Trembling Steps - Distant Ocean
Overnight, Yorihiro became an only child.
Yorihiro's only sibling was a nameless girl who died alongside lady Yumika. Rumours of the daimyo's second son were just that, rumour.
Not that anybody actually believed that.
…except the daimyo himself.
Everyone was talking about it in the capital, and I with my practised hearing was picking up on all of it.
On the other hand, all the guards Haruka killed were replaced and forgotten. Nobody even bothered to investigate what happened, who was involved, or why they died. Sound ninja simply killed each other all the time.
As I made my way to where I'd meet Haruka I tossed my Hoari in the trash and I ripped the sleeves off my robe, leaving my arms exposed.
A dead girl doesn't need to follow a stupid dress code.
As usual, Haruka showed up at our rendezvous, and we left. Neither of us acknowledged the events of the previous day nor my changed appearance, which was fine by me.
I just want to get as far from here as I can right now…
We were setting up camp for the night.
That should have been the last outpost on the west.
"Girl, how's your transformation?"
I almost jumped.
You never talk to me!
"Um… I can pull it off."
Haruka nailed the last line for his tent, then stood in front of me with his arms crossed.
"Show me."
I fumbled to finish, before standing to attention and bringing my hands together.
Dog. Boar. Ram.
A poof of smoke and I was Rukia.
On instinct, my posture shifted and closed, which wasn't helped by the way he was dissecting me with his critical gaze.
"...you've used this form before."
I nodded nervously.
He stepped up and tested the material of my jacket.
"Clearly a transformation."
He then grabbed my hand, and prodded the arm a bit.
"Skin is less obvious."
His piercing gaze met my eyes, and I flinched back.
"...and a practised personality."
He let go and stepped back.
"It's good, but that won't get us through the border."
I'm sorry, what?
He continued, unphased by my shock.
"We'll buy some actual clothes for you to use in the next town, in the meantime, we'll work on improving the realism of the biological elements. At least I don't have to work with you on forming a persona. Do you have any others?"
I prodded my fingers together and tried to look at anything except him.
"Hehe, no, why would I have any other form, that would be ridiculous. What use would that-"
He pinched my shoulder to pop the transformation.
"Show me."
There wasn't room to refuse.
Dog. Boar. Ram.
A poof of smoke and I was Hei.
I slouched back comfortably, even as I started putting on the armour pieces I popped out before transforming.
"Yo."
"Hmm, Hei I presume?"
I leaned against a nearby boulder.
"That's right, you got a problem with that?"
"Hardly, your bounty isn't worth anything to me, but a wanted identity can be useful."
I shrugged.
"Whatever you say old man."
He pinched my shoulder again, and I immediately went red with embarrassment.
God damnit Hei, don't bad mouth Haruka!
"Let's get to work. Show me the girl again."
"Her name is Rukia."
"Good to know. Show me."
I brought my hands together-
He raised his hand.
"Without the clothes."
Are you some kind of pervert!? I'm not even 12!
"Stuff it. We're ninja, modesty isn't a part of our playbook. You're going to be wearing real clothes on top, so this is what we need to get right."
Urgh.
He just had to make sense didn't he?
I was Rukia.
"What's your business here?"
The village guards were scary, so I hid behind my grandfather.
Haruka wore a soft and cheerful smile and gave me a supporting pat on the shoulder in a kindly rough way.
I didn't think about how genuine he seemed, or that he was probably channelling the memories of his dead clansmen. I certainly didn't think about how much I was secretly enjoying the familial action.
There was more to it than the acting. The motion and contact made it seem like I was not under a transformation, which would help lower their guard. With the very real jacket I was wearing, my transformation survived.
"We're just passing through. Heard about some possible work opportunities up north."
"Makes sense, don't cause any trouble."
I kept a hold of my grandfather as we moved through town until we found a room to stay in for the night.
