0. Intro.

The scrolls of the first Raikage... This stormy country, the Land of Lightning, seemed like the most obvious place to search for them. And that's what supposedly thought a person standing at a hill above a hot springs town, the closest to the south-west border of this one of the five great shinobi countries. The foggy atmosphere blurred the overview, but the buildings were noticeable enough to plot the course to them. These were the fourth largest hot springs throughout all the continent, kind of popular because of the ionised air specific to this place.
The person looked like an outsider. He just didn't seem to fit the environment. A black stylish shirt with long sleeves, blonde messed up hair almost up to his chin and somewhat gray jeans would one mention if he was asked to describe this man... Or should I say - boy. He didn't seem to be older than seventeen. Though he was quite tall and had a middle body-build, his face easily revealed that he is just a teenager yet. So, even in the steamy fog, when the boy entered the town, there were a few people staring at him. Their quantity rose for a while when the boy almost crashed into an advertisement stand, though. He dropped a device which seemed to be an electronic notepad of sorts, quickly picked it up, checked if it's alright and continued reading some text from his screen and writing something with a stick. "Neka's diary, the R-scrolls mission Day 3. I've finally arrived to the first town of the Country of Lightning, no idea what it's name is, but there're a lot of hot springs here. It seems there are a lot of tourists here, but still, there's definitely something wrong with my outfit since I'm getting more attention than I've expected. Well, though I'm here, I have no idea how to start my scrolls quest. It's not like I'm going to ask all the town if they know anything, obviously. Well, the appetite comes with a meal... Speaking of which, I'm quite hungry. Gotta look around for some ramen-shops or restaurants, since when I'm hungry, my mind becomes numb..."

- Hey, Shino... - Kiba looked around, making sure there really isn't anyone else to talk to, because the descendant of the Aburame clan is a man of few words. Tenten was walking with Neji keeping an eye for the client, and Hinata, as well as Neji actually, was the reason of Kiba's question - ...Why do you think Hokage-sama sent the Hyuugas on a mission to the Lightning Country? I've heard their family suffered a lot from the cloud-nin...
- Probably because there wasn't anyone else to send. The client requested for at least five chuunin or higher level shinobis to accompany him.
- Yeah, that rich nerd... Well, at least he's a calm nerd, unlike Naruto, so I can live with that. - said Kiba, smiling, as Akamaru, his white dog, happily woofed.
The chuunins and the recently promoted jounin - Neji - were given a mission to accompany a VIP from the Lightning Country with some extremely important papers. It seemed like an easy mission, hence Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, argued about this large of a group, but the VIP, Masumi from the Ogura family, insisted with quite an amount of money and partial debt cancel (you all remember that Tsunade-sama is the Eternal Loser, right?).
Hinata was depressed. She looked at Neji, being afraid of some bad memories revealing themselves in his mind, but then she tried to calm herself: a ninja won't show emotions. And her older cousin was following every rule in the list. Who, actually, didn't even think about the past, paying attention to the client and Byakuganing the area. He figured out, that whatever this guy, Masumi, has actually needs protection. As of this moment when the group was leaving the Fire Country the attentive Neji noticed that at least four different shinobi groups closed in, retreating as soon as they've seen the amount of guards. "No relaxing... The big fish is sure to appear at one point..." he figured. Tenten looked back only to notice Hinata's sad expression. She detached from Neji and approached the blue-haired girl:
- Anything wrong, Hinata?
- Um... No, thanks, it's okay...

- Hokage-sama, have you only sent those guys to protect the Ogura representative? - asked the gray-haired masked shinobi, Hatake Kakashi, standing before the tired Tsunade in her office.
- Yes, is anything wrong with that? - she replied a little irritated.
"It is so much wrong to begin with..." - thought the Jounin. "Sending the Hyuugas to the Lightning Country and assigning that few guardians to the Ogura guy. Having no idea, what does he carry, I know of some people who'd do everything to lay their hands on that thing. I'll have to miss Jiraiya's new book this time I guess..."
- May I ask you to change my mission, Hokage-sama?...

- Aniki (older brother), this one stands out too much... May I track him for a while? - asked the younger of the two shinobis sitting on a roof. They were assigned to patrol this hot springs town, since it's near the border and a lot of suspicious people are stopping here.
- Mhm. I don't like this black-shirted guy. I'll follow him myself for a while, Satoru. You join another group until I return. - replied the other cloud-nin. Why would anyone want to stand out that much? An odd fella. He doesn't look like he's from the great countries, but where does he come from then...

