Unyielding Ch 12
Hi All!
I hear you, I hear you! I'm going back and editing my earlier chapters, I honestly think it's like 1 or 2 chapters that I use ' instead of " but the number of comments I've had about it is just bleh!
I appreciate them don't get me wrong, I just need to do the edits so I stop getting them. don't be offended that I'm not answer grammer reviews until its updated.
Anyway some context & set-up in this chapter, things heat up soon!
Greatgriggler - Agree & hope you will be happy!
bludvein - Yep, Anko is complex but open to interpretation in her younger years.
Yopleasee - We'll just have to wait and see, nothing is ruled out at this stage.
AlphaWolf02 - How could I not notice if you were gone... anyway! My favourite sword as well, simply for the potential in fics.
Tranquilmoth - Welcome to the fic, thanks for your comments. The academy stuff went way longer than I thought it would originally so glad that you enjoyed those parts of it.
Guest - I strongly disagree with you here. In my opinion, most OC SI's end up being orphans or kill the parents off-screen. Mai Kondo is her own person with flaws, trying to protect her son the best way she thinks she can and suffering personally because of it. Danzo is a major figure in the dark dealings of the village, he is likely to be present for discussions about them. I don't want to be that guy, but I kind of feel like I need to be here - If you don't like it then don't read it. Urgh sorry for that but to a certain extent it is true, also this is my first fic so nothing is cliche for me haha!
Demostrathe - Thanks for reading!
Kirigakure no Sato – The Village Hidden in the Mist, could be said to have had a mixed history. The hidden village in the Land of Water was one of the Great Five Shinobi villages and had been a frequent participant in a wide range of wars and conflicts. Its Kage was known as the Mizukage and most persons would agree that it had the reputation for being the bloodiest of the great five.
Konoha was likely the most successful because of its track record in the last three Great Shinobi wars. Iwa certainly had been its most staunch opposer and Kumo had frequently teamed up with the 'mud/stone flingers' against Konoha in multiple conflicts. Suna had its own well-deserved reputation via its puppet corps and use of poisons but had in recent times been a strong ally to Konoha.
Kirigakure was different, it was violent for the sake of being violent and had traditions steeped in the preservation of oneself above all, which somehow managed to function with their reputation for never turning down a mission that was offered to them. If Konoha was no matter how incorrectly seen as a shining example of what a more peaceful Shinobi village could look like, then Kiri was undoubtedly at the other end of the scale.
Kiri itself was almost constantly shrouded by a thick mist, with several mountain ranges dotting its background. This not only made it difficult to attack but also to even find in the first place for potential visitors and aggressors alike. Its architecture was nothing special, multiple cylinder buildings made up the village itself, with the largest of them being the Mizukage's office.
Its shinobi were known for their Suiton release techniques, which could be used with great efficiency in their homeland, given its locations moniker. Kiri's shinobi had learned to bend their environment to suit themselves, its arguably most famous technique involving bringing forth the notorious mists of Kiri to one's battlefield and shrouding themselves from the view of their opponents, striking from the shadows with brutal efficiency.
Kiri's society was split into a sort of caste system, and this had been in place ever since the village had first been founded, not long after Konoha towards the end of the era known as the 'Warring States Period'.
The highest-ranking civilians were those whose family lineage originally stemmed from within Kirigakure, the second caste was for members of families who were allied with Kirigakure on the battlefields in the past while the last and lowest caste consisted of members of the families who were defeated on said battlefields and annexed into the village.
Kiri had also been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the First Hokage Hashirama's foolishness and had been gifted with multiple Biju, all in the name of establishing strong, peaceful relations with Konoha. The three-tails and seven-tails had been powerful gifts for Kiri, with the current host of the Three-tailed beast even serving as the current Mizukage and reportedly being extremely powerful, fitting of course of his position.
Alas, this gift from the Leaf was not to be the bridge that Hashirama had hoped for and even though Kiri initially warred far more with Iwa than Konoha it was not long until the two were brought into conflict with each other.
The First Great Ninja War was one of resources. It encompassed all five of the Great Shinobi nations and took place not long after the villages themselves were established. The war began via numerous villages' missions to steal resources from one another and return them to their own village, in a bid to rapidly establish themselves as one of the strongest in this newly emerging era. The war resulted in the death of the 2nd Hokage Tobirama Senju and led to Hiruzen Sarutobi's promotion to the position of the Third Hokage.
