Taken
"Another successful mission that we can now add to our list." Gai beamed at his team as they left Amegakure.
It had been a simple B-rank mission. They had to escort a young princess back to her hometown of Amegakure. Team Gai had been confidant that they could complete the mission with no delays and hardships. They worked so well together, having spent four years together as a team. Team Gai. They knew each other inside and out.
It happened occasionally that some missions go wrong, but Team Gai hadn't expected their simple, routine, mission to be one of those. None of them would ever have foreseen it.
Gai and Lee wouldn't, their continuous optimistic attitude making them unable to see their future as anything but successful. Tenten had learnt over the years that there were few things that could make them fail a mission. She was confidant. Neji certainly hadn't expected their mission to go wrong. His sense of superiority over others, and his team over others, made him believe that they couldn't -wouldn't- lose.
Gai had called the mission a success. He would forever regret speaking those words.
"Protective formation!"
"We're outnumbered by far."
"How did we not sense them?"
"Their chakra is well cloaked, and they know the area better than us. They know the terrain and would know how to get around without giving away their position." Fighting followed Neji's words. His words spoken in a cool, calm, serious, and bland tone. The tone that was purely Neji.
There was no time to think. Only time to fight.
Enemy ninja surrounded them, and they fought strongly against the rogue ninja, knowing from their scratched Ame hitai-ate that they were after the princess. Whom was no longer with them. They didn't take the time to figure out why the ninja were attacking them, seeing as it was very clear that the princess wasn't with them. They had to protect themselves.
The enemy was strong. Blood from several different sources leaked onto the green grass. Noises of hits landing their strikes, weapons whistling through the air, and shinobi naming their jutsu circled around them and invaded them. It was the noise of fighting, violence, and death. Some of the enemy died, some were able to hold their own.
Tenten's weapons were stuck in trees, earth, and several limbs. Lee hit people or air, running around them as he tried to beat them down. Gai knocked out his enemies one at a time, surprised by their strength. Neji stopped hearts and chakra, but the enemies kept coming.
All four of them were separated throughout the battle, hardly able to spot each other through the wreckage around them.
"Where's the princess?"
"She's not here."
"Where is she?"
"She's back at the castle isn't she?"
"Damn. Let's retreat."
"Retreat!"
As quickly as they had come, they were gone, taking with them their dead teammates. Team Gai would have continued to fight if they had no doubts that they would be victorious. Gai was more concerned about finding his team and seeing if they were all alright.
"Lee?" Gai called, approaching the area where he'd seen Lee be brought out to.
"Here, sensei!" He replied, jumping over several fallen trees to stand in front of his teacher.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, sensei. I am alright!" Lee had bruises decorating his arms, legs, and chest, but he hadn't shed a drop of blood throughout the entirety of the surprise attack.
"Let's find Tenten and Neji." Gai was troubled. The rogue ninja had had them all more separated than was comforting. He had confidance in his team, but he held a protectiveness over them that he would forever carry with him.
"I'm here, sensei. And I'm alright as well. A couple bruises and cuts, but nothing major." Tenten answered her sensei's unspoken question as she jumped out of one of the trees around them and landed near her teammate and teacher.
Both students looked around them, searching for the last member of their team.
"Where's Neji?" Tenten voiced aloud the question they were all thinking.
"I don't..." Gai began, feeling dread build in his usually optimistic heart, "Neji!" He called out, but there was no reply.
"Last time I saw him he was over there." Tenten pointed to the least destroyed part of the forest. Neji's fighting style was silent, clean, and deadly. His victims looked as if they were sleeping by the lack of any visible damage.
Gai nodded and the three-man team walked over to where she had indicated. They walked around the area, shouting their lost teammates name as loudly as they could. They each went into opposite directions and always reunited at the same place. All of them looking more grim each time they met up. Gai and Lee were losing their confidance. Tenten hadn't had any to begin with. They knew. They all knew.
"Neji's gone." Tenten concluded, her tone lost, "They took him."
AN : Hello! Here's the first chapter to my newest story. There will be some dark themes along the way, so watch out for that. I've never written anything that could be considered 'dark' so I wanted to give it a try! I hope you liked the first chapter. And I hope you'll keep reading!
Thank you for reading!
-MewMew
