Thank you for all the kind reviews so far! It's really nice knowing that people are enjoying this and picking up on some of the little things I doing ^_^
"So this is Bakugakure?" Shikamaru asked as the village finally came into view.
It was smaller than Konoha by a fair margin, and surrounded by a wall of brightly decorated stones of varying colours and size. The people seemed happy enough and particularly welcoming of strangers, which was unusual, even for a tourist town.
"Oh wow! Your hair is so pretty!" a woman praised Ino as they passed. "If you ever need a cut, I know of a great salon!"
"O-oh, uh, thank you," Ino smiled, bowing a little and looking to Itachi for guidance.
"Ah, a bunch of growing young lads!" a man called from what Shikamaru guessed to be a ramen bar. "Why don't you pull up a stool and have some lunch?"
Choji took a step in the man's direction, only to be stopped by Itachi's hand on his shoulder.
"Perhaps later, we're just passing through at the moment," their sensei replied cordially.
"Suit yourselves, I'm open 'til late!"
Ino shuddered, wrapping her hands around her shoulders, "These people seem kinda creepy."
"Bakugakure isn't exactly poorly off, they could stand to be… less welcoming," Itachi agreed slowly.
"I don't think they're welcoming," Shikamaru frowned.
Choji's stomach growled. "Hopefully with these guys being so chatty the mission won't take long," he said as Itachi lead them to one of the village's inns.
"On the contrary, that might actually make it harder," he said, urging them up the stairs while the desk staff weren't looking. After breakfast, Itachi had explained he was only able to get a single room due to the upcoming festival, much of the rooms booked out by regular tourism or workmen doing odd-jobs around the village in preparation. As such they needed to be careful with coming and going from the inn.
"What makes you say that?" Choji wondered once they were safely hidden away in their room.
"If these people are so friendly to strangers, it's as much a danger as it is a boon," Itachi explained, taking his wallet from the bed and stowing it away. "Sure we might get a lot of information, but all it takes is one person blabbing to Tachihara that we're asking about him for the mission to fail."
"So how are we supposed to find out information about him without asking people?" Choji asked.
"You tell me, what do you think the best method is?" Itachi asked, his dark eyes scanning over all three Genin.
"Well, it'd be easier if we knew what he looked like," Shikamaru noted, eyebrows pulled together in thought.
"What do we actually know about Tachihara?" Ino frowned.
"Not a lot," Itachi admitted, removing the mission scroll and unravelling it on the bed for everyone to see. "We know his name, that he's been here for around two weeks, has a bad reputation and a speech impediment."
Choji frowned. "Speech impediment?"
Itachi hummed, "A stammer, or something to the effect usually. Sometimes a verbal tick like elongating s's or the overuse of the word like."
"That's… pretty vague," Ino hedged.
Itachi nodded. "It just means we have to be subtle about our interrogation."
"We could use Transformations?" Choji suggested. "If they don't know who we are, then Tachihara won't know Konoha ninja are asking about him, right?"
"It's a good idea, Choji," Itachi praised.
He didn't sound sold on it though, with Shikamaru saying as much. "But not the best one?" Itachi shrugged a shoulder. "Well, what would you recommend, oh wise Sensei?"
"Less of the sarcasm for a start," Itachi said flatly. "And I lean more on genjutsu than Transformation, but that doesn't mean Choji's idea was bad." He turned his attention to Ino. "How subtly do you think you can enter someone's mind?"
"Uh… well, the Mind Transfer isn't exactly subtle and I don't actually gain any intel just by transferring. So it's probably more of a last resort, or else taking control of an unconscious person?" Ino tentatively explained.
Itachi nodded. "Alright, that's doable." Shikamaru had the impression it had thrown a wrench in Itachi's plan and irritated their sensei, but since Itachi didn't outwardly complain, Shikamaru thought it best not to comment either.
