''Hayate, now!'' With that said, Kiyomi quickly made some backflips to back away from the masked man as she would wait and see what her student had planned. It was still weird to think back what just happened. Her katana had sliced through somebody that could turn his body into smoke? That was a very interesting ability and one she hadn't ever seen before.
Without hesitating, Hayate slammed his hand into the earth. A large dome of solid earth rose out of the ground, capturing both Hayate and the enemy nin inside. The dome was entirely sealed, and as such it was pitch black inside. Hayate could hear the other man whip around. Pulling out a small lighter, Hayate flicked it to life, casting a small light throughout the dome.
"What the hell is this!" The man snarled, facing Hayate across the enclosure.
"I have been watching you as we fought. At first I must admit I found your ability to phase yourself out to be quite perplexing. But as I saw more I began to realize that you weren't really phasing, so much as reverting to a different form. Something similar to smoke. Well, I figured the best way to hurt you, would be to trap you in here. Somewhere where you can't just phase out of. As you may have noticed there are no air holes in here, nothing for you to get through. So you see, I am afraid this is the end for you." Hayate's tone was almost apologetic, and he never took his eyes off the other man. The man glared at Hayate, his expression one of clear hatred. Slowly, his mouth curled in an ugly sneer.
"Ah but you are stuck in here as well boy! So I'll just have to finish you off before finding a way out of this wretched dome!" Pulling out his tanto, the man began walking towards Hayate, his sneer growing in size, confidence oozing from him in waves.
Hayate simply shook his head sadly, a gesture which stopped the man in his tracks; a look of uncertainty crossing his face, before the sneer once again replaced it.
"What's the matter boy!?" He spat.
"Are you going to beg for your life? Hayate smiled a sad smile and locked eyes with his enemy.
"You should have listened to what I said before about paying attention to your surroundings. If you had been a little more focused you may have noticed this dome shrinking in size around us." The man paused and looked around uncertainly. With a sudden gut wrenching realization he saw that the boy was telling the truth.
"What is the purpose of this?" Hayate could hear the waver in the man's voice, he was clearly starting to worry. Good.
"You seem to think that I am stuck in here with you, but you never once stopped to think that maybe I could leave here anytime I wanted. Tell me, what happens when oxygen trapped in an enclosed area is exposed to flame?" The man's eyes darted to the lighter in Hayate's hand.
Good, he was starting to realize. "The oxygen starts to burn up, and soon there won't be anything left in here for you to breathe." Already Hayate could feel the air starting to thin, it was becoming more of a struggle to breathe properly. His smile suddenly turned wicked as he looked from the lighter back to his enemy.
"Any last words? Well, if you do, I would save them, wouldn't want to waste any more of your precious oxygen." With that last mocking line, Hayate stepped backwards, through the wall of the dome and out the otherside. He stood there momentarily before turning to Kiyomi.
"Well. This shouldn't be too much longer."She had seen the dome being formed and hadn't wasted it any time. Sitting on the ground, she had already started to bandage her cut. Later she would patch it up better. Meanwhile, the badger had poofed away after Ger had clearly seized the upper hand. The big bear growled a little when Hayate appeared, but showed no aggression towards the student of his master.
''Good. How are you?'' Kiyomi asked casually, like if they hadn't been fighting against a capable foe. After the question, she rose up and looked in the direction of Hayate.
Smiling warmly at her, Hayate realized that he was wounded. His smile faltered for a moment before realizing that Kiyomi was more than capable of taking care of herself, and she was clearly okay to move. In response to her question, Hayate simply said,
"I think I smell like smoke now." Before grinning slyly and turning his head briefly to nod at Ger. The large bear truly was impressive, and Hayate's nod was one of admiration for the beast.
"What now sensei? I take it that wasn't our target?"''Not really. Likely a pawn to test us further out. Maybe the one that led the three genins we killed before.'' She replied as she snapped her fingers. Ger snorted as he poofed away in a large cloud. With that done, Kiyomi checked the surroundings.
