2/2

At 8 am sharp I was waiting at the Villages gates. I double checked everything that night: 250 kunai and about the same number of shuriken were stored in my inventory, along with four changes of clothes, first aid supplies and most of the things I looted from the dungeons. My iron sand was inside the inventory, even if I was itching to carry it as wristbands during our trip, the chakra usage would alert any sensors in the area; I was now a proper shinobi, and I could be forced into interrogation if any suspicious chakra usage or behavior was observed. In my leg pouch I carried 10 kunai, some shuriken and some sealing scrolls with camping supplies and rations bar; I still had to pretend I was a normal shinobi. I was wearing a standard issue shinobi pants and a long sleeve black shirt, both a pain in the ass to find on my size, my hitai ate was tied over my forehead, holding my somewhat long grayish black hair, and a dark crimson scarf was tied around my neck. I wanted a little bit of color without sacrificing stealthiness.

I was standing at the gates with Kazuya, waiting for Yugito and Tadashi to arrive. The morning sun was barely above the eastern mountains and the cool morning breeze was blowing around.

"So, anything that ANBU pack that regular shinobi don't?" I asked my teammate.

"Yes, but it depends on the mission. Some assassinations require special instruments and 'uniforms' and other missions like domestic inspections and searches require special ANBU members that carry specialized instruments."

"Did you bring anything out of the ordinary for this one?" Not everything was on the books, so better ask someone with more experience.

Kazuya thought for a while before answering. "Only extra rations and a second first aid just in case, I don't believe this mission really requires anything out of the ordinary."

"Yeah well, same here. Packed a couple of books too in case we get fucking bored." Tadashi just arrived and gave his two cents. "I hope we see some action, I can't wait for a good fight, a real fucking fight."

Kazuya remained serious while I took a deep breath with my eyes closed.

"No no no, don't tell me you are nervous, kid."

"Meh, I just don't wish for a fight if we can avoid it." I answered Tadashi ignoring his last remark.

"Yeah, ok, right." He finished rolling his eyes.

"Good morning team." Yugito was approaching us with a small scroll on her hands. "These are the orders we have to take to rendezvous point number 4 on the southern border. Tadashi, you are carrying the scroll the first day." The red scroll had the village's symbol inscribed over the wax seal, signifying official orders from the Raikage himself. "We'll follow the main road down for five kilometers and then we'll diverge to the south west. Let's move."

We began our trek down the hundred stone steps that connected the big gate of the village with the main road ahead. The law stated that every person leaving or entering Kumo, whether shinobi or civilian, must do so through the stairs and at walking speed, unless it was a serious emergency, an ANBU team under direct orders from the Raikage or a state of war was declared.

The walk gave us time to contemplate the vast blanket of clouds under us, extending to the horizon and covering the lower valleys. Some mountain peaks could be seen here and there, their tops peaking over the cloud blanket. To the north east, the peaks of the Land of Lightning's highest mountains stood covered by gray clouds: The Thundering Peaks. According to the history books, that area was almost permanently shrouded in thunderstorms and only the craziest shinobi ventured there. There were stories -and archeological evidence to support them- about ancient temples to long lost deities, erected on the top of the mountains that still stood proud amid the thunder clouds. I was definitely going there at some point.

After we crossed the cloud line, the land of lighting opened to us in its entire splendor. Huge valleys covered the feet of the mountain range where Kumo was and on the horizon, you could see how it merged with another mountain system to the south, its peaks lower where we were standing. The valleys were uneven and semi-desert, covered with dry short grass, with some trees scattered here and there and some fast water courses, probably fed by seasonal snowmelt, flowed in the direction of the hills on the horizon. Many hills covered with large rock outcrops were scattered by its surfaces, a landscape that during winter snowfall would achieve an incalculable beauty and that I was already determined to visit. Right by the middle, the gravel road meandered to the south.

"Okay team, we now move at shinobi speed. Keep up and remember to be alert."

We three nodded to Yugito and followed her pace, not a fast one, but above genin level.

