The next day seemed to dawn bright and early, which put me in a somewhat crabby mood before I even left the house. Though Hayate seemed excited for me, Mom was undoubtedly worried, and she'd given me a sword-cleaning kit to make absolutely sure I was prepared for the next month or so of living on the road. I didn't know if I'd even end up using my kodachi at all, since Sensei seemed to have mastered the trick of being nearly everywhere at once and Kakashi was combat-tested, but I appreciated the gesture and tucked it into my jacket pocket anyway.

"My little girl is growing up so fast," Mom said quietly, hugging me.

"Not so fast. I'll miss both of you," I said, and as soon as Mom let me go I was hugging Hayate so hard he almost squeaked. "Be good for Mom and your teachers at school, okay?"

"You know I will, Sis," Hayate said, muffled by my jacket, but I got the message. I love you, I'll miss you, come back safe.

"I'll be back before you know it." Not because I actually would, but people said that kind of thing before heading out on long journeys, so it felt right.

I waved a final good-bye to my family before scurrying off to make sure Obito wasn't late.

"Obito!" I called, having taken the long way around the district so I could hop on people's roofs without getting a citation for it. I made pretty good time, and I found Obito on one of the main thoroughfares to the market district, heading back toward his house.

Obito looked up. "Bit busy, Kei!" he called back, and I blinked.

While usually he waited until the afternoon to run around helping people, I guess this was the morning when all of the older people in the district decided to do their shopping. Obito was carrying the older Uchiha's bags for her, with two plastic bags with vegetables and tofu and fish on each arm. He had all of his mission equipment with him in a backpack that was bulging with its contents, but that wasn't really the important bit. I hadn't seen him with Old Lady Sayako while, it didn't really change the fact that we had about half an hour to meet up at the gates and depart for distant lands.

Well, Mount Soragami was still within the borders of the Land of Fire and we probably wouldn't be exactly charting new lands, but it was still something!

I thought about Kakashi's reaction, and Sensei's. Then I thought about how much time Obito spent just getting to know the people he lived with, and helping them with their problems as best he could.

I hopped down from the roof, backpack straps cinched across my chest and waist, and said, "Need a hand?"

Obito promptly dumped one arm's worth of bags in my arms and said, "Yep."

We ended up being about ten minutes late, which was pretty good time for the situation. We both got candy from Sayako Uchiha, who seemed to be very pleasant for a retired kunoichi with a bad leg, but that didn't really mean much when Kakashi was waiting at the gates to make disappointed eyebrows at us.

Actually, I decided I didn't care about that as much as I did when Sensei looked askance at us. Nevertheless, I just offered a shrug and commenced trying to figure out how to unwrap a piece of sweet rice candy using just my teeth and tongue. It was like trying it with Starburst, only the rice paper wrapping was edible too.

Om nom nom.

"Sorry about being late, Sensei, but there was an old lady who needed help with her bags, and Kei and I stopped to help because she'd bought too much food," Obito said blithely, grinning.

Sensei just sighed. Maybe if I hadn't talked to him in the hospital waiting room, there would have been a lecture waiting. But the journey to Mount Soragami was three days long at even shinobi speed according to a topography map Mom had found for me, and ten minutes meant nothing in the face of it.

"The mountain isn't getting any closer," Kakashi said bluntly.

I threw a piece of candy at him.

Sensei caught it. Turned out Sensei had a bit of a sweet tooth too.

"All right, since we're all here, let's head out," Sensei said around his allotment of candy. Kakashi was giving Sensei a weird look, like he couldn't quite believe that his teacher was giving us any slack at all, and I poked him in the shoulder as I walked past.

He almost instantly poked me back.

"Kids, don't make me have to turn this squad around before we even get out of the gates."

Obito snickered, and then I poked him. He squawked. "Hey!"

"Someday I will draw everyone into my web of tag games and you will all rue the day you met me," I said dramatically.

Obito giggled and threw an arm around my shoulders. "So, what's the policy on tag-backs?"

I grinned. "You'll see."

And then we were off.

"You know," Obito said about five minutes later. "This is the first time I've ever been outside the village. What about you, Kei?"

