Treason Is As Treason Does
They were speaking in quiet voices, but Hizencho's highly trained ears could pick up what they were saying. They meant to send a message to the elders of the ANBU's progress and ask when to spring the trap. What sort of trap could they mean?
"But are you sure five men will be enough for him? I barely saw a blur when he moved!" The gruff voice of the other man spoke, in a hushed tone.
"Fah! Fast as a blur? Well that won't help him against five highly trained special jounin rank elder council guards. They're trained alongside ANBU for crying out loud! They will be able to deal with him quicker than he will be able to keep up with. Just you wait and mark my words. This upstart ANBU will be dead by morning." The ANBU had heard all he needed to at this moment in time. As they continued along their way, he stuck to the shadows, following them to the guard's station. Hizencho tried to decide if he should kill the traitorous louts now, or simply allow them to believe they had one over on the ANBU. It would be hard to restrain himself, but as he reached the station where the two parted ways, he calmed down. Weasel mcgee went back towards the gates, oblivious to the spectre watching him from the shadows. While the other man went on his way towards the shopping district, possibly to meet with another traitor, or the men he was speaking of. Either way, Hizencho shook his head and slipped into the guard station.
It was empty, save for a cell at the back containing what could possibly have been a set of twin women. They looked up at the masked and armoured man with disdain as he approached. Looking between the both of them, he sighed behind his mask and withdrew a kunai from his pouch of tools. With a bit of jiggling and fiddling of the lock with the kunai, it was popped open, broken. The ANBU stood aside, holding the door as the two prisoners exited the cell and departed the guard station without a word of thanks. What was it with these criminals and being rude anyway? Would a show of gratitude be too much for someone who just saved you from a life in prison or possible death at the hands of an executioner. Closing the cell door, the ANBU made his way out of the guard tower and towards the gates. He had other plans in mind now that the treasonous louts were trying to stage a death for him. They would not get the best of this ANBU, not tonight. Not ever. They would all die before he would, as he had to protect his home and his country.
When he arrived at the gates, the weasel acted again as though he didn't know the armored and masked individual. He walked off after a blank stare, 'dropping' a scroll into the sand as he turned. It was to look as though he accidentally dropped it and the sketchy person who he'd been seen with had stolen it from the ground? Whatever, the ANBU had to finish these tasks so he could move on with what he needed to do. Getting information to the Kazekage about the events taking place on this night. Hizencho leaned down and took the scroll, walking towards the gates. The weasel called for them to be opened just enough to allow the ANBU passage. Once he was outside of the gates, they were closed once more and even had an extra two or three guards patrolling their wall. It seemed that some sort of security measures were taking place since the last twenty minutes and it didn't bode well for Hizencho. He tried not to think the worst, but he knew in this type of business, the worst was all you really could expect. Clutching the scroll in his fist, the ANBU continued on his way, aiming for a point as yet unknown out in the sands outside of his home village.
There was a long way of sand, and Hizencho would be able to tell at this point if anyone was following him by the sounds of the desert. Taking this time as he walked, the ANBU broke the seal on the scroll and opened it up, to read the message within. What he read made him stop in his tracks, glaring at the page with trembling hands. What was written was nothing short of detrimental and destructive to the village. There is no way that anyone could expect a Sunagakure no Sato ninja, let alone an ANBU of the village to do such a thing. Yet here it was, plain as day, in black and white. The light of the moon shone down upon the page, illuminating the words in their treasonous verbiage. The very nerve of the elders! At least Hizencho would have this for evidence as well. He rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it into the place between his armour and clothing once more, trekking on through the sands.
Task Three: The Outpost
Your final task is to enter the outpost far on the outskirts of the Kaze no Kuni, under the guise of someone else. You are then to find the leader of the outpost and get from him the troop movements, and documents listing the outpost locations as well as any pockets of Sunagakure no Sato's military. After which, you are to deliver this to a ninja at the border, likely wearing a cloak and mask. When you are finished you are to report straight back to us for your debriefing. Do not fail us, Hizencho. Your journey from the gate to the outpost will likely take a few hours. By the time you reach it and then take the specified items to the ninja at the border, it will be daybreak. It will behoove you to hurry and finish this and debrief before the Kazekage starts her day.