After crossing the first valley, we began our climb to the White Water mountain pass over the next mountain range, part of the southern mountain system of the Land of Lightning peninsula, which ranged from the south east coast to the north west coast and served as a natural barrier against invasions. It wasn't as tall as the central system in which Kumogakure was located or the ranges at the north east end of the peninsula, but it made for a perfect moisture barrier so rain clouds wouldn't come from inland; this made the central valleys a semi-desertic area, where only drought resistant crops could be grown.

At the end of the day, with the sun already setting, we stopped at a steep rocky slope after the White Waters mountain pass that connected to the huge low lands valleys where the border with the Land of Frost was. Temperatures were low in this area, which meant raw winters and very rainy falls. Moreover, these valleys extended beyond the border, where winters became even more raw and gave the Land of Frost its name.

"Okay team, I want you to set up your tents with all the necessary details, fly sheets and all. We will light a fire later." Yugito addressed all three of us once we stopped.

"What? Fly sheets? What the fuck do we want fly sheets for. It's not rainy season and there are almost no clouds in the sky! And this is the worst possible terrain for setting up camp, exposed to the fucking elements and without any suitable vantage point for… Oh."

Exactly. We would camp here just to practice and review the set-up protocol of a winter camp. After all, in the future we could get a mission in the middle of winter or to the interior mountain ranges of the Land of Lightning, which were covered with permanent snow caps and where many inexperienced shinobi have lost their lives after losing their way.

While I was struggling to insert the stakes into the ground, Tadashi interrupted me.

"Hey, no no no, don't be an idiot. The terrain here is impossible to pierce without an earth jutsu which none of us has. There are too many rocks on the surface and the soil is too compacted. What we are to do in these cases is to tie the guy ropes to any big ass rocks we can find in the area, or look for some shelter where to support the structure and take advantage of- You know, fuck it; didn't your parents teach you this kind of shit?"

I looked at him with a blank stare. "My mother died a few years ago, my father the spring of last year."

"Oh," he said with half-closed eyes, "well, you should have read more books since Yugito-sensei doesn't seem to care to help us."

"Yes, since we are in the middle of a steep rock formation and without protection against the elements," Kazuya spoke while tying his tent to some big boulders, "you have to secure the tent with rocks, and make sure that the covers will not be flown away during the night."

"And remember to check the vents," Tadashi chipped in in a condescending manner, "in winter you could be up to your balls in snow and venting water vapor is even more important that in summer to avoid condensation. Also-"

He went on explaining about everything that was on the books, like I have not read and memorized them before; did he really think I didn't know that basic stuff? Why was he so hostile? The boulder tying system wasn't in the survival books, though.

To my left, lying on one of the large rocks that sprouted out of the ground with her hands crossed as a pillow, Yugito looked at me and nodded when our eyes met, then continued to watch the sunset.

That night we didn't sleep in the tents, we slept in our sleeping bags over the rocky ground looking up at the stars. I took the first watch of the night, not that it bothered me, and when the time came, I woke up a snoring Kazuya for his watch. I laid awake in my bag the rest of the night, watching the stars unfold. I couldn't recognize a single constellation, but I was happy to continue making my own.

The next day, after waking up early and eating shinobi rations as breakfast, we raised the camp and continued our march to the border.

"Team! Keep a triangular formation and slow down. We will enter guarded territory so don't make any suspicious movements and don't attack unless provoked to avoid altercations."

Later that afternoon, we were finally approaching the border with the Land of Frost. The landscape was changing; the grasslands and their small and isolated leafy birch trees gave way to a somewhat scattered forest of tall and verdant pine trees, the ground covered only with moss and some patches of thick yellowish green pastures. Judging by the marks on the bark, winter in this area also brought a lot of snow, probably from the clouds obstructed by the mountain range that we had just crossed the day before.

As we approached a clearing, Yugito stopped at the entrance.

"State your purpose." A voice echoed around us.

"Yugito Nii, carrying new orders to patrolling squads."

A shinobi came to view on a high branch of one pine tree.

