Chapter 9: All I Want

The journey to Uzishiogakure was going to take them a few days, but the mission required strict silence unless in emergencies while moving, so it was quite boring. As they were running through the trees, Kannin looked around and saw birds in the branches, deer on the ground beneath him, he even saw a snake or two coiled on the branches. Kannin didn't really understand why, maybe just because his mom kept him cooped up for a lot of his childhood, but he really enjoyed being in the forest. The air was freer out there, and life seemed so much more vibrant.

After a day's travel, Shin signaled them to stop and set up camp. Each of them had their own little sleeping bag, with a small fire in the middle. By nightfall, Shin said she'd keep watch that night. It was then that Kannin realized that this might just be his first real night in both of his lives. In his past life, everywhere you went it was lit up by dull and droning streetlamps, and in Konoha, there was something similar. But out here, out in the deep forest of the Land of Fire, there was a profound darkness, without the electronic lights and lanterns. An inky night had set on them, one where the stars were blazing and the moon hung bright in a hooked crescent. Kannin couldn't sleep while staring at them.

"Still awake?" He heard Shin ask

"Yeah, I've never slept outside the Village so I guess I'm not used to it yet."

She said "I understand, it happened to me too when I went on my first mission."

Kannin turned over to look at her, and asked, "What was your first mission, sensei?

Shin took a moment to think, crossed her arms, and said, "I was born pretty soon after the First Shinobi War ended. Back then, the Third had just became Hokage, and a lot of the missions in Konoha were border patrol. The Third wanted to ensure the peace after the war stayed put. So that was my first mission. I sat in the woods on Konoha's border and watched. For hours. And then a few days later I returned home and received my reward." She looked Kannin in the eyes and said, "That might seem boring to you, but trust me, it's the best kind of mission you can get. One during peacetime."

Kannin thought for a while and replied, "My mom kept telling me that I shouldn't become a shinobi when I was in the Academy, that it was a cursed job, that it would only end up getting me killed."

"Do you believe that, Kannin?"

"I think I know why my mom believes it. But what I know is that being a shinobi is what allowed me to meet my friends and achieve my dreams." Kannin furrowed his brows, "My mom thinks being a shinobi throws you into a world of danger and death. I think I was already in that kind of place, and being a shinobi is actually what allows me to have a say in my destiny."

"Do you really believe in destiny, Kannin? From what I've seen, there's not a lot of it going around."

"I think that even if there isn't destiny, I want to be able to make my own anyway--to love my fate despite whatever might happen. I don't know how you could bear to live otherwise."

Shin raised an eyebrow and said "Do you think about this stuff a lot, Kannin? Sounds like it's been troubling you." She scratched her head and continued, "For my part, I haven't had the luxury of thinking about fate or destiny or whatever. When you're out on the battlefield and your friends are dying next to you, all fate is just whoever makes it out alive. You're a kid, and it's good that you're thinking like an adult about this. Being a shinobi is hard, especially for kids, but I can't guarantee you'll find what you're looking for out there." As she said that, she looked into the distance, probably for dramatic affect.

But then Kannin replied, "What are you looking for, sensei?"

Shin took a moment to decide how to answer, and when nothing came to mind, she kept silent. Kannin took this as his queue to finally sleep.

-

The next morning broke on them hard. Warai, Tetsu, and Kannin were sore all over, and they reeked of campfire.

"These sleeping bags don't have any padding at all!" Tetsu complained

Shin replied, "Can it, we leave in 5. Pack your stuff."

In a flash they were going again, doing the signature Naruto run, flashing through the trees. And hours later, when the sun was getting low, they made camp again. Shin decided that they needed to learn how to keep watch, and set a schedule of Kannin, then Warai, and then Tetsu to keep watch.

Kannin spent his watch listening, since the darkness made it hard to do anything useful with his eyes. But he did find the dark void around him fascinating once again. But his watch ended uneventfully, and he woke Warai up for her turn. He fell asleep faster this time, and had better dreams.

When he woke up, Warai was catching up on some of her missed sleep, and Shin was reading the mission scroll. An hour or two later, they broke camp and left again. They repeated this routine for a few more days, running, setting up camp, sleep, running again. It made Kannin thankful he hadn't neglected his conditioning. In his previous life, he was asthmatic, so he made extra sure to condition his body this time around.

On the fourth or fifth day of running basically due east, they smelled the sea. And a little while later, they heard the crashing of waves, and after that, the trees gave way to white beaches, and an a deep azure ocean.