"Same here," I said. "There isn't really a lot you have to head out of the village for, unless you're on the active duty roster."

We were moving in an easily-defensible diamond pattern, with Kakashi on point while Obito and I made up the somewhat more vulnerable middle, and Sensei brought up the rear. Granted, we were also moving at a speed of about twenty kilometers per hour, both because the shinobi scale of what made an appropriate overland speed was somewhat advanced compared to that of untrained civilians and because we tended to travel by trees around Konoha itself. At least until the Hashirama trees ran out, anyway—most of the more common pines, oaks, and maples were more difficult to maneuver through. The trees that had, in a way, named our home village were really more like buildings than anything—traveling through them was less like forest exploration and more like an extended lesson in entirely pre-industrialized parkour.

I was still keeping an eye out for basic obstacles and possible trap-setting points, though. There were a lot of ways to horribly maim or kill someone moving at twenty to thirty kilometers per hour even without anyone inventing cars. Most of them, here, involved razor wire. And maybe explosive tags.

Sure, there was no reason there would be any this far out of the village's range of defenses—I think we used seals for this particular area—and this far from the front lines, but I always expected trouble anyway.

Still, the rest of that day passed mostly without any incidents. Sure, Obito tripped and face-planted when we were getting close to our stopping point for the day, but he was fine and only took a little patching up on my part. We dug out the privy-pit, started a fire (with some happy assistance from Obito's miniaturized Grand Fireball), and cleared the campsite of branches of rocks as Kakashi hunted for our dinner and Sensei set up a perimeter seal to make sure no one would trip over us at night.

"For tonight," Sensei said, "Kei-kun has first watch. Kakashi, you have middle watch. Obito, dawn watch. I'll be nearby in case something happens or you have questions, but this is really about getting into the habit of always having someone looking out for you."

I gave Sensei a somewhat skeptical look, even though everything he said made perfect sense.

"And if you wake me up for no reason I'm tying you up in an ankle snare for an hour," Sensei informed us.

Obito gulped.

I considered that warning. "Okay, but if we all die it's your fault."

Sensei ruffled my hair as soon as I took my hitai-ate off to sleep. I had the weirdest feeling he'd been waiting for it, because it was more a noogie than anything. He didn't stop until I screamed, "I give, I give!" while laughing madly.

And then, since Obito had seemed like he was feeling left out, Sensei grabbed him too and did the same thing. He caught Kakashi by the ankle and managed to repeat the feat, even though he only had two arms and I hadn't even moved because I was laughing too hard.

He might have been our teacher, but he was also pretty much an evil older brother.

The next day almost wasn't even worth mentioning. We'd left the great Hashirama trees far behind, and the next major obstacle was basically hills. I think they might have technically been foothills, even if the mountains they actually represented were pretty far away and probably also volcanoes.

Actually, even from this far away, Mount Soragami—once it had been pointed out to me, anyway—reminded me of Mount St. Helens. In some ways, it was also a bit like Mt. Kilimanjaro in that there were no other comparable mountains nearby and the top was ringed with clouds in a normally-clear sky, but the western face had apparently been blown out sometime in the past by a massive eruption. It had snow on it, so at least it hadn't been recent.

Hey, Land of Fire. Gotta take what you can get, I guess.

Personally, I suspected that there might have been some kind of hotspot under the continental plate, sort of like the one under Hawaii in my old life, since I wasn't aware of any other volcanoes in the area. Granted, that could just be ignorance, because I was pretty sure that almost all of Japan, Hawaii, the Aleutians, and most of the rest of the Pacific Rim had been volcanically active one way or another. It was the Ring of Fire, after all.

I wondered again just how big the Land of Fire actually was, because I was pretty sure that even Mt. Fuji had been further inland. Sort of In some ways, a whole lot of Japanese people had more or less been living on it. Or at least the lava plain if it blew its top off, I guess.

Then again, given the magical physics-pretzel-making bullshit inherent to this universe, I had to wonder if Soragami was an artificial mountain. It was still in the classical cone shape of a stratovolcano, with considerations made for the fact that the western face was probably in a hundred trillion pieces and fertilizer for the foothills. I wondered what kind of jutsu could even begin to tap into the power in the world's crust, and then I stopped.

