In the days that followed, Kitahara Kaede beca a model shinobi.
He took his missions, left the village on ti, and returned on ti. When his missions ended, he went to the river to feed the cats, and occasionally trained or reviewed strategies with Terumi i.
The gaze from the shadows remained.
It appeared once every two or three days—at the entrance of the mission center, in the shadows of the village gates, or at the forks of the outer roads.
Kitahara Kaede could feel it.
He didn't try to counter-track them, didn't deliberately shake them off, and didn't even adjust his routes. In tis like these, it was crucial not to do anything superfluous.
A few days later, the surveillance vanished.
For three consecutive days, he took different routes past the mission center, the market, and the village gates. There was nothing.
Kitahara Kaede didn't rush to a conclusion. It was possible that the observers had simply withdrawn after failing to find anything. However, that ANBU mber didn't seem like the type to give up after a few simple probes.
He kept the matter in the back of his mind and continued to wait.
...
At the mission center, two shinobi spoke in hushed tones while handing in their reports.
"Have you heard? An ANBU mber went out on a mission and never ca back."
"Which one?"
"That one... the one who was always hanging around the mission center lately."
A nearby Jonin's expression turned cold. "Shut up."
The two imdiately fell silent.
Standing before the mission board, Kitahara Kaede's hand paused as he reached for a request slip.
Once he returned to his residence, he sat at his desk and retraced the events.
An ANBU mber had stopped him in the street, questioning him about the frequency of his trips outside the village and any unusual areas he had visited. Following that probe, he had been intermittently followed for several days. Then, the surveillance vanished, and the operative was killed in the line of duty.
But these facts alone weren't enough to determine the nature of the investigation. It was all too common for Mist Village ANBU to die on missions; it could have been an unrelated mishap or an internal purge.
What he really couldn't figure out was whether that ANBU's investigation was a personal whim or an order from the higher-ups.
If it were a personal act, the trail ended with the man's death. If it were an investigation authorized by the leadership, the death of one operative would only be followed by another.
Kitahara Kaede thought for a while. He didn't have enough information to make that call.
He needed to contact Pakura.
Her intelligence network within the Mist Village was far deeper than his. She could determine whether the ANBU movents were routine rotations or if the leadership was targeting a specific lead—things he simply couldn't access.
However, he had to change the eting spot; the abandoned lighthouse was no longer safe. If the area around the old rendezvous point had been swept, going back would be like walking straight into a net. He also couldn't take any more single-person coastline patrols; he had already accepted too many of those types of requests.
Kitahara Kaede waited by the mission board for two days. On the third day, a suitable request appeared. The route was correct, and the tifra was generous.
He tore it off, signed it, and left the village.
...
That afternoon.
Six kiloters north along the mission route lay an abandoned fishing village. A dozen or so shacks were scattered across the slope, most of them collapsed, with only a few still retaining their fras.
Kitahara Kaede chose a shack on the eastern side of the hilltop. The front door faced the rocky road leading down the slope, allowing him to spot anyone approaching from fifty paces away. The back wall had a window opening that led directly into the brush, allowing him to vanish into the treeline within three steps.
Two escape routes and a wide field of vision.
He sat in the corner of the room, where he could see both the front door and the window simultaneously. Additionally, this spot wasn't too far from the old rendezvous point. If Pakura was monitoring movents in the outer periter, she should notice that he had deviated from his mission route.
Ti ticked by.
One hour passed. No movent.
It was normal for her to be slower in finding him since the location had changed.
As the third hour drew to a close, there was finally movent outside the shack. Footsteps were light, approaching from the brush to the east. A few seconds later, a figure appeared at the front door.
Pakura scanned the interior, her gaze landing on Kitahara Kaede in the corner.
"Changed the location?"
"I didn't feel safe at the old spot."
Pakura walked in and stopped a few paces away from him. She reached out her hand.
"The scroll."
Kitahara Kaede took the intelligence scroll from his ninja tool pouch and handed it over. Pakura took it and unfurled it. The rhythm was the sa as before: an exchange of intelligence, reporting only the essentials.
