"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." -Henry David Thoreau
Between another C-rank mission, countless D-ranks, and who knows how many training sessions, the last three weeks have been hell. It doesn't help that after Minato's super special unsanctioned and now classified rescue mission, Jiraiya has seen to giving the two of us (Mikoto not included since Minato conveniently excluded her) extra punishments training sessions for our 'insubordination' and 'reckless actions'.
I swear if Minato ever does something like that ever again, he better not involve me.
But after twenty continuous days of working without a day off, since this place has apparently never heard of the concept of weekends, we finally have a break. A whole singular day off, in which I plan to utilize by taking a very long, peaceful, and undisturbed nap. Is it still considered a nap if I spend the entire day doing it?
And after learning my lesson on our last day off, I have determined the perfect napping spot, deep in the Nara compound's forest, a place I know where not even the average Nara clan member can find me.
A place that many Nara haven't even been to, for it requires the deer to let you in. And they will only let you into their specific area if they know you're not going to disturb them. Meaning, you need to have time for an actual nap… a looooong nap.
All of these requirements still don't seem to stop Jiraiya from being able to send a message to me.
As soon as I feel myself falling asleep, head resting right on the back of a deer while another deer is sleeping right across my stomach, I feel something slimy touch my face.
Wanting to remove the strange and unexpected sensation, I wave my hand to brush it off, which is successful, until a couple seconds later I feel the same sensation, this time covering my nose.
Peeking an eye open, I see something strangely orange sitting on my nose. I blink a couple times to try and clear my vision and…
"What the fuck is that thing?!" I scream as I jump up and stare at the… frog? that was sitting on my head. And holy crap that is a giant frog.
"Ah, you finally woke up," the frog says in a surprisingly deep voice as he looks up at me. "You looked pretty comfortable there, so I was wondering how long it would take."
"What the… Who? What are you?!" I scream as I sit up from where I was lying down, in turn waking up the deer sitting around me.
"What does it look like?" the toad asks. "I'm a toad, obviously."
"That's…" I shake my head and look down at the frog… toad again. Right, it's still there, not a figment of my imagination. "What are you doing here? How'd you get here?"
"Ah, I guess I should introduce myself," The toad says as he hops on top of my head. And eww, that feels weird. "But first," he gestures to the deer who are now standing up and looking at us. They sure don't look happy right now. Dammit, I'm probably never going to be let back here again. "We should get out of here, we don't look welcome."
Grudgingly walking out of the forest and to my front yard, I shoo the toad off my head and he jumps to the ground. Crossing my arms, I glare down and ask, "So just who are you and what are you doing here? It better be good for getting me kicked out of my favorite napping spot."
"Not to worry kid, of course it's important," he starts, smiling up at me. His smug grin makes me want to burn him alive. "I'm Gamabuma, one of Jiraiya's summons, and he sent me to get you. Your team has apparently just been called back for a mission."
"Really? This is our first day off in a month! Can't you just tell him we'll leave tomorrow," I say, mad that my one day off and dedicated napping time are being interrupted. Seriously, I've been looking forward to this all week, nay all month. Do you know how upset a Nara is when you interrupt their nap that they specifically write into their calendar?
And really? Jiraiya sent one of his toads after me? He can't even do the decent thing and be present when he ruins my day?
"Sorry, kid," The toad, Gamabuma says as he jumps back onto my head. "Orders are orders, I'm sure you know the drill."
"Just cuz they're orders doesn't mean I can't complain," I throw back. "Where does he even want us to meet him, meeting spot one or meeting spot forty nine?" In the months that we have made up a squad, Jiraiya has made the three of us meet up at a variety of different spots across the village. I've lost track of just exactly how many there are, for as soon as it feels like we've stopped using one we'll just start using it again.
"None of those," Gamabuma says as he jumps to the ground and motions for me to follow him. "We're going to the Mission Building."
"The Mission Building?" I repeat. Surprisingly, in the year or so that we've been completing missions, Jiraiya has yet to take us there, instead having us meet at the various meeting spots and throwing us the scrolls for whatever assigned D-ranks we were given that day. Of course I know where the building is- its a couple doors down from the Hokage Tower in the opposite direction of the Academy.
But the fact that Jiraiya is telling us to meet him there… and sending his toads to pick us up on our long needed day off, means this mission we're being given must be either really important (doubt it as we're only first year genin) or needed to be completed immediately and we're the only team that's available. Both of which I don't think are necessarily the case, as I've said- we're first year genin that have only been sent on one C-rank mission so far.
"Come on kid, we got to get a move on or we'll be late," I hear the toad call out. Looking at him I see that in the time I was lost in my thoughts he had already started going, and was about to leave the Nara compound. I quickly run to catch up to him before he can make another derogatory comment about me.
