The End? Mission Accomplished!
Ayame spent most of her time after the encounter with Kusaru in a far off corner, with just herself and Fujitora. They were sitting on two tree trunks, discussing what seemed to be strategies for the remainder of the mission. Ayame was using a stick to draw in the sand below her, speaking hushed words as she did so in order to not alarm any of the others.
“If we head straight here, we can make it within a day or so. If we go through here..” she said, pointing out two different routes in the sand. One of them was right as they were headed - the straight road, that took a day to travel on. It was a more friendly road, and they were less likely to run into trouble there.
“..we can make it tonight. We need to pass through a swamp, though.”Her lively brother was smoking a typical, sloppy joint as he acknowledged the little planning session Ayame was cooking up remotely from the group. Megumi had already went to sleep on duty while Tsukiko assumed guard, so it wasn't reckless for them to build some distance between them and the group for future actions. That and Fujitora seriously needed to get his fix to get through all these events.
"We have wounded, kiddies and barely competent chuunin with us, we neither have the time for the long way nor the coordination for the swamps." he complained, appearing rather tired and irritated from the exhausting day he had. He was stressed above all else, and his substances were not having the effect they once did in the past. He grew accustomed to all that quite unfortunately.
Ayame nodded along with what Fujitora was saying, but she'd expected that answer and was more or less already past that stage of thinking. Her brother was right though, the wounded like Shin and Jaakuna would slow them down, and the genins were unprepared for anything that happened. And the chunin..
god, the chunin. “I know, Fujitora. I was talking about ourselves. If we do it now, we can be back before morning.”She sat straight up again and looked at Fujitora, with a determined look in their eyes. Fujitora had a bit of a rough mission compared to Ayame, but Ayame didn't expect much trouble from the samurai. They might encounter a patrol, but they were both skilled enough to evade them. And if they
did get caught it was possible that they'd just capture them and take them to the leader -
whoever that was at this point - upon seeing the ronin and scrolls, to discuss how they even obtained those scrolls.
“They won't know we're gone, and Tsukiko can keep an eye out. I carry the ronin, you take the scrolls. We should be good.”Confering guard duties to Tsukiko all alone didn't please Fujitora too much. As a commander, and ex-manager, it didn't feel like the proper division of work, especially with the condition of some. However, he was very well able to weigh the pros and cons, to the point where he'd nod after a few seconds of reflection on the whole situation. Exhaling a cloud of smoke, he'd scratch his head in mild hesitation before giving his sister the answer she wanted to hear.
"Hmmm, fine. You got a point, like always."Ayame gave him a short grin, one typical of Ayame when she wanted to say something smart to give Fujitora a hard time. Normally she'd not voice them with other people around, but this time she couldn't help.
“Besides, Tsukiko will smell any enemies from a mile away, and be smart enough to move the entire time. I'm surprised a jonin commander so good and strong like yourself didn't think of that.” Ofcourse, the jab was light and not really meant, since Fujitora was a fine jonin commander. Her response would only get the commander himself to cock a brow, taking her word with a grain of salt. They were siblings after all, a little jab here 'n there barely meant anything these days.
Keeping the joint in his mouth, he cracked his knuckles as he considered the possible outcomes that would occur during this meeting. There were many ways that this could go wrong, but they had both brains and brawn here, all they needed was a decent strategy.
"I suppose... I can scout while providing cover as you go for your typical diplomatic mumbo jumbo. Sounds fair?" he spoke as if he was a brute, but Fujitora wasn't a politically devoid barbarian. He didn't like formulating things in a manipulative way, however, and preferred being direct more than anything. It gained him respect most of the time, but made it hard for him to get certain things across, unlike his sister.
Ayame got up and crossed her arms.
“Hm. Hai.” she simply stated, looking around to see if anyone was looking their way. With a quick movement of her feet she shoved more dirt over her drawings in the sand, to ensure that none of the chunin or jonin would find out about their nightly escape to fulfil the mission ahead of time. Continuing the mission right now would be a disaster, and it was easier to just do it at night without telling anyone.
