Previously...


"Okay, let's do it. When do we set off?"
"Well if you're ready, we should go now." It was the first time that Gi had spoke, and he sounded oddly like a normal person, despite their dramatic meeting last night.
"Gi will show you the way, he is my capable right hand man." Rat said as Gi repacked the map. Fukai nodded and followed the boy as he walked to the door. Before he opened it, he turned to Fukai.
"You go first, exit through the south gate and start traveling down the main path, I'll meet up with you on the other side." Fukai was surprised but quickly realised that this was neccesary. He, as a high ranked ninja was pretty much allowed to come and go as he pleased but some unkown person would be recorded and investigated, even if they were let through. But it seemed like this wasn't much of an issue for Gi. He would do as the boy suggested, exiting the non descript building and making his way to the southern gate.

He walked over to the checkpoint at the gate, smiling and briefly chatting with them before leaving, starting down the main southern road. This road, if you followed it, would take you all the way south where it would branch out into two paths, one to the wind country and the other to the rain country. But where they were headed today was well off the beaten path. It was twenty minutes before he spotted Gi, waiting in a shady corner of a rocky outcrop. His cap was once again pulled over his eyes, it seemed that this was just his natural clothing inclination, maybe similar to the way Fukai always wore his scarf. He headed over to meet him, only to find the boy starting to walk off the path ahead of him. Hurrying a little to keep up, the silver haired shinobi turned to Gi. "So what info do we have to go on other than it's general area?"
"Not much, just a few shady figures coming and going. I have scouted this place before and have a fair idea of where the entrance is, but Rat never gave me clearance to get close enough."
"He is protective of you." Fukai stated, rather than asking. It seemed like a curious relationship, one that was born out of mutual need yet had a stronger bond than most shinobi with their own masters.
"Rat has done a lot for me, as well as many others. He is a great and kind man. He has put a lot of faith in you, I can only hope that you don't let him down." The boy wasn't looking at him, but rather at the path ahead. He seemed quite sincere, and Fukai started to trust the pair. He had a great nose for people and he couldn't smell much about the hat wearing kid or the ugly man.

Gi took the lead, walking over mountainous terrain and avoiding every path. They were cutting straight through the wilderness. It was another two hours of hard slog before the boy stopped. The older male's back was damp with perspiration.
"It will be somewhere near here." Looking out at the surroundings, you wouldn't know that there was anything different with this patch of barren landscape compared to any of the other countless ones. The fact that Gi had been able to narrow it down this much was amazing. No doubt it was the product of many days of work. Then the ninja realised that this meant that they had been on this case for a while now. The attack the previous night probably gave Rat enough information to make a move. And here Fukai was, doing the dirty work.
"How do you suggest that we begin?" The older male asked the boy as he seemed to have been on top of things up until now.
"Well, splitting up would be faster but I need you as my bodyguard. Chances are that if they don't already know that we are coming then they will soon." Gi looked up at him, the small blue eyes shining. Fukai nodded. He had the same general feeling about this venture.
"How about, you focus on location and I'll cover the security?"
"Mhm" The kid agreed. "I'll start heading this way, so that we can remain sheltered as long as possible..."

So Fukai followed the boy as he wound himself around the countryside. The area was very secluded, having hills and boulders everywhere. To hide in these lands would be quite easy. Fukai kept alert, scanning the long distance and short distance, keeping his senses at full alert for any anomalies. In small, high risk places, Fukai would go first and clear the area for Gi. He started thinking that it would be impossible, a needle in a haystack after another hour. But as the sun started descending down the sky and signaling the start of the afternoon, they were attacked.

Ten seconds earlier, Gi had chirped up. It looks like this is the place. His tone was excited, barely managing to hush it. Fukai hurried over, following him down a narrow stretch and turning the corner into a dead end with a small tunnel poking out of the side of the rock. He was right, there actually was something here. Fukai heard a scraping noise behind them, whipping around while drawing his weapon to see a huge boulder being leveraged out of it's spot to fall into the path that they had just came, blocking the exit. There was also a few hooded figures with loaded crossbows, pointing them down at the two young men. Fukai shouted in alarm, and Gi had since become aware of the attack. They were in imminent danger of being skewered with bolts. What's more, a second boulder was being pushed to cover the tunnel exit from above. There was no chance of scaling the walls and attempting to fight, this trap was too well set and he would never get the chance.

"This way!" Gi called out as he ran for the tunnel. But Fukai had to worry about the crossbowmen that had their sights trained on them. Also the boulder was almost at the edge, and was only a second away from coming down. He dashed for the hole behind the boy. releasing fuuton chakra from the pores on his back to accelerate himself forwards. He also raised his staff and channeled fuuton around it to create a large wall of wind. The bolts were released and sped towards their targets. Fukai covered himself with the makeshift shield and continued sprinting. The bolts smacked against the wind shield with momentum, straining the ligaments in the elbow that was holding the staff. They were still not in the clear, the boy would make it through the hole before the boulder came down, but that left Fukai out in the death trap. Crossbows took a while to reload so hopefully he would have a little space to do something. The boy was in and the boulder started to fall. Fukai underarm threw his staff so it skidded down underneath the rocks path. He then ran at the door, jumped and skid on his bum. The rock came down, hitting the wind barrier and stopped, allowing Fukai to slip underneath before pulling his staff through while releasing the technique. The boulder fell the last metre and came to a stop. It looked like they were sealed away from those people for now, but where were they now?

[1526]
~exit~
End Mission