didn't even take time to announce itself by dripping; no, it had to do it by gushing out every single drop of water it could contain. Kinai shook her wet hair out of her eyes, but as soon as she had cleared her sight, the wind hit her mercilessly in the face and whirled the loose strands around her face again. The wet locks of hair clung heavily to her, framing her face. The hitai-ate which used as head band soaked as well as the rest of her clothes, occasionally sending small drops of water down her spine.

Shielding her eyes from the water, Kinai looked up cursing the weather soundlessly. The thunderstorm had been heavier than she first thought. Once again she tugged the wet strands behind her one ear, only to leave room for new stray tresses, as she stood up for the fifth time the last hour. The wind roared and threatened to knock her over if she didn't sit down again. Stretching her back, she took a round in the camp, making sure everything stayed in place. One of the tent pegs had been pulled up by the wind, leaving the canvas to flap uncontrollable. With a firm grip and a heavy knock, it had been pushed into the ground again. Luckily, the provisions had been hidden well so that the rain wouldn't soak it.

She opened the tents to take a look into it. Both Hinata and Kiba seemed to sleep almost undisturbed, which wasn't strange, since they hadn't had much rest as of late. Even though the night had turned out rough, Kinai was sure both of them would feel almost fully rested by tomorrow, given the Soldier's Pill Kinai had advised them to take. Only Akamaru seemed to have trouble sleeping since he lifted his head when Kinai peeked in.

A smile graced the chuunin's face. "Don't worry, pup. I'll have something for you in the morning. I just need as many eyes and noses as possible on this journey." She patted him reassuring on his head. "And besides, you are going to get carried most of the way, aren't you?" she finished with a smirk. Akamaru yapped lowly and wagged his tail. Kiba stirred in his sleep and turned over with a frown gracing his brow. Kinai closed the tent again and turned around.

The storm seemed to finally settle down. She shuddered as another drop of water hit the base of her neck.

When having finished her check-up, Kinai sat down under a tree to use as shelter from the storm. Wolf leaped down from the tree he had been using as a lookout and landed next to Kinai. She smiled and shook the water out of her eyes.

"I'm going to rest for a bit. You wake me if something happens, 'kay?" The canine sat down with pricked up ears. Kinai grinned and closed her eyes. She just needed a few hours, and it would be a shame to wake the kids. She would get proper rest soon enough.

When Hinata woke after a rough night, she sat up with a disoriented look on her face. As far as she could see she was inside a tent. Why was that so? Ah, yes. The mission.

Hinata lay back with a sigh. Then sat up again abruptly. The mission! She jumped out of the sleeping bag and all but stumbled out of the tent. With much effort she managed to stay on her feet. Kiba, however, was not as lucky. He stumbled out of his tent, tangled up in his sleeping bag causing him to loose balance and land in the greatest puddle of water he could possible find. He escaped the fierce sleeping bag under lots of swearwords which made Hinata's cheeks turn crimson.

Not far from the disoriented teens, a happy fire crackled greedily. That was also when a sudden smell of ramen hit their noses. And laughter hit their ears. Which made Kiba swear and Hinata blush again.

"Why good morning to you two, too," Kinai laughed, handing both of them a bowl of ramen. Hinata accepted one with a mighty blush which made it look like it threatened to blow off her head. Kiba escaped his now soaked sleeping bag with a final swearword and took the other one without a word.

Kinai grinned again. "So talkative this morning, are we, Kiba-kun?" Said boy just completely ignored the chuunin and sat down. Akamaru followed him, seemingly droopy-eyed and lay down beside him. Kinai grinned and threw an energy bar over to him which he ate happily.

Hinata silently ate the ramen which actually wasn't burned at all and actually tasted rather good.

"Um, Kinai-sensei…" she started carefully.

"Hm?"

"Um… I thought… um…. You said… last night… that you couldn't… cook…" she finished in a small voice.

Kinai only laughed. "Yeah, that's right. I can't cook anything other than Ramen. You see, even I can't manage to burn the water."

Hinata smiled with a small blush.

As they continued eating in silence, a bird suddenly made its appearance in the glade. It landed elegantly on Kinai's shoulder and started ruffling its feathers as if to make everyone present aware of it. Kinai just continued eating whereas Hinata and Kiba eyed the bird. It was an almost black falcon with a white set of wing tips. Its dark eyes bore themselves into Kiba's staring ones, until a shift of Kinai's shoulder broke the eye contact. It had a message bound to its leg. The two genin eyed each other thoughtfully.

