Chapter IV: Hareru Michi
"You and Namikaze-kun sure do bump into each other a lot, don't you?" Sae questioned as she held one of the potted plants steadily balanced on her knee, one hand holding onto a small paintbrush delicately as she painted designs onto the plain pot. She pulled the brush away from the surface of the pot and dipped the brush into the plastic cup that held water, dying it a green color before she dipped the brush into another color and then painting on the pot again. Kushina shrugged from where she was sitting at the dining table, her legs folded and resting on the chair while she ate her lunch: a cup of ramen. The kunoichi carried on eating all of the noodles until they ran out, before she placed her wooden chopsticks on the table and titled the styrofoam cup and downing the broth.
"I guess. Almost every day or two." Kushina replied finally. She crumbled up the styrofoam cup and raising her hand to toss it into the trash bin, making it in. In a bored manner, Kushina broke off her chopsticks into a few wooden pieces, deciding to practice her aim and throw them into the trash from where she sat. Kushina got up once she made all of the trash into the rubbish bin and hopped onto her bed without thinking of changing out of her nightclothes. The kunoichi rested on her stomach, using her feet to kick her pillow up into the air so it landed before her, before resting her head and arms against the pillow as she watched her friend paint.
"He's always training. Like, everyday, no joke, datte." Kushina muttered. Sae looked over her shoulder at this, leaning back against the bedpost and proceeding with the painting.
"That sounds like Namikaze-kun alright. Always training constantly to get stronger and stronger... Did I mention that he only had to take the Chuunin Exams once?" Sae questioned, looking over at Kushina. "You were promoted Chuunin too, weren't you? Maybe you two were both in the same one? ... Or are the Exams different in Uzu?"
Kushina stifled a shrug. "Yeah, it was different back in Uzu. Our country was really small that not a lot of people actually knew about it, datte'yo." She replied. Sae looked back at Kushina again.
"... You speak in past tense?"
Kushina flinched at this. It seemed as though it was time to come clean and tell Sae of her former country. "... Yeah... Uzu was destroyed... That's why I came here.." She murmured. Sae exhaled a long sigh.
"Oh... I'm sorry, Kushina-chan... I'd give you a hug, but my hands are full and covered in paint." Sae smiled weakly at this, looking up at Kushina and raising her painting hand, which was indeed damp with a few dots of paint. Kushina smiled wearily but shook her head.
"It's alright... I'm not too used to hugs, anyway..." Kushina buried her face into her pillow when she felt the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, swinging her legs back and forth to try and hide the fact that she was starting to cry. Sae seemed to notice this almost immediately.
"... What're the names of your family, Kushina-chan?" Sae questioned as she got up from the ground, stepping off the newspaper-layered ground and onto the sink counter to place the painted pot by the sink and making sure it wasn't in direct sunlight. Kushina didn't lift her head from the pillow, just remaining still as if silently asking why. Sae trailed back over to the bed, footsteps silent as ever, then quickly climbed on top of it and avoiding stepping on Kushina to pick up one of the pots on the windowsill before climbing off the bed. Sae returned to where she was sitting on the spread-out newspapers, leaning against the bed post one more.
"I'm going to paint their names onto the pots of the forget-me-nots." Sae murmured as she smiled, turning her head to look over at the saddened kunoichi. "Makes sense, right?"
"..." Kushina remained silent for a moment, but didn't want to show her face still, so she just spoke through the pillow with her voice muffling a bit. "There was my mother, Tsuyu... Kaiyo was my father, and Mizuiro was my older brother... I would have had another brother, but he died with my mother while she was giving birth to him..." Kushina continued on, rather unconscious that she was still continuing on. Sae just let her continue on, knowing that letting all of this out would have been best for Kushina rather than bottling it all up for it to explode out later. The Yamanaka dipped the brush into another blue paint lightly and brought it up to paint the names that Kushina mentioned, eyes concentrating on making the design look night while her ears listened to Kushina unconsciously go on about her country.