The two of them would wait a moment longer, until everyone was asleep, or that deep in conversation like Aoi and Akio would likely be, that they'd never notice the two Choko's slip off with the scrolls and the ronin. Given Tsukiko's hearing, she might have heard the two escape, but Ayame didn't expect Tsukiko to really doubt what the Choko's were doing.
They would head straight through the swamps, a dangerous area if you didn't know what you were doing. There were many missing nin housing here, simply because the surrounding area was very hostile. Though it seemed the siblings got lucky and got through without much trouble - though Fujitora's scouting certainly helped. After about an hour of travel they finally got closer to the village hidden in the Swords, a bit of a mocking name that the shinobi had made up for the samurai, since their village was much different from shinobi villages, and the only hiding in swords they did was killing all those that tried to get close. And as luck would have it, Ayame and Fujitora stumbled upon a patrol of samurai that were hiding, laying in ambush for anyone that would pass by.
“We surrender. We have something of value. We simply wished to return it.” Ayame said, looking over her right shoulder at one of the samurai approaching her. There were four of them, one on each side, and while their armor was tightly made, Ayame was sure she'd be able to throw senbon through the cracks, as well as Fuji being able to hit the marks he had to hit. But that'd not be very good for the mission.
“Look. The man at my feet, he's the ronin that stole your scrolls. We also have the scrolls. Fuji..”Fujitora's splitting technique allowed them to prepare for the patrol, the millions of particles reporting movement from unknown individuals. They were Samurai, given the area, and as such were probably the best medium for them to get the scrolls to the destined rulers of the area. To make sure they'd get at least the attention of these foot soldiers, Fujitora would take out one of the three scrolls out of his pocket and waved it up at the shoulder level.
"You're looking for one of these right? Would be unfortunate if you hurt us and destroyed the others in the process."The samurai that seemed to be a captain took a look at the ronin, and then the scrolls, before he stood at ease again and put away his sword. The other samurai followed him quickly, before escorting Ayame and Fujitora to the village, that was more like a castle in any regard. There, they were quickly arranged to meet the leader of the village - an old looking man, dressed in ornate samurai armor but without the helmet. His head was scarred in multiple places, and he looked kind of scary. All around him, men were practicing, as there were atleast 50 samurai in the giant hall of the castle sparring, or doing other stuff. The man himself was sitting on a simple wooden chair at the center of the hall - a very traditional and sober look, not ornate at all compared to his armor. Ayame didn't pay any mind - naturally she was impressed and wanted to look around, but the mission withheld her from doing such. Instead she walked down the main lane to the chair with a self determined stride, followed shortly by Fujitora.
“Hello, shogun. I'm Ayame Choko, from Amegakure, but I serve the Hokage as his assistant. This is my brother, Fujitora Choko, also serving the Hokage as the jonin commander.” Fujitora waved nonchalantly at the general, already in need of some fresh air filled with narcotics. Unlike her sister he did have a peek as to what was happening around them, though he kept his stupor to himself. He already estimated the various escape plans they could be making in case the Shogun was indeed the nutjob every other country portrayed him as.
The shogun didn't seem all that bad, in reality, and simply looked at Ayame and Fujitora for a moment before shifting positions in his chair.
“Thank you for the introduction, but I'll adress you as shinobi. I assume there won't be confusion.. I mean, look around.” he said, looking Ayame dead in the eyes. It was .. weird. But Ayame knew what he was trying, or rather, waiting for.
“We have your scrolls. And your ronin.”The shogun's eyes widened a bit, before letting his eyes fall on the man that Ayame was dragging along. As a response to that she let go of him, dropping him besides her. Two samurai immediately jumped into action, but were stopped by Ayame. She raised her hand and out of a pouch on her right thigh came a couple of senbon, seemingly floating through the air.
