Chapter 11

What Did You Expect? Something Epic?

xXx

oOoOoOoOo Tetsuo oOoOoOoOo

Surprisingly enough, their formation into an official Genin team of the Hidden Sand didn't really change much in regards to their personal schedules. There were a few alterations, mostly due to Anji's own presence, but their becoming Genin really didn't change their dynamic or methods very noticeably.

Tetsuo was pretty sure that the reason was because Anji's status as their Jōnin-sensei was largely a formality.

Oh, that wasn't to say he was a poor Ninja or teacher, that couldn't be further from the truth. Tetsuo had taken the time to check up on what little of the man's record he could, and his skills in both domains were definitely substantial. It's just that their situation as a team was a little…..complicated.

Generally a Jōnin-sensei assigned to a Genin team was expected to split his or her attention between the three prospective Shinobi and teach them the ins and outs of their new lifestyle. But their situation made that less of a hard requirement, given that their situations generally gave them the training they needed.

Shira's specialty in Taijutsu and physical conditioning was because Ninjutsu and Genjutsu just weren't on the table for him, so he'd long since dedicated himself to refining his strengths with an intense training regimen that addressed exactly that. He rarely needed any guidance beyond the occasional tip from Ebizō or some sparring to work out any kinks the old fashioned way.

Kunou was a bit more complicated, due to the fact that even she wasn't entirely sure of the source or extent of her unique abilities, but she was still able to train herself with constant use and practice. Often by infiltrating the general area of the Hidden Sand Village itself and seeing what little mischief she could effectively pull off. Besides a small but effective arsenal of Ninjutsu to round herself out and some sparring, her comparably smaller array of skills meant she specialized similarly to Shira.

Tetsuo's situation went without saying, considering he was already apprenticed to Chiyo and learning everything she knew even as he expanded on it. He really didn't need to be on a team to expand his skills and get stronger, it was just a formality to make him an official Genin of the Hidden Sand.

As noted, their team situation was a little complicated.

But, impressively enough, Anji still found a way to make it work out. Instead of being bullheaded about the whole thing, he proved remarkably flexible. He didn't ask them to relinquish the training methods they already had, he simply refined them.

Shira got the most obvious addition, due to Anji more or less acting as his Taijutsu instructor when their team met up. Ebizō's tutelage had helped him come a long way, but the old man's age meant he could only do so much. Anji's being in his physical prime (and built like a small mountain of muscle) made him much better suited to the kinesthetic teaching methods that Shira worked best with. Every spar, every traded hit, was practically another lesson learned. Shira was prospering from it.

Kunou's training adaptation wasn't as direct, due to Anji's own stature and build making stealth somewhat of a non-option for him. So he helped by refining her Ninjutsu skills and teaching her some Genjutsu. Subtle ones that meshed well with her personal style instead of clashing with it. He still got her more into their sparring, considering even she couldn't stay stealthy forever in a pitched battle, but he didn't try to make her abandon her strengths in any way.

Lastly, there was Tetsuo himself.

Needless to say, the young Puppeteer's situation was probably the one that least needed addressing. He was learning more as Chiyo's apprentice one-on-one than he feasibly would from Anji. Sealing, Ninjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, information gathering, poisons, infiltration, and obviously Puppetry. He was even getting training from Ebizō in Taijutsu and refining it from constant spars with Shira, which also did the job of physical conditioning.

It wasn't really surprising that Anji altered his training the least, largely just making sure he was involved in team exercises to make sure they were all kept in synch. He occasionally helped him to develop his Taijutsu and taught him some Ninjutsu to work on and expand his arsenal a bit, but that was largely all.

As noted, it wasn't exactly the typical dynamic. But there was still one thing being on a team allowed them to do that they otherwise couldn't.

Go on missions. Which was why they were currently in the Mission Assignment branch of the Hidden Sand administration tower, choosing an assignment from one of the many bureaucrats responsible for handing them out and receiving debriefs.

The man they were speaking to was a man who looked to be somewhere in his forties, dark hair starting to gray and the beginning of wrinkles starting to form. He also had no left arm below the elbow. Probably a former Ninja who had to retire due to his injury.

"We have several potential assignments your team can apply for right now. A caravan escort, some bodyguard work, and a border patrol." He took the three scrolls, each labeled for separation, and placed them side by side on the table. "Take your pick."

Not a bad selection for a first mission; just the right combination of safety and risk for a new Genin team looking for their first taste of real Ninja work. But which one to choose?

Looking back to his team, he cocked his head slightly to signal his two friends to share their opinions on the matter. Shira didn't really seem to have any significant leanings one way or the other, choosing to trust his judgement. Kunou just replied that she thought the border patrol mission would probably be a bit quieter, but didn't add anything beyond that.

Anji just stayed out of it entirely, allowing Tetsuo himself to make the choice. No pressure.

Taking a last look at each of the mission scrolls, the apparent head Genin let out a sigh and reached out to take the scroll for the caravan escort.

"Very well. You'll be escorting a caravan shipment of ores from the Hidden Stone Village near the Land of Earth into the town of Nagashima in the Land of Rivers. There shouldn't be too much trouble, but keep on your guard. There's always the risk of bandits or some Rogue Ninja. You'll find the mission details on the scroll, go over it and meet up at the gate tomorrow at 7:00 AM."

'Don't gotta tell ME twice.'

Turning around, Tetsuo unfolded the mission scroll as he and his team walked out of the office, going over the details. At least he had some extra reading material to go through before the mission got started.

oOoOoOoOo

Just as ordered they'd arrived at the gates of the Hidden Sand Village at slightly before 7:00 AM. They'd already packed up everything they would need for an extended trip away, made easy by Tetsuo's own Storage Seals, so they just grabbed a quick bite to eat and roughly an hour before the deadline.

That gave them a few more minutes before everything went underway, so Tetsuo figured now was as good a time as any to go over the mission briefing again. He seemed to more or less be the Genin-in-Chief on the team, so he might as well act the part.

"You're still reading that?" Shira questioned, doing some basic Taijutsu stances to pass the time his own way.