"My mother died just a couple of years ago... So I've been really close to my family after that.. 'Specially nii-san, 'tebayo... I guess that's how I became a tomboy, since I've been spending more time with him rather than my friends- the girl ones... I talked like a guy and when I actually met up with my friends, the girl ones, they didn't seem to like me much anymore. Probably because I kept spending more time with my brother than them, and that I acted more like a boy than a girl unlike them..." Kushina murmured as she hugged the pillow tighter, keeping her face lowered as her shoulders shivered. "A lot of the girls were conceited back in Uzu, dattebayo... I probably was back then, too... But ever since 'kaa-san died... I guess it changed my perspective on things, datte'yo..."
"..." Sae paused a bit and turned her head to wipe her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt, since paint dotted her hands.
"... I don't know what happened after that... The village was attacked in the middle of the night... By whom or what, I don't know... But there had been word that someone has been destroying villages single-handedly... Mizuiro-nii managed to get me out of the village with only a head wound that he healed... He gave me the gloves that I wear as a parting gift, since 'kaa-san made them... He left me and begged me to live, before he ran back to the village to try and fight the enemy off... Mizuiro-nii was bleeding all over the place and on me... I don't want to think about it, but... he was probably finished as soon as he set foot back into the village streets, dattebayo..."
Kushina heard the paint brush clatter on top the newspaper covered ground, and she heard the pot being placed down gently. Kushina titled her head a bit to peer over the pillow to find Sae facing her with tears threatening to fall. The kunoichi sat up slowly, and almost immediately was met with a hug from the Yamanaka despite the paint on the brunette-blond's hands. Kushina tensed as if she had never been hugged before before she slowly calmed.
"I'm so sorry, Kushina-chan..." Sae whispered as she pulled away, sliding off the bed and picking up the pot. She was sure to be careful that she didn't smear the paint, showing it to Kushina with a slight smile.
Kushina's eyes widened at this. The Yamanaka painted the pot so beautifully, the names being in different hues of blue and with different swirls in varieties of shadings. Sae noticed the expression and smiled with embarrassment.
"I think it's one of my best pot paintings yet..." She murmured, climbing onto the bed and placing the pot back onto the windowsill. Kushina nodded slowly.
"Yeah..." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes dry. "Thank you, Sae, dattebayo..." Sae smiled wearily.
"You're finally not calling me "-san" anymore. That makes me happy. It means you're opening up." Sae said as she climbed off the bed, lowering to clean up the small mess she had created. She placed the brushes into the water cup and took both the artist pallet and the cup with one hand. She crumpled up the newspapers skillfully with one hand and tossing it into the trash bin. Sae then slipped over to the sink and turned the water on to clean the pallet and the plastic cup.
"..." Kushina just remained silent at this, deciding to help Sae a bit. She slipped off the bed and used her feet to stuff the newspapers further into the trash bin.
"You should go out with Namikaze-kun."
"Erk!" Kushina gritted her teeth when she felt a sharp pain shoot through her calf, obviously caught off-guard by her friend. Whimpering softly to herself, Kushina limped back onto the bed and rested on this, massaging her cramped calf while looking over at Sae.
"Wha-"
"Come on!" Sae begged as she looked over her shoulder with a pleading expression. She quickly turned back and turned off the faucet, quickly shaking her hands and wiping the rest of the water onto her clothing.
"Why?!"
"Because!" Sae retorted, spinning on her heels and placing her hands on her hips crossly. "For one thing, you need a guy! And with him wanting to train so much, you can provide by using some of your village's jutsus... Then there's the fact that you two look cute together!"
"No!!" Kushina growled. She clenched the bed sheets tightly, growling back at Sae. "Liking a guy will only... make me weaker..."
Sae couldn't help but scoff at this. "Well, that's probably what they thought in Uzu. But this is Konoha, Kushina-chan... Over here, we say that our power is at its peak when we protect someone. So stronger, yes. Weaker, no." The Yamanaka explained. Kushina raised her hands and crossed them together in front of her face, making a large X.
"Even so, 'tebayo! I'm more used to guys being my friends rather than... boyfriends..." Kushina growled, slowly lowering her arms back down. "I'm perfectly fine being single."
"You're gonna regret being single when you're older..." Sae replied in an annoying sing-song tone. "Come onnnn, Kushina-channn... Promise me you'll date at least one guy in your lifetime... Uh, unless you don't like guys... but rather gir-"
"No! I'm straight, I'm straight!" Kushina sighed wearily at this, running her fingers through her hair to get a few of the small knots out. "... Fine, I promise, datte'yo... What about you?"
