Walking slowly on a slope in the Land of Lightning, distant mountain peaks echoed with rumbles of thunder.
Kakashi and Mei Terumi had changed into the Land of Lightning's specialized ninja attire: a single-shouldered white vest and black-grey long sleeves. Similar to Konoha, there were several sets of standard ninja uniforms to choose from.
Both had chosen the most common, ordinary set.
Mei Terumi additionally requested a grey-blue hat from the uniform supplier. According to her, the sun in the Land of Lightning was too strong; getting tanned would make her skin brown like those Kumo kunoichi.
Of course, there were also very fair-skinned kunoichi, but most of those had their own special skincare methods.
Kakashi didn't comment on this. Although that was a factor, there were many ways for a ninja to avoid getting tanned. They became brown-skinned either because they were born that way or because they liked the color.
Mei Terumi now always covered her skin with a layer of water-nature chakra when going out to protect it from erosion.
"Just releasing a little chakra can block the sun's ultraviolet rays. Why go to this extent?"
Walking to the back of the slope, the sunlight was blocked. Kakashi took out his water bottle to rehydrate.
"No one would like those Kumo women, right?"
"I like them. They can fight, have good figures, and most importantly, their personalities are like men's; they don't complain about this and that."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Mei Terumi frowned, pointing at Kakashi's nose.
"I'm telling the truth."
"Fine, after all, I'm just that girl with a bad personality who complains about this and that."
"You're quite self-aware."
Kakashi pressed down the young woman's accusing finger and took another sip of water, but she pressed down on his water bottle.
"Just drink it then!"
"Gulp, gulp, gulp."
After drinking the water, the silver-haired young man wasn't too angry. After arriving in the Land of Lightning, Mei Terumi had started occasionally throwing small tantrums, as if testing his patience with her, or perhaps deliberately trying to get his attention.
Just like a child.
Kakashi could understand; these were minor flaws. Looked at positively, they were cute points; negatively, it was just being mischievous, harmless.
"Fill it with some water, using Water Release."
"....."
Mei Terumi looked left and right but saw no sign of Kakashi choking or being overly full. She could only do as he said and pour some water into the bottle.
Putting away the water bottle, the two continued walking. The slope became steeper.
After leaving the hospital, apart from accepting the first mission to support the Land of Water, Kumo seemed to have completely forgotten them. Witnessing the two unreservedly attack Kirigakure ninja, the Land of Lightning also lowered its guard but didn't dare assign them more important tasks. Thus, they were assigned to stay in the Land of Lightning and patrol Kumo's outskirts.
There were a dozen or so patrol teams here, spread out across the entire periphery.
The patrol mission only required them to check for suspicious individuals and submit a report every two days.
This mission, condemned within Kumo as the most boring, disgusting, and time-wasting task, was a godsend for Kakashi and Mei Terumi.
What they needed most now was this kind of mission that didn't attract attention and offered plenty of free time.
After conducting a three-day patrol, submitting the first report, and writing the reports for the next few days, the young man and woman set off on the road to the Thunder Valley.
Originally, Kakashi had intended to go alone because the orange-haired girl herself didn't possess lightning-nature chakra. If she encountered real natural lightning, she might actually be struck dead on the spot.
Before truly confronting lightning, Kakashi wasn't sure if his Raikiri could actually "cut" lightning.
Strictly speaking, it was still Chidori now.
The young woman insisted she couldn't patrol Kumo alone and proved to the young man: she always messed things up on her own and was easily caught off guard.
He nodded in agreement, which made Mei Terumi secretly happy to be able to follow, yet also a little helpless.
"Am I really that useless in your eyes?"
"No, you're very reliable in certain situations."
Not wanting to dampen the orange-haired girl's enthusiasm, Kakashi brushed a lock of her hair that was covering her right eye to the side.
"Why do you cover one eye?"
The girl hesitated for a moment.
"Because back then, you had one eye... so I also wanted to try what it's like with one eye."
Kakashi recalled the time they first met; it should have been around the time he had just saved her.
"Then don't cover it now."
"It's a little strange suddenly seeing you with both eyes."
Ruffling the girl's long hair and then patting her head, Mei Terumi half-closed her eyes and inadvertently bent her knees slightly, wearing an expression of enjoyment like a pet.
The young man suddenly felt he should speed up his growth; otherwise, having to make her bend her knees just to pat her head in the future would be quite embarrassing. This seven or eight-centimeter height difference didn't allow for the absolute dominance of a head pat.
"Let's go."
"Mhm~"
Mei Terumi's affirmative reply even had a trailing tone. Only she knew how hard-won this satisfaction, felt from just a little gentle treatment, was.
The mountain peaks stretched endlessly, more aptly called a mountain range. Kakashi consulted the map and climbed another, higher peak to gauge the distance to the valley.
In this mountain range, the map wasn't as useful as imagined. Not to mention getting lost in the complex jungle, as long as one could hear the direction of the thunder and see that dark cloud from a high place, one could surely find the most dangerous valley.
"We should reach it after crossing two more mountains."
"Two more?"
"Yes."
The young woman, who had been climbing over seven or eight mountain peaks since morning, felt some soreness in her legs. Coupled with maintaining the water-nature chakra on her body surface, the exertion was not insignificant.
Kakashi looked back at the girl whose speed had noticeably decreased, glanced around to find a resting place, and took out a can of food from his backpack.
"Let's replenish our strength first. Are you tired?"
"Not tired, just my legs are a bit sore."
"Where?"
Kakashi reached for the girl's slender legs, touching her toned, elastic calves.
"Here."
Feeling that this action was somewhat ambiguous, Mei Terumi turned her head to the side, her legs stretched out straight, not daring to meet the young man's gaze.
Arcing electricity flickered from his fingers, slowly coursing over the girl's leg. The tingling, numbing sensation made her even more embarrassed.
A minute later, the soreness in her legs completely disappeared.
After finishing the canned food, the two looked at the sky and quickened their climbing pace.
If they couldn't reach it before dusk, they would have to find a nearby mountain peak to spend the night.
Chakra circulated once through his body. Kakashi ensured his body was in peak condition, ready to face nature's most ruthless test at any moment.
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