AN: Chapter title: Morning Rendezvouses
Eight Shinobi made up the Daimyo Escort Squad.
Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Might Guy, Kakashi Hatake, Ko Hyuga, Hana Inuzuka, Muta Aburame, and Sasuke Uchiha.
Asuma was the squad leader for rather obvious reasons. He would freely admit he wasn't the strongest on the squad but he was the only one who had the proper background for the position. His choice for his second-in-command was also rather obvious, to him at least, in Hana Inuzuka.
At the moment, the bearded Jonin and Chunin were going over their joint plan after they had commandeered the Jonin Standby Station for their own use.
It had left the other six members of the unit to find a way to occupy themselves.
It being so early, before dawn even, left them few options.
Shinobi weren't exactly…talkative by nature. Paranoia, distrust, and more usually kept them silent among people they were unfamiliar with. Double so when it came to unfamiliar Shinobi even from the same village. It didn't help matters much that only half the squad had worked with each other before, could even call themselves friends. Of the rest of the squad, the closest to those four would be Hana Inuzuka and that was only because she and Kurenai had conversed a total of four times since Team Kurenai had passed their Genin Test. Of the other three, Ko Hyuga rarely left the village in the past ten years with his duty to the Hyuga Clan, Muta Aburame had only just returned to active duty after certain complications during the attempted invasion, and Sasuke Uchiha…was Sasuke Uchiha.
His inclusion came at the Daimyo's recommendation alone.
Said Uchiha was currently in a staring contest with one of the two ninken Hana had left with the group, the last of the Three Haimaru Brothers standing guard at the door to the Jonin Standby Station and growling at anyone who tried to get inside. The middle brother was currently napping next to the one currently engaged in a staring contest.
So far, the staring contest was the most interesting thing among the waiting Shinobi. It was unclear how it started but, silently, bets had been made. With the expected payout for the mission, minus any possible unexpected bonuses from the Daimyo's "gratitude", currency wasn't worth much at the moment.
Other things were of much greater value.
Such as trading shifts for personally guarding the Daimyo. Getting out of that was worth its weight in gold. Other bets involved the better tasting mission rations, spare equipment changing hands, and even a few books were thrown in as collateral. One particular Shinobi even went so far as to wager his mask.
Another Shinobi promptly wagered a thousand push-ups on his thumbs.
The sole Shinobi to abstain from it all had, by consequence, become the unofficial bookie and entrusted with all the wagered goods and would be responsible for dishing them out to the winners.
"Are we really this bored?" Even if she hadn't thrown anything in the pot, Kurenai's red eyes didn't leave the Uchiha and the ninken.
"What are you talking about? This is riveting." Kakashi's dry words were whispered just like Kurenai's own, both Shinobi taking care not to distract the competitors.
"Truly a clash of Man and Beast!" Gai's whisper-shout was accompanied by his usual wide grin. "Who will triumph: Man's will or Nature's endurance!"
Kurenai wasn't sure if Gai earnestly was that into the staring contest or was just playing off of Kakashi. She also felt like she didn't even want to know the answer to that question.
"I still think they'll be under nine." Muta Aburame had made his bet with assurance. Next to him, Ko merely shook his head. He had set his bet to just over nine minutes to win Muta's extra sunglasses, had consequently wagered the pair of discreet earplugs he had brought along to block the Daimyo's rambling out.
Halfway through all the betting, the middle Haimaru Brother had woken up and, after a moment of observing, joined in.
His contribution to the pot had been a bag full of his personal dog treats out of a pouch on his customized Flak Jacket. Kurenai didn't say anything about the way Kakashi had eyed said bag, had raised his own bet with one of his autographed books now thrown in. A second book had been added when a second bag of treats had been thrown in.
Gai had also wagered another thousand push-ups to his own bet.
"Can you read?" Kurenai couldn't resist asking. If he could…
The dog shook his head. He pointed with a paw to the door of the Jonin Standby Station. The oldest Haimaru Brother perked up when he noticed, cocked his head to the side with a clear question in the canine's sharp eyes.