This wasn't like the supply runs in the land of rice paddies. The key here was to take it slow. We were delivering supplies and communications to one of Orochimaru's less than legal foreign bases, outing them or ourselves would ruin the operation entirely.
So Haruka left me in the room while he went to meet with our contact to figure out where we were supposed to make the dropoff. It reduced the odds of my inexperience getting in the way, which I could agree with.
We had stocked up before we departed this time.
We're going to be out of the country for a long time aren't we…
We moved on to the next country. Our objective, make a delivery in the hidden waterfall.
This is where Fuu is.
The only Jinchuriki that wasn't from one of the major five villages.
I should probably mention the Akatsuki if we meet… not that it's likely to happen.
…
I was Rukia, I was piggybacking on Haruka, and I was tired.
"Hang on sweety, we're almost there."
He's acting, he doesn't mean it.
I started to have to remind myself of that more often.
Getting into a hidden village was much harder than any regular village or city. So he was doing most of the heavy lifting, which meant that I needed an excuse to not blow our cover.
He had me practice keeping up the transformation while sleep deprived, then kept me awake a whole 24 hours before arriving here.
Urgh, a child's body isn't meant to take this kind of mental stress.
I leaned further into his shoulder in some vague hope that it would alleviate some of my sleepiness.
"Aw, and who's the sleeping little princess?"
"Huh?"
With great effort I raised my head and took in the foreign ninja who was talking at me with half-lidded eyes.
Not worth the effort.
I dug my head back into the comfortable nook on Haruka's shoulders, while quietly muttering to myself.
"'m no princess…"
"It's been a long journey, pardon my granddaughter."
"Haha, it's no issue. I have a daughter of my own who's her age. I understand."
Once we got a room for the night, Haruka had to carry me all the way to bed. There was no one around, so it must have been some sort of fatigue induced madness that prompted my last words before my transformation popped and I fell asleep.
"Goodnight grandpa."
Hidden villages were hard enough, but the major five were a no go. That was a mission that took years to pull off. So in the land of earth, our job was to make a dropoff at a discreet location that Orochimaru's agents could seek out on their own, without exposing themselves.
Rukia was definitely my stronger persona, but Haruka wanted to make sure she lost some of her heat, so I was Hei.
"Oh, be careful, there are bandits about. We should be getting a team from the hidden rock to clear it up soon."
I looked back over my shoulder at my boss.
"Hey, think you can let me deal with these bandits? I can't be bothered waiting around for a group of village brats to show up to deal with it."
Haruka smacked me on the shoulder plate.
Trying to disprove me being a transformation.
"You're a brat yourself, so don't get uppity. Remember that my generosity is the only thing keeping you around boy."
I shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah, I get that boss, but you're not going to get any business done here anyway."
"Fine, but be quick about it."
Rule number 1, never break character. Hei is a troublemaker who looks for fights, taking these guys out is less suspicious than laying low.
I waved back dismissively as I headed out.
"Whatever you say."
…
I sat atop a pile of bruised and knocked out bodies.
Ok, the difference between ninja and civilian is just stupid.
"So, remind me again, who's the boss here?"
The five guys who managed to stay conscious were on their knees in front of me.
"You are sir."
The other four nodded along, and I cleaned out my ear with my pinky.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."
""You are sir!""
I smirked,
"That's right. So pack up your shit and get out of here."
They scrambled to follow the order.
"Oh, by the way…"
I grabbed one of the large sacks filled with loot.
"...I'm taking this."
…
Why?!
What the hell was I supposed to do with a bag full of loot! I couldn't bring it with me and I couldn't sell it.
God damn it Hei.
Haruka's amusement at the consequences of me getting too in character was not helping.
Staying in character got me into this mess, staying in character better get me out.
"Oy, I beat up those bandits, here's some of the stuff."
I tossed the bag into the village square.
"Figure out who it belongs to, or don't"
I shrugged.
"It's not like it's my problem."