Once she finished reading, she stowed it away and produced another docunt from her robes.
"New orders from Sunagakure. Suspend deep penetration for now; continue observing the trends of the internal chaos within the Mist Village."
Kitahara Kaede took the scroll and scanned it. "Understood."
He put the scroll away. Normally, the process would end here.
Kitahara Kaede didn't stand up. "I was probed by the ANBU."
Pakura looked at him.
"They asked about the number of tis I left the village, unusual areas, and the types of single-person missions I took. After the questioning, soone followed intermittently for a few days." He paused. "It stopped recently."
Pakura's expression remained unchanged. "Stopped?"
"Cleanly and completely."
The shack fell silent for two seconds.
"Specifically, when did this happen?"
"About half a month ago."
Pakura didn't respond imdiately. Kitahara Kaede waited.
Pakura glanced outside, as if contemplating sothing. Then she said, "I see."
Kitahara Kaede noticed sothing. She hadn't asked what the ANBU mber looked like. She hadn't asked about the scope of the search or the thods used for the probe. If this were the first ti she was hearing about it, the natural reaction would be to press for details.
He noted this detail but didn't point it out. Instead, he changed the subject.
"You're injured."
Pakura's gaze flickered. "What?"
"Your back."
Pakura shifted her body slightly. The movent was minimal, but it confird his observation.
"You've got a keen nose."
"The scent of blood wasn't fully masked. You used dicinal powder to cover it, but the wind blows it away."
Pakura remained silent. After a few seconds, she said, "It happened during a mission not long ago. It's not a big deal."
Kitahara Kaede glanced at her. An injury on the back.
"There's a pharmacy in the East Market of the Land of Water with a blue cloth curtain."
Pakura looked up.
"They have a salve that's very good at treating wounds. It prevents scarring."
Pakura stared at him for a mont. "You know about these things?"
"I've learned a little."
The corner of Pakura's mouth twitched. It was a tiny movent. She didn't smile, but the tension in her eyes softened for a brief instant.
To be cared for by a subordinate nearly a full generation younger—who noticed her injury, told her where to buy dicine, and worried about her scarring.
Pakura looked away. "I'll buy it." She paused. "Stop worrying about useless things."
Kitahara Kaede looked at her. "Next ti, don't co to a rendezvous slling of blood."
Pakura's hand stopped. She turned and stared at him.
Previously, in the abandoned lighthouse, he had co to see her with an injured arm. She had said those exact sa words to him.
Pakura cursed under her breath. "You little..."
There was no anger in her tone. She turned and walked toward the door. As she reached the threshold, she stopped.
"Don't proactively contact for a while."
"For how long?"
"Until I find you."
Kitahara Kaede nodded.
Pakura stood there with her back to him. The sunlight stread through the door, casting a bright rim along her shoulders.
"Stay safe yourself."
With that, she stepped outside. Her footsteps grew fainter as she headed down the rocky road.
Kitahara Kaede leaned against the wall, listening until the sound vanished.
...
He did not return to the Mist Village imdiately. He sat in place, thinking.
The ANBU probe. The possibility that the old rendezvous point had been swept. Pakura's back injury. The sudden disappearance of the surveillance. The death of the ANBU mber.
And the fact that when he ntioned the ANBU's probe, she hadn't asked for a single detail. No questions about appearance, no questions about the search thod, no questions about which squad the operative belonged to.
The lack of questions left only two possibilities.
Either it wasn't necessary for them to know, or they already did.
Kitahara Kaede buried this conclusion deep in his mind.
The death of that ANBU mber was likely no accident. There was a high probability that Pakura was responsible. However, for her to proactively eliminate soone tailing him without receiving direct orders from Sunagakure was abnormal.
A handler acting outside their designated duties for the sake of a subordinate was not standard procedure. If she had begun taking action beyond the boundaries of her mission for his sake, the risk of her own exposure would double.
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers