“Explain.” Schue cocked his head towards Tazuna impatiently.
“I only really told you half of the mission.” Tazuna’s voice was raspy, he spoke unevenly and nervously. “True, I do need an escort back to my village, but it wasn’t from your basic robbers.”
“We figured that.” Quinn said shortly after looking towards the unconscious Chunin.
“There’s a man, and evil man who goes by the name of Gato.” Tazuna explained further.
“Wait, you mean like Gato from ‘The Gato Company’? He’s a millionaire.” Schue cut in.
Tazuna nodded, “He’s used his money and to keep our little land under wrap, we have to do whatever he says or he’ll cut all our funds. He’s the only form of boat and shippping transportation around the Land of Waves.”
“That still doesn’t explain anything.” Blaine added harshly. He was mad. Mad at Tazuna for lying and risking their lives just so he didn’t have to deal with a few bills. Mad at the Chunin for hurting Kurt, and mad at himself for not being able to finish them off. He wanted to rip their heads off, leave them lying in a puddle of their own blood. Blaine had only felt this much hate towards his brother and it both scared and intrigued Blaine that Kurt could bring out this side of him.
“Your right,” Tazuna hesitated but continued on when he saw the four angry faces staring back at him, “I’m a carpenter as you know, recently I’ve been hired to build a bridge across the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire, to you know, save money.”
“Okay,” Kurt finally spoke, his voice was no longer musical, it had a raspy tone that Blaine had never heard before. He decided he liked it, and again not for the first time felt his gaze settling on Kurt’s lips.
“Gato hired many assassins to kill me, he felt that if we continued on with our construction his empire would fall and he’d be ruined. I couldn’t afford a higher rank mission so I settled for a C-rank.”
Tazuna looked defeated, hurt, and Blaine couldn’t help but empathize. He’d known what it was like to have no other options but to lie, being forced to hurt other people wasn’t the right choice, but it was the smart one.
“You’ve lied about the state of this mission,” Schue started, that same sharp authority in his tone, “we don’t have to keep on, we can turn around now. We owe nothing to you anymore.”
The tension in the air was stifling. Blaine looked over to Quinn; she was biting her lip and gazing off towards the right.
“This mission could be more than we’re experienced for Schue,” Quinn sighed, “We could’ve gotten killed a few minutes ago, I’m sure this Gato person’s goanna send stronger ninja now, how are we supposed to handle that?”
“We’re not the victim’s here.” Kurt choked out again; Blaine wondered how much pain he was really in, judging by the state of his voice he’d guess more than he’s willing to show.
“Are you an idiot,” Quinn turned towards Kurt, the same venom from the Academy laced in her voice, “This could be a B-rank mission. We’re not qualified nor experienced enough to take this head on. What if we did die? I’m sure the dishonesty from the Land of Waves would make the Leaf react horribly. It might even cause a war, in which the Waves’ allies would strike against us. I’m not trying to put you down, but your act of ignorance, Kurt, could very well put the whole country at risk.”
Kurt eyes were wide, and even Blaine could tell they were beginning to glaze over with tears. He wanted to call out Quinn, to tell her to not hurt Kurt anymore than she was, but he couldn’t find a reason to. Her hypothesis had been spot on. This could very well start a chain reaction that could lead to the Third Great Ninja War. Blaine sighed, he felt so useless here. He couldn’t comfort Kurt, and he wasn’t smart enough to find an easy way out of this mess.
“No,” Kurt finally spoke, there was a hint of determination hidden in his light voice, one that Blaine admired, “We’re not running, Schue Sensei won’t let us die, and neither will I. I know what it’s like to be pushed around, I can sympathize with Tazuna. We can help.”
Kurt got up gingerly with his unwounded hand and looked around to the cell. His eyes finally landed on me and I couldn’t help but smile. He nodded and walked over to Tazuna and laced his arm through the carpenter’s.
“I’m with him, and I’m going whether you guys come or not.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. Nobody was moving towards Kurt and Blaine saw him sigh in defeat. As soon as he was about to turn around he felt a surge of confidence and stepped forward.
“We’re a team, through the good times and bad.”
Blaine saw Kurt’s face lit up, and he realized whatever pain he had to endure would be worth it, as long as he was with this boy.
“Quinn,” Kurt slid his hand out of Tazuna’s arm and walked toward the blonde, “I’d really appreciate it if you would come too. I know you think it’s a stupid idea but you’re a really good medic ninja, and oddly enough you mean a lot to me.”
For a moment she stood arms crossed glaring at Kurt, but her features soon softened and she sighed.
“You know what Kurt, you mean a lot to me too.” She pulled him in for a hug and turned towards Schue.
“You guys really want to go through with this? It could be really challenging and you might get more than a few cuts.” Schue raised an eyebrow, staring at his cell.
