Chapter 2: The Land of Vegetables

After dropping his bag and scroll on the ground to sit on Mugen looks at Kaze and asked, “What’s with that pendant is it important or something?”

Kaze looked down at Mugen and clutched the golden pendant in his fist. "This belonged to my mother. Besides this sword", Kaze said as he patted the katana in the scabbard on his hip. "Is all I have of her and this scarf belonged to my dad." Kaze said with a serious face. Kaze backed up and bumped into a medium sized frame and his hand hit a soft smooth and warm texture. Kaze spun around and came face to face to Chie and with a blush on his face he awkwardly patted her on her head like a kitten.

“Must be nice,” says Mugen, “mom and dad ain’t leave nothing for me and Akira when they died.” He then watched as Kaze fell over and grabbed Chie chest. “You’re late Chie,” Mugen said completely dismissing what just happened.

"Sorry I'm late guys," said Chie, "I overslept but I'm wide awake and ready to go. So where is our objective again? Oh I just remembered, I packed us lunch. It wasn't easy stuffing different types of Ramen, bottles of water, tea, and my cloths so I toss it all into four different bags. So Kaze can you carry the bag with the Ramen in it please and Mugen can you carry the bottled water one, and I'll carry everything else."

Kaze looked at Chie and then he facepalmed. "I am an idiot. I for got my bag at home. I should run back and get it." Look you guys go on ahead, I will catch up with you." Kaze said as he ran back into the village.

Mugen let out a sigh and said, “This is gonna set the tone for the whole day isn’t it?” He then grabs the scroll that Tenten gave him and opens it. “Okay,” he said, “how did she say to do this…oh right.” Mugen then suck all the food that Chie brought into the scroll. “Wow it worked,” he said with surprise.

Kaze ran to the orphanage to grab his bag that held his supplies and quickly dashed back to the gate to meet back up with the group. Kaze caught his breath and put his his pendant in the bag.

Raiku was a bit irritated by Chie's lateness and Kaze's disorganization. He didn't intend to leave until Kaze returned so he simply waited. "Chie," he said, "Next time pack more lightly. As soon as Kaze gets back we're headed out."

"Alright everyone," said Raiku, "Let's get going."

After several days of traveling, Team Raiku had finally arrived at the land of vegetables.  The village was recovering from a civil war that just ended a year ago, and they were slowly but surely developing into a shinobi village.  After connecting with the guards at the village gate, Team Raiku was escorted to the Daimyo's palace.  Rather than waiting for them inside, the daimyo met them at the entrance of the palace.  

The daimyo was a young man with long white hair.  He carried with him a long spear, as if to be prepared for battle at any time.  Accompanying him was a women who appeared to be a bit older than him but not by much.  She was a fairly attractive woman too, drawing even Raiku's eye as she approached with the Daimyo.

"Greetings leaf ninja," said the daimyo, "My name is Aydo Katama and I am the Daimyo of the Land of Vegetables. Thank you for coming all the way out here to assist us in this endevour." "It is our pleasure," replied Raiku, " My name is Raiku Zari and this is Mugen, Chie, and Kaze." The daimyo looked at the three genin. "They're a little young aren't they?" asked Aydo, "Are you sure they're up to the task?" "Don't worry," said Raiku, "I have faith my team can handle this mission." "I sure hope so," replied Aydo, "Let's get inside and have a meal while I explain the details of this mission." The daimyo led the team inside the palace.

As the Aydo led them into the palace, Mugen looked around and examined all the guards and servants closely. “It’s happening again,” he thought as he continued to look around, “my eyes are playing tricks on me again.” Mugen could tell where all the best hiding spot were as well as who where potential allies and enemies.

Kaze brought up the rear of the group and noticed something was up with Mugen and sped up to match his speed to Mugen's. Kaze looked sideways at Mugen, "Hey are you alright?" Kaze asked Mugen as they walked down the corridor.

“I’m fine,” Mugen said as he rubs his eyes, “Tell me something, do you know what it’s like to hear shapes and see sounds?”

Everyone enters the banquet hall and sits at the table. A full spread of food is served: succulent meats, steamed vegetables, various pastas, etc. "Now to give you all the details of the mission," said Aydo, "After the fourth shinobi world war, the Land of Vegetables decided that they wanted to develop into a shinobi nation. The Hidden Leaf village helped us work towards this goal for a decade after the war. After that, their assistance was minimal and we began working mostly on our own."

Aydo stopped briefly to take a drink of wine.

