Chapter 63

The guy, although slightly shaken by my voice, sneered at me, as if I were the dumbest person and he had just heard the dumbest thing. "I will be the one to protect Her Lady. You should just obediently escort us like you are supposed to." I knew the Land of Tea was prejudiced against shinobi, but to think it was like this.

"My mission is only one person. Whatever happens is not my concern." Just as he was about to retort, I pulled out a similar cloak, put it on then jumped down.

When the guy saw me, he scoffed, "They sent a child to protect The Lady? Exactly what you would expect." I ignored him and looked toward the person I was supposed to escort. She had not spoken a single word, and her look told she was thinking the same, but instead of contempt, she looked frustrated; As if she was dissatisfied they had sent a child to protect her.

The two of them put on their cloaks and walked out of the temple, completely ignoring me. Just as I was about to leave as well, I heard the old priest's voice in my ear. I paused to look at the priest before disappearing from the temple.

The two knew exactly what to do. They knew how to evade sight very well and we finally made it out of the towns. Once we were out, we broke into a sprint until we were well away from the Land of Tea. Looked like those two had a bit of training; They were at least Chunin rank.

After a while, we slowed into a walk. I was constantly switching between chakra carpet and chakra radar, trying to sense if no one following us. It was a good thing, but that however did not make me feel good at all. Things could really not be that easy. From the interaction I saw in the temple, things were not as simple as it seemed. I did not really care; I was no Naruto to be asking and trying to be emotionally supporting anyone. I just wanted to finish my mission quick.

We had been on the road for a few days. We run at some times and walked the other. I had to match my speed to theirs, and I had to say, it was the most boring thing I had ever experienced since my time as a ninja. I was so much used to speeding up, running at their pace was tiring, mentally, and honestly, I was getting irate.

Neither of us talked to one another. During the day we run or walked, in the night I stood on guard. I stayed far away from the two. So far, nothing had happened yet, but I was getting increasingly unnerved. After a few days, I could finally see the border between the Land of Tea and the Land of Fire.

"Be careful." I spoke to both of them which tensed the lady. In the corner of my eye, I looked at the guy who did not seem surprised or fazed. The closer we got to the border, the more my frown deepened. I could sense a large number waiting for us and even with my limited chakra radar I could tell there were more. The border was a large clearing of land with barely any vegetation around for miles.

"Why can't I just get a mission where nothing goes wrong?" I looked up at the countless number of missing-nin and priests in robes ahead of me. They seemed to number slightly over one hundred. What I found odd was a few of those missing-nin. They hid behind others well, but I could see it well. Their disposition and the way the held themselves, even if they were Jounin or chunin class, was different; A group I knew all too well. We had well been surrounded.

I knew his counter attack would come soon, but honestly, I did not consider his counterattack coming here. Either way, this mission was supposed to be top secret, and yet, here we were with so many priests and 'missing-nin'.

'Oh, they have been dialoguing on their own ever since I started thinking.'

"…fish. The Land of Tea has always belonged to us and always will. We don't need any ninja involvement. A whore intending to sell herself to the Daimyo would only give them an excuse for them to flock here. You are nothing but a traitor, Hiroko." An old priest stood at the front, strongly criticizing the woman.

'So, her name is Hiroko? I had no idea.' Hiroko's body shook as she gritted her teeth and glared at the old priest.

"It's nothing like that." I had to admit, Hiroko was quite strong. Even in the face of hundreds she still had a stubborn glare in her eyes. Was it that she had already resigned herself to fate, or was she confident in getting out of the situation somehow? Surprisingly, the guy that was with her had drawn his blade and stood unmoving in front of her to protect her. I totally thought he was a traitor. Who else called it wrong?

"What isn't like that? As a young woman, wanting to sell yourself to the Fire Daimyo just so you could rule the Land of Tea, even I had to admit, you set yourself quite high, Hiroko." The old priest began to look at her with a slight lecherous gaze. Perverted old man.

"It's not like that!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing out across the somewhat barren borders.

"Oh my, I seem to have been relegated to the sidelines." After being silent for so long I honestly could not take it anymore. I had been waiting for the rat to turn up, yet he was not showing up. That was the only reason I let the farce continue. My voice caught the attention of every one present, and they all had a look that said 'you are still here?'. That actually pissed me off. Meaning they actually had forgotten about me.

"Ah little ninja girl. It is quite unfortunate you were dragged into this, but we can't afford to let you live" Again, how they knew I was a girl, was surprising. The old priest looked 'sorry', while Hiroko looked at me apologetically. She was sad that a young girl, as the priest had said, such as myself was about to lose her life because of her.

"Can you please shut up for a minute old frog?" I cut him off which seemed to piss him off. The others from the Land of Tea frowned as well.

"Oi, old sewer rat. I know you are here. Why don't you show yourself already; I can smell your men a mile away even if they decided to undergo plastic surgery." My voice echoed out, confusing the people around. The silence was broken by a sudden rhythmic striking of wood against the ground, as an old man walked slowly to the front, glaring at me all the way. Ah, if looks could kill; I guess in this world they could.

"Yo, Danzo. Fancy meeting you here." His glare intensified a bit before loosening and turning to contempt. I moved the mask to the side of my head.