Eh, I was going to make one super long chapter to cover the contents of the upcoming events, but it probably would've come close to 15-20k or so, so... I cut it short and will chuck it out at you in segments. As for the guest reviews:
Guest: Hey, you're welcome. I write when I've the time.
Ten: She is pretty cute, ain't she?
FanaticFanGirl: Poor Hotaru, indeed! And Yugito is something of a sadist, I'll bet.
ShugoYuuki123: Good! I write with the intention of hoping no one will see what's coming next. Keeps up the suspense, and all that.
And, now to my SPECIAL reviewer:
Hey there, Anna. Now, don't you worry, I'm quite proud of being able to construe moral ambiguity in a world that is full of moral ambiguity. I must say that I wonder why you took up a story about ninjas that kill, steal, and lie for a living, but who am I to judge? As for that hit about being similar to Hitler... You know, Hitler was a damned, brilliant man. Yes, he caused the genocide of a ridiculous amount of people or the sole purpose of racial supremacy, but guess what, he almost succeeded in a lot of his aims. That makes him both highly intelligent and smart. I don't mind being compared to someone of that capability. Besides, he was also charismatic as hell. His mustache and hairstyle could've done with some work, though. I hope that you will come to see the world for what it is, and not the "good vs. evil" thing you've got going on. Thanks for reading up to that chapter, in any case. :)
Whoo, I feel better now. She ain't reading anymore, but that's okay. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
My head fell against the thick book lying on the table, my eyes closed as I sighed miserably. Cracking one eye open, I stared at the multitude of books everywhere on the table. Then, I shifted around and turned to my right where a myriad of scrolls lay, ready for perusing. I reached out for one scroll and rolled it open, holding it up to compare to the text within the book. Staring at the writing, I analyzed each piece as much as I could, but after having been in the library for the better of four hours, I was getting tired.
The history of Kumo, Suna, Konoha, Iwa, and Kiri, current characters in the Bingo books, current political figures including all of the different Daimyo, all of the recorded clans in the various areas, all of the different bloodlines currently known, all of the known Jinchuuriki and their beasts, – Naruto wasn't listed in there, thankfully – all of the different village ANBU types, the ANBU sign language of Kumo, different espionage, subterfuge, and assassination techniques... Yugito had pounded every single one of these things into my head on various occasions. Breakfast time would be full of lecturing as I ate, to make sure I understood what I was supposed to know. Lunch was in a part of the library, where I would read up different scriptures, scrolls, and books to better my knowledge, while dinner would be quiz time, forcing me to recall everything I'd read, since Yugito had more than likely read the same thing at some point.
Of course, this wasn't an everyday thing. Yugito was simply adamant that I learned enough before we ever even attempted a mission, unlike Anko who believed that learning via action was the best way to absorb anything. Like, my sister, however, Yugito was a hard-ass who considered going easy very much the same as not trying hard enough. Sugarcoating things was more likely to get a person killed, a phrase Yugito was quick to say if I ever groaned about her methods of teaching and informing me of anything.
She wasn't cruel though – not by any means. She was just manically OCD.
When she trained me, she was thorough, but gentle. If I did something wrong, she'd force me into a position that showed me how and why it was so, and then kindly explained alternatives to reaching the same goal I'd sought. Then, Yugito would allow me to try again, and again, and again, until I was personally satisfied with my new approach. I think I'd attempted one particular technique approximately thirty-three times on her before she finally approved of my method. I'd been satisfied at twenty-nine, but when she had nodded slowly, I knew that I would've died had I done that in real battle. So, with another four tries, we'd finally both seen eye-to-eye. The thing I really appreciated about Yugito was that she never once complained either. Training me had been the entire point of the exercise, and that was she had endeavored to do, so she never saw reason to complain – rather, she was pleased with my success.
Sometimes, Yugito sent me on little missions in the village. For example: sneak on so-and-so, retrieve such-and-such without being caught, take a picture of whatever, steal an apple, and so forth. They were all little things, and she had made certain that the people I went after always knew something was going to happen, just not what. I'd never forgive her for sending me into a men's changing area. God, I never thought I'd see so many sausages in one place before. I was too young, physically, to really appreciate such things.