"Yeah," Tetsuo responded dryly. "I have no idea how, but the guy somehow managed to write it in a way that makes it sound like a really steamy romance novel. I'm trying to find out the secret to it."

He heard Kunou stifle a chuckle at that even as he continued reading. Shira really made it too easy for him sometimes.

"Oh, I get it" his friend said flatly. "So you're training to be a pervert of some kind."

'Ooh, looks like he's getting the hang of it.'

Unfortunately, Anji arrived right before he could say something back. "You're all here. Good, punctuality is always a useful trait. Let's get going."

Not about to sour a relationship with a leader he actually liked, Tetsuo put the scroll away and stepped up to their Jōnin-sensei. Their mission was about to go underway, so he might as well get used to the hierarchy. There was a big difference between getting on someone's nerves off the clock or during training and getting on their nerves on an important mission.

'Boy did Chiyo make sure to lecture THAT into my head.'

Anji just got to the point. "You all know the mission parameters: we'll be escorting a transport along the borders of the Lands of Wind and Rain into the Land of Rivers. The goods in transit will be a shipment of ores, a prime target for bandits looking for quick and valuable plunder. I doubt we'll encounter any serious resistance, but keep on your guard. If all goes well, we should be back within two weeks at most."

They all nodded in affirmation, having gone over the mission in detail themselves the night before. Tetsuo figured that they might as well get off to a good start by thoroughly knowing all the details. The Devil was in the details, as they always said.

A statement that was particularly true for anyone who had ever become a Shinobi.

Looking them over for any signs of hesitation, Anji nodded in approval when he saw none. "Alright, let's go."

And they were off, running out of the gate in formation. Anji in the lead while the three Genin formed a triangular pattern behind him.

Looking to his friends beside him, Tetsuo couldn't help but wonder at what they were thinking. Or at least he was wondering what Kunou was thinking, Shira's uncharacteristically broad grin was a dead giveaway.

He imagine everybody had their own reaction to their first mission. Excitement, nervousness, calm, a different reaction for every new Genin. Shira was obviously excited and not even trying to hide it, but Kunou kept her face carefully neutral. Maybe she was just really focused? Whatever.

Either way, Tetsuo had a reaction of his own to the situation.

'I hope this isn't boring.'

oOoOoOoOo

"BOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG….!"

"Tetsuo," Shira ground out, lying back against a tree as he regained some of his expended stamina. "Do you really think it's a god idea to shout something like that out loud like that? We're on a mission in less than friendly territory."

He groaned. "Come on, Shira, it's not my fault I don't do well with boredom. And what are you so worried about? We're barely on the border of the Land of Wind, so the chances of any kind of ambush is practically null. We only just started seeing trees again."

Indeed, since their departure almost two days before they had done nothing but run toward their destination. It was almost a straight shot north towards their client in the Hidden Stone Village and there weren't any other towns along the way, especially considering most of the run had been through the desert of the Land of Wind.

In other words, there was absolutely nothing at all to distract Tetsuo from his boredom. Oh, he managed to bring along some Sealing manuals and novels for respective studying and reading, but that was all he really could do. They couldn't just stop for some training or sparring, and there weren't any towns to stay in or check for any souvenirs, so there wasn't really much to occupy himself with.

It wasn't his fault. Really it wasn't. There had to be some kind of conspiracy going on that was planning to have him die of boredom before he could attain his maximum possible awesomeness. That was the only reasonable explanation.

…Or maybe he was just starting to go crazy as some kind of coping mechanism for the mind-numbing boredom. Yeah, that made much more sense.

Shira looked like he was about to try and argue with him, but then he just sighed in defeat and went back to resting against the tree. Guess getting into a debate right now just wasn't worth the effort.

Truth be told, Tetsuo was a little disappointed. A little argument might have actually made things a little more entertaining.

"Aw," a feminine voice sing-songed behind him. "No debate for you? Don't worry, I'll be happy to throw some insults your way to ease the painful lull in your life."

He smiled broadly, turning to the source of the rather welcome interruption. "Thanks, Kunou. I can always rely on you." He turned back to Shira, his face morphing into a look of abject disappointment. "Unlike some people."

"Not falling for it."

"Enough," a deep, authoritative voice spoke out, immediately getting their collective attention.

Anji walked forward from the trees, done with his brief surveying of the surrounding terrain and discerning their heading. "I've discerned our relative location to our objective. You have five more minutes for your break and then you'll pack up and be ready to leave. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can sleep in an inn for the night."

Let it be known that there were few things as tempting to any Shinobi on the job, from Genin to Jōnin, as the chance to sleep in a bed on a potentially long-term mission. It was kinda amazing how quickly such an apparently simple thing could become a luxury item.

The five minutes came and gone and they quickly packed up what little they'd brought out to entertain themselves with, getting ready to leave along with their sensei.

Nodding in approval, Anji turned and leapt into the trees without a word, silently signaling for them to follow. They didn't disappoint, quickly following him until they got back into their formation and forming up right behind him.

They traveled in silence for most of the way, the only noise being the occasional sounds of wildlife and their rapid footfalls upon the thick tree branches they leapt upon over the ground. There wasn't really too much to say at the moment, they were all focused on reaching their destination, the sooner they could get some actual rest and get started on the real mission.

So it was actually a little surprising when Shira actually spoke out. "Sensei?"

Anji didn't turn around, just replying with a questioning grunt that urged him to continue.

Shira seemed to hesitate for a moment, chewing his lip slightly until he finally spoke. "I know this is our first mission, and I'm not complaining in any way, but there's something about it that's kinda been bugging me."

Again, Anji's response was less verbal than some silent or near-silent encouragement that Shira seemed to intuitively understand.

"I thought first missions were generally work inside the Village, not outside like this. My father used to work at a bar where passing Ninja tended to stop by and a few Genin tend to get….kinda mouthy when they've had some alcohol."

Genin and alcohol….was that even allowed? Drinking age was supposed to be related to actual physical maturity and not social maturity, right? Were Ninja's an exception, or was it kind of a soft rule?

