Disclaimer: Not mine. Though it would make a really good birthday present.
Authors Note: Alright guys, here it is. As a gift from me to you on my birthday, after over a year, I rise from the dead and give you this. Don't kill me please.
Chapter 20- Ready or Not
It was just past noon by the time we left the village. Because we had been up so early it felt like it should have been later than that. The weather was beautiful, only calling for a light sweater, though it would get much colder after dark.
The village we were heading toward was almost two days travel from Konoha. It was a Grass border city, but we couldn't just assume that the foreign ninja came from there. They could be a team from Suna, or Ame, or even Iwa.
The fact that the Genin team sent before us had been unable to identify them meant that they didn't want to be identified. My only question was that if a village wanted to mess with us, why would they go through the trouble of hiding who was behind it?
Konoha ninja took missions both in and out of Fire country; confrontations with other ninja were bound to happen. It was common, so why would a team take precautions such as not wearing their forehead protectors. We weren't at war.
"Sensei," I began questioningly.
"Yes, Hanakao?" the jab at my forgetting to keep in 'character' was irritating but I took it to heart anyway. There was no real need while we were traveling, but sensei wanted us to get the feel for doing this long term. The more time we spent doing this, the harder it would be to slip up when it really mattered.
"If the team we are investigating is just that, a team, why would they bother hiding what village they come from?" He was silent for a bit, considering my question and how he would answer. They didn't look it, but I could tell the boys were paying just as much attention as I was.
"It most likely means that they are not on a mission commissioned by Fire country," was his reply. My eyebrows knit together in thought. That couldn't be all.
"But still, we aren't at war, why would they feel the need to hide their affiliation?" I persisted.
"That's just it Hanako. We aren't at war. If they are taking such precautions it may mean they don't want a war."
"Okay, but if they don't want a war, why poke around so much?" I countered.
"We do not know their mission objective and can only speculate at this point. It could range from stealing resources, as it is a mining city they have inhabited, to causing a rebellion on our outskirts. Remember that if they wear their forehead protector than we can assume it is an immediate order from their Kage.
"If it is an order, then we have every right to declare war. As long as they stay country-less ninja, we cannot hold a country accountable for their actions."
"But wouldn't that make them missing Nin?" Hiroshi butt in. This conversation was beginning to hit a little too close to home for my comfort.
"If no country claims their allegiance, then yes, we are to treat them as missing nin." sensei replied. A chill completely unrelated to the breeze crept up my spine as I slowly lagged to the back, not liking where this was going.
"Even if it was an order?" Kiyoshi asked skeptically. I wanted no part of this conversation.
"As long as there is no proof of them acting on orders, then yes." Sensei's tone was neutral, as if he had distanced himself from the words he spoke. Not quite mechanical but… they had an empty undercurrent.
It was eerie, how openly they could discuss this. From an outsiders view, it was probably incomprehensible, how someone could forsake themselves for an order alone; yet, after living this life and learning these politics, after they had so subtly ingrained themselves in my mind, I couldn't be sure that I wouldn't follow orders.
Not only had I withdrawn from the conversation, but from everything. It felt like part of me had curled in on myself, hidden behind a wall so thick nothing could breach it. Their words still rang in my ears, but the passion in Kiyoshi's voice did not.
"What kind of leader would basically order their subordinates to become missing nin?" He asked in outrage. Leaders who wanted a scapegoat. Leaders who wanted an easy solution. Leaders that believed others should sacrifice themselves for their own cause. Leaders like Danzo.
Leaders who wanted to protect what was precious. Leaders who felt cornered. Leaders who can put their faith in a boy they had destroyed. Leaders like the Third Hokage.
More and more answers came to mind that I dared not voice aloud. Hiroshi was too involved in Kiyoshi's words to notice my reticent behavior but sensei had definitely caught on.
"AUGH!" I exclaimed loudly with both hands thrown above my head in gesture of utmost frustration.
"This is politics, I hate politics! My brain hurts just thinking about this." My outburst was met with rolling eyes and exasperation.