''Best is if we move to the city and seek more refuge there-'' She wanted to say more, but then something was blown up. The dome that was created by Hayate was shattered to pieces as rocks were send flying around. Reacting quickly, Kiyomi weaved three handseals as lightning crackled through the air. With the use of her lightning barrier technique, she managed to keep her and Hayate safe from the sharp rubble.
''They just never give up.. Time to end this.'' She mumbled as the lightning would fade and reveal that the field was empty.
''Coward.'' Kiyomi mumbled before glancing at Hayate.
''Are you able to get moving?'' She asked. With their last enemy managed to get away from them, it would mean that the enemy would have some intel on their abilities. Luckily not those who Kiyomi wished to use for their target, but it still bothered her.
Sighing, Hayate shook his head. He had hoped that he would have taken care of the enemy nin. Meeting Kiyomi's gaze he looked away quickly, embarrassed that he hadn't managed to finish the man off.
"I am fine to keep moving. I apologize for my failure Kiyomi-sensei. That man escaping is on my hands." After Hayate was done talking, Kiyomi hummed for a moment. Walking past her student, she patted his shoulder as she started to walk already in a direction. There was no disappointment or any other negative emotion showed on the face of the young jounin.
''You did it well. Come, we shouldn't waste anymore time.'' Kiyomi said as she beckoned him to follow her. Picking up the pace, she used a jump to get to branch and would continue to lead them towards the direction of the town that was the capital of the Sea country. For a moment, Kiyomi considered to use a transformation jutsu again, but it was unlikely that the enemy already was sending another party at them. They would likely first want to hear what their last foe would report in and then need to find them again.
Kiyomi's kind words caused Hayate to feel a little better, but he still harboured doubts over how well he'd actually performed. Shaking it off, he moved out to follow Kiyomi, staying close behind. So they were heading towards the city. Hayate wondered what it would be like, if it would be like Konoha, or completely different. He had never had a chance to travel before and despite the fact that everything on this island seemed like it wanted to kill them, he felt a surge of excitement at seeing a new place. Glancing back to Kiyomi as she moved ahead of him, Hayate's eyes traveled to her wounds. They seemed bad, but it was hard to tell behind the bandages. He hoped that she was alright, and he was worried, knowing that Kiyomi had a tendency to push herself, even if she was in pain. Deciding not to question her, at least until they had arrived in the city, Hayate set his sights back on the path ahead.
Three hours later.
Near the capital of the Sea Country.Sitting on a thick branch, Kiyomi looked in the distance. The capital was in sight. Probably around three or five kilometers away from them. Thinking off a plan how to go in without being noticed, she started to think of several ways. It had to be one where the enemy couldn't openly attack them. They would be less able to attack them when they were inside the city and wouldn't pose a threat. With that in mind, she decided to tell her plan to Hayate.
''Listen up. The enemy won't be able to attack us with the civilians around. It could turn the tide against them and it would mean we can move more about. Still, I suggest we both do a transformation jutsu to conceal ourselves at least a bit from the eyes of our enemies. Got it?'' Kiyomi said through her earphone communicator.
Nodding his head, Hayate realized that she was right. He had caught his first glimpse of the capital and from this distance it was hard to tell if it was truly different in style from Konoha. Lost in his thoughts for a moment, Hayate realized that he hadn't properly responded to Kiyomi.
"That sounds like a good plan to me, Kiyomi-sama. What shall we disguise ourseves as this time?" He asked. His mind was preoccupied with getting a chance to see the city and he tried to reign in his focus.
''I think you won't like to be a sack or inside a sack, would you?'' Kiyomi playfully asked back before she became serious. She knew they had to transform into something that they wouldn't expect. And that would mean looking like mere civilians. Which wasn't a hard task actually. The other part was to stick together and still not look too supicious.
''I suggest to use the technique to make us look like normal civilians. Then you just need to play along. She answered back, now being seriously.
