Sorry for the delay! I had a very long writers block but i am back!

Chapter 18

It is early January and I am heading home from finishing my last lap around the village. I look up and watch the snow fall.

'Its cold.' I shiver a bit as I unlock the door to the apartment.

"I can't believe Gai got me used to taking daily laps around the village."

I hop into the shower. Getting some warmth from the water.

"MIZUKI!" I hear Gai yell as he throws the front door open.

"What?" I finish my shower and I walk out with just a towel on.

I shiver a bit realizing the front door is still open sending a breeze through the place. "Close the door it is cold!" I yell out.

I can hear Gai close the front door as I walk towards the bedroom.

"Mizuki!" He runs over to the room.

"What's up?"

"You must get ready!" He is slightly out of breath. "We must leave immediately!"

He walks through the room and begins packing a bag.

"Pack for at least a four day trip!" He places kunais in the bag.

"What why?" I put my clothes on. "Where are we going?"

"Kakashi is sending us on a mission!" He gives me a giant smile. "It is my first mission since the war! And this will be your first official mission since you have joined the leaf!"

"EH?!"

"I asked Kakashi to let you accompany me on this mission since you are a medical nin and we will need a skilled medical-nin for this mission." He grabs his vest and puts it on. "Plus I wanted to be there with you during your first mission."

"That is sweet but what the fuck?!" I begin packing my bag. "So where are we going?"

"I will tell you on the way!" He grabs his bag and walks towards the door. "You coming hun?"

"I'm coming!" I finish packing my bag and we head out the door.

We are a couple miles from the village running at full speed avoiding the snow falling from the trees.

"So are you going to tell me what our mission is?" I run keeping up with Gai. "Or even what rank it is?"

"It is a B-rank that might become an A-rank mission." He tells me. "We are being sent to guard Yuki and his daughter Yuka Masuno."

"Who are they?"

"He is the new head of the household of the Masuno estate. His father was murdered a couple days ago. Yuki request protection for his travels from his estate to where the funeral will be located."

"But if he is the head of the estate then why not use his own men?"

"He doesn't trust them." He gives me a grim look. "He wants additional protection from actual ninja."

"Then why bring me and not another more qualified ninja? This sounds like someone who probably has more combat experience."

"Yuka Masuno requested a medical nin was brought." He continues to run. "She has the fear that if her father were attacked then an experienced medical nin would be able to save him."

"Oh…"

"Yuki believes that his men are the reason his father was killed."

"He thinks they killed them?"

"Not exactly." He thinks about it. "I'm not exactly sure on the information. Kakashi said Masuno will explain more when we get there."

"I see…"

"Plus Kakashi wants this to stay a two man mission. It shouldn't be that difficult for us, especially since you mastered the body pathway and are excelling in taijutsu."

"Thank you for the confidence boost but it is still making me nervous."

"Nothing to be nervous about dear." He gives me a giant grin. "You will do great."

We make our way to this giant estate. We walk through the gates and I can see that it is very quiet. People are walking around, staring at us, and whispering to each other all wearing black.

"They are still in mourning." I say quietly. "They also don't seem trusting of us."

"I heard it is their tradition to mourn until the official ceremony of the new head of the household takes over."

"Really?"

"Yes." Gai nods. "And Yuki Masuno did not want to take on the role until we have arrived to ensure his protection."

We continue to walk through the village towards the Masuno Estate.

"But what about after we leave?"

"We will worry about that when the time comes." Gai gives me his usual grin.

"If you say so."

We walk through these giant gates in the back of the village, heading towards one of the biggest estates.

"Ah you two must be the ninja of the Leaf." A man says as he walks towards us. "My name is Asato Shoyo. I am Master Masuno's advisor."

"Hello Shoyo." Gai says as we walk up. "I am Gai Might and this is Mizuki Kyoto."

I give him a slight bow.

"Please call me Asato." He says with a smile. "Now if you will follow me this way."

He leads us into the estate. Everyone is scurrying around us.

"Please excuse the mess." Asato says as we enter a hall. "We are doing last minute preparations for the ceremony."

"When will the ceremony take place?" I ask

"We were hoping for tonight but Master Masuno is still weary of the event."

"Can you inform us of what happened?" Gai asks

"I will let him explain it to you."

"I understand." Gai says

We continue to follow Asato through another series of hallways eventually making our way to a huge corridor.

"Shoyo!" A man yells as he meets up with us.

"Miko." Asato glares at him while side eyeing us. "How can I help you?"

"We are having trouble with our pri-" he makes eye contact with us, acknowledging us and freezes. "Our guest."

"I will discuss this with you later." Asato puts a hand on Miko's shoulder and leads him away from us. "As you can see I have the leaf ninja here for Master Masato. You know we can't keep him waiting. I will deal with our guest later."