A few hours though? It would definitely be sun up before he returned to the village, even if he wasted the energy to run about. So, he supposed, why waste the energy? He didn't plan on taking the documents to the ninja waiting for him at the border in any case. He planned to take them and the evidence he had gathered straight to the Kazekage's office and ensure she got them with his notes. He would just have to make it back in one piece after stealing away with the documents he was on his way to receive. It seemed like the treason of the village elders was surely coming to a head. Hizencho wondered to himself as he ran if he would make it back in one piece after defying the will of the shadowy heads of a council. There was no way that he could allow this to continue on though. They wanted him to just hand over his village's troop movements to a ninja possibly from an enemy village? That would spell the death of them and Sunagakure no Sato as he knew it.
There was still a lot of time before he reached the outpost in question, the ANBU began to consider what he was going to do once he delivered the evidence. The elder council was sure to learn of his betraying them and turning the evidence over to the Kazekage. How would they react though? Would they send their little private army after him to try and eliminate him or would they send someone to poison him? Find the people he loved and kill them? There were too many factors to think of now and Hizencho couldn't really figure out what would happen to him if he did this.
When he did this. The only thing that he was certain on is that he would have to leave Sunagakure no Sato for a while to ensure the safety of his village and the people. He'd already gotten a travel request approved, he just hadn't done anything with it as of yet. It seemed as though after this all started to reach its climax, he would have to utilize that travel request until everything was settled out or until he found allies to aid his village.
Hizencho sighed at the thought of having to leave his home to protect those within. He knew though, if the treachery was deep enough that they'd try to have him eliminated, they would go after any close to him or even the Kazekage herself. He couldn't put his students, his leader, his best friend in danger simply because he wanted to stick around and be the hero. Him disappearing for a while would probably be best for the village as a whole. Noting that he would have to explain at least to Daraku what was going on, Hizencho made the decision that he would follow through after his mission was completed. Midori would obviously have to know, as she was the leader of Sunagakure no Sato. But outside of her, the only one strong enough to be given this knowledge and expected to have ample defense against the treason was Daraku. Letting the emotions of such a thing subside, the ANBU continued his seemingly endless trek through the sands.
Even in the dark, the winds of the sands in the wilderness of Kaze no kuni were harsh. Somewhat more so, given that at night the desert got much colder than one would expect of such terrain. No beasts were out at night, for the sheer cold of the destitute ecosystem was apparent. Wind whipped at his clothing and armour, making slight 'tink' noises off of his porcelain mask. Still he continued, feeling the sand even on his uncovered flesh, the whipping sand feeling like razors drawn upon skin. He hated being out here during the winds, especially hated being out here at night. It was not for fear that he hated it, but for the desolate landscape that surrounded his home. Miles and leagues of sand and nothingness were all around them, only somewhat dotted with outposts and other landmarks. Hizencho had personally been to most of them on missions or to deliver letters of missions directives, or sometimes he went there on patrols. The one he was heading to now was one that he hadn't actually visited, given the distance it was. It would have been easier and faster if he'd ridden a camel, but that posed more of a risk of being spotted and as such he couldn't afford that.
His feet hit the sand and sunk with each step, but with willpower alone he wrenched his legs up and then down in the steps. He was closer and closer to his goal with each footprint left in the sand, the wind cleaning it up after him as though a mother following her child with a broom. His existence out here was almost nothing more than a mirage, as he was leaving no trace of his movements. He cursed himself for not bringing his cloak, feeling the whipping winds upon his bare skin once more, the sting of the grains hitting his flesh. A large dune stood in his path, of which he started to scale it. It took a few minutes to reach the summit, but once he had, he saw the outpost but a meager thirty meters away. This mission was nearing its end, finally. The ANBU sighed in relief and slid down the dune gracefully, stopping at the bottom of the other side. He then broke into a bit of a run, trying to make his way quickly to the outpost so that he could get what he was doing over with. Thinking of who he would pretend to be was taxing, but with a little coaxing to his brain, he thought of the perfect person.