We got caught by a couple of hidden rock border patrol ninja, but Haruka dealt with them before they could alert anyone.
Haruka thought I was good enough to take part in the infiltration into the hidden grass village. We got in without any issues, and as usual he split off to find our contact. Unlike before however, I was left to wander. The hope was that we could get in and out of the village without needing to stay the night.
I… really wasn't expecting this.
"Hi, I'm Karin, what's your name?"
"R-Rukia."
Wait… isn't she a sensor..?
"Not that. What's your real name?"
…which meant she could easily see through my disguise.
Her loyalty can't be great if she abandons the village and joins Orochimaru later.
"Yumika, please don't tell anyone."
"Oh? Why shouldn't I?"
…because if it's a risk then Haruka will kill you!
Yup, not going to let him find out about this, so I needed to deal with it myself.
"I'll be your friend?"
"Why is that a question?"
"...I'm leaving later today."
She considered the option.
"I'll take it, but you need to spice it up a bit."
I'm getting blackmailed by a 9 year old. What do I have on me?
I had all my personal effects, Of which I had a couple of books and some candy I could hand off.
I had my ninja supplies, which included: explosive tags, smoke bombs, stink bombs-
Aha! Both Uzumaki and children have a natural inclination towards pranking!
I popped out a small pouch and filled it with stink bombs.
"These are stink bombs."
"Deal!"
She snatched the pouch out of my hand.
"So friend, wanna play?"
I've got 3 hours until I meet Haruka…
"Sure."
It can't hurt. It's not like something this mundane could have any consequences in the future.
"Next stop is the hidden rain village."
"No!"
Haruka stopped and stared me down.
"What was that?"
I cross my arms.
"Nope, no way."
I will not budge on this!
"We have our orders."
"Forget our orders, I choose life!"
He massaged the bridge of his nose, and I didn't think about the fact that he would have killed me for the backtalk half a year ago.
"Of all the times the child decides to act like a child… What's your problem?"
"The rain is all a sensing technique! We'll get caught the moment we enter the country!"
He stared at me blankly.
"You're serious."
"Yes!"
A moment of silence.
"Fine, we circle around."
While infiltrating the hidden stone village-
Not to be confused with the hidden rock village.
-We almost got caught by an off duty shinobi who wanted to check us out, but Haruka managed to deflect the line of questioning masterfully. Part of the effort put us in a restaurant, where I realised that I hadn't ever seen Haruka eat anything other than ration bars.
He doesn't eat much of the meal we ordered, and I pretend I don't notice.
We're in the land of wind.
We're not in disguise.
Orochimaru is already on good terms with them…
It would help explain why the hidden leaf wasn't aware of Orochimaru's involvement in the hidden sound. Their ally, the hidden sand, could be feeding them false intel.
On top of that, every sound ninja received a scroll of 'facts' they were to reveal about the village. That's what was in the scroll that Haruka tossed at me when my head was fried. Each scroll was different, and a mix of truth and fiction.
Apparently, someone in the higher ranks heard what our village was called, and consequently implemented a massive misinformation campaign to literally make us a village hidden by sound.
We still needed to sneak around so that we weren't noticed by civilians, grunts, enemy spies, or visiting leaf village ninja.
So why weren't we using our disguises?
Because that would reveal it to a potential future enemy. I only had two personas at the moment, so losing either of them would be a massive blow.
It was different from the infiltration we'd done up until then, but close to territory I was familiar with from before the trip.
Don't think about the excessive number of explosive tags you're giving them Yumika…
I had strong suspicions for where they would be used.
The land of rivers existed.
The infiltration component felt routine by this point, and both my Rukia and Hei transformations were far more accurate than they used to be.
Almost half a year since we left…
My and my brother's shared 12th birthday was coming up soon.
Why are we passing through the land of fire?
…because every other route would take us back through a country we'd already passed, so annoyingly enough, it made sense.
