Chapter 4

The moonlight drew various shadows in the ambassador's room, as she sat on a leathery couch massaging her feet. The day had been tiresome, lengthy and cumbersome, dispersed with random meetings, polite gestures, and more meetings. Temari dismissed the gloom that had seeped through the moonlit window and lead her thoughts to her village, for which she contemplated finishing early so she could head back and forget this tiresome and lonesome village. Eventually, the kunoichi stood up to open a light, but catching sight of the dancing shadows on her wall proceeded not to.

A little brown shed sat beyond the edge of woods on-looking a cliff, drenched due to the late-night showers. A single candlelight could be seen through the dainty little window through which a young man stood staring out at the musty colored sky. No expression could be detected on his shadow covered face, and his eyes only spelled age that they did not have. His black hair tied in a tight ponytail stood drenched through his green flak jacket collar. He slowly stirred and advanced towards the door as if beckoned by a command and indeed, Kakashi and Shino had already started heading out.

The three ninjas started their quick descent up the cliff, concentrating their chakra at the bottom of their feet so they could scale the cliff side with ease. Once they clambered over the edge, the hooded shinobi waved his arms and black colored bugs seeped out his sleeves and spread in multitude of directions.

"I have located them, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good, let's go."

Now Kakashi took the lead, the other two fell in behind him, and the three Konoha shinobis sprinted towards their mission.

Temari strapped her fan on her back, adjusted her forehead protector and headed out. The village, damp due to last night's showers, was heavily laden with early morning dew in which a tired Sakura waited for the Sand shinobi.

"Sakura lead me to hokage-sama's office, I shall return home as soon as I bid her farewell."

"But Temari-san the preparations…."

"I have seen that they will be taken care of in my absence."

"H-Hai, understood."

Three Mist ninjas sat around a fire, with a makeshift shelter covering their heads when two Konoha ninjas, one white haired and the other hooded, stepped out. The three Mist ninjas sprang into action. One drew a kunai, another a shuriken and the third withdrew a scroll, however suddenly they found themselves frozen, as if they had been paralyzed. In slow concessions, they noticed the overtly long shadow stretching from the haze of trees and touching their own.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, successful."

Shikamaru, doned with a green flak jacket stepped out of the bushes with his hands forming a seal.

"Too bad you got distracted by my comrades and didn't notice my shadow."

"What the hell do you guys want?"

"If you would believe it, we just want to talk."

Kakashi took a step forward, letting his eyes wander through their camp.

"Could I ask what you three are doing in the Land of Fire, and attacking Leaf ninja."

"As if we would ever betray our village."

"Have it your way."

In a blink of an eye, Kakashi rammed the nearest mist ninja through the heart with a kunai. And just as suddenly the ninja seemingly turned into water and spilled on the ground. Following suit, the other two ninjas also turned into water.

"You just attacked ninjas from another village, is war what you are looking for."

The same three Mist ninjas stepped out of the trees to face the shinobis from Konoha.

"As I recall, you are the ones to attack us first."

"For that we are now even. We are here on a mission, and we mistakenly took shinobis from your village to be the three targets we are hunting down. War is not something Kiri is intending with Konoha. We will leave at once before our sides clash again in order to avert a major war."

Kakashi, with the one eye exposed, breathed a sigh and glanced at Shino, who in turn nodded.

"Who are your targets? If they are in the land of fire, we could help you capture them."

"Unfortunately that is not possible, that information is only for Mist ninja. We shall take our leave now and go beyond the land of fire's borders, and next time you attack us, we shall take it as a declaration of war. And besides now you know that we could have attacked you earlier since you managed to trip our hidden trap and announced your arrival."

The three blue-clad ninjas clasped their hands together, and disappeared in a watery flicker. With the enemy gone, the Konoha village let down their guard and turned to head to their base.

"They previously had five members in their squad; you could see five people were in the camp."

"I saw that Shikamaru, Shino quickly spread out your bug radius and see if you can locate the two missing ninja."

"Hai."

The sun obtained its highest position in the sky, when Temari noticed that she was almost at the border. She had been running all day, getting further away from Konoha and its shadow and so halted upon the path to open some rice cakes so she could replenish her energy. The calm day displayed signs of tranquility, with blue sky and hardly any clouds. Through the sleeping forest, two shuriken flew, blending with surrounding and approaching their target inconspicuously. They emerged from the thicket and slammed in Temari's back. Her expression changed from contemplative to shock and slowly she fell to her knees, then her face.