Kinzokugakure

Shadows danced across the room as the glow from the furnace died down and settled in it's final throws for the night. Rin and Genji were both exhausted after forging two spare resonance plates for their village. The Kage summit was approaching fast and with the Kage gone she wanted to make sure that in the event of a failure their village would not be left unprotected.

Rin was laying coiled in Genji's arms, the two collapsed by an anvil watching the embers die in the furnace a few feet away.

"How do you think they will receive us?"

Rin asked meekly stairing into Genji's steely blue eyes.

"The Land of Iron is a neutral party, so I would expect them to act as if we are already a formal territory. However, the Kage of the other territories are likely to look down on us. Not that they could, but don't let them intimidate you."

Genji pulled Rin tight against his chest and sighed.

"I just hope there are no attempts to circumvent diplomacy while we are gone. The hidden stone could very easily use this temporary ceasefire as an opportunity to set up an ambush while we are attending the summit."

The last of the embers settled into ash and Rin closed her eyes sinking into Genji's embrace and slowly falling into sleep. Before she finally found rest she spoke one last time.

""I dare them to try...""

Her eyes fell shut and Genji brushed his hand through her soft blonde hair until he also dozed off. The next day would begin their journey.

Rin awoke rubbing the sleep from her eyes; the sun just barely cresting over the horizon illuminating the skies with beautiful oranges and reds. Genji was already out side making their final preparations for the trip north. The beautiful woman ran her eyes up and down her man admiring his rigid masculine form and biting her bottom lip.

What a man. she thought to her self as she walked out into the daylight.

"Ahh your awake! wonderful!" Genji stated joyfully with his thundering voice. "We should be about two days away from the Land of Iron so the sooner we get moving the better."

Normally the trip would take just under a day but because of the blight and the hostile relationship with their neighbor to the north Rin and Genji would have to take an alternate path.


Are all of our preparations taken care of? Rin asked.

She grabbed for her traveling pack from next to the door way, then slung the bag over her shoulders. She walked up to Genji, gently sliding her hand against his arm and giving him a "good morning" peck on the cheek.

"Yes, I finished the last minute foot work this morning and made sure the plates were in the first security team's hands."

With no time to waste the two garbed themselves a couple of energy bars and started down the road.