Chapter 9: The Mission

Date Posted: 10-Jun-2021

Author's Note: Another chapter! Even though it was to stick it to Demigod, I can honestly say the next chapter is the meeting, well mostly reunion between Yorukō and Kazuma. There'll be more action in the coming chapters especially against Tatsuya, and maybe even meeting another more…important character to our conjoint plot. R&R, let me know how you felt about the chapter!

Reader Review Corner

Host: Welcome everyone to another episode of Reader Review Corner!

Applause, Ancient takes a seat next to the host.

Host: How are you doing today, Ancient?
Ancient: Better since the last time. *Shudders at the memory of what happened with Yuina*
Host: Right… ready to do the review?
Ancient: Sure.

The host pulls the review up on-screen.

Demigod567: Great chapter bro!

Host: He seems to be praising you, Ancient. How will you respond?
Ancient: I appreciate how you feel, Demi, I really appreciate the review. Maybe you should post your next chapter so I can read some more of that Kazuma action!
Host: I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that.

The set begins to get colder and Ancient's right foot begins to freeze.

Ancient: Oh no…
Yorukō: Ancient! You and me need to talk!
Ancient: Yorukō-kun, how are you?
Yorukō: Cut the shit. I read what you told Yuina-chan, and now she's even more clingy to me!

Somewhere far from the set, Yuina sneezed loudly.

Ancient: My fault, did you want me to put you with someone else?
Yorukō: It's fine…just let me know next time, okay? Let me know when you make plans with me and not let me know about them.

Yorukō walks off the set satisfied.

Host: That went by much smoother than I imagined.
Ancient: Yeah, too smooth. Wait, MY'S STILL FROZEN! YORUKŌ!

"Kori-chan!" Yuina happily exclaimed, grabbing the petite girl in a hug.

"Yuina-chan, it's so good seeing you again!" Kori remarked with a smile.

"Wait a second." Yorukō interjected, cutting into the girls' reunion: "How do you guys know each other?"

"We're first cousins, Yuina-chan and I." Kori revealed.

This caused Yorukō to fall to the ground, much to both girls' shock. After a few moments, he got up from the ground with the most dumbfounded expression on his face. "C-C-Cousins?! How come I didn't know this?!"

"Yuina-chan didn't tell you?" Kori asked with a look of confusion.

"No!"

"Why didn't you tell him?" Kori asked, turning to Yuina.

"I-I…" Yuina looked down, fiddling her fingers to avoid the subject.

"It's fine, you were bound to find out anyway. I mean, how could you NOT see our similarities?" Kori asked, standing beside Yuina to demonstrate her point.

"I'd rather not answer that for my wellbeing." Yorukō somberly thought to himself before his expression got serious. "Wait, what more did you find out about Tatsuya?"

"Right." Kori said, her expression changing as well. "From what I found out, he always goes with groups of people to protect him. Turns out he's a high-ranking fanatic of that cult you were supposed to go investigate."

"If I may ask before you and Kori continue, Yorukō-kun," Yuina asked: "why do you need to find this man specifically?"

"Good thing you asked, Yuina." Yorukō replied: "Let's just say I need to bring his body back alive for a certain someone."

"So, like a bounty hunter?" Yuina asked. Yorukō nodded.

"I was supposed to find out intel on this man for a mission when I was still a part of…no. Those days are behind me now." Yorukō said, his mood darkening.

"Anyway," Kori cut in, gesturing the two to walk with her to a table in the cottage where a map was found: "It took me a while within these two days to get ahold of what he does, but I do know he goes to one of three small villages at certain times each day to spread some from of truth relating to the cult he is in."

"Why not try to do it in the Hidden Cloud Village?" Yuina interjected.

"He's not as stupid to try something like that, lest he wants to incur the wrath of the village's finest ninja. There's something else I found out about this man: aside from his rather strong affinity for wind, he doesn't really have anything else to use up his sleeve." Kori told the two.

"Where are these villages located?" Yorukō asked.