"For now, we'll unpack, change into civilian gear and use minor Transformations to make ourselves look like strangers. Then we'll spread out, try find somewhere with locals and just listen," Itachi ordered. "Listen to conversations and recall as much as you can about the people here and their plans. We'll meet back here in the evening and feedback. Hopefully we'll have a list of people that might bump into Tachihara we can either tail, control or impersonate."
"Is it okay to go around unarmed?" Shikamaru wondered.
"Are you really unarmed? You all have taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu at your disposal. All I'm asking is to leave your headbands and weapons behind."
"What about if room service finds us here?" Choji asked.
"I'm going to put genjutsu on the door," Itachi explained. "Anyone touching the door will forget why they needed to be there and leave. We'll be using the window," he added in response to the confused expressions of his students.
"Well, if that's all sorted, looks like there's only one thing left to discuss."
"Oh yeah? What's that Ino?" Shikamaru asked.
"Who gets the bed, duh!"
Shikamaru looked around the room. Ino was right, there was only one bed the room and while it was currently only occupied by a mission scroll, they'd all spent the last three nights sleeping on the floor. Cautiously, he met eyes with his teammates, seeing the same wary but determined expressions on Ino and Choji's faces. As one, they looked to Itachi, to see if he would challenge them. He looked as calm as ever. Bored almost.
Silence stretched between them.
"I'm going for a shower. If you're going to fight over the bed, I'll have it," Itachi began sternly. "If you can share, I'm fine on the floor and you three can rotate bed privileges." Without waiting for confirmation from his team, Itachi unsealed his bag from its scroll and disappeared into the adjoining bathroom.
Shikamaru frowned. The room wasn't big enough for all of them to sleep on the floor, but with one on the bed, they could manage. It would be a total drag though. Not to mention the room was generally sparse. One bedside table with a lamp on it, window opposite the door. Shikamaru assumed the bathroom would be equally mediocre and quietly hoped that it wasn't the kind of setup where the hot water could be used up, leaving Shikamaru, Choji and Ino to wash in frigid water.
"We go on the bed in the same order as we kept watch?" Shikamaru offered.
Ino's eye twitched, "So you get to go first?"
"Sensei said to pack for a month, you'll get your turn. We'll probably be here at least a week," Shikamaru reasoned.
"Keep your voices down," Choji warned, his eyes on the bathroom. "If Sensei hears us arguing he'll take the bed all for himself."
"Good point..." Ino frowned. "Rock, paper, scissors? Winner gets the bed tonight and the winner after that tomorrow? Loser goes last."
"Sure."
"That seems fair."
Itachi returned almost half an hour later accompanied by a swathe of steam, clad in grey trousers and a drab blue long sleeved shirt with a high collar, his long dark hair damp and loose around his elbows. He looked about to throw his pack on the bed but changed direction mid-swing and threw it into one corner instead. "Did you sort the sleeping arrangements out?" he asked.
"Yeah, Ino, me, then Choji," Shikamaru confirmed from his bed on the floor. He and Choji had also changed into plain clothes while Ino waited with her washbag, though she'd at least removed her headband and weapon pouches.
"I'm gonna clean up too," Ino said softly, getting up and slipping past Itachi into the bathroom.
Their sensei settled by his pack, dropping his towel on one leg so his hands were free to dig through his belongings.
"What're you looking for?" Choji asked, shifting for a better view of Itachi.
"Ink and a brush," Itachi replied. "I'm going to ward the window, and if you're all happy with it, I'd like to put a small seal on you all so you can come and go from the room without triggering the ward."
"Does the ward make a noise?"
"No, it's more like a feeling," Itachi paused, ink and brush in hand. "It's hard to describe, but it's similar to the feeling when you displace a genjutsu. It won't hurt," he added, obviously of the mind that's what Choji was fretting about.
"Oh…" Choji blinked. "I… guess that's okay then?"
Back to them, Itachi coated the window frame in sigils that Shikamaru didn't recognise while they waited for Ino. "Will you both be getting clean too?" he wondered.
"Later, I want dinner first," Choji argued.