"What about me? Boyfriends? Nah. Eventually, though. It'll most likely have to be with a Yamanaka. Or someone with weak blood so my clan's blood overpowers it." Sae shrugged. "It's just a clan thing, you know? Of course, the Uchihas and Hyuugas have to pretty much strictly marry within the clan, from what it seems."
Kushina shrugged. "I dunno any Hyuugas or Uchihas, so. Don't really care. No offense. Datte'yo... I don't see what's so great about them anyway.. They're just the two biggest clans in the village, right?"
"And the strongest." Sae said, raising a finger. "They both have Kekkei Genkais that are powerful and are both Doujutsus."
"..." Kushina deadpanned a bit. "Kekkei Genkais and... dou..jutsus?"
Sae's face dropped a bit. "You guys didn't really have those kind of things back in Uzu, did you?"
"Not one bit."
"Okay." Sae sighed a bit. "Kekkei Genkais are literally what they are- bloodline limits. They're things you inherit only by blood. Like Hyuugas inherit the Byakugan, and Uchihas inherit the Sharingan. Both the Sharingan and Byakugan are Doujutsus- eye-based techniques. No one really knows how either bloodlines started, though the Hyuugas said that the Sharingan is like a type of branch-off of the Byakugan. But we'd probably have to ask someone like Hokage-sama, who's actually been around when the village was still growing into what it is today." Sae looked back at her kunoichi friend, whom just stared back at her blankly.
"Uhh... Well, to put it short... Sharingan is red with black dots, and are more for illusions and such... Byakugan is white and used for taijutsu reasons..."
"Alright." Kushina just mumbled as she rubbed her head. "Whatever, 'tebayo..."
The Yamanaka girl sighed wearily. There wasn't really much point in trying to explain these kind of things to Kushina unless she was interested. And in this case, she wasn't. Sae looked up when she heard a light tapping noise, light crystal colored eyes looking around the room a bit. Kushina followed suit by looking around, searching for the source of the odd tapping. Sae then trailed over to the window by the bed, climbing onto the bed and opening the window for the small bird to fluttering around the room, whistling. Sae's eyes skillfully watched the bird and every single one of its movements, before it flew back out the window and disappeared out of sight. Kushina continued staring at where she last saw it disappear, before she was snapped out of her through when Sae closed the window.
"Did you get that?" The Yamanaka questioned. Kushina blinked in confusion.
"Uh. It just wanted to fly around in here?"
"Oh..." Sae sighed. "I suppose I should teach you about the bird summons. Anyways, you were summoned to the Hokage Tower... Something about a mission, it seems?"
A grin formed on Kushina's face when the word mission was said. "Great." She said, quickly looking around the room. Sae nodded, watching her friend move over to the small drawer to gather some clothing. The Yamanaka turned around, walking toward the door.
"I'll see you around then, Kushina-chan." She said. Kushina looked up, but nodded a couple of times.
"Ah.. Alright then, Sae, datte'yo."
Sae nodded, smiling as she closed the door behind her. Kushina sighed a bit, conjuring a few clothing and quickly changing into them. She ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times to get ride of a few of the knots, before tying on her hitai-ate and moving toward the door, putting her zori on. She then left and made way toward the Hokage Tower, excitement welling up from inside of her. Her first mission as a Chuunin in Konoha. Hopefully it wouldn't be a total bust. She arrived within a few minutes, obviously hyper despite her small cry fest minutes earlier. Impatiently, Kushina entered the tower and found herself fidgeting a bit in front of the door to the Hokage's office, sudden nervousness replacing the excitement that once filled her mind. Kushina stared at the door for a few moments as she tried to settle her stomach down. Finally, she gathered enough courage to raise one of her hands and knock on the door a couple of times, awaiting the reply.
"Enter."
When the reply came, Kushina was a little surprised to see that part of her didn't want there to be an answer from the Hokage. Gingerly, she placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it, slowly entering. Upon the door opening, Sarutobi looked up from where he sat behind his desk with his hands folded on the desk's surface. A bird, much larger than the one that summoned Kushina, was perched on the edge of the desk, preening itself obediently.