The chuunin didn't say a word until she finished her food, and the falcon waited more or less patiently. When Kinai finally placed her bowl in front of her, she removed the message from the falcon's leg, which it stretched out, expectantly. When she had removed the message, she dispelled the bird and started to read the message. She nodded to herself, unaware that she was being watched.

"Good," she said and looked up. Hinata and Kiba looked intensely at her, which caught Kinai a bit offhand.

Their intense, almost nervous gaze almost made Kinai chuckle. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm just not used being teamed up with genin…" She tried to make it sound casually, but somehow she failed at that point. But it still was true. Being, what you could call 'special chuunin', if that title was suitable. She was used to go either alone or together with other chuunin or jounin. And even though genin often were kids, these two shouldn't be treated like kids. Teenagers were a difficult phenomenon.

Kinai decided to rub the uneasiness off and rose. She cleared her throat and said in her usual mission voice, "I just got some news from Bird about how the land lies, and as the things are now, we should be able to move with no fears of an unpleasant encounter." She turned and continued, "Pack up you stuff. We will be leaving soon."

"Sensei," Kiba started. Kinai turned again and eyed him.

"Hm?"

"You always sound as if someone's going to come for us…."

Hinata nodded. "Yes," she continued in a faint voice. "It's a bit pessimistic… Sensei…"

Kinai's smile turned grim, sending shivers down the genin's spine.

The chuunin turned again with the words, "Pack up your things. We will be leaving in fifteen minutes."

Hinata and Kiba eyed each other once again before both boring their eyes into the sensei's back. There was something about that smile they didn't like…

Once again on their way, Kinai had switched from being in the front to bringing up the rear. The two teens had been unusually quiet since they broke up. Well, that didn't mean much for Hinata's part, but the silence was heavy and strained. The only time someone spoke, was when Kinai told them which road to pick and when to change course. They even started flinching at sudden movements, far more than they should. It was almost as if they expected anyone to attack them in and out of season. Kinai frowned. This was fine enough, but at this stage, they would wear themselves down even before the situation got nasty itself.

Kinai sped up a little until she jumped side by side with the two of them. As they looked at her, she shifted her gaze forward and pointed. "There's the border to Rain," she said as their eyes followed her finger. "From now on, we need to be careful. We step in on foreign land and we don't know how they will react. Therefore, you must follow my direct orders… Savvy?" she added with a grin. But neither of the two found her humour very funny. Kinai merely shrugged and sped up in the front.

"Kiba," she turned her head to look at the boy. "When we go into Rain, I'll have you in front. Hinata," she turned to look at the Hyuuga. "You'll be in the middle. With your Byakugan, you can easily scan our surroundings, and with Kiba's and Akamaru's noses, we can locate the possible attackers." The two of them nodded.

"I'll bring up the rear together with Wolf. If you sense anything strange, tell me immediately. No matter what you might think it is. Understood?"

"Hai!"

Kinai smiled. "Good."

All three of them sped up further and continued, until Kinai signalled them to stop. Without a word, she found the map in her hip pouch and motioned her teammates to take a look at the route she had sketched. She quickly explained her thoughts to them, and when she was sure they had understand, she motioned them to take up their places. She had quickly sketched the route into each of their maps – just in case – and when everyone seemed ready, Kinai motioned them to take off. Watching their backs, Kinai gave away to her thoughts. The kids knew what was expected of them that were for sure. But what bothered them was that they had to be prepared for and unknown enemy, who probably would, would not attack, and Kinai knew this bothered them. Had their mission been a clear Fight-the-enemy-rescue-the-princess-and-return-home-safely-mission, everything would have been more or less easier. But this was supposed to be an escort mission. It had only been rated B because of the location of the client. Genin weren't even allowed to take B ranks, but due to lack in shinobi, even genin had to take higher ranked missions.

The chuunin sighed again. She just hoped the mission went smooth and without nasty surprises…

Phew... I don't hope I lost anyone during the chapter... My friend told me he completely lost track of all the countries when reading this one. But I just had so much fun researching XD

I think things might turn out a bit more interesting from now on.. But just guessing. The schedule might also become a bit more bumpy until summer holidays, but I'll try to keep up.

About the countries... Some of them might not be located correctly, since I had to improvise, sorry, but it had to fit in.

Reviews keep me alive!!!

Love, Moonshae