Did Danzo somehow already get the information from Lady Tsunade? No, he couldn’t I felt myself tremble in the chair I sat in. Danzo knew my father, then does he know my real identity. Does he have the answers to my questions?
“Kiyoko,” I hear Kakashi say as he placed a hand on my shoulder. Did he hear Danzo too?
“You- You heard him too Kakashi. He knows my father, he knows who I am!” I struggle to keep myself calm.
“We’ll figure it out, Kiyoko. We need to find out if he really is telling the truth.”
“Of course he knows, did you not see the look on his eye. There is no way we can lie out of this, I need to talk to him. I need to make sure he keeps this a secret,” I say and begin to get up from the seat. I need to make sure he keeps quiet. I need to make sure my secrets don’t get out in the public, and I want to know about my father. He knew him at some point in his life.
“You’re not thinking clearly. You can’t just go confront him Kiyoko. He’s dangerous and he has hundred of men under him, getting close to him will not be easy. For now he won’t say anything, but we can’t leave this like it is. We need to think about a way to get through this simply.” Kakashi makes sure I sit myself back on the chair.
“I want to know. He knows the origins of me. He might now about the reasons my parents left the leaf village or if they ever did exist. I need to know the truth,” I sigh and lay my forehead on the table. Kakashi sighs too and throws away the tea Danzo left. He sits and slides the food Ume prepared, so I can eat breakfast. I wasn’t very hungry but I ate it and thought a way to find out more about Danzo and possibly my parents. Ume comes back into the kitchen saying she was going to go back home and that she would be back later in the evening if we were still around. After I ate Kakashi and I walked to Lady Tsunade’s office, to let her know about our situation. I really just wanted a few weeks of normalcy, that was all, just enjoy it with Kakashi, Ume and Eri, and Rin and maybe Rokuro.
“Why do you think Danzo knows my father?” I ask Kakashi.
“Who knows. Maybe your father really did live here once, maybe Danzo knows him from a long time ago. Perhaps one of the elders know, or Lady Tsunade. We’ll figure it out, everything will be fine,” Kakashi squeezes my hand. I give him a small smile. For once, I don’t feel like it will turn out fine. I was scared of the lack of assurance, we weren’t going to figure this out simply.
We got to the green door, but we stopped in front of the door abruptly. I felt Danzo’s chakra on the other side of the door. He always seems like he’s a step in front of us. I leaned in closer to the door, but Kakashi held my shoulder from leaning closer. He nodded towards the roof, there were a couple of chakra staying close by, I’m sure they are his escorts. Soon after I see Danzo open the door and gave us a small smile.
“Wonderful seeing you two, excuse me,” He slipped passed us and continued down the hall. Everytime I see him, he gives me a chill. We walk into the hokage’s office, a look on her face made me feel like she already knew what we were going to say.
“Lady Tsunade, there is something we must speak about.”
“Yes, I know what you are talking about. He has knowledge beyond me, there must be someone he finds it all from. Perhaps one of the elders.” Lady Tsunade sighs and takes a file out of her desk drawer.
“I do know this is an arising problem, but I have something to ask the two of you. As you may have heard Gaara of the sand has become Kazekage, and the chunin exams are going to begin soon.” She looks through the file and pulls out a few papers.
“That is not the reason I called you two in. The Akatsuki have been quiet for almost two years, its been too long since they’ve made a public appearance. The Sand and the Leaf have decided to a joint exam, we will host stage one and the Sand will host stage two. You can guess my purpose, Gaara is a jinchuuriki, like you Kiyoko. We’re going to let him become bait, I know it is dangerous, but we must get to the organization before it attacks the leaf village.”
“Lady Tsunade, does he know he’s going to be the target? He’s a jinchuuriki, but he’s also a person. Its not correct to treat him like this,” I felt a bit out of place to talk back to Lady Tsunade, but it hit me hard.
“Of course he knows the risk. He’s a human but he’s a ninja as well Kiyoko. And as for you, you will not be present during these exams. I can’t risk letting anyone know your identity. I want you and Kakashi to go to the Rain Village to deliver an invitation to Hanzo, the leader of the Village,” Lady Tsunade gave him an invitation.
“It is closed off strictly to outsiders, it will be difficult to get anywhere close to Hanzo. The Rain Village’s stability is unknown. We do not know anything about that village,” Kakashi puts the paper in his back pocket.
“Yes, it will be difficult, but while you are there, take a close look, but do not risk your lives. Kiyoko be careful to not let them know you’re name, or let them touch you at all. I can help you mask your chakra, you stand out too much, but I believe for now the safest place is not in the village,” She hands me the scroll, and grimaces.
Lady Tsunade showed me quickly how to mask my chakra, it was simple. Create an illusion and aura of normal chakra, she did say however, the longer we stay the harder it will be to keep a steady and realistic chakra flow.
“I’m not sure what to do anything more for your safety. You’re aware that you are constantly in danger, so never let your guard down.While you are away I will try to find out what the old man is up to. Please dismiss after you have gathered your things for your journey. Come back safely.”
