It was the second day after the plan had been initiated, and I was spending the late morning packing all my clothes. There wasn’t much details on the Land of Demons or the route to get there so I asked Diana; after she split out of the shadow of my door. I really need to set up some boundaries for her… She explained that the land of demons was home to a number of different climates environments, as well as a much of other things that went over my head. When I finally asked her to narrow it down Diana sighed and said just to pack for long term land travel and aquatics, because we were going to take the a route through the land of lightning and make a trip by ocean to the other continent and walk from there to her family’s home. I quirked my head and pulled out B-ordis’ Opera House cube, before expanding it to it’s full size. 


“B-ordis, project a map of the known world.” Without much of his usual mechanic back-talk, his screen displayed a somewhat detailed map of, not just the five great nations, but everything. A breath taking sight of just how big this world was, and how small the portions I’ve been to make up that whole. “So can you trace the path we’re taking?” Diana rolled her head but did so anyways, pathing her slender covered fingers through the Land of Fire and along the coast of the land of Lightning before crossing over the ocean at the point jutting out the most from the continent, and making a trail towards the shores of the Land of Honey, curving around the Land of Sky, and Brew. Finally cutting through the Land of Valleys and into the heart of the Land of Demons. “See, why go through that massive ocean gap, the currents and storms there will set us back longer than… this here.” I gestured towards the Land of Noodles. “See this part of the Land of Fire that juts out at the bottom? It points directly into the Land of Water, and there’s a number of islands we could use to stay out of the village and keep a low profile. Then cross over from the Land of Valleys, pass towards the Land of Honey, around the Land of Marshes then through the Land of Valleys and into the Land of Demons. Or if you want, through the Land of Marsh. Easy.” Diana looked unimpressed by my logic and pressed a dainty hand to her temples. “Ha… Let me make this easy for you.” She pointed back to her route. “Ha. Over on this route, we’re sneaking on a luxury cruise to the Land of Honey during the one month period of calm in that area. Ha. That’s how I got here in the first place. Ha. So, wilderness road through multiple countries and climates, or a oceanic cruise that will only take us roughly one and a half or two weeks? Ha. Time is of the essence, but wearing ourselves out on a journey that’s already going to take a three weeks at bare minimum is only going to hurt the chances of the mission suceeding. Ha. Now let’s see your wardrobe.” Diana casually said as she waltzed around the cube to my closet. “Woah! B-ordis shrink down again, hey Diana! What do you need to go through my clothes for?!” I tried to get in front of her and stop this invasion of privacy but she was already throwing my things to the floor, before absentmindedly grabbing something from the bottom corner. Oh no.


“Ha. Out of all the things you have here, this, is the one thing worth bringing with you; though you ought to upgrade, too plain these days.” She then turned towards the rest of Ha. Rest are garbarge for journey. Ha. Why do you have ten of the same outfit?” Diana, with her no-fucks-given attitude, tossed the eight inch long dildo towards me. As I caught it gracefully with one hand I blushed shamefully. There really wasn’t anything more embarassing than having a girl look through your closet, find your.. Toys, and then critique both your taste in fashion and entertainment. “There’s nothing wrong with my clothes..” Diana then decorperealiated into shadows, her emotionless mask looked my way. “Ha. Oh! Ha. Alright. Ha. So long as you dress for the warm forests and cold mountains in the Land of Demons, you’ll be fine I guess. Ha. But I guess you’d just have to miss out on the swim stops that’ll be at the cruise. A friend of your by the name of Takao has also shown interest in joining our operation, just as a heads up.” My eyes widened, Takao was thinking on coming with us? Diana’s shadowy form began to melt into the floor, “Hold on-”


“Ha. Good luck packing.”



Then they completely vanished into under the bed. “You’re not still here are you?” I asked, half expecting a ‘Ha’ to answer back, but even if they were they had the sense to stay silent. Wasn’t this great? Holding the toy in my hand I fell onto the bed. Speaking of Takao, there was something that I needed to talk to him about.. “But after I finish packing..” I sighed, getting back to sorting my clothes out. But after a few hours of sorting and organizing everything I'd need I gave up on that idea.

~~~

I was relaxing in the newly refurbished back room, working on last minute adjustments to my items. The umbrella was easy enough, the design that Alfa used was advanced yet simple. So not much change was needed to the structure of mechanics, moreso just general maintenance which I was more than happy to do. It was definitely the G.A.S.T.E.R puppet that was the real bulk of hard work, that and the Pinwheel. It was hard to work on that without losing a finger, because- wow! That's sharp. While I cleaned the blood from my fingers a voice called from the outside.

"Hey Kisei, since it's our last day in Konoha for a while is there any place you want to eat for dinner?" Shouto called from the counter. "That ramen place you love is still open!" Ah, Ichiraku ramen. A still-breathing cultural relic of Konoha. Famous for the rich flavour of their food and the standard of quality they carried, something I will personally defend with my life. Thinking back to all the times the relaxing ramen restaurant had helped me, I couldn't help a soft smile.

"Sure thing. Just give me a few minutes to get changed." I yelled back. 'Seriously, the amount of grease on these is criminal.'

After sealing my work away in the lab and changing into something decent, both me and Shouto headed out into the darkened streets of the hidden leaf. Under the protection of my umbrella of course. Shouto scoffed at the gesture but didn't say anything, he already knew what this umbrella meant to me. Though I don't doubt it was an odd sight to see two former Sunagakure ninja walking down the street at night with an umbrella. But screw those people who thought that. During the walk I allowed my mind to wander. Thinking about the long journey. 'A month at the very least huh?' and that was just getting there, the trip back wouldn't be as easy, as their group of five would be a group of six; with Jusuo's dad in tow. More than likely they'd have to split the group up when they made the round trip.

"You're thinking out loud again Kisei." Shouto said. When I looked towards him his sideways glance met my gaze. My mouth quirked slightly. I've been doing that a lot lately. "Yeah, you also do that in your sleep. Ever notice it?" A light flush bloomed across my cheeks when I realized I probably said part of that out loud as well. "I, um, don't think I was awake for that." The sumiko shrugged, "Wasn't serious there bro."

To which I could only mister a quiet "Oh." 'Perhaps I should have come here alone'.