To a Neighboring Nation, A Nation of Friends

I walked along the path leading out of the forest of the land of the vines, leading towards the land of the snakes. With my newly-smelted corundum axe strapped to my back, I set out with one goal in mind. I was leaving to pay a visit to the Kage of Arashigakure, to propose a gift of friendship and peace, as well as swear allegiance. At my back, following me across the path, was my group of genin students. My intentions for taking them was to simply show them how the diplomatic part of our village worked. If they were to later become ANBU for me, as I had planned for them later in their training, they needed to grasp how this process worked. I felt that this would be a great experience for them, to say the least. The journey was a long one, in fact. It was a long walk, taking several days. We walked in the daytime, and rested at night, covering large amounts of ground in the amount of a few days. Today, on the third night, we are nearing extremely close to Arashigakure, and should arrive in the coming days. Continued travel should prove it.

Ai was tired. Her brown hair hung loose in her face as she had lost her ribbons and hair ties a few days ago in the thick underbrush they moved through. Her deep brown eyes were still bright and happy, but her face showed the evidence of travel in the dirt smudges that covered it. They had been traveling for 3 days toward Arashigakure and they were hoping that they would be there in the morning. As they prepared camp for the night, Ai didn't even bother preparing her tent. She threw her sleeping back down on the ground and crawled into it, her face turned toward the center of the camp with her eyes still looking around at the group.

"We are going to be there tomorrow right?" Ai had not been complaining during the entire trip. As a matter of fact, she had made it a point to stay happy and chipper to try to alleviate any frustration within the group. Now though, she was afraid her own fatigue was showing through her tone.

It was no secret that Ai was the least physically gifted of the group, but she refused to give in to her base urges to ask for extra rest. Besides, she thought to herself, this will help me get better in the long run for sure."

I walked out of the village with my kage and the ever so beautiful Ai. Skar said something about going to go visit our allies in the storm village which I am completely fine with, more chances to sample exotic cuisine is how I look at it. I was wearing my usual stuff, and we have been travelling for a few days now. It was physically draining but I used the best of my knowledge in cooking for us to eat healthy while on the road . I asked the kage, in agreement with Ai, "Hopefully we will, I'm running short on supplies and unless you would like to start being my guinea pigs for random mixtures of plants and soils that may taste good we better hurry." I laughed at my half joke and began to again juggle my knives out of boredom. I would really have to start scrounging for ingredients soon if we didn't but the dirt thing was a joke, I would never force people to resort to eating something so low grade even in desperate situations like this.

Katsumoto was walking down the trail. He needed time alone, his mission with the Kage was still on his mind and he kept flashing back to it, then he flashed back to his family being murdered in the great blaze, and the war his men futilely fought to try to preserve their way of life and their country. Looking in the tree's though brought Katsumoto a feeling of peace. Tree's, especially cherry blossoms were one of his greatest treasures. The memories of him holding his little girl on his shoulders while she swinged her arms around like bird while his wife and son had sat right under his favorite tree. The new one that had just started sprouting bringing forth new life. His family was so beautiful...

When he got his senses back it was dark, and he heard voices off to the side of the trail. Going to investigate Katsumoto heard two voices that he recognized and another that sounded completely new. Getting closer he saw that he was right. It was Ai and Skar, both of whom were laying around a campfire, and there was a new person too.

"Hello, don't be startled. I just noticed you guys were out here. Where are you all going if you don't mind me asking?"

So far on my adventures with Ai Takahashi and Zenshi Kenko, I have grown very close to the young ninja. I find a soft spot in my heart growing for them, and I don't know whether or not it's a bad thing. I value their input on everything we do as a group, and I think of them as my own younger siblings. I find myself with a protective feeling. I would not let anything happen to either one of them. Ai, with her kindness and dedication, has caused me to open a spot of my heart that has been locked away for over 10 years. I was beginning to feel love again. Not romantic love, no, but her kindness and her happiness have blessed me with the ability to take a step back, and look at the two gifted students I have found. I am very proud of her. Zenshi has also awakened something in me that has been lost for some amount of years. I doubt I have laughed so much in my entire life. He has helped me to discover my sense of humor. The sense of humor I never knew I even had. With his sarcastic remarks being thrown around left and right, I have learned that there is a lot to laugh about in this world, a lot to have fun with. That was a privilege that I was voided of long ago. The samurai from my previous adventures has joined us as well by now. He arrived very unexpectedly, but we accepted him into the journey to Arashigakure.

In my travels with these two, I can only hope that I can teach them as much as they are teaching me.

On the horizon, I can see the village.

Ai shuffled along the road, her toes dragging in the dirt as she walked. She wasn't exhausted, but boredom and slight fatigue had begun to take their toll. A group of passing deer gave some relief to the monotony of the journey and Ai almost fell behind as she watched them graze casually just off the path on which they were traveling. A small group of flowers along the road gave a hint of fragrance to the air, and as Ai breathed it in, began to realize she enjoyed traveling out here despite the blisters on her feet and the cramps in her legs. The group she was with was lively and fun. The samurai, Toku, had joined them at their last camp and she was happy about that. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt she liked this man a lot. Not necessarily romantic feelings, but he gave off an aura of trust and loyalty to her. Her other companion, Zenshi, made her laugh. He seemed to always be thinking about food which surprised her since he was so in shape. How did he eat so much and stay so fit, she often wondered. The two of them, plus the Kage, made Ai feel safe on this journey. Safe.... and a little insecure. If they got into trouble, would she put them in danger as the weakest link? If one of them were hurt, would she be able to actually help? These questions began to plague the young genin as they walked on.