The ninja hopped to another roof, leaving his little brother alone, and zoomed in on the target with his binoculars. His eyes were used to the fog, hence he originated from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, so he had no problem noticing minor details of the object. His target entered a cafe, putting away some weird device.

The owner of this weird device, which actually was the electronic notebook mentioned above, made an order in the cafe. He picked this place because it had a domestic atmosphere. The boy sat in the far end near the window, putting his black backpack aside and getting a pair of headphones out. He connected them to his device in his pocket, the device now obviously being a pocket computer, a PDA. Putting the headphones on and pressing some buttons on his PDA, Neka relaxed and closed his eyes, not suspecting at all that he was followed.

Neji, now walking in front of the group with Shino, asked the bug user:
- You have noticed them all, right?
- Yes. - confirmed the Aburame.
- Now that we're out of the Fire Country and not yet in the Lightning Country we're at higher risk of being attacked. This is probably the hardest part of the journey, so I'd suggest moving a little quicker.
- That won't help. We'll show that we've noticed the enemies and if they're going to attack us, they've probably made an ambush place.
- You've got a point here.

The group walked further through the forest, as Neji noticed a cliff cutting the road with his Byakugan. After a short while he said to Shino:
- Now that I think of that, I don't remember a cliff on the map...
- Cliff? - asked Shino.
- Yes, a canyon is cutting the road ahead. - explained the Hyuuga.
- My bugs haven't noticed anything like that... - said a little confused Shino as Neji interrupted him, shouting:
- Genjutsu!!!

The building's roof lone occupant, the cloud-nin who followed Neka, kept his eyes on the object. The suspicious boy, after having a meal, was heading to one of the hot springs. "I wonder what he is writing on that tablet of his. That may explain his purpose... I can't believe he thinks that it's safe to write on some odd device, well, it's time to prove this wrong by looking through his own eyes..."
The shinobi sat on the roof so that he won't slide down, hidden enough to avoid being noticed. He formed a number of seals, whispering: "Sense Transfer no Jutsu, Eyes and Ears".
"Now that's better" - he thought as he opened his eyes to see the picture from another angle. The crowd noise became louder and the object's breath was hard. "He's still not used to the atmosphere, it looks like he's never been to this country before." - noticed the cloud-nin, as Neka once again took out his pocket device. "At last..." - sighed the shinobi.

Neka was walking through the street, looking around at various shops, restaurants and other structures. He scratched his head, and suddenly felt a slight pain in his eyes. "The steam must be hurting my eyes" - he thought, blinking a few times. He reached his pocket and grabbed his pocket computer. Neka turned it on, tapped it a few times, checking the time, and shoved it back.

...The crow sitting on the rooftop heard a loud curse, which scared it and made it fly away that instant, while shouting its usual 'ahou'.

The hair of the shinobi were turning from shining silver to gray as the sun was slowly being blocked by gray clouds. Kakashi jumped from one tree to another, plotting the shortest course to pick up a few chuunins he needed. He jumped off a huge oak to the ground, bit his finger, quickly formed a few seals and hit the ground with his palm, naming the technique: "Summoning no Jutsu!". A huff of smoke raised from the ground, and when it faded away a small brown dog in a jacket became visible.

- Long time no see, Kakashi - greeted him the nin-ken.
- Hey, Pakkun, I need you to find one person not far from here... You know her well.

- Release! - shouted Neji, it wasn't a dispel that a genjutsu-type would use, since the Hyuuga wasn't one, but rather a chakra controlling maneuver. He snapped out of the illusion, finding out that the rest of the team was unconsciouson the ground. "That was a jounin-level genjutsu to confuse even my Byakugan... We've got some serious enemies..." - thought Neji, waking up the rest of the team and the client.

- Shino, why didn't your bugs notice anybody? - wondered Neji as the team formed a defensive circle around Masumi, with the Hyuugas using their bloodline limit to scan the area and Tenten equipping herself with explosive tagged kunais.
- I have no idea. - replied the Aburame. - It doesn't make much sense.
- Speaking of senses, - Kiba joined the chat - we can't smell anything with Akamaru. How could they use a genjutsu without being close to us, sneaky rats...