The silence was thick, but the determination was far denser. Blaine saw Kurt and Quinn nod, so he copied their notion and gave Kurt a faint smile.
“Alright, I guess we trek on.”
Kurt cheered and Quinn gave out a small laugh and tried to quiet him.
“You’re wounds are going to open again.” Although her voice was harsh her features were anything but, she had a broad smile, and bright eyes that complemented Kurt’s perfectly. Kurt stuck a tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes.
“Thank you guys so much.” Tazuna stood in the middle of the clearing wiping his damp glasses off. He had faint tear tracks down his face, but a reassuring smile on.
“No problem,” Schue pat Tazuna on the back and turned back to his team, “alright, the Black Ops should come to dispose of these two,” He glanced towards the Mist Chunin with disgust, “so we should get going, the sun’s about to set.”
Team 10 gave obedient nods and continued down the grassy path.
~
The cold mist grazing across Kurt’s face woke him. He panicked a little, not knowing where he was. He glanced around at the gray scenery. Everything was a shade of pastel, the air, his skin, the boat.
I’m on a boat? Kurt thought suddenly, lifting his head a little. He was stopped when he felt something warm against his cheek. He glanced down and realized he was resting against Blaine’s stomach. Kurt had no recollection of lying down with Blaine, in a boat, in the middle of the night. He chanced a glance upwards and found Blaine staring down at him, his eyes were still a warm shade of dark goldenrod, but the colors were muted somehow in the mist.
“Hi,” Blaine said suddenly and Kurt felt the heat rising to his face.
“Um, hi,” Kurt was about to lift his head off Blaine’s stomach but a warm hand stopped him.
“Could you stay?” Blaine’s eyes darted around in panic, “It’s really cold and your heads warm.”
Kurt laughed a little and lifted his head back towards the Uchiha’s stomach. He could feel Blaine’s heartbeat, slowly picking up with each breath Kurt took. He smiled, he liked that he could have this type of impact on Blaine, that he could cause this reaction. It was when Kurt felt himself drifting back off to sleep when he heard the snort.
Kurt shot his head up at the exact moment Blaine sat up, colliding in a sweaty heap. They both averted their eyes from each other and glanced towards Tazuna. He was standing at the front of the slightly larger than average row boat, oars in hand, smirking at them.
“What?” Kurt said shakily, he meant for it to sound sarcastic but to no avail he sounded worried, which in reality he was. He’d never felt this way towards anyone and It scared him, what if all of this was a sick prank that the Academy was pulling. Nobody ever approved of Kurt and his demon, so why should he be granted happiness now?
“Nothing,” Tazuna continued, with a slight gruff in his voice, “You guys were pretty cute all snuggled up together.” He gave another smirk and Kurt’s face became unbearably hot again.
“No, I was just sleeping. If I’m honest I don’t even remember falling asleep on Blaine, I guess I thought he was a pillow.” Kurt gave a nervous laugh and turned back to Blaine.
His eyes were darker and the slight smile that was there a few moments ago had been wiped away completely. He was actually frowning. Did he regret me falling asleep on his stomach that much?
“Is something wrong Blaine?” Kurt placed a hand on his shoulder, but the other boys shrugged it off.
“Nope,” Blaine crossed his arms and leaned back towards one of the boats’ walls. Kurt gave him one last glance before turning around. He felt guilty. He was always doing the wrong thing to people even if it was an accident. Kurt was definitely confused. Hadn’t Blaine been the one to keep his head there? Why was he mad at me all of a sudden?
Before Kurt could think some more, Quinn and Schue Sensei began groaning awake.
“Good morning Kurt,” Quinn said with elegance as usual. How is it possible she could wake up perfectly? Her usual blonde ponytail was undone before she went to sleep. Her perfect streaks of hair brushed her shoulders and upper back whenever she moved.
“Morning Quinn,” Kurt said with sincere kindness. He was really starting to like the girl, her perfect poise and mannerisms were unique to the ninja world. He wondered if she was a princess in her past life, he didn’t doubt it.
“So,” Quinn started with a smirk, “you and Blaine got pretty cozy last night, I almost got a cavity from the sweetness of it.”
Kurt scowled at her and she let out a laugh.
“Why are you so mad? You guys are adorable.” She flipped her hair across her shoulder and peered into Kurt’s eyes.
“Because one it was an accident,” He thought back to Blaine’s reaction that happened a few moments ago, “and two he doesn’t see me that way. I’m sure he was better things on his mind that getting cozy as you put it, with a demon.”
Quinn’s smile faded away and took Kurt’s arm, “Kurt, you know we don’t see you as a demon right?”
Kurt smiled and nodded, “yeah I was joking, thanks Quinn.”
She nodded and let go of his hand, peering out towards the sea.
