The weekend quickly passed by.
On Monday, "Kudo! You are late. How will you become a decent shinobi if you are always late?" His mother admonished as they headed for the village gates.
"I'm not always late." Kudo silently replied in protest, shaking her head. Ina led the way. After a couple of minutes of walking, "I'm sorry, Fujiwara-san, he woke up late." His mother apologized to the middle-aged man wearing a robe with blue dragon tattoos, "It's alright, we were able to organize minor things while we waited." Fujiwara spoke with a gentle smile. He was one of Murata's friends and was used to the vacations taken by the Tanehiko household yearly, something he thought about doing for his family.
Forcefully grabbing Kudo's neck from behind, "A-p-o-l-o-g-i-z-e." His mother said, Kudo gulped, turning to the man, "Good morning, and I'm sorry for being late."Amused Fujiwara chuckled, "It's alright, let's get going then." Turning back to the caravan, he ordered his men to begin moving.Kudo watched his mother enter one of the carriages while he chose to walk with the guards of the convoy. It was his first time outside the village, and the expansive roads and forest were a sight to behold.
Fujiwara was an elite chunin while most of his guard were chunin with a few genin as carriage-men. They were on a merchant delivery to the Land of Grass, and then moving along into the Land of Waterfall, and then they would return to the leaf village. It was gonna be at least a week's journey to reach Kusagakure (Land of Grass), but it would take 2 days.Kudo spent most of his time conversing with the guards; they had rich experience from their travels and had interesting stories, but he kept wary of bandits. While he agreed the trip was necessary to clear the air, it was also very risky if, instead of bandits, they came across rogue shinobi. As they moved along from rural village to rural village, although he didn't want to be a merchant like his father, he did, however, pay attention to Fujiwara's negotiation tactics, for once he saw a world where strength wasn't absolute, but interests were.
It took 2 and a half days to reach Kusagakure, and while the caravan was off doing business, they explored the town of Mushioka, looking at plays and unique customs of the region. The daimyo of Kusagakure resided in Mushioka, and his family name was Nakashige. He preferred empowerment of the village through negotiations and trade alliances, but though his approach enriched the lives of the people in his domain, there were some sentiments belonging to those who had survived the 2nd and 3rd shinobi wars that called for more military power.
When adults fought, kids became collateral damage, and it was so every time the great villages had wars, the minor villages became war fronts, and countless people died unnecessarily due to the flames of war.
In Mushioka town, a hidden alleyway,
"That's them." A rugged voice said, a hand missing a thumb pointed to the caravan of the Blue Dragon group. In plain sight, people were moving about, but he carriages of the caravan sat before stores unloading their cargo."We will hit them when they leave, in the land of Waterfall. We don't want them thinking it's us, plus they will be loaded. More money for us." The leader licked his lips, flashing a grin, "I heard they came with guests." "Yeah, a boy and his mother, I presume. They have been touring around- Tsk! - acting like they belong here. We don't need their kind here!"
"Calm down, Fusanobu, they will pay soon enough." Sou Hidekiyo calmed his friend, 'With the money from this job, I will no longer have to listen to that old man. I will no longer be a bastard.' Gnashing his teeth, they disappeared into the dark alley, but unknown to them, on the roof of the alleyway, a figure moved, headed towards the caravan. To him, this wasn't new; the merchant group was used to attacks, either politically or as vengeance against the great villages. Several minutes later, hearing the scout's report, Fujiwara calmly nodded. "They might not be the only ones. Make sure the men are prepared. Also, tell our guests that the time for exploring is over; we can't have them being kidnapped in the town."The scout left, and Fujiwara let out a quiet sigh, 'Do they have to do this always? It's starting to get annoying.' The money from being a guard of the group was better than the commissions from a shinobi mission, and one rarely faced death if one had a reputation, but some idiots just loved death.
Walking back into the negotiating room, he put on his poker face as he got ready to settle this deal.
A day later, the caravan had just left the Land of Grass and had recently entered the territory of the Land of Waterfall and immediately their attentiveness rose a notch; they were ready for an ambush. The caravan altogether had 5 elite chunins, 57 chunins and 13 genins. Not all were native to the Hidden Leaf Village because the merchant group had branches in most minor villages.In the thicket of trees, leaves shuffled about as a bird chirped; everyone was ready. Kudo was also nervously keeping watch of his surroundings.'This is non-' His thoughts interrupted by something coming at them, focusing chakra in his eyes, he bellowed, "Kunai with explosion tags!" His shout was drowned out by the sound of explosions as the kunai struck the convoy from all around them.
"We are surrounded, be careful!" Fujiwara screamed, his hands moving, "Earth style: Earth Dome." Walls of earth surged, covering the cargo and carriages, flickering to the side. He crouched on the ground, "Earth style: Iron bedrock!" The ground beneath the dome hardened. 'With this, I don't have to worry.' Fujiwara thought as he headed into battle, his comrades were facing elite chunin enemies.
Kudo, like others, caught on to Fujiwara's intention, but the attackers were late to stop him. 'I can rampage freely.' Kudo was still mindful not to go too far.