'Nope.' Kurenai promptly abandoned that line of questioning, turned her eyes back to the Uchiha and ninken. The staring contest between the two made more sense than what she just saw, especially when the masked Jonin and ninken went so far as to gravely nod to each other.
After over eight minutes of stalemate, the ninken finally blinked.
The Uchiha smirked at his victory.
The ninken promptly whined as he laid down, clearly disappointed at his defeat.
The Uchiha instantly crumbled. He dropped to a knee to rub at the ninken's head, brought him out of his slump with a scratch behind the ears. The youngest Haimaru Brother "gracefully" accepted his second place prize. The Uchiha may have rolled his eyes but didn't stop petting the, now, happy ninken.
Muta silently held out his hand to accept the earplugs grudgingly handed over by Ko. "He was three seconds short." "Three seconds short isn't nine minutes."
Kakashi spent a tearful moment with his two books, promised them they would come back to the family soon before handing them over to the victorious ninken. He was quick to regain his composure as he accepted the extra tanto Muta had brought along for the mission.
The middle Haimaru Brother clearly basked in his victory as he carefully took hold of the books with well-trained jaws, secured them and his bags of treats in his Flak Jacket.
Without a moment wasted, Gai resolutely began his pushups. "If I can't do them before we depart, I will simply do five thousand before the day ends!" The Jonin also handed over a pack of rations to Ko.
As it was, five shifts had changed ownership and the Daimyo would be seeing a lot of Gai and Ko in the next few days.
"So, what made those treats that valuable?" Even if Kakashi's taste in literature was far from her own, the fact he had bet those two books was enough to spark Kurenai's interest.
The masked Jonin shrugged his shoulders in answer. "Urushi likes them. Gambling's still cheaper than buying them. Hana always charges a fortune."
"Good to know." She would have to ask Kiba about getting some from his sister. She liked Urushi and wouldn't mind making his day.
With a bark, the youngest Haimaru Brother promptly demanded attention, nudged Sasuke's other arm with a whine until the Uchiha caved once again. At the moment, Kakashi almost wished he had a camera to take a picture. The sight of the problematic Uchiha petting two dogs was just a little bit too absurd to him.
He also wanted proof when he told the story later.
"I don't think anyone will believe this." Kurenai echoed Kakashi's thoughts with her words. She shook her head. "Who knew he was a dog person?"
It still took a few more minutes for the door they were waiting in front of to open, Asuma stepping out with Hana. She patted the head of the oldest Haimaru Brother before sending him off with a snap of her fingers. He almost instantly bounded over to his brothers, crashed into the kneeling Sasuke with his front paws. The three ninken quickly had the, unresisting, Uchiha pinned to the ground.
He gave the three ninken his best deadpan stare.
"Is that it?"
The youngest brother barked.
All three took turns licking his face.
"Did you plan this?" Despite being covered in slobber, he could manage a half-hearted glare to his defeated opponent. His question only earned a bark. "You're a sore loser." He earned another lick.
"Huh. They're usually not that friendly so quickly." Hana took in the scene for a moment before turning to Asuma. "If the Daimyo sticks to his schedule for once, he'll be at the gates in two hours."
"If they haven't changed the old doctrine since the last time, a few of the captains will be there already. I'll go ahead and meet them." In preparation for what was to come, Asuma lit a cigarette. "Brief the squad on the plan." With his command given, he didn't waste any more time and took to the rooftops of the village.
"Sure, give me the hard job." She spoke more to herself than the squad before she turned to the other six Shinobi. "Alright, for those who don't know me, I'm Hana Inuzuka. I know most of us haven't worked together before but this is the basic high-profile escort. Even a Genin would know how to run this mission." She didn't glance at the youngest Shinobi on the squad despite the other five doing exactly that. He had recovered from the unexpected 'attack' by now, the three ninken sitting at his feet.
He was quickly working out a system on how to pet all three equally.
