Chapter 3
Nagato, Yahiko and Konan never knew exactly where they were born. Each of their parents died when they were incredibly young and no one cared enough to give the orphans shelter, so the trio never had any official papers.
But their earliest memories were of Ame. Which was where they were found by Fugitaka-sensei. By complete accident he came across two little boys with sunset and day lily hair and a tiny girl with hair the color like the deepest depths of the ocean.
Fugitaka-sensei gathered up these feral, emaciated children, and brought them home to Uzushio. Nagato and Yahiko were promptly adopted by the Uzumaki.
But Konan, because of her blue hair, was claimed by the Mizuno Clan. And it was that Family name under which they were travelling. The Mizuno were known outside of Uzushio as merchants and traders, keeping their shinobi skills and Uzushio clandestine. That connection gave them their cover for entering Konoha.
Konan stopped wearing her hair in its elegant upswept style. Opting instead to keep in a simple braided coil.
Yahiko and Nagato dyed their hair brown. Yahiko kept his usual look, but Nagato expended the chakra and grew his hair to his waist and kept it in a simple low ponytail. Since it was usually foolish for a shinobi to have long hair which gave an enemy something to grab onto during a fight, Nagato’s long hair was another subtle diversion.
Their clothing was nothing like a shinobi’s either. They made sure it reflected what junior but trusted members of a trading Clan would wear while traveling for Clan business.
When they arrived in Hot Springs Country, they quietly bought a pair of mules and a wagon which they loaded with the items that they had hidden away in scrolls. Then they made their way to Yagakure.
There weren’t any teams from Konoha to hire when they arrived in Yagakure, but Yahiko found a team from Suna that was willing to usher them through Fire Country.
It took them longer than they thought and going through the massive trees that surrounded Konoha was more than disturbing and claustrophobic for a trio that were used to being able to see around them for kilometers inside of the few meters allowed by the forest.
They arrived at the massive gates of Konoha and presented their papers. The quiet word of confirmation of their ‘purpose’ of coming to Konoha from the Suna Jonin was helpful. And they didn’t even have to ask or discreetly coerce the jonin with fuinjutsu.
Nagato paid their Suna guards, slipping an extra amount along with the agreed upon fee. “For your excellent care.” He murmured to the jonin. He knew that they had annoyed the jonin sensei by insisting on spending each night indoors as much as possible, but it was necessary. The trio needed privacy to exercise and keep in shape as much as they feasibly could. Even the young genin would have recognized that the exercises they were doing were meant for shinobi. They had discussed using privacy and invisibility seals but if they suddenly disappeared from their guards’ view, the Suna team would get curious and look for them.
And none of them wanted to kill young children. Even young shinobi children.
The jonin sensei bowed his thanks and ushered his team away promising them they could explore Konoha for a few hours.
Yahiko filled out the paperwork to enter Konoha while Nagato stood next to the mules. Konan sat in the wagon. She had spent most of the trip creating small origami creatures and now she was discreetly releasing them. She would use them to find Shimura and Kushina Uzumaki’s son.
After bowing to the chuunin at the registration area, Yahiko walked to his team. He handed them their Konoha papers. “The chuunin suggested a good hotel that has a decent stable. She also gave me the name of someone who would be able to find us a shop to rent if we chose.”
Nagato nodded. “Good. Although I think we need to explore the trade possibilities before we make any firm decisions.”
Yahiko nodded in agreement, climbed into the wagon, and sat next to Konan. Nagato followed, taking up the reins and urged the mules forward.
As they slowly made their way to the indicated hotel, Konan released more of her origami to the ground, buildings, and wind.