Behind the Waterfall

#12 Messages

Looking at the letter a second time, Fuu made sure that she had everything for her mission.

Nodding to herself, she went out of her apartment and locked the door.

"Do you think he has changed much?" She asked the big beetle in her mind.

"I don't know, it has been a few months. I am actually really surprised that he remembered to write to you at all." Chomei replied, Fuu scoffing at the skepticism in her friend's voice.

"Of course he wrote. He promised." The girl stated, as they made their way out of the village.

"Well, let's just deliver this message, then we can find out more." The bijuu said, as the green haired girl jumped through the trees.

Making their way through the forest, she reached the cliff that constituted the border between the land of waterfalls and the land of grass. Grinning to herself, she checked if everything was secured before jumping over the edge. She knew that she had shinobi from the council on her tail and this was the easiest way to lose them. Without hesitation, she spun around in the air, pumping a bit of chomei's chakra into her arms, creating more surface for the air to slow her fall. The makeshift wings shimmered green as she laughed happily, gliding over the grasslands. Landing softly, she checked again if everything was still in place, looking back up at the cliff, where she could see shinobi watching her. Throwing a mock salute their way, she ran off, making her way towards Sogengakure, where she had to

deliver the message.

"Ah, hello Fuu." The Leader of the trading village greeted her. She had done many delivery mission to the village, so it was not surprising that Sokage, as he liked to call himself, knew her well.

"Hi, I have a letter from Shibuki." She got right to the point. She had no problem with the older man, but something about his eyes creeped her out. That was the only reason why she had been sent to this place after the first time, since she had made the mistake of voicing her mistrust and uncomfortability about the man.

"Ah, well let's see." He quickly skimmed over the letter, his polite smile dropping more and more as he got to the bottom.

"I see. Let me write a response. Can you come back in an hour? I should have it done by then." His smile returned as quick as it had gone, while he put the scroll down.

"Of course." Fuu nodded.

"Thank you, Darling." The Sokage responded, gesturing for her to leave the office.

Thinking about what she should do in the meantime, the orange eyes of the girl spotted a shop, serving her favorite snacks; roasted nuts. Quietly humming to herself, she got a pack and slowly walked her way through the busy streets. She noticed a lot more shinobi than there had been the last time she was here. Shrugging her shoulder, she reached the low walls of the village and sat down on a bench.

"Something is going on here." She thought, as she saw another group of twenty masked shinobi arrive, all of them wearing slashed headbands from all around the world.

"I'd rather not find out." Chomei replied, not looking for a fight against so many opponents.

Both found it extremely odd that the rogues would openly enter the village, since rogues usually traveled under the disguise of merchants. Making a mental note to tell Shibuki about this, she continued eating her nuts. Maybe the man had more information, to help make sense of this. The only time rogues openly showed their lack of affiliation, as far as she knew, was when the country they were in was at war. However she didn't see any other signs of war or even any signs of more alertness, from the shinobi standing around the gate. She started to feel uneasy, as she started her walk back to the village leader's office, wanting to get out of there as quickly as she could.