Tachibana and Maruboshi arrived at the village gates and weren't stopped this time. In fact, the guard left his post to rush at them when they came into view.
"Hiroki! Tsubasa! Haruto! Kaito! Daiki!" The guard checked all the boys before ringing the bell at the guard post to signal their return.
The doors of several houses opened up and people first peered through the gates, but once they noticed no threat they rushed towards the children that had returned.
Several parents collapsed to their knees as they hugged their children who were crying into their shoulders, relieved that they'd finally arrived home.
Tachibana noticed the heartbroken looks of the other parents. But before they could mistake or misunderstand anything, he spoke calmly, "I have some good news even if a little bit of it is disappointing."
The parents who weren't smiling immediately looked at Tachibana hanging on to his every word with hope, "Although these are the only kids we've found till now. We do know what happened with the other kids. It's just that the mission is currently above our pay grade. We'll quickly go back to Konoha to send a more capable group of shinobi who can handle the mission better."
The other parents leaned into their family for support and a few broke down too. Soon both the parents began thanking Tachibana and Maruboshi for helping them find their children. Their thankfulness reached a stage where the village head had to extract Maruboshi and Tachibana from the crowd.
"Thank you for helping our little village." The village head said with his head on the floor and tears in his eyes.
"It's alright. You don't have to be so thankful to us. We only did it because we were paid for the mission." Tachibana tried to refuse the kindness but the old man rightfully did not buy it and repeatedly thanked them until they excused themselves to go back to Konoha.
The village head tried to keep them in the village for a night to hold a celebratory feast, but Maruboshi explained how time was of the essence in this mission and they needed to get back to Konoha to help find the other kids.
Although reluctant, the village chief nodded and let them leave.
Back in Konoha Maruboshi told Tachibana to leave to rest and that he'd handle all of the aftermath. Tachibana nodded, thanked him and then left.
After taking a cold shower to relax his muscles, Tachibana soon collapsed into his bed. It was only early in the evening when they'd returned but Tachibana wasn't in any mood to study sealing right now. And so he drifted off into sleep under the warmth of his comforter.
In a deep dark sea, a tiny body struggled under the immense pressure the water was applying on him as he desperately tried to break through the surface.
The child felt its oxygen levels deplete as it tried to swim to the surface. This sudden storm had broken much of his confidence as he only hoped for a miracle to occur.
'Which way's up!?'
'Wasn't there a trick to figure out things like this!?'
'Arrgghghhhh!!! I should've paid more attention to Maruboshi's teachings!'
Trapped under water Tachibana did his best to figure out which way was up so that he could save his life.
'Why am I in the sea suddenly!? Wasn't I just in Konoha!? Did someone kidnap me? And did their boat capsize?'
Tachibana's throat tightened as he forced himself to hold his breath. His heart pounded against his chest due to the situation and the lack of oxygen. His head throbbed due to the confusion and his body began to ache.
Just as Tachibana felt he was going to drown he saw a series of lights in one direction.
He felt an instinctual connection to these colourful lights. As if they were a guiding beacon of hope in this tumultuous situation.
Tachibana quickly swam through the raging waters and just as he felt he could no longer continue, he broke through the surface. He greedily took in deep breaths as he assessed the situation around him.
And it felt worse.
He actually was in the sea. Although the salty water hadn't given him hope for it to be much else, Tachibana still hoped this was just an elaborate trick. But looking around the never-ending darkness of the sky and the ocean Tachibana felt weak and powerless.
'This storm…'
'I don't think I'll survive for even a few more minutes.'
As he lost hope, the colourful lights that had previously helped save him wrapped around him and gave him warmth.
'These lights…'
'What are they? Why are they helping me?'
And that was when it suddenly clicked in his head.
'I'm dreaming!'
As soon as Tachibana realised that, his eyes shot wide open and he woke up in his bed that had become a little wet because of his sweat.
'A nightmare?'
'No…that was my spiritual intuition warning me about something that's about to come.'
'Although I was in a stormy sea, I will have a way out as long as I don't give up hope. Or at least a way to protect myself.'
Tachibana stared out the window gazing at the dark sky dotted with stars and the giant moon.
'What a crazy world, even the moon was made by a human. Or at least a half-human.'
'....I can't lose hope.'
A few hours ago.
*knock* *knock*
"Come in."
Maruboshi opened the door and walked into the Hokage office, kneeling immediately to show his respect.
"Oh! You've finished your mission with Tachibana-kun, Kosuke? Tell me, how was it?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. Although a little hard for his first mission, it was a fine mission that tested all of Tachibana-san's abilities."
"Hard? Simple bandits were difficult to deal with?"
"No Hokage-sama. That is why I've rushed here after the completion of the mission."
Hiruzen's face took on a serious look as he sat up straight in his chair and asked quickly, "What happened?"
"Please read these Hokage-sama.", Maruboshi said and handed over a storage seal to Hiruzen.
Hiruzen took the seal, quickly extracted a few scrolls from it and began to read through them.
As he read further, his face fell. First, it was only the luster in his eyes but then it was also his elderly smile. Eventually, Hiruzen was left with a slightly angry face that had a prominent frown etched on it.
"I see. I understand. Were there any other strange conditions to report Kosuke?"
"..."
"Don't hesitate. I'm sure we only want what's in the best interests of the people living in the village.", Hiruzen said calmly.
"Well, it's about that strange divination technique Tachibana-san uses…" Maruboshi said, trailing off into silence.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he asked, "Have you figured out anything?"
"...Not exactly but it seems to be fairly accurate.", Maruboshi said explaining how Tachibana deduced that the bandits were actually Samurai from the land of iron and how he played a betting game of coin tossing and guessed the side it would land on.
"I see." Hiruzen nodded taking a puff out of his smoking pipe.
He stood up and walked to the window as he looked outward, at the village.
"Have you asked him about the technique Kosuke?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. But all I got in response was that all those who become a blessed of the Fool gain the ability to divine the future. They just have to pray to the Fool god and show their sincerity."
"..." Hiruzen frowned.
'Is he trying to hide a secret technique?'
'But why reveal it if he wants to keep it hidden?'
'Naive?'
'No…from Kosuke's words, he doesn't seem like the type to be naive.'
Hiruzen sat back in his chair as he ordered, "Kosuke you may leave. Thank you for completing this mission this time. I look forward to the development of your team. I will also assign the right team to look into these missing kids so you don't have to worry about them."
Maruboshi smiled and nodded, "Thank you Hokage-sama." before leaving the room.
As soon as the door closed, the grandfatherly smile on Hiruzen's face vanished. Instead, he looked towards the ceiling and spoke calmly, "Ask the ANBU team guarding Tachibana Rei to capture him without his knowledge. Bring him to Inoichi. Tell him, I want his report on everything about the boy."
The ANBU who were hiding in the ceiling heard Hiruzen's words and one of them immediately departed towards Tachibana's house.
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A/N : What do you think will happen?