Masumi was quiet, he didn't drop a word throughout all the journey, and his eyes were trembling in fear as he was surrounded by the Konoha ninjas. He was a wild card, as nobody actually knew anything about him except for his name and clan. He seemed like an ordinary person, but the fact that he didn't complain at all was, as Kiba thought, a little odd, since most of the clients often treat the ninjas like either tools, scum or both. The first was, well, true, since the shinobis really are tools, but the Inuzuka descendant got mad each time he wasn't thought of as a living being and a person.

- Your bugs were a nuisance, Aburame Shino. - A loud voice came from nowhere, or, rather, from everywhere. The group hardened their grip on their weapons and Masumi fell down surprised by the announcement. - But your clan shouldn't have developed the spray since it's not that secret anymore. - "So that's how his bugs were fooled", thought Neji.
- Show yourselves already, cowards!!! - shouted Kiba followed by a loud woof of Akamaru. Both looked extremely mad with their claws shining even though it was cloudy. (Then again, Gai's smile shone every time whatever the weather was).
- Oh, so you don't like your senses being confused like that... Thank the bug user for making us use it. You could've had a nice nap while we'd do our job. - Continued the voice. "That's something sound-nin could do", Neji, the brain of the group, thought, though he'd really like Shikamaru to be here. "It's their style, especially the voice trick. So, if even the snake parasite wants the cargo, this becomes a matter of Konoha safety... We might even need some backup...", as much as the Hyuuga was confident in his strength, the situation seemed quite troublesome.

2. Choices.

Another kunai sliced the air with a swooshing sound. It flew straight on the course to its target only to be deflected by another one in the hand of Hyuuga Neji, the leader of the guarding shinobi group. "They can't fight two Byakugan users with that, it's quite obvious... Something's not right here..." - thought the gray-eyed boy without any clue to find the attackers.

- Did they bring a kunai smithery here? - growled the team's dog trainer, Kiba. - It seems that they're just trying to tire us out...
- They should've runned out of weapons already even if they use scrolls... - complained Tenten, who especially wasn't happy since someone actually had more sharp stuff than herself.
- I see. - The bug user, Shino, noticed. - They're re-using their kunais. Look, there should be more of them on the ground.
- Wires...? - suggested the weapon-crazy girl.
- Possible - agreed Neji. - If they're thin enough, I won't notice them while using Byakugan to deflect attacks...

"I'm soo bored..." - thought Neka after he left the bath. He was feeling a little dizzy from the hot water but happy that nobody entered the pool while he was in. Yes, Neka was yet another shy guy. His green eyes were twisting and he picked a bench to sit on to cool down. Once again he took out his gadget, it seemed that he couldn't live without it. Tapping it with a stick, he browsed the latest notes to get any idea what to do next. "I wonder if this town has a public library..." - thought the emerald-eyed boy, scratching his head. The sky was getting darker, so Neka decided to call it a day and search for a place to stay.

"The... Raikage scrolls? Someone still believes that kid story...". The background has changed, the character was still the same, the cloud-nin spying on Neka. "It was very inaccurate for him to write it in that device... Or is he trying to confuse me? No, I don't think he's that smart..." - concluded the shinobi. He was troubled by the reason the odd boy was here. Rubbing his dark-gray headband, the cloud-nin started to do some brainwork, as his target fell asleep in a small hotel across the street...

-Flashback-

- Mom! Mom! Tell me a ninja story! - the smiling boy ran around his mom, pulling her dress.
- Oh, Kenta, I'm not very good at storytelling... I married your dad because of his golden mouth... Ask him, his stories are breathtaking! - the mother of Kenta blushed and rubbed the kid's dark blue messy hair. The family heir ran off to another room. - He is just like his dad - smiled the woman.

- Dad! Dad! Tell me a ninja story! - The 6-year old kid asked his father. At this age he became interested in shinobi lifestyle, especially because he was going to enter the Cloud Village academy next year. And dad was a reliable source of information, being an S-Jounin himself. The 'S', standing for 'Special', meant that while the S-Jounin doesn't have as much power as a normal Jounin but rather specializes in his own area. Kenta's dad followed the family's traditions, mastering the various ways of tracking and hoped that one day Kenta will acknowledge these traditions.