"For this mission we'll be operating in teams of two for the most part and we're pairing Searchers with Interceptors. Searchers will scan the area for anything unusual, Interceptors will engage any threats. Our Searchers are as follows: Ko Hyuga, Muta Aburame, and Sasuke Uchiha. Our Interceptors are as follows: Kakashi Hatake, Maito Gai, and Kurenai Yuhi. Consider me captain for the Searchers and Asuma as captain for the Interceptors. Because of that, we've already paired off with each other. That leaves the six of you to split off into three more pairs."
She glanced to her watch.
"I'll give you a few minutes. Pair up before we move out. Come on you three." She gave a pitched whistle, the Three Haimaru Brothers instantly on their feet and bounding over the ground to her. The middle brother barked at her, earned a look of shock from his partner. "You have what!?" There was definitely disbelief as she spoke. "Since when?" She headed off with the three as her questions earned a few barks. "Well, what do you want for them?" Another bark from the ninken. "That much! That's robbery and you know it!" She earned another bark. "Alright, alright. Let's calm down. Don't do anything drastic. We can negotiate."
The Inuzuka left the other six Shinobi to work out their pairings amongst themselves.
Gai was smiling as he clapped Kakashi on the back.
"It seems we have a new challenge Kakashi!" He was clearly excited at whatever he had just thought up.
"Really? What is it?" Kakashi was more than a little bit interested in how this one would go.
"Isn't it obvious?" Gai nodded to the others. "Who can be the better pair of course! Since we've both been chosen as Interceptors, we'll have to see who can bring the best out of their Searcher! A masterful challenge, don't you think?"
"…Sure. It sounds fun." Kakashi had his partner in mind already.
"Excellent!" Gai clapped him on the back again. "Then may the best partners win!" Gai raced over to his partner of choice without a moment wasted. "Ko Hyuga! Let us pair our flames of duty together into a passionate inferno of utmost responsibility!" The Hyuga clearly dreaded such a thing but he didn't have much of a choice.
"Of course…" The Hyuga's nod of acceptance was answered by Gai pumping a fist in the air, the Jonin throwing his arm over the man's shoulder.
"Excellent! Let's work on team bonding! Trust falls are a wonderful way to…"
Kakashi tuned out Gai as he dragged the Hyuga off…somewhere. He wasn't sure exactly where he was taking the pale-eyed Shinobi. His fellow Jonin had given him one more thumbs-up with his free hand before he was off to "bond" with his partner.
Kurenai was much more subdued when she approached her partner of choice.
"Muta. Shino's told me a lot of good things about you." She offered a hand to the Aburame who had been silent since all the betting had concluded. "It would be a pleasure to work with you."
"Likewise." Muta accepted the hand, Kurenai familiar with Aburame enough not to shiver at the bug crawling up her arm. It was more a sign of trust than anything, would help her work with his swarm if the need arose. The slight amount of Chakra she had to offer to the kikaichu in turn was something she was familiar with as well.
Kakashi met the red and black eyes of his partner of choice, watched the Chunin in silence.
The Chunin was the same, said nothing.
"We've worked together well since the Daimyo requested you to join his guard. Want to continue?"
The Uchiha said nothing for a moment.
"Are you taking your challenge with Gai seriously?"
"Partially. It's one of dozens we've had by now."
"I won't have to do any…" The Uchiha shuddered. "Trust building exercises with you, right?"
"Well, now that you mention it…" Kakashi stopped with the glare Sasuke directed at him. "Easy. I'm kidding." He almost wanted to laugh. He didn't. "We're both well aware of the other's abilities so there's no need for anything like that. Besides, it's unlikely we'll actually be doing anything."
"Wonderful. Another waste of my time." The Uchiha sighed.
"Ah, don't be so upset." Kakashi nearly patted him on the shoulder before he stopped. "This is a prestigious mission for any Shinobi to undertake. We should feel honored that the Daimyo has entrusted his safety to us." Kakashi was clearly reciting a line.
The Uchiha scoffed.
"We at least better win."
Barring one of them, the Shinobi who had found themselves in the position of Tribunes made an effort to walk to the tower together every morning.
It was an attempt at making this all seem normal, that things made sense.
It was usually a pretty relaxing start to their daily mission.
Usually.
One of them wasn't constantly…doing odd things.