A few hours of silence passed, not the awkward kind of silence, a reflecting one. Kurt had never been to the sea so he spent it mostly peering into the dark depths. He wondered what kind of creatures lived there. He was intrigued and scared at the giant expanse of water. One wrong move and he would plummet down into the murky abyss never to be seen again, but on the other hand he really wanted to dive under, just to escape the world above for a few moments. He never did though, and as soon as he pulled his arm that was creating small ripples into the sea back onto the boat, Tazuna spoke up.
“Were docking, hold on,” Tazuna shifted the oar and the boat rocked, sending small amounts of salt water onto the deck. Kurt held onto Quinn to keep her from flying overboard and she laughed.
“I’ll be fine,” she reassured, but she kept Kurt’s grip on her torso nonetheless.
As soon as Schue Sensei stepped off the boat hitting solid land, Team 10 was ready to move.
“Welcome to the Land of Waves!” Tazuna mocked, “It’s not much but it’s still home.”
Kurt nodded, “I understand completely.”
“We just need to get through this swamp, and we’ll be out our village.”
Tazuna gestured to the large forest that stood in their way. It was intimidating, and Kurt wasn’t too happy about the idea of stumbling through a large swamp in this misty weather.
“In this mist?” Quinn said tying up her hair, fully restored in all its high-pony glory.
“Yup,” Tazuna said shortly and led the way to the marsh, Blaine and Schue Sensei close behind.
Quinn and Kurt exchanged glances of disgust and continued on reluctantly.
The swamp was uncomfortable, between the mist and the hot, sticky, humidity, Kurt could’ve been better. The trees were alien to him; they were speckled gray and a sickly green. Vines tangling them all together making them appear like chained linked pieces of paper. The various water puddles were a more saturated blue than normal, and Kurt would have to remind them not to drink it. All these distractions were making it hard to keep a lookout for enemy ninja, so Kurt closed his eyes and heightened his senses. He heard a faint buzzing of cicadas, and birds chirping. He shrugged opening his eyes and continued on. He was about to ask Quinn if she thought they were goanna sleep out here when he heard it; a small rustling in the bushes. He panicked and pulled out a kunai and flung it in the direction of the noise. He heard a whimper and watched as a snow hare limped out of the bushes.
“What the hell, Kurt?” Quinn scolded turning around, “were trying to be stealthy, you’re not helping.”
Kurt rushed forward and swept the hare up in his arms, “I’m so so so sorry! You’re such a beautiful rabbit.”
While Kurt was caught up in the rabbit he wounded, Will noticed its fur. It was summer; the hare should have been brown. If it was white, it must’ve been raised indoors. Meaning someone sent it out as a distraction. He was still pondering these ideas when it hit him.
“Everyone get down!” Schue Sensei yelled and Kurt, Quinn, and Blaine immediately responded pouncing down on the marsh.
All everyone else saw was a flash, but Blaine’s eyes were trained, he could make out a large blur of a blade hurtling its way towards Schue, somehow Blaine’s sensei ducked with perfect timing, the large sword striking itself against a tree.
How did he see it coming? Was Blaine’s first thought, but Blaine’s second thought was who threw the sword. The silence was heavy; Blaine’s eyes constantly darted around trying to make out some sort of figure. It was then he saw it, well everyone else did too but that was beside the point. There was a man; well he couldn’t have been over 18, standing on the hilt of the giant blade. He had a black mist headband and dark eyes to go along with it. His chest was bare except for the ‘X’ shaped sword carrier. He wore white lined pants, and stealthy black sandals.
“Tazuna.” The assassin spoke, and Blaine could immediately tell he was far more experienced than the two Chunin.
Blaine chanced a glance at Tazuna, he was shaking, every bit of composure he had was gone, obliterated the second the ninja spoke.
The ninja gave an evil smile and glanced down towards Schue, and back towards Tazuna.
“Are these your bodyguards?” He said it with no fear in his voice, his tone actually seemed amused. “Hand over the bridge builder,” He said orderly, “and nobody will get hurt.”
“Well who do we have here?” Blaine glanced over to Schue. He spoke so fearlessly, so confidently. “I may have to use it, I’d never once in my life dreamed that I would be going up against you of all people.” Schue paused for a moment letting the scene sink in, but continued effortlessly, “Nick Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.”
The assassin now known as Nick gave another evil smile, “and I would have never thought I’d fight you of all people, Will of the Sharingan.”
Blaine’s head snapped up. Sharingan? That ocular jutsu was trademark to the Uchiha. My clan. How could he possibly have any idea about my jutsu?
Nick thrust his sword out of the tree branch, causing the tree to crack and crumble beneath him. He stood in front of us now, forming a seal. The chakra around Nick was dense, horrifyingly, so.
“Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu”