Chapter 3: The Debriefing

When I walked into the Chambers, I was surprised. I had expected there to be a large group of elders. Instead, there were only two. 'Probably works better this way. Less people means less dissagreeing opinions, means more things get done.' "Greetings, Counciliors." "Greetings, visitor. May we assume that you are the ninja from the sound village?" said the old man. "Yes, councilor, I am Akako Himura, of the Hidden Sound Village." 'No crap, gramps. I'm the only one here with a sound village forehead protector.' "How was your journey? Somewhat of a long way for a young Genin to take alone." "I was fine. Sound Village ninja learn to take care of themselves. I was told I had a mission, and that you would debrief me on it." "Yes, we will. Before we discuss the mission, take this hotel key. You will set out again tomorrow." "Thank you, councilor." I said as I took the key. 'I have to travel again? Man...' "Now, you're mission is..." He was interupted by the girl I had seen earlier walk into the room. "Ah about time. You should know who this is by now. Correct?" She shrugged and looked the other way. "Sure." He sighed and this time the female councilor spoke up. "Iwao Sato should be coming soon." 'So Neko is her name, huh? I can see why...' I hadn't seen it before, but she had cat-like ears and a tail. Definitely strange. But I wasn't here to judge people. She definitely seemed uninterested. 'To speak to her leaders that way...' I shook my head. At that moment, A boy about the girl's and my age walked in. He had Spikey/messy black hair, and blue eyes. His eyes were serious, but... calm. He seemed like he was someone who would play a peace-keeper very well. He wore a plain white button up, collared shirt and black jeans. On his upper right arm, there was his Valley of Shadows bandana and fore-head protector. Where usually there was a picture representing the village, there was nothing on the protector. The girl who was apparently named Neko yawned, and shut one eye, coverering her mouth with one of her hands. "Can I leave now?" she said. 'Man, she could really care less about her elders... sorta funny actually.' This made the male councilor angry... a bit. "No you may not! We haven't spoken to you about when you'll be leaving and other important things!" "I'm sorry for butting in but... You called sir? Are these my new team member?" The new one, Iwao, said. The girl, Neko, hissed. "I'm not anyone's anything!" He smiled nervously. "Gomen, I meant... Are you two suppose to be.. uh.. on a team with me?" She nodded and looked away, glaring at the wall. "You will be leaving tomorrow at sun rise. I expect you to get there in less that 2 hours. Iwao, you can keep up with their pace right? From what I've heard Akako will be able to keep up fine. I'm just worried about you." The old lady looked at Iwao waiting for his response. "Yes ma'm. I'll be just fine." The old man turned to Neko. "Don't you dare think about running off ahead of them, understood?" She gawked at him. "Who me? I'd never!" The old lady looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't you play innocent! You've left many behind on missions! And you wonder why you aren't placed in teams anymore!" She rolled my eyes done with the conversation. 'Oh boy... looks like she'll be a bit of a handful... Still, she seems to be powerful. She should be a valuable member on the team, if she doesn't completely blow us off. Iwao seems milder, if less powerful. Hope he can keep her in line... enough.' At that point, I realized I still hadn't been told what the mission was. "Umm... excuse me... Councilors... What do you mean on a team with? What will we be doing?" Neko appeard to nearly choke while breathing. "You're telling me I'm on a team with him when he's not even from our village? He doesn't even know anything about what's going on!" The elders sighed and the man eventually spoke. "I didn't think they would keep the information from you. The Sand and Sound are allies and we have become allies with the Sound. You will be entering the Chuunin Exams and on the last portion on the Exams, you three will do what Baki from the Sand has told you. You will be attacking the Leaf along side the other Sand and Sound ninjas." I was stunned for a second by the news, and stiffened. 'Attack the Hidden Leaf Village? That's an act of war...' I shaked my head 'My village commands me to. But I have to work with these two? Oh god! Iwao seems... mild... enough... but that girl Neko... how long would these Chunin exams be?' I nodded "Right, you need to be on a team to enter the Chinin exams... But are you sure we must be on a team? Why wasn't I just placed on a Sound Village team?" "That's simple. You were an extra and this village doesn't have many shinobi here. We're just a shadow below everyone's feet. Not many have heard of us. The Sound heard of Nyoko and wanted to get Neko into the Exams. We refused saying we didn't have a full team to place her in and they offered us a ninja of the Sound. Seeing no way out of it, we made an alliance with the Sound in hopes of showing people the Valley of Shadow's true strength..." I nodded. 'An extra? They didn't want me here, they're just using me in order to gain access to the... Nyoko... whatever that is. ' I nodded "I understand, and respect that, councilor. You're trying to make the Valley of the Shadows known to others. Is that all you wanted to speak to us then, Councilor? If so, I believe it's getting late... Hard to tell here, where it always looks like it's night. But if that is all, I will go to my hotel room." I paused, then realized I had forgotten something. "But one last thing... what is the Nyoko? I haven't heard of it before..." At that, Neko's eye twitched, which I saw out of the corner of my eye. "Nyoko is a dangerous demon that nearly destroyed the whole Valley. We were able to seal it and retrain it. It lays dormant within her for now. That would explain her ears and tail. Sadly, Neko has also aquired Nyoko's attitude as well." He eyed her, almost as if he was accusing her of murdering a Kage. She rolled her eyes and headed for the door, opening it and shuting it behind her. As she left, I heard a barely audible "Stupid..." Luckily, the councilors didn't seem to hear that. 'Maybe it was cause my hearing is highly developed... Maybe it's cause they're so old, they're losing their hearing...'"I'm sorry, Councilors, I didn't intend to upset my new team-mate. I better be going now. Farewell, Councilors. Iwao, I look forward to working with you. Shall we meet at the Gate?" "Sounds like a good place, see you there." I bowed to the councilors and with that I left also. I went straight to my hotel room, and slept, tired after a day of traveling, and knew I would need to be well rested tomorrow.