[Tenten Higurashi]

Looking at the book infront of her, Tenten sighed. This was probably a bad idea. Actually, this wasn't just a bad idea. It had to be the worst idea she has ever had. And Tenten knew that was a high bar. But she just couldn't help it. The supernatural would always be fascinating to her. The scarier the better honestly.

And Jashinism and Jashinists in general sounded pretty scary to Tenten.

So, here she was, at an old library at 10 PM. Alone. It wasn't that eerie. Of course she was reading a book that definitely was as old, if not older, than her dad in a library that looked like it was built a hundred years ago. But still.

Tenten looked at the dusty book closer. It had intricate patterns on its sides and it was in moderately good shape. The Librarian seemed surprised that she wanted to read it but she raised no fuss thankfully. That meant knowledge on Jashinists wasn't forbidden.

Which was great for her since she was really curious. Like how did such a cult develop? Why do they do what they do? Maybe this Jashin is real, if so, why would they want their worshippers to do such horrible things? Tenten hoped the book would have the knowledge she sought.

She opened the book and saw that the pages were very old looking. Older than the cover itself. 'Maybe the cover as replaced?' Tenten began to read the first page of the book. The book was called Guide to Jashinism: Vol 1. As Tenten read she kept seeing mentions of their weapons. But one part stood out most. '...Jashinists usually are signified by carrying scythes. Usually with two blades but more advanced Jashinists use three bladed scythes instead which can be more efficient for their more advanced Jujutsu rituals.'

Jujutsu... Tenten could see why there wasn't much info on them. Most of the books that had Jashinist information in them probably contained knowledge on how to do the Jujutsu they used. So it was all probably destroyed. 'Unfortunate... All of that knowledge would be pretty interesting to know.'

There was also the fact that Jashinists carry scythes. Scythes with more than one blade. That was something Tenten was very interested in. They probably were very sharp and high quality. 'I should get one.' Tenten continued reading the book. 'It might be hard to find one though and I doubt Jashinists are very public nowadays.' Finding a Jashinist would probably be near impossible. Finding one to steal from would probably harder.

Tenten shook herself out of her thoughts and continued reading. More and more information on the Jashinists began to flow into her mind. Nothing on how they came to be or why they do what they do. But Tenten was starting to see more information on the God Jashin. So that was a plus. 'Jashin, the Blood Goddess...' Tenten looked at the latest chapter title. Was it a typo? Over the last... 15 chapters there hasn't been mention of Jashin being a girl. Or any gender for that matter. 'I guess I'll read on.'

'Jashin was at one point a real Shinobi believe it or not. Back in the Warring states Era in the Land of Earth a Kunoichi discovered the true potential of Jujutsu. She also had a love and craving for blood. She often bathed in the blood of her enemies and drank it. She learned how to manipulate blood eventually after years of obsession with it. She used that to slaughter her faster enemies. ' Tenten looked at the page again just to be sure she was reading it correctly.

She was... It was fascinating. Jashin was a real shinobi in the warring states era. She had to be really strong then. Tenten continued reading. 'Jashin eventually grew so powerful that it's rumored that she could fight Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. It's unknown what exactly killed her however. But before she died it is rumored that Jashin created a majority of the Scythes most Jashinists use today and she did something to them. Not only that but she left the knowledge she had on Jujutsu she had created to her students who formed Jashinism to honor their sensei.'

So the scythes were cursed. Tenten knew she could say that for sure. She needed to get her hands on one now for sure. But that wasn't the most important part. 'So Jashinism hasn't been around for too long.'

Before Tenten could read more she heard an all too familiar cough. "You're up late Tenten." Tenten turned around and saw Hayate leaning on a bookshelf. "I expected Kukui to do this kind of thing tonight to be honest. What are you reading?"

Tenten glanced at the book and back at Hayate. Lying to him was pointless. "A book on Jashinism and its history."

Hayate sighed. "Okay." Hayate took a look at the book. "Is it trying to convince you to join Jashinism?"

Tenten shook her head. "No."

"Good. You'll need to learn about how bad our world is eventually. This book should be a great start if it has some history in it..." Hayate shook his head. "Come back here tomorrow but for now you're coming with me. It's three thirty in the morning."

