A walk in the rain

Inaba frowned. He braced his knee with a palm and grasped at the joint hoping it would ease the pain. The cart hit a pothole and he jerked upright, momentarily forgetting about his cramp. A younger Inaba would have celebrated at the thought of travel, this was not so anymore: he was pushing thirty and freshly retired from the Kumo Shinobi force. A twinge of regret bit at the back of his mind. If you would have just stayed back home, you’d be drawing your military pension in less than ten years. Why do I always have to do things the hard way?

The carriage stopped before a forked path and Inaba took a step off the seat, then nodded to the teamster. He looked ahead where Amegakure lay.

[Exit To Amegakure in 12 hours]