"You doing alright Kiba?" At the third use of yet another set of smelling salts, Ino had to ask.
"I'm fine. Totally fine." The Inuzuka was not 'totally fine' as he put it. The heavy bags under his eyes were proof enough that he probably hadn't gotten much, if any, sleep last night. "Fine. Nothing to worry about." Akamaru barked from the top of his head, the ninken a mixture of concerned and annoyed at his partner today.
"I see." Shino nodded. He understood a little of what was going on. "Go on."
More barks followed. The Aburame nodded.
He turned to Ino. "Kiba believes he's in a Genjutsu."
"Well he's not!" Ino was tempted to "help" him out of it with a punch to the gut but resisted the urge. "He's been trying to release nothing ever since we started walking."
More barks from Akamaru followed, even an irritated swipe of his paw to his partner's forehead that he ignored.
"Akamaru says: He's being very stubborn about it." More barks came from the ninken. "And he says he blames Sasuke."
"Of course he does." Ino rolled her eyes at the obvious. "Half the problems we have now are because of him or Naruto." With at least a reason for his behavior, Ino was satisfied enough to drop it. She turned to Sakura. "You don't look too good either. Something happening?"
"Kakashi-sensei kept my out late last night." She rubbed at tired green eyes. "He gave me a few things to work on while he's away and…time kind of got away from me." A bit of embarrassment bled into her tired voice. "I may have gotten two, two and a half hours of sleep for today."
Even saying she got that much was a stretch.
"Sounds fun." Ino could run on less but had never been in the best of moods when she had to. "Let's squeeze in a nap for you today." The blonde Chunin smiled at the Genin. "I'll make sure you don't get bothered by these guys."
"That may be a bit much…" Sakura could feel the glares following her. Like always, the clones were watching them, had been following them since the start most likely.
Courtesy of being at the head of the group, Shikamaru and Choji were the first to come to a stop at the base of the tower.
Sasuke wasn't waiting for them like normally, wouldn't be for the next two weeks. Instead, one of Naruto's clones stood at the opened doors to his tower. And with him stood Hinata Hyuga.
It was the first time any of them had seen her in days, manage more than a passing glance after she all but vanished into the tower.
"You're early. Good." She didn't greet them. "As long as Sasuke is gone, he's appointed me the head of the Tribunes." She gave them a hollow smile. "If you have any concerns with that, take it up with him or Naruto-kun." Their silence, for whatever reasons they held it, made her smile. "Your assignments remain the same. If you have any questions, ask them. Failure is strongly discouraged."
She turned and headed into the tower.
The Praefectus Castrorum approached the group.
"Tribune Akimichi, I wish to speak with you." The clone wasn't asking. It was closer to a demand. "When you are free from you duties here, come to my office." It was odd to see the normally stone-faced clone smile. "My Praetorians speak so highly of you, I must see it for myself."
He followed after Hinata.
None of the others followed.
Five sets of eyes were focused on Choji.
The Genin was still getting over his own shock when Ino grabbed him, forcibly turned her to face him.
"What was that about?" In an impressive display, Ino lifted Choji off the ground and was set on shaking the answers out of him.
"W-Would it help to say I don't know?"
"So the Daimyo really said no to you? And I thought he would agree to anything a pretty lady said."
"He is against hiring mercenaries."
"Well, that was a waste of a bribe."
"It was not our mission to secure a contract from the Daimyo. What have you discovered on Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Plenty." Kakuzu had been rather busy since their arrival. It had taken a day to scout out the right spots, another day to confirm which bars were best, but it had been worth it. Drunk Shinobi liked to complain about what was going on, what was annoying them.
The drunker they were, the more they talked.
It had almost been too easy to gather everything he had.
"The Jinchuriki is using knowledge he obtained from the Hashirama's Scroll of Seals to create his army. He stole it the night he made his clone army, had it long enough to at least read over enough of it to manage this. Some Shinobi found it abandoned in the forest outside the village once he was done with it." That information had been easy to get. It seemed as if every Shinobi he got drunk enough had some grievance with the kid and didn't take long to start complaining about what he had done. "The only thing no one can figure out is what he used and the Hokage is keeping this close. A few people know but none I could get to. I'm pretty sure Jiraiya's one of them but I don't think he'll be cooperative with any of us if we approach him and ask about the kid."
