Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Why? Because I said so. :P
Authors Note: Thank you for waiting patiently for this next chapter. A lot of stuff happened this past week, one of which was getting sick, and it caused me to push my writing back. It was taking so long, and this chapter was growing more than I anticipated so I decided to chop what I had in mind in half. Its probably a good thing I did that because my idea for the next chapter keeps growing. Well, as always, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 19- Move Along
"The sharp knife of a short life"- If I Die Young, The Band Perry
Training with earth chakra had been interesting. Rocks don't naturally bend or shift forms, but it wasn't exactly hard. With enough concentration I could take a pebble and make it perfectly square. Anything larger or more detailed would end up looking like a ditto: formless and without any structure.
Kiyoshi almost started a forest fire at one point and I'm not entirely sure it was an accident. He was able to prevent the stems on leaves from burning, but once the fire spread past a certain point the whole leaf would go up in flames.
Hiroshi would put his palm on the water and when he lifted his hand from the surface only a small amount of water swirled in a chaotic ball before it lost shape and splashed back into the river.
Though we all knew we were improving, we were starting to get annoyed at all of our failures blowing up in our faces. It was no wonder that after three and a half weeks of nonstop training one of us would lose patience.
"Sensei, can we go on a mission? A real mission? We haven't left the village since we began this training, and it's driving me crazy!" Kiyoshi complained loudly at sensei. Usually Hiroshi or I would roll our eyes at him for acting like a ten year old, but right then we were on the same page.
Because of the strenuous training we had just begun, the amount of missions we took was lessoned so as not to over work us. Once our bodies adjusted to the amount of chakra we were expending each day we would be able to do more, but for now we had to be content with small missions.
"That may actually be a good idea. It has been a while and you three deserve the chance to blow off some steam," sensei thought aloud.
"Alright, I will see what I can get for us. I will speak to the Hokage this evening, but that does not mean we will have a mission by morning. If you really want a 'good' one, you may have to wait for it."
"Woohoo!" I yelled, unnecessarily loud as I flung my arms in the air. Even with all this training I felt cooped up. Spring was more than just on its way by this point. It was so close I could feel it and it was making me restless.
We completed the days training with new vigor. By the end of the day both of the boys were exhausted. I was tired, but not to the point of collapsing. Instead of going home to take a shower for my sore muscles, I went to the park in search of Naruto and Sasuke.
Turning the corner, I heard them before I saw them. They seemed to be in the middle of a tree climbing contest. At the base of the trunk were Sakura, Ino, and Kiba. The girls were cheering for Sasuke while Kiba cheered for Naruto. My eyes spotted the boys half way up the tree where they were climbing as fast as they could.
Something inside me tensed when they began to push each other. They meant no harm, but one of them was going to fall. I quickly made my way to the tree just in time to catch Sasuke. Naruto, who was panic stricken at what he had accidentally done, found the fastest way down the tree: he jumped.
If I had free hands I would have face-palmed at his stupidity. Instead I threw Sasuke over my shoulder and caught Naruto with my other arm. The moment I gently set them down, Naruto turned to an embarrassed Sasuke and began apologizing profusely.
"Are you guys okay?" I interrupted Naruto sharply. Fear and worry for their well being quickly turned to anger at the sheer stupidity they had just shown. They both looked up at me as if only then realizing I was there. The boys nodded their head to answer my question.
"Good because, you two have a lot of explaining to do." Sasuke winced at the cold tone of my voice as Naruto gulped heavily.
"Ah well, you see, we were just-"Naruto tried to explain.
"You were just what? Trying to kill each other?" My voice rose with every word. The long day of training was catching up to me, and seeing them fall from the tree had been such a shock that it drove me other the edge.
"That has to be the stupidest thing you two have done up to date! I don't want to hear your excuses," I add after Sasuke opened his mouth to argue back. My right hand reflexively went up to my forehead to massage out the headache that was well on its way. With a sigh my position relaxed and my anger lost all steam.
"You guys need to be careful. Please think before you act. Did you really think you would both be perfectly fine after pushing each other out of a tree?" I said almost pleadingly. They looked at the ground guiltily.