- Okay, sit down, I'll just settle myself... - Immediately agreed the parent, taking off most of his equipment since he just returned from a busy day. Being a dad is a tough job too... - You know, who the Raikage is, right?
- He is the strongest ninja! - Answered Kenta this simple question.
- Right, and he's the sixth so far. After the new so-called tradition... Eh, I'll tell you about it when you grow up, just, these years the Kages are changing quite fast. The first three Raikages were ruling the village for decades, being not simply the strongest ninjas but also great leaders who built the Cloud Village and made it a great place to live in. Each one of them left their knowledge to their successors, most commonly using the scrolls... They were later called The Raikages' Scrolls, rumoured to contain great power or a way to achieve it. They were never found, though, and their existence is highly doubted... So, on to the story...

-End Flashback-

(A.N. I'm so evil breaking the flashback on the most interesting part, gomen ^^ But you won't miss anything, I promise!)

"What was that story... If I've only listened to my dad more attentively, I might've had some sort of clue... But still, chasing after a legend in that outfit of his... He's crazy... It doesn't seem that he's a shinobi at all... I don't know what to do now... The highers don't really care... But, well, dad was right, lately they seek only more power... Eh, too much thoughts, too little sleeping. I'll guess I'll just use the chakra string to wake me up when he gets up..." - Kenta, now eleven years older than himself listening to dad's stories, was getting a little dizzy and threw a chakra string into Neka's room. It was one of his clan's brand techniques, which gave an inner signal to one's chakra system when the string was disrupted, and was perfect in situations like this one, since there's too few ninjas in the world who can see chakra, and for instance none in the Lightning Country.

And so, the cloud-nin called it a day... The next day was going to be much longer...

It seemed that Neji was flying like samurais in the movies. He took careful steps while moving fast like a shuriken. Though the team was now weakened, this was the only way the Hyuuga thought of to change the odds which were against the Konoha ninjas. His Byakugan started to burn his eyes from overusing, but he couldn't turn it off... Not until he found the enemy... Releasing a constant chakra amount to hover the wire was tiring him as well, but he finally found the source. Remembering the enemy's position he closed his eyes and landed a kick on the surprised shinobi's chest right in the center of his chakra system. "So they didn't even see us, they were throwing weapons pretty randomly... That explains the distance...".

The enemy ninja fell down, remembering all the curses he had ever heard and coming up with some new ones. He understood that the kick rendered impossible using chakra for a short while, disrupting the whole flow. Truly the best way to immobilize an unsuspecting opponent as quick as possible.

Neji hurried back to the team, his eyes twitching from his bloodline limit so he didn't notice an approaching kunai which pierced his shirt and cut his shoulder. When he got back to the circle, he noticed, that Masumi, the client, though being in the center of the group, got a shuriken in his back. The number of the weapons thrown at them significantly lowered, but everyone looked really exhausted. There was simply no time to treat Masumi, but suddenly he spoke, coughing blood every once in a while:

- I... cough... change your... cough... cough... mission... Leave... cough... me... Deliver the sc...cough... the scrolls... - The words barely escaped the mouth of the Ogura family member.
- What are you saying, we'll pro... - started the phrase Kiba, landing from another Gatsuga, but Neji interrupted him:
- Mission changed, team, retreat.
- Neji! How can you... - Tenten said, again interrupted by the older Hyuuga:
- I am the leader... - resorted he to his last argument. "No time to explain", thought he knowing what he was doing, "but it's a wise decision this guy made, if only he'd done it earlier, he would still have a big chance to stay alive, they don't need him but the cargo..."
- Urgh! - shouted Kiba, taking the package from Masumi. - I'll deal with you later, Neji... - whispered he to himself.

- Now... close... cough... your eyes... and run... I come... from a shi...cough... shinobi family too... - muttered Masumi, getting up on his knees and concentrating. As the crew started to move, he closed his eyes, slowly formed four seals and shouted: - Divine Solar Flash no Jutsu!

The sun really got outbrighted. Everything turned white, simply white. Too white for a human eye to bear...

"I made the right choice... Nii-san (A.N. older brother), I finally made the right choice..." - were the last words of Masumi before fainting.

Something tingled in hearts of everyone in the group. "He is... a nice person..." - thought Hinata. "Once again I was saved from going the wrong way..." - this raced through the mind of Kiba. Shino stayed quiet, which was not a surprise, and it was hard to tell what was he thinking about, but the expression on his face was more sceptic than usual, even sad in a way. Tenten cleaned her kunai during treejumping, trying to keep her head too occupied for any other thoughts, because she knew she was an emotional person. Neji lowered his head: "He was like me, he didn't try to go against his destiny. But even so, he managed to do the right thing. If I was younger, I'd envy him..."