WAB: Chapter 1

Akamaru, Kiba, and I traveled northeast toward Konoha. Our First Real stop would be Tetsumizu City on the Shores of Lake Moeru in Western Natsu Province. The Lord of Tetsumizu City, Lord Kobayakawa of Tetsumizu City was known to be keen on the innovations of the Polar People and was known for using his wealth to create versions of their technology that were then sold to the Fire Daimyo's Forces and Konoha, such as the Radios used by the Shinobi Forces and Daimyo's Army. That, in turn, had brought Tetsumizu a lot of wealth, which meant it would be an ideal place to rest up.

First, though, we had to get there. Even moving at our maximum speed for overland travel, it still took us two and a half days to make it to the border from Tanigakure. As we traveled we caught up with each other, or rather, I caught up with how things had been going back home in Konoha. There wasn't really much to catch up on with me unless you counted negotiating with Lord Toritaka, Sparring with Torimune, or the occasional Bandit Hunt as an attache to the Tanigakure Shinobi Forces.

"Sakura finally made Tokubetsu Jonin about six months after you left." Offered Kiba.

"Oh yeah?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Word was that the Hokage thought about keeping her back another few months, but the fact that she was the last person in our graduating class to do it seemed to light a fire under her ass." Nodded Kiba.

"Let me guess, her Med-Nin Skills put her there?" I queried.

"Actually, no. If you can believe it, the Rumor is Lady Tsunade refused to let her skate by with just that. Apparently, she insisted that Sakura get at least two other skills up to snuff first." Answered Kiba.

"Genjutsu's gotta be one. What's the other?" I asked.

"Bukijutsu. She wanted it to be Ninjutsu, but she couldn't manage to wrangle any Nature Transformations out of anyone and she wasn't having luck with higher-level Ninjutsu that wasn't Doton (Earth Release) or Suiton (Water Release). Not enough luck to merit that being a consideration of Tokubetsu Jonin, anyway." Informed Kiba.

"But you somehow got the Doton Transformation Exercise?" I questioned.

"Yeah, though apparently if you don't have some kinda in, there's a tradition to make you work for it. I found a pretty easy guy to earn the Doton Exercise from, though. You know that weird guy, Ebisu? Turns out, he's got both the Katon (Fire Release) and Doton Exercises, and he'll usually part with the instructions for one of the two if you help him indulge his secret habits." Smirked Kiba.

"Huh. All right, I'll bite. What secret habits?" I queried.

I knew Ebisu mostly as a pretty standard stuffy elitist, but the Guy was a Tokubetsu Jonin in his own right. I always just assumed that he got the spot due to his skills as a trainer, though. However, it made sense if he had the Nature Transformation Exercises for Katon and Doton. Katon was the most common Affinity for folks in the Land of Fire, after all, and while Suiton (Water Release) was a pretty close second, Doton wasn't far behind. Really the only super-rare Affinity in Fire Country was Futon (Wind Release) as a very distant fifth, as Raiton (Lightning Release) was just behind Doton. Having two Common Nature Transformation Exercises Mastered would explain why Ebisu had the position he did.

"If you can believe it, the guy's a massive perv, though he's super closeted. He's got a taste for Porno Novels, though if you're looking to try the same route I went, don't get him anything by Jiraiya. Apparently, that stuff is way too common and he doesn't need help getting it without folks realizing it's him." Responded Kiba.

"Right. Moving on, what have you heard about the others?" I asked.

That pretty much got us all the way to the border in terms of conversation to catch up with. It turned out that Tsunade Healed Lee right up about a week after I left and put him to work teaching Taijutsu in the Academy to make sure he didn't up and break every bone in his body or something not two seconds after she healed him. He'd mostly done that for a year, teaching the next graduating class, which included Konohamaru, who apparently had taken to Taijutsu really well. Between that and the Sarutobi-Ryuu Bojutsu (Sarutobi Style Staff Fighting) he was learning from Lord Third, Konohamaru had been a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year and had apparently been placed on a team with Hinata's Sister Hanabi, the Top Kunoichi, and a third kid by the name of Ise Udon, who was their year's Dead Last. They'd been taken as a team by Shiranui-Sensei, who'd decided to take a team this year.

