The day and a half of travel through the Land of Claws went by unfortunately quickly for Baki's Genin team. They were on a tight schedule, so there was little time to enjoy the scenery that was so wonderfully different from the Hidden Sand. Ash personally hoped that Baki would allow them to take it easy after the mission itself was complete. Sure, they couldn't delay their return to the Sand for too long, but surely a day or two more would not harm the village's D-rank completion rate.
But for now, he did understand the need to reach the meeting point on time. They were a bunch of kids, and would probably be confronting Stone ninja that were much older than them. That would already leave a less than desirable impression, so there was no need to make matters worse by showing up late. Though now that he thought about it, Ash found it funny that his team had been sent on this mission at all. So since there was about ten minutes of travel left before they reached the crossroads that was their destination, Ash decided to question his sensei on the matter.
"Hey, Cyclops? I'm not complaining here, but why exactly are we going on this mission?"
The other three members of his troop cast curious looks at him, not expecting Ash to voice anything that sounded even remotely dissatisfied with leaving the Land of Wind for a while. Still, Baki was the one he had posed his question to, so it was Baki who answered. "Oh? Are you three not capable of delivering and receiving a sealed scroll or two?"
"Of course we are. But isn't the idea of meeting with any potentially hostile force to intimidate them? We may be making a few friendly ties with the Hidden Stone, but if they think we're weak because the village sent a bunch of kids to meet them, that could be pretty dangerous. Why didn't the old man send some Chunin for this, to keep up appearances if nothing else?"
Baki was genuinely impressed that Ash knew anything at all about the political nuances of a mission like this. He was even more impressed that the boy even cared, considering his lack of investment in the village as a whole. "It's a bit of a gamble on Lord Kazekage's part, really. On one hand, he's making a political jab at the Tsuchikage by sending Genin to perform a diplomatic mission, which is definitely insulting in its own way. The two of them have never been particularly close, so any time we do have an exchange like this, there's almost always partisan jabs at each side."
"How appropriately childish... isn't the old man worried that the Tsuchikage will get mad and do something reckless in retaliation? We couldn't afford a war caused by some petty insults."
"That's true, but the Stone isn't in the best economic state either. They've got more ninja than we do, but the Tsuchikage is more worried about increasing the stability of his own village than he is about attacking another just because its kage made an affront to his pride."
Feeling a little out of the loop and none too pleased about it, Temari decided to take part in the conversation as well. "What about the intimidation Ash was talking about? Won't they think we're lacking in manpower if kids as young as us are sent to meet with them?"
Baki mentally noted that his team was near their destination, but kept talking regardless. "Lord Kazekage hopes it will have the opposite effect. You three have not been Genin for long, but nevertheless you are some of the strongest ones in the village. You also have the highest potential to be far stronger. Lord Kazekage hopes that by showing off how strong even our low-ranking ninja are, he can maintain an image of strength when dealing with the Hidden Stone."
Kankuro cocked an eyebrow at the man. "Yeah, but if we're the only strong ones, doesn't that mean the Kazekage is just bluffing?"
"The enemy can only presume what they see, and if they only see you, they will have no reason to think the rest of our Genin are inferior: even if they are."
"Well yeah, but-"
Whatever counter Kankuro had planned on making, it was never heard, as a large explosion in the forest ahead drowned out his words. The blast was too far off to pose a threat to the Sand shinobi, but it still created a sizable plume of smoke that they could see from their current location. Besides, the explosion itself aside, they were close enough to hear the complaints of someone near it.
"Deidara, you idiot! Just because we got here early doesn't mean you should go and blow up half the forest!"
"Quit exaggerating, Kurotsuchi, it was hardly half! I'd need to use a bomb four times that size to do that!"
Ash cocked an eyebrow in the direction of the yelling. "I'm gonna take a guess here and say that was the Stone ninja we're supposed to be meeting. They sound fun."
Baki didn't quite agree with that sentiment, but had one of his own instead. "They don't sound as old as I thought they would either. Maybe the Tsuchikage thought to make the same move as our own?"