The Second Great Ninja War began due to villages weakened in the first conflict attempting to regain military and economic power. These gradually escalated to small skirmishes, which quickly led to all-out war.
The Third Great Ninja War began due to the slowly waning influence of the Great Five villages. Smaller nations unaffiliated with them began launching small-scale attacks on others and similarly to the events that occurred in the past, things escalated, and war began. It was during the tail end of this War that the Three-tails was attempted to be used as a sort of delayed bomb on Konoha, which ultimately failed. It was then returned to the village and sealed in one shinobi by the name of Yagura, who grew in power quickly and soon ascended to the position of Mizukage.
It was never made obvious as to when, but eventually, Kiri became known as the 'Village of the Bloody Mist', a rather gruesome homage to both its shinobi's skill and their temperaments. Students wishing to graduate from its academy were made to fight against their fellow classmates in a horrific graduation ceremony, in which only half of all students would survive.
The practice was infamously ended by one Zabuza Momochi when he slaughtered an entire graduation class on his own, and the village finally realised that such an approach may not be sustainable.
Its shining light was always the group known as the seven ninja swordsmen. Elite shinobi with swords made specifically for them to match their skill, a group that would strike fear into the hearts of Kiri's enemies and continue to be a source of pride for the village, even when multiple members had fled the village.
Hiramekarei - A bandaged double-handled sword that is capable of storing and emitting the user's chakra which can then take on various forms.
Kabutowari - A sword consisting of a single-sided axe and a hammer joined by a length of chain. Said to be capable of crushing any and all defences.
Kiba - Twin swords that are imbued with lightning which would increase their cutting power. They are said to be the sharpest swords ever forged.
KubikiribōchōA giant sword with a butcher-knife-like appearance, the wielder can use the semi-circle on the blade to decapitate an opponent's head, hence the name. The sword has the ability to regenerate using the iron absorbed from the blood of those it cuts down.
Nuibari – a sword in the shape of a needle with a long thin wire that resembles thread attached to it, which can be used to pierce enemies and "sew" them together in human bundles.
Samehada - The most terrifying of the seven blades, it has the appearance of a giant knife covered in shark scales. It is a sentient, living weapon and has the ability to eat chakra
Shibuki - A sword that has a scroll full of explosive tags incorporated into it, lined up behind the blade, combining swordsmanship and explosions.
These seven swords were almost a representation of Kiri's power by themselves. When they were wielded by shinobi loyal to Kiri, the village itself would be seen to be strong and prosperous. But it was never more obvious that Kiri was undergoing trials and tribulations than when the sword owners would break their vows of loyalty and move out into the wider shinobi world alone, as missing-nin.
Indeed Kiri has such a problem with its shinobi fleeing the village due to their bloodthirsty ways that they had an entire division of their Anbu forces dedicated to tracking down any dissenters, these being known as 'Hunter-nin'.
Undoubtedly, however, Kiri's most turbulent time of existence was now in the time that Asahi resided. For years now Yagura had been stirring up anti-Kekkei-Genkai sentiment amongst his forces and civilian populations.
Those with Kekkei-Genkai were regarded with suspicion by Kiri's people and the wider Land of Water due to their efficiency levels in times of war. Persecution and even out-right murder of those with a Kekkei-Genkai had grown frighteningly common, with multiple shinobi choosing to hide their abilities and hinder their own training, rather than risk being caught out.
In other words, the situation was about to reach its boiling point and the threat of Civil War loomed larger with every passing day. It was likely not the ideal time for an escort mission to a small village located right on the border of the Land of Water, but as far as Konoha was concerned the situation hadn't really got any better or worse for the better part of a year.
Front Gates of Konoha
I greeted both of my teammates with a friendly inclination of my head, as they joined me in leaning against the gate waiting for our Sensei to arrive. He soon did and dropped off the mission scroll for us to examine, before departing once again to go and collect the origin of said mission, i.e. the civilians that we were having to escort.
Village Hidden in the Leaves
Land of Fire – Escort mission of one Goro-san (adult male) and his daughter one Ayaka-san
C-Rank Escort Mission – Escort mission to the village of Hayakanai. Team will remain in the aforementioned village for a period of 4 days and will then return to Konoha re-escorting said Goro-san & Ayaka-san once more.