We made a delivery from some no name village and were en route back to the hidden sound now.
This being the 'plot' country, left me admittedly nervous.
Beyond just paranoia, there was good reason to be concerned.
Firstly, the hidden leaf boasted the highest population amongst the 5 great villages. Which meant they had more hands to patrol with.
Secondly, tracking bloodlines. The Hyuuga had 360 degree vision with ranges measured in kilometres. The Aburame had their bugs. The Inuzaka had their noses and tracking dogs. The Yamanaka were a clan of sensors. Etc…
Haruka had us travelling without transformation and with our headbands tucked away, because either of those were more likely to give us away than hide us.
I wasn't the only one who was nervous, surprisingly.
Although, nervous might not be right…
There was a tenseness to Haruka. With every step we took through the massive forest his hand would clench and release. I would also almost swear that he was holding his breath. It was strange because Haruka felt sort of untouchable.
"10 minutes until the valley of the end."
"Yes sir."
The valley marked the border, if we made it past we were home free.
A branch broke above us to the left.
"Halt!"
Haruka stopped immediately and raised his hands.
"We don't want any trouble, we're just travellers passing through."
I followed his lead and stopped beside him with my hands raised, which let me get a good look at the man who'd caught us.
He had a stiff but solid posture, and the thin katana strapped to his back hinted at his specialisation. His dull dark-grey hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He seemed to be in his mid 30s, and had a vertical scar over the right corner of his mouth. He wore a short sleeved variant of the village's standard uniform and a recognisable green flak vest.
Hidden Leaf Jonin.
"I doubt that Haruka."
My gaze shot to Haruka for orders, which let me catch the serious look on his face and he whispered.
"Stay back girl."
I nodded and jumped back out of the way.
It'll be fine. Haruka's strong.
Then the two moved.
Fast.
I couldn't keep track of their movements, and the sporadic clash of kunai against blade was the only thing that let me follow the fight.
Yet still, I was surprisingly calm.
A gust of wind blasted out from the swordsman's blade, which Haruka dodged further into the forest. When the leaf ninja followed, I completely lost sight of the battle.
Be safe…
He would be fine. I on the other hand-
Movement!
I dove to the side with a roll, barely avoiding the kunai that buried itself in the tree behind me.
Three figures came out of the woodwork, around age 14. A boy who looked a bit scruffy, with pronounced canines, and facial tattoos; A girl with her hair tied back wearing a short blue dress; and a guy with opaque glasses and a large jacket.
Of course he has a genin team. I would guess the guys are Inuzaka and Aburame, and the girl is probably clanless.
I raised my hands nervously.
"Hey, hey. No need for that."
The supposed Inuzaka relaxed.
"Pft, I don't get what sensei was so worried about. Look at how small she is, I bet she isn't even a ninja."
My brow twitched ever so slightly, while the supposed aburame answered.
"Yet here she is Shita."
I sighed.
"Could I guess that you're an Aburame and an Inuzaka?"
I shook my head.
"Actually, don't answer that. I'm just assuming you are. That means there's a dog sneaking around somewhere ready to pounce me, and I'm probably already covered in bugs. I can't win. There's no point in fighting here."
Maybe if I'd managed to get my hand on some of that chlorine gas-
"Not for you, but the faster we deal with you, the faster we can help sensei."
The girl added, and I resisted the urge to snort.
As if any of us could contribute anything to a battle between jonin.
"Well congratulations, you've dealt with me. What happens now?"
Shita snorted.
"You're not even going to try to run?! What kind of a pansy are you?"
I'm an adult, I'm not going to respond to such childish provocations.
"Sure, run from two of the world's most renowned tracking clans. That'll work out."
Okay, not quite as mature as I thought I was.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself.
"In all seriousness, my name's Yumika, I deliver supplies and mail. We were just passing through. We're not assassins, spies, or saboteurs. We're just on our way home. I've been out for half a year now and was hoping to make it back in time for my brother's birthday. So… please."