"Is politics between ninja villages entirely summed up by tricks and insults? No wonder none of us get along."
"Quit spouting nonsense and approach with caution. I don't want to startle whoever sets off explosions for fun over there."
With a collective nod from his team, Baki led the way to the site of the unexpected explosion, purposefully making noise to alert the ninja ahead to their presence. He had no idea how antsy this Stone ninja with the bombs was, but if he was anything like members of the Stone's Explosion Corps were rumored to be, then Baki didn't want to surprise him. Approaching him silently might get a bomb sent their way when they showed themselves, and Baki wasn't quite ready to get his Genin killed by a wayward blast.
Still, the Stone ninja were arguing with each other so loudly that it was likely that they did not hear the his team approach in the first place.
The fighting was so intense, that when Baki and his team landed in the forest clearing the Stone team was currently occupying, neither the short black haired nor the long blonde haired ninja noticed them at all. Only the big guy with the huge nose realized they were no longer alone.
"You guys, the Sand ninja are here. Stop fighting already, you're making us look bad."
The blonde Stone ninja clearly wasn't in the mood to stop fighting. "Piss off, Akatsuchi, I'm not stopping 'till Kurotsuchi admits how sublime that blast was!"
Confusion etched on her face, Temari leaned over and whispered to her brothers. "Why do I feel like these guys are problem children already?"
Both boys shrugged, content to watch the scene play out before them, which involved the dark haired Stone ninja punching her comrade in the face. "You piss off, Deidara! Do you want Akatsuchi to tell Gramps we made a bad impression on the Hidden Sand!?"
The boy named Deidara rubbed his face, half-obscured by his long hair, getting a little blood from his nose on the one red sleeve his uniform had. "What are we, five? Is Akatsuchi gonna go tattle to old man Tsuchikage, hm?"
He then turned to face the new arrivals. "I mean, geez, lighten up, Kurotsuchi: they're just a bunch of kids, yeah."
Kankuro leaned towards Ash to whisper something to him, but said it a little more loudly than he intended. "Which one of these two is the girl and the guy? I can't tell who's who."
The rotund Stone ninja barely managed to hold back a chuckle as he and his comrades overheard the remark. The other two looked quite irate over the gender confusion, but fortunately for Kankuro, Ash knew how to diffuse situations like this with relative ease. Since it was obvious that they had already been heard, he made no effort to whisper. "The blonde one's voice is too deep to be a girl, and the black haired one is too cute in the face to be a guy. Geez, Kankuro, if you get things confused that easily, your romantic future is pretty bleak."
"Hey, I was just joking, I could tell!"
Both Ash and Temari leveled a disbelieving glance at him, neither opting to point it out with words.
With Kankuro's momentary lapse in judgment overshadowed by Ash's subtle rescue, the dark-haired girl named Kurotsuchi smiled widely. "Well, at least someone around here knows how to talk about girls. Take notes, Deidara."
Her accosted teammate smirked back at her. "You should be mad that he had to refer to your face to tell you were a girl."
"W-what?! You bastard, you wanna die?!"
Baki sighed, feeling the full brunt of being the oldest individual here. These Stone ninja looked to be around fourteen or fifteen, but their maturity level was not much different from his own team. In fact, he'd almost say it was even lower. "Look, I deal with enough squabbling from my own team. Do you have the intel our villages agreed upon or not?"
The large guy, who appeared to have some semblance of professionalism, withdrew a sealed red scroll from a pouch on his back. "We have it, but the Tsuchikage has some new terms to discuss, so I can't hand it over right away."
Baki's face contorted into a scowl, not at all pleased with the news. "Did your kage not think to discuss these terms with Lord Kazekage before sending you? I am in no position to agree to new conditions on behalf of my village."
"These terms aren't about anything absolutely pivotal. Still, it'd be better to discuss them alone."
Suspicious, Baki glanced back at his Genin team. "Stay here and stay ready. Don't let your guard down."
Akatsuchi turned to his own comrades. "You guys stay here too, okay?"
