Chapter 6

"We've received a request for aid from a small village near the edge of our borders with Kusagakure. The village is called Yamashiro and resides in the Kuuran mountains. Lately the villagers have been harassed by bandits and are asking for shinobi to guard the mountain farmers until the bandits have been dealt with. Also, they suffered a devastating attack recently which spurred them to action," Tsunade explained.

Mention of the Kuuran caught my attention though. I'd heard of those mountains. Many of the plants that grew there were valuable medicinally, although some were used to also create dangerous poisons or was why so many people poached the plants from the mountains. A decent amount of money could be made for even a small sample.

I was also relatively certain that some of the most addictive drugs in the nations were derived from plants that grew there. Plants that also served as powerful herbs when prepared correctly.

Incredible, how circumstance could shape something's future.

"You four will be tasked with protecting the workers to and from their places of harvest as well as ensuring the village is guarded. The people of Yamashiro guard their secrets jealously, so while some people can correctly identify the plants on the mountain most have no idea how to begin to prepare them."

Wait, four. That meant...my eyes flicked to Kurenai.

"You're not coming?"

She shook her head, "no. Well not immediately. Many orphanages send the kids they can't support to Yamashiro to work there until they are of age to leave. Usually the kids are the oldest of the orphans. They'll carry picked herbs around, wash them, cart tools, menial labor that gives them little insight about the plants they're working with. You'll be posing as some of these orphans. At the base of the mountains, one of the villagers will meet you and take you to Yamashiro."

"But," Tsunade continued, "this team will also be collecting information. We need to find the base these bandits are operating from. We have suspicions that these bandits aren't what they appear to be. Their movements are too precise, too coordinated to just be petty thieves. Once you find that out, use this scroll to relay a message. Kurenai and a team of chuunin and jounin will be waiting to receive word through its twin scroll," she placed a scroll on the table for us, "once they receive word they'll meet you at a place your team designates near the bandit base. From there you'll wipe them out."

Something about this bothered me.

"Doesn't Yamashiro have their own shinobi force?" I asked.

"They did," Tsunade said darkly, "but during a recent attack, most of them were killed, or badly injured. One went missing. We believe the missing man may have been a plant by the bandits."

"Meaning there is at least one shinobi working with the bandits," Shino stated.

"Exactly. Hence the precaution of the separate team having two jounin. There may be multiple shinobi working with the bandits. Any allegiances they have are unknown," Tsunade finished.

This information put me on edge. It couldn't be...no he abandoned that idea. Yamashiro was neutral territory and too valuable to each land for him to consider attacking it. The risks outweighed the benefits.

"Shino, you'll be the team's captain for this mission," Tsunade instructed. He nodded his head in acceptance.

We all offered confirmation of our understanding of the mission and our acceptance and were dismissed to prepare. We would set out in half an hour.

As I packed, anticipation coursed through me. I haven't been outside the village since I got here and it's been ages since I was able to do a mission. That thought sobers me though, and a thrill of anxiety mixes with the anticipation as my misgivings from before return. They can't be possible though. He wasn't stupid enough to try to take control of such a valuable place. It would mean war with every shinobi nation. But if he secured it before the nations had a chance to retaliate…

I shook my head sharply, clearing away those thoughts. Speculations would get me nowhere. Best to just wait for now.

I still had at least fifteen minutes before we would leave and nothing really to do. I suppose this would be when the others said goodbye to their families.

I decided to head to the gates early and wait for my teammates. I had picked up a book the other day about the use of plants in poison making and antidotes and could read that while I waited. It had been some time since I'd read anything useful.

I was in the middle of reading about a toxin that resulted in temporary paralysis when the sound of someone approaching caught my attention. I glanced up and saw Hinata and Shino.

"Where's Kiba?" I asked.

"He's c-coming. Kiba-kun is usually s-slower," Hinata responded.

I nodded in acknowledgement before returning to my book.

"What are you r-reading Tenshi-chan?" Hinata inquired.

I lifted the front cover of the book to her as I answered, "just something about plants in poisons and antidotes."

"You use poisons?" Shino asked.

"Some yeah. I don't have any right now. Haven't had the time to collect any ingredients or make any," I said, somewhat hesitant. Poison users already had a negative stigma and in Konoha there was even more suspicion directed toward them courtesy of Orochimaru.

"I'm sure this mission is of particular interest to you then."

"Yeah," I said, shifting slightly. I knew he meant it simply as conversation, but I couldn't help but think of the possible double meaning those words could have.

We were spared an uncomfortable silence by Kiba's arrival.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I shouldered my pack in response, tucking my book away in it. The others followed and seconds later I was leaving Konoha for the first time since my arrival.

Our travel was for the most part pleasantly quiet broken only occasionally by Kiba, with comments here and there from his teammates. I was for the most part content in listening to them, continuing to familiarize myself with my team. It was better to listen to the conversations than let my forebodings slip to the front of my mind.

