If Jiraiya was any less of a man (and if there were less lovely ladies around), he would bang his head on the bar counter in frustration. This was the final village that needed investigating, and it was a dead end. No one in the small village knew anything of a strange man popping up out of nowhere.

Jiraiya took a giant swig of his sake (or whatever the heck the bar owner gave him), and let out a small groan as he put the jar down. The white-haired man was hoping that the guy he was looking for would avoid going to Konoha, but it seemed like that hope was for naught.

Find him, the Toad sage said. It would be easy, he said. How hard would it be to find a time traveler that just appears out of thin air? The idiot Toad Sage told him.

Jiraiya shook his head and stood from the uncomfortable, wooden stool he had been sitting on and layed down the correct sum for the sake he ordered. The sage walked out of the bar and stretched his back out. He looked to the sky seeing that it was early morning- meaning that he was drinking all night.

The toad summoner sighed and began his trek towards Konoha, mumbling a low-

"Where the hell is he?" Neji hissed impatiently, pacing back and forth- unused to this kind of tardiness.

Gai-sensei had told them yesterday that they were going to have a substitute sensei for their training for the next week. Neji was actually slightly excited with the prospect of someone who rivaled Gai-sensei's strength coming to teach them. The team was also informed that Gai was going to go teach his rivals' students as well. The Hyuuga pitied those poor souls.

Neji glanced at both of his teammates (which he noted that they annoyingly ignored his rhetorical question)- and saw that Tenten was half-heartedly sharpening one of her many katanas, and Lee was doing various kinds of push-ups.

The Hyuuga would've let out a groan if he was any less of a ninja. He was so close to joining Lee in his pushup montage- which Lee appeared to be narrating. Neji felt a small chill run down his spine every time he heard an- "Alright ladies, ten more! And one, and two, and three, and four-"

The crazy seemed to be spreading to Tenten as well, who was doing her own form of narration- "That's right, glisten, shine. Soon you'll be so sharp you'll be able to slice the heads off of all our enemies."

Neji inched away from the narrating girl when she began to laugh maniacally. He in no way wanted to get involved with whatever fantasy she was in at the moment.

The brunette was not used to this side of his teammates (well, he kind of expected this behavior from Lee at some point), and he decided that it was their new, temporary sensei's fault.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, bringing the narrations to a stop and putting Neji's whole team on guard. With a small nod, they got into a Gamma formation. Tenten took to the tree's and Neji and Lee stayed on the ground. Neji glanced to his right to make sure Lee was in his defensive stance before activating his Byakugan. Neji looked to the ground and saw that about 200 meters away, there was something coming. And it was coming fast.

"Five seconds," Neji shouted, taking his own fighting stance.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One-

"Yo, sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life."

...

Kotetsu had to hand it to the Hokage, he did have a sense of humor. Izumo on the other hand did not.

"Why in the world would you tell the Hokage that B-ranked missions are boring?" Kamizuki griped. Kotetsu put his head on the table as Izumo rambled on about proper etiquette when speaking to the Hokage and how the Hokage was called "The God of Shinobi" for a reason.

"I thought he would give us an A-ranked mission, not... this," Hagane tried to explain for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Besides, we've been doing this for three days. Stop complaining."

Izumo continued to grumble under his breath but otherwise stopped talking. Kotetsu let out a sigh and looked down the long, dirt path that led to Konoha. It has been three days. Three whole days since he's started the job and not one exciting thing has happened. It was only today when Kotetsu decided that yes, the wizened Hokage did have a sense of humor. The brunette had no doubt in his mind that the Hokage used his crystal ball to check-in and get a good laugh.

Kotetsu continued to watch the dirt path. The wind was beginning to pick up, causing small amounts of dirt to swirl off the path. The trees began to sway, and in the distance, clouds began to roll in. Fantastic, the man thought, itching at the bandage that covered his nose. Just another perk of being on gate watch duty, rain.

Izumo seemed to be having the same thoughts as he was. There was no window to protect them from the storm if the wind decided to blow the rain into their direction. Knowing his luck, it probably will.

Kotetsu's partner let out a small sigh. "You just had to run your mouth in front of the Hokage, didn't you?"

"Oh, grow up."