"He must not know of the Akatsuki until Pain's plan is ready." Konan had no intention of approaching the powerful Shinobi. "What else did you uncover?"
"He's got a seal of some kind to go with the army, something on his arm. Him, the clones, and Itachi's little brother all have it. They move around with it by summoning each other, must use it for storage for weapons. Didn't get much on that."
"I will investigate the seal further." She assuredly knew more than Kakuzu despite the older Shinobi's age. He was knowledgeable in many fields as a byproduct of his long life but he himself had admitted Fuinjutsu was something he had little patience for beyond the basics. "What else?"
"The kid's been busy with the money he took from Gato. He's been building ships in the Land of Waves and he's got a feud going with the Daimyo there. Last I heard, he may be dead. And his army's growing bigger there. More show up there every day, nobody knows how. They're not coming from any of the clones here either, most act like fresh recruits when they show up." It had been more difficult to find that information out. He had gone through three or four Shinobi before he found one that actually seemed to know anything about what the clones were doing in the Land of Waves, weren't just spreading rumors they had heard.
"The growth is concerning. How many have appeared?"
"A few thousand more by the last count. Although that number could've changed by now. The guy I talked to had been sent to the Land of Waves before the attack, got back after. He didn't have solid numbers, said something about the clones moving around too much for him to be sure." His source had also passed out thanks to how drunk he had gotten by that point. "He had been sent there to look for the Daimyo anyway. He was moving through the camps they had set up, didn't get more than a glimpse most of the time."
"He fortifies his territory?"
"Seems like it. Nothing too extreme like Barrier Ninjutsu. They do the same thing they do here: Take up guard posts, make basic fortifications, set watches." Kakuzu had stopped by the part of the village the kid looked set to make his own, hadn't gotten close enough to be seen but had seen enough himself. "It's basic."
"But his numbers are enough to make it effective." Konan continued drafting down a summary as Kakuzu spoke, would send the information to Pain once she was done. "What else did you discover?"
"The kid has a few thousand of his clones out in the Land of Whirlpools, been busy there for a while now." The old Shinobi couldn't help but scoff. "Uzumaki must be looking to make a vacation home or something."
"He's rebuilding?"
"And killing off all the squatters while he's at it. Had a couple names hanging around there I wanted to cash in and those clones beat me to those too." He didn't need to go digging through rumors to know that. He had known about the changes going on in the Land of Whirlpool for nearly a month now.
It had clearly been a sign of things to come with the kid claiming all his bounties later.
"So distance doesn't impact his technique." Konan's thoughts were her own, the comparisons she made with another Uzumaki unspoken. 'Or is it the Chakra of the Kyubi allowing him to do this?' The question would need an answer before she reported to Pain.
Kakuzu noticed how she stopped writing.
"Problem?" It was obvious there was one.
"We will remain in the Land of Fire until the Jinchuriki returns." Konan gathered up the paper left, watched as it became flesh and cloth once again. "We will observe him directly and report to Pain what we uncover."
"We're gonna have to leave the village to do that."
"I will see to it. The Daimyo is leaving today."
"So we're going after the Itachi's little brother now? He won't be happy if we kill him."
"If he proves a problem, I will deal with him. Until the Jinchuriki returns, we will observe him." Paper was already splitting off from her, taking shape and leaving into the early morning light. "And his army that remains here." While not as adept as Pain's own myriad of summons, the paper constructs would work well enough for what she had in mind. Amber eyes watched them leave before turning to her partner. "Prepare an appropriate disguise. I expect to leave by the end of the hour."
She didn't spare Kakuzu a glance as she left. Her thoughts were elsewhere.
'Pain. This Jinchuriki is a greater threat than we initially believed.' Her message to Pain was dictated, would find him wherever he dwelled.
Once he sent word back, she would follow the commands of God.
Whatever they may be.
AN: Next update will come...eventually.
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Peace.