Kusagakure

After a lot of squads joined the caravan disguised as both guards and merchants, they travelled for several days. The speed of a running Ninja is much faster than a trodding horse, not to mention all the stuff being carried on the wagons.

Over the past two days, the moment they left the forests of the Land of Fire and entered the great plains in the Land of Grass - almost 100 people had left the caravan towards different directions. Some flickered into the distance, others hiked with a large backpack on their backs. Looking at all these kinds of disguises made Malaria realise anyone they meet on the road from now might just be an enemy shinobi.

The remaining 50 or so members of the caravan acted calmly, as if nothing had changed to their numbers. Without getting attacked even once, the caravan finally arrived outside of Kusagakure. Not being hidden in the slightest, the village looked more like a bustling trading hub than a shinobi village.

Surprised they didn't get attacked once on the way, Malaria jumped off his wagon and took a look around. Noticing how the entire periphery of the queue to enter the village was covered with Grass ninjas standing guard, he saw a large building in the far distance, probably where the leaders of Kusagakure reside.

Before entering the village they had to report their presence, as well as paying entry toll. Typical standard procedures, and since they weren't part of the actual caravan but just 'hiked a ride on the way', they separated here from the businessmen.

The men on guard at the guardpost noticed Team Suzuki almost instantly, with them wearing their Konoha headprotectors in broad daylight. Releasing about a dozen mosquitoes a minute, Malaria sent them to hitch a ride from a few others standing in the queue. Information gathering has already begun, just in case there's Iwa-ninja mixed in the other caravans awaiting entry.

Looking at the front of the queue, caravans were unloading cargo one after another. It would take forever if they stayed with their wagon, so it was better to walk inside after paying the fee.

"Are you three confident about this mission?" Suzuki Yamaha asked with a smile, glancing at Kusagakure while filled with nostalgia. Paying the fee to a guard, they entered the village without any problems.

"Yes." The three nodded heavily with determination. From the second they entered the Land of Grass they had been on full alert, but not even a shadow of an ambush - let alone a enemy scouting party could be traced on their way here. It was eerie how calm the journey was.

Malaria started talking impatiently, "Enough useless talk, sensei. Tell us the inside information you got from Orochimaru-sensei. You refused to speak a word on the way here, but now it's bloody well time!"

Yamana and Hikari's eyes glowed as they looked at Yamaha-sensei. They'd been told that Yamaha had been promoted to Jonin and acted somewhat like Orochimaru's assistant during the planning of this campaign. He must know some inside information from the forward scouting party.

"Where are your manners you damned brat?" Yamaha glared at Malaria and whispered, "I'm told that two of the undercover Iwa-ninjas you fought before managed to 'escape' and is now partaking in Iwagakures plans right here in Kusagakure. We'll pretend to not know them before we get better intel on the situation."

"Really? Okay, we'll go with that." Malaria nodded thoughtfully. Thinking back, the only two that were confirmed alive after that skirmish was 'The Ballbroken', and 'Exploded by Tag'. One turned into an eunuch by his own teammate while the other was on the verge of death after getting exploded and pummeled by Hikari.

At this moment, several dozen's of Grass-ninja, led by a gentle-looking fat man, pressed towards them. Malaria was shocked, wasn't this the Preta Path of Nagato's Six paths of Pain? This guys backstory was barely mentioned, just noted as someone Jiraiya had met before.

"What are they doing?" Yamana asked curiously.

"They seem to be coming right at us." Hikari's body tightened, ready to deal with an emergency and fight their way out. A tag-along of 'Preta' shouted at Malaria's group arrogantly, "Who's the strongest in your group of brats?"

Everybody looked at Malaria, as if their eyes were asking if he knew these people from Kusagakure. Puzzled, Malaria asked them, "Who are you? I don't think we've met before." Glancing a few times at 'Preta' he couldn't help but get nervous. Did he already have that 'chakra-suction'-ability or was it a Rinnegan thing?

"Kusa Debu, our boss, is building a team to help out in the farms. Since you are the strongest in your squad, how about joining our team and earn some extra cash? Not like a Genin like you have anything better to do in our village - might aswell move those arms swinging a hoe." The arrogant fellow sneered, while the others in their party laughed out loudly.

"Bloody idiots!" Malaria rolled his eyes. He thought they were being captured by some Iwa-aligned Grass ninja. Turns out it was just the scum of this place looking to bully newcomers from the 'five-great-villages'.

"What did you just say, brat?" The arrogant young man was infuriated, pulling out a Kunai and preparing to attack.

"Wait!", Kusa Debu stopped him and sized Malaria up. After spotting nothing special, he shook his head and said, "What a poor looking lad. I'll buy your services for 100,000 Ryo. Come with me, let's clear the fields!" Certain of his skills at evaluating people, he felt this brat wasn't worth any more than that.

"Pfft!" Yamana couldn't hold it back anymore and laughed out loud. Malaria, someone drowning in sponsorships, was being taken as a poor runt on the street? If he made a single batch of Healing Medicine and gave it to the Uchiha, he'd have at least 100 million Ryo in his pocket!