"Sorry," they spoke in unison. During our conversation the three in the audience had slowly began backing away. A part of me wanted to yell at them for encouraging the boys, but right then I felt it was more important to speak with the boys.
"Look, I'm sorry I yelled, but you two had me really worried." Naruto's eyes glistened suspiciously before he vaulted himself at me, arms outstretched for a hug. His reaction to my scolding took me off guard and I could only stand there as he buried his head in my stomach.
Sasuke, who had been staring at the ground broodingly, glared at Naruto when he went to hug me. Something told me that Sasuke would not initiate contact himself, though he was obviously upset that he couldn't hug me.
I threw an arm round his shoulders and awkwardly pulled him to my side. He stiffened a moment before snaking a small arm around my waist. Shaking my head with a sigh, I pulled their arms and began to lead them to Ichiraku's.
"I swear; the two of you are going to be the death of me. Come on, let's go get some dinner. I wanted to talk with you anyways." Naruto seemed to catch on to where we were going and let go of me. With his arms in the air he cheered and ran ahead toward the stall.
I went to let go of Sasuke's hand as well, but he tightened his grip so I let him be. After realizing that he was the only one running toward the stall, Naruto ran back to us.
"Come on guys. I'm hungry!"
"I may be paying, but your limit is two bowls each." I tell Naruto seriously. The manga wasn't exaggerating the amount of ramen Naruto could eat. Though I had been saving up my mission money, I didn't have enough to pay for a ramen spree. D-Ranks didn't exactly pay well. Most of what I earned went straight into savings.
"Aww. Come on Nee-Chan, just one more?" Naruto whined loudly. Then he froze, eyes wide open as he stared at me almost fearfully. At the moment I was too shocked to do anything other than stare. Did he really think of me as a sister?
A warm feeling filled my chest as an embarrassed blush covered my face. The warmth was smothering, causing me to sweat despite the chilly weather. Sasuke, who was still at my side, seemed to catch onto the awkwardness and decided to join the conversation.
"Yeah Nee-san, I'm really hungry. Can't we have three bowls?" his voice was light and teasing. I was relieved he was finally back to normal, but the teasing wasn't exactly welcome. Naruto seemed to realize that I wasn't angry, just embarrassed and joined Sasuke in his teasing.
"Nee-Chan, we might starve to death if we don't eat enough!" My body was tense and my eyes shifty as they continued to whine about more food, calling me Nee-Chan all the while.
"Okay, okay! You guys win! You can have an extra bowl," I tell them in an annoyed voice, finally getting control over the outrageous blush on my cheeks. They laughed loudly at my outburst and began racing towards the stall, leaving me to walk by myself.
The two of them had me wrapped around their fingers, and now they knew it. I just hoped they wouldn't suck my wallet dry. I waved to Teuchi and his daughter as I entered before seating myself next to the boys.
"Did you guys already order?" I asked them absently as I looked over the menu. Sasuke nodded his head while Naruto answered with a loud, "Yep!" It didn't take long for our steaming bowls to make an appearance on the counter. My mouth was watering at the smell of food. Ration bars were convenient, but I should really stop eating them all the time.
We ate with gusto, completely content by the time we finished. A comfortable silence had blanketed the three of us. I didn't want to pop the happy bubble, but I needed to tell them I might be leaving for a bit.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" I asked abruptly. They both agreed readily enough, but I could tell that Sasuke thought something was up. We walked slowly toward the riverbank, Naruto chatting happily the whole way. Sitting by the edge of the river had me tempted to dip my feet in, but the chilly air had me re-considering.
It was well past sunset and the stars glittered beautifully on the rivers surface. The current was slow enough to reflect the stars, but fast enough to distort their images. In the end I decided that the river looked like a big disco ball.
"So what did you want to tell us?" Sasuke asked, breaking through my thoughts. Sitting down with a sigh, I patted the ground next to me urging them to take a seat on the grass next to me. Once they were both seated my gaze turned back to the river.
"As you two know, my team has been picking up a lot more C-Rank missions, most of which require us to leave the village." Naruto nodded his head at my words with a sagely look on his childish face that almost caused me to giggle at him.