"Welcome, Kushina-san." Sarutobi spoke. "I take it you got the summoning bird's message clearly enough?"
"Er, well. No... sir." Kushina added, awkwardly looking away. "Luckily Sae was around to tell me about it..."
The Sandaime Hokage blinked a bit but then slowly dipped his head into a couple of nods. "I see... I suppose we'll have to teach you about those birds, then."
"Yeah... That's what Sae said.. sir.." Kushina nodded a bit. Sarutobi wearily smiled, before he shifted his hands, moving one of this hands toward the bird. The bird halted its preening at this motion, folding its wing back to its side while black eyes stared at the Hokage's hand, before skinned feet hopped onto Sarutobi's hand.
"So are you ready to hear your first mission, Kushina-san?" Sarutobi questioned. Kushina felt the nervous feeling return in her stomach and in her throat, so she swallowed a bit and fought not to tremble as she nodded.
"H.. Hai."
He dipped his head into a nod, before he got up from his seat, picking up a scroll from his desk as he did. He held his arm horizontally so the bird would remain perched on his arm, walking over to Kushina and handing her the scroll and then holding out the bird to her.
"What you'll be doing is delivering the scroll to Amegakure, but also allowing Kurotsume to follow you... You see, he hasn't been to Amegakure and the birds that do know the direction are off delivering scrolls to other countries..."
"So I'll have to show him the way..." Kushina nodded slowly as she finished the sentence. Sarutobi nodded in response. He held out the hand Kurotsume was perched on, Kushina gingerly holding out her own hand. Kurotsume cocked his head to the side a bit and stared at Kushina's opened arm, before he stretched his wings and quickly jumped onto her arm. The kunoichi refrained from backing away at the bird's large wingspan, and flinching a bit at how strong the bird's grip was. Slowing, Kushina pulled her arm closer to her shoulder, and Kurotsume hopped onto her shoulder, accepting the invitation. Beady black eyes stared over at Sarutobi questioningly.
"You will obey her orders." Sarutobi warned.
"Ano. Hokage-sama? What about food and such?" Kushina questioned, motioning over to the bird. "And do I have to leave right away?"
"No, leaving immediately isn't necessary." Sarutobi shook his head. "You can prepare whatever you may need. And as for Kurotsume, don't worry about him. He can survive without food the whole trip. They are trained to fly non-stop, after all."
Kushina nodded her head at this. She glimpsed down at the scroll for a moment, before looking over at the bird.
"You ready?"
Kurotsume looked at her when she spoke, eyes staring unblinking at her before his head dipped slightly. Kushina looked back over at Sarutobi, raising her hand to her forehead in a salute as she grinned slightly, the nervous feelings she had minutes earlier now vanquished.
"Then I'll be on my way, Hokage-sama. You won't be disappointed, datte'yo...!" She said as she turned around. She turned rather too quickly for Kurotsume, whom outstretched his wings a bit to remain balanced. Kushina growled a bit.
"Geez! Don't do that, 'tebayo...!!"
Kurotsume squawked a bit, ruffling his feathers at this as he folded his wings back down to his sides. Kushina made taunting face at this, but slowly left the room without breaking her gaze from Kurotsume's. Sarutobi chuckled softly to himself as he heard Kushina growls to the bird. He returned to his desk, shuffling through some slips of paper.
Now whom shall I summon next...?
"Oh, your first mission, Kushina-chan? Then I'd be glad to take care of your plants for you." Retsuya nodded slightly as she did, her gaze trailing over to Kurotsume for a few moments before shifting back to Kushina. Kushina grinned a bit in response, shifting the small waist bag that hung around her hips loosely.
"Ja.. Tell Sae that I'll be away for a while if she ever stops by, too, please." She requested. Retsuya smiled softly at this and dipped her head into a couple of more small nods.
"Hai, hai. Get along now. It's your first mission, after all." The landlady ushered, raising her hands a bit and motioning for the kunoichi to leave. Kushina's grin widened at this, nodding a few times and turning around, Kurotsume already having gotten used to the kunoichi's speed.
