Chapter ELEVEN:

We met in the cool air of the morning at the gate. My brother gave us more fluent details as we went. It was direct orders, however to get the man Kyo away from the Hidden Leaf as quickly as possible.

He wasn't any serious evil that we had to deal with. He was simply an awful cook that had been run out of a nearby town by his own customers. That reason, was apparently the only reason why we were escorting him back to his home in the Takumi village. However, he was late to our meet.

We sat in the calm air, yawning, and groaning.

"If this guy doesn't show up, I'm going home," Kat stated.

"Sounds like a good plan," I responded, "But this is our money source, and the last time I checked you didn't want to eat instant ramen anymore."

"Well yeah," she said, "But how much are we really making off of this mission?"

I yawned loudly and spread myself across the cold stone road to watch the sky, already on its way for the day. Carefree, beautiful, it waited for no one.

"About 30,000 ryo to about…100,000 ryo somewhere in that range, depends on the mission. Did the Hokage tell you, Ryuu?"

I glanced towards my brother, he was watching the pathway ahead of us with an intense glare, like the road had wronged him in some atrocity years ago. Such a grumpy twenty year old.

"It was 40,000 split three ways."

"Well it's still going to the same place," I said dismissively.

There was a cloud floating above us. It was a great backdrop for thinking, after all how long had it been trying to picture action and intense missions, and success. I'd rub it in Kiba's face when I got home. his team hadn't even touched a C-rank mission yet. Choji's team had only done one. It was a mission for hunting animals where Ino almost up and quit being a ninja. I wondered if she would be okay with the hardships of the lifestyle she had selected. She seemed like such a demonic girl to me, I thought she would have been strong in the face of others suffering, but my dislike of her clearly clouded any real judgment of the good aspects of her. Why was I even thinking about this?!

I glanced back at Kat she was counting some mystery object on her fingers.

"What are you doing?"

"Seeing how much food we could buy."

She looked out towards the outside of Konoha, and gasped.

"Finally," Satori said.

I jumped up to see a man waiting at the gate, not even a man, possibly a boy about three years older than us, his chin tucked into a place that was almost above his nose. As he approached us I could see a white bandana and dark eyes the color of freezing metal gazing down at us as if we ourselves were simply ants for him to step on.

A companion was with him as well, the same age but shorter. His eyes downcast, head tucked between his shoulders as if to avoid coming blows, which exposed, greasy dirty locks of dark hair. His whole body was weighed down with cargo from, no doubt, the boy in front of us.

"You are Kyo," my brother demanded more than asked the white bandana.

If he were to nod it seemed it would degrade him far too much so he refrained from doing so, instead he looked down upon my brother, quite a feat since he was much shorter.

"Yes," he stated.

Kat and I simultaneously sighed, and Satori took it upon himself to elbow both of us. Ironic coming from a boy who was the ultimate example of rudeness…at least when people were around.

"This is Moe, now, come along," he said.

He just spun around on his heel and walked out of the village, just like that. To be honest I expected him to do a little obnoxious double clap before he floated off. I was disappointed.

His assistant followed us through the gate; he was holding far too many bags for his shaky frame.

"Would you like me to carry some of those," I asked.

He waved me away, "Don't worry about me."

"What if I carry them in exchange for a bit of information," I asked.

He looked at me, with cunning eyes and stopped to give me a large box he had been wrapping his arms around. I hugged the object to my stomach, and Kat asked the first question, the one I was planning on asking anyways.

"So what's his problem?"

I turned around, "You read my mind."

The assistant cleared his throat, "Master Kyo is very proud of his work, all of this mess is a disgrace on his cooking prowess."

"From what I hear," I started.

The assistant turned mid stride and shoved a finger to his chapped lips.

"Don't say that about the master, he doesn't take those words to kindly."

"All she said was from what I hear," Kat pointed out.

"I take it insults are common?"

Moe nodded sadly, closing his eyes and bobbing his head like his neck had been damaged some time before.

"The master is a fine…well…," Moe brought his shoulders up to his ear lobes then dropped them down again with a dramatic sigh, "He is very…"

"He doesn't think he's bad and he won't listen to anyone else, right?"

The assistant let out a nervous cackle, "Well-no. He dreamed about being a chef, then he comes out in front of the world and no one wants him."

"That would be disappointing," I said watching the proud man in front of us stride ahead as if we too were his servants.

What would happen if I came in front of the world and tried to show off my weapons? Well, if no one liked them I would try harder, because clearly something had to be wrong. Somehow, I didn't think I was going to be able to be the most empathetic to him if he didn't try to improve after so many complaints.

"So he's stubborn," I muttered.

"As an ox," Kat finished.

We walked a little ways speaking about the village we were heading to. It was a place famous for crafting blades. My mouth was watering at the thought. Granted to make a good katana would take weeks, but I could get proper supplies, and maybe I could learn something new. However, it resided in the Land of Rivers. A normal trip with only ninja would get us there in a day, easily, but with two simple citizens it would be three arduous days until we got there.

Even then I was promised a lack of high spirits, many of the villages cared little for their excellent craftsmanship, which seemed a little ridiculous to me seeing as a ninja on average had at least one kunai. Anyways, the obsolete nature of weapons had led to a lack of practice and a general dislike for other villages.

The day turned into dusk and as we began to near the need to settle down and camp there was a rustle among one of the trees.

The reaction was immediate.

We froze, the two citizens kept walking.

A man clad in gear fit for a ninja, the sun's last rays shining off of his head band. He leaped out of the brush.

"YOU KILLED HIM," he screamed as the words ripped through the calm.

He bolted in a straight line, straight for Kyo…we had to move.