Shikamaru nodded. "We don't smell that bad. No worse than regular teenagers anyway. Do we all have to eat separately?"
"No larger than pairs, but I would prefer alone, yes," Itachi agreed.
Ino reappeared soon after and Itachi re-explained what was happening while he drew the seal on Choji's upper arm, moving onto Shikamaru to do the same.
"So, these allow us to go around without being noticed?" Ino asked as Itachi moved to apply hers.
"People can still see you, so it's up to you all to find opportune times to enter and exit, but my ward won't be triggered," Itachi corrected. "The seal is better placed under clothing, in case your Transformation is lost," he added, waiting for Ino to offer him some skin.
She turned and pulled up her shirt, exposing her back. "How come you don't use genjutsu on the window as well?" she asked as he worked on her seal.
"I would if this was a higher ranked mission. As it is, I'm only taking these precautions because the people here are overly nosy and I could rather do without failing our first mission out of the village."
"Yeah, it probably wouldn't look good huh?" Shikamaru mused, stretching and grabbing his wallet. "Choji and I are gonna head out first and look for a place to eat. Later." Choji joined him and after glancing out the window, both waved a hand and were gone in a flash.
"So, where do you wanna head?" Choji asked as they walked the street, being as polite as they could to passersby who greeted them.
"Somewhere with a lot of people. We can wander through looking for seats and pick up info that way. If we can at least get a description of Tachihara or the location of somewhere he frequents that'll get things moving," Shikamaru replied, looking around as they walked.
"Then we also need somewhere the locals go too?"
"Maybe. It could also be worth just checking anywhere out though, maybe some of the contractors are bandits?" Shikamaru suggested. "And in general it's harder to overhear conversations when there are lots of people around, so our target should be where there's less chance of being overheard."
"Alright, but like… alleys in the dead of night are also a good place to exchange information," Choji pointed out.
"Only if you aren't spotted."
"I guess… Oh, hey, look," Choji pointed to a pack restaurant, Shikamaru humming in agreement. "Ew… it's a vegetarian joint."
"Suck it up, Choji, vegetables don't taste that bad."
"They don't fill you either! I can eat three bowls of salad and feel no fuller. Now, three bowls of chicken wings…"
Shikamaru sighed, "Choji…"
They went inside anyway and were assaulted by the smells of vegetables and fruit. Each plate they passed looked amazing and Shikamaru noticed more than a few burgers and fries. It wasn't traditional, but nothing about Bakugakure seemed traditional. All the buildings had bright lights, multiple levels and overbearing staff as they discovered when a young woman collared them while they looked around.
"You two don't have a table do you?"
"Ah, no, sorry, we were just looking for one," Choji replied, smiling gently.
"Well, I think we have one by the window. If you go back to the door and wait, I'll check for you," she insisted.
"Oh, no we don't want to be a bother," Shikamaru added.
"Not at all. I'll be right back, go on now," she shooed, Shikamaru and Choji relenting with sighs.
"Is this really okay, Shikamaru?" Choji mumbled as they walked back.
"I mean… I guess so? Just keep an ear out and we'll see." They passed the various tables, women and men talking amongst themselves or bidding the two ninja greetings as they passed.
"Nice weather we're having huh?"
"Oh you two are new? You should have the green bean salad – fresh and local."
"T-thank you, I'll give it a try," Choji said, glaring as the woman who spoke added, "Slimming too."
Shikamaru put a firm hand on Choji's shoulder. "Chill it Choji. We're just here to enjoy dinner, right?"
"Yeah," Choji replied after a long moment, sagging as they continued their way.
They were eventually lead to a table by the waitress from before and sat down, gleaning very little along the way.
"I really don't think this is worth it," Choji hissed under his breath once their orders were taken. "These guys know nothing and talk about even less."