"Not long after the Leaf Village presence left the Land of Vegetables," he continued, "our country fell into a civil war. The result was the death of my father, the previous daimyo. However, our side won and I was named the new daimyo. Unfortunately, the majority of people in this village who had shinobi capabilities were killed in the war. We currently only have about 6 shinobi in the entire country. Although it has been a year since the war ended, there has been a resurgence. Three shinobi from the rebel faction have kidnapped my beloved wife, Wanda, and are using her as a bargaining chip. I cannot surrender my duties as the daimyo and bargain with those rebels, but I also cannot simply allow them to take my wife. Our shinobi resources are limited, so the council decided it was not wise to send our own forces to rescue lady Wanda. That's where you all come in."

Kaze sat listening to the details of the mission and began to think up possible plans and tactics inside his head. Kaze zoned out as he thought of flaws in his plans and created back support for every one of the plans just in case if they failed. Kaze zoned out even more as he thought of the threats of the area. Kaze looked up at the daimyo, "Excuse me but where are these rebels? I would like to know the threats of the land if possible so I can formulate a plan." Kaze said with a kind look.

The daimyo looked at the young boy. He was still a bit unsure of the fact that kids were being sent to do this mission, they seemed too young to be proper shinobi. None the less, this was who the village sent so these are the individuals he would have to work with. "There are no natural dangers," answered Aydo, "This landscape isn't home to any dangerous flora or fauna. The rebels are believed to be north of here in the mountain region. There are a lot of caves they could be hiding in. As far as we know, there are only three of them. They used to be some of our best shinobi but joined the rebellion and then fled the village once the war ended. With that said, let me introduce you Kaita. She is both my advisor and the strongest shinobi we have in the Land of Vegetables. She will be going with you on your mission."

The identity of woman had finally been revealed. She carried with her both a sword and an umbrella, the latter being a fairly uncommon, but not unheard of, weapon used by shinobi. With her introduction finished, Kaita walked over to where the team was sitting and handed Raiku three ninja info cards. "These are the men we will be looking for," she said, "Dangan is the one in charge." Raiku briefly looked at each of the cards and then began to pass them along to the Genin.

Kaze nodded and zoned out again and perfected his plan. "Hmm, a lot of caves means both a possible shelter and ambush spot for the enemy. I should have Mugen and Myself at the rear of the group and Chie in the middle and Sensei and Kaita at the front. And I should use my mother's sword with my wind chakra." Kaze plotted under his breath. "If it comes to it I will use myself as bait for the enemy." Kaze said to himself. He wrote down his plan and scanned it for any flaws. Kaze could see a lot of flaws but he had a back up plan for them all. Kaze smiled as he looked at the info card for the enemy shinobi.

During the briefing Mugen’s eyes continued to bother him. He began to see visions of three ninja braking into the palace taking a young girl. “What’s going on,” thought Mugen as he tried to focus on the meeting, “why am I seeing this?” "Sir how many guards was were with your wife when she was taken," Mugen asked.

"There were two guards stationed outside of her door," replied Aydo, "The whole palace was heavily guarded but mostly with non-shinobi. Six guards were killed."

“I can tell, two of them were fakes and the others was killed as a distraction,” said Mugen as he looked at the cards.

"She's been gone for almost a week now," said Aydo, "So I'd like for you all to head out as soon as possible." "Of course," replied Raiku, "We'll move out within the hour." Raiku looked at his team. "Alright guys finish up," he said, "Your first mission awaits."

“Apologies, my lord," a servant said rushing in with a folded note, “but this was found near one of the outside farms, attached to a kunai knife in one of our livestocks." The servant took a minute to catch his breath before walking closer to the daimyo. “I believe you should see it immediately."

The daimyo took the kunai and unfolded the note.

As he unfolded the note, the servant began to walk back out. It had small strips of paper attached on the inside, the note itself saying, “tick tock, our patience is like a fuse....and it's getting short...." Suddenly, markings appeared on the strips of paper... the same markings for a paper bomb..

"Paper bomb!" exclaimed the daimyo as he threw the kunai away from him. The explosion, however, still managed to get him. The right side of his body was burnt pretty badly, and a destroyed piece of the roof collapsed and landed on top of him, crushing both of his legs. Kaita rushed over to the unconscious Aydo. "Lord Daimyo!" he exclaimed. She lifted up his head, half of his face singed by the blast. "We need a medic!" she yelled. A guard ran out of the room to go find the palace medical ninja.

Raiku's head was bleeding a bit, although he avoided the blast, a piece of glass from a shattered plate cut his forehead. After a few seconds of trying to comprehend what had just happened, Raiku immediately thought of the servant that delivered the kunai only moments ago. "Why would he walk out so soon after his delivery?" thought Raiku, "Almost as if he knew it was going to blow." With that thought, Raiku sprinted out of the door and down the hall, seeing if the servant was still around.