Kimimaro and the others took their keys from the old man and bid goodnight to each other. The hour had ground late and nobody felt like staying up and being social.
Haku and Kimimaro were sharing a room and entered it together, seeing a set of single beds, one being on each side of the room.
"Basic, but cozy," Haku said with the gentle smile he always wore on his face.
"Yeah." Kimimaro said as he dropped his bags and headed over to the bathroom.
Haku simply walked over to one of the beds and placed his own bag on the bed, slowly sitting on it to test how comfy it was.
Being pleased he quickly dropped back and let the bed take his full weight, feeling his body sink into it.
Haku could feel his body was aching from the journey, not to mention the fighting.
Kimimaro also felt the same, having battled against Zabuza again.
The pair had been training so hard, putting their body through hell under the teachings of Mei. And yet still they were no match for Zabuza.
Kiminaro could feel himself getting angry over the thought and instead tried to think about something else.
"I wonder how father is." Haku suddenly said, getting his brother's attention.
"I'm sure father is fine... After all, he is the strongest person I have ever encountered." Kimimaro said, knowing the power that Fuyōna had.
Haku smiled as he stared up at the roof.
"Yeah... Nobody can defeat father." Haku then said, feeling his eyes slowly close as his mind gave way to sleep.
Kimimaro could see that Haku had drifted off to sleep, knowing that it was getting late and that he should do the same.
However, his mind was far too busy for that and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep just yet.
Looking at his hand, Kimimaro allowed a bone to slowly grow from his palm until it was long enough to match a dagger.
A small current of lightning-style chakra suddenly burst to life around the bone before it began to channel through it.
The sound was rather loud and Kimimaro quickly allowed his chakra to settle not long after using it to create the lightning style.
The added effect of the lightning style had given his already deadly taijutsu an even greater edge, so to speak.
After learning that his father, Fuyōna could also use lighting style to amplify his bones from Mei. He too had strived to learn to do the same, following him in his footsteps.
Although the process had not been an easy one. Kimimaro had proved that he was much more adept in the feat than he had thought.
Not only that, but he had also been working hard on being able to control the power of the three tails that was sealed inside of him.
Kimimaro let his thoughts wander on for a little while longer. Knowing that the hour grew late and it was now time to try and sleep. After all, tomorrow would bring with it new challenges.
With that everyone who had joined the expedition team to aid the Waterfall in the war had now arrived and settled now for the night. However, their losses had been greater than expected and not everyone had made it in one piece.
Now was the time to rest and mourn for the loss of those that had not made it, or wish for the recovery of those who did but were in bad shape.
The next day came quickly for the group, finding the rays of the rising sun unpleasant as they wished for more sleep. However, the duties of a ninja never ended, and digging deep into their will and ninja way forced themselves to rise.
Kimimaro and the others slowly made their way out of their rooms and into the corridor, finding that everyone felt the same, with some a little worse than others.
"Aw man, I could have used another ten hours of sleep," Chika said as she yawned and stretched her arms like a cat.
"You say that no matter how many hours of sleep you get," Kujira said as he crossed his arms.
"Glad to see you all in good spirits," Kogetsu said, suddenly making an appearance from the main entrance of the building.
"Good morning." Everyone said, greeting him with respect.
"Whats the news, sir?" Haku asked, seeming keen to know.
Kogetsu nodded.
"Ganryu is going to make a full recovery, thanks to the medical ninja here in the village. He has also instructed me to take over command while he is recovering. However, I will be stuck in a meeting for most of the day while I strategize with Kakashi of the Leaf." He said.
"So in other words... We have a day off?" Koyuki asked, placing one hand on her hip.
"That's right," Kogetsu said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Alright!" Chika suddenly yelled, getting everyone's attention.
"I wouldn't jump for joy just yet, Chika," Kogetsu said to his younger cousin.
"After all, we are still at war, and could be forced to move at any point." He said with a more serious tone.
"That is why I want you all to stay out of trouble, and keep yourselves sharp for what is to come."
His words hit home to the group, making them realise what they would have to face in the coming week. Each of them knew they were still ill-prepared for this war, and it would only force them to react in one of two ways.
"Is there somewhere we can train?" Kimimaro asked. Clearly choosing the first option.
Kogetsu smiled, already expecting him to ask that.
"It just so happens that I already asked the question for you. There is a training field not far from here to the south. The leader of this village has granted permission for us to use it as much as we like." Kogetsu said.