"They're not too bad, actually. Of course, Hanabi can't really compare with Hinata, but then, when you're on a team with me, you get to learn from the best, after all!" Smirked Kiba. Akamaru, meanwhile, just chuffed sarcastically, earning himself a side glare from my Cousin.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, Cuz." I chuckled.

"Anyway, that doesn't mean Lee's neglected his own training. He's able to open up to the Keimon (Gate of View) now, though he passes out after his time limit runs out from opening six gates if he has to so much as jog somewhere." Coughed Kiba, changing the subject.

Anyway, apart from Lee, Shikamaru and Ino were still at their posts in Suna and Oto respectively, though it seemed like they'd get recalled in the next month or two, as Suna seemed to be following the treaty stipulations to the letter and would effectively be off-parole soon while Oto was finished rebuilding and just needed a month or two to get missions up and running so they could support themselves. At the same time, Naruto was still who-knows-where with Jiraiya on his extended training trip. Meanwhile, Shino had returned from ANBU Service with a new type of Kikaichu as a part of his colony.

"The things use some kinda undetectable poison. Apparently, only a very few Aburame get to use them, cause they're some sorta super-special assassin bugs. Shino must have passed some test or something to get hold of them for his colony, 'cause I've only heard of like, one other Aburame using these things in the General Forces." Mused Kiba.

"Shino's the heir and he just got off Anbu Duty. His Loyalty's probably above reproach to whoever makes those decisions, Cuz." I pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe. I guess they'd want guys who wouldn't start like, assassinating Clanmates or whatever to use those kinds of things, huh?" Shrugged Kiba.

Aside from that, Hinata had been given some secret, year-long, Hyuuga Heiress Training by Lord Hiashi that she can't talk about because it was a secret. When she, Kiba, and Shino had taken a mission together for Old Times' Sake when she got back, though, some of the stuff she could do was far beyond her previous capabilities.

"Apparently, whatever it was included stuff like projecting Genjutsu out to the limit of her Byakugan Vision and using the Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) to forcibly expel possessing spirits from people's bodies. Crazy stuff." Muttered Kiba.

"You ran a mission that required her to do both?" I questioned.

"Yeah. We were sent to deal with a town out in the Southern Arashi Archipelago that got taken over by Jashinites. Apparently, it got visited by their High Priest, and a buncha the Townsfolk went crazy. The Nanushi out there was possessed by an Onryo apparently, the High Priest of Jashin, some guy called Hidan, put the damn thing in him before leaving to do who knows what. We had to take out the Town Guards from a distance, and then exorcise the Onryo and Hinata was the one who did both. Honestly, she probably could've handled it without us." Explained Kiba.

"Jashinites are bad news, but their High Priest being able to summon Onryo and force them to possess people is even worse news." I grumbled.

"Yeah, honestly, I'm just glad we didn't wind up having to kill the guy to banish the Onryo. Apparently that sorta thing gives the Onryo more strength after it comes back from banishment. At least that's what Lord Third said when I asked him." Nodded Kiba.

Aside from that, I already knew what was up with Neji, since he'd taken my own posting, but apparently, he'd seen some messed up stuff while working with Shino in the Anbu Corps. He and Shino hadn't said much to Kiba about it, and I honestly doubted they even could, but whatever they'd done had rattled Neji enough that he wasn't even able to muster his customary standoffishness for a while after coming back from Anbu Duty. Kiba said it'd had something to do with the circumstances surrounding the Death of a Ranking Member of the Daimyo of Hot Springs Country's Court.

"Before I could press for answers, though, Shino'd shut up real quick and no amount of Sake would get him to spill the rest of the story." Scowled Kiba.

"Wait, was this Lord Sō?" I queried.

"Yeah, I think so? Why? Do you know something?" Asked Kiba, Akamaru yipping as well, clearly interested too.

"I heard about that through the diplomatic grapevine while posted to Tanigakure. They say there were rumors of a scandal involving the Opium Trade in Tea Country and Lord Sō." I frowned.

"Huh. No wonder Neji's been so down. The guy thought his Old Man had died of an Opium Overdose for years." Huffed Kiba. Akamaru whined in the back of his throat as if to say 'You think?' earning him a glare from Kiba.