They started a silent conversation of looks and gestures.
I've made them uncomfortable at least.
They came upon an agreement, and Shita spoke up.
"Fine. Don't move, we'll wait for sensei."
I could still hear the clash of blades, and the occasional explosion.
He's never taken this long.
A crash sounded from nearby, and I saw Haruka. Unphasable Haruka, untouchable Haruka, indestructible Haruka, covered in blood and breathing heavily.
The illusion of safety shattered, and I didn't even realise I was shouting his name until he looked back at me.
"Haruka!"
Despite himself, I caught the sliver of concern in his eyes.
"Tch, so you had a gaggle of brats backing you up? How like the hidden leaf to send children to do its work."
"They won't face any harm as long as I'm here, Haruka. Not from you."
The hidden leaf jonin had barely taken any damage.
Haruka tossed a pair of kunai, one strapped with an explosive tag. The throw was far more clumsy than his usual pinpoint accuracy, and they were both deflected by a sweep of the man's sword.
I need to help.
I couldn't.
I took in the three genin surrounding me.
Think, plan, something.
I must have been visibly panicked, because they were all fully alert again.
Another clash. I could follow Haruka's movements now, he was slowing down.
The enemy wasn't.
I need to help.
I couldn't.
Stink bomb for the Inuzaka. Smoke to cover my movement-
I was hyperventilating.
There was a blast of wind, and Haruka collapsed against a tree. Then, the leaf jonin walked up, slowly, blade in hand.
I stopped thinking, and moved.
Suddenly I was between the two jonin, a pair of shaking hands holding my kunai out in front of me.
The man looked down at me, an unreadable expression on his stern face.
"Child, move."
A wave of murderous intent washed over me, and my legs wobbled to keep me standing.
"So you can kill him? Why!? We were just passing through, we're going home! I thought you were the good guys, but if this is how you guys act then-"
He stepped closer, his expression now tinted with a resigned pity.
"It's much more complicated than that-"
"Then explain it to me!"
I was panicked. I wasn't thinking straight.
He sighed and stepped down onto a knee, meeting me at eye level.
"How old are you?"
He asked calmly.
"Almost 12."
"Then you probably don't remember the war."
I looked down.
It's always that.
"Did he hurt someone close to you?"
"Yes."
He answered without hesitation.
"That's why you want to kill him?"
"That's right."
My fists clenched around the knife, the knuckles going white, and I looked into the man's eyes with renewed determination.
"Then you're after the wrong person."
"Yumika-"
"Shut up, don't care."
I interrupted Haruka's tired statement.
The pity was still there, the jonin saw me as some foolish child.
"Your second hokage decided that ninja were tools. It's part of your ninja code isn't it? It's not Haruka you want, it's the daimyo!"
He sighed, his patience probably approaching its end. He was about to say more-
"Listen up!"
I brought my hand to my chest.
"My name is Yumika Nogawa, the daimyo is my father. His blood is my blood. So if blood must be spilled, let it be mine! If you must take your vengeance, take my life!"
After a moment, the man stood up. The shadow over his face obscured his expression.
I lost sight of him and barely felt him strike the back of my neck before I blacked out.
Yumika Nogawa
Affiliation: Hidden Sound Village
Rank: Genin
Clan: Shiin (Branch)
–
Ninjutsu: 1.5
Taijutsu: 2.5
Genjutsu: 0.5
Intelligence: 3.5
Strength: 1.5
Speed: 1.5
Stamina: 0.5
Hand Seals: 1.5
–
Total Score: 13
–
Jutsu Known (uses before chakra exhaustion): Clone (43), Shadow Clone (1), Transformation (33), Rasengan (1)
Other Skills: Bow and Quarterstaff; Wall and Water walking; Strength and Speed technique; Stealth; Blind-Fighting (Amateur); Infiltration.
Unique Abilities: Walking Storage Scroll.