Grinning from ear to ear as she joked about the sack, Hayate had to bite back a retort. Still smiling while Kiyomi suggested they disguise themselves as regular civilians, Hayate nodded. A thought occuring to him.
"I am sorry Kiyomi-sama. This may be an ignorant question, but do the people of this city dress the same as we do back home? I just... I have never really been outside of Konoha to see what other civilians look like." A little flush came to his cheeks as he lowered his head. Hayate was embarassed that he even had to ask, but he wanted to make sure that he wasn't choosing a disguise that would be completely different from what was normal here.
Thinking about it, Kiyomi nodded.
''I believe they do. The climate and culture is similiar to ours. Else we can just use the appearance to look like some travelers. I bet there are plenty about in the capital. Besides, if we look harmless, we can't just be picked out like that.'' Kiyomi replied. Looking briefly in Hayate's direction, Kiyomi noticed he lowered his head.
''Don't worry. Its probably my fault. I should be there to show you more of the world, as being your sensei.'' She told him as she turned her head to look back at the city.
"It is not your fault Kiyomi-sama. It is my clan, my family. If they had their way we would stay hidden from the rest of the world. I've always wanted to get out and see more of it though... I suppose I'm just different than them that way." Hayate looked from the city, to Kiyomi, and then finally settled his gaze back on the city. This was as good a time to start as any.
"So... Travelers huh? What's our backstory. Everyone needs a good backstory." His tone was amused as he lightly joked about making up backstories for their disguises. He mostly just wanted to lighten the mood after talking about his clan.
Bringing her right index finger to her chin, Kiyomi briefly looked up to the clouds in the sky.
''A backstory? Lets go with the cliché stuff. It seems that always seems to work.'' She told Hayate. Snapping her fingers, she had one formed up in her mind.
''Its a very simple one. We will take different names. We know each other from... euhm.'' She started to think more about it.
''Lets go with the typical young and stupid couple that is travelling around the world. That would mean we don't have to split up and also can move about and ask some questions around.'' Kiyomi suggested.
At her mention of acting as a couple, Hayate couldn't stop the blush from forming on his face. Turning his head quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed, he pretended instead to be surveying their surroundings.
"That... uh... That would probably work." He said, cursing his voice for becoming hoarse. Coughing to clear his throat, he tried to shake the thought from his head.
"What would our names be?" Hayate asked, trying to keep moving.
Again, Kiyomi was pondering.
''I think we should take some more foreign sounding names. I mean, if we fall out of line, we can easily say we are from quite some distance. I think I will take the name Kelly. Has a cool ring to it. Ke-lly.'' She answered, with a little smirk on her lips playing as she let the name roll of her tongue. With that choice done, she glanced in his direction as they were moving at a slow pace towards the capital.
''You?''"Hmm... That is a nice sounding name." Hayate said, wondering if he would be able to pick one on his own. He'd never really thought of it before. It would help, he supposed, if he knew a little more about the world and other cultures. Perhaps he would be able to pick a good name then. Looking down at the ground as they walked, Hayate thought hard before sighing.
"I don't really know any foreign sounding names sadly. Do you have any ideas?"Jumping to another branch, Kiyomi made a quick summersault before she landed on another branch.
''What about,'' She said before jumping to another branch. Then she knew one.
''What about something short and fun? Lars?'' She suggested as she glanced in his direction. Now that was decided, they would need to take another appearance. Kiyomi was forming one already in her mind and a sly grin was starting to appear on her lips.
Lars... Hayate played around with the name in his head. It indeed sounded fairly foreign. Smiling he followed close behind Kiyomi. Seeing her grin, Hayate wondered what she had in mind. He was trying to picture what a Lars would look like in his head, but so far he couldn't come up with anything. He decided that he'd wait to see what Kiyomi looked like first. Then he could hopefully make something similar.
With them getting closer, she knew that they had to use the jutsu around now.
''Time to get going with the plan.'' She said through the earphone communicator. Weaving the handseals, she summoned a cloud of smoke that concealed her. Out of the smoke,
her new appearance was shown as she landed on a branch.