"You're the one who brought this up in the first place," Hiroshi pointed out, though the telling twitches in his lips gave away his amusement.
"Yeah well, I take it back. This topic sucks." And just like that I was back, obnoxiously loud voice and all. The tension lightened and we each relaxed in our own ways.
"Hey Kiyoshi, what do you want for your birthday?" I asked, changing the topic. We didn't know his actually birthday, but always celebrated on the day he had entered the orphanage. He slowed down considerably, lagging toward the back where I walked.
"Hmm…" he pondered aloud.
"Some extra height would be nice," he said in his smart ass tone of voice.
"Something I can actually get you?" I asked again, with a roll of my eyes.
"Get him a girl friend" Hiroshi piped up teasingly.
"You guys don't seem to understand the concept of the term buy-able," I said in a dry voice.
"Look if you didn't want anything you should have just said so," I continued in a dramatic huff.
"Hey I never said that," Kiyoshi was quick to correct me.
"Make me a cake, or a scarf or something." He quickly threw out suggestions.
"You want a scarf right before spring? Doesn't seem too practical." By this point I was giving him a hard time just to watch him squirm. Sensei seemed to think Kiyoshi had had enough and not so subtly directed our conversation elsewhere.
"Just because you guys can't keep up your elemental chakra training doesn't mean you don't have to learn. I'd like for all three of you to go through the hand movements on both Jutsu you are attempting to learn." With a sigh we each began to work through the signs we wanted to imprint in our minds.
What I hadn't told any of them was that I had memorized the ones for the armor Jutsu as well as the two I was supposed to learn. I hadn't brought it up at our dinner when we discussed everything because it was considered a C rank Jutsu and Sensei would have said no.
So I brought up the rear of our odd little family, trying to memorize my signs whilst keeping an eye on our backs. It wasn't unusual for sensei to have us do this. He wanted it to feel second nature so that by the time we incorporated chakra into our movements, we wouldn't stumble or mess our Jutsu up.
By the time we reached a good place to set up camp my fingers felt like hot dogs had been glued to my knuckles. They were tired from all the movement and tingled when I stretched them out. Once my hands felt close to normal I began to work on my set task: fire wood.
We had been on a few out of village missions that required us to set up our own camps, as well as team building trips sensei had us go on every now and then. It had been strange at first, often times two of us would start on the same task. Hiroshi and Kiyoshi used to fight over who had to hunt and who got to set up the fire pit and sleeping bags.
They never wanted my job. It was 'boring'. Or so Kiyoshi seemed to think. I rather enjoyed the walks involved. I'd always been a bit of a pyromaniac at heart; I knew what to look for when searching for wood. The fires I made where always the biggest. Sensei found it ironic that mine were nicer than our resident Fire user.
What they didn't know was that I technically had much more practice, from my past life, than either of the boys. By the time I'd gathered a satisfactory amount of wood Kiyoshi was sitting in a tree and chatting with sensei. He had already finished. Hiroshi on the other hand was still mulling about the forest searching for dinner.
It was good that I'd finished before Hiroshi. I took the time needed to set the smaller twigs into a formation that would burn well. The fire was just beginning to lick at the larger logs I'd gathered when our food finally arrived.
In ten minutes time the food had been skinned and gut. We set long strips on our small skillet to cook. Once there was enough to go around Kiyoshi handed the whole thing over to sensei to finish up. He spoke as he worked, taking advantage of our full mouths.
"Seeing as we can't keep our Henge while we sleep, Kiyoshi and I will take turns casting an area of effect Genjutsu over those who are resting. Kiyoshi, you will cover half of Hiroshi's watch with him. When you go to bed I will cover for the rest of his shift and the first half of Suikazura's. As soon as I go back to sleep you will get up again and finish the last watch with her." We all nodded as we ate, showing our understanding.
Usually we set four watches, occasionally we set three and sensei would accompany whoever he felt like talking to. Though we could each do any of the watches, I preferred the morning one. Hiroshi and Kiyoshi hated that one and fought over first watch instead. Middle watch was the least popular.