“Nice things are often not free, shogun.” she said calmly looking at the shogun, but aiming the senbon at the two samurai that had wanted to grab the ronin.
“We also hold your scrolls. Our price is..” The shogun was looking at her intently, holding onto the chair's armrests tightly, and although he was trying to look relaxed, he was holding it so hard that you could tell the blood was being pushed out of his fingers.
“.. our price is that you pay a visit to Konohagakure, and have a cup of tea with the Hokage. This can take place whenever you are available. It can be tomorrow. It can be in 3 years. A samurai is honourbound, so we will expect you to come. If not..” she said, with an ominous smile on her lips, spelling out exactly what would happen.
They'd assasinate him. And the shogun knew very well that shinobi were capable of that.
A drop of sweat went down from the commander's hairline to his cheek, evidently not too comfortable with the direction this was going. He trusted his sister, but his job was to act immediately if something were to go wrong. And after what she said, the risks were beyond overwhelming. Assassination came to mind, of course, but what stopped
them from executing the Choko here and now? Poking his sister's shoulder, he'd whisper to her ear
"Are you sure, Aya? We're taking a pretty nasty path if you ask me." It wasn't entirely unjustified, taking head on the ruler of a secluded and violent country was indeed dangerous but also required impeccable courage and discipline, for if that man didn't see them as worthy for his respect, they would very well die here and now. After all, they were ready to go into war with Shinobi because of this incident.
Several of the samurai were acting according to Fujitora's expectations, but ofcourse they wouldn't act without orders. The old shogun sat in his chair, looking at Ayame and Fujitora for a long time, before nodding slowly. He realized that the scrolls were worth more than a war, or even the killing of these two. And he couldn't risk them destroying the scrolls - they contained valuable ancient knowledge on samurai techniques that were hard to replicate.
“Hai. You have my word. Now, my scrolls, shinobi?” Ayame responded by lowering her hand and having the senbon that were floating mid-air clash with the floor, producing a tingling sound. Meanwhile she used her other hand to grab the scrolls from her bag, and approached the Shogun, handing them over. The ronin was still laying there, but was quickly carried away by the two samurai that attempted that same thing earlier. He was propped up in front of the shogun quickly, and Ayame stood back, next to Fujitora again. It seemed that the Shogun wasn't that interested in Ayame and Fujitora anymore, but he hadn't said anything else.
“Mujifuma Kosotori, ronin, would-be samurai..” he said the last words with a remarkable discontent, with real hatred and anger. It was clear that the shogun held the ronin in low remark, after his betrayal. This man went against everything the samurai stood for - honour, honesty, respect.
“I, shogun of the country of Iron, Hojize Namakura, sentence you to decapitation for desecrating the honourable lifestyle of the samurai, for stealing sacred property of the land of Iron, and for besmirching these halls with your dirty feet. Ronin like you.. are scum of the earth. Make your last wishes.”The ronin was by now awake, and looked up only to cower in fear when he saw the very man that had allowed him inside, Hojize Namakura, shogun of the land of Iron, and feared samurai in that land of Iron - not well known outside, or known at all, due to the closed nature of the land of Iron. He tried to get back, crawling, but was constricted by the rope binds that were put on him by the shinobi earlier.
“P-please! I was working for K-”FSHWING! Hojize drew his katana with remarkable speed, being even faster than the best kenjutsu user in Konohagakure. Expected, being a samurai, but impressive none the less. He stood there, with his sword high right, using his left hand to hold his sash and sheath sturdy in place. With a fast movement, just as fast as the slash itself, he moved his blade down and slashed the blood off the blade - a hard thing to do, but definitely possible. To be sure he slowly moved his blade left again and dragged it against his hand before sheathing it again. It was only now that the head of the ronin slowly moved, forwards, and then off the body. After that, the body fell to the side and laid still - blood seeped from the large wound, but it wouldn't take too long before all blood was out of the body and it stopped completely.