Oh well.
Anyway, the baby missions were always helpful, as I'd never had the opportunity for any kind of real training before being tossed out of the cradle and told to run. I sucked at them, to be sure. What I needed was a sniper type of attack, but I haven't quite figured out how to narrow my chakra output and increase the density by that much and have it shoot away with the velocity of a bullet. Making a lightning type Spirit Gun would be incredibly handy, but I had no idea of how to go about designing something like that.
A thump on the table had me floating back to reality. I turned my gaze upward to see Yugito looking at me, as expressionlessly as ever. She glanced over all of the resources before looking back at me.
"How are you doing here?" she asked, her voice soft.
"I'm having the time of my life, obviously," I sarcastically told her. "I love spending all of my time cooped up in a haven of books. Can't possibly think of what else I could be doing right now."
A whisper of a smile appeared on her face before disappearing. She then held up a scroll, although it looked nothing like the ones I'd been reading. I stood up slowly, noting her serious countenance.
"What's that?"
Yugito frowned. "A mission – something to break up the monotony of being 'cooped up in a haven of books'."
Ignoring her dry commentary, I was surprised to see we were already going on a mission – I'd only been under her instruction for a couple of months or so. Then, at this thought, I inwardly scolded myself. I was acting as if I was going to be here for years upon years. Of course, that was very well a possibility, but I couldn't write off Konoha yet. I didn't know what all was happening on their end, but I was still faithful to my mission. For whatever reason, I wasn't certain anymore. I guess that I thought of it as akin to a promise, and I didn't like breaking promises, for better or for worse.
Still, I was a bit concerned. It was already November, nearly a year since I'd first started this crazy mess of a mission, and not a word of Konoha mobilizing for a possible war. I damn well knew that Kumo was wary due to the inaction and lack of a response from Konoha after the botched kidnapping attempt. I heard whispers here and there remarking on how odd it was for a large nation like Konoha to not act on a slight like that. Some people thought they were biding their time, preparing for war – hah, well, they kind of were – and others believed that Konoha was still too worn down from the third war and incapable of doing anything. This state of ambiguity was causing a great deal of anxiety, and I'd heard the Raikage was getting fed up with it. If Konoha was going to attack, let it come. Kumo would beat them down. If Konoha was going to curl in on itself, then Kumo would do them the favor of destroying them. This middle ground wasn't the Raikage's cup of tea though.
For a brief moment, I worried that I'd never be rid of this mission.
When I noticed Yugito's faint expression of concern, I shook my head to rid myself of my worries. I saw the pack she had set on the table, which had caused the thump from before. Yugito had already prepared my gear for me – in a way, I was happy about that since I really hated prepping for missions, but on the other hand, I hated having my stuff touched and organized in a different way than I was used to.
I hesitated, looking back at the mess of books and scrolls. She waved away my concern.
"Leave them. I'll apologize to the clerks later, but we don't have time to dally."
Hey, no skin off of my back. Putting away all those scrolls and books was a pain in the ass, so I had no problem walking away from all of it. I picked up the Kumo hitai-ate and tied it to my head before pulling the pack on and securing it. I then followed the blonde out of the library, falling down from the suspended building right after her. Unlike her, I still had to make a seal to focus my chakra all throughout my body, wary of the landing as the ground rushed up towards me. Yugito flipped and landed on a building roof with grace and ease, and I hit the roof almost right after her, although I definitely felt the stinging pain travel up my limbs and make me wince. Why did the shinobi library have to be all of the way up there? I seriously hated going up there, and the way down was never very fun, either.
Yugito was swift and quick as she dashed from one roof to another, although she never moved faster than I could follow. I was quicker now, but I still had a long way to go before I'd ever reach her level. She led us all the way to the village gates, only stopping once we arrived at the check-in station. The two guards stood up when Yugito approached, each one with a smile on his face.