Either way, the question finally seemed to warrant a more verbal answer from their taciturn sensei. "You're not wrong," he stated simply. "Most Villages have D-Rank Missions available. Things like painting fences, taking care of pets, various forms of community service, simple deliveries. A variety of chores that clients can put up in return for making a certain payment. It's meant as a starting point for Genin in order to work on basic cohesion before they get into real work."

Seriously? That stuff counted as mission material for Ninja's? Sure, it sounded like it was reserved only for really green Genin, but still.

Kunou seemed to share his opinion, if her rather disgusted snort was any indication. "So those Genin are hired out to do chores around the Village?"

"Yes," Anji answered simply. "Though it's generally only done in the more prosperous Ninja Villages where there's actually enough money to go around. The Hidden Sand stopped bothering with them quite some time ago, considering them a waste of time and effort when C-Rank Missions were much more efficient for our economy. It also means acclimating Genin into the Ninja lifestyle earlier in general, which means building up their skills more quickly in order to take on higher ranking and better paying missions. We can't afford to have our Genin waste time on menial chores."

Tetsuo clacked his teeth at that in agreement. 'Especially not when our economy can't waste time on collecting chump change when we need to make more money. D-Ranks sound like they're meant more for fostering goodwill among the populace rather than serving any economic purpose.'

Shira and Kunou seemed to reach the same conclusion as him, considering the looks on their faces. It was actually a little obvious when you really thought about it; D-Rank Missions didn't pay to be an economically viable form of supporting a Village's own economy, so they had to have a different purpose behind them. Fostering goodwill was one such reason, maybe even the only relatively visible one.

Either way, Shira's curiosity seemed to be satisfied at Anji's answers, nodding in understanding as his former focus returned.

No more questions, it was back to the mission.

oOoOoOoOo

"Thank goodness you're really here."

Tetsuo looked over the person who had employed them for this assignment, a somewhat portly merchant dressed up in fancy clothes suited to the mildly wealthy. Though the 'mildly' was probably relative, considering he probably had more money in his own pocket that their Kazekage.

Anji didn't miss a beat, walking forward and dipping into a slight bow to the man. "We arrived as quickly as we were able. Am I correct in assuming we'll be leaving tomorrow?"

The man nodded, his face almost split in half by his beaming smile. "Indeed. It's so good to know that my next shipment will have some security. Almost a quarter of my shipments so far this year have been attacked and plundered! I've had to make so many cutbacks, not to mention the price inflation."

'Always trust a merchant to worry about money instead of employees.'

He let his attention wander as Anji and their client continued discussing the details of the job, only half paying attention at this point as he looked around.

The Hidden Stone Village wasn't too large, being noticeably smaller than the Hidden Sand Village. The buildings were generally constructed of timber from the surrounding woodlands, a marked difference from the clay and stucco from back home. He also saw a few fields some distance out, a source of fresh produce that would've been REALLY out of place in a desert. To think it was all possible because of the greater abundance of water.

Shira seemed equally surprised by it all, though Kunou's usually apathetic expression implied she didn't really seem to care either way. Seriously, what would it take to get a rise out of her? Or at least get her to change her expression?

…

"Kunou, your hair is on fire."

She turned towards him with the flattest expression he'd yet seen on her face, as if intentionally denying him some kind of victory.

He smiled at her. "Can't blame a guy for trying, right?"

Her face didn't so much as twitch, though he was happy to note that there was at least as park of humor in her eyes. As if she was daring him to try and get a rise out of her.

He noticed Shira shrink back slightly at the edge of his vision as he felt his grin grow almost predatory. 'Challenge accepted.'

oOoOoOoOo Kunou oOoOoOoOo

Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Tetsuo was entirely right in the head.

No, that wasn't quite right. It would be more accurate to say that she sometimes wondered if his moments of craziness were genuine, or if he just liked faking it for any number of reasons. Getting people to laugh? Getting them off guard? Just to mess with someone? Hell, maybe even all of the above at once whenever possible?

Either way, he was doing a damn good job of trying to get a reaction out of her right now. Even if she wasn't exactly the current target of his mischief.

"For the last time," Shira muttered, voice almost heavy from the frustration, "I'm not getting a tattoo. Especially not one like that."

'Oh, this is gonna be fun to watch.'

The three of them were currently leaning back against a tree and resting under the shade it provided, waiting for Anji to finish discussing the mission with their client and come along to collect them. In the meantime, Tetsuo was doing his damn best to do what he did best.

Did it even need to be stated?

Tetsuo let out brief a whine of disappointment. "But come on, it'd be great. A sign of solidarity between teammates! We can all get something matching. I can get a tattoo of an ass on my ass and you could get an elephant on your-"

"Don't even finish that sentence!" Shira shouted out, rising from his seat on the ground to stand over Tetsuo with a glower, even as his face seemed to be literally burning from his embarrassed blush. "Seriously, don't! I swear I'll cripple you if you do."

The smile dropped from Tetsuo's face and was immediately replaced with a rather exaggerated frown. "You're no fun today. What happened to the Shira who always went along with me whenever I thought of something funny?"

Shira's heated glower chilled at the question, instead shifting to an expression so bland that Kunou actually took some mental notes. "He found out how much trouble you really are and decided to cover his own ass."

Then Tetsuo's face shifted to mocking confusion and Kunou just knew Shira had stepped right into something. "Your ass? But the tattoo was gonna be on your-"

There was a deafening crashing sound as Shira pulled his fist back and unleashed it in a vicious punch on the tree he was previously resting against, splintering a large section of its trunk and causing what looked like a small crater. "Don't. Say it."

Apparently even Tetsuo knew when to back off in the face of a losing battle like this. With a resigned sigh and a roll of his eyes, he shuffled his position slightly against the tree and silently dismissed the whole thing.

Shira got the message, pulling his fist back from the tree and taking his seat once again. Too bad, it was just getting good.

Then Shira had to open his mouth. "So, what exactly was Kunou's tattoo supposed to be?"

Instead of responding immediately, Tetsuo just laid against the tree for a little while, keeping them waiting for an answer. Only after maybe half a minute did he even open his eyes and look at them, first at Shira and then at her.

