Chapter 179: Ghosts in the Mist (Part-1) [Hitoshi’s Here Too: Silent, Supportive, Suffering]

Chapter 179 - Ghosts in the Mist (Part-1) [Hitoshi’s Here Too: Silent, Supportive, Suffering] 2 months later. Yugao's POV As I walk through the ANBU headquarters, I catch myself humming that weird tune Ren always hums, it's become all too familiar now. It's been a while since I last saw him; maybe I should find some time to check in. But I guess he's been busy this whole time. Some of the squads talk about him, and they say he's been taking missions nonstop. I hope he's not pushing himself too much, though knowing him, that ball of energy probably wouldn't get tired no matter what. I've been walking for a while now, and soon I reach my destination. I knock on the door and step inside when I hear Senpai's voice, "Come in." His office is so plain, not at all what you'd expect for an ANBU captain. He should at least hang up some exotic swords, right? Especially since he's such a good swordsman. Senpai looks at me, his mask set aside so his eyes are in full view. There's something I always find strange about him. It's not the Sharingan, it's that weird caution he always seems to have around me. It's been this way since I joined ANBU. And it's not just with me, he always reacts weirdly whenever I mention Ren or Hitoshi too. Especially Ren. Maybe they've got some bad memories. I shrug it off and look at him. "Is it a new mission, Senpai?" He nods. "Yes. Weasel and Tenzo should be here soon. I'll brief you all together." Right on cue, there's another knock at the door, and in come my two teammates. Weasel is Itachi-kun. We didn't really talk much before, but since he's Ren's friend, it's easier to get along with him now. The other is Tenzo-san, he's kind of creepy, so I try to keep my distance. Once we're all here, Senpai starts, "We have an S-rank mission." All of us flinch a little at that. Senpai is a very high-profile shinobi, so we've done plenty of dangerous missions under him, but S-rank is different. The last time we had an S-rank mission, we ended up facing an S-ranker from the Stone Village. We barely made it out alive, but even then, there were casualties. Three members of our squad didn't make it back. Senpai leads a total of twelve ANBU, and eight of us were on that mission. Only five returned and all of us were injured. It's still a sore spot for us, but Senpai just continues like it's nothing. "The Land of Water has been closed off for a while, and there's been no real news from inside. The spies we placed there haven't been able to get out. But this time, we finally have a chance to extract a few of our agents. A few weeks ago, the village received a signal from one of our dormant spies in the Land of Water. The village sent some squads to check, and they confirmed that there's indeed an opening to extract that agent and maybe a few others and finally find out what's really going on. But escaping will mean getting through blockades set up by Mist shinobi. The squads we sent were skilled in stealth, but they didn't have the strength to extract anyone. They barely made it back alive, and even then, there were some casualties. But they brought back word that the Land of Water might be experiencing a civil war." Whoa. That's huge. One of the Five Great Nations caught up in a civil war? That's a big deal. I don't really know all the consequences, but I understand enough to know this is serious. Senpai continues, "This isn't just our squad's mission. A few more people will be joining us, and once everyone's here, we'll be heading to the Land of Mist to confirm whether the civil war is real and to extract our agents. Let's go. The Commander will brief us more." With that, Senpai takes the lead and we follow him out, heading straight to the Commander's office. I've only been here twice in my entire ANBU life, once when I was inducted and the second time today. All I really know about the Commander is that he's very strong and doesn't speak much. The captain knocked on the door and a cold voice answered, "Come in." He opened it and led all of us inside. As soon as I saw who was already in the room, my eyes lit up. There were two more squads here. One of them was another ANBU squad, and the other was also ANBU, but their leader was someone I knew. Utakata-sensei. I had to force myself not to rush over and start talking to him. It's been such a long while since I last saw him, and he looks so much softer now than before. He glanced at me, and as if recognizing me, gave me a small smile. Behind my cat mask, I couldn't help but smile back. The other ANBU squad had someone special too, Hitoshi. We've been dating ever since our second date when he proposed to me, and no matter how busy our missions get, we always find time for each other. It's always so much fun with him. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's always something like "I like you," or some other sweet thing and that too, always with that straight face that makes me blush every time. This will be the first time in nearly a year that the two of us get to take a mission together since joining ANBU and with Sensei here too, it would be even better if Ren were here. Then all of us could be together again after so long. Before I could get too lost in that thought, the Commander spoke up, "Lord Hokage is here." I was startled and I wasn't the only one. Most of us were surprised, except for Sensei, Senpai, and the one leading Hitoshi's squad. The Third Hokage appeared beside the Commander and began speaking, and he didn't even have his usual 'Hoho' laugh, which alone showed how serious this mission was. "You all must have been briefed about the mission by now, so I won't go deeper into that," he said, his expression stern. "However, I want you all to know this, if the Land of Water is truly experiencing a civil war, they will do everything they can to make sure no news leaks out. This mission is extremely dangerous, that is why such an important squad setup has been formed." He paused, looking at each of us before continuing, "Dog's squad will be the main combat unit. Four's squad will handle sensory. Utakata's squad will be the healing unit." The Commander stepped forward, rolled out a map on the wall, and the Third Hokage pointed to a place marked near the border of the Land of Fire. "This is the Nihara Pass. Once you cross this point, you'll officially be outside the Land of Fire's territory. There, you'll meet Number 5, who