"In a day or two we will most likely be getting another one. I will probably be out of town for a while," I continue.
"How long is a while?" Sasuke asked sounding resigned. He was getting used to my absences, but was never really happy about them.
"Don't know. Depends on the mission. It could take a day, or it could take a month. I wanted to tell you guys tonight in case I didn't get to see you before leaving," was my answer. A large yawn escaped my lips causing Naruto to giggle at me. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to realize how drained I was by then.
"If you have a big mission, shouldn't you be sleeping or preparing or something?" he asked. I grinned at how unsubtle he was. Standing up I ruffled his messy hair and replied, "Yes mom. I'll get right on that."
"Haha! She called you 'mom'," Naruto said loudly, pointing at Sasuke. The poor boys cheeks turned red as he tried to swat away the hand on his head. The fact that I had removed my hand before he had a chance to make contact had Naruto laughing even louder.
That was how Naruto found himself tackled to the ground by a very embarrassed Sasuke. I just shook my head at their antics as I began walking in the direction of Naruto's apartment. It took the boys a moment to realize I had left without them, causing them to run to catch up to me.
By the time I had dropped both boys off at their respective houses, I was exhausted. I had just enough energy to tell my parents I was home, before I passed out on my bed. A tap on my bedroom window woke me the next morning. My vision was obstructed by my hair, but I was too tired to move it out of the way.
Shifting just enough that I could peek through my bangs I finally saw what had rudely awoken me. Sensei was crouching on my window sill waiting patiently for me to acknowledge him. Blinking at him was the only greeting I could manage before turning away from him and trying to go back to sleep.
"Come now, Suikazura. You guys wanted a mission, so I got you one. Get up we have much preparation to do before leaving." He had opened the window and climbed in my room. Sitting up groggily I looked past him to see it was barley even dawn.
"Sensei, what will the neighbors think when they see a grown man crawling in through my window? You'll ruin my reputation with your scandalous behavior," I told him seriously. Well, as serious as I could be after just waking up.
"I expect you to be in front of the Hokage tower in an hour. If you are not, the consequences will be much worse than just a bad reputation," was sensei's only reply before he jumped out my window.
With a sigh I stood on shaky legs and padded across my room, heading toward the closet. I began to space out as I pulled my shirt from my closet. A loud tearing sound jolted me out of my stupor. The shirt I had just put on now had a rip going down the back of it.
"Well that's nice," I mutter to my empty room. With an annoyed sigh I snuck into my parent's room intent on borrowing a shirt from one of them. There was no way I would were another one of mine. What if it also ripped? Even worse, what if it ripped while I was on a mission? That would suck big time.
I threw my zip up vest on over the green shirt I had grabbed before pulling together a mission pack. Making sure all my weapons were securely tied to my limbs, I pulled on the last bit of my gear: my belt. My collection of seeds had grown with lack of constant use. I left a quick note on the kitchen table telling my parents about the mission before walking out the door.
An equally tired Hiroshi and Kiyoshi met me in front of the tower twenty minutes early. We must have been a sight to see: three zombie like Genin just standing in front of the red mansion. A snort from the otherwise silent Kiyoshi had me looking up at him.
"What?" I asked, for some reason causing him to start laughing.
"What?" I asked again, more insistent this time. Hiroshi was now looking between us, confused.
"You don't match at all," Kiyoshi finally said, pointing at the green shirt I had taken from my mom.
"And that's funny, why?" was my grumpy response.
"I don't know why, it just is," he said, breaking into giggles again. Even Hiroshi was smiling by that point.
"Yeah, well your shirt is on backwards." Kiyoshi's laughter stopped as he looked down at himself. Hiroshi was full out laughing at Kiyoshi's panicked expression. Upon realizing his shirt was how it should be Kiyoshi opened his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by sensei's appearance.
"The Hokage is waiting for us inside," was all he said. We followed after sensei single file as he led us to the missions' desk.
"Ah, team one. It's good to see you all again," the Hokage said upon our entrance. It had been a while since the Hokage himself had briefed us on a mission. He was probably only available because it was so early.
"Let's get straight to the point," he said, shuffling some papers on the long desk.
"It has been rumored that a mining city on the Grass Country border has been infiltrated by enemy Shinobi. A Genin team was sent up there a week ago to investigate these rumors. They have confirmed this information. Your mission is to get into the city unnoticed and deal with this threat."
"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but if this is a Fire Country city why must we get in unnoticed?" the question came from Kiyoshi. He made a good point.
"That brings us to your mission's second objective. Find out which country these Shinobi are from. We want you undercover so as not to alert the foreign Shinobi to your digging. After you have confirmed which country they are from, you are to eliminate them." This was sounding more and more like a B-Rank mission.
"Then this mission is B-Ranked?" I asked the Hokage uneasily. He turned in my direction and looked me right in the eye as he answered, "You are correct. This mission is indeed a B-Rank." Kiyoshi was getting shifty next to me, obviously excited about such a high ranked mission.
"I don't mean to question your judgment, Hokage-sama, but why was a Genin team with little over half a years experience given this mission?" Hiroshi asked nervously. The Hokage smiled at Hiroshi as he leaned back in his chair.
"Your team has proven capable on many occasions. We have complete faith you will succeed. There are only four enemies Shinobi. We believe them to be a Jonin sensei and his Genin team." That couldn't be the only reason we were being sent. It hadn't even been a year since the massacre, and we were down many Shinobi.
I imagine we were being sent because of how understaffed we were. Most of the more capable ninja had been up to their ears in work. While our team was in no way considered elite, they were beginning to think of us as capable. A small amount of pride bloomed in my chest at the thought that our team was good enough to be sent on missions like this.
"How you sneak in is up to you, though your sensei seems to have a few ideas. This is the missions scroll; it contains a more detailed report about your enemy that was written by the team that was sent up there before you." The Hokage said as he pointed to the scrolls on his desk.
"There is one more thing I would like to discuss before you leave," the Hokage said, leaning forward in his seat.
"You are not required to kill these Shinobi. If they request a chance to retreat upon confrontation, you are to escort them back to the border from hence they came." We all nodded our acceptance of this. Honestly I was rather relieved.
With our business in the tower finished, we left the building. If it was just another team doing what their Kage had ordered them I'd rather not kill them unless I had too. Especially if they were just trying to retreat. Lost in thought I had almost walked into Hiroshi, who was in front of me, at his sudden stop. Sensei had led us to a small café.
"Why don't we have a small breakfast as we discuss our tactics," sensei said as he strode inside. Food sounded good just then. Three muffins and a banana may have been a bit overboard, but I had a feeling we would be here for a while.
"This mission will teach the three of you important lessons. You have of course gone through normal infiltration training, but today you will use what you know to complete a mission. Tell me, what you three think is a good way to infiltrate a village?" sensei asked us after we sat down.
"Umm… What if we sneak in using a wagon? Something like the one Tomio-san had," Kiyoshi suggested.
"We can't do that though. At some point we will probably have to question the towns' people, wouldn't it seem a bit suspicious if people saw us climb out of a wagon? We would practically be giving ourselves away," Hiroshi said.
"Well what if we disguise ourselves as traveling civilians? We could say we are taking a break in the town. It wouldn't be suspicious if we ask around about things; they would just think we were your average tourists," I pitched in.
"I'm glad your lessons seemed to have stuck with you three. All of your ideas are plausible, and similar to what I had in mind."
"Are you going to tell us exactly what it is you 'have in mind'?" I asked sensei.
"We will approach the village as a family of four with plans to spend a few days there before heading further north towards the in-laws," was sensei's reply.
"As long as I don't have to play 'wife' then that's fine with me," Hiroshi said with a crooked grin.
"Me either!" Kiyoshi yelled out as if he would be forced to if he didn't object soon enough.
"I don't want to be the wife either. Ooh! I know. Can I be the husband? It will really help my acting skills." I asked sensei pleadingly. He just gave me a blank look causing the boys to laugh at my odd request and sensei's reaction.