Then he broke out in a grin that almost made her shiver.

"Easy," he answered, bringing his hands up to cup both against his chest. "She would've gotten a pair of boobs tattooed on her-"

"NOT ON YOUR FUCKING LIFE!"

The shout came out so loud that it seemed to literally shake the air around them, almost causing the injured tree to topple back from the sheer force. To say nothing of how painful it was for their dear eardrums, their hands practically clapping over their ears as they cringed in pain.

Standing up over them and huffing, Kunou belatedly realized that she was the one who'd loosed the deafening noise.

Tetsuo tried to brush it off by giving a showoff cleaning out his ears before turning a wide and slightly pained grin her way. "Looks like that's a win for me. Told you I could get a reaction out of you."

oOoOoOoOo Tetsuo oOoOoOoOo

It wasn't long after the little debacle by the tree that things started to speed up for their mission. After some more time just relaxing (and healing, in the case of Tetsuo and Shira's eardrums) they headed to town to comb the stalls for anything of interest. Beyond a couple souvenirs, particularly some rather nice metalwork, they headed to the inn Anji had designated as their temporary place of rest. Unsurprisingly, their Jōnin-sensei was already present in the room, his massive frame making the bed he was sitting on look almost comically small.

"The journey will take less than a week to finish if the convoy keeps a steady pace," Anji spoke out calmly, not even bothering to turn towards them or open his eyes as he relayed the information. "There will be five wagons, each drawn by a pair of horses, and all of them loaded with a variety of purified metallic ores. Slow and hard to maneuver, a favorite target for bandits the world over."

Tetsuo smiled slightly at that as he walked to his own bed, Shira doing the same even as Kunou simply took a seat on the floor. "That's why they hired us as security, right? Not surprising, considering hired mercenaries might not do much."

Anji nodded, his eyes still closed. "Yes, but don't let your guard down. After all…"

He opened his eyes, finally turning his flinty stare and full attention over to his three students. Now he was getting serious.

"Bandits aren't the only threat we may encounter. Especially considering the route we'll be taking for Nagashima."

The three of them quieted at that, knowing full well what he meant. Surprisingly enough, it was Shira who spoke up first in the ensuing silence. "The route will take us through the Land of Rain. Just along the border on their side."

Kunou sighed, more than a little resignation in the breath. "Which means we're almost guaranteed to run into Ninjas of some kind," she finished for him, obviously not looking forward to such an encounter. "Rogue or not, that could be a problem. Any kind of fight would attract way too much attention from a land that has no reason at all to love us."

Shira seemed to find something funny at that, if the humorous snort as any indication. Turning to Tetsuo, he had a wry grin on his face as he put his train of thought into words. "Looks like things won't be too boring for you after all. Not many things are as exciting as walking through a country of people who all might want to kill you."

Tetsuo just shrugged, not considering further comment necessary. They had a point after all.

The sound of Anji clearing his throat returned their attention back to him. "Regardless, I expect you all to be on your guard. I doubt we'll encounter any resistance that would be beyond our abilities to handle, but be prepared for anything. I want you plan out how to defend the caravans, as well as and potential combat strategies or tactics. We'll discuss them in greater length before we leave tomorrow at noon."

The three of them nodded in affirmation. However much they may have just joked about it, this was still a serious mission with an undeniable chance of danger. That meant it had to be treated with all due severity and seriousness, lest they all wanted to end up dead.

Even Tetsuo wasn't quite cocky enough to push his luck on that. Certainly not this early in his life when there was so much more awesomeness to develop. It'd just be a shame.

oOoOoOoOo

"I wonder how long it'll be until something happens?"

It had been a little over 3 hours since they'd left the town and their client behind and started with their escort mission, walking along the dirt road with the wagons beside them.

Unfortunately none of his teammates were with him, so the question went unanswered. "Boring."

It hadn't taken them long to decide on an escort formation, and Anji not poking any holes in it helped make it clear that he considered it acceptable. Or maybe he just refrained from commenting on it as some sort of test? It was kinda hard to tell with him sometimes.

Either way, they had gone forward with it.

The convoy was five wagons long in a single file line, so they didn't quite have the numbers to cover all of them at once, not if they wanted them to have room to maneuver at all in case something happened.

Anji, the obvious and most dangerous target he was, stayed by the side of the front cart. With his strength and (from what his training with Shira had suggested) speed, the slight distance from the others would in no way hinder him if other parts of the convoy were attacked. Besides the fact that he was essentially a living bulwark on his own, meaning the front was probably the safest place to be.

Shira was in the back of the convoy, providing coverage from the rear flank. His speed and strength made his position there clear for much the same reason as Anji, though he was much less obvious about it. It was also a little misdirection, subtly suggesting for any ambushers to start from the rear rather than the front.

After all, who would you pick a fight with? Some admittedly toned kid, or big bad Anji?

'I think I'd honestly pay to see the faces of anyone who thinks Shira would be much easier.'

And, of course, there was Tetsuo's position in the middle of it all. Walking alongside the center cart of the convoy, he was in a position where he could use his arsenal best. He might not be as fast or strong as Shira and Anji, but he still had more variety. A position in the center meant he could use his Water Style Ninjutsu and Puppets to counter attacks and provide support to any other front in the event of an attack, even while allowing him to be in a position to provide healing in the event of an injury.

Chakra Threads were so versatile. Who would've thought?

And of course, that wasn't even mentioning Kunou.

He surreptitiously tapped against the wooden frame of the wagon beside him, listening carefully as he received two rather terse taps back in response. 'Looks like Kunou isn't too happy.'

Unlike Tetsuo and the others, Kunou wasn't assigned to guard any wagon, she was instead hidden away in the wagon beside him underneath the tarp. Not exactly the best place for her to contribute to a fight, but perfect for the plan they had in mind.

Instead of adding to the visible security of the caravan, Kunou had the responsibility of secretly using her sensory abilities to keep an eye out for any would-be ambushers. Her range was easily long enough for her to detect anything circumspect, upon which she would signal Tetsuo with a series of light taps in a specific sequence, and then Tetsuo would alert the others by making contact with his Chakra Threads.