Three-thirty... in the morning... 'Now that I think about it... I do feel a bit tired.' Had she really spent five hours reading? She only read 15 chapters. Sure they were really long. But still. "Okay Hayate-sensei."

She could come back tomorrow. And then she could continue her research.

[Hayate Gekko]

For once it was a good day.

Not only was the actual trade negotiations about to end. They were going to end a few days sooner than expected. Now all that needed to be done was finalization which would be a multiple day process. But that wouldn't be nearly as bad of a process as the actual negotiations.

Things were going really well for once. Hayate was just glad they were on a diplomatic mission. Otherwise he'd have felt that something would go wrong. But things should be relatively safe. Takigakure and Konoha were close allies.

"Alright Hayate-san. Which part of the deal should we finalize first?" Shibuki asked with a smile. It wasn't a large one as they still had to spend a few days of their life on this just to be sure nobody older than thirty-five would be too pissed off. But other than that the process would be easy.

"Let's start with the fruit as that's the most important part of the deal," Hayate said, looking at his students. Tenten was still tired looking. Luckily for her this was a short day. His other students looked happy.

"Alright Hayate-san. Continue." Shibuki motioned for Hayate to continue.

To summarize: We want a shipment of exotic fruits. Due to Takigakure wanting to raise the prices of water Konohagakure wants to lower the price they originally were going to ask for the exotic fruits. Is that acceptable Lord Shibuki?"

Shibuki nodded. "It is a fair trade. The amount you are asking for is acceptable as well. A thousand of each of the three fruits. Is that correct?"

"It is indeed correct Lord Shibuki." Hayate said, looking back at the foreign leader.

"Good. Now the price would have been 2750000 Ryo if the water price had remained the same but due to the prices of the water going higher than expected Konoha wants the prices to be lowered to 17000000. I agreed to the arrangement. And the elders have as well."

Hayate nodded. "Good to hear. Is that all Lord Shibuki?" Hayate noticed Shibuki glance at his Genin before nodding.

"It is. Of course tomorrow will cover more subjects we couldn't get to today. But I'm just happy to finally have some time to myself. I'm sure you are as well Hayate-san. Now how about we try to wrap this up fully by sunday instead of monday? That would be more ideal after all."

"That sounds acceptable Lord Shibuki. We will return tomorrow then." Hayate announced as he started to notice Tenten's eyes drooping. '...And of course Mika and Kukui have to keep her held up... She's going to need to adjust to this eventually.'

Some missions unfortunately required that a shinobi doesn't sleep for days on end. One day Tenten might get one of those missions. It'd end badly for her if she couldn't stay up for longer than a day.

Shibuki nodded. "Good luck and safe travels back to your hotel." Shibuki began to leave the room and Hayate noticed his genin had dissapeared.

'...Of course they Shunshined.'

[Kukui Tanku]

Most days of my life these days could be summarized as "Practise Fuinjutsu and get beat up" as Naruto put it. Obviously over the last few weeks it had been "D-rank missions, ripping my hair out trying to make the Genjutsu seal, and get beat up." And now on this mission, it was just; "Boring diplomatic stuff, Fuinjutsu practice, and half-spars with Fuu trying to teach her stuff." So far it had been a good time.

Mainly because I could scale back my Taijutsu practice a bit. I enjoyed sparring. I really did. But it was tiring. And whilst I should be constantly training my Taijutsu as well as other stuff I just really felt like using this mission as an excuse to scale it back for a bit.

Until now at least.

I rubbed my shoulder as my eyes bounced around at the blur. 'She's faster than a weightless Mika. Even with Running, I can't keep up for long.' I jumped out of the way of a hit. 'If she had more experience she'd be a terror on the levels of Lee with the gates in Taijutsu. I need to play this safe. One good hit is what I need to end this. But one good hit would end me as well. ' One hit had nearly taken my arm out of commission. I couldn't be hit again. Sight wouldn't serve me well here. And sensing could only do so much. I still needed to try.