Level – Advanced Genin Squad & Jonin Sensei / Minimum x2 Chunin core & x2 Genin core (of more than 1 year experience)
Time – Predicted 5-day travel time to Hayakanai village (Civilian pace), 4 days in the village of Hayakanai and another 5 days of travel time (Civilian pace) returning to Konoha
Pay – Standard high C-rank escort mission amount. Pay level increased due to village location and lack of information concerning Land of Water / Kirigakure matters.
Route – Map provided.
"What do you think?" I said turning my head towards my two teammates who had been reading the scroll over my shoulder.
"Looks like a fairly standard boring escort mission to me", Shisui said shrugging as his attention already wandered from the mission scroll. "10 whole days of travelling like a snail is going to suck though", he volunteered, not happy to be restricted in such a matter.
"It's odd that we're escorting them there and back", Anko added, "normally escort missions just go one way, wonder why they're paying us to hang around when we could just leave and meet them at the village when they're ready to go".
"They probably didn't even think of that you know", I replied smiling, "civilians don't exactly have much of an idea of how fast we can travel even us genin. I'm interested in what the last past says though, right here", I said pointing out where I was looking on the scroll to Anko.
"Pay level increased due to a lack of information from the Land of Water", sounds kind of ominous don't you think I added?
"Nah, don't even worry about that", Anko replied bouncing away from me and jumping onto the outer wall of the village, grinning back at me as she looked at me from the sideways angle she had put herself in.
"I had the same thing on a mission scroll like a year ago, it's basically standard procedure now from them to slap that on their and slightly increase the mission price. Call it potential hazard pay or something. Apparently, nobody had been travelling in or out of Kiri and by extension, the land of water for like a year and a half or something, barely get any trade from them anymore", she added walking in a slow circle still sideways on the wall.
I furrowed my brows slightly as I considered her words. Something was bothering me about them but I couldn't for the life of me put my finger on it.
I was interrupted from my brief thoughts by an excited squeal coming from the main road leading to the village gates and turned around to see a smiling dark-haired girl of around 8 years old bounding towards me.
"Hiiii!" she yelled, her tone shrill enough to make an Inuzuka shinobi passing by on his way to a separate mission, wince as his enhanced senses were turned against him.
"You're the ninjas that are coming with us? But you're not even that much older than me", she said coming to stand far too close to me for my comfort, her inquisitive face furrowed in a frown. "That Gekkou guy looks like a proper ninja, but you guys just look like you're playing dress up to me", she said, driving a metaphorical knife right through my heart.
"Playing dress-up", Shisui muttered under his breath, snorting in disbelief at the young girl's words.
Anko didn't verbally respond, but she had a clearly disgruntled look on her face and didn't exactly look thrilled with one of the subjects of their mission.
"Ayaka, don't be rude to the shinobi!"
The young girl's face fell as her father, who by now had almost reached us interrupted whatever she was going to say next, and flashing us a quick smile knelt down to her height. "What do I say about speaking to people, hm", he questioned gently.
"If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all", she recited clearly having already known that she was going to be asked such a question.
"Sorry Daddy", she added, giving him a quick hug before moving away.
"Anko, Shisui, Asahi, this is Goro-san and his daughter Ayaka, I trust that by now you have all familiarised yourselves with the parameters of this mission and are ready to depart?" he questioned and upon receiving our nods, turned once more to the client.
"As mentioned in the original estimate Goro-san, we have allocated a period of 14 days or two weeks for this escort mission. We are anticipating you will have 4 days to conduct your business once we reach the town of Hayakanai, given the travel time estimates.
"Ah, yes of course that is acceptable shinobi-san", the man stuttered out, slightly caught off guard as he hadn't yet expected to be addressed.
"Then unless there are any objections will leave now", Gekkou Sensei said, turning on his heel and going through the standard signing-out of the village procedures.
5 days of travelling at a much slower pace will inevitably end up being boring for anyone, whether they were a Jonin or Genin. The difference in their normal speeds versus civilians was simply not comparable. On a good day, a Civilian would walk 8-12 miles depending on the terrain and how long the light held. They would also be slowed down by things that wouldn't really inconvenience a regular shinobi.
The weather taking a mild turn for the worse and rain could cause delays with some clients wanting to stop and wait out the rain shower so that they did not get too wet. They took more frequent and longer breaks and drank more which meant water containers needed to be refilled more. They were also less comfortable with silence and would often annoy their companions either by being too noisy or asking inappropriate questions.
