Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 26

She beat Bear there by a few minutes. Akira crouched low on the top of the wall, overlooking the village. It was one of her favorite views of the village. The entire thing was spread out before her, sprawling out to either side and up to the top of the Hokage monument. As she watched the village lights sparkle to life in the approaching twilight, Akira couldn't help but feel a bit sad. She wished she could share this moment with Bat and Sparrow.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Akira glanced up to her right to see Bear standing next to her, arms crossed and looking over the village as well.

"Lord Hokage really does have the best view though," Akira said.

Bear nodded in agreement. "That he does."

Akira stood and turned to look at the forest. The sun was almost finished setting now, and the trees were cast in dark shadows. Bats whipped around over the tops of them, and the sound of chirping crickets and frogs filled the night.

"Ready?" Bear asked. She nodded. "Then let's roll."

The two shinobi leaped off the wall and into the trees, heading toward their first stop, the outpost near Memoshi Village. From there they would travel through the hills to Sekai City, then down to the outpost between there and Nochi City. They would resupply at that outpost, then go down the coast to Nochi City. They would hit Ember City and Mizuppoidezu Port, then go back up the peninsula to another outpost. They would follow the coastline and hit Asagao Port, Buhen City, and finish up at Port City before going back home to the Leaf Village. It was a monumental task for just the two of them to take on, but they didn't have a choice. Danzo had ordered the immediate eradication of anyone who may have information on the leaf.

They made it to the outpost in just under a couple of hours. Bear and Akira briefly spoke with the chunin team manning it, then went to bed in one of the lower rooms. They were up again at dawn and heading to Sekai City. Along the way, they discussed ways in which they would make their targets' deaths look like accidents. Most of their ideas involved the targets falling from a high place. But Bear had brought some poison along that he had had Blight make that would be undetectable to those who were unfamiliar with it. It would look like a heart attack. They could also set a fire to destroy evidence as well if things got out of hand.

Among other things.

By afternoon of their first day on the mission, Akira and Bear reached Sekai City. The city was big, bigger than the Leaf Village. And all they had was the name of their target.

But surprisingly, it didn't take long to locate him.

Akira had caught pieces of a conversation from people passing underneath their hiding spot at one point. The two ladies had been gossiping about their target's new mistress. From that conversation, they were able to discern the rough location of the target's home. It didn't take long after that to find the right home. The man had a sign outside his house that named his manor as belonging to his clan.

"Well, that was easy," Bear said under his breath as they approached the mansion from nearby rooftops, black hoods covering their heads. They waited until nightfall to make their move, then they snuck into the mansion through an upstairs window.

Akira sensed where the target was in the house and lead Bear to him.

Their target was taking a bath, but didn't have any guards with him. The guards were all downstairs, or outside. Internally, Akira scoffed at the man's confidence level. For someone who was selling intel, he sure felt confident in his security.

Bear and Akira opened the door to the bathroom and stepped inside, closing it behind them and locking it. The sound of rushing water from around the corner drowned out the sound of the door. Bear crept to the end of the short wall that hid the tub from their view and peeked out. Akira stayed by the door, one hand on the light switch. At his cue, Akira flipped the switch.