As she looked ahead and saw the village on the horizon, her heart leapt a little. Soon they'd be at their destination and have some time to rest and maybe even train. Ai knew that if she wanted to NOT be the weakest link of this group, she would have to take her training very seriously. She would not be able to fail.

I continued walking with the two, and the new addition of the samurai looking character that had began stalking us, while juggling my knives and whistling a happy tune. I liked these people, Skar was in short, fun to screw with. I knew he was the kage of the village but he always seemed open to his sarcastic remarks and even though I constantly felt the fist of justice because of it I loved the game "Poke the bear." so I continue to play with him to this day. All kidding aside he was a competent kage, he reminds me a lot of my father back at the Castile de Kenko minus the constant drive to pass me up in the art of cooking. Then there was Ai, sweet beautiful Ai. She was a very quiet girl and I constantly try to get her out of her shell by joking with her and hitting on her but as of now I haven't had any luck, but I'm a persistent little bastard so I will continue to try. The shyness she has clearly did not effect the way she behaved in combat after her performance in our mission I realized that she probably isn't the best chick to anger, but I had no intention of doing so, I've actually made it one of my primary focuses to make sure she is protected. I pity any bastard that tries to hurt anyone in my squad for it's likely that they'll end up in a piping hot dish of 'Creme de Douchebag' after I'm finished with them.

The village was on the horizon so I caught my knives and but them in their carriers on my waist and yelled out "Alrighty! There's the village, whose up for a nice homemade dinner when we get there?" I would laugh and then begin to throw around nice dishes I could make in my head, throwing in a romantic twist for Ai's if possible, as I continued to walk with my squad towards the Storm village.

Arriving at Arashigakure was an experience I will never forget. It has been years since I've been here. At one time, I called this my home. Memories of growing up here haunted me like the apparitions of some childish tale of horror. Bloodstained images of my father appeared in my mind, images of him falling to my feet, dead with a kunai in his neck. My kunai. It was a gruesomely dramatic thought that I did not want to pander further, so I kept moving. It was the night before we arrived, and I slept like an infant in a warm crib. Nightmares plagued my mind, but I pushed them aside. I wanted to welcome this village as my friend, not as a nightmare. It would hopefully be an enjoyable experience staying here, as our stay would be brief. I intended to meet the most recent Kage of Arashigakure, the famous Takeshi, and form a solid allegiance with him. As I walked through the entrance to the village the next morning, I had a good feeling that everything would go as it should. But, fate always has a funny way of intervening on adventure. What would happen would most likely not be as planned, but in the unpredictable game of life, all we can do is play along.

Ai was sure there visit here in Arashigakure would be brief, but none-the-less she was looking forward to a chance to relax. She marveled at the village as they came its entrance. This was the first time she had ever left her village and the excitement of the new experience was quickly replacing the fatigue she had felt earlier. Looking around at the rest of her party, she wasn't quite sure if they were feeling the same way as her though. The others still seemed to have most of their energy and Skar seemed to be lost in thought for a while. Still, the brown eyed girl adopted a smile and walked tall in an effort to greet the citizens of the village as best she could. Afterall, she thought, we are kind of like ambassadors to this village. I mean, how many of them have ever left here anyway? We could be the first from our village they've ever met! She determined that she would make sure that anyone she met here in Arashigakure would have a favorable impression of the ninja from Morigakure by the time they left, or, at the least, a favorable impression of herself!

Katsumoto was in a new land, it was strange yet...inviting. Looking towards the village and the culture all around gave Katsumoto a great feeling. It was funny but the man who loved to juggle his knives was a cook. And Ai seemed entranced by everything, the innocence of it all gave Katsumoto hope in the human race for the future. Skar seemed to be in deep thought and from all of the context clues it would seem that Skar was going to see the Kage of this village for an important reason. Staying right outside Katsumoto was trying to think of his next move should I go to the market, follow Ai? Maybe the cook so I can get to know him? Or Skar if he'd allow it? oh the choices he could make.

As he was thinking Katsumoto decided that he'd just follow the Ai and Zenshi because Skar's business with a Kage was his own. Katsumoto decided to make it his duty to protect Ai and Zenshi and if needed Skar's life as well. If anything was going to happen Katsumoto would be ready for it. "What a nice looking village, I think I will go to the blacksmith as soon as we get there."

Walking into the village Katsumoto accompanied Ai and Zenshi immediately. These people though citizens of this city, were people he didn't know and Katsumoto wanted to be sure that Ai and Zenshi were going to have no problems. As they walked through the nice industrial village Katsumoto kept an eye on the horizon for anything suspicious. Maybe he was too cautious, maybe he was a bit too pessimistic but it was better to be safe then sorry. "Ok Ai, Zenshi, I will lead. You guys stay behind me and if anything happens or looks suspicious point it out to me. Ok?" Katsumoto then walked behind Skar as they all headed to the Castle where Katsumoto would see them off. Whatever happened Katsumoto would not let his honor be smeared by leaving them by themselves in a new village. Especially when they showed him so much kindness.

As they walked through Katsumoto kept on looking side to side, up and down the alley's we passed. Katsumoto relaxed when he saw how Ai was cheerful and how Zenshi looked totally energetic. "Well then, let me buy us all a quick bite to eat. I am thinking of a nice Ramen place. Perhaps they also have good egg rolls?