I lost my patience about 2 hours into the missions, which if you asked me demonstrated a far higher level of patience than I would have thought I had.
Ayaka was just so dammed annoying. She would constantly ask questions about being a ninja and seemed to be under the misconception that we were almost heroic-like figures, the defenders of the weak and helpless. Despite making it clear that we were being paid to escort her and her father and not just doing so out of the kindness of our own hearts, she stubbornly refused to be dissuaded of this notion.
Desperate to escape her presence I turned towards her father Goro and tried to strike up a conversation with him. The man had been fairly silent so far and hadn't interacted much with us yet, aside from shooting over a few apologetic looks at his daughter's behaviour. It wasn't strictly her fault; she was acting as any girl her age would really, it was just that she seemed so blissfully unaware of her surroundings and still acted with a child-like innocence.
It was quite odd to see the difference between how I and by extension my team acted when compared with her, as despite numerous questions she had been right in that we were only a few years older than her. Well at least speaking for Shisui and myself.
"There's honestly not much to tell" Goro replied when I questioned him about the purpose of his trip. "My sister moved out to Hayakanai about 6 years ago now with her Husband, he's a smelter by trade, you know works with metals and the like".
"I'm familiar", I added, nodding my head along with his words. Although they didn't make any noticeable effort to get involved in the conversation, I could tell that the rest of my team was listening closely. You never knew when a piece of information may come in useful after all.
"Well they had a kid together about a year ago so the boy's still quite a handful, she hasn't really bonded that much with her neighbours, so I'm hoping to convince her to move back to Konoha with me, her husband took ill a short while ago and,… well he didn't make it", Goro finished a downtrodden posture evident as he finished speaking and a morose expression on his face.
"Ah… I'm sorry for your and her loss", I said, unsure of the best way to respond to his words.
"Don't worry about that", he said waving away my sympathetic words with a movement of his right arm. "I didn't tell you that in expectation of any kind words, it's a fact of life that sometimes these things happen. He was a good man, and he provided well for her but I don't want her to worry about the future. It would be much better if she agrees to eventually return to Konoha, with the rest of the family. Understandably, she doesn't want to leave her home and she's been stubborn about it in our letters, so I'm hoping that by showing up in person I'll have a better chance at convincing her.
"I'm sure you'll be successful then", I said attempting to reassure the contemplative man, "it sounds as though you care a lot about her and I'm sure that she'll see that".
"Kind words", he replied flashing a quick smile. "In truth, I had already brought up moving the whole family to Konoha before her husband took ill. His passing as quickly as he did has just made me all the more determined to see it happen".
"Was there any reason for this?", I asked, interested to hear his response.
"I'm sure your Sensei could tell you more than I could about that", he replied, "everyone knows that the border guards are getting a bit jumpy, must be nerve-racking not knowing what the hell is going on just a few miles away from your station".
"Sensei", Anko added her question to him clear despite her not outright asking it.
With a slightly annoyed expression, likely at Goro for slightly forcing his hand Gekkou-Sensei elaborated.
"You saw that section on the mission scroll that mentioned some unease in the Land of Water, it's been going on for a while if I'm being honest. Nothing happened that's a cause for escalation yet and that's what makes people jumpy. Trades steadily dropped and we don't hear much if anything about what's been going on with Kiri.
"Kiri?", Shisui said, "do we normally know a lot about what they're doing?"
"No of course not", Gekkou Sensei said, "but not a lot is still a lot more than nothing, missions go wrong, civilians move around, and normally we can confirm at least some things about the other nations simply as time goes by. This has been different, Kiri has been locked down for almost a year now, they're taking fewer missions, being more hard-line with civilians, basically getting even worse if you can believe it, and well..".
"The rumours", Goro added with a grimace.
"Indeed", Gekkou-Sensei said, acknowledging his words.
"Rumours of dark things happening to some of Kiri's most talented shinobi. Blood-line users specifically. It's all unconfirmed and short of launching missions into an area dominated by water, that happens to be the home of a shinobi village with 80% Suiton users we don't know what to put stock in and what to not.
"Hence the rise in the mission ranking", Shisui added, "no-one knows what's going on so it's just done as a warning".
"Basically", Gekkou-Sensei confirmed.
"Rumours they may be, but ain't nobody smart that wants to be hanging around the Land of Water right now, and for me, that means getting my sister away from Hayakanai", Goro added, ever so slightly quickening his pace.