'Left!' I felt Fuu's chakra as it came barreling at me. I rolled out of the way of another punch and turned too where Fuu had gone. For a split second she had stopped before starting again. 'Okay, I can use that.' I had a small amount of time. But it was time I still had.

Fuu prepared a punch once more, I quickly ducked under it, barely feeling the breeze of air hit me from Fuu running past me. I turned around, activating running and saw Fuu had stopped. I released a wave of fire at Fuu who simply jumped out of the way. 'Damnit.'

I needed to land a punch or a kick if I wanted to win this. I also couldn't play passive. I needed to be close.

I began running at Fuu who grinned. "Finally!" Fuu began running with a fist extended. I raised my arms up into a guard and blocked the punch. Quickly I tried to kick her legs only to be met by what felt like a brick wall. Quickly, I ducked under a punch. Fuu chopped her arm down and hit me in the back instead. I collapsed to the ground and groaned, "Aww. That was kind-" I grabbed onto Fuu's leg and maneuvered onto her back. Quickly I grabbed her shoulders and flipped her onto the ground.

The turns have been tabled. "I'm too stubborn to go out like that." Fuu's grin grew as she raised her arms into a block as I slammed a firey hand down onto the block. Fuu then retaliated by kicking me off of her, quickly I flipped and landed on a tree. I quickly jumped off of it as Fuu hit where I was. 'That was close.' I couldn't help but feel a grin form on my face. This was starting to get fun. With a laugh I leaped toward Fuu again.

Fuu channeled chakra into her arms and lifted a chunk of the ground to block me. 'This feels familiar.' Suddenly Fuu kicked through the chunk of earth and the chunks were sent rocketing toward me. Quickly, I began punching the chunks of earth directly in my path. I looked around. Fuu wasn't directly in front of me anymore.

I then felt her chakra. Right behind a larger piece of earth. 'So... I'm Hisoka now apparently.' I now knew why this felt familiar... My grin grew. Fuu jumped out from the chunk of earth. In what seemed like slow motion I saw it.

Her fist, aimed directly at my face.

I couldn't let it connect. I wouldn't. I channeled chakra to my hand as Fuu's hand inched closer. Suddenly time began to move faster again and I grabbed Fuu's punch. My hand hurt. A lot. But my grin stayed in place. "That would have worked on anyone else. But I'm a sensor. A really good one too at that." Not just my hand, but my arm ignited. I feel the chakra leaving the seal at a near rapid pace. 'Now...' "I'm afraid this is my win, Fuu."

A win... I loved those. And this one would feel sweeter than honey.

Fuu chuckled. "This was fun but I think you misunderstand, Kukui!" I could sense the tiniest of the Nanabi's chakra flowing through Fuu. It felt... evil. Tainted. Dark. Everything in my body was beginning to tell me to run. But I could win. "I'll win!"

To our left, I saw Mika bouncing in excitement and Tenten dragging a hand across her face. 'Fuck it. Might as well give them a show.' I released all of the built up chakra in my left flame seal that remained. "How about one last attack? Winner take all."

"Sounds good!" Fuu poised her arm back for her final attack.

'This is for such a pointless win. But...' I closed my eyes. "This is one of my aces in the hole. " Straight from the man himself actually, although not as potent. God I'm such a copycat. "Fire Fist!" I released a small yet dense column of flame at Fuu as she extended her fist for a punch.

Our attacks collided and my fire was punched straight through. 'Quick!' A voice seemingly told me and I channeled chakra to my face. Lots of it. A fist met my face and I suddenly felt my body fly through the air. I managed to see a tree near where I would land. It was probably where I was gonna land actually.

Instead of hitting the tree I was caught by Mika. "Your face looks like shit." Mika had a shit eating grin. "You still did well though. Not as good as I could of course."

"Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes which made me wince. "Everything hurts." And I was out of a flame seal for the day. 'Might as well start refilling.' I began to channel fire chakra to my seal. Mika dropped me to the nice hard ground and I stood up.

"Sorry." Fuu seemingly teleported to us. "I may have gotten excited." Fuu looked down.