"Greetings, Yugito. Is this your genin team?"

"Yes. Kioshi, Kazuya, Tadashi, greet Kichi Yasui. ANBU of Kumo, currently overseeing ANBU patrols of the southern edge of the Land of Lightning."

We three nodded at the shinobi. He was wearing the regular ANBU uniform, a gray version of the white jonin vest of Kumo; his face was uncovered, and I could see his tired eyes looking at us, studying us.

Kumo's ANBU only wore masks when their missions entailed anonymity and only in those circumstances did they use numbers instead of names; a name was something more important than a title for the village's black ops unit, or so Kazuya explained it.

'Observe.'

Name: Kichi YasuiTitle: ANBU of Kumogakure.Level: 98Age: 29Kichi is an ANBU shinobi from Kumogakure. He specializes in infiltration and assassination missions and is currently on border patrol duty as punishment for drinking on duty.

"Very well, let's look at those orders."

Yugito motioned Kazuya to hand over the scroll, which he was carrying the last part of the way. He stepped forward to the shinobi that had just came down from the tree and extended his hand offering the scroll. After a few seconds, the shinobi took it, inspected it and finally opened it.

"It's a standard protocol between ANBU; when delivering a package to a superior, it is only offered with an extended hand and he'll grab it after checking it, and only if it's not suspicious." Kazuya whispered to us when he stepped back.

The ANBU's face contorted a little with every line he read.

"These motherfuckers, I can't believe it." He grumbled as he finished reading. Seeing Yugito's raised eyebrow, he clarified. "They want us to increase the ANBU patrolling frequency on all the borders and secondary ports. Again. All this without providing more resources or more staff. Ugh, border patrols are already stretched thin as it is."

"Without more shinobi, increasing rotations will only make patrols hastier and likely to overlook something important." I blurted out.

"Exactly, and that makes this decision stupid at best and dangerous at worst." The agent answered with a sigh. "You can spend the night in the refuge to the west if you like, I still have to go to the general security station to plan new routes and assign new orders. Maybe we can make the trajectories more efficient."

"Thanks Kichi." Yugito replied.

"No problem." The ANBU replied and disappeared into the forest with a body flicker.

'Note to self: learn the shunshin.'

"Alright team, as part of your training we will spend a night in the shinobi border shelter. There will be other shinobi, probably chunin and above, so behave. Remember, shelters are mainly used as security and rest areas, starting fights or interacting with prisoners on any way, if there is any, is prohibited."

The shelter was an old bunker-like structure made of solid rock, it was shaped like a big dome with small windows and a single entrance, and it was imposing. The external walls of the building were almost two feet thick, probably built with some sort of jutsu to protect the interior from the cold outside during hard winters and to be used as an outpost in case of war. A room 30 feet long and 20 feet wide served as a reception, where there was a shinobi stationed at the entrance who asked us for our identification cards. Yes, shinobi always had to carry their identification cards on themselves. The place had several tables, one with some documents and scrolls scattered on top and an old shinobi leaning over them; some wooden doors were closed in the back wall.

Yugito walked straight to the shinobi studying the documents.

'Observe.'

Name: Soichiro KamoTitle: Jonin of Kumogakure.Level: 91Age: 49Soichiro is a jonin from Kumogakure. A war veteran, he's the commander of the southern border patrols in the Land of Lightning.

He was a bulky person, with his gray hair cut short and a gray mustache over his lips. He was wearing the standard issue Kumo jonin attire; a white hitai ate on his forehead, black pants and long sleeved black shirt with the contrasting white jonin vest over it and a stern expression on his face.

"Is this your team?" The jonin asked smiling at Yugito once we approached him.

"Yes," she answered with half a smile, "team, meet Soichiro, jonin. He's currently responsible for this control point."

We all nodded.

"Hey son, how old are you?" He asked looking at me.

"Seven, going eight." I simply answered. There was always at least one person per mission that would ask me how old I was. I could understand that, I wasn't short for my age, but Tadashi and even Kazuya were noticeably taller than me.

"I haven't seen a genin so young since… well ever, but hey, welcome to control point number four of the southern border." He went on addressing all of us. "Here we handle the shinobi and ANBU patrols on this border and control the shinobi teams, the civilians and merchants that use the Hokenzo road into the Land of Frost."

"Is this a customs office?" Tadashi asked.

"No, the customs office is further north along the road. The patrolling shinobi and ANBU not only protect the borders from foreign invasions, they also monitor shinobi teams trying to enter or leave the Land of Lightning; even foreign shinobi entering as diplomatic envoys or on specific missions use the entry roads and stay on merchant roads to avoid suspicion and to ease control. On some occasions, patrolling teams escort merchant caravans to the customs office if it's required; mainly if they are transporting valuable goods. This refuge in particular is used as a resting point for patrols or as a temporary jail if it's needed, or even as a proper snow refugee in winter." He sighed and continued, this time looking at the map over the table. "Lately, there has been a lot of movement on the border, a lot of undocumented cargo have been tried to move through; grains, produces, the like. We have even stopped some drug trafficking. At least it's better than the eastern border with the territorial waters of the Land of Water, where seizing drug shipments is a daily occurrence."

If drug smuggling has increased, what was its destination, I wondered?

"Has violence at the borders increased?" I asked the jonin directly.

"Not as much as one would expect, it's mostly the smuggling that has proliferated around the borders. Civilians who smuggle undocumented cargo try to enter undetected through the forest and sometimes with armed protection -armed civilians and hired swords mainly, not shinobi. Patrols have had their hands full."

'Then, what happened to dad? On which border did his team get ambushed?' This was the only land border of the Land of Lightning, the rest were oceanic borders and entry ports.

"Why ANBU and regular shinobi patrols?" I asked again.

"There's always at least an ANBU patrol per border. From time to time we might get the occasional missing-nin trying to enter, so…"

I nodded. That made sense, considering how easy would be for a strong shinobi to enter any country undetected.

"That's enough team," Yugito turned to us, "go explore the place and learn how a shinobi shelter works, it could save your life sometime."

Yugito was like that, she didn't explain unless asked and expected us to learn, discover and solve our issues by ourselves.

Tadashi immediately went to the closed doors on the back, so I turned to Kazuya.

"Do you want to explore the place?"

"No," he replied over his shoulder, already walking to the entrance, "I have to train."

I took my time wondering around the refuge. The doors on the back lead to a bathroom, a storage room full of firewood and provisions and to two meeting rooms. One of them had various maps of the borders of the Elemental Nations on display, with the border crossings marked with little flags. Even some smuggling routes and other non-official crossings were scribbled.

Maps added:Land of Lighting smuggling routes.Elemental Nations: borders and control points.

The last door led to a staircase descending into a long hallway, with several doors to the right and to the left; simple bedrooms with some bunk beds inside. At the end of the hallway, there were a couple of bathrooms, a suspicious looking metal door that I assumed was the door to the prison part of the refuge, and a big communal area with a huge table and a small kitchen. It was there that I found Tadashi playing cards with two other shinobi.

Name: Washi HoriuchiTitle: Chunin of Kumogakure.Level: 47Age: 25Washi is a chunin from Kumogakure. Belonging to the Horiuchi clan, Washi has always been ashamed of not inheriting its clan kekkei genkai despite being the son of the clan head.

Name: Mashai KinoshitaTitle: Jonin of Kumogakure.Level: 87Age: 41Mashai is a jonin from Kumogakure. Known for his experience with tracking and medical ninjutsu, Mashai would have loved to become a full time medic shinobi.

"Hey cousin, is this your teammate you were talking about the other day?" The young shinobi asked Tadashi in a deep voice. My teammate turned his head to the door, looking at me.

"Yep, that's the one." He simply answered and went back to his cards.

"Well, you were right, he is a small squid. Hey, wanna join the game?" the chunin asked me. "What? Oh come on, relax!" He added when his cousin scoffed at his proposal.