The blonde Stone ninja crossed his arms, clearly in a rebellious mood, or perhaps just possessing an outright rebellious personality. "Who the hell made you the leader, hm?"
Kurotsuchi glared at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Gramps did, dumbass. Duh."
"Urk... fine, whatever. I don't care. We can wait here with the sand squirts, yeah."
Content that their respective teammates would behave themselves, Baki and Akatsuchi moved a ways off to discuss what they needed to, leaving Ash and his siblings to awkwardly eye the two older Stone ninja across from them. Temari had to admit that the blonde kinda looked like an older version of Ash, what with the long bangs covering one eye and all. That being said, she wasn't very happy with the comparison.
"Ash, theoretically speaking, how long would you grow your hair out before cutting it?"
"Not much longer than it is right now, I guess. Why?"
From across the small clearing, Deidara shook a fist at her, apparently not dense enough to miss the implication. "Yeah, you got a problem with my hair, hm!?"
"So what if I do? I just want my brother to actually look like a man when he's older."
Not one to aid Deidara when he was getting ribbed, Kurotsuchi couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, getting owned even by a girl that young? Don't you have anything to say for yourself, Deidara?"
"Hey, you're the one who said you liked my hair like this, aren't you?!"
"W-what are you talking about? I never said anything like that!"
"Yes you did! Seriously, just last week-"
The two red-clad ninja quickly descended into another squabble, much to Ash's own amusement, though Temari and Kankuro looked more dismayed than anything else. "You know Sis, these Stone ninja kinda remind me of you and Kankuro when you guys fight."
Temari scowled at the comparison. She wasn't like this Kurotsuchi girl, right? "Oh please, we're nothing like that-"
"And maybe if you'd spend more time paying attention to the people around you and less time on your precious art, you'd realize that there are some things more important than perfecting your hobby!"
Temari's scowl deepened as she heard Kurotsuchi speak words that sounded awfully similar to the kind she said when she was yelling at Kankuro about being too anti-social and working on puppets all the time. Far too similar...
Ash noticed that Deidara had dropped his little speech quips as his own voice gained intensity. What had started out as a squabble was escalating rather quickly. "Who the hell are you to tell me what my priorities should be? It's not like you would understand how important art is to an artist, right?!"
His siblings looking on with confusion, Ash realized that the solution to this problem was only obvious to him. Now it wasn't really his job to intervene in other people's problems, especially foreign ninja, but he kind of liked these Stone shinobi from a first impression point of view, so he'd make an exception this time. Besides, he had no idea how long Baki was going to be, and he didn't want to spend the entire time they were standing here listening to these two argue. That would just be irritating.
"Hey, if you two would stop yelling for a second, I have something to say to you."
Kurotsuchi and Deidara turned to face him simultaneously, both irritated to have been interrupted mid-rant. "What?!"
Temari leaned towards her brother to whisper in his ear. "Ash, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. So, you two Stone ninja: you guys willing to hear a little life advice?"
Naturally, the idea of receiving wisdom from a prepubescent child didn't sit well with the prideful Deidara. "What?! Hell no, you're just a kid!"
Ash cocked an unimpressed eyebrow at his blonde counterpart. "Yeah, but you're just a teenager."
With nothing to really refute that, Deidara fell silent, racking his brain for some sort of comeback as Kurotsuchi carried the conversation forward. "I don't know what you could possibly have to say considering you met us a whole five minutes ago, but what the heck, give it a shot."
"Five minutes was more than enough to read your relationship like a book."
Kurotsuchi folded her arms, a little irked that the life advice Ash wanted to give was apparently relationship advice. "What's with blonde boys and being cocky, anyway? You really think you can know anything about us just you saw us squabbling for a few minutes?"
"Well, I'm not saying I can read your minds or anything, or that I know everything. But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this: you're mad that your friend here spends so more time on his hobby-"
"It's not a hobby, it's art, yeah!"
"OK, more time on his 'art' than you. I mean, if that's not it, you shouldn't really care how much time he puts into it, right?"
Kurotsuchi wanted to say something to deny it, but she had to admit that this stranger wasn't off the mark. "W-well... sure, I guess..."
Ash turned his attention to his fellow, older blonde. "What do you do with the art you make? Is it on public display or something?"
"Of course not! There's no point in showing it to the masses that won't even appreciate its beauty, hm! And besides, why would I care what a bunch of uncultured people that know nothing about art think about my creations? There's no point at all in showing it to them!"
Ash nodded sagely, an action distinctly odd for someone so young. Maybe it was just that he was unraveling the problem in his head. Of course, if he was wrong, he would look like an idiot. But hey, he'd probably never see these guys again, and anything was better than listening to them screeching until Baki got back.
"I see. Does he ever show his art to you, Kurotsuchi?"
Immediately catching onto what Ash was saying, Kurotsuchi began to blush. "W-well... anytime he makes something new, he always shows me first before anyone else... if he shows anyone else at all..."
"So an artist shares something important to him with you. Something that he actively feels like is too good to bother showing to most people. Arrogance aside, you sound pretty important to this artist."
The two Stone ninja fell silent as they stared at Ash for a brief moment, before turning to stare at each other instead. Honestly, everyone in the area was surprised that this situation had occurred at all: who expected to get relationship counseling from a stranger while on a mission, and a kid no less? Either way, Kurotsuchi seemed more focused on her blonde teammate than anything else.
"D-Deidara... is that really the reason...?"
Said blonde now seemed a bit sheepish himself. "Well yeah, I mean, that's what I meant to say, hm. Geez, Kurotsuchi, you're so dense."
"Me?! You're the one that couldn't tell that a girl was into you!"
"Well that girl was the one that couldn't realize I was into her!"
Ash shook his head as the two started arguing again, though the tone was a lot different this time. Mission failed successfully, he supposed. "Personally, I think they were both kind of dense."
Temari looked at her youngest brother in disbelief, wondering where he had attained such a good grasp on relationships and romance at his extremely young age. More importantly, she was confused as to why the relationship of two strangers had even mattered enough to him to intervene on their behalf. Either way, she was pleasantly surprised by both his understanding and investment on the matter. It was a bit odd, but it was nice to see him actually care about something.
Kankuro, on the other hand, was pleased by the revelation for an entirely different reason. "So, Ash, you're going to be my future wingman for dates, right?"
"Sorry, Kankuro, but I'd only be able to set you up with a girl that already liked you. After all, if we were just meeting someone and the two of us were together, the girl would fall for me first, obviously."
"What?! What is it with you and Temari always putting me down?!"
"You just make it too easy, is all."
Having returned to their previous state of arguing and observing said argument, the ninja in the clearing did not wait very long for the return of their comrades. Baki and Akatsuchi made it back to their teammates with little delay, having apparently concluded their business. Baki's arrival brought Temari's focus back on the mission, more so than her brothers at any rate. "So, Sensei, what happened? What kind of deal did they try to make?"
While normally it would be none of their business, Baki decided it would be best to involve his students as much as possible. It was a learning experience, after all. "This exchange of data was made to foster some semblance of friendliness between the Sand and Stone. However, the Tsuchikage decided that some of the information he had promised about his Explosion Corps was too sensitive to share so early. Because this information was withheld, the Tsuchikage agreed to let us withdraw some of our own as well. We won't learn anything about the Explosion Corps, and they won't learn anything about our puppeteer unit. That's all."
Ash cocked a curious eyebrow at the man. "Wasn't it a little early to exchange military information like that anyway? Our puppet techniques are one of the village's most closely guarded secrets, why try and share it so readily?"
"That's just how bad the situation in the Hidden Sand is right now. Of the five great shinobi villages, we are currently the most vulnerable. We need to make strong allies quickly, even if it means taking some risks."
Kankuro eyed the Stone ninja that were discussing the exchange that had taken place with their own comrade. "So was this all? Is this mission over?"
