[center]WHEN THE SUN SETS WE GO HOME TOGETHER
EPISODE HOTARU - CHAPTER 0
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[color=black]CRIES FROM THE MOON VALLEY [/color]
[color=white]CRIES FROM THE MOON VALLEY[/color]
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Team Kinryuu’s first mission as a trio started with a lovely misunderstanding, where Hotaru informed their youngest member she was to meet them by the Dai Rock Bridge at 3, and she had simply figured he meant 3pm instead of 3am. The entire trip from Konoha to Tsukitani just kept going down hill from there. The train ride provided a small reprieve when Chisato fell asleep, Sayuri focused on flipping through a magazine and Hotaru just ignored the whole ordeal by shoving a pair of phones into his ears, but it was only a couple hours of rest before the incredible hike they needed to pass through to get to the village as soon as possible.

The climb was easy enough for the boys, fit as they were and used to these kind of activities already, but Sayuri was dragging painfully behind and, by the third time Hotaru had to stop just so she could catch up enough that he could still keep an eye on her, he was already calculating exactly how much trouble just leaving her behind would bring them. He never once said a bitter word to her, unlike Chisato who had spent the first 15 minutes of the hike criticizing her every step before ditching them to run ahead at his own pace, but Hotaru was painfully annoyed and he couldn’t really help the cold glare he stared at her with.

Most people would think to undergo some form of training before enlisting as shinobi. The Academy had a course specifically for the kids who wished to follow that particular path and, even afterwards, there were plenty of gyms and training camps that offered to train people for a specific fee. Sayuri acted like she’d just dropped by Shuemura’s office, handed in her curriculum and got accepted. Probably a fuck you from the big boss, who was already looking for ways to dissolve their team.

At least she kept her mouth shut and didn’t complain, though she probably was too tired to bitch about it anyway.

[color=FF4500]“Hey dude, check this out!”[/color] Chisato called, his voice dropping from somewhere up above, where the trees formed a roof over their heads. With a small glance towards their weaker member, Hotaru jumped up to join his friend. She could survive five minutes on her own. [color=FF4500]“Over there,”[/color] the blond remarked, eyebrows furrowed in attention towards whatever he was seeing. 

It took only a few seconds before Hotaru noticed the large clearing in the woods down below; one they’d somehow missed while walking by and were now only noticing from their current position. The ground had a large hole in it, and the few trees around it looked withered and brown compared to the rest of the lush green forest. It would be too much of a coincidence for it not to be involved with whatever was going on in Tsukitani. 

[color=FF00FF]“It was a good decision to plan the trip so we’d be hiking through the day,”[/color] Hotaru sighed, pushing his hair back. All hopes that this would be a mere bear attack gone from his mind. [color=FF00FF]“I don’t fancy us wandering around here at night.”[/color]

[color=FF4500]“Not when we have that eyesore to worry about,”[/color] Chisato complained in a particularly mean way. Mean, but not exactly wrong. Even now, looking down, Hotaru saw the mint haired girl standing idly by the tree they were sitting on. Could she even climb it? Could she even use chakra at all?

He rubbed his face, suddenly weary even though the mission had barely started. [color=FF00FF]“We’ll leave her at the village while we scout, she’s not fast enough to accompany us anyway.”[/color]

Sharing a painful look between them, the boys dropped down from the tree in one fell swoop. Sayuri looked marginally better with the few minutes of pause she’d had to recoup her strength, and actually focused on them when she asked. [color=00FA9A]“What was it?”[/color]

[color=FF4500]“Shoulda climbed yourself if you wanted to know,”[/color] Chisato immediately snapped. That sounded a bit unfair, from Hotaru’s point of view and he was about to tell his team mate to restrain himself a little, she might be a pain but talking like this among themselves would only create a negative impression on the villagers once they arrived. However, her next words froze his blood before he could open his mouth.

[color=00FA9A]“I don’t have the Sharingan or the Byakugan though,”[/color] she said, hands on her hips, as if that was an excuse to not bother carrying her own weight in the team. Somehow, the petulant tone of voice she used turned it into even more of an insult than it already was. That topic was a very sensitive one, albeit for different reasons, to both Hotaru and Chisato. The former rose his hand as the Uchiha’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, the temperature around them rising a few degrees; he scoffed before he turned and jumped ahead.

Hotaru stared at the girl coldly before he too turned his back. [color=FF00FF]“Neither of us have them.”[/color]

It’s like she had a list of which buttons to press with them, and she’d made it her mission to get through all of them through this mission. This time, Hotaru did walk ahead without looking to see if she was accompanying them. 

[color=00FA9A]“……oh.”[/color] Unseen, Sayuri looked down at her shoes with a troubled expression. She had no idea they didn’t have their clan’s kekkei genkai and, even then, it wouldn’t have occurred to her that it would be such a delicate topic even if she did. She only knew what Mr. Shuemura had told her, after all.