Smoke and Mirrors -- A Naruto Fanfiction

Welcome back to the Smoke and Mirrors AU.

This chapter is the only time D-Ranks will be done in detail. Otherwise, they’ll simply be completed like: xx went to Bukai to do a D-Rank Mission.

The sun had barely risen by the time the entire Yanmaru clan was packed and ready to head to Bukai. Hattori’s Bochigan was active, his natural chakra regeneration high enough to keep it on almost indefinitely if he wasn’t using Chakra for anything else, scanning the surroundings.

“I’ll take the back of the formation.” Hattori sorted the group into a diamond shape. Mei, Yuki, and Yuta lead the other three points of the formation, with the rest being sorted into the middle.

They spent several minutes discussing before beginning to race towards Bukai. Their speed was only around ten to fifteen meters per second; they had to accommodate everyone. To Hanae, this speed was fairly quick. They would likely have to rest halfway.

An hour passed before they had to stop for the first time. Hanae was out of breath, Mitaro and Amanai not faring much better. Hattori rested a dozen meters behind the group, ensuring he would be able to notice any threat coming from the sides of the group, while Yuki watched his back.

They stopped for around ten minutes, before moving again, maintaining diamond formation.

They reached Bukai without incident, and without further stops. Once at the edge of Bukai, Hattori began instructing his ten Clan Members.

“Yuki. Head to…” he quickly checked the Missions tab. “Head to Sayuri’s garden. She has some weeds that need to be pulled. Yuta, visit old Maruboshi’s house. He has some chores for you. Mei, …” like that, Hattori assigned each person their respective mission. He didn’t quite know what Chakra Nature Slips were, but they couldn’t hurt to get a hold of.

Hattori himself went to the resident town Doctor. She was an old lady, her name was Katsuyu. Her little shack was well-crafted, but still made of wood that had worn down over the years. The air around and inside of it smelled strongly of herbs and plants, with odd tinges of dirt and something else he couldn't quite place every now and then. Her hair was long-since grayed, with eyes that seemed so clouded she couldn’t possibly see. But, she did. Her eyesight was impeccable.

“Ah, Hattori. It’s nice to see you.” Her voice was about as ancient as it could possibly sound. Raspy, and dry. Hattori bowed slightly. The old woman was knowledgeable, and to be respected.

“It’s nice to see you too, Katsuyu-san. I heard you needed help gathering herbs for your medicines.” Katsuyu hummed, interested.

“Oh? How did you hear that, young Hattori? I sent letter to the Shinja just yesterday, but even they haven't responded yet.” Hattori shifted.

“It’s just something floating around. Do you need help?”

She smiled, and nodded. “Well, whatever I suppose. I do require some assistance.” The elder dragged a scroll from under her storefront desk, and laid it flat on the table. There were some hand drawn ink pictures of various plants and herbs. “Gather these for me, would you? I’ll make it worth your while.” After saying that, Katsuyu placed a few Ryo on the table.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Hattori took the scroll, pocketing it. “These herbs, then. They’re just around the village yes?”

The old woman had a peculiar sparkle to her cloudy, white eyes. “Yes, young Hattori. Just around the village.”

With that, Hattori left Katsuyu’s pharmacy, and then the village, before pulling out the scroll and scanning the fields of grass around him. Beneath each drawing was a rough description of where each could be found, as well as a quantity.

Six Paths Grass? Hattori had never heard of it. It was grass, black with specks of white, that supposedly grew at the base of burgeoning trees near the eastern outskirts of the village. With that, Hattori made his way over with a light jog.

After several minutes of jogging, Hattori found a few stalks of Six Paths Grass. Four, in fact. The scroll given by Katsuyu said he’d need five. With a frown, he scanned around the base of the tree. Once, then twice, and then three times just to make sure. “Shit, that was all that was here.” With a sigh, he continued looking.

It took around ten minutes before he finally found a fifth stalk of Six Paths Grass. The next herb on the list was… Kaguya Moss? He hadn’t heard of that one either. It was apparently white moss that grew opposite of how normal moss grew, rather than the north sides of trees, it grew on the southern sides of trees.

Supposedly, it was further east. So, east Hattori went. It took around an hour before he’d found what he judged to be about two pounds of Kaguya Moss. The last ingredient he’d needed was Hamura Clovers. Still, Hattori had never heard of this one either. Apparently, it was a no-leaf clover, a circle on a stalk. The circle, based on the hand drawn art and description, looked like the moon. The stalk was supposed to be gray.

This time, the plant was far south-west of the village. With a grunt, he dashed for several minutes before making it to the rough area they should grow in. It took around an hour for him to find all seven stalks Katsuyu had listed on her scroll. A little frustrated, Hattori headed back to Bukai. Several more minutes elapsed before he returned to Katsuyu’s pharmacy.

“Oh? Back so soon? It usually takes those Shinja brats another thirty, forty minutes to gather everything.”

Hattori bowed, before replying. “Yes ma’am. I gathered the Six Paths Grass, Kaguya Moss, and Hamura Clovers.” With a little effort, he managed to place everything neatly onto the storefront desk, in front of Katsuyu. The woman smiled. “Exactly what I needed. Thank you, young Hattori.” She placed a couple Ryo on the store counter and motioned for him to take it. He bowed again, pocketing the Ryo, before leaving. He left to check on the other Yanmaru’s. Four of the ten were done, with the rest being close to finishing. Hattori checked his thigh pockets, feeling something shift as soon as Hanae finished her Mission. There, in his thigh pouch, were six of the eleven promised Chakra Nature Slips. Or, he assumed that’s what they were. 30 Ryo were inside as well, alongside the few from Katsuyu.

He closed the pocket, deciding to buy a meal for the group before he left. Now, all he had to do was wait for the others to finish their missions.