Baki smirked as he pocketed the scroll he had received from Akatsuchi. "Of course it isn't over. We still have to get this scroll safely back to our village, don't we?"
Ash turned to his brother, his expression deadpan. "So yes, it's basically over."
"Yep."
Baki felt that every day he trained his students, he lost slightly more faith in them. What kind of ninja was he training? "Don't get lenient, you fools! Just because the risk of interception is low doesn't mean you should dismiss the possibility entirely!"
Temari, being the most responsible of the three children, took Baki's side in an instant. "That's right, you two. You should always be prepared for any possibility, whether or not it's probably going to happen."
Ash was too used to getting ganged up on to be mad about it, so he simply shrugged. "Sis, aren't you ever worried that you're becoming too much like Cyclops of all people? I mean, do you really want him to be your role model?"
"Well I... I mean... I'm not really becoming like him, am I?"
Both of her brothers nodded.
"Oh man, really? Is it really that bad?"
Another nod from both of them cemented the look of horror on Temari's face. "I... I'm becoming like Baki... oh..."
Baki scowled as he received the brunt of his students' disdain. Getting any real respect out of the boys had always been difficult, but at least Temari had usually respected him as her Sensei, if nothing else. Now those brothers of hers were turning even her against him. "Let's just get going before the three of you manage to deprive me of my already faltering sanity."
Baki leaped into the trees, his students sharing a smile between themselves before getting ready to follow their sensei.
"Hey, wait just a second!"
The Sand Genin turned to cast curious looks at Kurotsuchi, who was approaching them from across the clearing. All three of them tensed up a little, prepared for the worst, even though at this point Ash did not think she would do anything against them. Still, ninja from different villages weren't often engaging each other in any casual manner. Being wary was just natural. That was probably why Temari spoke up for all of them.
"What is it?"
Kurotsuchi stopped in front of Ash, a cheerful smile on her face. "OK, I gotta know: you really figured that out about us in like, five minutes? Was it that obvious?"
The young blonde from the Sand smirked. "The romantic tension between the two of you was practically suffocating me."
The older girl speaking to him frowned, though it was just because she could sense the hint of mockery. "Psh, alright, wise guy. Don't get too full of yourself, or I'll get second thoughts about thanking you for your impromptu therapy session. I hate to admit it, but me and Deidara probably would have taken another six months to acknowledge our feelings if left to our own devices... which is why I was wondering, would you mind staying in touch with me? I might need more advice on how to interpret that oaf's nonsense in the future."
To this, Ash cocked a genuinely confused eyebrow. "You... want to stay in touch with a nine year old Genin from another village over your romantic life? I mean, I'm not totally against the idea as objectively weird as it is, but isn't there someone in your village-"
"I was considered the most love-savvy girl in my graduating class."
"...we'll keep in touch."
With a smile, Kurotsuchi leaned down suddenly and placed a chaste kiss on Ash's cheek. For her, seemingly nothing of note at all. "Awesome. Thanks, squirt! Just address it to 'Kurotsuchi' and I should get any letters just fine. I mean, the intel division will definitely investigate any letters, but we should expect that for correspondence between ninja villages. Who should I address letters to if I send something your way?"
Though he was a little stunned by the sudden kiss, innocent though it may have been, Ash managed to give an answer. "Uh... it'll have to be addressed to 'Rōzeki' to actually reach me through official channels. But, uh, you can call me 'Ash' in the letter. That's what I go by with my friends."
"Friends, huh? Aren't you cheeky?"
Identifying her shameless grin, Ash smirked back in a similar manner. "Says the girl asking to be pen pals after like, five minutes."
"Kurotsuchi, we need to get going! We've got a long trip back to the Hidden Stone!"
With the conversation interrupted by her teammates, Kurotsuchi got back to her feet and turned on her heel, offering a wave before walking away. "Alright, fair enough. Nice meeting ya, Ash. Talk to you one of these days, alright?"
As the girl turned and returned to her team (and her new boyfriend), Kankuro and Temari stood silently in dumbfounded awe, while Ash gave a weak wave of his own in return. This wasn't exactly how he had expected to make his first friend outside of the Hidden Sand, but he certainly wasn't going to complain about it. None of the kids said anything at all until Baki returned to them.