"Nii-sama," one guard greeted. "Off on another mission? It's been quite some time."
She was as cordial as always. "Indeed. I was forced to take some time off to teach my new apprentice."
They two men both turned to look at me and I frowned at them, saying nothing. The man who hadn't spoken yet bent down to my eye level with a smile.
"Well, now, aren't you adorable?" he said glibly. "A genin going off on her first mission? That's wonderful. Hey, what's your name?"
I stared at him without blinking to show how little I cared for his question, and his smile slipped off of his face slowly. The silence that came afterwards was awkward and long until Yugito regained the attention of both men softly saying,
"I'm sorry, but we're in a bit of a hurry."
The first man nodded. "Of course, Nii-sama. Oh, and a word of caution before you go. Have you heard about the recent stirring?"
This caught her attention and she focused on them, her expression serious. "Stirring?"
"We've heard some buzzing here and there from both Konoha, and a few sources are indicating that Suna is making some moves. No one knows for certain what's going on, but we're pretty sure it has to do with The Incident, but it's already been nearly a year. Who knows what kind of plan that place has concocted after all of this time."
Yugito's shoulders tensed. "Konoha has been preparing for something big this entire time, and you say there are rumors of Suna being involved?"
"It sounds far-fetched," the guard said slowly. "After all, Konoha and Suna may be allied, but there's still some significant bad blood between the both of them. If they are planning something together, then Kumo's at a disadvantage."
"Yes," she agreed. "We are. That's part of why our mission is so necessary at the moment. The Raikage informed me of something possibly happening soon, but was unsure of the time frame in which it would take place. I believe the plan was to take the initiative and take down Konoha while it was down on its luck, but it seems we are far too late for that approach."
Her eyes narrowed slightly before she stepped away from the guard station. "We should be off."
"Be safe, Nii-sama," one guard said, looking concerned. "Times are dangerous."
Yugito nodded and turned away, heading for the gates. When I reached her side, she gave me a curt nod and then sped off into the distance, with me on her heels. It had already begun snowing, which meant we were both using chakra to stay on top of the material, making certain that we left no tracks in our wake. We ran at my full speed for nearly an hour before Yugito slowed down to a more manageable pace. I'm certain this had absolutely nothing to do with the huffing and puffing I had started making about half an hour into the journey.
I'd been wanting to ask about the details of the mission, but knew Yugito wasn't the type to discuss particulars until she absolutely certain our surroundings were secure. She never did anything in half-measures – I wouldn't be able to ask anything until we were locked down for a break in an area that had been scanned for possible enemies. So, instead, I turned my attention inward to think about the information I'd just heard.
It was a relief to know that Konoha was definitely still working on enacting its revenge against Kumo, which meant my efforts weren't going to waste. I was a little disturbed about the idea of them going to Suna for assistance, and couldn't what kind of blood bath Kumo would turn into with two nations wrecking it. But then, I was far more disturbed by how little I cared about the actual affair. I had absolutely no attachment to either Kumo or Konoha, and only cared about the former out of a basic patriotic need. So long as specific people were safe, then Konoha could burn to the ground for all I cared.
I glanced at Yugito. It was hard to admit, but I'd grown fond of the woman, despite her annoying tendency to psychoanalyze me at every turn. Plus, I very much admired the fact that she'd grown up so well despite all of her past troubles, just like my sister. I guess that's what endeared me so much to her – she reminded me of Anko in many ways, although she was obviously very different. I was wary of letting her die in the upcoming storm, but considering the fact that she had a chakra beast within her, I was pretty sure that she would be okay. I suppose what I was most wary of was the day she found out my true identity. Despite her having killed my last contact, I couldn't keep myself from starting to care about her.
I closed my eyes. Obviously, her being so kind and gentle with me after months of no one caring at all hit me hard. I would've thought myself immune to such feelings, but it had definitely taken me by surprise. I could only hope that she never discovered the truth of my feelings, for both our sakes.
Would I be able to kill her when the time came? Could I close my heart and metaphorically pull the trigger?