The arrogant hanger-on stepped out again, "Brat, did you not hear what Boss Kusa Debu just said? It's time that you thank him for his kindness. If your performance is great, you'll be given bonuses. I guarantee you'll live a carefree life once you return to Konoha." he said while smiling smugly, as if everything he said was gospel.

Malaria's lips twitched. 'Do I have "impoverished" printed on my forehead?' he thought.

"I can't hold back anymore, these people are too hilarious! Hahahaha!" Yamana could barely stand straight as she laughed on Hikari's shoulder.

"You do not seem satisfied with your pay, do you?" Kusa Debu looked angry. "Behind me are champions of Kusagakure Ninja Academy, the strongest newcomers from every year group. I'll raise your salary if you manage to take any one of them down."

Malaria was lost for words. Isn't the man feeling too good about himself? He's already regarding me as his employee to till the fields? At this moment, a team of guards escorted a wagon forward, attracting everyone's attention.

Normally, no wagons from any caravan could enter inside Kusagakure. What if an enemy were to fill it with weapons, gas or explosive tags and blew the village to the moon? "Whose wagon is this?" Kusa Debu was angered just seeing it appear behind Malaria and company.

"Are you Malaria?" the guardsman in the lead asked. Malaria nodded and presented the backside of his Konoha Headprotector as confirmation. The guard checked it carefully before nodding and waving his hand. The guards behind him hurried to uncover the cover of the wagon to prevent any fearmongering to spread.

When the cover was removed, it was as if the entire street froze from the spectacle. Half of the wagon was filled with rare herbs and ingredients, while the other half had some sort of snus-sized tins in stacks of five packaged with string.

Malaria was dumbfounded, what the hell was this? Isn't this a hill's worth of repellent ingredients? Climbing up to the wagon and checking, the tins were all empty. This was clearly prepared for him to open business here in Kusagakure - but who was the sender? Glancing around between the items, he soon found a note.

—

Dear Hazard,

I've heard about the matter in regards to the bone stuck in your throat. As a special task just for you, Snake and I concluded that you should remain in Kusa and open shop. I have a vague idea what you were going to do at home, but may as well do it in Kusagakure instead.

Use these ingredients well, spread your name in the surrounding areas - and one day your reputation will not be less than the Snake's. Once only you can 'cure' everyone in Kusa, you can be considered finished and can come back home.

Leave the goods with Little White's mother. She insisted on following you guys, and this is the least she could do as repayment for ignoring orders.

Signed, Darkness

—

Kusa Debu and his entourage stood there in a daze, looking at the wagon filled with 'rare' ingredients only seen in the Land of Fire. Any single mushroom in those packages would break their combined bank, and even that's not certain to be enough.

When Malaria put the note back in his ninja pouch with a dazed expression of his own, Kusa Debu couldn't be more stunned. This guy was truly extravagant, someone so wealthy his 100,000 Ryo sallary could be considered a beggars tip.

Yamaha-sensei looked at Malaria with pity. As someone informed in advance, he could figure out that Malaria would be upset at being abandoned in enemy territory like this. On the contrary, Yamana and Hikari were incredibly surprised by the amounts of raw material. They had seen Malaria make a concotion before, and this amount would last him for several months.

Listening to Yamaha's explanation, the girls nodded their heads and started leaving the premisses to continue their original mission. After all, it was something issued by Hokage-sama. It had to be done whether they like it or not.

"You're abandoning me, too?" Malaria stared sadly at Yamana and Hikari, who were about to leave together. Why did he have to open shop together with that Kage-level monster woman? Why does he have to stay in Kusagakure to idle away his time like this?

Hikari said solmenly, "Malaria-kun, we took advantage of you during the attack in the encampment last time. We'd like to prove that we can take care of a mission by ourselves this time." Then, she made a cheer-up gesture at Malaria, before she left with Yamana.

Yamana whispered in a low voice, "Do you really want to prove yourself on this mission? He might be a scoundrel, but his abilities are unconventional and incredibly potent you know.."

Hikari looked at Yamana in amusement. "Are you kidding me? There are plenty of other ways to prove my abilities that won't jeopardize the mission. I'm only too scared to stay with that scoundrel, especially after a few days back. After he returned from the interrogation division, some sort of 'shadow' has been hanging over him…"

Yamana nodded in agreement. "That's right, I heard from my father. Had I known that Malaria could be so evil, I wouldn't have agreed to squad up with him but petitioned Hokage-sama instead. To think he actually managed to create an airborne verison of the 'that'…" Stopping herself from continuing, just in case someone was listening in - the girls acknowledged the words before separating to do some reconnaissance.

Malaria secretly wept after hearing their chattering. His dream was to save the world by dooming it first, but he had to keep a low profile like this and be misunderstood by others. Who could possibly share his pain in this world?

Yamaha walked up to Malaria and comforted him, "Brat, stop crying, wipe your tears and be a decent man! Darkness-sama has great expectations of you, perhaps you could even finish your task before any of us finishes with Monkey-sama's mission."

Be a decent man? Malaria glared at Yamaha, what was this middle-aged scoundrel thinking about? He wasn't even a decent brat yet, not even a teenager. How could he be compared to a grown man?