Of course, it also helped that keeping Kunou hidden meant she could come out any time things started looking dangerous and catch their attackers by surprise. After all, ambushers never seemed to expect being on the receiving end of their own tactic. And she could cause a lot of trouble before anyone even knew she was there.

It still didn't keep her from raising a fuss and glaring death at every one of them before she finally relented. He was honestly worried they may have had to put it to a vote to get her to go along with the plan, but it was fortunately averted in the end.

He couldn't resist a brief chuckle at the memory from earlier today. She couldn't stop glaring at him when it was time for her to actually get in the cart and stay hidden under the tarp. 'If looks could kill, I'd have been dead three times over from that look.'

He almost jumped back when several vicious taps from inside of the wagon made it clear Kunou had heard his chuckle. Or maybe she was just trying to keep herself from going crazy from inside the cart with nothing to do.

…Well, guess that was just another reason he should be happy he wasn't the one in there right now.

So, reasonably confident that they wouldn't be caught by surprise with Kunou's help, he decided to take a chapter out of Chiyo's lessons and started going over some Sealing formulae in his head. A little something she taught him to make lulls more productive.

'Every mission has a lull or two in it,' he remembered. 'So you might as well make them productive. If you can't spar, start going over things in your head. It'll help the time fly by, if nothing else.'

As good a distraction from boredom as anything else, he supposed.

oOoOoOoOo 6 Hours Later oOoOoOoOo

'And here I thought the first day would be BORING,' Tetsuo sarcastically thought, stalking a wild deer in the surrounding forest.

The caravan had kept going on for a good while, allowing them to make some impressive distance on their first day of travel. They were already more than three-quarters of the way to the border of the Land of Rain, making much better progress than he'd thought. They'd be able to pass the border tomorrow easily.

Apparently, that was the reason Anji had advised for them to stop for the day. Best to save their strength for the weather and terrain of one of the least hospitable places in the Elemental Nations. The muddy ground would be very difficult for the wagons to easily maneuver on, even discounting the potential for wheels to get outright caught. And that was without taking into account just how soaked they would get from the rain and the difficulty in keeping themselves and everything dry.

But as Tetsuo spotted the prey he'd been tracking, he already knew the biggest reason Anji had decided to stop.

He wanted them to be as rested and ready for tomorrow as possible in case a fight broke out.

'Guess we'll see tomorrow.'

Throwing out his hand, Tetsuo's kunai flew through the air at the unsuspecting animal. Whistling slightly at its passage through the air, the blade impacted the creature clean in the back of the head. 'Bullseye!'

Running forward to the now dead animal, he quickly retrieved his kunai with a tug and a quick sound of scraping bone and slung it up to carry it back. 'Looks like we're eating good tonight.'

Granted, the caravan had brought plenty of supplies for the journey, but there was no problem with getting some extra, right? Might as well stock up a bit before they got to the Land of Rain, given how little chance they had to get extra food in that wet and muddy terrain. Besides, he felt safer knowing he'd caught the food himself.

Call it paranoia.

It didn't take him long to get back to the camp they'd made, little more than a few collections of blankets around a campfire, contained and intensified by a rising wall of stones that would be used to cook and soon help to keep them warm. Kept far enough away from the camp made by the caravan to give them some privacy, they could afford to speak of topics that were in demand of….mild secrecy. Never knew who might be listening, after all.

There was also a mildly deep hole that had been dug while he was gone, by his own request. A little something to make his next bit of work just a bit easier.

He was greeted with a "welcome back" from Kunou before he even got within ten steps of the fire, Shira just acknowledging him with a brief nod. Anji, meanwhile, was sitting beside the fire itself, seemingly sleeping if Tetsuo wasn't completely sure he was awake. He'd had enough experience around their Jōnin-sensei to know he could be literally as still as stone before he put his speed to use.

'Kinda hard to forget all the times I've seen him smack Shira around while he seemed to stand in place.'

…

'Also kinda funny, but I'm not telling Shira about that part.'

Getting close enough to the fire to feel its warmth wash upon him, he set down his catch and waved to everyone around him. The light of day was just barely starting to fade, meaning it was time to get started.

So, after unfurling a Sealing Scroll and bringing out a tarp and the hanger for the carcass, Shira tossed him a knife and he got to work on the dead deer.

"Really," Kunou sarcastically inquired, "You're gonna do that right here?"

"Come on, Kunou. Don't tell me you can't handle a little blood."

She shook her head. "It's not the blood, I just don't want the smell of guts out and around here when I'm sleeping. Might attract predators."

"Right," he responded, glancing side at her. "Like you really can't handle a bear. Besides, it's fresh meat."

Rolling her eyes at him, Kunou turned her attention back to the fire in front of her, returning to her own task as she got out some basic cooking and cleaning equipment for the meat. Chiyo had donated some of her own old equipment, among it a big skillet of cast-iron and a grill with some equipment for suspending it over a fire.

Slicing quickly and efficiently through the carcass, he cut the skin away and opened the belly to remove the organs, not even so much as flinching at the blood that stuck to his hands. He wasn't exactly an expert at it, not enough game animals in the desert to really practice, but he was able to open it up and gut it in around 15 minutes. After depositing the guts into the nearby hole, he started the process of cutting away all the skin to reveal the meat beneath.

Meal preparation wasn't exactly a Ninja skill most people really took too seriously at first, not thinking much of it in comparison to Ninjutsu or other more flashy abilities, but Chiyo had been very adamant about learning it well.

"Listen good, brat. I know learning how to carve up meat and get it cooked right doesn't sound impressive, and I know you're rolling your eyes at me right now –that's right, I noticed- but I'm speaking from experience, dammit! When you're out in the wilderness, no towns or restaurants in sight, when all you've got is a kunai and a dead animal and nothing else at all to eat, you'll want to know how to prepare it right. You'll want to know how to skin and gut it, you'll want to know how to make the cuts and perfectly prepare them. You'll want to know how to do it PROPERLY! Because the difference between knowing and not knowing will be all that saves you from the horrors of undercooked meat, eating the wrong parts, and having to resist the urge shit out your guts and puke up you're your lungs at the same time. And god FORBID if it gets infected or dirty."