"Yeah, yeah. Training is great and all, but I'm gonna have to get some good food in me first." Chika said, causing Kogetsu to sigh.
"I also thought that would be coming." He said to himself.
"A mess hall has been opened for us on the outskirts of the village. We will be provided with three meals a day, Chika." He said, knowing what she was like.
"Is food and sleep all you think about?" Kujira asked.
Chika shrugged her shoulders before placing her hands on her hips.
"Whatever, I'm starving. Can we go and get some breakfast now or not!" She said, clearly getting hangry.
"Alright, let's go and get some breakfast. After that, the day is your own." Kogetsu said, turning around to lead them towards the mess hall so that they could all enjoy some food.
The group arrived at the mess hall and to their surprise were greeted by Hattori and Yuri who was already sitting down eating.
"Hattori?" Koyuki asked, seeing that both of them seemed in good health.
"Seems you have made a quick recovery?" Haku also said, taking a seat next to them.
"Yeah... I just had some bruised ribs, so the Doctor was able to get me healed rather quickly with medical ninjutsu." Hattori said, rubbing the area he had been kicked by Zabuza.
"So, what is the plan?" Hattori then said, wanting to get back to business right away.
Kimimaro smiled at him as the others all sat down around them at the table.
"We are going to have a squad training session." He said, getting a smirk from Hattori.
"I'm game."
"Yeah, it will be a great way for us to improve on our strength and teamwork," Rokuro said, getting a nod from the others.
"Alright, we had better eat so we can build our strength." Koyuki then said, getting a nod of agreement from the others before they all got up to go and get their food.
A few hours had now passed, allowing the group to eat their fill for breakfast thanks to the generosity of the Waterfall chiefs. Their food had now settled and their bodies felt rejuvenized, giving them the strength that would be needed for the training they were about to partake in.
The group found themselves on the training field, being the only ones of the allied forces who wanted to do any training.
"So, what exactly did you have in mind, Kimimaro?" Koyuki asked with her arms crossed.
The others all waited to see what he was thinking, also wondering the same thing.
"We are going to form a three-man team at random. Our goal will be to get both tags off of the opponent using all of our skills if needed." Kimimaro said, showing everyone the clip-on tags they would be using.
"That sounds fun," Kujira said, liking the idea of a battle.
"Obviously we will avoid killing techniques. But other than that, we should come at each other with everything we have if we want to get stronger." He said, being serious about this training.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, also liking the idea he had come up with.
"There are eight of us... How are we going to decide who will be on whose squad?" Hattori asked, having already done the math.
"Maybe I can help with that." A voice said, grabbing the attention of the others.
"Who is that?" Koyuki asked, not sure who exactly the person was.
Kimimaro and the others were also confused as to who this newcomer was. However, they wore the hidden Mist headband and looked to be around the same age as them, having short black hair and blue eyes.
"Sorry, my name is Kurōn. I'm a Mist ninja like you." He said, flashing them a smile.
"Oh... I think I recognize him." Kujira said, not sure if he had seen him before.
"Kogetsu said you were doing some training out here, and I thought I would join you." He said.
Everyone seemed to let their guard down a little more at the mention of Kogetu's name.
"He said you might be weary, so he also gave me this," Kurōn said, throwing a scroll to Kimimaro to read.
Haku took the scroll and read it, seeing that the handwriting was the same.
"This is Kurōn. I have instructed him to come and train with you today. Make sure you treat him well and watch out, he is pretty strong. Kogetsu" The letter read.
"Nice to meet you, Kurōn." Haku said, giving him a friendly smile.
The others seemed to relax a little more too, seeing that Haku wasn't worried.
"Looks like you arrived just in time, Kurōn. We could use the extra numbers." Koyuki said, greeting him herself.
The others explained the rules of the training one more time to him so he was on the same page, before turning back to the matter of how they would pick teams.
Kurōn watched and listened to Kimimaro as he seemed to take a natural leadership role with the group looking up to him.
However, Kurōn was not who he was pretending to be... In fact, he was someone much closer to the group than they realised.
"I'm excited to see how much they have grown..." Fuyōna said to himself as he watched through his transformation jutsu.
"This should be fun indeed." He then thought before being snapped back into the conversation.
"Did you get that, Kurōn?" Haku asked.
"Oh, yes." He said, nodding before he extended his hand to join the game.
"Alright, on my signal we will play rock paper scissors, that is how we will decide who is on who's squad," Kimimaro said, getting a nod from the others.
"Alright, one, two, three!"