We spent most of the three day journey like this. At night we rotated watches and when we stopped to eat I read voraciously, determined to glean what information I could. It had been a while since I had done anything with plants, poison based or not. The trials of the past year and a half had been no help in maintaining those memories either. As I read though things came back, and proved helpful on the second day, when I stumbled upon a plant I had just read about which was useful in creating many paralysis based toxins. When we made it to the village, I would set about using the plants and building up stores of toxins again.

They were back. Their eyes hollow and blank, the eyes of corpses, all focused on me. Blood still leaked from the wounds that had ended their lives. Some were killed by poison, their faces blue, or their eyes yellowed. But they all had one thing in common.

I'd killed them.

Some had faces I remembered, distinct features that were prominent in my memory. But others' faces were blurry, featureless; numbers that I'd killed or whose deaths I'd been responsible for.

They were still haunting me.

For a while I managed to convince myself I had been through enough to make recompense. Obviously not.

They were moving closer, yelling accusations, condemnations. My heart was pounding, my limbs were lead. I couldn't fight them!

I backed up, further and further, until my lower back rammed into something hard. I glanced back and felt my insides twist with horror. A table, cold and and metal and all too familiar. I turned back around, determined to flee, but I was too late. The dead surged forward, a roiling mass of anger, and pushed me onto the table, locking me there with their hands. I was trembling now, shivering like the grass shaken by a frigid wind.

"Let me go!" I pleaded as I thrashed in their hold, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

And then the voice that still echoed in my head so often despite my attempts to shut it out.

"Welcome home Tenssshi."

I shot up, breath scratching at my throat and my heart clamoring in my chest. To the right of me Hinata shifted and I froze, hoping I hadn't woken her. Her breathing soon deepened and I released some of the tension in my limbs. My hands still shook and I knew I wouldn't be sleeping again anytime soon, so I slipped out of the tent and leaned against a nearby tree.

"Tenshi?"

The sound of Shino's voice made me jump, sending my hand to kunai pouch reflexively. It had slipped my mind that he was on watch and I was already cursing my foolishness.

"Shino. You...you startled me," I said.

He regarded me quietly for a moment before offering a succinct apology.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

I sat silently for awhile before speaking.

"I...I couldn't sleep," I admitted softly, my eyes straying to the ground.

"A nightmare?" he guessed. I looked up sharply, eyes narrowed.

"You were agitated leaving your tent," he explained, "did it have to do with your parents?"

Parents? Oh, the story I told them. It could be enough to give me nightmares. If it was the truth.

"Yeah," I murmured, "I...feel so guilty for leaving. It...it feels like my fault that their dead and in my dreams they make that clear."

Once again it was a half-truth. I was plagued with guilt at the deaths I had caused but these "parents" were hardly one of them. It might even be easier if they were.

"You can't blame yourself for things you have no control over," Shino stated simply.

"And what about those you can control?" I snapped before I could stop myself. I pressed the heel of my palm to my temple, trying to calm the panic bird that beat its wings on my ribcage.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you Shino. I'm just…" I trailed off, not entirely sure how to explain what was bothering me, "I'm going to head back to bed. I'll be ready for the last watch."

I walked back to the tent Hinata and I shared, still doubtful I would be getting anymore sleep but unwilling to talk anymore to my teammate who was too perceptive for me right now.

"Tenshi," he called out again just as I reached the tent door. I glanced back warily.

"You just have to forgive yourself and move on."

I spent far too much of the our last day of travel consumed by my thoughts. Shino's words had struck a deep chord, one that I couldn't seem to push out of my thoughts.

"Forgive yourself…"

Easier said than done unfortunately. Shino hadn't said anything more to me since last night, something I was grateful for. I don't know that I could take any more of his words of wisdom currently. My team respected my silence today, realizing after a few attempts that I was in no mood to talk. I caught Hinata sending a few worried glances and I half wondered if she was awake last. That or she was just concerned over my withdrawn attitude today. I hoped for the latter.

Our guide was exactly where he was supposed to. We had packed away our headbands and made sure to look like the orphans were supposed to, including disguising our weapon pouches. It must have satisfied the villager as he nodded once before asking, "Konoha?"

"Yes sir," Kiba answered.

"Good. I'm Ichiru. Hope you kids are hard workers. There's rarely an easy day in the mountains."

Ichiru was quiet for most of the trip up, only speaking to point out dangers in the path or to give us simple instructions. Having camped near the mountain's base last night, Yamashiro came into view before midday. It was a sizable village, surrounded by soaring walls built from thick, grey stone with the sharpened points of thick cedar logs peeking out from behind them. A single gate permitted access to the village, eliminating the need for guards at multiple gates. The only flaw was that if the gates were truly breached, the people would have nowhere to go, though getting past the gate was difficult enough to render the benefit more than the risk. Almost no buildings were visible over the wall from the ground, leaving one to guess at what defences lay behind the stone. It was some ways up the mountain but still below the treeline, leaving the village to be nestled in dense foliage of trees and shrubs though the village itself was built in a large clearing, well away from any trees which could be used to cross the wall.

