Iroko POV

All the while we dashed through the trees to get to the Tsuchigumo village I couldn't help but look at Asami.

There was just a nagging feeling I had about her that wouldn't go away like there was something I'm meant to know but I didn't.

At some point, I had decided to catch up to her and strike up a conversation.

"So, Asami," I began, "when did you set up all those traps, huh?"

She looked at me indifferently before turning away. "In Anbu, we have access to certain intel that regular shinobi don't get. I knew beforehand Team 12 was going to be meeting with Hisao at the Sixth Training Ground District for some sort of test, so I went and placed traps there the day before. It didn't occur to me that we would have to work together to pass so there was no avoiding the fact that you and Yuura would get caught in them."

I guess that sorta made sense, but I began to wonder why she wanted to go through it all alone. Was that how she was raised or something? I next wanted to ask why she seems so cold and aloof but I thought I should save it for another time.

Then she turned to look at me. "Now I've got a question for you. How do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

The question had caught me off-guard and it wasn't one I was particularly fond of answering. "Oh! Um, well, ya see, I, um, I'm a big fan of Naruto Uzumaki so I- I--"

Asami deadpanned. "Let me guess: you spent hours in your room trying to imitate him and his jutsu."

I gave a sheepish grin. "Hehehe, yeah..."

She dropped a big sigh before moving on to catch up to Hisao-sensei, leaving me with Yuura.

Yeah, it's not gonna be easy trying to befriend this girl. Lucky for me, I like a challenge...

The Tshuchigumo village didn't seem all that different from the Leaf Village. It was surrounded by a huge forest and its borders were protected by a huge wall.

As we approached, the guards stationed at the Gate gave us funny looks. Hisao-sensei explained to them that we were here on behalf of the Tsuchigumo Chief. Once all that was cleared up we were allowed through.

Walking through the streets of the Village, it became clear to me that this wasn't a village particularly fond of visitors. It was incredibly quiet, save for the voices of children playing around.

"Was the Village always like this?" I asked Hisao-sensei.

"I cannot say. There was, however, a major incident years ago when the leader of the village had created a kinjutsu that threatened the welfare and livelihood of their being but that's the extent of my knowledge."

Kinjutsu?, I wondered, like a Forbidden Technique or something? Weird...

"Presenting shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village on behalf of the Chief!" announced a guard when we came into the throne room.

The Village Chief, who was a very old looking guy with a cleft chin, approached us with a smile on his face. "Thank you for having come on such short notice."

We bowed in respect to him. That was when I noticed that there was someone behind him.

The Chief had noticed, too. "Hotaru, these are your bodyguards who will protect you. They're shinobi from the Hidden Leaf."

"The Hidden Leaf?" she voiced in surprise.

When I saw Hotaru I realized just how pretty she was. She had wavy blonde hair that grew to a widow's peak and dark green eyes. She had a massive forehead but I didn't mind it at all. But I also noticed that there was something like sadness, permanently stuck on her face, though she did well to try and conceal it.

"Yes, indeed," the Chief replied. "It is to my understanding that you have had affiliations with them in the past."

Hotaru smiled. "I am deeply honoured." We bowed.

Hisao-sensei then turned his attention back to the Chief. "If everything is ready we can set for the Stone Village at once. I'm sure they're expecting us quite soon."

"Oh, certainly!" He gestured Hotaru to follow us. "Hotaru, if you will. You have all the files and documents, yes? Good luck! Send all my well wishes to the Tsuchikage!".

"Goodbye, uncle. I'll do my best!" she waved back at him.

Before we could leave I saw Hisao-sensei get pulled back by the Chief to talk in private. There was a grim expression on his face and in the next second, there was one on Hisao-sensei's face, too.

Leaving the Village, I thought there would be like a bunch of villagers lined up at the exit to bid the Princess farewell. But there was only like a handful of people.

"It doesn't look like you're really popular around here," I said to her.

Her face became modest and serene. "No, it doesn't, does it?"

I looked at her with a face of confusion. Okay...

Upon leaving the Village, Hotaru asked: "So what're all your names?"

"Oh, I'm Iroko Nakata!" I said, shaking her hand rather aggressively. "Nice to meetcha!"

"Asami Senju," Asami said with a wave of her hand.

"Hi, I'm Yuura Kairi," came Yuura.

"And I am Hisao," the android bowed.

"It's wonderful to meet all of you!" she said a with a closed-eye smile.

Then Hisao-sensei continued talking. "Now, I thought I should discuss with you what the Chief told me."

The three of us and Hotaru listened in closely.

"Between this village here and the Stone lies the Grass Village."

I could see Yuura beside me tense up and Asami's expression drop further. Even Hotaru seemed to know the place.

"What? What is it?" I asked. "What's the Grass Village?"

Yuura put his hand to his head as if he was disappointed. "Oh, right, you weren't in class that day..."

"It's a hidden village, famous for its diplomacy and analysis techniques. It's also an enemy village of Tsuchigumo, from ties with the Stone Village," Asami explained.

"What the heck?!" I shouted. "How do you know so much if you weren't even in the Academy?"

"Anbu," was all she replied.

"That can't be your excuse for everything!!"

"Asami's correct," Hisao-sensei went on. "Under normal circumstances, the Hidden Leaf and the Grass have no quarrel with each other but if they were to see us escorting an enemy of theirs, things would quickly go south."

As I began to understand the situation I realized that meant Hotaru was in danger. I looked at her and she had the same worried expression as me. "So what now?" I asked.

Hisao-sensei had his chin resting on one hand. "I had hoped we could take the newly-rebuilt Kannabi Bridge to reach the Stone in faster time but now that that's out of the window our only choice is to go around the country of the Grass Village, which, unfortunately, will double our time."

"Better than starting another war..." Yuura murmured.

"So what're our options?" Asami asked.

Hisao-sensei raised two fingers. "We have two options. One: we can travel through the country of the Hidden Rain Village, or two: we go through the land of the Hidden Waterfall Village."

"The Rain doesn't sound like such a good idea," said Asami. "They've always been on bad terms with other Hidden Villages."

"Yeah, plus they also have an isolationist policy," Yuura supported before whining. "Man, this was supposed to be an easy mission."

"The Hidden Waterfall Village might be the better one," Hotaru voiced. "Not only is Tsuchigumo on good terms with them but they have no qualms with the Stone, Grass or Leaf, at least not from what I remember."

"I think she's right," said Asami.

"And," said Hisao-sensei, "if memory serves correct (which it always does in my case), it's a shorter distance to the Stone Village from there. So be it: we make for the country of the Hidden Waterfall."

We were about to move out when we noticed Hotaru wasn't even walking.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

She looked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry, it's all because of me that you're having to make so many changes to your plan. Inconveniencing yourself just to protect me. I feel like such a burden."

Looking at her, I knew something must have happened to her in the past. I didn't know what it was but I was determined to help her deal with it before this mission ended.

I gave her a nudge on her shoulder and a closed-eye grin. "Hey, don't even worry about it for a second, okay? After all, it's what heroes do."

She cleared her eyes of tears and smiled gingerly. "Alright, if you say so."

It's what Naruto would do.