No one wanted to have to sleep, wake up, and then sleep again. It would ruin any normal sleep routine not to mention the constant shift between wakefulness and sleep would cause for a very tiring day. From what sensei said it seemed that he would be taking the brunt of everything.
With a tired sigh I got up and walked to the bed rolls, taking a moment to pull my sleeping bag away from the others. Hiroshi looked over at the sound of rustling cloth and rolled his eyes at me. They had long since gotten used to my weird preferences, no longer questioning why I never slept too close to them.
It was nothing against them; I just preferred my personal space. After sticking my tongue out at him I lay down for what I was sure would not be enough sleep. Sure enough I was woken by a shake of the shoulders what felt like minutes later. Hiroshi looked as tired as I felt and as soon as he saw I was awake he walked straight to his bed and fell asleep.
Sitting up in my sleeping bad I looked to the side where Kiyoshi lay sleeping instead of sensei. Right, I though groggily as I stood, I'm with sensei first. Aoba-sensei's figure was barely distinguishable on the other side of the camp. I made my way over to him slowly and plopped myself down next to his side.
He said nothing and made no move to acknowledge my presence so I occupied myself with observing the surroundings. The soft sound of nocturnal animals going about their 'day' was comforting. Every now and then I would spot a squirrel scampering around, or a fox in search of food. The low chattering of the animals helped me fully wake up.
My eardrums tried to catch every sound they could as my brain worked to identify each one. Soon the hypnotizing noises faded to the back of my mind as the feeling in my stomach I had been trying to ignore all day made itself known. Something about this mission was putting me on edge. I wanted to pretend that it was just my imagination, but instead I voiced my concerns to sensei.
"Sensei?" I asked quietly so as not to disrupt the spell that the forest had cast upon us. He tilted his head in my direction to show he was listening.
"Something feels weird," I said, brows furrowed in though. His senses seemed to sharpen at this and his eyes began to scan the trees around us for anything out of place.
"Not here," I quickly amended.
"It's this mission. I have a weird feeling about it." It was hard to express what I was feeling with words. No ominous feeling was building in the pit of my stomach, but something was tugging at me. My intuition was pounding on my mental doors, trying to get my attention.
"It is normal to feel nervous when on a mission. The fact that this is our first B-Rank is all the more-"
"This isn't nerves, sensei." I said, cutting him off. He looked at me, searching out my eyes at my sharp tone.
"Nothing bad will happen to you three. I will keep you all safe," he said, misinterpreting my words for fear of our wellbeing. I appreciated the gesture, but was frustrated that he wasn't taking me seriously. With a small sigh I gave up on trying to convince him of anything.
I sat quietly by his side for a while longer, trying to come up with something else to talk about. Nothing really came to mind so I spent my time crushing fallen leaves from the forest floor. Eventually when that began to bore me, I started to play with the grass.
Most of the grass was crushed and brown but with a little bit of work I had a small amount lush and green again. Once that was done I pulled some from the ground and began to weave it into a small bracelet. It took a little dexterity, but after years spent learning to sew and knit under my mother's tutelage I was fairly capable.
Sensei watched me work, his face expressing amusement as well as wonder at what I was doing. As soon as the thin grass bracelet was finished I looped it around his wrist. He raised his eyebrow at me in question, though his only response was a shrug on my part.
My feet were beginning to fall asleep so I rose and began to walk around the camp. As soon as I looked up I couldn't glance away. Most of the trees were still bare from winter, rendering the night sky before my eyes. It was beautiful.
The stars seemed to know they were being watched and shone all the brighter. The constellations were easily picked out among their fellow stars and gave the sky a story. The moon at the center of it all seemed to glow with pride for the gems that adorned it.
I'd never really been one for stargazing but there were some things that everyone knew. Even now, not seeing Orion's Belt in the sky made me feel a tad hollow inside. There was no Big Dipper, or Little Dipper. Just nameless constellations I came to recognize over my time here.
