Nostalgia Approaches... {Travel to Yama no Kuni}

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Kimiko knew that this day would come, she had known since that first time she had met Ookami, Takai and Issen that the gruesome tale that had been weaved wouldn’t be finished until she was able to put a stop to it herself. And yet she felt so sombre, a heart heavy with foreboding, and she didn’t wish to go on this mission she had been assigned. She had been in a meeting with the Hokage two days previously, which was when he had told her about her assignment and she had nearly shut down right there and then. But she had been training for this self same moment that she would be given the chance to pursue those who had caused so much pain and anguish. Now that the time had come, however, the reality of how prepared she would feel (or not feel, in this case) had hit her hard. She had learnt how to use weapons for this cause, in order to bring justice to those who had almost killed her and her companion at the time. Everything she had done up until now had been done as such for her strength, the strength she needed to eradicate the threat to her home village at all costs. So why was she hesitating? As she walked through the Fire Country on the main path from Konoha, she didn’t show any merriment or happiness as such. She was silent, staring sullenly ahead in the direction she was heading. Even her attire was glum to match her mood; she wore all black with barely any skin showing, which was odd indeed. Her Konohagakure headband had been tied around her forehead with the glinting metal plate visible in between the bangs that framed her face, also an oddity for one who knew the Katsumi female. She always wore the headband around her upper right thigh, and when she wore it differently they knew she meant business, or she wasn’t quite herself.

Perhaps she was thinking too much about what was to come. But she couldn’t help but think that they had nearly killed her, they hated her guts and wanted her dead. No doubt there were much stronger than they had been two years previously, and that made her inwardly shudder at the thought. They vowed that they had many more supporters, and they had probably galvanised even more support over these years as well. But her mission wasn’t to fight them, it was to gather information. So she was thankful for that. She at least wanted to know about her enemy before she had to take them down, and she had vowed to do as much. To protect Konoha she would do anything without a second thought, but in situations like this she couldn’t help but brood over the obviously bad situation she found herself in.

The Hokage had said that she was perfect for this mission because she was familiar with the two members who were leading the operation, and nobody else had come into contact with the organisation before. Many probably had, but were lost to the earth by now, and that wouldn’t come as a surprise to Kimiko. If she did not have the support of Komo-san, she would have joined her fallen comrades, she was sure of it. She couldn’t help but wonder why Ookami and Takai had gone to Yama no Kuni, up in the inhospitable mountainous region of the shinobi world. It did make some sense in the eyes of a criminal, for they would be hidden from prying eyes and there was nobody to bother them in their operations. Yet at the same time it was so barren and so deadly up there that it was any wonder they had survived so long. She wasn’t exactly an expert in Geography, but she was rather certain that there had been awful wars that racked the Mountain Country many years ago and left it barren since. There would be no sources of food or water, and thus she was intrigued to know how the two criminals and whatever supporters they had up there had survived until this point. It wasn’t like they could hop into another country if they so wished; Yama no Kuni was far away from most countries in the shinobi world, and perfect for gathering people in secret.

She pulled out a map from her rucksack and scanned it with her currently expressionless chocolate eyes, planning the route she would take after leaving the Fire Country. It would take her a good number of days to reach her destination, that much was a given. But she was well prepared with dried foods, campfire essentials, a sleeping mat and a small one-man camouflage tent. She had so many changes of clothes for all extremes of the weather; from torrential rain to unrelenting snow, to a heat wave and a deep freeze, she was well-prepared for all eventualities. At present she was feeling the heat because of the blazing sun up above and her black garb, but soon enough she would feel cooler… up in the mountains…