"How close is the town to the Land of Water then?" Anko said chiming in.
"A few miles, Sensei replied, "but honestly, and with all respect here Goro-san I do think that you're being a bit over-paranoid here. If something large-scale did end up happening with Kiri I'm sure that we would quickly become aware of it and could take the appropriate measures. We have a border force of the Daimyo's samurai, as we do on all our borders, and the number of internal Land of Fire patrols that go through this area is higher than average, precisely because of these rumours. That is what they currently are rumours", he added making sure to address everyone in the travelling group.
We continued our slow meandering, to ourselves pace and when night fell, set up camp for the night. We were accustomed to our night-time watch routine at this point and so fell into our assigned roles without complaint.
That was the one advantage to being the client, I suppose looking over at the father/daughter duo as they slept underneath a larger tree, each with a sleeping bag of their own, but still curled up near each other.
The nights were honestly quite relaxing. Of course, you still had to make sure that you were alert at all times, but there was definitely going to be a difference on this first night and in a few days as we got closer and closer to the Land of Fire borders.
The night's watch was always a useful time for me to contemplate my progress and my place in this world. It was funny how quickly you could grow used to and attached to things. I know that I was bad at showing it, but I really had come to care for my new parents. With Anko opening up to Shisui and me it felt like that final flimsy barrier that had still been between us had been broken, the team itself and the people on it were fast becoming, how was it always put, my own precious people.
I wasn't going to pretend that I was completely ok after taking my first life, but... I had adjusted. As long as I was protecting myself or my team then I would do what was necessary. This was my life, my actual life now and pretending otherwise would have been foolish. The village despite its flaws was something that was needed and honestly good. Time would tell what impact I had made on how things may have normally been supposed to go. But whether it was my presence that had thrown everything off, or if I would encounter changes separate from myself that existed I would be prepared for them all the same.
An owl hooted softly, before gracefully taking flight, leaving its young behind in their home and venturing out to hunt, seeking the nutrition that it and its family would need to continue their survival.
The days were monotonous and more of the same, I kept myself busy in a variety of ways whilst being alert from spinning kunai around in my hands, to taking notes when ideas for new techniques or combos would pop into my head. I had taken off my weights before the mission started of course, as wearing them constantly would have been the height of stupidity. All it would take was one occasion where you weren't able to react fast enough, and they would have cost you everything.
Everyone was relieved as just as the fifth day was drawing to a close Goro-San perked up and with a grin announced that we were almost there.
The town/village of Hayakanai was immediately visible as we emerged from the forest that obviously through man-made means had been halted abruptly. I wasn't sure which word to use as while it did look bigger than a traditional village, it was also lacking in size to be called a town. If there was a word for this in-between state, then I wasn't aware of it.
There was an obvious path that quickly widened and ran right through the centre of the village. It had obviously been built as a stopping-off point for those travelling from the Land of Water into the Land of Fire and vice-versa. The state of the houses were reasonably nice, and there were several inns and bars dotted along the main path.
A number of houses then stood on both sides, out of the way of the main pathway and with enough distance between them that some of them had their own gardens or small areas where family's could grow their own selection of crops/foods. Houses that were more towards the edge of the village had space for livestock to be brought in at night and there seemed to be several communal grazing areas that were currently in use or had farmers present at that moment waving their arms and corralling animals along ahead of them.
I could see smoke rising above some of the buildings and hazarded a guess that this was where we were travelling to, I was soon found correct as on a path just off of the main road we entered a sort of trade/craft section of the village. There was hammering and clattering going on, threads being woven into clothes, people bargaining with others over furniture and cutlery sets etc.
We drew a little bit of attention but clearly, shinobi were a fairly common sight here because other than a few longer gazes we were not subjected to much scrutiny.
Goro was leading us at this point and took us to the entrance to the sole forge that wasn't lit up and seemed much darker than the other houses/shop fronts in comparison. He banged on the doors a few times and then stood back and waited for a response.
About half a minute later the door was opened, and a woman appeared in front of us. Above average height, hazel eyes and long dark hair greeted us and she held a young boy on her hip, supported by her left arm. The boy was old enough to easily hold his own head up and look at us with inquisitive eyes but was not capable of much more yet.
"Goro… I… what are you doing here", she said the surprise at seeing her brother evident in her voice and tone.
"Come on Sis", he said with a grin, "you didn't really think that I was just going to leave things as you did over our letters, only responding to what I wrote when it wasn't about moving you back to Konoha".
