"Okay, does anyone know anything about a land known as The Howling Desert?" asked Naruto.
"It's very far away," said Kurenai after nobody else seemed inclined to speak up. "It's not exactly easy to get to either. I remember something about an ancient war or plague."
"Well," said Naruto. "That's not much. I could cast 'Legend Lore' to get some more information - but that could take a couple of weeks and still doesn't get us good intel."
"If it's that far away, how do we get there?" asked Kiba.
"Teleportation Circle," said Naruto. "It'll take about ten minutes when we're ready. That's how we'll return too. It'll take me ten uninterrupted minutes to cast the jutsu. When I finish the jutsu - travel is instant so don't be going in or out of the circle at that time."
"Mission objective is to gather information only," said Kurenai Yuhi as her eyes swept the group. "With that information we go back to the Hokage. This is considered a C-Rank Mission at present."
"I'll start if there's no questions," said Naruto. At a nod from Kurenai he produced a chunk of yellow-brown stone and crushed it in his hand - the stone crumbling to dust which then spread itself out into a circle five feet across.
Jiraiya, one of the three legendary ninja of Konoha, could be very good at listening.
That the girls around him were discussing several of his earlier novels was interesting, and the parts they found interesting were also revealing a few details.
The sex scenes were something that many critics and even a few fans solely focussed on. As if he didn't put plot and humor and adventure and misadventure in there as well. But sex SOLD, something that had been clear from the first Icha Icha book compared to his more straight-up and serious treatment in "Gutsy Ninja" - which was ALSO being discussed.
When it came to the underground city these women hailed from - that also told him a few things.
The underground city was partly ruined and the water table was high enough and the city low enough that there was constant seepage from below.
The statues, which looked deliberately broken, were of spiders and similar things.
All of which had Jiraiya wondering exactly what had gone on here.
Then he found two identical of these young ladies wanting some private time with him, and considerations of intelligence gathering were temporarily moved down the queue in priority.
"You okay?" asked Kurenai of her long-term associate.
"Yeah, just a bit much to deal with," said Anko as she leaned back against the wall and watched over this group. Two teams. Six genin, a dog, two jonin, one special jonin. When the time came, it was going to be a tight fit in that circle. "I'm surprised they didn't go with a team of chunin or an ANBU squad."
"Not currently available," said Kurenai. "After we scout and report back, that's a better possibility. The Hokage and the TSAB want information now, and the next available higher-ranked group would be an ANBU squad two days from now."
"Ah," said Anko, nodding at that.
"Whatever you saw down there really shook you up," noted Kurenai.
"I would advise you," said Anko carefully. "Not to do anything with that particular pouch."
"I'm pretty much inclined to agree with you," said Kurenai.
"Do you ever wonder how things might have been if you'd made a different decision at some point?" asked Anko, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "If you'd gone right instead of left at an intersection, or if you'd ended up walking a different road?"
Kurenai glanced at her friend, then regarded her team. "Maybe. Sometimes. You know, I'd heard about Naruto engaged to Hinata and I came very close to requesting that Naruto end up on my team so that they'd have a chance to be together."
"In-team romances never work out," said Anko. "Besides, she's twelve and innocent. He's got the eyes of someone who's seen war and he looks more seventeen."
"Maybe, but prior to Naruto's 'misadventure' they balanced out," said Kurenai. "Now, of course, they're less so."
Anko was ready to reply when Naruto interrupted with a "Now."
As soon as the last of them was inside the circle, Naruto completed a gesture.
Ayame nodded to no one in particular in the now empty room, simply exited it and locked it behind her.
One minute they were in the room behind Ichiraku's that was rented for special events or meetings.
A seeming eyeblink later, and feet were sinking an inch into fine gritty sand.
"Hinata, search the area," called out Kurenai over the wind and rustle of sand. "Kiba, Shino, perimeter guard."
"Right," acknowledged Kiba. "Let's go, Akamaru."
"Arf!" responded his dog.
Shino nodded and went the opposite direction.
Kakashi put his book away. "Sakura, Sasuke, you too. Sakura, get some altitude. Naruto, can you do anything to pull up more information?"
"Now that we're here, I could do a Legend Lore - but that still takes about a half-hour to cast," said Naruto.
"How far away are we from the objective?" asked Anko, spitting sand out of her mouth when some blew in.
"Roughly three miles from the position the TSAB gave," said Naruto. "Any closer and there's some shielding erected."
"I see something!" called out Hinata. "It's -"
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(Posted Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:02)
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