Opening my eyes, I grimaced slightly when I looked at her running ahead of me. I had the worst feeling that I wouldn't be able to pull something like that off. I'd probably have to leave that to someone else, and spend the rest of my life feeling guilty about her being hurt as both a direct and indirect result of my actions.
Geez, I was like a little puppy. A little show of care and love and I was already forgetting my boundaries and loyalties. I think what concerned me most was that I didn't actually care, but when I thought about what my sister would think... Well. She was as loyal to Konoha as ever, and she would never consider leaving an enemy of Konoha alive, not if it meant her village's death. I almost wish I had that type of mettle in me.
Yugito stopped us a couple of hours later, as we were reaching the coastal shore. We were still surrounded by trees and vegetation, and it was at this point that she decided to finally let us take a rest, all while keeping a lookout on our surroundings, to make sure we weren't jumped by anyone stupid or idiotic enough to take a Jinchuuriki on. I was only too happy to plop down against the trunk of a tree and stare blankly at the ground. My stamina was still something worth scoffing over, but Yugito seemed bound determined to change that. Well, at the very least, I was very certain I could take on a couple of teams of genin without any support by this point. Chuunin... Maybe if it was just one or two, I could dish something out, with a hell of a lot of luck as well. Jounin? Hah, my ass would be handed back to Kumo (Konoha?) on a platter.
My mentor jumped down from a branch, her eyes shifting back and forth as she carefully judged our surroundings. She walked up towards me, sitting down smoothly. Yugito shrugged off her pack and rummaged through it before pulling out the scroll she'd shown me earlier today. She tossed it to me gently and I snatched it out of the air, eagerly opening it to see what the hell was going on.
"Rank: B, A. Rendezvous with the informant on the outskirts of Kiri. Shield and protect informant and escort informant back to village without detection. Informant is known by a number of countries, and is invaluable to the village's future intentions. Risks may include: confrontation with other nations' shinobi, an unwillingness to participate by the informant, the informant's capture by any of the nations, the informant's death by any of the nations.
"In the case of a confrontation, subdue and capture the enemy shinobi for interrogation. Otherwise, eliminate all hindrances. In the case of the informant's capture, stage a rescue attempt providing it does not prove to be a suicide run. In the case of the informant's death, return to the village immediately. Should the informant be considered hazardous to the mission, use your sound judgment henceforth."
I peered down at the scroll, my eyes narrowed before I looked up at Yugito. She let out a small sigh.
"This was not what I'd intended for your first true mission," she admitted slowly.
"So, is this a B-Ranked mission, or an A-Ranked mission?" I asked, only desiring more information. What informant was worth this kind of risk?
Yugito gave our area another quick sweep of her gaze before turning back to me. "It's both, technically. You heard at the gate about Konoha started to make odd moves, with Suna becoming enfolded in the matter as well? This mission stems from that problem. It has come to Kumo's knowledge that there is an informant out there who is aware of the actions of each individual country. How much the man, or woman, knows couldn't be ascertained, but that information is incredibly valuable and could possibly turn the tides of the upcoming war. Were this a simple escort mission, just getting in and out with the target, it would be ranked B, more than likely."
She paused. "However, if we happen to run into enemy figures, the probability of this mission being upgraded a level is incredibly high. We aren't the only ones hoping for this information – it could be the difference between success and failure with whatever may come."
I rolled up the scroll and tossed it back to her, and she easily caught it. "Sure, that makes sense, I guess. So everyone's hunting this guy down, but he's somewhere in Kiri? What's stopping others from getting to him first?"
"That's why we need to hurry," she explained. "I am wary about this, though. You are not yet advanced enough to confront enemy soldiers on your own, much less capture them for possible interrogation."
"You can't even see the island from here," I pointed out. "It'll take days to get to Kiri, and besides, won't they see a boat chugging up like it owns the place?"
She stood up, brushing herself off. "Indeed. Let me take care of our transport and passage onto the island. You simply need to rest yourself for the upcoming battle."