I see Gai is uneasy and I give him a worried look.

"My apologies, Shoyo." Miko bows and runs off.

"Sorry about that." Asato turns towards us and continues to lead us to Master Masuno. "He is so overprotective of all of our guests. Especially since our last Master passed."

We make it to Masuno's hall. Asato knocks on the door.

"Enter." A voice says from behind the doors.

Gai and I follow Asato into the room.

"Hello Master Masuno." Asato bows. "These are the two Ninja from the Leaf."

"Hello Master Masuno. My name is Gai Might." He bows

"And I'm Mizuki Kyoto." I give a slight bow.

"Hello Mizuki and Gai." Masuno says. "I hope Asato has been helpful so far."

"Yes he has, thank you." Gai says. "Now if you may inform us of what you will need."

"Of course." Masuno waves his hand. "Asato you may leave."

"But Master-"

"I said leave."

"Very well." Asato gives a small bow.

I watch him side eye Gai and I as he leaves the room.

"I apologize for that." Masuno says to us. "I prefer as little people know about the plan as possible even if they are my trusted advisor."

"We understand." I say.

"As you may know my father was killed about one week ago. I believe it was by the hand of his own men. That is why I have asked the leaf to give me extra protection. I do not want my life to have the same fate. I would like you two to not only protect me during the ceremony, but to also find out who was in charge of my father's death."

"Do you have any ideas of who it could have been?" I ask

"I have no idea." He sighs. "My father was a very trusting man. He was never without one of his guards but would go around the village helping and being with the people."

"What makes you think it was one of your own men?" Gai asks.

"We caught the one who killed him." He sighs "however when we tried to question him, he took his own life. This specific guard, while he may be smart, was not smart enough to come up with this plan. He was merely a puppet and I want to find who is holding the strings."

"We will help you anyway we can." Gai says. "We will find the leader."

"Thank you." He gives a small smile. "I currently have my wife and my newborn son far away in a hidden location. Only I know of their location. I am worried that whoever it is, is trying to wipe out all the males in my family to take over the estate."

"Just the males?" I ask

"Correct." He nods, "It is a long tradition that the first born male becomes the next master of the estate. I am hoping to eventually change this for the generation after my son. That it will be the first born rather than the first son. However that law will only apply to his children and the ones afterwards."

"So you are worried this person is going to wipe out your heirs?" Gai asks.

"Yes." he nods. "I am an only child. If they kill me and my son then the next one in line would be my daughter Yuka. If they kill all of us then they will become the next masters of the estate and their family would carry on."

There is a small knock on the door.

"I wonder who this could be." Masuno says loudly. "Enter."

The door opens and a young girl, about 12, peeks through the opening.

"Ah Yuka." Masuno says with a big smile. "Please come here sweetheart."

Yuka walks over to her father and looks over curiously at us.

"Are these the ninja?" She asks.

She has a blank look to her eyes. Her eyes are a light amber and seem to look through your soul. She gives me a smirk.

"Yes, this is Mizuki and Gai of the Hidden leaf." He puts his hand around her shoulder. "They are here to make sure nothing happens to us."

"Hello." She gives a slight bow, her eyes never leaving mine. "I hope you will make sure my father stays alive."

"No worries." I say with a smile. "We will keep your father safe."

"Now I know you two must be tired. We can discuss more of this later." Masuno clears his throat. "I am afraid because of the upcoming ceremony we only have one room left in the mansion."

"That's no problem." Gai puts his arm around me and gives Masuno a thumbs up. "We are not picky."

I give a sweat drop.

"Very well." Masuno gives a slight chuckle. "Yuka may you please take them to their room. I have to finish up some last minute plans with Asato."

"Yes father." She walks past us barely looking at us. "You two may follow me."

"I will be seeing you two at dinner. Feel free to roam around the grounds and get acquainted with the area after she shows you to your room." Yuki calls out.

"Thank you sir." We both bow and follow Yuka.

As we were walking down the hall we passed Asato who was going towards Masuno's office. I noticed him stare at Yuka. She continues walking, not even acknowledging his presence. He then looks up at me and gives a small nod and we continue on our way.

'I wonder what that was about.' I think as I look behind me at Asato.

Yuka stops in front of a door and opens it.

"This is where you two will be staying." She walks into the room and leans on the wall.

"This is lovely thank you." Gai places his bag near the bed as he strolls around the room.

"Let one of the servants know if you need anything." She says to us.

"Uh thank you, Yu-" I turn and she is gone.

I peek out the room and see she is nowhere to be found.

'What the fuck?!' I think as I close the door to the room. 'What a strange girl.'