''Think we also need to travel over the ground.'' And right after saying that, Kiyomi dropped herself on the ground and landed gracefully. Dusting off her clothes, the shinobi gear she had carried around wasn't to be seen, but was just concealed by the transformation jutsu. Taking a look at her transformation, she was content with it, but wondered about it.
''What do you think? Does it suit me or should I go for something else?'' After the question, she turned to Hayate to see what his reaction would be.
Landing behind her, Hayate observed her new appearance. Cocking his head to the side slightly he smiled.
"I think it suits you quite well... Kelly..." He was going to have to get used to that name. It wouldn't serve him well to forget it in the middle of their mission. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a minute, Hayate finally had an idea. Forming the necessary handseals, he too summoned a cloud of smoke to briefly conceal himself. As the smoke cleared
Hayate's new look was visible. He blushed a little, turning to Kiyomi.
"Well, how do I look?"The look on Kiyomi's face was more or less neutral as she tilted it a bit to the right.
''Like an idiot that likes to talk a lot. But other than that, kinda cute.'' Kiyomi said, merely just teasing him as she beckoned him to follow her.
''Alright, listen up. The game we're playing is a bit a complex, but once you get it, its not that hard to grasp. Currently we are on our own against many. You could say a whole damn army. What is holding them back?'' She grinned in his direction.
''The fact that they can't give away themselves.'' Letting that sink in, Kiyomi waited only one moment before she would continue.
''You see, the leader of the country is the Daimyo. The Sea country isn't a shinobi country like ours. They have likely some military of shinobi on their own. Mostly led in secret by those who tried to kill us. And one of them is our target. I think I don't need to explain, but if we manage to kill that target, we can cripple the secret faction here and free the Sea country a little. See it as charity work, okay?'' Kiyomi continued as they kept on walking towards the city.
Blushing for the third time that day, Hayate mumbled under his breath and looked away. As he turned, a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Following Kiyomi as she walked and explained the situation, Hayate soaked in all the information he could. So it seemed like both sides were at even odds for now. It would be up to them to press the advantage. Hayate smiled as Kiyomi called it 'charity work.'
"I think I get it. Basically we have to maintain a low profile until we can uncover our target's whereabouts, and then take that target out before the whole army gets to us first?" He asked, his tone sounding mildly amused, yet also serious. He wanted Kiyomi to know that he understood the risks in this mission, and also what they were up against.
Placing her hands behind the back of her head, the look on her face seemed to become annoyed.
''Well that is the fun part. We have an inside guy. So that won't be any trouble. And as long we stay inside the town, they won't send the whole army at us. Likely some tough shit heads that want to shit us up.'' Kiyomi explained. Thinkin further, what she could share, she continued.
''Other than that, I doubt that they will not get cocky. We're on their turf. If that is one thing, they will think they can easily wreck the hell out of us. Besides, you should talk a bit different.'' Kiyomi told Hayate.
''That and we will continue to talk later with the inside guy. Lars-kun.~'' Kiyomi said, trying to practice a sweet tone as she tried to not say Hayate. Normally she had a dislike for this, but it was important for the mission.
Hayate had to stop himself from doing a double take as Kiyomi put on a sweet tone. He half expected a knife to follow her last sentence. Something about the way she said it scared Hayate more than any threat she could have uttered, and that thought alone made him laugh. It was strange hearing her talk like this, and seeing her like this. Hayate was also going to have to get used to being a different person. Transformation jutsu wasn't somehing he used often, and it felt a little alien to him still. Trying to change up his voice a little he replied,
"So does this mean if I call you Kelly-chan you aren't going to stab me?" He kept his tone playful, trying to find the right mixture of different yet sincere.
Kiyomi threw a glance in his direction.
''Maybe just a punch for fucks sake.'' She said, changing her voice a bit. She was trying to sound more like somebody she knew and admired.