"Ja ne, Retsuya-san! Atodeni, 'tebayo!!" She called over her shoulder as she started running down the street. Kurotsume obviously wasn't used to being perched upon her shoulder as she ran, so he released his talons from her clothing and took flight, black eyes following her and the road ahead. Kushina slowed her pace to look up at the large bird.
"Oi, oi, you better follow me, dattebayo..!!" Kushina growled loudly enough. Kurotsume glanced down at her for a moment, acknowledging the order he was given. Kushina nodded, feeling a bit of pride swelling up within her, even though it was only a bird she was commanding. But it was a start for her. Kushina adverted her sight back to the street, eyes widened as she nearly ran into a too familiar blond ninja. She spun around him to avoid physical contact, much like Minato had did when they first encountered each other in the streets. Minato couldn't help but jump slightly at this, his arms holding a couple piles of books with scrolls balancing on top of it.
"K-Kushina-san... I didn't see you coming, gomenasai..." Minato apologized, blue eyes staring at her in surprise while his arms fought to keep the scrolls from rolling off the book pile. Kushina rose a brow a bit as she examined the blond.
"Maa, Blondy. Your face is kinda red... You should probably take a break or something, you know?" Kushina stated. Minato stiffened a bit upon the mention of his face being red, but he slowly nodded at this.
"Ah, hai..."
"Mmm. Ja." Kushina raised her hand in a wave, turning to leave. "I'll see you in a few days or maybe more, I guess, 'tebayo."
"Eh?" Minato turned a bit to watch her walk down the street. "You got assigned a mission?"
Kushina grinned at this, turning around and walking back wards down the street with her arms folded behind her head in a boyish demeanor. "Hehe. Got my first mission as a Chuunin before you did, Blondy! Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving, dattebayo!!" Kushina's grin widened a bit before she spun around on her heels. The kunoichi then took off running down the street, Kurotsume's squawking causing Minato to glimpse up at him for a moment. The blond Chuunin couldn't help but exhale an inaudible sigh, watching her disappear down the street.
"... Maa... Be careful, Kushina-san..." He murmured, before he slowly turned back toward his original destination, balancing the books and scrolls as he made way.
After a few minutes of running, Kushina channeled a bit of her chakra into her feet so that she could go onto the roof of a building with just one jump. From the roof she looked around, searching for the gate to the village while Kurotsume circled in the air above her, awaiting for her to move so that he may follow. Kushina began to make way toward the large gates once she spotted them by traveling via roof to roof and chakra. Kurotsume loyally flew in the air above her. The kunoichi landed in the street in front of the large, opened gates within a couple of minutes. The guard sitting in the small booth glimpsed at her, before continuing to doze off.
"Leaving for a mission?" The shinobi guard questioned as Kushina walked past.
"Yup." Was Kushina's simple reply as she walked past the gates and onto the path that lead to the Hi no Kuni's large forest. Kushina paused for a moment as she looked herself over, making sure she had her supplies and such for the trip. She grinned with satisfaction, ever wondering why she was so nervous to begin with.
"Yosh! Ikuzou, Kurotsume!!" Kushina yelled up to the bird before she took off running into the forest.
Night was slowly approaching. Feet slowed to a much more steady pace, lungs heaving to inhale the air that covered the world. Kushina placed her hands on her knees and breathed deeply, her head beginning to feel light from how heavily she fought to regain breath. Wings flapped swiftly a few times to halt, Kurotsume's body tilting so that he may turn around to circle the air above the kunoichi. Some annoyance filled the bird, having to stop multiple times when carrier birds like himself had to fly nonstop. The bird merely regarded this and thought humans as inferior when it came to long-distance traveling, taking the moment to examine the territory with beady black eyes to memorize the direction he could possibly be flying in the future. The kunoichi tilted her head and red-hued brown eyes looked up wards, as if reading the irritated bird's mind. Sighing gruffly, Kushina reached into the small, tan weapon pouch that hung on her waist with her small bag, pulling out an even smaller white bag and taking one of the contents before stuffing it back into her weapon pouch. Kushina popped the small, round pill into her mouth and swallowed it, almost immediately feeling the energy being restored into her body.