As we walk along the streets of Konoha, my gaze travels down to the toad. It's really… weird. I should have realized that at some point I would meet these toads with Jiraiya being my Genin sensei. But with the amount of time it's been without seeing or hearing about them, I must have forgotten.
"How long are you going to stare at me, kid?" the frog says as we continue towards the mission building.
Without thinking, I just say what is on my mind. "How are you so big?" I know that compared to Jiraiya's other summons, this toad is relatively small, his head only coming up to the bottom of my knee. But looking at him in real life, this thing is freaking huge and I am unable to imagine seeing another… larger… toad.
"You consider me big," the toad chuckles. "You should just wait until I finish growing, I'll tower over you."
That statement alone sends a shiver through my body.
"Where are we going anyway, the mission building was down that road?" I ask when I see him continue on the road we are walking down, without turning.
"We got to go pick up your other teammate," the toad says.
"Who? Minato?" I ask. "Because he doesn't live this way either."
"Minato? The blonde one? No, Gamakichi is going to pick him up, he lives too far out of the way. I was told to pick you and the girl up. You two live on the same side of the village," the toad explains.
If Jiraiya sent them to pick us up, as opposed to his usual method of not bothering us on our day off, that actually makes some sense. Minato did in fact live pretty far away from me.
"But that means we need to go to the Uchiha compound?" I realize.
"Wow, you're a Nara, and you're just now figuring this out?" the toad laughs.
I remain silent, so the little toad can't continue to mock my statements, but inside I'm curious. Just what was the Uchiha compound like?
Despite being Mikoto's teammate for about a year now, and having grown significantly more closer to her compared to when we were in the Academy, I still haven't been to her house. Granted, she has never been to mine, but I still find it weird thinking about it… we must not be as close as it feels like.
Walking down the street to the gates of the compound, I see what they alluded to in the Naruto series when they said the Uchiha clan was secluded from the village. There's a sizable amount of woods that border the end of the civilian market and walls of the Uchiha compound. Woods that, I notice, are filled with small clearings the Uchiha clan probably uses as personal training grounds.
Splitting the small forest in two was a long dirt path serving as a road into town. The two of us continue down the path, and end up in front of a very ornate looking gate. I thought the little decorations on the Nara compound walls looked nice. These just look… excessive.
"What are you two doing here?" A voice asks from next to the wall of the gate. I look over to see a very familiar face. Uchiha Fugaku.
"Ah, Fugaku. Long time no see," I greet him. He honestly looks the same as I remember him being, but it does look like he's gained some muscle since the Academy.
"You didn't answer my question," he frowns. Ah, he is still as grouchy as ever. "What are you doing here?"
"We were sent here to pick Mikoto up," I answer. "We have a mission."
"Really?" He raises an eyebrow. "She said she has the day off today."
"Yeah, that's what I said," I sigh and point to Gamabuma. "Look at the little toad our sensei sent after us. He can confirm."
"He's right," Gamabuma nods by my feet.
"Now if you can just let us go pick Mikoto up," I start to walk into the gates when he stops me.
"You can't just go walking into here, Nara," he says.
"Really?" I raise an eyebrow. "Wow you Uchiha think so highly of yourselves. If you really don't want me walking in here, why don't you go get her for us?" Figures the Uchiha compound would stop people from walking on their property. In theory, the Nara do the same thing, but we more just keep an eye out that non-clansmen don't go into our forests, and keep other troublemakers away from our houses. Having people stand guard? Guess there's a reason they have their twelve year old genin out doing it.
Fugaku sighs, and for some reason, he looks like going to see Mikoto is the last thing he wants to do right now. Strange, did the two of them get into some sort of fight? I was never really one for gossip, but I kind of want to know.
"Fine then," he finally says. "You guys can come in, but you have to go straight to Mikoto's house." He points to one of the houses at the end of the short street. "It's right around the corner there. And don't get into any sort of trouble on your way there."
"Relax, Fugaku," I say. "Who do you think I am? I can stay out of trouble." The stink eye he gives me tells me he doesn't believe me for a second. Which I'm honestly a little confused and hurt by. I know I was constantly lazy and slept a lot in our time together in the Academy, but I never got in trouble.
Gamabuma and I make our way to Mikoto's house quick enough for Fugaku not to come after me and kill me for not 'moving faster.' It's a simple house, and I also notice a pile of kids toys on the side near the front door.
"Mikoto-nee!" I hear a young voice scream out as I knock on the door. "Someone's at the door!" When the door opens, I see a young Uchiha boy, probably three years old at the oldest, stare up at me around the old shogi door he just slid open.
Did Mikoto have a younger brother, I wonder. I vaguely remember her once saying she had an older sister, but nothing about a younger brother.
"Obito!" I hear Mikoto's voice yell out from further inside the house. "What did I tell you about opening the door to strangers!"