''Just stick with the plan and don't get cheesy. I will else stick up a blade on your rear and make your damn nose bleed, 'sweety'.'' That was it. The last word was said with sarcasme. A smirk grew on Kiyomi's lips. With the right attitude and tone, she just had to keep playing the role.
''But keep in mind that we're just acting when people are around or when we get the idea they are around. Also, if you get low on chakra, say the line.'' Kiyomi paused as she quickly thought about a line.
''I would like to order some fire.''Glancing again in his direction, Kiyomi waited to see if he would understood and get it all. The plan would fall or succeed with their act together.
Unable to stop the grin that filled his face when Kiyomi threatened to stab him if he got cheesy, Hayate turned his head instead. She was right though. As much fun as it was to joke around right now, they would have to be careful the closer they got to the city. If they started behaving out of the ordinary, then people might grow suspicious and that could throw their whole plan awry. Hearing the code line, Hayate nodded, commiting it to memory. Keeping the same playful tone, he couldn't help but joke one more time.
"I think I would prefer the line, 'I just spilled my drink.' But around you I'm afraid it would be said too often." A small laugh escaped his lips before he could hold it in and he looked to Kiyomi, waiting to see how hard she was going to hit him.
''Heh. Maybe.'' She kept looking at the capital. They were nearing the perimeter of the city and she sighed.
''Play time, baby.'' Placing her right arm around the arm of Hayate, she did kept her surroundings under watch.
''Listen up. I also forgot that when we're in a big place, I won't have anything with my senses. My smell and hearing will be not that great of aid as before. So, both of us have to stay sharp, okay?'' She mumbled as she then looked around with a kind of curious look in her eyes. Her free hand was more less near her hip, actually close to grab something from her pouch if the situation would ever require it.
As Kiyomi wrapped her arm around his, Hayate gulped. This really shouldn't be as hard as it was. Deciding to throw his nerves aside and focus, Hayate looked at Kiyomi and smiled warmly.
"Ready when you are." Clasping her right hand in his, Hayate kept moving towards the city. It indeed looked very much the same as Konohagakure. He felt a small sense of longing for home as he looked around at the buildings ahead. Quickly quashing that feeling, Hayate instead focused on keeping up appearances. But his senses never stopped being on alert, constantly searching for any potential threats.
They were approaching some busy streets, indicating they were maybe nearing the shopping or merchant kind of district. Pulling Hayate gently with her in that direction, Kiyomi wished to seek the cover of the crowd. If they blend in, then they wouldn't have too much trouble with seeking the inside guy that they would need to contact. At least, after some other things.
''Think we need to set up a base or place where we can take a rest and form plans.'' She mumbled. Looking around, she also tried to show interest in what some of the shops and stands were trying to sell. Seeing a jewelry, Kiyomi giggled.
''Oh, Lars-kun! Doesn't that one loook nice?'' She pointed with her free hand to one of the necklaces, one made of pure gold. And with a heavy price ticket.
It quickly became evident that Kiyomi wanted them to blend in with the crowds, and Hayate had no intention of doing otherwise. Following her as she dragged him over to a storefront he finally saw what she had seen. Visibly gulping as he saw the price tag next to the necklace, Hayate shifted his eyes back to the golden bauble. The necklace was certainly an attractive piece, but Hayate was fairly certain that Kiyomi was just playing up her interest in it. Deciding to play along, he pulled her in closer to it.
"It certainly would look marvelous on you Kelly-chan." He beamed at her.
"Is this made of real gold? He asked the shop keeper, reaching out with his free hand to feel the necklace.
He could feel the man watching him warily as he picked the necklace up.