"Gomen, Kurotsume." Kushina called up to the bird as she adjusted her bag. She shifted on her feet, before lowered into a small leg stretch. Feeling most of her chakra restored, Kushina darted forward into the forest once more, senses sharpened in case of any sudden ambushes or traps that could have been set.
How long has it been since she departed Konoha? Traveling practically nonstop while constantly on guard could dull your sense of time. It was nearly night time. How much nights has it been? At least two? Three including the one that was steadily approaching. She should arrive in the Ame Kuni at around noon the next day, if she kept traveling at this constant pace. Though the latest time of arrival would probably be late in the afternoon, probably even before dusk. She was only human after all. Rest was required.
I can probably cheat and have Kurotsume deliver the scroll once we're nearby the village... Kushina thought to herself, ignoring the cooling climate. He needs to learn his way to Ame, anyway... I can rest for a bit and wait for him... Yeah, that'll be good, 'tebayo...
Kushina nodded, as if somewhat proud of coming up with the lazy plan.
Slowly, the cooling climate was beginning to get to her. Mist was hovering lightly above the ground and creating an ominous setting with the darkening sky. Kushina shuddered a bit as she slowed to a light run, looking up to see if she could spot the carrier bird. Since the sky was fading into night, the bird was rather hard to spot.
"Kurotsume?! Get down here, dattebayo...!!" Kushina called up into the sky as she continued forward. Moments later, Kurotsume came fluttering down and perched onto her arm, which she offered to the bird. "It's getting a bit hard to see, so do you think you can find the village from here? By this mist I'd say we're already in the Ame Kuni..." Kushina took the time to look around once more. "Birds can see during the night, I think..." Sighing, she shifted her arm in an order for the bird to get off.
Kurotsume outstretched his wings, hovering in the air above her.
"I'll go with you for now, but I might end up getting lost like this. So it's best if you go ahead to the village..." Kushina sighed at this, pulling the scroll from her waist bag and holding it out for the bird. Kurotsume landed on the scroll and shifted his toes so that he could properly grip onto the scroll. Once he felt that he had a good hold on it, Kurotsume flapped his wings deeply a few times before taking off into the air. Kushina could hear the flapping of his wings disappear, and with that she looked around then drew a kunai from her holster.
"Should probably make a fire... if it'll start, 'tebayo..."
"Oi, wake up."
"Nggh..." Kushina groaned and rolled over onto her side to ignore the voice, grumbling under her breath. The owner of the voice growled at this, walking around Kushina and throwing her leg back and forth in a swift kick. Her foot came in hard contact with Kushina's stomach, causing the kunoichi to grunt and gasp for air while curled up in a type of fetal position.
"Get up." The Kage Bunshin growled, folding her arms and glaring down at Kushina. The kunoichi groaned and forcefully sat up, one arm still resting on her stomach as she panted to regain the breath she lost. Kushina wearily got to her feet once her breathing rate returned to normal, facing her Bunshin grumpily.
"What? I told you to look out for Kurotsume, datte'yo."
"I am." The Bunshin merely replied with a simple shrug. "It's already mid-day. He hasn't returned."
Kushina blinked at this. Finally she noticed the scenery around her. It was indeed mid day, with their shadows hanging right below them. A light mist hovered above the ground thought it wasn't noticeably thick like the previous night. With this, Kushina looked up at the Bunshin with her eyes wide with concern.
"Where's...?"
"I found the village while you were sleeping.. It's a bit off from here, but it's not going anywhere." The Bunshin replied as she raised her arm to point in one direction. Kushina's brown-red gaze followed where the arm was pointing toward, before slowly turning to walk toward that direction. The Bunshin followed silently at this.
Leaves that died and fallen to the ground crunched beneath their feet, so the two shifted so their footsteps wouldn't be audible, just as shinobi should walk. The two carried on walking for some time now, being cautious and to wait and see if Kurotsume would return. The day slowly dragged on with no sign of the bird, and as they traveled further into the small country, dark clouds began to appear. A small sprinkle of rain came down at first, but as they walked on wards, the rain was now a steady pour. Kushina didn't seem to mind this one bit, having lived in a water-based country prior to joining Konoha. After a while, the Bunshin frowned and jogged a bit to catch up to Kushina, leaning over and whispering in her ear.
