A strange new life
9.11

As much as I’d hoped otherwise, the mobile fortress wasn’t unguarded. Metal-clad goons patrolled the area in tireless rotation, usually in groups of threes, sometimes fours.

I pressed against the communicator on my throat. “This is Black,” I said into the static. “We are in position.”

My response was Tenten’s exasperated voice. “Karin and I are still moving. Give us a few more moments.”

This time, I wasn’t paired with Red. I liked Karin and enjoyed her company, even if her pranks were sometimes annoying, usually because they were often embarrassing, but she wasn’t Ino. Heck yeah! I got to do sneaky sneaky infiltration stuff with Best Girl Ino.

I looked at my partner in crime. And no, I wasn’t smiling like a loony. Nope, I was a serious and composed kunoichi; no dancing or vibrating here.

Beautiful Yellow just rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

Normally, I’d pair with Karin. It wasn’t a surprise; Karin was the weakest in pure combat, even if she brought the most utility to the team. But for this infiltration, her ability to sense things through chakra would overlap with my chakra sensing, splitting the two was the only feasible solution.

Clickety static interrupted my thoughts. “We’re here.”

“This is Black,” I said, and didn’t contain my grin. I could even imagine Tenten’s exasperation. “We start in five. Silent comms unless there is an emergency. Over.”

“Roger that.” It was Karin’s voice this time.

We’d gone through basic planning. Karin and Tenten would sneak from below, while Ino and I would climb the walls and sneak in through the balcony.

So, we crouched and waited.

Once the allotted time had passed, I glanced at Ino. She gave me a firm nod.

When the next gap in the patrol happened, we dashed in, boosting our speed while still keeping silent. The darkness helped. We had only the moon’s faint light to help guide our path, but it was enough. We made it to the walls, crouched, and listened for any alarm. None came.

The mobile fortress rested on massive caterpillar tracks, like tanks from the before, only bigger. Now, up close, I had no idea how people were powering this monstrosity of a machine. Above the tracks, everything was pure metal, rigged with columns, pipes, and more. I couldn’t see any obvious entrance along the outer walls, but that wasn’t our goal.

I coated my feet in chakra and sneaked up the metal wall, Ino following closely.

Darkness helped keep us out of sight until we arrived at the balcony I had seen from afar. It was a small flat area with barely enough space for a couple of people. A double metal door, closed from what I could see, gave access to the fortress interior.

I cast my chakra senses about. No one or anything on the other side. I pulled into the balcony, and sneaked up to the sides of the door.

Without prompting, Ino approached the door, and started fiddling with the lock.

Breaking into mundane locks was trivial for shinobi. We learned that as a game in the second year of the academy curriculum. The question was if this was a—

Before the thought finished, Ino pulled the metal door open. She turned to me, shrugged. Mouthed her response. I read the words on her lips. Might have stared at her lips just a bit longer than needed. “Wasn’t locked.”

Huh, weird. Whoever owned this fortress wasn’t expecting people to attack from this angle. I gave her a thumbs up. She finished pulling the door open and we sneaked inside.

The main room was large and empty. The decoration inside was opulent and ornate. The floor wasn’t metal, but some sort of stone. Across the area, a low dais and an opulent chair overlooked everything.

There were two other doors in the room. One was near the chair-slash-throne, another opposite it. The one near the chair was a single door, partially hidden by curtains, but still opulent and heavily decorated. Maybe living quarters or something? The door opposite the dais was a double-decorated door, which only intensified the petty villain vibes this whole room gave.

I shared glances with Ino and pointed at the two doors.

She pointed to the small one near the throne.

I nodded. I had a hunch the small door would lead to private quarters or something similar. Why? Well, simple, really. The double door was facing the gaudy throne. There was no way the villain would position his throne looking at his bedroom. And what better place than the head honcho's bedroom if we wanted to find info?

The same routine from before repeated. I approached first, and after ensuring there was no one on the other side, Ino took place by the door and started operating the lock. This one wasn’t unlocked. It took Ino a few moments to pry it open.

The other side was a mix of a living room and connected living quarters. It was full of fancy, expensive-looking furniture and decorations. Not the room of someone concerned with practicality. Ino was already exploring the living room. I took my cue to sneak inside the connected quarters and see what I could find.

The bedroom was opulent. There was a wardrobe full of robes, all colorful and ornate. It somehow made me think of priest robes, if priests wore colorful robes.

I saw no weapons, or any indication that any was kept here. There was a small cupboard, a desk, and a connected bathroom. Another door, inside the bedroom, led to what looked like a private study or office. This one looked a lot more like a typical office.

Walls lined with shelves filled with books and parchments. The huge wooden desk was full of books and scrolls, none of which looked well cared for. The more I looked, the more things didn’t make sense.

It was like someone had saved the books and papers from a hurricane.

No, not a hurricane: Giant armored golems with a penchant for destroying buildings.

Was all of this taken from places like the village? What were these people looking for?

I approached the table, looking over the scattered things there. What stood out most to me was a map. Old, too old. None of the markers made sense, but I recognized the shape. It was a map of the elemental lands. Just not one I was familiar with.

None of the big countries were marked. There were roads that I was sure didn’t exist. While the map was ancient, there were new markings on it, maybe made by the room’s owner. I looked around the room, at the other books and papers: stories, myths, folklore.

It was clear now, more than ever, these people were looking for something old. Perhaps even before the elemental lands, and they used the brute force approach. Attacking and ransacking villages for myths, stories, and anything that might help them find what they were looking for. It still didn’t explain what they were doing with the villagers taken prisoner.

While I looked around, Ino entered the room. We shared a brief look before we started looking again.

I took the map, stored it.

Ino had approached the table, searching the drawers.

I left her to her search and started looking around for anything else that looked important. We worked in tense silence for a few minutes, until a blaring alarm disturbed us. I looked around, but no one was here, and I couldn’t feel any chakra nearby. Below us, yes, but not here at the top.

The communicator burst to life with static. “We found the townspeople, but got found out in turn.” Tenten’s voice was strained, sounding like she was running.

“Retreat, meet at the agreed point,” I ordered immediately.

“Hinata-chan…” Karin spoke. She didn’t finish, but her tone of voice was concerning.

“Retreat,” I ordered again.

Ino was by my side. She was carrying an old leather-bound tome. I felt then more of those strange chakra bundles coming up. We’re out of time.

“Whatever you found, ” I said, leading Ino toward the balcony, “We’ll deal with it together. For now, retreat.”