"What the hell are you all doing? Hurry up!"
Without a word, Ash leaped into the trees, his siblings by his sides. They stayed silent for nearly a full minute as they hopped through the trees, until Kankuro finally took note of his brother's expression, which was very grating for the slightly older boy. It was no secret as to why his younger brother looked so pleased with himself. Kankuro couldn't help but feel irritated about it.
"Wipe that smug look off your face!"
Despite the demand, that smug look stayed cemented on Ash's face for at least another thirty minutes. Nothing either of his siblings could say could change that: not Kankuro's irritation at his brother getting a kiss from an older girl, or Temari's irritation for... well, the exact same thing.
---
The trip back to the Sand went by much more quickly than Ash would have liked. Leaving the Land of Claws, and its wonderful lack of sand, had been painful, especially since the return trip felt so much shorter than the original. Before he knew it, Ash was back in the daily routine of performing boring D-ranks and hating the sun. It had only been a week since the mission to the Land of Claws, and already he was growing sick of his home again.
For now though, Ash had managed to evade both work and training, and was sitting in one of the village's many indoor cafes: with the damned sun outside, there were very few outdoor establishments. Ash was not here to eat however, but rather to dodge Baki as he read Make-Out Paradise, which he had taken quite a liking to. He was too young to find pleasure in the perverted nature of the book, but aside from that, it did have a good plot, and the romance was very well-written. Contrary to popular belief, the book was not solely smut, though it did contain a fair amount of it.
Still, Ash wasn't really aware of the perverse reputation of the book he was reading: if he were, he probably would not have been perusing it with young Matsuri hovering right over his shoulder, reading it along with him.
"Ash, why do men and women touch each other like that? Couldn't they just say 'I love you?"
Ash flipped a page, cocking an eyebrow at the in-depth detail this section of the story was going into even as he answered the younger, short-haired brunette at his side. "I think it's because words can be said by anyone, and they aren't always true. It's probably special when you let someone touch you in a way you wouldn't let anyone else. But uh, don't quote me on that."
Matsuri peeked out at the boy she had considered the coolest role model to ever live for the past year or so. "So... they do it because they don't believe the other person when they say 'I love you'?"
Ash lowered the book for a moment as he thought about it. "I guess that might actually be true for some couples... but I don't think it's like that for people that really love and understand each other. At least, I hope not. But then, what do I know anyway? I'm nine."
Having lowered his copy of Make-Out Paradise, Ash could see that he was getting a number of disdainful looks from the other patrons in the establishment. He wasn't quite sure why they cared, but he got the feeling it was because of the book he was reading, especially when there was a little kid like Matsuri reading it with him. On one hand, Ash didn't really care about their opinion, but on the other, he knew that his reputation affected his siblings and the Kazekage as well. He was heavily associated with them, so if he earned a poor reputation, theirs would decline as well.
With that in mind, Ash marked the page he was on and tucked the orange book into an inner pocket of his clothing. "Let's talk about something else, Matsuri. You don't really plan on joining the Academy when you're old enough, do you?"
The small girl nodded, a cheerful and enthused smile plastered on her face. "Uh-huh. I'm gonna be a ninja just like you, Ash!"
Ash found that ironic, considering the fact that he despised being a ninja. That being true, he didn't really want to push that same career path on Matsuri. "Being a ninja isn't all that great, Matsuri. It's boring, and you have to do whatever other people tell you to do. It's really terrible."
"It's not terrible! You protect people and go on adventures with people you care about, and make new friends! That's all really good, right?"
The slightly older blonde cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "Who told you that garbage? I don't believe any of it for a second."
"Big sister Temari told me, after you guys got back from your mission."