Before she comes to the front door, my mind realizes what this kid's name is. Uchiha Obito. That Uchiha Obito. And looking down at him… he looks vaguely like what I imagine the manga character to look like if he were an actual person… a toddler, but an actual person.
"Oh it's you," Mikoto says when she notices it's me standing at her door. "What are you doing here?" She asks with a small glare.
I ignore her question and instead address the topic of the toddler standing in front of her. "Who's this Mikoto? You got a little brother you never told me about?"
She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. "He is my nephew, idiot," She replies. Ouch, how was I supposed to know that? "Now again, why are you here on our day off?"
"Nee-san said bad word," little Obito says from where he is now sitting on the floor between us.
And oh… this is just too good to pass up. If it wasn't clear before that I like to push people's buttons, I hope it is now.
"You're right, little dude," I say as I squat down in front of him and smile. "Your aunt did say a bad word. What should we do about it?"
"Stop trying to corrupt my nephew with your stupid Nara ways and just tell me what you're doing here, Kotaro," Mikoto again says, the frown on her face growing deeper.
"Oh, Jiraiya sent him after me," I point to the toad behind me. "Apparently we have a mission today after all."
"Wow, froggie," Obito says with eyes lighting up once he sees Gamabuma sitting behind me.
"What did you just call me, kid?!" Gamabuma exclaims at Obito's words. "I'm not one of those stupid frogs! I'm a toad! A toad!"
Ignoring them, Mikoto continues, "What do you mean we have another mission? This is the first time in weeks-"
"Tell me about it," I say, standing up. "Do you know how nice of a nap I was having when that guy woke me up?"
Based on my complaints Mikoto must have accepted that I'm not liking this just as much as she is.
"Fine then," she huffs. "Give me five minutes and we can go over. " She then picks Obito off the ground from where he is trying to chase Gamabuma around. "You need to go inside now, Obito."
Xx?xXx?xXx?xX
"What does it mean by 'take care of Hakaba Village'?" I ask as I read the mission scroll. That's all the instructors of the mission really say. Of course it gives us some background information, simply saying the farming town of Hakaba Village has refused to pay taxes to the daimyo for the past three months, but that is it. Nothing about why they haven't paid, or what they actually pay in regards to whether they send money or crops. Just a map showing the village's approximate location, a sentence saying they haven't paid taxes, and instructions saying to 'take care of them'.
"You're a smart kid," Jiraiya says as we start to walk out of the village gates and to the village's location. "What do you think it means?"
Well there are a number of things it could mean, and seeing how this mission comes from the daimyo, all of them are dependent on how controlling the central government of the Land of Fire is to its people. In my short eleven and a half years in this world, I've really only witnessed how the people of Konoha feel towards the government. But Konoha's government works much differently than the rest of the Land of Fire's. We answer to both the Hokage and daimyo, and the Hokage sort of works as the middle man, providing a powerful force to defend our interest within the central government. The people outside of Konoha, the majority being civilians, only answer to the daimyo, and they have very little say in what goes on in the country's central government.
Since I've very rarely spent time outside of Konoha, I don't really have any idea on the real relationship and feelings civilians have towards the central government.
"Find out why these people don't want to pay the taxes and resolve the problem so that they will?" I ask, rolling the scroll up and passing it to Minato, who wants to read it as well.
He lets out a soft laugh, like an adult would do when they hear a child say something really naive yet funny. "Oh come on kid. I'm sure you can think of some other thing it could mean."
I can, but I don't really want to say them, because if I am right… I don't want to be right.
The rest of our journey to Hakaba Village is fairly straightforward. We arrive there within two hours, and along the way very little happens. Jiraiya gives no other indications on what the mission scroll is telling us exactly, neither Minato or Mikoto makes a guess, and I don't want my fears confirmed.
Hakaba Village is a small village, made up of about fifteen buildings surrounded by rice fields. It's even smaller than the Nara compound. I'd guess there are at most eighty people living there. Reminds me of some of the villages I would drive past when I got lost in the German countryside, but even smaller than that (and no Church steeples in the middle). All in all it looks like the people live a fairly peaceful life.
I don't really know anything about rice fields or farming, but based on a couple documentaries I watched in my Last Life, the fields don't seem to be doing that well. Probably part of the reason these people haven't paid their taxes in the last three months.
The four of us are currently standing among the tree branches in the bordering forest of the village. Right now we're observing them, analyzing them. What for? I'm not exactly sure at this point.
"You asked what the mission scroll meant by 'taking care of the village,'" Jiraiya says, jumping to stand between me and Mikoto on the branch we currently occupy.
"Huh," I turn to look at him. "Yeah, I did."
"Take this," he says as he holds out a kunai. I take it in my hands and look up at him, confused. "We're going to take these people out, kill them."
"You're… you're not serious, right?" I ask.