I chuckled. "As did I. The last time I used that attack was a few weeks ago against Hayate-sensei. A more potent version but it did a lot of damage. Your attack was stronger." I wiped some blood from just under my nose. 'Damn... That should have done a lot more damage.'

"Still! Your nose is bleeding." Fuu blatantly looked at the blood on my hand.

I shrugged. "It's fine." Truly it was. I then looked at Tenten who was now trying to recreate my flame seal but with wind. "I'm gonna go join Tenten in failing to make seals now." I grinned at Fuu."It was fun. Let's do it again tomorrow."

Fuu smiled back. "Okay then!" Fuu then looked at Mika. "Wanna spar?"

"You know it!" Mika grinned back.

As I walked toward Tenten I couldn't help it when my smile grew. Life was great.

[Ryuuji]

It was late at night. Perfect for scoping out the surroundings. Most shinobi might just go in straight for the capture. But good shinobi would wait for the most opportune time to strike. Not only that but they would make sure that the surroundings were theirs to control. A shinobi that knew their surroundings better than their opponent was a living shinobi.

Ryuuji knew he'd be the one who'd live another day. Lest the Nanabi come out of course. He was strong but not strong enough or durable enough to face one of the Nine Tailed beasts and live. He was not the third Raikage. The difference between them was so astronomically large that it was hilarious.

But the Nanabi coming out should be really unlikely which was great for Ryuuji.

'She's been training clearly.' There were dozens of holes in the ground. Sights of burns and cuts everywhere too. 'None of the burn marks are near any of the larger holes... Maybe she has a training partner or two.' That wouldn't be ideal. But Ryuuji knew he could deal with multiple people.

'Someone with wind release maybe and someone with fire... Okay I can deal with both although the wind will be painful to deal with if they're even half competent. I'll need to take them out first.' Sunagakure was a bitch to travel too and it's shinobi were particularly dangerous, at least the ones who knew how to use Wind Release. Sharp things in general were tough to deal with but they were ultimately manageable.

Having a limb that was stretched thin cut with wind release wouldn't be manageable, however. Ryuuji knew that. Knowing your limits was vital.

It was why he managed to become an S-rank, he had played it smart and his weaknesses weren't revealed.

'Okay so that's two potential problems.' Ryuuji saw a large amount of trees. That was normal. What wasn't normal, however, was the fact a majority of them were either burning or ash. 'The fire release user may be decently competent too.'

Or maybe they got lucky.

Either way the fire release user shouldn't be too much to deal with. Fire release users usually weren't too difficult to deal with.

'No traps... No infrastructure. Definitely no earth release users. Good. Good.' Ryuji smiled. There was a lot he could work with. He could set up traps. He could make sure that they couldn't get away. He could set up a base of operations.

All things he could do.

But he wouldn't.

Earth release had some of the most obvious signs of usage. Grass being missing couldn't be explained, Dirt that had been messed with by chakra had some obvious tells. And sometimes if someone had made tunnels then they could accidentally be stepped on by someone strong enough.

Ryuji didn't want to risk any of them running away. So he just had to wait for his targets to show up whilst far enough away to where they couldn't see him. That should be easy enough. At most he was dealing with decently competent Genin and a Jinchurriki. Most if not all Chuunin in the village seemed to hate the girl and the Jonin were constantly on missions.

He had an opportunity. A really good one. He could take the Jinchurriki by tomorrow.

Kakuzu would be happy with him hopefully.

'Now I just need to play the waiting game.'

Well, that's a wrap.

Man. Writing the trade parts keep kicking my ass. Fortunately it's going to end soon. Right? Right? I wish I could say but I still have yet to finish this arc. Of course I haven't. But I have yet to finish the plans for it. So I don't know if I'll include one last fuck you to myself or not.

It's extremely likely I do.

At least Gamer of Kiri's been really easy to write over the last few chapters. Parts of this arc have been easy to write. Kukui's mainly since that's basically half of this arc. But the other miscellaneous stuff has been fun too.

I still like writing this arc. I really do. But it's kinda just hard to write it at times.

Anyways, sorry for the longish AN today. I'd include more but that'd just be blatantly inflating the word count. So I won't.

-Tobi