"You're just upset. We've been here less than ten minutes. Let's just give it a bit, Choji," Shikamaru soothed, leaning back and relaxing, his attention drifting to the family chatting idly behind him. They were talking on about very little, as Choji noted; the weather, what tasks they had to do at home, how the children shouldn't bother the builders at the town hall-
"Tachihara told you both you need to stop coming by, building sites are dangerous," the children's mother insisted, Shikamaru's ears twitching to attention.
"I wonder what's going on at the town hall?" he asked Choji, loud enough to be heard by the surrounding tables.
Choji tilted his head in confusion. "Dunno… I didn't even realise there was a town hall.."
"Oh yeah, it's in the middle of town," explained a man to their left, smiling warmly at them. "But it's under construction, ready for the festival. Ya see there was some structural instability in the base, so these kind builders are taking care of it."
"Builders?" Choji asked, "I mean, that's real nice of them, but doesn't that seem… a little dodgy?"
The man blinked. "Why do you think that? Strangers deserve our trust. They're all good people and assuming that they have ill-intent only breeds that ill-intent."
"I see…" Shikamaru said softly, smiling, "Sorry, we've been on our own a fair while. A rogue ninja killed our parents. Now we go around towns looking for work."
"Ah, how noble," the man praised. "I'm sorry about your parents, but if you need work, feel free to ask around, the builders might even have a spot for two kids, if you're good at running messages around?"
Shikamaru gave a happy chuckle. "Yeah, maybe. We'll be sure to ask tomorrow!"
Choji gave Shikamaru a curious look, but didn't comment and when their food came they ate mostly in silence before paying their bills and leaving, heading back to the hotel.
"Looks like we're first back," Choji noted, the room exactly how they'd left it. "How come you told those people we're orphans?" he asked Shikamaru who flopped down on the room's bed.
"You mean about the rogue ninja killing our parents? I wanted to see if that would make them think of the bandits that are supposed to be here, or remind them that not everyone has good intentions. What they're saying just… didn't sound right," Shikamaru reasoned, frowning.
"Yeah… it is fishy," Choji agreed. "But, maybe they are just stupidly nice people?"
"Stupid is definitely the word I would use," Itachi sighed from the windowsill, slipping in with Ino following quickly behind.
"Did you guys find anything out – wow!" Choji balked. Shikamaru looked over and his eyes blew wide. "Wh-what happened to your face, Sensei?"
Itachi looked less than pleased, a bruise blooming on his cheek. Ino, her hair the same black as Itachi's and eyes dark blue like Sasuke's sat beside Shikamaru on the bed before cancelling her Transformation. "Itachi-sensei and me pretended to be siblings, and a guy made a dirty remark about my butt, Sensei called them on it and he got in a fight with a bunch of builders."
"And lost?!" Shikamaru frowned.
"No. I knocked one of them out. The one who being rude about Ino," replied Itachi, flopping down on the floor.
"And then got your butt kicked by six guys."
Itachi shot Ino a dark look, "On purpose."
Choji and Shikamaru started laughing, the mental image of their ANBU ranked Sensei losing to normal people utterly hilarious. "Don't worry, Sensei, we won't tell anyone," Choji promised.
"Yeah, we won't break your fragile ninja pride," added Shikamaru with a grin.
Itachi's lip curled, though it didn't look insulting, in fact, Shikamaru reckoned Itachi was snickering. "Thanks. I hate all three of you," he said softly, not sounding like he meant it.
"Aw come on, Sensei. I thought you were really brave and chivalrous defending my honour," Ino smiled.
Itachi's lip twitched again as he rested his head in his hand, mindful of the bruise. "Well, all the same, we found out the builders are in league with Tachihara. They're probably the bandits. Though I think some of the group were townsfolk," he said, getting back to business.
"Yeah, we found out the same," Choji said. "They're working on the town hall."
"It's possible the disruption Lord Hokage is worried about is there," Shikamaru added.
Itachi nodded, "Possibly so. We'll have to investigate."
"Not that they'll want to see Ino or Itachi around there," mused Choji.
"Well, we'll just transform again," Ino reasoned. "It'll be fine. Or you two can go."
