Yōsei Tanuki is the daughter of Ninfu Tanuki, the Dōkutsukage of the Village Hidden in the Caves. When her cousin Moya Tanuki comes to visit, Yōsei decides to travel with her cousin to the Village Hidden in the Leaves to further her skills and stud...
We arrive at the village. It's rather peaceful and beautiful-looking. It rests on a winding river within a valley of high-rising hills. We follow the path down a steep slope, being careful not to miss a step. If we were to miss a step, you would fall and get seriously injured. Once we finish walking down the steep slope, we walk an easy stretch of wide-open land toward a beautiful cobblestone bridge.
Moya smiles brightly and begins to cross the bridge. I too cross the bridge, catching up to my older cousin. The Princess walks stiffly, clearly not wanting to be staying in this town. "It's dingy and disgusting!" she complains. "Don't tell me I'll be staying in a barn!"
We arrive at the hotel in the village while the Princess continues to complain. The hotel is about two floors with maybe ten rooms on each floor. It's located on the river and near the entrance to the town, so it's easy to get to. However, there is a problem with a farm being set up right next to it. Maybe the Princess will overlook it.
"Ew!" Princess Reinī exclaims, looking disgusted at a puddle of mud. "This place is filthy!"
"The only thing filthy is that puddle, Princess," Sensei sighs. "Come on. Let's get checked into the hotel. Maybe they have a pool or hot springs."
"They better," Reinī states, crossing her arms. I share a look with Moya and Kumo before the three of us follow Aiiro-Sensei and Princess Reinī to the hotel. Sensei gets four rooms: one for Reinī, one for Kumo, one for herself, and one for Moya and I to share. Moya and I set our stuff on the bed and instantly begin looking for our pjs.
"We could use a day off," Moya yawns. I yawn, as a result, playfully glaring at her. "This mission has been more exhausting than I would've thought."
"Yeah," I nod my head in agreement. I change into my pjs and Moya brushes out my hair after unbraiding it.
"It'll especially help since we'll probably be facing Lady Rekkusu soon." Moya stops brushing my hair and sits down on the bed. I turn to look at my normally spunky cousin and notice that she looks worried and terrified.
"It'll be okay." I pat her hand and give her a soft smile. "I've done plenty of research on the Land of Stars, including the Royal Family --- which means I know all about Lady Rekkusu. Her jutsu is very simple. It's a mix of Dojutsu and Ninjutsu. She even uses some basic Medical Ninjutsu to paralyze her enemies. All we have to do is restrict her ability to use Chakra."
"We could try and do what we did with Sensei."
I shake my head. "No. There's no guarantee that we'll come across Rekkusu in an open field. Especially since she'll be planning an attack based on our path." I pull out a map of the area and show it to Moya, placing it on the bed. "We'll mostly be traveling through thick forests filled with unknown dangers. Except for this one." I point to a huge forest that follows the path we'll be taking. "This is the forest the Nara clan owns. Only those with very special permission are permitted to go there. Since it's the quickest route to the Land of Stars, Shikaku Nara has given Airro-Sensei permission to travel through the forest with us. If we get attacked there, we'll be done for. We can't disturb the wildlife or forest at all."
"If Lady Rekkusu knows this, then that's when she'll attack us!" Moya's eyes widen with realization and horror. "She won't care about the forest."
"On the contrary." I pull out one of my favorite books about the histories of every royal family member up to ten years ago. "According to her entry in this book . . ." I flip through the pages of the book, searching for her name. "Here it is. According to her entry, it says 'Lady Rekkusu, daughter of the younger sister to Queen Rein, will not fight someone when there are eyes watching her every move. This is why she tends to send assassins or ninja to do her dirty work.'"
I look up at Moya who nods her head. "So she won't attack us as long as we're in the Nara Clan's forest. However, that doesn't guarantee she'll delay the attack until we're away from the rest of the forests. If she fought us in the Nara Clan's forest, everyone in the Nara Clan would know."
"Which would cause a war between the Land of Stars and the Land of Fire with the Land of Caves to back it up."
"The Land of Stars would be done for!"
"Exactly. That's why she won't attack us as long as we stay in the Land of Fire. But as soon as we cross the borders and enter the land that holds the Hidden Waterfalls, we'll be easy prey for her."
"It'll be two weeks before we get to the border. I asked Sensei and she said we'll be staying here for a week to rest and recover." I nod my head. Moya and I finish getting ready for bed and I snuggle under my covers.
A week of rest will be good, I think to myself, my eyes feeling droopy. It'll be enough time for our strength to regain and for our wounds to heal fully. I close my eyes and darkness takes over.
I'm not forced into that nightmare that's been plaguing me for a month now. So I am shocked when I wake up and feel fully regenerated from a great night's sleep. It's refreshing. I change out of my pjs and into my swimsuit.
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I make my way down to the hot spring and notice that Princess Reinī is already there. "You're up early," Reinī addresses me as I open the screen door that leads out to the hot spring.
"So are you," I state, wading into the spring. It's pretty silent and I sit on one of the ledges, letting the hot spring cleanse my wounds. I softly sigh, closing my eyes as I look up at the sky.
"I'm sorry," Reinī suddenly states, catching me off guard.
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because you're hurt. It's my fault. I'm the one my cousin wants to kill. And you're hurt because you're in her way."
I scoff and roll my eyes. "As if you care. Listen, I'm only doing this because it's my mission. If I had it my way, I'd be doing nothing more than an easy C-rank mission. I'm only a Gennin after all."
"A powerful Gennin. You may be even more powerful than my cousin. It'd be interesting to see the two of you go toe-to-toe when you learn how to control your powers."
"What's that supposed to mean? I have impeccable control over my powers."
"No, you don't. The only reason you think you do is that you don't even know the full depth or strength of your powers. I can sense someone's powers. It's something I got from my mom."
"I know." I look up at the sky. "I'm plenty content with the amount of power I have right now. Besides, I don't want to end up like my great-grandmother. She went power-hungry. Almost destroyed everything just for more power. I don't want to be like that."