Regardless, that pretty much just left Tenten-nee out of the Shinobi in our age cohort to talk about. She'd pretty much become my Old Man's right hand in the Quartermaster's Office, to hear Kiba tell it. Apparently, she'd taken a long-term mission as his assistant so she could stick close to Konoha and train her ass off when she wasn't helping with logistics for the Shinobi Forces. She'd managed to get some extra training time with Gai-Sensei, who had yet to take on another team after Tenten-nee, Lee, and Neji had been promoted. He'd had her working on a bunch of Taijutsu Styles to match her Bukijutsu Styles, along with Opening the Gates, and while she still wanted to be a Weapons Mistress, Tenten-Nee realized that being able to fight without weapons and having the physical capabilities to back her Bukijutsu and Taijutsu skills up could only help cover some of her weaknesses.

"I've only seen her open up to the Shōmon (Gate of Pain) but her being able to open up four of the Eight Gates is kinda terrifying enough on its own. If you tell her I said that, I'm denying it by the way." Intoned Kiba.

"Hey, no worries here, Cuz. Tenten-nee Scares me sometimes too." I opined.

Regardless, that conversation, along with me filling him in on the pretty mundane and routine diplomatic posting I'd just gone through, took up the majority of the two-and-a-half days it took us to reach the Border of River and Fire Country. Within fifteen minutes of crossing the border, we were flagged down by a group of Genin from the Genin Corps who had been part of the Fire Country Border Patrol. After a routine check of our Shinobi ID Cards and a brief Genjutsu Check to ensure we weren't using Genjutsu to hide our real identities, they waved us through. It was all very standard procedure, though it wouldn't fool a clever enemy, who might use far more mundane disguise tactics than Genjutsu. I mentioned that to the Genin who checked me, a younger boy with a shaved head, but just got a shrug in response.

"This is how we were told to do it." He pointed out.

"It's good to keep in mind, though." Remarked the Chunin leading the squad of Genin, a boy with brown hair and a nose that looked like it had been broken and reset without the aid of a Med-Nin a few times too many.

The Kids were pretty young, though. Likely they'd been part of one of the last two graduating classes, if not the last graduating class, who had failed to secure a spot on a Jonin Team and got sent to the Genin Corps. They were led by a Chunin who couldn't have been much older than Kiba and I. As we headed northeast toward Lake Moeru and Tetsumizu City, I mentioned that to Kiba, who just snorted in amusement at the observation.

"Those guys? You were probably right about the Genin. I know you're right about the Chunin, but he's a good guy." Remarked Kiba.

"You know him?" I questioned.

"Yeah, that's Bandou. He was with Kakashi and Me during Phase One of the War with Oto. He was in the class that graduated after ours, though obviously, he didn't make the cut for a Jonin Instructor. Hell of a right hook, though." Nodded Kiba.

"Huh. So he knows what he's doing then?" I queried.

"Yeah, he's solid." Confirmed Kiba.

"Good." I concurred.

After all, just because Tanigakure was an ally now didn't mean that was any excuse to slack off on border patrol procedures. With the Genin Corps, you would be swapped around as needed, after all. Today that squad might be on duty at the Border with River Country, but tomorrow it could be Hotsprings, where Shimogakure had a bunch of not-so-hidden bases, or even as backup for a Long-Range Patrol Mission to the Earth Country Border or the Water Country Maritime Border, at which point, you had to be ready to face potential action with Iwa or Kiri Shinobi trying to pull a fast one.

Regardless, of the capability of the Genin guarding the River Country Border, or lack thereof, Kiba, Akamaru, and I continued northeast on our way home. After another day and a half of travel, we made it to Tetsumizu City. It was while I was there that I would get my first glimpse at one of the Polar People in the flesh, along with one of the Polar People's Creations.

It was just unfortunate that said glimpse would happen during an incident that threatened part of the City. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Kiba fills in Choji about what has been going on back home while he's been posted to Tanigakure as an Ambassador, plus we get hints that Konoha is stretched pretty thin since they're putting what are essentially Fresh Genin from the Genin Corps on Border Patrol Duty, though they haven't yet run out of experienced Shinobi to ride herd on them, as Kiba attested. Konoha has done a lot of Empire Building with Oto after winning the War that they've had to do alone, and they had taken a number of casualties in the conflicts of the past couple of years on top of that, after all.

At any rate, in the next chapter, we'll get our first look at one of the Polar People, which are expressly Steampunk Vikings in this fic, as you may recall from the hints I dropped in the last fic. The chapter will also sort of ease us back into Shinobi Combat in the process.

Stay tuned. . .