"The first one, Storm village is located here." Kori said, pointing to the first marking on the map, a village northwest from the teens' current location. "We're closer to this one that the other two, by foot it'll take less than an hour to get there. We can check there first."

She pointed to another one which was east from their current location. "This one is Tempest, one of the more deprived cities. He claims to give food to the needy but, he may use this to spread his false truth more and help create new fanatics."

"And finally, we have the Raion Village, south from here." Kori pointed to the village on the map. "This was actually the farthest one we have to deal with. By foot, we're looking at four hours, but if we press on and pass-through tree branches, the best I can say we'll get there in is about…two and a half hours."

"Alright, even though we just got here, I believe checking out the Raion Village first will be the wisest move. " Yorukō said.

"Alright, that makes some sense. When do you want to leave?" Kori asked.

Before Yorukō could answer, he felt and heard his stomach grumble, causing the two girls to look at him incredulously.

"I… never had much to eat since I had to fend off three hunters and kill three other people. Only thing I really had was soldier pills." Yorukō said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Kori looked ashamed when Yorukō said the first part, something Yuina picked up, noting to ask Kori about it later.

"That's no good, Yorukō-kun!" Yuina said: "I can cook something for us to eat!"

"Since when did you learn how to cook, Yuina-chan?" Kori inquired.

"Kaa-san taught me a few years ago before she passed…" Yuina recalled before getting sad remembering her departed mother.

"I'm sorry for asking, Yuina-chan, but at least she'd be proud of the fine kunoichi you turned out to be."

"Thanks. I needed that." Yuina said.

The two girls walked into the kitchen, Kori bringing out all of what she has, consisting of two types of meat, vegetables, and spices. "Sorry, Yuina-chan, but this is what I have. I've been mostly living my myself here, so I only really got enough for me."

"It's fine, I can make this work." Yuina told Kori, smiling.

Yuina took the materials from the girl before grabbing a knife to start cutting up the meat. She noticed that Kori would take occasional glances at the girl while she continued to cut up the food. sighing to herself, she continued to cut the food up at a decent rate before mixing them up.

"Kori, I couldn't help but notice you looking embarrassed when Yorukō-kun talked about leaving the village. Is there something you're not telling me?" Yuina asked.

"It's…something to do with the hunters, and Yorukō." Kori confessed, catching Yuina's attention.

"Hunter Ninjas? The squad you signed up for, right?"

"The same one. The Taiyōkage gave my group the order to kill Yorukō-kun." Kori admitted.

This caused Yuina to stop cutting the food and turned to Kori. "What?! How could he give that order when he-"

"-was the one to tell Yorukō-kun all about killing his friends and all that. He told me." Kori cut in.

"If that was it, then it's fine." Yuina dismissed, turning back to cutting.

"Wait, what? I thought you'd be more upset, considering your crush on him." Kori said, confused.

"Didn't he forgive you enough for him to come to you for help?" Yuina asked, Kori nodding in agreeance, allowing the girl to continue: "Then I forgive you too. I don't want to know what you did in that mission, but you're alive and well, right?"

"That...that's not all. There was something else." Kori said, her expression becoming nervous.

"Talk to me. What happened?" Yuina replied as she took the now cut ingredients and put them into a bowl, mixing them all together.

"I…I…" Kori stammered, scared to say what was on her mind.

"You…what?" Yuina asked, turning to look at her flustered cousin.

"I went out with him!" Kori shouted, a deep blush shown on her face.

"You…what?" Yuina asked, not sure how to process that information: "You…went out with Yorukō-kun? When?"

"A few months after he became an ANBU." Kori answered, looking at Yuina with slight tears in his eyes: "He didn't know. I basically…forced myself into his life."

"And how would he not know?" Yuina asked with slight abrasion, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"I used genjutsu on him to make him fall in love with me, but looking back at it, I should've never done that to him." Kori finally revealed, more tears falling down her face.

Yuina, after hearing all of that, took a deep breath and turned back to the food. She felt hurt knowing that Kori would do something like this, especially when she looked back and even now with how close they are. Yuina was the first person to congratulate Kori when she joined the hunter ranks, Kori being there for Yuina whenever she needed someone to talk to. The two girls remained in silence until Yuina managed to finish making the food for them to eat. She split the food into three, one for each shinobi. Taking each food out to where Yorukō was, the latter found sleeping in a couch close to the door of the cabin.