Washi was wearing the standard issue chunin attire and his hitai was tied around his neck. His bald head, black eyes and relaxed expression contrasted with his deep voice and dark skin. On the other hand, the jonin was a tall and lanky individual, with white hair and red eyes and wearing a dark red full-body jump suit and a jonin vest on top.

"Yes, relax a little," the jonin intervened, "breaks like this are rare nowadays. There's too much movement and too little personnel that even the ANBU are stressed and those guys are though. Some years ago, these rooms were full of shinobi telling stories, laughing and competing in stupid stuff. Hell, I don't remember the last time I had time to play cards here! So, enjoy the break. And speaking of which," he leaned to the side and took a big bottle of sake and some small ceramic cups from under the table, "with almost all personnel out on the field, a bottle lasts a long time. You up for some?" He finished looking at me while pouring four cups.

"No." Yugito's voice said from behind me.

"C'mon Yugito, old enough to kill, old enough to drink, right?"

"He's seven." This time I looked at her and she was serious.

"Ok, ok. It's your team, no reason to get angry." The jonin said shrugging his shoulders, passing the filled cups to Tadashi and his cousin.

"Go find an empty room Kioshi, and settle there." Yugito ordered harshly.

'Why is Yugito so... angry today?' I nodded and turned around to find a room for myself.

I spent the rest of the afternoon meditating and reading one of the books on unconventional warfare I got from the library. I wouldn't try to train my magnet release with all the shinobi around.

Without much to do, we all went to our bedrooms early that night. I was sitting on the bed training my observation skill it finally leveled up and got a new effect:

Ding!

Observe. Lvl 50. (1%)- Observing what's around you is a great way to obtain information. At higher levels, more information is revealed. Passively observes nearby characters.

I immediately noted small semitransparent windows floating around my range of vision, each stating a name. The larger windows belonged to my teammates.

Tadashi Horiuchi[Neutral]

Kazuya Fuse[Good]

Tadashi was sleeping in the bedroom next to me and Kazuya on one to the right; the small windows were floating right where I guessed they would be sleeping.

'This is fucking great!' I thought. I could identify people around me without having to 'Observe' them, and even if they were in another rooms or hidden behind walls. 'How far can this thing go?'

Judging by the size and position of the rest of the windows, the other shinobi currently inside the bunker were sleeping, or at least were inside the other bedrooms. Another smaller window was floating above the others to the right, Tadashi's cousin, probably on guard duty.

'So, the smaller the window, the farther away the person is.'

There was one more window on the ceiling above me, it was Yugito; she was awake and it seemed she was on top of the bunker, unmoving.

Yugito Nii[Very Good]

Making up my mind, I got up.

"Don't wander too far, kid, we're expecting a patrol to arrive at 2 am, and they are all very jumpy after their patrols." Tadashi's cousin warned me at the entrance.

"I'm just going to see my sensei."

As I predicted, Yugito was lying on the top of the bunker looking up at the stars with her hands behind her head and her golden hair tucked to the side, the light of the moon reflecting on her dark eyes. The full moon was shining over the pine forest, basking everything with its light, but barely visible through the trees.

"Hello" I said to her, siting at her side.

"Hey," she answered without moving, "why are you up?"

"I don't really sleep much. I wanted to see the stars before going to sleep." I lied. "Why are you up?"

"I don't feel like sleeping tonight."

I took the hint; from her voice there was something troubling her. I lay down next to her and we fell into a comfortable silence.

"Kioshi, how did you know I was a jinchuriki back then?"

"Are you referring to that time over the bridge to the training grounds some years ago?"

She nodded. I knew that the identity of Kumo's jinchuriki wasn't a secret in the village; everybody, shinobi and civilians alike, praised B as the Protector of Kumo.

"Old man Yataro once told me about the biju, about you and B and how you were to be seen as protectors of Kumo."

"And you weren't afraid?"

"No," I answered quickly, "no I wasn't. Why would I be afraid?"