A poof of smoke as he ran and the ANBU was no more. Instead, running through the sand was the figure of a hunched over weasel of a man. This weasel reached the outpost, huffing and out of breath, wringing his tiny little hands. When he approached the guard post at the entrance of the outpost, they looked at him with a rather queer disdain. He waved and bowed to each of them in turn before he spoke in his nasally and treacherous voice.
"G-Good evening! I bring news from the Lady Kazekage's office! I need to speak to your superior immediately. It is of the utmost urgency and has to do with the security of our nation." An easy enough formulated lie, which seemed to convince these two as they looked between each other. They shrugged and allowed the weasel past, who immediately ran to the largest tent he could find.
He peeked into the tent sheepishly, looking around. No one was in sight, but his eyes went to slits warily. It was too easy, too suspicious. Sure enough when he stepped inside, the back of his shirt was grabbed and a kunai was pointed to spine. The weasel screeched a bit, though on the inside he knew he could take this unknown assailant. His head turned to meet the cold eye of an eye patch wearing older man who glared at him as though he were the devil.
"What is it, Ura? What have you come here for that was so important?!" Feeling the kunai in his back, Ura gulped and stammered out the same lie he'd told to the guards at the entrance, with more details as he was speaking to the leader of the outpost.
"Th-The lady Kazekage sent me! She needs the documents on troop movements and anything else on our troops around the wilderness of the village or the ninja at stations in other nations. It's a matter of national security! She believes someone is trying to abscond with these files and take them to the enemy!" The older man eyed him quiet, that cold, grey eye of his fixed with a permanent glare. The kunai arm slowly fell and the grip upon his shirt was released. The older man said nothing and walked across the tent to a desk in the middle, procuring three different scrolls, all sealed with the symbol of Sunagakure no Sato. After a few moments of staring from them to Ura, he picked them up and placed them into a knapsack. This sack was given to the weasel and with a wave of his hand, he was expected to leave. It seemed that Ura was trustworthy enough for such a task without much question. But perhaps he'd done this before? Hizencho would have to inquire about this at a later date and he placed the knapsack upon his back, the straps over his shoulders. Without a second thought, he ran out of the outpost, running past the entrance and heading straight back the way he came. There was no way that he could allow these to fall into the hands of another land. He'd die before he gave them up.
There was no question about it anymore. He was not going to continue on with the dirty work of the elder council. Running around and doing treasonous acts for them! It was deplorable and against everything he stood for! Hizencho glared ahead as he ran, pacing himself so that he would not run out of breath or pass out in the desert from over exertion. He'd need to make it back to the village as quickly as possible so that he would still have time to save the village if he could. This was in no way a small feat, as it seemed that all of this had been going on for a while. These tasks he was asked to do tonight seemed to be part of a large scale operation to break Sunagakure no sato more and more as time went on. But for what purpose? What was the endgame of those behind this treasonous plot and what would they gain from destroying their own village, their own nation? Too many questions and by far not enough answers.
The ANBU was completely unhappy with how everything was going. Every once in a while, he'd swear he heard something following him or see something to the side. But he couldn't be sure. It wasn't long before he allowed his transformation jutsu to expire, having his form become the original it had been. He just felt dirty being in the same form as such a treasonous lout, and felt as though he needed a shower after that. Back on task, he noticed that the trip was taking a bit longer than he initially thought it would. He figured the reason it would take so long was because he was going to have to go to the border and then the village originally. But it seemed as though he was barely making progress, for all his running. That had to be in his mind though, for as Hizencho stopped to catch his breath and stretch, he noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. In the distance of the direction he was headed, he could make out the walls that surrounded and protected the village hidden in the sand.
Perhaps though, 'protected', was a bad choice of words. As it only kept the dangerous of the outside at bay, it did nothing to combat the evils within. In fact, it actually protected those evils as well so that they would be able to continue their misdeeds without worry of outside interference. The ANBU clenched his fists and began to jog once more, his eyes on the sight of the village. He would need to hurry so that this would no longer be a reality. He would expose the council for their treason and eradicate them. The village would be saved and they would no longer have the protection of the walls and the village to hide behind to continue on with their treasonous and atrocious acts. This all resided on the point of whether or not the Kazekage actually believed him. This made him stop in his tracks and shake his head. She wasn't really too happy with him, especially from their last encounter. It would be hard to convince her that he was telling the truth if she didn't trust him due to a single occurrence. This was going to be much more difficult than he had originally thought. Syekren weighed his options as he stood there, a mere one hundred meters from the gates.