If Madara could knock a fucking asteroid out of the sky to flatten the Shinobi Alliance, and the Sage of Six Paths had created the fucking moon, I guess the sky really wasn't even a limit anymore.

Then again, since those things were mostly already there, I think it was more a matter of bringing stuff upward to play with. That said, creating a new volcano was nothing to sneeze at, even for the famed Lava Release users of Iwagakure, and it would probably involve the deaths of absolutely everyone in the area just because volcanoes brought so much else to the surface besides lava. Poisonous gases, for a start, and some of those could actually catch fire once released into an oxygen-rich environment. I didn't really give a crap if Mei Terumī of Kirigakure had Lava and Steam Release techniques, or if Mū and Ōnoki had Particle Release down pat—a volcano wasn't something anyone could fight.

Redirect, yes. Fight? Fucking hell no.

Because shinobi are out of their minds as a rule, someone must have tried to do something with it.

"Sensei, how long has it been since Soragami erupted?" I asked.

"Going by the records the Chinatsugumi have for us, longer than there have been shinobi," Sensei replied.

He glanced at me as we walked, since the foothills were a mite too dangerous to be using our shinobi speed without an experienced Hyūga on point. We could easily land on top of a battlefield or a bandit stronghold if we didn't pay attention.

So, at least a couple hundred years. It didn't really make me feel any better, since shinobi records were hilariously spotty because of the Clan Wars era. Still, someone would have noticed a volcano blowing up, so maybe it wasn't down to overambitious idiots anymore.

I made a noise like "hm" and said, "I wonder how precise their analysis of the surface strata is."

"What?" Obito said blankly.

"Basically, every eruption throughout history leaves a deposit of ash and other volcanic material on the area around the cone." I explained, frowning. "I don't know the specifics, but if you dug down far enough, you could probably find evidence that the dirt we're standing on was once covered in ash from whenever the nearest volcano exploded. The ash layer doesn't go away, so you can see basically everything about the geological history if you know what you're looking for and how fast soil layers accumulate on top."

Kakashi and Sensei were blinking at me.

I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I know it's not really relevant to being a ninja, but it's interesting!"

It was my fault for being into volcanology as a kid, I guess. Seriously. I'd been fascinated by everything that could have made my world collapse in ash and fire, for some reason. Norse myths were a favorite for a similar reason.

The interest wasn't as strong in my new life. I guess I had enough potentially fatal things to worry about the second time through to bother worrying about whether or not the local geology was going to decide to flatten us like ants under a flipped semi. That said, I still remembered.

The lava dome doesn't seem to have built up again yet. It only took Mt. St. Helens thirty years to get back to full size, pyroclastic flow and all. The Dreamer seemed to frown. Save possibly Madara, Hashirama, and the Sage of Six Paths, there are literally no ninja in the history of this world that could play with a volcano and not get blasted to a fine grit. Sans perhaps Obito as the host of the Ten-Tailed Beast.

Of course, the Tailed Beast Ball makes the entire question rather academic anyway. Who needs a volcano when any hack with a Mangekyō Sharingan can just hijack a Tailed Beast and do the same thing with less collateral damage? Well, assuming no one needed that mountain range anyway.

I was already contemplating the pros and cons of setting a volcano off in the resurrected Madara's face. I'd die a quick and fiery death, either at his hands or at the nonexistent mercy of a volcano, but the look on his face might be worth it if I could last long enough to see it.

I think Sensei was looking at me funny for the rest of the day, while Obito peppered me with questions and Kakashi pretended I didn't have the ability to talk at all.

Yeah. Day two was kind of boring.

We did get into what amounted to an extremely vicious three-way game of exploding Tag—literally Tag with explosive notes and Replacement jutsu—in the clearing closest to our campsite. We stopped pretty quickly after Sensei caught us, though.

Anyway, there was always the third day to look forward to.

Speaking of which, the third day was the one where we finally reached the Chinatsugumi compound, about two hours before dusk.