A flicker of movement along the wall caught my gaze as someone ran toward the gate. Moments later it opened, letting out a grey haired man followed by a pair of two more people who eyed the four of us suspiciously.

"You are the team from Konoha?" the man asked. We nodded and he glanced toward our guide for confirmation. Ichiru shook his head once and the man gave him a small smile before dismissing Ichiru with a wave of his hand and a word of thanks.

My eyes wandered over each of the people standing behind him. A man and a woman both sporting headbands carved with simple plant formed by one straight line with two more curling off to the side of it. Neither looked very welcoming, but considering they were probably among the last of the able shinobi Yamashiro had, it wasn't a surprising reception.

"Welcome then," the man continued, "I am Eiji, one of the village's elders. I am very glad to see you here. These are some of our few remaining shinobi, Noboru and Taki." Noboru inclined his head politely and Taki stiffly tilted her head down briefly.

"It is good to see you here, though I do worry that you may not be able to handle the bandits. Our shinobi are strong, though perhaps hardly a threat to a toku-jonin or jonin of a hidden village, yet many are dead or unable to fight. True our force was small, hardly more than forty people but it had been enough till now. I worry you may not be enough," Eiji revealed worriedly.

"We are enough for our purpose. Though our village has sent more that we are in contact with," Shino answered. Eiji looked at him before sighing, "I hope it is enough. Now what are your names?"

"Shino Aburame."

"Kiba Inuzuka."

"H-hinata Hyuuga."

"Tenshi."

My lack of last name seemed painfully obvious now, but I was hesitant to give myself one. What good would it do to label myself any further?

"Good to meet you all. Now," Eiji continued, turning to walk back into the village, "I'll tell you about the attacks and just what the threat is.

"Bandits are something we're equipped to deal with. The secrets of Yamashiro are incredibly valuable, so much so that even no one here knows them all. You know what you are required to know to get your job done. I and the other elders may know more than most but we lack the specifics necessary for our knowledge to be truly useful beyond what we specialized in. The bandits that attacked us a week ago however, were very different. Many had shinobi training and," Eiji paused as sadness danced across his features, " we had a traitor amongst our own. Teruo, a young man who had been with us for a few years. His betrayal was devastating. We are unsure how long he has been in contact with our assailants, but it hardly matters now. He was on watch the night of the attack and killed two of the other three on duty with him before opening the gates. The final guard, who was Taki was able to warn the rest of our force but the damage was still done. They flooded in and we were unprepared. Our shinobi and even our civilians fought hard and while we drove them out, we have lost many good men and women in return. A few attacks have even been launched against our people while gathering herbs in the mountain and without sufficient shinobi to defend our people, we have been unable to harvest herbs for five days. This is why we reached out to the hidden villages. Konoha was the first to respond but we may receive help from the other nations as well. Any help now is welcome," Eiji muttered, looking exhausted.

"You of course will be guarding our villagers under the guise of being orphans sent here. You will go out with those harvesting in the mountains and aid them while keeping an eye for danger. I'm sorry to add more work to what you will already be doing for us, but working will be the best way to avoid suspicion. You'll have to keep anything marking you as shinobi hidden and I advise you to not use your last names. It won't raise questions among the orphans and it will keep people from recognizing your clan names."

We continued through the village seeing signs of the battle that had raged through the place. Many buildings near the gate showed heavy damage, though it lessened as we moved deeper into the village.

"What more can you tell us about the bandits?" Shino asked.

Eiji looked at Taki and motioned for her to tell us.

"There was probably forty of them when they first attacked. Closer to twenty now though. Roughly half of them were shinobi trained. Some were…" she faltered, "monstrosities that looked as though they should not exist."

My heart skipped a beat at those words, my previous misgivings coming back full force. He had always said it was to dangerous to attack Yamashiro, but if he was confident he could win...would he really do it?

"We have the corpse of one that some of our researchers are looking over. She was a fast thing, able to bend in ways that seemed completely unnatural. Our people think she was dislocating joints to do it, dodging, before snapping them back into place quickly to attack. We also know the name of their leader. He also had strange abilities, able to secrete a strange green substance that hardened rapidly once he severed contact to it."

"Who was he?" Kiba questioned looking disgusted.

"Karasu Minami," Taki answered.

I froze at that name, feeling my breath catch in my throat.

Orochimaru really was making a bid for Yamashiro.

A/N: Merry Christmas and happy holidays all! So it's been some time. Again. I'm hoping I can pick things up. The story is in my head just fine. However transferring it to a medium to which you can all read proves harder. Thanks for bearing with me so far. You guys are great!