Chapter 41: Lands of Claws and Fangs

Looking around the dim, silent forest, I kept an eye out for any potential threat in the area.

It was my turn for watch, and currently Anko and Kurenai were snuggling together under our makeshift tent.

Moving towards the top of the tree, I looked towards the cresting sun, before dropping back into our camp.

Nudging them awake, I smiled as Anko jolted awake and Kurenai slowly rose.

Looking towards me, they both relaxed, stretching.

"Alright, it's dawn. We should start making our way through both Claw and Fang, before deciding if we traverse the mountains later today."

They nodded and rose. Turning, I started clearing our campsite, trying to remove as much as I could.

Hearing rustling from the tent, I saw that they had shaken off their cloaks before throwing them on. Looking towards me, Anko asked "So, what do we know about Claw and Fang?"

"Forested lands, much like home. The shinobi are adept in beast transformation and taming, much like the Inuzuka's. The names come from the large wolf population in the area. They dislike each other, yet are evenly matched. So, we could have a peaceful journey, or we could walk into a few battles. So, be prepared."

Seeing them nod I set off for the west, towards the Land of Demons.

The gentle, rolling forests of the Land of Claws were quiet, the only noise coming from the various wildlife scurrying about. It was enjoyable to be out in such a calm forest. The Land of Fire may have similar forests, but the people occupying the land tend to make it so you can barely find quiet like this.

Smiling, I continued running westward, enjoying the smell of the trees and moss.

We traveled for an hour, the forest slowly thinning out. Reaching the edge, we looked over a large city situated in between two rivers.

"Tsumegakure, the shinobi village of the Land of Claws."

Looking at the city, I nodded in appreciation. The two rivers provided a natural barrier, and the land the village sat on was a slightly raised plateau, forcing invaders to attack upwards. Additionally, the high walls and various towers made the village look more like a fortress.

"That'd be a tough nut to crack..."

I nodded at Anko, before saying "Well, let's keep going. We should at least make it to the base of the mountains before dusk."

Looking around the area, I noticed that the forest continued around the left side, so we stuck to the trees, making our way around Tsumegakure.

Leaving it behind us, we continued forwards. Both the Lands of Claws and Fangs were long countries, sandwiched between the Land of Earth to the North and Land of Wind to the South.

Continuing for another hour, we encountered exactly what I didn't want to find: a border skirmish.

Sadly, it wasn't just a battle between Shinobi; instead, it was a fight between both Shinobi and Samurai.

The border was a large clearing between the two land's forests, with a small river being the accepted divider of the two lands. Now, that river was dyed a light red, the numerous corpses littering the clearing and seeping blood into the land.

Everywhere we looked, people were fighting. Shinobi were using jutsu after jutsu, while the Samurai fought as units, using their blades or using bows and arrows to kill their enemy.

Sighing, Anko looked around, saying "So, do we just cut through or try and go around this? Or should we wait?"

Pursing my lips, I stayed quiet when Kurenai said "We should go around. Cutting through this would take time, and waiting just sends them back to their camps, were they would be vigilant for a surprise attack."

I nodded, looking towards each side.

"The left looks more empty..."

The other two nodded, and we set off towards the left, looking for the edge of this battle.

Finding it, I watched as a man shouted an order, causing three young shinobi to run towards a group of twenty samurai.

Sighing, I shook my head before moving further left, until we managed to reach an area far enough away from the battle.

Crossing the stream, we quickly entered the other forest, rushing towards the Land of Mountains.

With the sound of the battle fading behind us, we continued west.

We passed many convoys heading east, filled with either shinobi or samurai, as well as supplies. Steering clear of them, we avoided detection.

Reaching halfway through the Land of Fangs, we stopped briefly for a breather. Looking up, I noticed that it was noon, meaning we would reach the border in another two or three hours of uninterrupted running.

Swallowing a nutrient pellet, I studied our surroundings. We had stopped on a large tree, using the branches for cover. Looking towards the ground, I watched as a group of mice rushed into a den below the roots, hiding from a snake.

Sighing, I looked west. This was something I found slightly annoying about missions; running from point a to point b, where nothing really happens. After all, as a shinobi, we should try to be as stealthy as possible, to leave no tracks that people could follow.

"We have another few hours before the Land of Mountains, right? Then probably a day traversing them before reaching the Land of Demons. Thankfully the Outpost is on the border..."

Hearing Kurenai, I nodded, before saying "Yeah, we have a few hours before reaching the border. And unless you want to traverse the mountains at night, we should camp inside the Land of Fangs... I hope the Land of Demons is exciting..."

"Hey now, don't jinx it."

Chuckling at Anko, I looked back towards the ground. Frowning, I noticed that the mice had come out of the den, and were staring straight at us.

"Hah... we're going to have guests soon..."

Hearing that, both my girls looked towards the forest floor, and upon seeing the mice, they readied a kunai.

Hearing a 'Bleh~' I turned to see Anko sticking her tongue out at the mice.

Chuckling, I grabbed my chokuto and waited, looking around the trees for the arrival of some Fang Shinobi.

"What is your purpose here?"

Hearing the man in front growl that, I tilted my head, saying "Just passing through."

He scoffed, before he turned to look at his squad.

"Look's like we're gonna have some fun tonight boys! Some Claw girls delivered themselves to us!"

Cheering, the other four shinobi drew kunai and dropped into stances, before rushing towards us.

Sighing, I coated my blade in wind chakra before blocking a kunai. Looking at the young teen looking at me with a mx of lust and anger, I scoffed before sending a palm at his chest.

Flying backwards, he coughed a few times, twitching. Hearing the clang of blades beside me, I dropped towards the teen.

Hearing someone land behind me, I sidestepped a kunai thrust. Slashing my chokuto upwards, I severed the attackers arm. Screaming, he dropped to the ground, reaching for his arm.

Flicking the blade towards his throat, I watched in interest as a gash appeared on his neck, spraying blood everywhere. Kicking him down, I turned towards the teen and stabbed my chokuto into his heart.

Sighing, I flicked the blood off my blade, allowing the wind chakra to dissipate. Looking up, I watched as three bodies fell to the ground.

Two had clean cuts on their throats, while the last one's head was twisted around, his neck mangled.

Anko and Kurenai appeared next to me. Kurenai was calm and collected, placing her kunai back into her pouch, while Anko was grinning widely, wiping some blood off her cheek.

Turning to Kurenai, Anko pouted. "Come on Nai, I said I'd take care of the noisy guy..."

Sighing, Kurenai looked towards me, gesturing towards the west.

"We should camp in the mountains now. Who knows when the Fang might come looking..."

I nodded, looking towards the corpses.

"Check them, take anything you need. Then we rush to the mountains, no stopping."

They nodded, and we looked through the corpses.

Taking all the additional kunai and senbon, I watched as Anko strapped a tanto onto her back, while Kurenai looked through the various scrolls they carried.

It only took a few moments, and as we ran towards the mountains we took inventory.

Anko grabbed the tanto, some kunai, as well as the tags that one of the shinobi had.

Kurenai took the scrolls, finding them empty. She also grabbed the kunai, before giving me the senbon she found.

I only took kunai, senbon, and tags.

I had also left explosive tags underneath each corpse, so whenever the Fang looked for their missing shinobi, they'd run into a slight problem...

We reached the looming mountains, quickly scaling them. Traveling for a short while, we found a small cave, large enough to comfortably fit all three of us.

Leaning against the rock walls, we yet again drifted to sleep in foreign territory.