"I didn't respond to those parts for a reason you know," she said noticing her brother's escorts and flashing a betrayed look at him. "So, what you paid some ninjas to kidnap me and my son, is that it?"
"No! What the hell do you think of me that you'd make that accusation", Goro said, clearly hurt by the lack of faith that was being placed in him. "They're just my escorts here and back and they can help move some of your bigger things if you do decide to come back to Konoha eventually. Err you can do that right", he said turning around and sending a sheepish questioning look towards Gekkou Sensei.
Although he didn't exactly look impressed at being volunteered for such as task he still answered. "I can't, but technically Asahi could, he's not that bad at Fuinjutsu so could probably make some sealing scrolls, but you definitely didn't request such a thing when you asked for your escort" Gekkou Sensei replied, keeping his voice and tone neutral.
"I'll pay a bit extra if needed", Goro began but was swiftly interrupted.
"I haven't even said I'm going yet, at least come inside for goodness' sake so we aren't having this conversation in the middle of the front door! Gesturing for us to enter we did so, nodding our heads in thanks as we passed her by.
"My name is Hana by the way since my brother didn't even bother to introduce me, and this darling is Haru," she said shifting so that we had a better look at the child she was holding on her hip. She did hand over her child to her brother once her niece Ayaka walked in, greeting her with a warm smile and a hug. Ayaka was clearly excited to see her as well, giggling as she was lifted off the ground briefly, before being put down because she had just gotten so big so quickly and was practically already all grown up, according to Hana.
Despite her annoyance at her brother's surprise arrival Hana made sure to fulfil her duties as a host, showing us to a spare room upstairs where we would be bunking. She only had one additional room, so it was a bit of a tight squeeze, but we had to make do with what she had available. A good hearty homemade stew later and everyone settled in for the night, taking the opportunity to relax as we were still within the land of fire and no longer as vulnerable as we previously were when we were sleeping among the trees.
We could overhear mutterings and the occasional raised voice stemming from downstairs but allowed Goro and his sister their privacy. It wasn't of any consequence to us if Hana would be persuaded to return to Konoha with the rest of her family, although privately I wasn't sure what she would do considering the forge had been unlit when we had arrived and was clearly not producing anything, in contrast with its neighbours.
The next day Gekkou-Sensei addressed us after a good breakfast and when Goro and his sister had left the house. "We're here for the next three to four days so we may as well make the most of it. I don't feel comfortable doing any serious training while we're here and showing off your abilities. We aren't being paid to guard Goro-san and his daughter whilst we're here so we may as well work on some other aspects of a shinobi's responsibilities while we can" he said settling into what we privately would refer to as his Sensei voice.
"It is the duty of a Konoha shinobi to be always aware of their surroundings. Now when you are out and about on a mission such as this one, where you are staying in a town or village it is sensible to get a good lay of the land. In other words, familiarise yourself with your surroundings so that if need be, you know your escape route, the best places to take cover and how to turn your surroundings against a potential opponent. This will become automatic after a while, but the important part of being aware here is listening for gossip!"
"Gossip", Shisui repeated a deadpan look on his face.
"Gossip" Anko confirmed, nodding her head. She looked hesitant for a brief second but then mustered her courage and continued. "Orochimaru-Sens… Orochimaru used to say that his teammate spent more time listening to other people in bars than he did pay attention to their own conversations whenever he would drag him out to be sociable.
"Exactly", Gekkou Sensei confirmed, "for adults, their tongues are never looser than when they've had a few drinks and people will often reveal information that they might not have otherwise, especially when they're just talking with their friends. What they saw on their latest travels, if they saw someone odd come into town, problems of other people that they themselves overheard, the list goes on and on. The point is that even if you mostly overhear rubbish, that one time you don't could lead to an actionable mission. Even hearing nothing worth your time is good news as it indicates that all is well with the town or area that you are in. Whether you're in the Land of Fire or not getting into this habit is useful".
"So basically you're telling us to go spy and eavesdrop on random people for the next few days," I said, summarising Sensei's drawn-out explanation in a single sentence.
"Yep", he said. "Do your own thing and we'll have a meeting to see what you've found out in a few days.
It was strange walking around constantly under a henge or crouching on the roof of a building straining to overhear a conversation taking place on the other side of the road. I would occasionally spot my other teammates both visibly and when I thought someone was disguised.
