Off to Konoha!!!

Rai went back home and found his grandpa relaxing in the courtyard. He goes up to him with his game face on.

"Hello Rai. How has your day been going?" – Grandpa

"All good grandpa. Was just relaxing after today's training. Actually grandpa I wanted to ask you something." – Rai

"Sure. What do you want to know?" – Grandpa

"Are we really going to kidnap a 3 year old child in order to get her eyes? I mean are we really that desperate?" – Rai

Grandpa quickly turns serious and asks him "Who told you that? I had made it perfectly clear that we will not do something so underhanded especially against a child. Where did you hear this from?"

"I was just passing by father's office when I heard them discussing this. That's why I'm asking you." – Rai

"Damn that son of mine. As long as it's good for the village he really does not mind going to any extent to achieve his goals. They should be planning on kidnapping the Hyuga Princess when Kumo's delegation goes there for signing the peace treaty this week." – Grandpa

"Are you going to allow this to happen?" – Rai

"I had already had a few arguments with him over this but it seems like a few of the elder council members want to make some kind of move against Konoha. And if we can even get a Byakugan out of it they think it's even better. Even if they get caught, Konoha cannot really take any sort of action against us, they just lost the 4th Hokage and the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails, The Snake Sannin defected, The Slug Sannin has also left the village and the Toad Sannin is also never there in the village. This must be why your father will agree with them." – Grandpa

"When you see it that way, it really is the best time to pull a fast one over them. Even if we fail, the repercussions won't be too bad. But, I kind of feel like it's wrong. I mean at the end of the day it is only one Byakugan, if we were taking action against someone older, I'd have no problem but kidnapping a little girl and taking her eyes makes me feel conflicted." – Rai

"I know. That's the reason I was telling A to not go ahead with the plan. But at this point even if we scrap the plan, someone from the delegation to Konoha will be given an unofficial mission by the old coots of the elder council. And they won't even need to be punished because we won't really be facing any problems because of this." – Grandpa

"Hmm. Then grandpa. I have an idea. Why don't we go along with the delegation to Konoha? I mean, who could be better to send for this than you. And it's not like we will be in any danger with you around. And no one else even knows that you are fully recovered." – Rai

"Hmm. That could work. I'll make it perfectly clear that we will not be doing this and also inform them that I'll be heading the delegation myself." – Grandpa

Rai was smirking internally thinking that his plan worked.

"But, now why did you say 'we' could go to Konoha. As far as I am concerned, I alone am enough for this. So, tell me Little Rai what plan are you concocting here?" – Grandpa asks with a smirk.

"Ahem. Grandpa. I just wanted to go and see Konoha is all. Please can I come along? I won't ever be in any danger with you nearby and also I am sure I can handle myself if anything happens and if even that is not enough I am very sure no one can stop me from running away. Please." – Rai

"Haha. Sure. But you know. If you wanted to go to Konoha. You could have just said so from the start rather than going about this way." – Grandpa

"Well. I also wanted to stop this from happening. But yes what I wanted to do most was to go there." – Rai

"Alright. I am going to your father and will inform him of this." – Grandpa

Grandpa left immediately afterwards. Rai was super excited. He can now see Konoha firsthand. Don't get me wrong, Kumo is a beautiful place in itself and it is his home but, he just wanted to see the place where the majority of the plot in this world takes place. And making sure that Hinata is not kidnapped is a bonus.

Preventing this from happening will also ensure that the rift between the Main and Branch families of the Hyuga clan will not happen. It will not be making any difference what so ever for Kumo as even if these little things change, there still will not be much contact between Kumo and Konoha for a long time.

The way Rai sees it is like he can go to Konoha to satisfy a dream of his and along the way he can also do a favor to Konoha. Rai really does love Kumo as this place is his home now, but he cannot help but feel fond of Konoha as well. Of course, if he has to fight against Konoha sometime down the line he will do it no questions asked. He won't like it but he definitely won't think twice before making his stand with Kumo. The only reason he is even going so far to help is because he knows that in the future they will be allies and ensuring that they don't think badly of you goes a long way in smoothening things.

Rai is sure that things will pan out just like it did in the story with our delegation making it to Konoha and attending the Hyuga Princess' 3rd Birthday Party. He will also get to meet the kiddy versions of Konoha's 12. This will be fun. Maybe he can even mess with Danzo when he's there. All sorts of ideas run through Rai's head. When it comes to Konoha, he really does have a lots of things he can do and check out as an avid fan of the series and his excitement is bubbling in anticipation.

[DING]

[Mandatory Quest Generated] [B Rank]

[Prevent Hinata's Kidnapping]

[In spite of the Third Raikage's refusal to comply with the plan. A zealous Elder Council Member will still try to go through with the plan.]

[Reward – Lottery Ticket x2]

[Penalty – Souring of relationship between the Third and Fourth Raikage and split into factions in Kumo]

'Ok. Now there really is no helping it. I guess I can't completely mess around when I get there.'

Shortly afterwards, Grandpa came home to let him know that things are taken care of. It was decided that we will be leaving in a couple of days and we will be staying in Konoha for 2 days. We will be accompanied by 2 other Jonins and a few Chuunin ranked shinobis.

Rai doesn't think that the Council will be willing to sacrifice a Jonin for something which they don't have the approval for so the one that Rai will have to look for should be one of the Chuunin's. It wouldn't matter even if it was a Jonin or if it was both of them. He can easily take them on. But the tricky part is that he shouldn't kill the guy. He definitely will not be punished for killing him but all sorts of nasty rumors will start when people learn that Rai killed a 'comrade'. And he would rather not have to deal with that.

Father came back home later in the evening and from his face it is quite evident that he is annoyed. Rai asked him what the problem was and it seems that the Elder Council was not happy that Grandpa stubbornly decided to not allow this to happen. Father also thinks that doing this would be underhanded and low but he didn't mind if it was helping Kumo. But, he also understood his grandpa's point that doing this will make us look very untrustworthy and that is not good in the long run.

It will set a precedent that we are a shameless bunch without honor. So, father was stuck between a rock and a hard place but he eventually sided with grandpa and decided to scrap the plan. Understandably, the council was less than pleased. As far as they were concerned this plan had all to gain and nothing to lose. And Rai agrees with their reasoning but they don't know what is going to happen in the future and any positive change no matter how small is a very welcome change.