"I'll go wake him up." Kori said, not directly looking at Yuina. Yuina for her part placed the food on a constructed table in the cabin, not choosing to look at or answer her cousin either.

Crouching at the couch Yorukō was sleeping in, Kori began poking the boy to wake him up. "Yorukō-kun…wake up! He did not answer the first time, opting the girl to continue her tactic of waking the teenage boy up. After several failed attempts, Kori opted for a different method. Getting up, she walked to a room not too far from the couch and returned with a few kunai knives.

"Yorukō-kun… wake up!" Kori shouted, throwing the kunais at the sleeping boy. Before any could hit Yorukō, the boy somehow sprung to life and either dodged or deflected the kunais thrown at him.

"What the hell, Kori?!" Yorukō indignantly asked.

"Sorry! Yuina-chan needed you to be awake to eat! You haven't ate right since you left, right?" Kori quickly answered.

"It's whatever," Yorukō said, shrugging before breaking into a smile: "I'm hungry! What did you make, Yuina-chan?"

"I don't know what to call it…" Yuina said.

"It looks good and smells good too!" the teenage boy complimented, Yuina blushing right after.

The three nuke-nins took their seats around the table, each one getting their proportion to eat. Soon after they took their food, both Kori and Yorukō thanked Yuina for the food before Kori began eating while Yorukō dug right into the food, his behavior close to someone who hasn't eaten in years. The boy shredded through his food before letting out a deep breath.

"Phew! This is some of the best food I ever had! You might even give my mother a run for her money!" Yorukō said, praising the girl's cooking.

"You think so?" Yuina asked.

"Yep! With cooking like this, you would make a great wife!"

That comment caused all the blood in Yuina's face to drain which resulted in her face being redder than a tomato. Before she, Kori, or even Yorukō said anything, she passed out.

"Was it something I said?" Yorukō asked.

"Probably." Kori simply said, looking at the boy: "I'll put her to rest, when she wakes up we can all go together to check this guy out."

"No, I'll go alone." Yorukō said.

"Why?! It'd be three against one! That's favorable for us, isn't it?!" Kori countered.

"Correction. It would be three against one, yes, but remember you two are more like support types, making you the most vulnerable. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you two while I fight this Tatsuya person." Yorukō explained, his arms folded.

"I get what you mean but-" Kori argued before Yorukō placed his finger on her lips.

"Listen, it's not like I want you two not to do anything or even stay here. I need you guys to go to one of the great nations. I would say go somewhere like the Hidden Cloud due to us being close to it, but try to go to the Hidden Leaf."

"Why the Leaf?" Kori asked.

"It's simple for three reasons. One, I hear the current Hokage is Tsunade of the Sannin, someone like her will be able to protect you if you join their ranks. Two, if you join their ranks, chances are, we'll be protected from being hunted by our old village." Yorukō explained.

"Wait, what's the third reason, and what do you mean 'we'? Aren't you going to fight?" Kori asked, concerned.

"I'll never die if I have people that care about me. I'll make sure I get to the Leaf safely after I capture this man and finish my favor." Yorukō said, determined.

"Alright, when Yuina-chan wakes back up, we'll both head to the leaf." Kori said before hugging Yorukō tightly: "Stay safe out there, okay?"

"I will." Yorukō said before returning the hug. Soon enough, he grabbed both swords and walked to the door before looking back at Yuina.

"When I get back, I'll definitely let her know how I feel about her." Yorukō thought to himself before opening the door and taking off.

"Even though Storm Village is closest, I feel Tempest is the best place to investigate first. He might play on the less fortunate more there…" Yorukō spoke to himself before taking off in the direction of Tempest.

And that wraps the chapter up! Next chapter, a special meeting will happen! I'll leave you guys to figure out who it is!

Ancient signing out, peace!

Next chapter: Fateful Meeting on the Way to Tempest!