Chapter 14 - Arata's idea

Under the cover of the night, four youngsters entered Takigakure without much trouble. For days and nights, the four traveled without rest to avoid the patrolling nin surrounding the place.

Kakashi, now disguised as an old man through the transformation jutsu, led the group.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

At the entrance to Takigakure, two shinobis watch out for the presence of any strangers seeking to enter their village. As low-ranked Genin, they weren't aware of the current situation going on, but the powerful ninjas of the village were most likely aware of what was happening.

"We are only travelers, sir. Seeking to rest after a long journey."

The two Genins looked at each other for a moment and didn't agree nor disagree, instead, they threw the group a wary look and said. "You must speak with the leader first."

After making them wait for a while, another shinobi came from the village and brought them inside.

Takigakure's most defining feature was the giant tree at its center, like a village that came from a fairy tale, it exists on the foot of the giant tree roots that spread outwards and indefinitely to every direction within the small Land of Drafts that stands in between the Land of Iron and the Land of Earth.

Unlike its counterpart, the Land of Fire, its abundance of life is natural and originates from the giant tree, unlike the Land of Fire that had much of its landscape affected by the many battles fought by Senju Hashirama.

Not much was known about this place though, Takigakure wasn't allied to any of the Great Shinobi Villages, and they still had a certain level of enmity with them due to a recent rumor stating that they have come in possession of a tailed beast.

The only reason why Takigakure still exists even though rumors like that were spreading, was that even though they lacked a Kage level shinobi, they had a surplus of Elite Jonin level personal in their army.

Some even think that they have more Jonin than any other village in the Ninja World.

The four disguised as old people could see it the moment they came inside.

Even some supposedly normal people had high levels of Chakra, they weren't sensor shinobi, but they could feel it as the strangers were purposefully venting out some of their strength as if to warn them.

Inside a mansion at the heart of the village, the four sat down in front of a middle-aged man wearing Takigakure's uniform.

"I heard you wanted to rest in my village?"

The intelligence of Konohagakure pointed him as the leader of the village, his name was Hisen, and not much was known about his strength.

"That's right," Kakashi spoke with a certain level of uneasy.

Hisen was almost at the level of a Kage, they couldn't be sure whether or not he had seen through their disguise.

If that was the case though, Hisen didn't bring it up and simply stated. "You will have to pay a fee for each day you spend here, one hundred Yen per person, and that's has nothing to do with accommodations, you will have to pay for your lodging if you require it. Also, you better not cause trouble in the village, or we will hunt you and lock you down."

Having said that, he stood up and left, leaving them flabbergasted as another shinobi took them away from the mansion.

"Did it work?" Tetsuya asked, still unsure.

"It should have worked..." Arata spoke. "Takigakure isn't famous for sensor type shinobis and they don't have much in the way of unveiling this kind of ninjutsu."

"Then what should we do now?" Kurenai asked.

"Let's get some rest first, we can start looking for the spy tomorrow," Kakashi muttered and led them to an inn they had walked past on the way.

The goal of the mission was to find the spy and escort him back to Konoha. The problem is that Takigakure is quite big and there's no way for Kakashi, Tetsuya, or Kurenai to tell whether or not someone is using the transformation Jutsu.

After a whole day of searching using the Transformation Technique to assume the form of small local animals, they still failed at looking for him, eventually, they joined in a single room to discuss the matter.

"I'm without ideas now... We have no way to recognize the spy and he isn't aware of our identity..."

Kakashi sighed as he leaned on the wall.

Kurenai bit her lips and thought for a moment. "If we can find some suspicious people that might be in transformation, I could use Genjutsu to force them to talk."

Kakashi and Tetsuya considered her words and agreed that it might be a good idea, before they could say anything though, Arata cut them off. "That won't work, in these circumstances, Takigakure is on high alert and the only reason they have allowed us inside is that the entire village is full of elite Shinobi, they are most likely certain of being able to stop us if we try anything.

"In this situation, the Doujutsu of the Hyuga and the Uchiha clan are the only things that can be used, that was most likely why the Lord Hokage wanted me to complete this mission with you."

"Fine, but what should we do then? It's not like you can simply go outside using Sharingan as if this was the Uchiha clan backyards." Kurenai felt a sour taste in her mouth, but she still agreed with him. Although there was some grudge between them, she wasn't willing to solve it now.

Tetsuya who saw everything felt like laughing, especially after remembering what Arata had said before.

"It could work if you transform in an object like a hat or a collar, that way no one would be able to see you using Sharingan but..."

Kakashi sighed as he finished Tetsuya's words. "They would suspect if suddenly one person in our group stayed behind while the others were walking together and would most likely investigate the situation in our room."

"This means..." Kurenai gulped as the image popped in her head and worry took her heart. "No! Absolutely not! If something happens you two will be all alone, and the moment you have to defend yourselves there won't be any way to go back!"

Arata chuckled hearing that and teased her. "Ohhh, to think that the cold beauty would now be worried about me. I didn't think that you had a crush on me, but that's normal I guess, ordinary girls are always running after the members of the Uchiha clan."

Kurenai that had been worried scoffed at his words and said without a drop of sympathy. "Who said I'm worried about you? You can go and die for all I care, I'm just worried you will drag Tetsuya down with you!"

Kakashi and Tetsuya looked at each other and sighed with helplessness. How did the situation become like that?

Kakashi was especially worried, Arata's presence in the group was making Kurenai too sentimental in his opinion. This could put the whole operation in danger or even worse, as of right now it's clearly affecting her judgment.

"Kurenai, you know that Tetsuya doesn't have to be the one going for this mission right? It could be me or you as well."

Hearing Kakashi's words, Kurenai blushed as she realized her mistake.

"I-I... that wasn't what I was trying to say, I was just..." She stuttered as she tried to explain.

"Let's not waste time with this." Tetsuya cut her off before she could embarrass herself more. While he appreciated that she was worried about him, this wasn't the time or place for that. "Arata and Kakashi will work together to achieve this purpose, while I and Kurenai will do one last round of reconnaissance to find the weak links in their defense and prepare an escape route."

Lowering her head, Kurenai nodded but she was screaming in her head. Why was she making so many mistakes this time?! That darn Arata was messing up with her emotions!

With a frown, she took a deep breath and steeled her heart, if she didn't do it now it might cause trouble later on.

"All right... we are going." Kakashi said.

Arata and Tetsuya nodded, but Kurenai couldn't help herself... "Just... Just be careful!"

Seeing the anger in her eyes, Kakashi and Arata sighed. At least she was also worried about them.

After Kakashi and Arata left, Tetsuya and Kurenai left behind some clones transformed to look like their disguise and left the room transformed into little animals.