I stood up as well, grabbing my pack and lifting it back onto my shoulders. She took one last look around before charging forward out of the forest area and towards the shore. I saw her look around a bit before her gaze caught on something and a determined expression appeared on her face. I followed her gaze out to see a cargo ship out on the waters, moving along at a steady speed.
"That's our ride," she murmured to me, and I stared at her as if she were crazy. "That's the reason we needed to leave so quickly – all so we could make that ride in time. It's a cargo ship bypassing our country from the Land of Frost. It has to take the journey slow until it reaches open waters, but from here on out, it will go full speed towards the Land of Water. It shouldn't take more than five to six hours to reach the shore."
I felt my shoulders sag a bit. "Don't tell me we're running out there to catch up with it."
"We've got a short window to reach it before the full engines kick in," she replied. "Let's hurry."
"I don't like you very much right now," I muttered as she took off onto the ocean's waters ahead of me.
I took in a deep breath and launched myself after her, steadily planting my feet on the surface as if it were solid ground. My arms drifted naturally to my sides to decrease air resistance as I matched Yugito stride for stride. The two of us rushed forward, ignoring the water that splashed onto us as we neared closer and closer to our destination. All of a sudden, though, I heard small hum grow increasingly louder and the water behind the ship seemed to turn a bright red.
"What's –" I started, but Yugito cut me off, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hurry!" she commanded, her voice no longer carrying its lilt of gentleness. "They're charging the engines with chakra. If they manage that before we get there, we'll never reach it in time."
"Roger!" I exclaimed in return, focusing all of my energy on pushing myself forward more and more.
We were about a couple hundred meters away when the hum turned into a deafening roar and the ship was now pulling away from us bit by bit, making the distance ever larger. I made a small sound of dismay and Yugito let out a "tch" sound before abruptly stopping, grabbing the back of my collar, flipping me onto the back of her pack, and then bending down deeply. I almost saw chakra spiral around her before we were suddenly flying across the water like a fearsome torrent. I could barely tell out the tides of the water as we blazed across its surface, and I clutched onto her pack for dear life.
Far faster than would have been possible at my speed, we neared the ship and Yugito pushed off of the water and up onto the vessel. I got off her back immediately, my eyes narrowing as I scoped out our surroundings just as she did. The two of us relaxed slightly, and she silently motioned for me to follow after her. I fell in line behind her, utilizing chakra to keep my steps silent as we made our way across the deck. We went down one of the outer corridors, hugging the walls as much as we could before coming across an unfortunate worker whose eyes widened incredibly as he saw us.
"Hey, what are you two –"
Yugito flashed forward and spun the guy around, slamming his back against the wall as she held a kunai to his throat. The man's lips quivered and his nostrils flared, and I could even see his legs trembling some. He looked petrified as Yugito eyed him calmly.
"Where is the cargo hatch?" she murmured, and I turned to keep an eye out on our surroundings. I could feel my fingers twitching, as if I were expecting some kind of fight.
I heard the man whimper. "T-towards the s-stern, s-starboard-side... Y-you can't miss it..."
"I should hope not," Yugito responded before making a hand seal. As his eyes clouded over, she whispered, "Thank you."
She left the man leaning against the wall and turned to me. Nodding her head once, she took off down an intersecting corridor and heading to the starboard side, doubling back down toward the way we came. We ran across five other individuals, but I used my genjutsu and took them out with little difficulty, and leaned them against a wall, making it seem as if they were sleeping. Yugito glanced around us before pulling open the latch, her muscles straining before it yielded to her efforts. She looked down into its dark depths before shaking her head slightly and gesturing for me to go down first. I grimaced, but didn't disobey her. I looked down at the darkness that reeked of something horrible before taking the plunge, so to speak. As soon as I landed, I slapped a hand to my nose to cut off the offending smell.
What, what, what, what was that terrible smell? Oh my God, it smelled as if something had been left rotting for years. As Yugito sealed the latch after her, I hesitantly approached the nearest object container, I reeled backwards.