Another silence took place between them as the cold wind began to get stronger, causing the trees to roar as the wind shook the leaves of the massive forest. Kotetsu began to reach for one of his kunai as their environment got louder. While storms are common in Konoha, all Leaf ninja knew to stay on guard. Storms are the perfect opportunity for ninja to infiltrate Konohagakure. The woosh of the leaves easily covered enemies' footsteps and the rain erased their scent.

Soon, it began to sprinkle small raindrops, leaving small circular imprints on the ground. Kotetsu looked toward Izumo, who also had his hand near his weapons pouch. They both continued to watch the path and the surrounding area within their sight. Hagane was getting twitchy as the rain deluged from the sky. The genjutsu user already had a bad feeling about this particular storm.

"There," Izumo shouted, throwing a kunai into the trees to the left of Kotetsu. Both exited the small booth attached to Konoha's gates and took a defensive stance.

The spiky-haired brunette looked around in anticipation, not seeing anyone. "Are you sure you saw someone, Izumo?" he questioned, keeping his eyes on the trees.

"I swear my mother's life, there was someone- or something in the tree's," Izumo answered, his eyes wide and grip tight on his kunai.

That's when Kotetsu saw it. The man quickly threw the kunai at the target and cast a genjutsu on himself to appear invisible. The brunette leaped up into the tree's, kunai braced in front of him as he again looked for the target. Risking a glance down at his partner (and hoping that Izumo knew what formation Kotetsu was trying to do), he saw that Izumo indeed knew what Kotetsu was trying to achieve.

The brunette watched as Izumo pulled out his signature water jutsu, Water Style: Syrup Trap, using the rain to his advantage. The rain surrounding Izumo began to, what Kotetsu liked to call, stickify into a syrup-like substance as it pooled onto the ground.

Hopefully the enemy doesn't have a lightning affinity.

Kotetsu, however, was knocked out of his thoughts when a foot slammed into his head, throwing him past several trees. And that is why I didn't pass the Jonin exams, the Chunin thought ruefully when his back finally slammed into a tree. The genjutsu dissipated, leaving Kotetsu completely visible and wondering how the ninja found him.

"Are all Konoha ninja this stupid?" a voice rang out, echoing through the trees, though slightly distorted thanks to the roaring leaves. "While that is an impressive level of genjutsu, it's not effective if your enemy can see rain ricocheting off your form."

Kotetsu slowly raised himself up and propped himself against the trunk of the tree. "Show yourself, coward."

The enemy nin landed in front of the brunette, and Kotetsu got a good look at him- a blonde male with a strong build and Kumo hitai-ate. The Chunin tried to lunge towards the enemy ninja, but a sudden feeling of dizziness stopped him. The male reached up and touched his face, feeling a puncture mark.

"Poison?" the man questioned, collapsing to his knees.

"Nothing lethal, don't worry," the Kumo ninja 'reassured'. "Just enough to knock you out so my buddies can pick you up, and I can replace you."

Where the heck is Izumo when you need him? Kotetsu looked down towards Izumo's last location, only to see him passed out on the ground. The Konoha ninja grit his teeth in frustration and blinked the rain out of his eyes in an attempt to focus them.

"You won't get away with this," the brunette rasped, his body already shutting down. "They'll know immediately we've been replaced."

The blonde man let out a small 'tsk tsk' and began to smile. "Oh, they won't know, trust me. I've been studying your behavioral patterns for three days and- ahhhh!"

With a swift kick to the face, the Kumo ninja went flying to the ground and right into the trap Izumo originally set up. Kotetsu could only gape as the man in front of him stretched out his back and yawned.

"Gosh, first it rains and then Kumo tries to infiltrate Konoha again. This is not my morning," the white-haired man grumbled to himself before looking towards Kotetsu. "Hey, you poisoned or something?"

"Non-lethal, feels like a sample C," Kotetsu replied, trying to hold back his awe. There was a FREAKING SANIN standing in front of him, and he'll be damned if he passes out in front of the Jiraiya.

Jiraiya began to forage through his pockets before he finally pulled out what he was looking for. The Sanin quickly stuck the needle into Kotetsu's neck and injected the serum into the said man. The Chunin immediately felt the effects of the previous drug leave him, and he managed to shakily get to his feet.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama," Kotetsu mumbled, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "What brings you to Konoha?"

"Oh, you know, just looking for someone," Jiraiya stated in an angry tone. "Happen to see a man in his mid-twenties pop up out of nowhere?"

{November 6, 2020}