Though he was still disgruntled about his own situation, Ash couldn't resist a smile at the mention of his sister brainwashing poor Matsuri here. If Temari had sunk her optimistic claws into the brown-haired girl, she was already too far gone for Ash change her beliefs. Temari had a way of beating her beliefs into you until it was impossible to deny them, though Ash was sure Matsuri had suffered no physical damage from his big sister. At this point there was no reason to counter Matsuri's words: besides, she was just a child, what point was there in debating the merits of shinobi life with her?
"Well if Sis said it, it must be true. You still have over a year before you're old enough to attend the Academy though, so enjoy being a kid while you can, Matsuri. You definitely don't get to later on."
"Is that why you're never happy, Ash? I haven't seen you really smile in a long time..."
While he would have normally brushed them off, Matsuri's words hit Ash much harder than he had expected them to. Never happy? Surely he was truly happy every once in awhile, or at the very least, he was pleased... or was he really losing all ability to smile or laugh? There was no reason Matsuri would lie to him, so his condition must have been real.
Unwilling to think of it any longer, Ash folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Don't be ridiculous, Matsuri. I'm happy right now, spending time with you. See?"
He smiled at his petite companion, genuinely pleased to see the joyous reaction he received from her. For now, the feeling was enough to put his unease to rest.
---
Weeks passed slowly in the Hidden Sand, especially since the scenery and routine never changed. In places like the Land of Fire, one could look at the trees and tell what season it was by the color of the leaves. In the Sand, you could only tell the time of year through a calendar, or if it rained twice in three months instead of once.
The terrible routine of D-rank missions and training didn't help either. Doing the same thing every day caused them all to blend together, and Ash felt like he wasn't even aging. The limbo his life was in right now made it feel like he was going to be stuck as a laboring Genin forever. Even now, as he had miraculously worked up the motivation to train out in the oasis he had claimed today, Ash found it hard to focus on improving anything at all.
His flames had grown slightly more condensed since he had first learned to use them, increasing their explosive power, but beyond that, Ash had made little progress with his abilities. If anything, he would admit that he was backsliding a little.
The mission to the Land of Claws had raised Ash's spirits for a brief period, but returning home had quickly reversed the effect. Fully aware that the potency of his flames depended on his emotional state of being, Ash was finding it increasingly difficult to fuel his powers with anything positive. Every day he practiced with his flames, more blue leaked into his attacks, unable to be repressed even by force. The soul crushing weight of literally beyond ten dozen D-rank missions in under a year had sapped away at his ability to be happy.
No matter how he tried to rationalize or accept the fact that he was nothing more than a labor slave to the Hidden Sand, Ash was always met with failure. He knew the many menial tasks he was assigned actually helped keep the village together, and he knew the village was receiving very few higher-level missions, never mind the fact that those were all taken by more experienced shinobi.
Ash knew his position in life right now was only logical, but that did nothing to make him hate it any less. In fact, his bitterness was twofold; not only had he not chosen this life for himself, having been essentially conscripted into service, but now that he was being forced to be a ninja he was literally wasting his life away carrying out repair jobs and catching stray birds. It was insulting on top of unjust. If he were going to be forced into a life of servitude, the least the Kazekage could have done was command him to carry out tasks with some actual meaning to them.
"Ash!"
The sound of Temari's voice from behind him cut Ash's training and thoughts short. Burying his hands in his pockets on reflex, the young shinobi turned to face his sister as she approached him from the edge of the oasis. For some reason he felt as though hiding his hands would also hide their inability to procure emerald flame.
"Hey, Sis. How'd you know I was out here?"
"Matsuri's friend Yukata said she saw you leaving the village. I'm surprised though, since you haven't really done a lot of voluntary training these past few months..."
"I figured I should try and keep my skills sharp to some extent, even if I apparently won't need them anytime soon. So what do you need?"
Temari planted a hand on her hip, naturally displeased with the words of choice. "Do I have to need something to come see how my little brother is doing?"
Ash leveled a suspicious glance at her. "No, but are you saying that you don't have any other reason at all?"