I bow and follow Kakashi out. I always knew that my life has always been in danger, but I’ve always felt safe inside these walls. Now that there is danger inside, then I don’t really know where the safest place is. The Rain Village seemed mysterious and intimidating. Kakashi rubbed his eye and blew out a breath. I guess I was so nervous, that Kakashi took my hand to keep me from shaking.
“Lady Tsunade will take care of things here. You take care of the mission on hand, but make sure you take care of yourself. Remember she said to not take risks, we’ll be out of there after a day or two.”
“What if they don’t let us in Kakashi?”
“We’ll think of something, Kiyoko.”
We got home and made our packs, we packed warmer clothes, since it seemed to always rain there. I stopped by at Ume’s house to let her know we were going to be gone for a few days, while Kakashi ran to the market to get a few dried foods. I ran into Sakura, Ino and Hinata on my way back. Ino was talking about another chance at the chunin exams. This time I think she’ll pass with ease.
“Kiyoko! Its been such a long time.” Hinata and Ino greet me. It has been a long time since I’ve seen their faces, and it seemed a longer time since I’ve talked to them. They looked good, but most of all tired. They were smudged and sweaty, they must have been training.
“Hey girls. Training?”
“Ya, we were helping Ino get ready for the Chunin exams. Are you going to go watch?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve just been assigned a mission, so I’ll be missing it. But when I return we’ll celebrate on your achievement, Ino. I know you’ll pass,”I give them a smile and they seemed a bit down that I am not able to go with them. I was too, I would rather be watching the chunin exam rather than going to a rainy leaf village.
“Is Kakashi- sensei going too?” Sakura asked. I nod, and Ino begins to oooohhh at me.
“It doesn’t sound like a mission more like a romantic getaway Kiyoko,” Ino began to give me wiggling eyebrows. I laugh, the nerved seemed to disappear when I talk to these girls, they were always full of something new.
“Think what you like, but its a mission. I’ll be back in a few days, see you girls.”
“Take care!” I heard them say as I walked back to the apartment. Ya, right this wasn’t even close to a romantic getaway. Kakashi wasn’t the very romantic type either, I didn’t mind either. I wouldn’t like to me smothered in things or gifts. He was simple, and blunt, and it was easy to know how he felt for me. I didn’t need a getaway, I always had one when I arrived home and he was there. Just the simple gesture of holding hands was enough for me.
“Do you have everything Kiyoko?” Kakashi asked me as I packed a clean spare of clothes. I didn’t pack lightly, and I hated carrying things I didn’t carrying things I didn’t need. I put the scroll inside my flak jacket and locked the front door. We made our way through the forest at a moderate pace, it wasn’t going to be a too long journey but we couldn’t rush into things like this.
“Why is the Rain Village so monitorized?”
“Because of where it is in the world, its been a battle ground in all of the great ninja wars. Once order has been placed, or we think it has, the village doesn’t want it to crumble. Its always wary of outsiders because of all the destruction from the past. Hanzo, especially, doesn’t make public appearances. He hasn’t been heard of much for years, which is what makes that village so suspicious,” we hop from branch to branch.
“Do you think maybe there is something to do with the Akatsuki in the Rain Village?” I ask quietly. That organization was like taboo to me, I didn’t like thinking they are out there, but they are, and they are after people like me. It took Kakashi a while to answer.
“That’s why we are going personally. If anything of the Akatsuki come up, we’ll leave immediately. Intel is important to any village.” Kakashi says, but he was concentrated on the mission on hand. It felt like this mission took a damp mood from the start. The Leaf Village wasn’t too far from the border, and we made it to the border of the Rain Village in a few hours. The clear sky slowly turned grey. We stopped to put on our rain cloaks. We continued into the rain territory, and soon the rain began to fall. I shivered, I didn’t like the rain, not in this harsh amount.
“Its cold, I hate the rain. I can’t imagine living in this country. It seems so depressed,” I say to myself. Being cold reminded me of the time I was almost consumed by my own cold thoughts. I never wanted to feel anything like that again.
“We’ll only be here over night at the most, its almost night fall. I don’t think they’ll let us see Hanzo this time at night,” Kakashi says. I followed close behind him as we came to walk. There was a lot of destroyed buildings, a lot of concrete. The outskirts really did look like a warzone.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes, so put the mask chakra on and let me do most of the talking. For now I’ll use your real name, if we lie it can cause more trouble later on.”
I began the masking of my powerful chakra, hopefully it will keep up until we leave the rain village. The tall grey buildings began to appear on the horizon, the mist bounced off the ground as the rain kept hammering on. I’ve never saw a more cold view in my life. There was a post for entering. I saw men standing guard near it, with spears in hand. We got closer before they saw us.
“Halt! Who goes there?” One of the men say with his spear sticking out. Kakashi and I walk until we are in front of them.
“Are you ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village?” He asked. He must have seen our headband. Kakashi takes his hood off, and I do the same. The rain splattered on my head, and my hair was soaked in seconds.
“Yes. I am Kakashi Hatake and this is Kiyoko Tsukino. Our Lady Hokage sent us here. We have a joint letter from the Sand and Leaf Villages,” He says. I take the scroll out of my pocket and show it to them.
“Then I will take it for you,” The man with a beard says.
“No, we’ve been order present this scroll to your leader, Hanzo of the Salamander. Himself,” Kakashi says and I put the scroll back in my pocket. In a split second, the four other men bring their spears at our faces. I quickly take a kunai out of my pouch.
“Is this just some scheme to get close to our leader?” One of them yelled. Kakashi tells me to put my weapon away. I trust him and put it back. I didn’t like the fact that there was four spears in our face, but I could easily disarm them if I wanted to.
I saw the men falter a little at Kakashi’s words. Kakashi was intimidating, he wasn’t threatening them, just letting them know how important this was to two big villages. The speaker of the group, made the others lower their spears.
“Alright, we’ll let them know you are here of important matter. You will have to wait until tomorrow morning to meet Lord Hanzo, it is too late to request a meeting with him,” the man says.
“That is just fine, tomorrow morning we will deliver the scroll to him.” Kakashi says and I put my hoodie back on.
“This man will show you a hotel to stay in for the night. He will be there tomorrow morning to escort you to Lord Hanzo. His name is Arata,” the man who yell earlier was our escort. We were allowed to pass the entrance, and Arata walked in front of us. He kept to himself, but everyone and a while he would look back at Kakashi and I. The Rain village looked like an in flooded town. There was a river, always growing from the rain, and the ground beneath us was mud, and dirtied my toes. In all of my years of being on my own, I’m glad I never ended up in this place.
Arata showed us a hotel, and said he would meet us in front of the hotel in the morning. We checked in and immediately I felt the warmth against my cold wet skin. We were on our own, but I had a feeling that we were being watched.
“Kakashi,” I whisper. He nods and takes hold of my hand. He knew we were being watched too. We couldn’t talk freely, not even in privacy. I wonder if everyone in this village felt like this. Or maybe it was just because we are outsiders. I noticed on our front door a paper angel hanging on a nail. I turn around and see that all of the doors had a paper angel on theirs too.
I dry myself with the towels in the room, last time we shared a hotel room it was when I told him my secrets. this time we will have to be careful speaking. I change clothes and let my wet once dry out.
“Its intense here,” I say quietly.
“Their security is tight, there must not be a lot of crimes in this village. Hanzo is running this village with ease,” Kakashi says, but I knew it was all for show, he was saying things for the ears that were keeping tags on us.
“I don’t like feeling this cold though. It feels like the rain is like a sheet, covering every dry land here.” I say and wait for Kakashi to join me in bed. I lean closer to whisper something to him.
“I feel like the rain is the ultimate security guard, it feels like the rain feels everything,” I say quickly and give him a kiss on the cheek to cover up my words. He nods in agreement. We take out a few packs of food for dinner and eat in silence. Tomorrow we would meet Hanzo, I wonder how he looks like. Does he really look like a salamander like his name says? Would he be a cold person like his village, or the sunshine of the city. After settling in bed, Kakashi held me close, saying he’ll be on guard for a while. My body soon felt warm and I slept while Kakashi stroke my hair. I worried sometimes the lack of sleep he gets, but he said he could go days without sleep.
In the break of dawn I woke and saw that Kakashi laid in the same position, awake. I frowned, not sleeping before meeting Lord Hanzo.
“Kakashi why don’t you get a couple hours of sleep. There is still time, I’ll stay up,” I say and wipe my sleep away from my eyes. This time he didn’t reject the offer, he settle in and slept while I sat up, to watch the sun peak through the dark clouds. Wow, it wasn’t raining. I loved the smell of wet dirt, but the smell was overtaken by the odor of wet rust. I closed the window and kept watch over Kakashi. He looked like a child when he slept, but I was glad that he trusted me to protect him while he let his guard down. He slept for three hours, before he decided that he had enough.
I packed my things, nervously doing so. I don’t remember being this nervous meeting Lady Tsunade.
“Have you ever seen Lord Hanzo?”
“No never. But he is a powerful shinobi known all over the world,” Kakashi says and helps me put my rain clock on. It was getting darker as the day went on. The sun fell behind the clouds again. Arata waited for us outside like he said he would, and without a word he walked us to a tall building in the center of town.
The villagers looked at us with eyes as round as a moon. They didn’t see outsiders often, especially ninjas. I kept close to Kakashi, but there was a paper angel that caught my attention. They hang on almost every shop pole, or every window. It was origami, it was strange but beautiful. Arata stopped at a gate, where he handed us off to three more intimidating men waited. Kakashi followed without question. We arrived at the top of the tower after what seemed millions of staircases.
“Lord Hanzo will see you ninjas, but first surrender all of your weapons,” A man with a mask said. I looked at Kakashi and he nodded. I took off my pouch, and my scrolls and put them in a basket near the entrance of the office. These inspections were strict, Lord Hanzo must be important to the village. When we entered the room, I felt a strange chakra there too. I couldn’t define it, and I couldn’t see it. There was a large paper wall separator keeping Lord Hanzo from us.
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Chapter notes: I uploaded! Yay! Sorry I had final projects and I still have finals to take. Sorry again.
Chapter end notes: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you guys thought!
Until Next Time!