It was a warm summer day in Gobigakure. A light breeze blew in from the ocean, bringing with it relief from the midday heat. The sun stood high on the sky, baking down on the poor, helpless souls that wandered the streets and alleys of the village. The sea-side town was mostly quiet at this time of the day as it only really came to life when the sun had set. The sailors by the harbor was loading their ships, getting them ready for their next travel. The cooks and chefs of the Savory Lane were lighting up their grills, getting ready for business. The youngsters of the Ninja Academy were studying and training, honing their skills to become the best of their trade. This was a normal day in Gobi and yet, for a small group of the members of the village, everything was about to change.
For weeks, months even, a group of young men and women who were all shinobi of Gobigakure had been planning their so-called escape. No-one was keeping them from leaving, but it felt like an escape to them. Gobi was like a prison, with it's tall stone walls and the valleys that dropped so deep that it would be certain death to fall in.
Sawaru sat in complete silence on the futon that made up the majority of her furniture in her quite small, one-room apartment on the bad side of the village. The only sound to be heard was the light sound of her deep breaths as she allowed the calming effect of her flowers to optimize her meditation. She was searching her core, following the trails of chakra that danced around in her veins and enjoying the feeling of energy and life within herself. It was moments like this, when she could really feel the potential she had of being something great, that she knew she made the right choice when she left the people that had made her travels feel like home.
She opened her eyes briefly, to take a glance at the clock hanging on the wall. When she found both arms to be pointing upwards, she drew in a deep sigh and flexed the utterly relaxed muscles in her arms before she pushed herself to a stand. She was late.
Kai was already waiting when Sawaru decided to make her appearance. He had been casually seated at a town bench, reading a book that was hardly exciting, but better than staring off into space. When he saw the pink-haired puritan strolling casually towards him, waving one of her arms in greeting, he rose to return the gesture. Sawaru was grinning like a fool by the time he fell into step next to her.
“Yo,” she greeted warmly with a glint in her golden eyes, “Ready for a spar you'll never forget?”
Kai cast a sideway glance her way, “Why? Did you learn something actually useful?”
Sawaru chuckled and casually took in their surroundings. It seemed they were alone, having walked away from the actual streets of the village and headed towards the less crowded outskirts of the town, which were commonly used for young ninja to practice their trade.
“So...” she began, but trailed off a bit. She never was one for planning. That was why she had Kai and Masakazu; they were more of the planning type.
Kai nodded, accepting the distance they had gone from the village itself, “We're leaving tomorrow. Late morning would be best, since this village is only alive when the sun sleeps.”
Sawaru nodded in agreement; everyone knew that Gobigakure was filled with night owls who shied away from the light of the sun, “All right,” she offered her verbal agreement, as well. “I tried getting Guard Duty, but they clearly don't find me suited to protect the gates, without any ninjutsu,” she added, “One of the other guys'll have to do it. I'm sure Aro could get Guard Duty without even asking for it.” Ichiro probably could have gotten it, too, were it not for his young age, but Sawaru could not be bothered to repeat this thought to her companion.
What Sawaru was saying was true. There was very little chance of neither Sawaru, Kai or Masakazu getting Guard Duty as none of them had any real ninjutsu they could use to keep the village safe and the narrow-minded leaders of the town could not see the potential any of them had in other fields. Even Tatsuya, who at leas had some proper ninjutsu, despite his focus being on his swords; both in forging and in fighting, could not get the seat as Guard without major preparation.
Kai sighed his agreement to his friend and took a few seconds to give it some thought. Would it even be smart for them to leave while one of them were on duty? It was certainly the easiest, but it was also risky. What if the village really was attacked and it was at that moment, when no-one was standing guard? They could likely be the cause of a war if that were to happen.
Maybe Masakazu could make some parchment to make it appear they had a mission so that they could leave the village without raising suspicion. They would simply need to show the mission request to the Guard and they'd be allowed passage. Piece of cake.
“I have an idea,” Kai told his sister in arms with a proud smile on his lips, “Tell the others to meet at your place. We can talk freely there. I'll talk to Masa,” he told the pinkette, who grinned from ear to ear at the request.
Otreas
