An Unknown World

The Journey Begins

The three of us met at the gate as soon as we were ready. Minato-Sensei wasn't there yet, so we sat against a nearby wall to wait.

"What do you think this mission is about? The Hokage didn't even brief us... and Sensei didn't seem too pleased about this..." Obito trailed off to Rin.

I couldn't deal with his questions right now. "Just shut up..." My head was down, resting on my knees. "If Sensei needed us to know, he would tell us. We have to trust him." My voice was as cold as ice. I was still upset that my shining moment was taken from me so quickly. I wanted to trust my Sensei to make the right choice.

Something about this mission just didn't feel right already, and we hadn't even left yet.

A lump formed in my stomach.

Minato-Sensei walked past, heading for the gate without a word.

"Sensei..." Rin said softly as he walked past. She could tell that something was bothering him.

We all stood up and followed behind him to the gate, waiting for our briefing. Instead, he just casually kept walking out of the village, not speaking a word to anyone, and we followed as we knew we were expected to.

The gate closed behind us, and we found ourselves walking in the forest, with the afternoon sun shining down on us. Minato-Sensei stopped, his head down, staring at the ground as if in deep thought.

"You all need to listen to me very carefully during every moment of this mission... Do you understand?" He sounded void of all emotion with that question. I had never heard him use that tone.

What is going on?

As if reading my thoughts, Rin took a deep breath that sent shivers down my spine. "What is this mission, Minato-Sensei?"

His hands were down at his sides, and I could see him flex his hands into fists. There was a long pause before he turned his head and looked over his shoulder, meeting each of our gazes at once.

"There is a chance that none of us will survive this mission."

We all froze.

That wasn't what we were expecting to hear.

The forest was silent at night. Not even crickets were chirping their bedtime melodies. We had been running through the trees for what felt like forever. As soon as the sun fell far enough behind the trees, encasing the world around us in darkness, we set up camp. The clearing that we found was perfect for defense. Each direction had about 2-3 acres of open ground before the thick trees that lined the area could be seen. A small group of about 5 trees surrounded the middle like an island. We made a small fire and set up our sleeping areas. None of us had spoken since Minato-Sensei said what he did.

'There is a chance that none of us will survive this mission.'

Could that even be true?

Minato-Sensei wasn't only talking about us, his students, but himself as well.

What or who could possibly take down the notorious 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'? Ninja around the Nations feared his speed and power... why was he so worried?

Obito spoke after the fire had been lit. "I think that Rin and I should take the first guard shift, we are the weakest here after all."

I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. "You don't need an excuse as to why you want to go off together. You're not weak."

He wasn't expecting me to compliment him, obviously, because he looked shocked and embarrassed at the same time. "Umm... I mean... uh."

"It's okay!" Rin chimed in. "We will just take the first guard duty." She looked at Minato, who was sitting in front of the fire, staring at the night sky, his yellow messy hair reflecting the light from the fire. "Is that okay, Sensei?" she asked in a concerned tone.