He'd have to do something soon, the sun was coming up and he would not be in a good place if he was seen around in his ANBU attire. Shadows of the village were not supposed to be seen or heard of. He was supposed to be something people 'knew a bit about' but had not actually seen. This existential crisis he was going through would have to wait. He started off again in a run, heading in a beeline for his village. He was starting to feel the effects of exerting so much effort in meeting a time frame. He could feel the sweat coming from his pores underneath his armour and mask, sighing at the thought of it. As he ran he'd reach into his space between armor and clothing, grabbing the evidence he'd collected earlier: the two task scrolls bearing the instructions from the elder council and the seal of their seats. He reached back and stuffed these into the mouth of the knapsack with the other bits of evidence so that they would not become soiled by the salty fluid that his body was producing currently.
It was not much longer and he was nearing the village itself. Instead of using the gates, he'd need to find another way into the village to get to the kage manse. The sun had been rising, but it was still relatively dark. So, as he approached the gates, he turned and ran towards the wall, pooling chakra into the soles of his feet. He jumped into the air, his first foot touching the wall, followed by another in front of that one. Due to the chakra he'd put into his feet, he was able to hold onto the wall and 'walk' up it. Though in this particular instance he was using supernatural walking practice to run straight up the wall face. It wasn't until he reached the top that he remembered that there were tunnels for the ANBU to use all over the village so that they would remain out of sight. Turning to his left, he'd spot what he was looking for: a slightly different colored slab of stone on the far reaches of the wall. The ANBU ran to it, crouching down to push upon a button that was in the shape of suna's symbol, which caused a mechanism to push the stone to the right. This opened up a passage way in the wall itself that Hizencho slipped down into, using another button inside to close off the entrance.
It was dark and dank, but the ANBU knew the way through these tunnels as though he himself had dug them. He went straight ahead, turning right and ignoring symbols on the walls that suggested the other was was right. At the end he found a square hole that he slipped down into, being put into a stone chute that went down to the base of the wall. Upon reaching the base on the inside, he crouched and pulled up a trapdoor, climbing into the hole and shutting the door behind him. In this hole were stairs that seemed to go down endlessly into the earth. This was the normal way for ANBU to make it around the village and the country, so it was nothing new that it seemed a daunting journey to one such as Hizencho. These tunnels were built so that one without the trained mind of an ANBU would be unable to find their way out, possibly going mad and dying of starvation or other traps within this expansive maze of sandstone and dirt.
This was where the real trials began. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned right, running along a corridor that seemed to stretch into infinity. The lighting gave it the look of being an unending, winding corridor. When in fact, this was a residual effect of charms and such placed around the area to make the user think they were advancing when they were not. Hizencho stopped and turned to the right, pressing on the wall of the corridor to open a panel and place his hand to a button, which would shut off the chakra flow and allow him to continue undeterred. After reaching the end of the corridor, which took a mere five minutes, the ANBU opened a second panel on his left and pressed that button, re-activating the security measures that were in place. With this done, he continued on his way, finding the path he needed to take through a maze of wrong turns and traps. Most of the traps were on the wrong paths, to make intruders believe they were heading the right way, which couldn't be further from the truth.