Needless to say, she'd given him enough details to write a small horror story on the potential results of doing this wrong. She'd even went through the trouble to go out into the woods surrounding the Land of Wind to bring back some fresh kills to practice on, making some money off of selling the meat they didn't keep for themselves.

He still remembered holding back a chuckle as he watched Chiyo have a hard time at first due to being so…vertically challenged. Sometimes forcing her to jump up in order to do the cut right and remove the skin or carve off chunks of meat. She still got it all done right in under 8 minutes, but it didn't make it any less comical.

Not even when she said she'd put him through hell if he ever told anyone about what he'd seen.

Regardless, the creature was skinned, gutted, and carved up in roughly 45 minutes. Handing over the choice loin to Kunou, she quickly cleaned it and cut small sections of it into medallions, seasoning them with salt and pepper.

After taking some time to heat the skillet on the fire she poured in a small amount of olive oil they'd brought along in the Storage Scroll and lolled it around to fully cover the surface, then carefully laid each slice into the skillet.

With his own work done and the rest of the meat safely preserved in a Sealing Scroll, Tetsuo sat down by the fire and listened to the food sizzle. "Guess we won't be able to eat like this again until the mission's done, huh? Sure you got the prep right?"

"It's fine," Kunou answered, not bothering to look at him as she flipped the slices in the skillet. "Don't forget, Chiyo didn't exactly slack off when she was teaching me this stuff, either."

Barely a minute later, Anji finally decided to speak up in his usual calm baritone. "Now that you've returned, we should discuss our plans for tomorrow."

Shira shifted in place slightly, "We'll be passing the border into the Land of Rain tomorrow. We need to be ready for anything."

Nobody argued the point. Hidden Rain might not exactly be an open enemy of the Hidden Sand, but they certainly weren't friends. And that was often enough reason on its own for them to quietly sabotage one-another and keep them on their back foot.

"What kind of trouble can we expect?" Kunou asked, briefly turning away from the fire. "We can at least expect some encounters with the Border Patrols, so their actual skill levels could be all over the place."

Anji nodded, briefly taking in her words. "Considering what our Intelligence Division has collected so far, we can expect teams of anywhere between four to seven people. Likely with a majority of senior Genin and perhaps a few Chūnin. I doubt they would waste the time of Jōnin level assets on simple patrols, so they shouldn't be a factor."

Tetsuo raised an eyebrow. "And if we do run into some Jōnin?"

'Seriously, I know I'm awesome, but I'm not taking my chances against a Jōnin THIS early.'

Their sensei didn't respond right away, just letting silence settle for a few seconds before he turned and looked them in the eye and speaking in a tone solid as stone. "You'll leave them to me."

….Okay, that sounded fair.

Shira raised a hand and spoke up. "Should we otherwise proceed as we have so far? With Kunou hidden in the caravan?"

Anji nodded, as they had come to expect of his usual response.

Tetsuo was pretty sure none of them missed the aforementioned girls resigned sigh. "Great, now I get to be wet and claustrophobic under that dirty tarp and surrounded by all those full sacks."

…..

The view of Kunou's face turning red as a tomato as she realized the implications of her word choice would bring a smile to Tetsuo's face for many years to come.

"I DID NOT MEAN TO SAY IT LIKE THAT! I-I-"

"Take it easy, Kunou," Tetsuo drawled out, feel a shit eating grin slide onto his face as he spoke in a tone that would've sent a chill down a Kages own spine. "Do you really think any of us would be rude and untrustworthy enough to tell anyone about your verbal slip-up?"

Her face immediately went from red to white once Tetsuo spoke. The reaction from Shira was a slap against his own forehead and a sigh that all but said "why do I have such crazy friends", and Anji…

Well, Anji didn't really respond in any immediately noticeable way. He just sat there with the same inscrutable look he always had. Not even a flinch.

'Seriously, are his facial muscles paralyzed or something?'

Ignoring Kunou's muttered threats of bloody murder and extreme bodily harm, Tetsuo realized belatedly that he really didn't know much about Anji at all. He knew he worked as a psychiatrist in addition to being a Jōnin, he was tough as a huge boulder and built like one too, and he….

Huh. That was literally all he knew about him.

He was about to open his mouth when his instincts cut in and he initiated an emergency dodge, barely avoiding the kunai that whizzed right past his head and nearly nicked his cheek. "Whoa! Easy, Kunou, you could've killed me."

She just glared at him, the smile on her face doing nothing to take the icy edge off of her eyes. "Yeah. That'd be so sad, wouldn't it?"

oOoOoOoOo

The next day was all but miserable. They passed the border with no trouble and had continued travelling along the path without a hitch. Which did absolutely nothing to really prepare them for the almost immediate downpour that fell upon them once they passed the official border.

The client had been generous enough to prepare them for this by giving them all some good and thick cloaks to keep dry from the rain. Not a perfect solution, but they still worked regardless and would keep them from getting colds.

They'd gotten lucky so far, the convoy not even slowing down too much in spite of the mud due to something they did to the wheels to prepare them. Likewise, the escort team was alert and ready for any threat that would come out of the woodworks to catch them by surprise.

Their agreed formation and plan for the convoy went as they had discussed, with Tetsuo standing beside the middle cart holding Kunou.

He had almost tried to swap positions with someone else, but decided against it. This was planned out because it was the best way to utilize their abilities and trying to change it now would just get in the way of that. He wasn't about to do that in the middle of a potentially dangerous mission.

That said….

'She just has no idea how to take a joke.'

It was a realization he'd come to with a little nudging last night as she proceeded to make things more difficult for him. Only done so in little ways that probably wouldn't seriously affect him, but nonetheless get her point across.

Making him wait for longer than the others before he got his share of the food. Doing so specifically so he'd get the one that was most burnt. Volunteering him for the first watch of the night.