"Frankly, I'm disappointed, dattebayo. You haven't noticed yet, have you?"
Kushina looked over her should and at the Bunshin. "... What are you talking about?"
The Bunshin sighed at this. "We're being followed. It's been like that ever since it turned from a sprinkle to a regular rain."
Kushina's eyes narrowed at this, and she immediately spun around when the Bunshin disappeared in a poof and a small cloud. Her eyes examined the soaked woods, which were less dense than the forest in the Hi no Kuni. Sharpening her hearing, Kushina turned around and silently moved forward again.
Swish.
Kushina definitely heard the followers this time. Where were they?
This was their territory now. And Kushina was trapped. If she used any type of force, they could kill her in an instance with her bearing her Konoha hitai-ate. The only way out of this would be to calmly negotiate with them, she supposed...
"You can stop following me now... I'm not an enemy." Kushina said out loud as she slowed to a halt. To prove she was speak truthfully the kunoichi raised her opened hands to shoulder level, showing that she was bearing no weapons nor did she intend to reach for any. "I'm just here on a mission."
"... Then are you the one whom sent the carrier bird?"
Kushina couldn't help but tense slightly at this. The voice was muffled and rather hard to understand, especially with the rain coming down on the thin forest. But she managed to catch most of the sentence.
"Yes. Where is he?" Kushina questioned.
"Right here."
Kushina whipped around. The voice sounded so close... She spun around and saw a three-man cell of Ame ninja standing in a small row, the ninja in the center of the three holding out Kurotsume. Though... the condition of the carrier bird weren't good, it seemed. For one thing, he was on his back in the Ame ninja's hands, with his feathers messy and even a few missing. A couple of his talons also seemed to be in bad condition as well.
What happened?
"What did you guys do..?" Kushina growled as calmly as she could. She shifted her feet, but kept her hands visible to the Ame nin.
"Security in Amegakure is tight, unlike those of Konohagakure." The Ame-nin in the middle spoke. The breathing apparatus that covered the lower half of his face muffled his voice. "Normally anyone whom wishes to enter the village must give every information on what they intend to do and how long they play to stay..." He paused, taking Kurotsume in one hand and throwing him. Kushina immediately moved forward at this, holding her arms out to catch him. Instead, the carrier bird awakened at the unnatural flight and struggled to flap his wings to keep from falling. It was proven futile, for he still fell into the kunoichi's arms.
"I suppose security should tighten around the country's borders now." The Ame-nin stated, as if throwing Kurotsume never happened. "We got the scroll you were trying to deliver. Now leave the country."
Kushina frowned and glowered at them for a bit, shifting so that Kurotsume was in a more better position in her arms. Slowly, she turned around and walked away from the three Ame ninja. She could feel her gazes burning into her back, watching her, demanding her to leave their country. She could still feel them watching her. As if their eyes were the raindrops themselves. Watching. Staring.
The kunoichi broke out into a run, suddenly not wanting to be in this drenched country. As she ran, the rain was slowly receding, but she kept looking over her shoulder every few yards.
Why was fear clutching at her stomach?
Could it be because Amegakure was hiding something? If their security was so tight, then something must be brewing. The question was if Amegakure was going to use this against other country. Another question is if there was even something at all, or if Kushina was just imagining this.
Nevertheless.
Kushina would report this to Sandaime Hokage-sama.
Author(ess)'s notes:
Kilala: I'm sorry for the lack of updates. x.x But you know. Writer's block. School. My friend's birthday (Lawl, Icy. If you ever read this, happy early birthday, dattebayo.)
I'll try to update more frequently as I can. c: Especially during the winter. I have like a month off starting somewhere in the middle of December. Woo. (Is it me or are the chapters getting shorter? Do you guys even like super long chapters?)
Anyways. Kushina's first mission. Exciting? Not for you guys 'cuz there's no action.
But I'm sorry. I'm trying to stretch out this fanfiction to be as long as possible. Otherwise it would end at like chapter ten or something.
So I'm open for ideas, you know. Scenarios, (mini?) plot ideas... And some songs, even.
c:
I want mai reviews plz.