Honestly, Gekkou-Sensei had the easiest time out of all of us, not because of his experience but his age. He would do whatever he wanted in the day and then visit a few bars in the evening, chatting with the regulars or striking up a conversation with a travelling merchant or two when they were resting after their journeys.
Still, although most of what I overheard was boring or lacking in anything relevant to Konoha I did pick up quite a few conversations that centred around the Land of Water situation. People that hadn't heard from friends for a while, merchants that weren't using their normal travel routes due to advice from border guards etc. There were a few people that I thought might be Land of Water natives/civilians themselves and without exception, they were all far more subdued and on guard than those that were around them.
When we reported back to Sensei the others matched my slightly grim reports of the topic of interesting conversations overheard, although Shisui did try to brighten things with a story he'd overheard about a woman who had decided she was going to cheat on her boyfriend because he has supposedly cheated on her first.
Gekkou Sensei complimented us on our findings but didn't contribute much himself. It may not have been obvious to Anko and Shisui because they were mentally still children, but I was sure that he was holding himself more seriously than he had been when we approached the town of Hayakanai.
Goro and Ayaka greeted us with the exciting news that they had managed to convince Hana and her son of the benefits of moving back to Konoha and being able to lean on her family for support. Although she had never admitted it the woman had clearly been heavily impacted by the untimely departure of her husband and seemed grateful that Goro had taken the time to make the trip.
As the morning of the fourth day dawned, I settled down at the dining room table and began the careful process of etching out a few sealing scrolls. Would be reimbursed for the cost of the materials and receive a set amount per scroll that the client used so there was no reason not to take the time to help Goro and his sister out.
Once ready he led me around the house and then the forge, sealing up the larger items that his sister wouldn't be able to transport when she made her way to Konoha.
"It's just easier to do it now you know", Goro commented as we made the rounds. "I can start to get everything set up for her at home, whilst she packs the rest of her stuff and says her goodbyes. I'll hire another team to escort her over when she's ready and she can arrive to hopefully a decently put-together home", he said smiling brightly at the thought.
"I'm sure she'll like that" I replied sealing up the last item before re-joining the rest of my team. Saying our goodbyes, we left Hana's house and 20 seconds later had already re-joined the main road that ran through the centre of the village. Ayaka was chatting away to her father as upbeat as ever, Anko was petting the latest new snake she had summoned that was coiled around her neck and Shisui was talking at me about the latest Katon technique that he wanted to learn.
I was half paying attention to him, just looking around the town one last time before we left it when my gaze swept over Gekkou-Sensei, who had stopped walking a second or two earlier and was not standing still. He had his byakugan activated, made obvious by the tell-tail veins protruding around his eyes. Despite not needing to move his head to expand his field of vision he had turned around and was staring intently down the road that ran through the village of Hayakanai and led towards the Land of Water.
"Sensei is everything alright", I voiced, alerting the rest of the party to the fact that he had stopped walking.
He didn't respond immediately, his eyes still trained on something far in the distance, well beyond the ability of any shinobi that didn't possess his eyes to see.
"No, it is not", he said suddenly, surprising us with the volume and seriousness at which he had spoken. "Get Goro and his daughter back to his sister's house now, defend them and yourselves until I come and retrieve you.
As he barked his orders at us, and we moved to respond to them slight whisps could just be seen coming into view over the treetops that were located closer to the Land of Water. They danced in the morning sunlight and were joined by more of their brothers and sisters with each passing second. The smoke grew in strength rapidly, spiralling and twirling around itself as it began to fill the skyline above the forest.
Gekkou Sensei his eyes still activated and drawing attention from those around us, glanced towards us one last time, pointing towards the side street that led to our lodging for the past few nights before jumping up onto a nearby rooftop.
As we retraced our steps and moved back towards Goro's sister's house his voice rang out, somehow amplified over the town.
"People of Hayakanai! You are ordered now to return to your houses and barricade your doors. I am ordering this of you with my authority as an elite Jonin of Konohagakure, empowered by its Hokage, and with the authority granted to us by our benevolent Daimyo ruler of the Land of Fire. This is not a test and not a joke, we have reason to believe that our most immediate border guard has been attacked, listen to me now!"
Thanks for reading, review if you want like I'm not telling you to or anything but if you did that'd be cool... maybe... I guess.
What favourite original Kekkei Genkai have you come across?
Kineticals