The tent was dead quiet.
Everyone else had turned in. Only Uchiha Jin lay on his cot, staring through the small window at the night outside.
He sighed to himself.
Cannon fodder might as well not be people.
Think about the training plan for Konoha's Class A. They got a jōnin mentor, bell-stealing drills, D-rank errands in the village, and only when their teamwork finally gelled would they be allowed to try a C-rank.
Class B?
Nothing.
A disposable chūnin to supervise, and as for bell-stealing, forget it.
Fail to grab the bells, go back to school? As if.
Teams like theirs were meant to die. No bonds, no trust, only scheming and backbiting.
Ever since leaving the village, it had been one mess after another. Jin could only shake his head.
What a headache.
Surviving a war on a team like this was already hard. Now they had dumped Ishikawa Itsuki back on them, and the thought alone made Jin's temples throb.
Morning came.
After a quick breakfast, Kudō Shin spoke up at once.
"Our mission is to head for Outpost No. 27, left of the former Land of Whirlpools."
"We keep a tight watch on the sea. If we spot Kirigakure, fire a signal immediately."
"Then buy time by any means until the main camp can respond."
"Move out."
With the briefing done, Kudō led the way out of the forward camp.
Jin and Nara Kazama traded a look, said nothing, and followed.
Only Ishikawa lagged.
He could feel how badly he clashed with the team, but pride kept him from looking inward. He blamed his teammates. In his mind, if not for them dragging him down, he would already have racked up merits and traded them for new jutsu.
Instead he had been investigated by ANBU.
All their fault.
He shot the trio a poisonous look, snorted, and trotted after them.
The four moved fast.
They were shinobi. They did not walk so much as fly from trunk to trunk through the forest.
Half a day later, they reached the site. A small wooden hut sat on a thick branch, hidden in the leaves. From inside, they could watch the sea without exposing themselves.
"All right, set the watch."
"We split into day and night shifts. I go with Uchiha Jin. Nara Kazama and Ishikawa Itsuki are the other pair."
"Jin and I will rest now. You two keep eyes on the water."
"At night we switch."
No one objected.
Even Ishikawa only gave a cold nod. He had learned, at least, not to push back in the open.
Jin said nothing. He gave Kazama a glance. When he saw the small answering nod, he headed into the hut to sleep.
He did not trust Ishikawa in the least.
The man's cold, hateful stare from last night still lingered in his mind. Better to stay guarded.
Kazama was not stupid. Even without a signal he had already understood.
Days slipped by. Six passed in a blink.
Nothing happened.
No sign of Mist shinobi. They began to wonder if the intel had been wrong. If not for that ambush earlier, they would have thought Kirigakure was not coming at all.
Jin, more than the others, felt a faint dread.
He knew the truth. Shisui had told him Kirigakure had already declared war, and his past life's memories said the Mist had fought in the Third War. Might Guy's Eight Gates had made their name here.
The calmer it was, the more it made his skin crawl.
Shift change came.
On the handoff, he pulled Kazama aside.
"Be careful."
"Something is off. A hard fight is coming."
"Watch yourself and do not die."
Kazama blinked, then nodded firmly.
He was not a fool. If Jin said that much, he must have sensed something. They had not been together long, but Kazama chose to trust his judgment.
That night, deep into the small hours, Kazama shook Jin and Kudō awake.
"Movement."
"Fog in the trees. I think it is the Hidden Mist Technique."
Jin and Kudō hurried outside.
The forest was swallowed in heavy fog, just as Kazama said. Jin frowned.
They had seen no stir on the water. By rights the Mist could not have slipped past.
Yet the fog was undeniable. In this season, it should not form on its own.
"Coincidence?" Kudō asked. "We have watched the sea for days. How could Mist creeps get under our noses?"
Ishikawa snorted and shrugged, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Making a fuss over nothing."
"I told Nara it was just fog. Means zilch."
"He would not listen. Not my problem."
Kazama's face did not change.
Their doubt meant nothing to him. He cared about one person's read here, and that was Jin's.
In a team like this, talk of bonds was a joke. Even so, the two of them had built a bit of rapport, and they each knew something of the other's secrets. That made them allies by interest, if nothing else.
"I am going to scout," Kazama said. "Jin, coming?"
He ignored Ishikawa and turned to Jin.
Jin frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Let's go. Otherwise we will not sleep a wink."
They both looked to Kudō.
He was team lead. They needed his word.
Kudō's eyes narrowed. He studied them and gave a small nod.
"All right."
"I think something is wrong too, so I am coming."
"Ishikawa, you in?"