"I-is that a sanitation container?" I muttered, horrified. "We're going to be spending the next umpteen hours next to vats of poop?"
Yugito didn't seem as taken aback as I was. Rather, she seemed intrigued. "Hm, so this must be one of the carriers for different types of fertilizer. These must have come all the way from Iwa, which means they're particularly pungent – that's wonderful for the farming community."
I looked at her, unimpressed that she knew something as obtuse as that. "I'm not so sure we're on the same page, here. At least grimace or something."
"I shut off my olfactory sensors," she said matter-of-factly, closing her eyes. "My sense of smell is on par with a cat's. I wouldn't last more than two minutes smelling that, much less for six hours."
"Well, bully for you!" I exclaimed with some irritation. "What about me? I can't turn off my sense of smell like you."
She looked at me for a short moment before the edge of her mouth quirked up in a half-grin. "Tough."
I stared at her, disbelieving that this was the Yugito I'd come to know over the past two months. "This... This is punishment for something I did, isn't it? It is, isn't it? Damn, woman."
Yugito let out a small bit of laughter at that. "No, not at all. There's simply nothing you can do at the moment but endure it. I am sorry, though."
"Then make some yakiniku for once, would you?" I muttered, very irritable that I would have to smell something so horrible for so long.
Meat was hard to come by up in Kumo, so it was very, very expensive to buy – especially in large quantities. I never got to have meat much anymore, which really, really sucked.
Yugito smiled at me. "Done."
"Well, that's something, at least," I continued to mutter.
She moved behind some of the containers, settling down once we were more or less surrounded by the structures. I shuffled behind her, muttering various expletives about my current situation. When I sat down next to her, Yugito drew her knees up to her chest and let her head fall back against surface of one container.
"Get some rest. There's little else to do for the moment, so you may as well allow yourself some relaxation before we arrive, to prepare yourself for what is soon to come."
I scowled at her as I sat down at her side. Like I'd be able to sleep much with all of this literal crap all around me. I crossed my shoulders and stared stubbornly into the darkness until I felt her lightly touch the top of my head and draw me close to her. I saw chakra gravitate around her fingers before she touched my nose, and all of a sudden, I couldn't smell a damn thing. It was the most bewildering experience, although it was far better this way than it had been to be tortured by the smell of feces. After I got over my surprise, I glared at her.
"You could've done that from the start!" I accused her. "You're actually a sadist in disguise, aren't you?"
She chuckled. "Maybe."
"I hate you."
Yugito drew my head towards her bosom, and I almost jerked away before she slowly stroked my hair, calming me almost immediately. My muscles slackened and I found myself leaning against her.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't manage a better mission for you," she murmured to me, still stroking my hair. "I really hadn't meant to put you in such a precarious position so quickly. I'm concerned things will not progress as smoothly as I'd otherwise like..."
I only let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter."
Her hand hesitated before continuing its stroking. "I want you to promise me something."
"Hm?"
Yugito slid a finger underneath my chin and tilted my head back until I was looking at her. "Promise me that should things go south, you'll get yourself out of there."
I frowned. I had no intention of running to safety while my ally – enemy? – was pushing herself against terrible odds. Ah, but if someone managed to take out a Jinchuuriki of Kumo, that would make the fight a hell of a lot easier for Konoha, and presumably Suna... But, no, I couldn't just leave her to that kind of fate, could I?
These thoughts continued to whirl around in my mind and I eventually just frowned at her. "We'll see."
"I mean it," she said, her eyes searching and almost pleading. "As a jounin, I can take care of myself, but you are not only still young, but still a genin. I will work much better if I don't have to worry about you at every turn."
I just gave her a grin. "I was told once that I'm good at getting out of sticky situations. Don't worry."
She resumed her stroking as I laid my head against her chest again, but I could just barely hear her mumble,
"That's what I'm most afraid of."
Needless to say, I was starting to feel conflicted about my loyalties as of late.
Right. So, anyway. Yeah. As usual, let me know if anything's missing in my sentences.