"Yes, it is pure gold of the highest quality.'' Looking between Hayate and Kiyomi, the shop keeper got the same look in his eye that a predator does when it eyes its prey. Rubbing his hands together eagerly the man asked,
"What's the occasion? Birthday? Anniversary?" Hayate had to surpress a small laugh at the man's obvious attempts at getting a sale. As he felt the necklace in his hand, Hayate could tell that the man wasn't lying about it's quality. His clan's unique affinity with metal allowed him to feel the necklace's properties. The gold felt strange to him as it wasn't a metal he had a lot of experience with. While the shop keeper was distracted, Hayate used his clan's ability to separate a small piece of the necklace, stretching it down his wrist and through his sleeve. He had purposely hidden what he was doing, even from Kiyomi. Unless someone had been watching him from underneath they would have had no way of seeing what he'd done. Using his ability once again, he sealed the necklace back up by stretching the gold between the piece that he had separated. It would look as good as new, but Hayate had managed to keep a chunk of the necklace, which he hid underneath his clothes, attached to the skin near his right hip bone.
Smiling back at the shop keeper, Hayate placed the necklace back on its pedestal.
"Well we're actually just traveling the country right now, taking in as many sights as we can." He leaned in close to the shop keeper, almost whispering in his ear.
"It's our anniversary coming up soon and I want to get her something special. She seems particularly fond of this necklace over here, but I am wanting to surprise her. Perhaps I could come back at a later time?" Hayate pulled away from the man and winked discreetly. The shop keeper beamed in response.
"Young love is such a beautiful thing." He exclaimed. Hayate surpressed a laugh once again, tugging lightly on Kiyomi's arm.
"Come on beautiful. We'd better get going if we want to check out the rest of the city." Nodding his thanks to the shop keeper, Hayate turned to keep moving.
Nodding, Kiyomi walked next to Hayate and kept looking around. She was genuinly interested in the town. It showed some similiarities to Konohagakure. But there was another atmosphere. Or was it just her? Kiyomi decided to not pay any attention to it now. With the nice weather and careless walking around, she actually enjoyed it. It had been since long she had been able to relax as she could do now. At least, to some extent. The fact she was keeping her watch up of anything that could be supicious was still there.
''Shall we go and drink somewhere?'' She asked Hayate, still tugged to his arm.
"A drink sounds quite nice right now." Hayate said, offering her a warm smile. The way things were going, Hayate almost forgot they were on a mission. It was nice just to walk like this, seeing a new place, and spending time in good company. He never quite let himself get to the point where he lulled himself into a false sense of safety however, and he made sure to keep a watchful eye on the city around them. Leaning in a little closer to Kiyomi he whispered,
"Just be sure not to spill on me. I only brought one change of clothes." He gave her a playful grin before looking around for a nice place to sit down.
A smirk played on her lips as she looked back at him. Raising an eyebrow, she didn't move backwards. It was actually unusually that she allowed somebody that wasn't a relative or knew her for years to stay this close. But she didn't zap or say anything passive aggressive towards Hayate.
''Sounds like a challenge.'' She replied back, a glint in her eyes appearing. After a moment, she looked around and saw a place that had a terras. It wasn't that busy, luckily and provided some view over the busy streets.
''Lets go there.'' She told him, already pulling him to come with her.
Hayate spotted the place that Kiyomi had mentioned. It was perfect. The place offered a good view for them, and it also looked like a friendly place to sit down and share a meal. Smiling, Hayate rememberd the first day that he and Kiyomi had met. It was in a place very similar to this. The memory filled him with warmth and he gladly let Kiyomi pull him along. As they got close, Hayate noticed an empty table and pointed it out to her.
"This looks like a nice spot. What do you think Kelly-chan?"''Seems perfect, Lars-kun!' She replied in a higher pitched tone than usual. Brushing a few locks behind her ear, Kiyomi's eyes quickly shot over the place. It was likely that people would see and think she was just giving it a second glance. It was more that she was inspecting if the place would serve as a good place to keep watch over the surroundings and else able to provide them a way to escape if something would happen.
''Wait, wait!'' She said as they would near the place. Waiting till he would pull a chair, she gently pushed him on the chair before sitting on him, sitting with her side to his stomach , putting an arm arounds his neck.
''You know, Lars-kun?'' She giggled as she used her left hand to brush some locks of hair behind her ear again, a smile adoring her lips.