"Why don't we discuss character design," sensei proposed, completely ignoring my former request.
"We will all be under Henge, but there is more that goes into that Jutsu than chakra. So far all you three have done is use it to copy the appearance of another. In a situation like this it could be dangerous to you and anyone you appear as. To avoid such danger, we will be making our own appearances." That actually sounded like fun.
I hadn't really experimented with a simple Henge, but now that sensei brought it up I was excited to try it. If we were going as a family we would have to have similar physical traits without looking like carbon copies of each other.
Ideas were already running circles in my head. How could we look alike without being too alike? Which traits should be the same? We should probably look fairly average, so blonde or red hair was out of the question.
"As you finish eating I want you to each come up with an appearance. Boys, you will both be between the ages of four and seven. Any younger and it would be too suspicious. Most families wait for their children to be older before traveling with them. Suikazura, you will be the wife. Hair color should be a shade between light brown, and dark brown.
"Once you all have an idea in mind I want you to speak amongst yourselves to make sure you all have similar traits. If you want to be extremely thorough, you can begin thinking of your characteristics. When you are finished, you can find me at our usual training field. As soon as I approve of you we will be on our way." Were the instructions sensei gave us before leaving.
Both boys looked a bit lost. Apparently appearances were not something they spent much time on. An idea was beginning to form in my mind as I finished my food. Kiyoshi kept looking at me pleadingly as if I would give him all the answers. I quickly smothered the smirk that wanted to take over my face, instead choosing to slowly lick the crumbs off my fingers.
"I know you have an idea so stop making us wait," Kiyoshi finally snapped.
"Alright, alright. Hold your horses, I was just finishing my food," I replied in exasperation.
"As you guys should already know, most children look more like their grandparents than their actual parents. But certain traits like hair and eye color run in the family," I tell them in lecture mode.
"We know; this was all covered at the academy," Hiroshi said, patience obviously warring thin.
"What I'm trying to say is that all we need are a few similar traits. Other than that you guys could have purple hair and we could still look related." Kiyoshi nodded his head at my words, beginning to understand the simplicity behind our task.
"So what image did you have in mind for yourself?" Hiroshi asked me curiously.
"I was thinking of having light or auburn brown hair, hazel or brown eyes, average height, lots of freckles. A less muscular frame, lower cheek bones, and a shorter nose. Some wrinkles around my eyes would probably be good too. Age would be about twenty five. From what sensei said we can assume he will be fairly average as well." My words seemed to spark ideas for both the boys as they became lost in thought.
While they were busy deciding what to look like, I got up and bought myself another muffin. Those things were addictive. By the time I got back to the table Kiyoshi was scraping a kunai across the surface of the table while Hiroshi was poking holes in it. The funniest part was that they didn't even realize they were doing it.
"So guys, have any ideas yet?" I ask them cheerily. Hiroshi's eyes wrinkle in thought before he says, "Age between four and five. Hair light brown, hazel eyes and a long nose. Light freckles, tan complexion, round face. How does that sound?"
"Good. Before we decide for sure though, we should see what Kiyoshi has I mind."
"Plain dark brown hair, but not as dark as yours," Kiyoshi said looking at me.
"Dark brown eyes, just like my father. Angular face similar to my mother's, I'll even have her light skin complexion. No freckles though. Age between six and seven."
"Sounds good to me." We spent the next forty minutes transforming into the images we held in our mind. After taking on a different appearance we would scrutinize every last detail we could think of. Things like hair and nail length, how callused our hands would be.
By the time we were done we had thought up an entire family history. We lived on the outskirts of the village on one of the dairy farms where my 'husband' worked. My days were spent caring for the cows and equipment. My youngest stayed by my side while my oldest learned how to work the fields with his father.
Our youngest was finally old enough to travel so we had prepared and early spring reunion with my parents who I had not seen since before his birth. Because we all spent so much time with each other it was easy to fill the roles we had chosen.
Hiroshi was the shy four year old, always glued to his mothers skirts. Kiyoshi was the adventurous seven year old, eager to discover the big world he had heard about. I was the mother hen, constantly checking my sons for scrapes and cuts they collected.
A sense of accomplishment filled the three of us. This assignment hadn't been a challenge, but we had completed it to the best of our abilities and it felt good. Now we just had to put our new disguises to the test.
We made our way to the agreed upon meeting place slowly. The three of us were as in character as we could get. Hiroshi rested on my hip with his head buried in my shoulder, while Kiyoshi kept trying to tug his hand from mine. We entered the training fields with a lost air about us.
I spotted sensei across the field and began to make my way toward him, dragging a distracted Kiyoshi behind me. He looked up from the book in his hands at our approach and raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me, Shinobi-san, but could you point me toward training field eighteen?" I asked him.
"Very good you three. Very believable," he said as he circled around us, inspecting our work.
"How did you know?" Kiyoshi asked with a pout. The corner of sensei's mouth curled upward in an amused grin.
"Kiyoshi, no sane civilian would so willingly approach a Shinobi." He was right. There was an invisible wall that separated the Shinobi and civilians. They lived knowing we walked the streets, but never cared to know more than that. As much as they tolerated us, they were also scared of us.
We as Shinobi found it almost impossible to relate to civilians. They didn't risk their life every day, or lose teammates in wars. We fought for them and they showed their gratitude by supporting us with their farms and merchandise.
"Oh well. We tried." Hiroshi said, not sounding very upset. With three simultaneous 'poofs' we returned to our normal appearances. The change of height had me disoriented for a moment. Kiyoshi looked even worse for wear than I did.
"Are you alright?" I asked him in concern.
"Yeah, just a bit of chakra depletion," was his reply. My eyebrows creased in thought. We hadn't done too much, had we? I could tell there was an absence in my chakra, but I did not feel as tired as Kiyoshi looked. In fact, I still had enough chakra for twice the amount of Henge training we had done this morning. Weird.
"You all did well in picking an appearance as well as a personality. Now tell me what names you decided on," sensei said to fill the silence. We all turned to stare at him, blinking owlishly. A moment of quiet passed before I burst into laughter, both boys soon following. It was so contagious that even sensei was smiling.
"I can't believe we forgot names!" Hiroshi said between fits of giggling. It was hilarious. We had put so much effort into this and we still forgot one of the most essential and elementary things: a name.
"How about Keiji for Hiroshi, Arata for Kiyoshi, I will be Sadao, and Suikazura will be Hanako." Flower child? How fitting, I thought with a snort. Sensei then showed us his disguise. He appeared to be a man of about thirty with crow's feet around his eyes. A square jaw was complemented by a strong nose.
He was tan with deep brown eyes; his hair was a similar shade to Kiyo- Arata's. He was handsome in a classical sense, but still retained the rough appearance of a man who worked for a living. Overall I'd say we looked like your average civilian family.
"Let's get going then," sensei said in a voice that was deeper than his own.
"Woohoo!" Kiyoshi yelled out with a childish lilt to his voice as he Henged back into Arata.
"You know better than to yell so loudly in public, Arata." I tell him in a reprimanding tone as I too Henged back into Hanako.
"But mom-"he began to protest.
"Listen to your mother, Arata," Sadao chided him.
"Mommy, pick me up!" Little newly transformed Keiji whined from somewhere near my knees. I picked him up with a shake of my head at how absurd this situation was. It was weird, but not overall uncomfortable. I had previous experience with children, but none of them had been mine; I hadn't lived long enough to have a family of my own.
A long buried feeling of longing surfaced inside my chest at the scene around me. This was something I wanted, but the chances of me living long enough to have this were practically non-existent. My heart ached for the family I knew I would never have.
"Wait up Arata or you might leave your mother behind!" Sadao called across the field. Turning to me he asked, "Is everything alright, Hanako?"
"Yes, sorry. I got distracted there a moment," I replied with a shaky smile. He watched me a bit longer as if trying to decide whether to press for details before looking ahead of him and continuing in the direction of the main gates.
A/N- A quick shout out to Eve: I'm glad you like the story so far. Also I'm happy you noticed her multiple states of mind. I can't wait to hear from you again.
ToeGirth,
Signing Out