After a few moments of sky watching I turned my eyes back to the ground and began my slow steps again. My mind began to wander. I thought about my brothers and how they had finished moving their stuff, and how my mother still thought this was just a C-Rank mission.
She had gotten used to me being out of the house for a few days or weeks just as she had gotten used to Kotetsu and Izumo doing the same. I hadn't had the heart to tell her that this mission would be a little different. She probably would have pursed her lips and told me she wasn't happy about the danger I was putting myself in.
Truth be told I was a bit nervous about the mission. There would be assured violence and this time there was a chance we wouldn't be outclassing our enemies. A rustle of cloth pulled me from my thoughts. Sensei had gotten to his feet and was walking toward where Kiyoshi lay.
I sat down where I had been standing and planted my hands on the ground. From there I could feel sensei's steps soon be replaced by a smaller, stumbling pair. Kiyoshi sat himself down heavily and began his hands signs for the Genjutsu.
As someone who couldn't do a good Genjutsu if their life depended on it, I was lucky to have two users on my team. Though I couldn't make one, I knew enough about them to avoid trouble. It was reassuring.
"How's it been?" Kiyoshi asked after he finished performing the Jutsu.
"Quiet. The sky looks nice though." He glanced upwards at my comment and snorted at me.
"What was that for?"
"You're so random sometimes," was his response. I rolled my eyes at him and switched my focus back to the forest bed. About a mile from our camp site there was an unnatural clearing that must have happened in some kind of battle. The trees surrounding it were all bent and mangled.
I began to feed chakra to the trees that needed it, helping them recover. Some may not have made it through spring without the extra boost. I was so absorbed in my work that I barely noticed when Kiyoshi rose and walked toward the campfire. By the time I finished and walked up behind him he seemed to be in the middle of his leaf burning technique.
Silently I watched him concentrate as the flames slowly licked at the edges and stem of the leaf. Soon the whole thing caught and he had to drop it. Usually he could go a bit longer, but the strain of the Genjutsu he was holding must have held him back.
"Don't do too much," I warned as he went to pick up another leaf.
"We have a long day ahead of us and we can't have you fainting from chakra exhaustion." His brow creased to a frown at my wording.
"I'm not going to faint," he said petulantly.
"Of course not. You'll just pass out in a manly fashion." He pursed his lips at my teasing and threw the ashes of the leaf at me. I almost flinched and dodged, but common sense kept me still. The ashes flew about four inches before spreading midair and falling to the ground between us. The look Kiyoshi game them for failing him had me choking on my laughter as quietly as possible.
Giving hin a friendly shove as I passed him by, I began to pull the breakfast tools out of our packs. Kiyoshi noticed my movements and went to go get more wood to feed the fire again. Hiroshi was beginning to stir as the smell of cooked jerky wafted over our camp. Sensei seemed to have been awake for a while, but only rose when the food was ready.
We all sat in silence as we ate. Once we were finished our things were quickly packed back up and prepped to go. Sensei used his Henge and we all took that as our cue. We did a quick once over before setting out.
To keep the Henge up we had to keep a constant flow of chakra circulating to every affected part of our bodies. That in itself was tiring enough. Keeping a detailed image of what we wanted to look like in our mind was even harder. If we got too distracted then our appearance would begin to shift back into our own.
Either that or our features would morph into something completely different. Wearing the Henge for the whole day not only helped stretch and expand our chakra coils, but it also helped with our concentration. Concentrating wasn't too much of an issue after we started tree and water walking, but any improvement is a good one. The memory exercise it provided was also a plus.
We walked in silence, comfortable in the warming weather. By the time midday approached we decided to sit down to eat. Normally we would have had something small while we walked, but sensei felt we should rest a little and regain as much chakra as possible.
Twenty minutes later found us once again on our way to the city. At the earliest we would arrive late in the evening, and if we paced ourselves we could arrive early the next day. The journey was enjoyable. We spent most of our time together these days, but that was always for training. It was nice to just walk and talk.