“Shinobi, you see how we treat traitors and outsiders. Do not besmirch my trust. This is the first time I've made an exception, and you are the first in 200 years to enter this village and leave alive. Go straight back to Konoha - we will know if you don't.” He said his words calmly, but authoritatively. This wasn't a question, it was an order. And Ayame was smart enough to realize that this was his village, so it was his rules. She simply bowed shortly, not answering, before moving back and walking out of the hall. Mission completed.. although not as supple as she'd wanted.
Ayame's brother could only do as he would do when talking to another Kage, bow in politeness and never question their judgement. He kept a keen eye, he had no plans in terms of trusting these people one bit. He could tell through their look that they resented the two Choko simply for being Shinobi outsiders. They could kill them at any moment, but luckily they made it out without as much as a scratch.
"You're crazy, Aya." he'd lash out right as they crossed the distinct border, finally home free from the true menace at hands.
"Talking to a fucking tyrant like that?! God, even with the greatest of what dad could make, I wouldn't say that. Fucking hell." he'd release some steam by walking around in circles, externalizing what happened. He was not one for taking risks when odds were against them.
"... But you fucking kicked ass." All Ayame could do was smile and grin as they continued back through the swamps towards the makeshift encampment.
“He's not a tyrant. He's afraid. Of technology.. for the same reason you and me are.” she stated factually, although she knew in her heart that the shogun was a bit more rough in his ways than their own hokage - she couldn't blame the shogun for that. In fact, she liked his methods.
“Besides, he's not dumb. He knows we did him a favor, and he's an honourable man. You could tell, he hated that ronin's guts for betraying him. It would be betrayal to kill us, after we did something for him. Technically, he never asked us, but...” she said, laughing shortly after that at the sneaky way at which they gained the land of Iron's favor, even if the land of Iron didn't want to give it. Ah well, all they had to do was come for a cup of tea. It wasn't much of a payment. But it was an opening.
"You're still fucking crazy."
As soon as the mission was done, the team returned home the next day after camping out. It'd be apparent soon enough that the Choko's had accomplished the mission, but they'd leave no time for complaining. They'd be given a small compromise in that Ayame acknowledged them, saying,
“It was easier this way. We had wounded, and a possible threat. Furthermore, its kind of hard to take 3 genin, 12 chunin, and 4 jonin into that place without seeming like a warforce. It was a tactical assesment and you will shut up about it. Tsukiko, I expect your reports on your team soon. Megumi, you too.” "In other words, you're not needed anymore. Out." the cranky Fujitora translated for the kiddies, the lack of sleep getting to him in a severe level at this point. In fact, he was wearing those silly sunglasses to hide the black circles under his eyes. He gestered the Chuunin and Genin to move away so they could finally go back home and have a nice, relaxing bubble bath.
As soon as they got back to Konoha they received their payments - standard wage for a C rank mission like this, - before they were sent on their way. They'd go two days without any mission, giving them plenty of time to hang out and do other stuff. Meanwhile, Ayame and Fujitora were preparing a meeting with the Hokage of utmost importance.
The promotion talk. Every now and then these talks were held to discuss
prospect promotion candidates. An exam was planned for the genins, to pass onto being chunins, but it was still a long time away. Never the less possible candidates had already appeared, and needed to be discussed.
Adding to that was the fact that there were some jonin vacancies to be filled, so they'd need to discuss prospect jonin candidates. The promotion wouldn't happen for a while, but it was important to take a look at the possibilities.
As for the chunin and genin, they are still busy doing whatever they want. It was a bit of a calm down period between the last hectic mission and the next mission, which would probably be a small one. The crew had yet to be informed of their missions however, so they were offered leisure time. Perhaps visit the Mighty Naruto? Perhaps go to the Don Maquia Opera and Theatre? Or go on a date with a boy or girl? All is possible.
Shinobi's do have social lifes, you know? ... Except those selected for a very special mission!