Tiny things, even petty, but still noticeable enough. Guess she really didn't like his sense of humor.

'Then again, maybe that one WAS a little too much.'

At least she was probably a little dryer than everyone else. Situated underneath a thick tarp that the water seemed to flow off of like a rock, it looked like she might not even get touched by a drop of rain if they didn't get into a fight.

Regardless, he made sure to keep some of his attention on the cart beside him that held her. She was their most effective means to detect any potential threats or ambushes, so Tetsuo needed to make sure he could hear any kind of signal from her.

'Even if I know she'll be finding ways to take me down a few pegs', he thought.

oOoOoOoOo Anji Yūkyūzan oOoOoOoOo

Keeping his senses ever alert, the Jōnin of the escort team continued on in his typical silence. Walking alongside the front cart, Anji kept his mind clear and ready for any sudden attacks. If there was any point in their mission to expect an attack from an enemy, it would be here in the Land of Rain.

'It hasn't changed at all since the last war. Depressing and beaten down as always.'

It was almost a little sad. No matter how many times its leadership might change hands, no matter how often it was used as a battleground by its larger neighbors, no matter how many times they tried to get back up after every vicious beating, the Land of Rain would always be back in the same place it seemed to have started in. Just a landscape of misery and apathy.

And perhaps the greatest bitterness of it all was how the other Elemental Nations did absolutely nothing to change that. Making excuses to avoid using their resources for anything but their own advancement while trying to somehow pass themselves off as having some sort of higher ground than the others.

He remembered the days when that fact rankled him so much. Back when he was young and naïve. Back when he believed things could be changed for the better with faith in the inherent goodness of the people of the world.

Of course, that was before the day that summarily beat it all out of him. It's a little depressing, really, how someone's whole outlook can change from one event. From one. Bad. Day.

(Smoke in the air, ash in his nostrils and panting mouth so thick he could taste it on the back of his tongue. Running, running from the pursuers, the ambushers that had been waiting for him and his team. Waiting for their sacrificial lamb.)

He didn't notice the furious clenching of his fist until he felt blood dripping from his palm, barely even feeling the piercing of his fingernails through the skin. A minor injury, no concern.

'To think I'd actually be assigned like this to another team. Is the Kazekage just sadistic, or did he honestly think I was the best choice?'

….No matter, he was their Jōnin-sense now, and that meant he needed to keep to his new responsibilities. One in particular-

He felt a sudden tugging on the back of his shirt under the raincoat, right at the middle of his back. The signal.

Anji's features hardened slightly, preparing himself for what was to come.

'Not this time.'

oOoOoOoOo ? oOoOoOoOo

"Something's wrong."

Kimura rolled his eyes again, long since fed up with Kaido's paranoia. "Oh, come on. They're practically begging for the ambush by now. Just look at them."

Not long ago the convoy had stopped at a copse of trees, the wagons themselves under the branches and forming a rough circle in the gaps between the trees themselves. Besides shuffling around the wagons a bit, the escort Shinobi had been easily observed, not even aware that they had been watched the whole time.

Still, Kaido seemed to keep finding something wrong with what was going on. "That's not what I mean," he insisted, furiously shaking his head. "There was supposed to be a full team of three Genin and their Jōnin-sense, why is there only two Genin? And why would they suddenly stop now? Couldn't they just-"

"Enough!"

Kimura did his best not to shout it out, unwilling to potentially reveal their location, but this was really getting annoying. Kaido seemed to find a reason to be paranoid about everything! Hell, he could probably even find a way to be paranoid when he was going to the damn bathroom. And Kaido really didn't want to deal with it while he was out here in this miserable rain.

"We have our damned mission. We go in, we kill everyone, we get the ore and leave. Simple. Got it?"

Kaido looked like he was about to keep talking, but a quick glare from Kimura got him to shut up. Good, he just wanted to get this over with and get back to the Hidden Rain Village with Sealing Scrolls full of the cargo. End of story.

"Is Hazama in position, yet?" he asked, turning his attention back to their unwary targets. Just a little longer and they could get to work.

Kaido grimaced slightly. "No, we haven't heard back from him yet."

"Dammit. If he doesn't hurry up and get ready he'll screw up the whole plan."

He heard Kaido about to speak again, sucking in some breath before stopping and….nothing? He turned to him, "Kaido?"

His expression frozen, eyes wide in an expression of frozen terror. Then he dropped, dead from the kunai that had been stabbed right into his back. "What the-!"

His instincts screamed at him to move, forcing him to jump away from his place to barely dodge the explosion of earth as a massive fist came down on his position. He was under attack!

Pulling out a kunai of his own, he kept rushing away. He didn't see the guy very well, but it must've been that Jōnin-sense that came along with the team. That wasn't a Jutsu back there, just enough brute force to shatter the earth with a single blow, and he didn't want to get anywhere near it.

'Gotta run, gotta plan, gotta- '

Something caught his ankle, thin like a wire, causing him to trip up and land face-first on the ground.

'Fuck!'

He turned around on the ground, quickly scanning for any incoming threats as he rose back up to his feet.

Rather, he tried to get up to his feet. Looking down he realized his ankles had been bound together by metal wire. He'd ran right into a trap.

Then, before the panic could even set in further, a hand reached up from the muddy ground to grab the wires wrapped around his ankle and drag him into the earth, screaming as his head sank beneath the surface into the ground.

There were no words to describe the fear of being in that kind of situation. Trapped and immobile, at the mercy of some power or enemy that could kill him by just standing by and doing nothing. Knowing there was no way out.

And then there was the lack of air. He'd had the presence of mind to avoid screaming as he was pulled down but that changed little. He was panicking and out of breath when it happened, he was shaking even now as he trembled uncontrollably, trying to keep his mouth shut and NOT BREATHE even as the mud started trickling into his nostrils.

He can already feel the strain on his lungs, the tension as they seemed to collapse in on themselves while attempting to pump the lessening oxygen through his body. He felt tremors in his throat, the urge to open his mouth wide for a breath of air that wasn't there.

'I'm gonna die here,' he thought, oddly calm. It was no great epiphany, just a simple realization of fact. There was no way for him to escape it. He was going to die here, drowning in the mud and much of the Land of Rain, his body never to be found.

But then fate must have smiled on him. Because he felt something wrap around his neck and pull up.

His head breaks through the surface, mouth opening wide as air rushed in. He didn't even care about the bits of mud that dropped onto his tongue, the specks that he breathed in or the rain that went down the wrong pipe to his lungs. As far as he was concerned, this breath of life was the most WONDERFUL thing to ever fill his lungs.

"Looks like he's alive."

He looked for the source of the voice, not recognizing it. It took him a while to open his eyes again, the mud final washing off his head from the rain. He was gonna have the most thorough shower when he got-

…..Oh.

He opened his eyes fully and saw the stern, hard face of a man he didn't know. Wearing a Hidden Sand Headband.

"You and I are going to have a long talk."

oOoOoOoOo Tetsuo oOoOoOoOo

It wasn't all that hard to sum up how Tetsuo felt after the first real fight of his Shinobi career: A quick skirmish and counter-ambush against a few woefully unprepared Ninja who were probably Chūnin at most.

He imagined most would probably be excited for it. MOST. But, all in all, he was actually a little bored by it.

In truth, Anji had handled it largely by himself. The man took to the counter-ambush plan quite readily and it turned out he was a lot stealthier than his huge size would suggest. All they had to do was substitute him with a decent Clone and he snuck off.

The only real contribution from the rest had been from Kunou. She'd slipped out of the cart not long after sensing the ambush, somehow stealthy enough that nobody had sensed her, and acted as something akin to a safety net for anyone who would've tried to slip away. Earth Style: Underworld Fish was like the perfect Jutsu for her.

But the rest of them? They hadn't really done anything. Shira seemed particularly miffed at that, if his sulking had been a decent indication. He had spent some time after just leaning back into a tree and staring at the ground. He must've been really pumped for his first actual fight on a mission.

But Tetsuo didn't really feel all that disappointed by it. Maybe it was because he'd already gone through his first real life-or-death fight already when he followed along with Chiyo on that training mission gone wrong some time ago, maybe because he figured there was no point in complaining when a mission went by easy, or any other possible reason. Either way, the lack of action for their first fight as a team just didn't leave him feeling too disappointed.

What they'd learned from the man they'd captured, though? Now that perked his interest.

Turns out the merchant who'd hired them had some kind of deal with the people of the Land of Rain. He didn't give any names, he was conditioned well enough to avoid giving that, but they got the gist of the deal.

It turned out that Hidden Rain was even more desperate for resources than the other Shinobi Nations and Hidden Villages were aware of, forcing them to make deals with external groups. The merchant who employed their team was one such collaborator, sending shipments through the Land of Rain that would be periodically raided. He would be paid in goods they had plundered from other collaborators along with a nice bonus in ryō, and then when demand for his goods in their designated destination got really high he could send in a successful shipment to make a killing on top of that. And since HE was the one who hired security the ambushers would always know who was coming along.

It was actually a pretty nice little scheme, though Tetsuo couldn't help but wonder who in Hidden Rain was actually in charge of it. The man they'd captured killed himself via a cyanide capsule in a hollowed tooth, so they weren't able to get much more out of him. Interesting that he only really seemed to balk when it came to naming the people who organized everything, or was Hanzō really that scary to the rank and file?

Regardless, he could wholeheartedly say he was eager to finish this mission up. If he never came back to this dreary place it would be too soon.

But one thing was definitely for sure. Once they reached their destination, their erstwhile employer was going to find himself in a lot of trouble.

xXx

Yo, dear readers!

Wow. This chapter has been waiting for a LONG time, hasn't it? Really sorry about that. My writing schedule has gotten pretty damn wonky for the last few fanfiction updates and I know a lot of readers have probably gotten pretty frustrated over it.

Anyway, onto the fic itself. I know I can't be the only one to think this, but do the D-Rank Missions REALLY serve that much of a point? I mean, they don't ACTUALLY introduce more money into the economy, it just circulates around what already exists. That might be acceptable for a place like Konoha, but Hidden Sand? They barely have money to go around as it is, so why would they bother? I figured that could also be a good reason for why Tetsuo and his team went straight to C-Ranks.

As for the 'fight' in the Land of Rain…well, call it a case of Reality Ensues. Not all fights can be expected to be epic battles with massive Jutsu being thrown around. Besides, they SAW the ambush coming, countered it, and the people they were fighting weren't actually that tough. These people are NINJA, they're supposed to be stealthy, but we almost never see stuff like real ambushes or counter-ambushes in canon. Not to mention that getting caught by surprise on its own can be a big card in a fight, so getting caught by surprise by someone out of your league? Those guys didn't stand a chance. I'm sorry if the action wasn't really intense enough, but not all fights are gonna be epic, some are just gonna be quick stuff like this because those are the fights people TRY and get into. If you're not trying to stack it all in your favor and MAKE them this easy, you're not really trying to win.

As for anyone who thinks Tetsuo's handling of the deer was unrealistic, I did my research on that stuff. Someone with a good knife and experience on their side can REALLY do that work quickly, I even remember seeing a video of a hunter butcher a deer in under ten minutes. Tetsuo isn't THAT good at it, but Chiyo was a thorough teacher, so getting it all done in under 15 minutes is by no means impossible for him. As for why he'd bother with hunting at all: more meat to eat on the mission and maybe some extra he could sell back home. Food and money all in one. And the style it was cooked in? Perfectly valid. I checked.

As for the stuff going on in Hidden Rain…..well, I think you're all smart enough to piece some of that together on your own.

Overall, I'm sorry if this chapter was kind of underwhelming. It might not really be up to par with some of the other stuff I've put out, but you can rest assured that I haven't abandoned it and have no intention of doing such. Here's hoping I'll be able to make the next chapter a bit more exciting.

As always, please point out any spelling errors you find. Because we all know how much of a grammar and spelling nut I can be.

REVIEW AND HAVE A NICE DAY!