It almost felt like old friends catching up, except it shouldn't have. It's funny how caught up in life you can get sometimes. Stepping back and enjoying what was in front of me was refreshing. Breathing in deeply, a small content smile graced my lips as we continued on our way.
It was past nightfall when the city came into view. Over the last day our surroundings had shifted from heavily wooded forests, to hills and tall grass. From where we stood at the top of one such hill the city's lights could be spotted as they decorated the sky line.
Our sudden appearance this late would be more noticeable than it would be in the morning. It would be better to set up camp here and arrive the next day so as not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves. I turned toward sensei to see which course of action we would be taking.
He began the familiar motions of setting up camp and we soon fell into them as well. We moved like clockwork, not even thinking about what we were doing. My nerves had quieted over the day, but began to resurface.
What if the people we were to investigate weren't Genin like we had assumed? While the three of us might be able to hold up a small fight with a Chunin, it would be a long time before we could do the same with a Jonin.
I knew that from first-hand experience. It was a detail hard to miss when one spent half their childhood sparring with Chunin and Jonin. Perhaps we would succeed perhaps we would fail, either way we were stepping into the unknown.
My thoughts were interrupted when I felt Hiroshi approach the tree I had settled myself in.
"You alright?" he asked, concern tingeing his voice. I didn't want to tell him what was bothering me. I didn't want him to know just how worried I was.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I asked instead, my voice only expressing curiosity and none of the fear I was feeling.
"I don't know. You just seemed out of sorts, that's all." With a casual wave of my hand I replied, "Don't worry; I was just spacing out is all. Nothing new." He nodded his head before turning and walking across the campsite.
I was glad he left. It seemed I was a bit higher strung than even I had realized. Had he pushed me any more than that I may have snapped at him. It would be stupid to get into an argument right before this mission.
After a few more minutes spent in the tree branches collecting myself, I stood and joined the others by the fire. Usually when in 'enemy territory' we were supposed to keep our fires small and unnoticeable if we made one at all. It was strange to do the opposite on purpose.
An innocent civilian family wouldn't know any better. It was good for the village guards to see the smoke of our fire. It meant they would expect our arrival the next day. They would think us stupid for being so easily spotted, but that was the point. If they thought us stupid civilians then they would have no problem admitting us entry.
We cooked a full meal, hoping to get as much nutrients and energy as possible for the next day. I sat by the fire and waited for the boys' conversation to quiet down. Sensei would probably have some last minute advice or a small speech to give us. I knew I was right when sensei shifted in his seat and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Up until now we have kept up the family charade for practice. It was alright to mess up occasionally," he said, looking directly at me when speaking the latter half.
"However," he continued, "there is no room for mistakes from here on out. You must keep your character for this to work. The first thing we will do when we get there is find an inn. After that we will split up to investigate.
"Suikazura, Kiyoshi, the two of you will be exploring the town. Speak with the people and report any odd behavior. Hiroshi and I will walk the mines. See if there have been any thefts. We will all be meeting back at the inn by dinner.
"Do not do anything rash. We have information to gather before we can confront them. Do not compromise the mission. A battle is the most likely outcome but do not provoke it until we have collected the necessary information." He said all of this in a very firm voice as if trying to drill it into our minds.
We all nodded our heads in understanding. He held our gazes a moment longer before nodding his head in return.
"Same watch as last night. I am going to sleep now, do not stay up too much later." The last part was aimed at me.
"Kay," was my short reply. My gaze lingered on the fire long enough to leave an imprint of it in my eyes as I turned towards the sleeping bags. I drifted to sleep that night with odd scenarios of how the next few days could unfold plaguing my mind. Ready or not, our first B-Rank mission would start the next day.
A/N- Again, many apologies about not updating for so long. Im not going to delve too deep into why because that would mean talking a lot about my personal life. Just know that even if the next update takes another year, it is coming. I do not plan on abandoning this story as some of you seemed to believe. See you guys soon :)
ToeGirth,
Signing Out