will take the lead for this mission. After you've established contact with him, he'll be in charge." I couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Number 5? Not Utakata-sensei or even Kakashi-senpai, but a Number? I know the Commander has direct subordinates called the Numbers and that they're the strongest combat unit in ANBU. So there's no issue with a Number leading, but shouldn't it be a higher-ranked one? Maybe that's just me overthinking it as Sensei, Senpai, and the Number 4 didn't seem to have any doubts, so I guess it's fine. Sigh. How nice it would've been if Ren was with us too. Then all of us could be a part of this mission together. The Third Hokage's voice cut through my thoughts. "You leave in ten minutes. Until the rendezvous point, Utakata will take the lead. Go. I hope you all complete the mission and return safely." With that, he vanished. The Commander stepped in, giving final instructions to the three squad leaders about the mission details. Once he was done, we finally headed out. ~~~ It was a long while before we finally reached the Nihara Pass. Along the way, I'd found a chance to talk to Utakata-Sensei, and just as I'd guessed, he really was much softer now. I don't know what happened, but every time I tried to ask, he'd slip right back into that old poker face of his. Still, after a few minutes, that same gentle glow would come back. Hmm. My senses are tingling, I really need to find some time to dig deeper. The Nihara Pass sat right at the extreme edge of the Land of Fire, it was a narrow valley boxed in by two towering cliffs and completely silent. We'd already passed by the border patrol squad on our way, and they'd kept their distance from this place and it was understandable, really. The valley looked so desolate it felt straight out of a horror movie. But this was a mission so we had no choice but to move forward. As we continued through the narrow pass in single file, a noise reached our ears. It sounded like... cheering? We all tensed immediately. The Nihara Pass was supposed to be dead silent all year round, so hearing cheering here was just plain weird. Number Four was in the lead. He slowed down, so we all did too. Senpai signaled us, and I, Itachi-kun, and Tenzo-san all spread out into formation. We were the combat unit, so obviously, it was our job to protect the medic and sensory squads. Sensei landed near Number Four and asked quietly, "Anything?" Four replied, "Yes. Too many civilians and there's a ring in the center where a fight is taking place." A tournament? Here? How weird. Sensei seemed to think for a second, then let out a long sigh, and a tired expression appeared on his face. Oh! I knew that look. That was Sensei's Ren face. The same look he had that time Ren planned to drill through the village's defensive seals because he was bored. Don't tell me... Ren's here? A grin spread on my face behind the mask. It was always fun with him around. Sure, he was annoying and sometimes I felt like beating him to a pulp but he made things interesting. Sensei spoke after sighing, "Let's go. There shouldn't be any problem." With that, he took the lead, and soon we crossed the valley and reached a beach. What came into view was, insane. Raging tides and crackling thunder were one thing, but the bizarre part was the sheer number of people there, all civilians, since I couldn't sense any notable chakra. The crowd was split into two groups, both cheering like crazy for different participants in the makeshift ring. One guy was wearing all red, using Fire Style jutsu in the weirdest way. Where else would you see someone create a bunch of tiny fireballs, then bat them at their opponent? The other guy, dressed in blue, was doing the same but with Water Style. Every shot collided in midair and canceled out, leading to a complete stalemate. Still, the crowd was loving it, with even a live commentator yelling, "And with this round our two participants have crossed the 700 mark! Do you think they can break 800?" Someone on the red side shouted back, "Of course not! Red-sama will defeat that blue bastard before they reach the 800 mark!" As if they'd stirred a hornet's nest, the blue side started yelling insults back, and soon both sides were screaming at each other like kids. It was honestly hilarious to watch. The red guy looked like he had the advantage as he was creating and shooting fireballs faster but the blue guy, though strained, always countered with his own water shots to block the flames. I glanced at Sensei and nearly laughed when I saw it, that poker face was back. Which only confirmed it, this had Ren written all over it. Sensei always got thoughtful when he had to figure out what to do with real problems, but when it was Ren's mess, he just looked exhausted. Sure enough, after a minute, Sensei spoke, that same resigned tone. "That's enough, Ren. We have a mission to do." Puff. As soon as he spoke, the crowd, the stage, even the two bickering 'fighters' all vanished in a puff of smoke. Shadow clones? That many? There must have been at least a hundred. I know the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but I can barely make three without straining my chakra. How the hell could be that wasteful? Does he have so much chakra to spare? We didn't have to wait for long enough as a moment later, the sound of footsteps and that familiar snickering voice came. "Hehe. Sensei, you guys were taking too long to arrive and I got bored, so I organized a tournament." A smile broke on my face behind my cat mask. It really was him. Ren looked around, gave a nod at Hitoshi who nodded back, that was their routine, then he looked straight at me and grinned. I pulled off my mask and grinned right back, closing the distance between us. Before I could even say hi, though, his grin vanished. He looked me up and down, confusion turning to something grim. Finally, he said, completely seriously. "Why the hell are you so tall?" ~~~~~ {1st Chapter in a different character's POV, so tell me how was it, if this was good then I could try and make more such Chapters.} {Anyway, a new arc, I won't be making a different arc on every single S-Rank missions, but the S-rank missions are the only way I have to continue to story, so every new arc would HAVE to be an S-Rank mission, unless it something like the Uchiha Massacre. So yeah, hold tight as we delve deep into the land of mist and let's see how it goes.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}