Chapter 1-28
"How…" I paused midsentence and aborted my attack in favor of a somewhat hasty retreat just as the tip of a wind-enhanced blade passed through the spot my guts would have occupied. Unbothered I tried again. "How long is Unmo-sensei your teacher now?"
"Two years." My fellow student answered good-naturedly, but with a hint of terseness. He was taking these spars awfully serious, which I reckoned was to his credit.
"He seems…" I began just to pause again and slip back into the mist under my control.
'Water Release: Gunshot' The little glop of water slipped past the rocky outcroppings and headed for my target's left leg, where it was without much fanfare deflected by the angled blade of Chōjūrō's Wakizashi.
"like a pretty intense taskmaster." I stated with no heat, just remarking plainly on my observation during the past month I have been here now.
"I don't know." Chōjūrō hesitated for a second, maybe a bit uncomfortable with speaking about 'our' sensei behind his back when he was out doing a mission.
"It…" This time it was his turn to stop midsentence as he rushed with impressive speed and agility towards my position. Intent to use this training session for what it was I opted out of doing anything fancy or too advanced and met him instead in a close quarter altercation, where I could put my sword skills to the test against someone definitely much more skilled.
"It is harsh." He finally continued between pants and amidst a flurry of deflections and fluent evasions.
"But I like it." He said while he followed quickly my short slide back across the big smooth boulder, that had put me in a position, where I was able to raise my left hand in a lightning-quick motion and concentrate for less than a heartbeat.
"I…" I saw his eyes widen a fraction before he hastily ducked as the blade of my Water Clone, which had formed out of the mist just behind his back, went for his neck.
Giving a hint on his ability, his hasty downward movement led into a textbook mule kick, that disintegrated my clone in one swift motion, while our conversation had only halted for a fraction of a second.
"I improved a lot." He said as his leg was still extended and his upper body lowered in the previous dodge, which incidentally was the reason why he couldn't react to the second clone to his right and the way my one-handed tiger seal switched to snake.
'Water Prison Technique' The water of the first clone, which was still suspended mid-air like a popped balloon, flowed sideways instead of falling straight down and engulfed my opponent like the maw of a great beast. As jaws of water closed around Chōjūrō and formed a perfect sphere held by my second clone I could only watch faintly impressed as the form of Chōjūrō in my prison dissolved into water, too.
"That was incredible." I heard Chōjūrō gush honest praise from directly behind me and saw the tip of a sword enter my field of view under my jaw, the blade resting gently against the skin of 'my' neck.
A few meters away I smirked.
"You have gotten a lot better with the Shunshin…" I heard my water clone say and I couldn't help but smile as he slid his throat in one smooth but theatrical motion, that stumped Chōjūrō for just a second too long.
"Oh no!" Was the last I heard of him before my smile widened even further.
'Water Release: Wild Water Wave'
I released a powerful and widespread torrent of water, that easily swept up the remains of my last clone and more importantly Chōjūrō's immobile form, that was subsequently pushed over the cliff into the water of the bay below.
Keeping track of his descent into the waves below with my sensing to make sure he was fine I casually strolled towards the edge of the cliff myself and let go of the mist, that had shielded me from view and the blazing sun for the last hour.
Sun on my skin, sea breeze in my face, and the buzz of a decent workout coursing through my veins made it easy to keep the genuine smile on my face, which despite 'the mission' kept resurfacing more and more often.
But…
I could still feel it, the crankiness and annoyance just beneath the surface. My water control, my silent killing, and most of all my ken-jutsu reached new heights, but the rest was stuck in limbo. No wind, no gen-jutsu, no nothing while I was stuck in this paradise, away from home.
Eyes spotting the resurfacing form of my teammate I couldn't help but frown.
I… enjoyed training with him, I didn't even dislike being his teammate, the only thing I really didn't like was the fact that he was a Kiri-nin. Who was I kidding, if it wasn't for that, I would probably be his genuine friend, but….
Chōjūrō was my age and if I wasn't a 13-year-old super-secret supremely badass shinobi he would easily wipe the floor with me.
He was an absolute beast with a blade, that was only pushed even further by his highly impressive mastery of wind-chakra, which seemed to give him a sixth sense in close-quarter combat similar to my sensing.
That he was an extremely fast powerhouse only added to my worries.
He could kill Naruto's entire class without breaking a sweat, he would have no trouble with Hana…
'You are lucky I like you.' I thought as my frown was replaced by a fake smile while I jumped off the cliff, intent to enjoy the cool water, too.
While the sun kept burning down on me my eyes remained glued to a single spot on the back of my left hand. My right hand locked in a steadfast one-handed ram-seal still felt like a necessary crutch to keep my chakra as focused as my gaze and intent.
And then it began.
First, a single minuscule drop, then a second, a third, more and more tiny droplets of sweat appeared in exactly the spot I kept envisioning in my mind's eye.
A deep breath and I closed my eyes in concentration.
A handful of calming breaths later I opened my eyes again and saw a perfectly circular spot on the back of my hand covered by a thin film of untransparent moisture, that perfectly hid the skin underneath.
"Raaaa…raaaa." Two sudden screams of a passing seagull were apparently more than enough to break my concentration because I could only watch in annoyance as the accumulated water simply run down the side of my hand.
"Seems like we have a mission." Chōjūrō commented a few paced behind me, stopping his endless and cruelling katas.
"I hate Unmo-sensei's summons." I muttered as I stood up from my cross-legged seating position on a boulder on top of a rocky cliff, that marked one of the two outer points of the bay, that hid our little base.
"They are not bad." Chōjūrō said diplomatically as he came to stand next to me. "They are extremely useful and pretty subtle, you know."
"Still don't like them." The sound was definitely irritating, but the thought of having one of these critters hiding in the sky, keeping an eye on me without me realizing it was always in the back of my mind, and that was fucking annoying.
Hopping across the water of the bay we came to a stop near the secret entrance of the base, our intent to stand at attention and patiently wait for our sensei to emerge from the secret entrance was superfluous as only a second later a small wave pushed away from the cliffside.
Said wave, only a meter high, seemingly originated from a single tiny spot, which I knew by now was directly beneath the fancy seal and dragged all the water in a half-circle with it, revealing a head-high entrance, which usually was hidden beneath the surface, to the cave-network that housed the rebel's main base.
Apparently, this whole thing used to be a little safe house for a certain clan from the Land of Whirlpools, that was destroyed all the way back during the Second Shinobi War. Given the incredible seal, that I was currently trying and failing to spot with my eyes, I was quite certain, that that little tidbit was true.
Shaking my head, I watched Unmo step into the entrance and casually jump out of the hole in the water, that immediately closed behind him the second his feet passed sea level.
"Let's go." He stated without fanfare and without so much as a backward glance proceeded to run up the cliff.
'That guy has no chill at all.'
Thankfully I kept that thought to myself as I watched Chōjūrō race to catch up with 'our' sensei.
Mission briefings and getting supplies on the way, no wonder Kiri tended to get its ass handed to them, I thought uncharitably as I followed them.
'Whatever.' I shook my head again and finally got my ass in gear as well.
"We received news, that rumors are beginning to circle in villages close to the north-western border regarding possible sightings of Zabuza Momochi." Unmo stated in a no-nonsense manner as Chōjūrō and I hovered over a small creek, our flagons slowly filling up.
Our satchels were already filled with various fruits we picked up en route.
We kept quiet, intent to let our sensei continue and elaborate, which he thankfully did.
"Our job is to verify these rumors, find possible leads and lastly cover up said leads to prevent the village from following them."
...
"Zabuza Momochi is still very much a person of interest to us."