Defeated, Temari sighed as she withdrew a small scroll from the satchel at her hip. "Of course I have other reasons, but that wasn't really the point... anyway, a member of the Intel Corps stopped me on the way here and said this message came in for you. It was brought here by a hawk from the Hidden Stone, so they did check the scroll for traps, and they read through its contents for security reasons. Sorry if you feel like your privacy has been violated."
Ash held his hand out, and Temari tossed the scroll to him. To be honest, he was not angry for the precautions. It was unusual for shinobi from different villages to communicate like this unless they were plotting something or going rogue. Not to mention that the Hidden Stone and Sand fought each other quite vehemently during the first and second Great Ninja Wars.
"It's fine. I know that they need to check for risks. Besides, I doubt Kurotsuchi said anything unnecessary in this."
"You actually remember her name?"
"Of course I do, she kissed me. And she was pretty cute."
Still a little miffed about an older girl smooching on her brother, Temari crossed her arms and scowled. "Don't remind me... what does it say, anyway?"
Ash gave her a sly look, naturally not answering the question in a manner Temari desired. "Don't be rude, Sis, this letter isn't addressed to you."
"Don't give me that! As your big sister, it's my job to make sure nothing bad happens to you, especially in a case like this! A suspicious girl like that writing letters to a young boy like you? She... she could be a predator or something!"
"Well she did seem pretty into me at the end there..."
Temari's fearsome countenance intensified tenfold. "Ash! I'm serious here! I don't trust that Ku..Kuro... whatever her name is, I don't trust her at all!"
Ash rolled his eyes as he opened up the scroll that was addressed to him. "Sis, if Kurotsuchi really bothers you that much, I'll let you read this when I'm done, alright?"
"Fine, hurry up and read it then."
Having pacified his sister for now, Ash scanned the words on the parchment, noting that Kurotsuchi's handwriting had a peculiar slant to it: or maybe that was just her sloppy penmanship.
Hey, squirt! I've got no idea if this is getting to you. I mean, I can't really know until I get a message back, but I addressed it the way you told me to. Anyway, I'm not gonna talk about anything important in this message, since I don't even know if you'll get it. If you do though, you can just give your response to the hawk I sent, and it'll come back to the Stone without a problem. I know it's kinda hypocritical for me to say this, but don't take forever to get back to me, alright? This was mostly just to establish whether or not this whole thing was gonna work out. Anyway, get back to me! Deidara's already driving me nuts and I need your wisdom!
Finished reading the message, Ash tossed it back to Temari, who read it over with a harsh glare. "Are your child predator senses tingling, Sis?"
Temari's expression was reduced to a small frown as she decided that there was nothing to be concerned about. She rolled up the scroll and passed it back to her brother. "No, you jerk, they aren't. Geez, I was just worried..."
"I think you were just jealous."
"Shut up. Do you want to hear the other reason I'm here or not?"
Ash pocketed Kurotsuchi's message, already wondering how often he'd be able to communicate with her. "Depends; is it the kind of thing I'll actually be happy to hear?"
"We're getting another mission, as a team. It's officially a C-rank, but Sensei said that it's more like a B-rank."
While Ash normally would have been excited to receive another mission above D-rank, the idea of a B-ranked mission worried him, whether it was official or not. "They're going to send Genin on what's unofficially a B-rank mission? Shouldn't Chunin be attending to it?"
"We aren't the only ones going. A whole team of Jonin is going too, Baki included, and there'll be two Chunin squads as well."
Ash calculated the numbers in his head. Ranks aside, there were fourteen ninja being sent on a single mission. It was extremely obvious that something big was going down. "If they're sending that many Jonin, it sounds like we're gonna be a bit out of our depth, Sis."
"We're really just going as backup, and even then, only as a last resort."
"Somehow I get the feeling that last resort is gonna be necessary..."
Temari turned to head back to the village, motioning for Ash to follow her. "Well, with where we're going, it wouldn't be a surprise."
"And where would that be?"
"Well you of all people should be happy: the Land of Water's about as different from here as you can get."
Temari's somber jest aside, Ash's couldn't help but feel some fear at the mention of it. The Bloody Mist was not exactly his top vacation destination.