Itachi spoke up. "We'll go scout it out first. Under the cover of night when most people should be in their homes, that way we shouldn't be bothered."
"What about if the bandits or Tachihara are there?" asked Ino.
"Observe but don't engage. We don't want them to know we're here. For now though," Itachi said. "We'll head into the forest. If we're going to infiltrate a building I think it might be prudent to teach you all a new technique."
Shikamaru frowned. "New technique?"
Itachi nodded, pushing to his feet and turned to the wall, slowly walking up it until he met the ceiling, barely hesitating before stepping onto it and walking back towards his team, hair hanging down to the ground while the rest of him appeared comfortably supported.
The three's eyes widened, with Ino and Choji looking practically giddy.
"Yes! Dad's always doing that and kept saying I had to wait before he'd show me how to do it!" she exclaimed happily.
"Same, I got told I'd learn after graduating, but then he was usually out on missions," Choji agreed.
"Why can't we do it in here?" Shikamaru asked.
Dropping from the ceiling to the floor and sweeping his ponytail out of the way, Itachi shrugged a shoulder. "I haven't taught it to anyone before, but I got told generally it's better to do it in a forest. There's more ground to cushion your fall and some groups can be really noisy doing it."
"You mean you weren't?" Ino wondered.
"I have near perfect chakra control and I'm a fast learner. I could do it first try."
"But you don't think we can?" Shikamaru inferred.
"I don't know," Itachi replied, and it did seem in earnest. "But I do know what I can do isn't the general standard a lot of the time. So just this once, I'll listen to my senpai."
"Is that what the other Jonin were asking you about back then that time?" Choji asked. Itachi walked over and jabbed Choji in the forehead with two fingers. "Ow!" Choji balked, covering his head.
"You shouldn't be so nosy," their Sensei remarked, a slight pull of his lip and difference in tone displaying his amusement.
Relenting to their Sensei's wishes before the sun set, Team Ten followed Itachi into the woods, heading a couple of hours out of Bakugakure.
"We won't stay too long," Itachi said, stopping in a clearing. "I'll show you the jutsu again and you can all work out how it was done before trying yourselves. We'll go back to the hotel at ten pm."
Choosing a tree, Itachi walked up it slowly and dangled from a branch again, looking back to the group of Genin.
"Well… it's obviously related to chakra," Shikamaru started. "And since like, your shirt and hair aren't defying gravity, the chakra is focused on a particular point."
Itachi nodded, "Good. Where?"
"Your feet," Choji said. "It's like they're sticking to the tree."
"That… there must be more to it though," Ino frowned, pressing her hand to the bark of a tree. Leaning a little, Shikamaru could see her hand was coated in chakra and a little tug of Ino's arm showed that it was visibly stuck.
"A little, yes," Itachi said, his voice tinged with praise.
Choji joined Ino at a different tree, lifting his foot and testing chakra against the trunk. Shikamaru frowned and crouched, his fingers coming together and his eyes slipping shut.
"Oh, Shikamaru has his thinking face on-"
"Shut up, Ino!" Shikamaru snapped, frown deepening. He wanted to figure this out, and kind of wanted to do it first. Itachi was charging chakra to his feet to walk up the tree and defy gravity. Ino's hand, caked in chakra, stuck to the tree but didn't move.
"Ah!" Shikamaru startled as Choji cried out. "Choji! You okay?"
"M-my foot went through the bark!"
Getting up and going over to look, Ino coming too, they saw Choji's foot , very much buried into the tree.
"Well that's obviously not right," Ino chided.
"I fucking know that, Pig!"
"Fatass!"
"Don't start you two! Ino, help me get his leg out," Shikamaru cut in. Sighing, Ino did help support Choji's weight along with Shikamaru while Choji worked his foot free.
"Thanks," the boy mumbled.
"What happened?" Shikamaru pressed.
"I don't know, I was just charging chakra in my foot and it cracked the bark. I thought maybe that's just what happens and tried to step up. Bad idea, went into the tree."
Forming a theory, Shikamaru asked, "Did you use a lot of chakra?"
"Well. Yeah, I mean, it's gotta support our weight right? You can't just use a little."
Or maybe you could… Shikamaru ran off to Itachi's tree, which showed no signs of cracked bark and drew chakra to his hand then pressed it to the tree. It cracked as he pressed, so he lowered the amount of chakra until it just felt like it was stuck. Reaching higher, he used his other hand with a similar amount of chakra and pulled up his legs. He held.
"Wow! Shikamaru! You're doing it!" Choji cried with a grin.
Dropping back to the ground, Shikamaru tried it again with his feet, getting one stuck, then the other above it. He was vertical, great, but as his balance went and he careened towards the ground, Shikamaru realised only as far as his ankles had stuck to the tree. "Argh…" he grumbled, curling in on himself.
"That was a good attempt," Itachi's voice came from above, "What did you learn?"
"That you don't actually need much chakra. You only need enough to stick to the tree," Shikamaru said, slowly standing up again. "But balancing is awful. Only my foot was stuck."
Itachi hummed in affirmation, "If you take it at a run it might help, standing still horizontally is rather uncomfortable."
"How do you compensate for that?"
Itachi hopped back to the side of the tree and crouched. "The closer you are to the tree the easier it is to support yourself. Fully stood, you can use chakra to support yourself, but there's generally very little reason to stand straight when on a vertical surface."
"So you're just showing off?"
"I'm going slow. Sorry if that's the impression I'm giving."
Growling, Shikamaru took a couple of steps sideways, to avoid Itachi, then backed up and started to run at the tree. Chakra at his feet, Shikamaru made a whole two steps of progress, wobbled and had his arm caught by Itachi so that he wouldn't topple. "My feet… they aren't unsticking."
"Why would they? You're using your chakra to stick to the tree," Itachi replied simply.
"Are you shitting me? You have to gather it and ungather it for each step?! That's a total drag!"
"It gets easier the more you do it. Like a baby learning to walk for the first time."
Shikamaru groaned. Using Itachi's arm to help him to balance, he wobbled up the side of the tree, not unlike a toddler, slipping and jerking as his chakra levels weren't quite right. Still, in the end he did make it up to the same branch Itachi had been on.
"Want to go upside down?" his Sensei asked.
"Hell no. Let go, I'm jumping down," Shikamaru replied. Crouching once he was released, Shikamaru sprang from the tree, flipping to land on his feet. He looked to his teammates who were still struggling. This was going to take a while.
In the end, it took them a couple of days to properly work out the tree climbing technique and a couple more to properly master it. They weren't experts, but they could climb and dangle and jump through the trees with only minimal wobbling and no damage as Itachi insisted it was better to use less chakra than too much, especially in stealth operations.
As evening finally gave way to night on the end of their first week in Bakugakure, Team Ten laid out their plan. Choji, Shikamaru and Ino would do the main bulk of scouting while Itachi hung back, keeping in touch via comms and surveying the town hall from one of the taller buildings, so he could see if anyone was approaching.
They had forgone disguises for this portion, though Itachi had warned that they may need to run or Transform at a moment's notice.
"Alright, I'm in position, are you three ready?" Itachi's calm voice came over the comms.
Ino hummed, "West side looks clear."
"East is good too," added Choji. "There's some scaffolding this side."
"Yeah, the south is good too," Shikamaru responded.
"Be careful around there, Choji. We don't know how real those construction claims are," Itachi warned. Choji hummed an affirmative and after a moment, in which Shikamaru assumed Itachi was double checking his area, their Sensei called, "Okay, go!"
Re: the situation with Ino's butt.
I envisioned it as a teenager somewhere between Ino and Itachi's age and in the very first iteration of this idea, it was going to be Tachihara himself, who is currently 16. Because 16 is older than Ino's 13 and barely younger than Itachi's 17, they both say 'guy', but they do mean a person of a similar age to them.