"Kids always get scared, even shinobi kids." She replied. "Clans normally talk to their children about the biju and how we jinchuriki are weapons to be used for the glory of Kumo. They always end up mimicking that way of thinking; I was actually surprised that your teammates didn't see me just as a weapon of mass destruction." She sighed. "But what is worse is the civilian population. B proved to them that he was in control, that he was there to protect them; plus, he's the Raikage's adopted brother. Me, on the other hand… people are still afraid of me, afraid of me losing control." Her eyes were red and there was a hint of sadness in her voice. I couldn't bare to see her like that.

"I know about the issues the civilians have with jinchuriki," I said with a sad smile, "but I never agreed with those; accepting stigmatizing labels often leads to isolation, resentment and fear. That time I recognized you on that bridge, I saw all of it; the sorrow, the pain, all because of something that was forced upon you. I saw the consequences and I am sure as hell you didn't deserve those!" Yugito was looking at me intently. "You are not a weapon, Yugito. You are a human being, just like me, just like everyone else. You were dealt a bad hand, and that was all. It was never your fault."

The full moon was high in the sky now, shining over the tree tops. "Maybe one day, if I rule the place, I might change all of it." I continued. "I'll bring peace over the elemental nations and ensure no one will have to follow the shinobi path, maybe end it altogether." I looked back at her beautiful eyes and smiled. "And maybe then we could eat all the sushi we want without worrying about the future and the next mission… and I'll create a new type of tea, a really strong one and it would become a success throughout the elemental nations and I would make millions."

Then, for just a couple of seconds, Yugito's teary eyes relaxed, and she laughed.

"Ok, then, when you become the ruler of the nations, I will refer to you as Emperor Kioshi!"

"No," I answered smiling, "you shall call me King Jeremy, the wicked, and I will rule this world!"

We laughed a little more, but her eyes still had a glint of sorrow.

"Do you think is possible, to stop the fighting?" she asked.

"Maybe, but at least we can start with the sushi part."

"Thank you."

. . . - . . . . - - . - - . .

As the three shinobi played cards, the jonin's mind was wandering.

"Aha," he suddenly exclaimed banging his palm over the table. "Now I recognize him! I heard about the kid with the mismatched eyes that was acing the academy! That's the little genius, Denji Shirasu's kid, no?" he asked Tadashi.

"He said his father died." Tadashi simply answered, not taking his eyes from the cards. Everyone always asked about him, the genius kid, the one that aced the academy, the one with the mismatched eyes. Even among his own clan, all they ever asked him at home was about that kid, not how's he doing or even about his Storm Release training, it was always about the fucking kid.

"Ah, yes. He died at the western end of this border, near the coast. That's one of the few shinobi scuffles we've had that it's still unresolved, actually." The jonin continued. "I went on some missions with the guy; great support and middle range fighter with a big heart, always covering the back lines. He shouldn't have come back to taking missions that soon to be honest."

"What do you mean, was he sick?" Now Tadashi was interested, if only a little.

"No, no," the jonin answered taking a deep breath, "he was taking local patrol missions in the village after his wife died years before. Last thing I heard about him was that he took up drinking; local patrol duty was the only thing he could do without endangering his teammates on higher ranking missions... maybe he shouldn't have signed up for border patrol missions until he c-"

"So he was an alcoholic then." Tadashi interrupted him with disdain.

"Well, we all deal with our problems in our own ways. Look, kid. Don't judge your teammate based on his father, ok? He was a good shinobi, with a good heart. He just couldn't cope with his wife's death and being a single father. I'm just happy his kid turned up alright."

"Yeah, but you know what they say," Tadashi continued, "the apple never falls far from the tree."

Author's Note:

This particular chapter was almost 20k words long at the first time of writing, and it was so full of unnecessary details and thoughts that I trimmed it quite a lot. I think it has a faster pace now.

This is part one of two of a very important episode on Kioshi's life! You'll have to wait and read, because missions... well, they don't always end up as you expect them to end.

I went again through the old chapters to change some typos and error, and I think some of you get some sort of alert when I do that.

As always, please keep pointing out mistakes and such and thank you all for your comments!