Dusk over the Mist.
Mari Kurio tilted a dark blue umbrella and stared up at the sky.
Light and shadow were muddled.
Moisture boiled up into a mass of black cloud that sagged over the horizon. The air was so hot and wet it felt ready to turn solid, yet not a single drop fell. Thunder rolled inside the banked clouds, gathering force, as if waiting to split the sky with one crack and let a downpour loose.
No telling when the rain would start.
Worry gnawed at Mari.
Three days earlier,
ANBU had suddenly ordered a village lockdown and every shinobi in Kirigakure had exploded.
The Mist was one of the Five Great Hidden Villages and its reach was wide.
Almost every mission in the Land of Water and the small nations and islands around it flowed through Mist shinobi. Every day the village stayed sealed bled away rewards by the millions.
How could that stand.
The jōnin dug for the order's source and found that a decision this weighty had come from a single ANBU squad captain with the codename Great Tengu.
ANBU's reason for the lockdown was simple. A foreign spy had slipped into the village. To prevent leaks, the gates were sealed.
It was an insult.
Who ever strangled their own economy because a spy got in. If anything, that made you look like the spy.
Furious, the jōnin agreed to report to the Mizukage together and have the ban lifted.
Except
the Mizukage was missing.
Not only the Mizukage. The Elder who oversaw village affairs from top to bottom, the civilian faction's standard-bearer, the ANBU commander codename Fierce Fang, Shun Kurio, the bloodline clans' champion Mei Terumi, and the sealing and genjutsu master called the Illusion Killer, Ao, had all vanished.
The jōnin sobered as the weight of it all sank in and turned to ANBU to ask after the Mizukage and the others.
Word filtered out from the masks that the Mizukage and the rest were in the village and that their exact movements were top secret. For the village's safety, the Mist would remain under wartime lockdown until the Mizukage returned.
With that, objections died.
If the elite among the jōnin nodded, no one below would raise a voice. The ridiculous lockdown went into force on the order of one small ANBU captain.
Orders were orders.
The scraps ANBU fed them did not still the questions.
So Mari Kurio, special jōnin and kid sister of ANBU Commander Shun Kurio, came to the ANBU at the gates to hear the truth.
At the shut village gate,
"Lady Kurio."
The ANBU posted to seal the exits straightened when Mari approached. Even Mist Crow and Blood Hound dipped their heads. There was none of the swagger they had worn with civilians.
Everyone in ANBU knew how the commander treasured his only sister.
He would not risk her on his palm for fear of dropping her and would not keep her in his mouth for fear she would melt.
Inside the corps more than a few had called Mari the ANBU young lady to flatter the commander.
Mari nodded.
"Where is my brother."
Masks flicked toward one another.
ANBU rules were iron. No one dared offend the commander's sister, yet no one dared answer.
"Who is in charge."
She swept them with calm, cool eyes.
Glances crossed between the masks and then settled on a crow-faced ANBU.
The Crow looked left and right and finally stepped forward with a resigned lift of his shoulders. "Lady Kurio, I serve under Captain Great Tengu. Codename Mist Crow."
Mari's sea-blue eyes studied him, her expression dark. "I do not care who you are. Answer me. Where did my brother go."
"The commander, he left the village." Mist Crow hesitated a beat and told the truth.
"Why."
"I do not know."
"Then bring your captain here."
"I am sorry, Lady Kurio. The captain is busy with ANBU affairs and cannot receive you."
Mari watched the lowered head and the pleading tone and her pretty face went cold.
She knew none of these ANBU.
She had grown up running the halls of the ANBU base. She might not know all her brother's subordinates well, but she could at least put names to faces.
These men at the gate were strangers.
That meant they were not her brother's men.
The Mizukage was missing. Her brother was missing. Even the loyal subordinates who followed him seemed to have vanished.
Mari's mood curdled.
A bad feeling settled over her heart.
"Your captain cannot get away."
"Yes."
Mari locked her eyes on the slits under the Crow's mask. Her gaze was a needle that looked ready to punch through the lacquer. "If I try to leave the village right now, will he appear."
"The village is under…"
"Do you dare stop me."
Her voice snapped up and each word landed like a blow.
Mist Crow lifted his head and met her stare. Bodies tensed behind him. Blood Hound's breath thickened. His chest swelled. His short red hair stood up like needles.
The air tightened like a bowstring.
A moment passed.
Mist Crow pressed one hand back to still the eager Blood Hound. His mask hid his features.
"Lady Kurio is the commander's sister. We seal the village to catch a spy. It is not about you.
"If you wish to leave, we can open the gate at any time.
"If you wish to see the captain, that requires his consent. I am only a ranker in ANBU and cannot make that call. As for the Mizukage and your brother's movements, I truly do not know."
He shook his head.
Mari stared at the man who let nothing stick to him and felt a pain behind her teeth.
His attitude was proper.
His answers were all I do not know.
The order came from his captain.
He would not block her exit.
He could not set a meeting.
He was a whetstone of a man, hard from every angle. She could not storm the ANBU base on a whim to drag Great Tengu out to argue. If he meant to hide, she would not find him.
Facing a man like this was like a dog biting a hedgehog. There was nowhere to clamp down.
There was nothing more to be had. Mari refused to throw her brother's weight around and bully subordinates. She snorted, turned on her heel, and walked.
She had not gone far from the gate when
a drop struck the road.
"It is raining."
Someone cried out. People hunched and scattered for cover.
Mari snapped the umbrella open and was about to keep on when a soft, timid voice came from her side.
"Excuse me, has the ban been lifted."
The voice was gentle and pleasant, and Mari found her feet stopping. She turned her head.
As the passersby broke for the eaves, the corner of the street turned messy. Only one figure sat quietly by the curb.
A girl huddled under the roofline with both hands on a blind staff. A wide black cloth covered her eyes. Her nose was straight and her features fine, like a doll made a size larger.
Silver-gray hair fell over her shoulders and framed skin that seemed to glow. A white cloak, dust-stained, wrapped her from neck to heel and made her look small and soft, like a kitten.
A beautiful blind girl.
Mari was struck for an instant and looked her over before remembering the question had been for her.
"Ah, little one, are you speaking to me."