It would take twenty minutes to navigate the tunnels before the ANBU reached his final destination: a wall with no handles, buttons or anything. Just smooth sandstone. Hizencho pushed his hand to three different spots, finding what he was looking for, he ran his finger along the stone in the shape of a gourd, watching his trail come alight with blue chakra. Soon a door to his left opened, part of the wall sinking into the ground to do so. When he passed through, it closed once more, leaving him in a lone, four walled ten by ten room. In the middle of this room was a solitary ladder, which he proceeded to climb. After ten minutes of steady climbing, the ANBU reached the top and pushed a secret hatch open. He ended up in the office of the Kazekage, who had not seemed to have made it here just yet. Worrying not about this, the ANBU placed the knapsack from his back onto the floor underneath her desk where here legs would go. He'd then pull the notepad and pen from his gi pockets, flipping to the page his notes on the tasks were, only up to the second. He didn't write anything else on the tasks, but instead filled the rest of the bottom of the page with large lettering. After which, he'd click the pen and hide the tip, ripping out the page and setting it on the desk, with the pen on top of it. The pen was pointed up so if she looked down at it, she'd see the symbol of a fan with black flames in front of it. A play on the Uchiha clan symbol, and a certain uchiha's signature. It was of course a reference to Syekren. With that, he crossed the room, replacing the notepad in his pocket and exiting the office through the window.
Task One:
Impostor. Envelope had possible explosives. Legitimate man gave code question and real envelope. Definitely money, possibly from drug dealers. Elder council knows.
Rotund man. Unsurprised by sight of me. Possibly been doing this a while. Looked suspect but business looked like real bar. Gave question and knew phrase. Second package. Something else going on here.
Woman tried to seduce me. Possible prostitute. Girl gave question and knew code phrase. Gave last package. Elders taking money from whore house.
Told to meet at southwestern entrance. That's near the gates. Left with one package. Definitely money. Not sure what I'm needed to do. Nothing good.
Task Two:
Last envelope was a pay off to one "Uragirimono." Traitorous weasel who looked the other way to allow criminals into the village. Drug trade facilitated by migrants from another land bringing supplies.
Everything you need is at your feet, Lady Kazekage.
The sun was now higher in the sky and the ANBU could see that the day was starting. It was almost considered early morning at this point and while some darkness remained, most of it was light. Hizencho sighed and walked along the balcony, hefting himself over the railing to jump down onto another balcony. He had considered going to his quarters to collect his things, but he knew one ANBU he could trust would get them for him when the time was right. They'd arranged for a secret meeting place should anything happen. The ANBU, Janumba, would be doing his rounds soon and he'd always check this balcony for signs of trouble left by Hizencho. Hizencho, knowing this, would crouch down and arrange a pile of scrolls placed on a table for this reason into a specific order. There were five total, but two were set up above three others in a pyramid formation. These two had romaji for the words "Hung" and "Death", but they were of no consequence. The ANBU arranged the other three so the order would be "Never", "Ordain", and "Wit". The romaji was not what to focus on, instead it was the first letter of each that would be important. Spelling out the word "NOW", to tell Janumba that the worst had happened. His friend would see this on his route and collect Hizencho's belongings and take them to a specific cactus going towards the border of the land of wind. Hizencho would need to make it there quickly, should he wish to be ready for his friend and be free of any who might be pursuing before Janumba showed.
Instead of the tunnels this time, Hizencho took the roofs of the village buildings to reach his destination. He'd run and jump to get to where he was going, focused only on his destination and not on the journey. His mind was on the fact that he had delivered what he needed to and now he needed to get out so that he could figure out a plan to help his home. The ANBU's figure moved at great speed, making sure to stay in the shadows that still remained so the he could still have some semblance of anonymity. Something uneasy in his stomach told him he was being watched and every time he looked around, he could find nothing to justify this. Was it just paranoia getting to him? Or were those watching him more adept at hiding in plain sight than he gave them credit for? No, no time to think of that. For now he'd need to get to where he was going and then sort everything else out later. It would be a good ten minutes before his path finally brought him to the walls again. This time, on the opposite end of the village from the gates. The ninja jumped up from the roof to run up the wall using his supernatural walking practice once more. When he got near the top he leaped up, turning his body around mid-jump to look for signs of being followed. He could swear he saw the white of porcelain masks not far off, collecting in the shadows of a building's high rise before his feet hit the other side of the wall, stopping his fall. So they
were tailing him. He'd need to lead them towards his destination wihtout actually giving it up to them. Then he'd take care of them as quickly as possible. With no witnesses, hopefully.