It wasn't…subtle. Not really. The city the Chinatsugumi used as their base was more of a fortress built on top of one of Soragami's daughter peaks, with several tiered walls and buildings squished into the interim space. A giant pair of characters emblazoned across the front gates read "Sorayama-no-Sato," or the Village of the Sky Mountain. The flag of the merchant house—or maybe it was a lot more than a merchant house, given the city-state they apparently occupied—was streaming in the mountain wind from the top of the largest, highest building. It was also written across most of the smaller ones.

At least they didn't call the damn thing a hidden village, because it certainly wasn't that.

Minato talked to one of the gate guards, both of whom were dressed like proper non-ninja soldiers and therefore could be easily bypassed the moment any of us felt like it. The guard he was speaking to, with a mustache like a pencil line and a beard to match, gesturing vaguely with his spear, and Sensei beckoned to us.

We trooped up to him in a neat little triangle. I was in the back this time, because apparently the total lack of hostile attention from anything bigger than a mosquito meant that I could at least be trusted with that much.

Speaking of which, I needed to remember to look up malaria and West Nile equivalents sometime soon.

"All right, we're going to be meeting Chinatsu-san in the longhouse up top. The guards just gave us permission to take the shortcut over the roofs, so we'll be heading in now." Sensei told us. "Follow my lead."

"That's it?" Obito asked. "I thought there'd be a security checkpoint or something…"

Sensei shrugged. Then again, he had been here more often than Obito or I had just because he actually had been here before, so it was going to be in our best interests to follow his lead. "For now, yeah. Keep in mind that we're on their territory now, and try not to leave any ration bar wrappers where they shouldn't be."

Obito and I nodded anyway. We followed Sensei and Kakashi's subsequent leaps, though perhaps not quite so high or as easily.

Once at the longhouse—which really looked more like a castle that had decided to sit on top of a slightly larger castle and not a longhouse at all—we were escorted into the inner sanctum of the building. The buildings were wood and concrete with steel struts for support, with high, angled ceilings and interwoven four-by-fours providing the structural integrity of the roof. The main room was long, though that may have been as much a visual effect of the long green rug running the length of it as the real dimensions. Most of the guards seemed to be, while not exactly shinobi-caliber, at least experienced and confident even in Sensei's presence.

Then again, he was a nineteen-year-old blond with a pretty face, no visible scars, a mild-mannered attitude to people he didn't know, and a winning smile. The rest of us were nine and, by definition, not very impressive. Even if I carried my kodachi openly on my waist.

At the very end of the room, surrounded by a desk covered in paperwork and two rather harried assistants, was the person I assumed was the eponymous Chinatsu of the Chinatsugumi. Aside from the fact that she wasn't wearing any kind of headgear—such as the Hokage's hat or an elaborate hairpiece typical of a noble lady—she looked every bit the merchant queen. Her clothes weren't overly elaborate, though they were very well-made, and her sleeves had been tied up so that she could work on the onslaught of forms without getting ink into the silk.

I tried to catch a glimpse of her face as we approached, even if it was mostly pointing away from us and at the desk-top. Her hair was lighter than Sensei's, with the majority tied up in a businesslike knot on the back of her head and a fringe and two long side-locks framing her face. She didn't seem to get out much, at least compared to Obito and Sensei, and was paler than both. She had calluses and burns on her manicured hands, though I couldn't imagine where they'd come from.

She looked up once we got within about ten feet, and I blinked.

Her eyes were pale gold.

There were maybe three people I could name off the top of my head with gold eyes in all of my visions. Orochimaru had been one of them, but his had visible serpent pupils. It didn't seem to be a dominant trait anywhere, really. This woman, however, made me think of a bird of prey. I had the strangest feeling that she was looking right through us, even though she couldn't have been older than twenty-five and she didn't seem to be a shinobi.

Also, I had the strongest feeling of déjà vu and I had no idea why.

"Misaki-dono, the team from Konohagakure has arrived," said the aide on the left. I honestly couldn't tell if either of the aides was a guy or a girl, and that meant something coming from me.

"So I see," she replied, gathering up the papers in front of her and setting them aside. She looked back up at us. "You may approach."

Sensei led the way, again.

"Team Minato, at your service," he said, bowing.

Misaki nodded, shooing her aides out of the room with a dismissive flick of her wrist. "Hello again, Namikaze-san. It's been a while since your last visit, hasn't it?"

"Well, six months pass by quickly," Minato admitted. "We've been a bit busy lately. So, how have the other teams been?"

"Decent, though not spectacular in any respect," she replied, turning her gaze on each of us kids in turn. "Hello to you as well, Kakashi-kun. I see you have new teammates."

Kakashi nodded.

Misaki looked from him to Obito and I.

"Oh! I'm Obito Uchiha, Misaki-dono!" Obito said, smiling brightly.

"Keisuke Gekkō," I said a moment later, noticing how her eyes seemed to linger on me. "Um, I'm a kunoichi." I added belatedly.

Misaki frowned. "Yes, I am aware of that. Is this a common misunderstanding where you are from?"

"Kinda," I admitted.

"Hm. Well, no matter. My sister will be here in a moment to show you where you can stay for the night," Misaki said, and retrieved a sheet of paper from her desk. "This is a copy of the contract for Konohagakure's bi-annual business agreement with Sorayama as well as the Chinatsugumi. Due to recent considerations and increasing hostility from the forces of Kumogakure and Iwagakure, some aspects may need to be revised. Have you been empowered by Hokage-dono to accept or suggest revisions?"

Sensei's eyebrows knit together. "Not as such. I was told only that we'd be working on the assigned C-ranked mission, but if you have a messenger hawk I can use…"

"Of course, Namikaze-san." Misaki clapped twice and another aide, apparently interchangeable with the other two, appeared. "Fetch a messenger hawk for our shinobi guests, would you?"

"Yes, Misaki-sama." And then the aide was gone. I suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that the aides were ninjas, even if no one else was.

That was about when the door at the far end of the room, the same one that we'd arrived through, opened again. Outlined briefly in the evening glow of the city, the figure strode into the room with long, self-assured strides and arrived at the desk in what seemed like no time at all.

My brain took a minute to work out a few things. One, the person in front of us was female and taller than Sensei by a good four centimeters. Two, she was wearing road clothes—meaning a practical, sturdy set of shoes, plain dark pants under a cotton skirt and wrap, and her hair tied back into one of the longest braids I'd ever seen. Three, her face was exactly the same as Misaki's, sans makeup.

She also seemed extremely familiar for some other reason, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

And she was looking right at us. "So, you're the most recent team to take the mission?"

"They are, sister dearest," Misaki said, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Was it just me, or did she sound just the slightest bit mocking.

Misaki's twin looked at us again after the briefest frown. Then she shrugged. "You'll do just fine."

"I'm glad we meet your approval, Chinatsu-dono," Sensei said mildly.

"I'm sure my approval doesn't matter as much as you seem to think," Chinatsu said, turning. "Anyway, come along and I'll show you where you'll be staying tonight. We'll get that hawk for you in a moment."

We followed her out, but all the while my head was spinning. I'd already confirmed that neither the Dreamer nor I had any idea of what was supposed to happen on this mission. We knew so little about Team Minato's earlier exploits that everything would be a mystery at this stage. And for all I knew, my sense of familiarity was just because I'd seen a filler episode with this caravan. I probably wouldn't remember that clearly, right?

After a while, though, I started to notice something else that set me a bit on edge.

Normally, I could sense civilian chakra signatures. I usually didn't bother because, well, civilians didn't generally have enough chakra to actually stand out all that much. It was a lot easier and more important to be able to sense anyone who trained their chakra, since that was the kind of thing that usually meant a threat or an ally were around, depending on intent. Either way, I could determine how to act on it.

But in the office with Misaki, Chinatsu, and the interchangeable aides, I'd only felt three chakra signatures at all. All of them had belonged to the aides. It was like Misaki and Chinatsu were ghosts, their chakra blending completely into the background buzz of natural energy.

I felt cold.

Either those two really were ghosts, or they had kage-level suppression skills. I didn't really know which was worse.