Hizencho ran down the wall to then jump off at ten feet into the sand, rolling with the landing to not injure himself. He would deactivate his supernatural walking practice jutsu and make a beeline for the cactus towards the border. It would only take him twenty or so minutes to reach where he was going and from the sounds of the area around him, his pursuers were still on his tail. He was surprised they were not attacking just yet, as though they planned something else. It would not do him any good to worry about that right now, he'd have to concentrate and form a plan. He knew Janumba was capable, but he didn't want to force the ally of his into a battle that did not involve him in the slightest. It was safer for them both if Hizencho dealt with them by himself. Whether he do so without injury or death would be on him.
He'd turn his head back every so often to ensure that he was still being followed, and as he could see, he was. There were four of them, not the five he expected. All dressed in black, without the armor of ANBU but similar masks. They each had a tanto strapped to their backs behind the right shoulder, save for the one in the lead who had one to each shoulder. These were most likely the personal guards of the elder council and as such, soldiers of Sunagakure no sato. Hizencho was almost positive they were coming to end him and he knew that his Kazekage would be angry if he killed them, even should they not feel the same about killing him. It wasn't until he neared the cactus, the border in sight that he realized what was going on: they were following him until they reached the ninja who was now standing by the cactus, holding an peculiar looking sword from another land. Possibly a Khopesh? In any case, Hizencho stopped and looked from him to those who stopped behind him. The new adversary also had a mask on, but this looked more of an ancient sort, with a rebreather built in. Just
what was going on?
Hizencho looked around, getting into an uechi ryu karate stance, placing his feet square with his body and raising his hands in fists. He knew that this was going to be the climax of the following and the encounter. This was going to be where everything came to a fulmination. The ANBU looked back and forth between his adversaries, he had placed his body in such a way that he could see both sides, one on the right, four on the left. They all came forward and fanned out around him, in a bit of a circle, the others drawing their blades. The leader of the masked stalkers was in front of him, looking as though he was testing the weight of his blades in his hands, bouncing them up and down. A desert wind blew, and yet none of them moved just yet. It seemed as though each in turn was waiting for someone else to take the first attack before things popped off. Hizencho knew that he may have to make the first strike and the last so that he could have this finished up by the time his supplies reached the cactus. How to go about this though? They each had weapons and whatever else, while all he had was jutsu and his fists. He was sure they were able to use most of the jutsu he was taught as ANBU and if they had Suiton, most of what he
could do was useless. This was a problem.
Hizencho quietly activated the two tomoe sharingan behind his mask, his eyes darting back and forth between the players of this perilous game. He moved his body in a circle, looking around him at the five who had trapped him in a corner to fight for his life. Any normal ninja would be unable to resist such highly trained and skilled shinobi in combat like this when it started. Hizencho was no mere shinobi, he was an ANBU and an Uchiha, one of the strongest and proudest ninja to have the luck of being affiliated with the sand. There was one thing that bothered him above all other things though, and that was why he was supposed to deliver the military intel to a ninja from some foreign land that was indistinguishable on attire and weaponry alone.
He spoke in the voice of the kazekage through his mask, spite and anger in the otherwise angelic feminine voice.
"Why are you doing this? Why betray the sand to whoever this is? What do you have to gain? What do the elders have to gain?" He was angry and it was obvious why. But he was met with silence from the faces hidden by masks. They seemed to have made up their mind and would not be swayed. They would not speak to him and would not give him the time of day other than with the end of their blades. Soon, Hizencho thought, soon would be the time to strike and to take them all down. He would restrain himself to not kill them, but he knew he could not expect the same from such treasonous rats and their deplorable affiliate. Hizencho clenched his fists tighter and turned his body back to the obvious leader of the masks that followed him from the village, the affiliate mask on the leader's right. The leader had two tanto, one for each hand. Those did not require any mastery over a bukijutsu type to use and as such were incredibly useful for ANBU and quite versatile. If Hizencho could pry one or both from that villainous scum's hands, he would have a fighting chance. With his focus on the leader, he was sure he would sustain injuries from the rest. He'd have to deal with it though, as it was his only chance of evening the playing field. He'd need to traverse the flames to come out reborn. Well, really he'd just need to put himself in danger to have a fighting chance. This was it. He had his plan. Now it was time to put it to work.
He May Be Cornered, But They Were The Ones In Danger
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