Blake woke up with a yawn to the ever dreadful sound of her alarm clock. It was particularly dreadful this morning because she had slept rather pleasantly, which did not happen often. Her dreams had been full of the eventual adventures her team would in time embark on. What Blake found a little odd was that in her dreams, she seemed to heavily focus on the new blonde in her life.
The faunus begrudgingly left her bed and immediately set off to finish waking up with a hot shower. After the process of washing and scrubbing, Blake redressed herself in her usual shinobi attire. Blake knew her punctual mother had already left that morning, no doubt addressing some clan issue she deemed worth her time.
The black haired girl set about to make breakfast when she heard a knock at the door. Blake was genuinely surprised, she could probably count on one hand the amount of times someone had knocked on their door. Her mother certainly never knocked, and the Belladonna clan isn't exactly the type for random social calls.
Blake opened the door to find a very relieved yet flustered looking Yang. Surprised, the faunus ignored the odd feeling in her stomach and greeted the blonde "Good morning."
"Heh, hi." Yang said while looking unusually nervous "You see I just woke up a bit earlier than usual and figured our clan grounds weren't that far from each other, and I know we said we'd meet at the Donkage's office-" Blake would have stopped the blonde's ramblings, but the bruisers own stomach grumbling beat her to it. It seemed to be making a habit of interrupting conversations.
"Let me guess you didn't eat breakfast?" Blake asked with a small smile.
Yang rubbed her head a bit embarrassed in response "I thought I forgot something."
Blake chuckled and opened the door "Well come on, you're just in time for eggs." Yang did a complete 180 from the uncertain girl back to the confident bruiser.
"Sweet!" Yang yelled to the quiet house "Thanks Blakey!"
Blake rolled her eyes, pretending that the nickname still bothered her. To be honest she didn't really mind if people called her Blakey, and by people she meant person, and by person she means the blonde looking through her pantry.
Yang watched as her teammate grabbed two frying pans from the cupboards and moved towards the stove. Without needing to be asked Yang grabbed the carton of eggs from the fridge and brought them to the faunus, who gave a small smile in return.
"How do you like them?" Blake asked the blonde who was now seated at her kitchen table.
"Scrambled please," Yang began "and I suppose you wouldn't have any hot sauce?"
Blake laughed at that, which Yang decided was now one of her favorite noises and would trying her damndest to make her teammate laugh as much as possible. Blake turned away from the stove and disappeared into the pantry only to come out with a small red bottle.
The black haired shinobi placed the bottle in front of her guest saying "I'll let you decide how much you want to ruin your breakfast."
Yang snorted at that as Blake returned to the eggs "I gotta say Blake, your relatives seem cool, but give off a creepy vibe."
Yang did a little dance in her head when she heard the faunus laugh again "Well we have to keep up the image as the mysterious clan. When did you get a chance to meet members of my clan?"
The blonde blushed slightly at that remembering the interactions that happened barely ten minutes ago, "Well this morning I wasn't quite sure which house was yours, so I started knocking on doors." Blake turned around to look at the embarrassed blonde "I only got the wrong house three times." Yang had to change her answer when the faunus raised a questioning eyebrow "Okay four, but you know fifth times the charm!"
Blake shook her head amused as she grabbed the two frying pans "You do realize you could have just asked the occupants of the first house you knocked on for directions?"
"Yeah when I said your clan was creepy, I meant terrifying." The bruiser answered as Blake set her scrambled eggs in front of her, which were quickly drowned in hot sauce.
The two ate in companionable silence as Yang enjoyed her scrambled eggs and Blake her omelet, until they heard the door open. Blake inwardly sighed knowing the only person that could be.
Leora walked past the kitchen then suddenly stopped and entered the room, clearly looking at the blonde with hot sauce on her lip. "Blake, I don't believe you asked me if someone could come over this morning."
Yang, not really understanding why her friend's mother was making such a big deal about the situation, was about to take blame for the situation "Oh, I'm sorry Belladonna-san I-"
"Sorry mother," Blake interrupted her friend "it must have slipped my mind with how tired I was last night."
It was obvious for Blake to see that Leora didn't accept that answer, but the clan head managed to keep her cool facade together in front of the Long heir. "See that it doesn't happen again." With that the Belladonna head grabbed a scroll from one of the adjoining rooms and was out the door once more.
The kitchen was silent until Yang decided she couldn't bare it any longer "Well your mom, seems.." the blonde trailed off, trying to find a suitable word.
"Bitchy." Blake easily answered with a small sigh.
Yang couldn't disagree "Well I was gonna say strict, but yeah bitchy works too."
"Sorry about her," Blake apologized "she's never been easy to approve of someone, let alone like. Not even sure if I fit into that category." The faunus said the last part in a small murmur that the blonde had to strain to hear.
It tore Yang deep hearing Blake describe her relationship with her mother. The blonde hated seeing her so downtrodden 'Damnit I shall make her smile!' The blonde vowed, gaining a smile herself, remembering what's in her pocket.
"I nearly forgot," Yang began getting the faunus' attention "I was poking around our clan's library and found this."
As the blonde handed Blake the scroll, the dark haired girl's eyes widened upon reading the title of the scroll. "Yang! This is an A Rank wind jutsu!" Blake exclaimed.
"Yep" Yang nodded, very pleased with herself "it's the only wind jutsu my clan has and we don't have any wind users, so I figured it was perfect to give to you."
Blake smiled at the gesture before pulling out a scroll of her own. "I actually planned on giving you this along with Pyrrha's but since were giving gifts now." Blake pulled out two thin yellow metal bracelets.
"Blakey they're awesome!" Yang squealed as she looked at the strange inscription on the side of them. "I've absolutely no idea what it says, but I'm sure it's great!"
Blake chuckled and said "Put them on," Which Yang eagerly did and began inspecting how they looked on her until Blake continued "now put your gauntlets on over them."
Yang looked at Blake clearly confused, but after a bit of gesturing from the faunus, the blonde followed orders. "Okay they're on." Yang confirmed having slipped on her metal gauntlets over the bracelets, surprised to find that it wasn't uncomfortable to layer them.
"Now send a bit of chakra to the bracelets," Blake instructed "just like how you do your gravity seals." Yang shrugged and followed suit, gasping when in a flash her gauntlets disappeared only the bracelets occupied her wrists. Immediately understanding the concept, Yang pulsed the chakra once more and her gauntlets reappeared.
"I figured this would save you having to pull them out of a scroll or your pocket during a fi-" Blake would have continued if the blonde hadn't scooped the girl up in a hug.
"Blakey!" Yang exclaimed "You're seriously the best! Ever! Of all time!" A blushing Blake chuckled and hugged back.
"I'm glad you like it." Blake said as the two broke apart from their embrace.
"How could I not?" Yang asked "They'll be a big boost and potential life saver in combat, and they also look freaking beautiful!" The blonde gave the faunus another smile before adding "It would have sucked if you hadn't made Tensai."
Blake tried to suppress the blush coming over her at hearing the sincerity in her friend's voice. She was able to stop herself from looking like a tomato and replied "I'm glad you're Tensai as well."
The two caught eyes for a moment, both clearly enjoying the situation and wishing for it to continue, but unsure where to go from here. "You mentioned you had something for Pyrrha as well?" Yang asked trying to keep the moment intact.
"Yeah," Blake answered, glad the blonde brought it up "I put this together for her spear." Blake pulled a red glove out of the same storage scroll Yang's bracelets had been in "Same concept really, except it's a glove."
Yang held out her hand silently asking to see the glove, which Blake had no problem with. The blonde looked at the palm of the glove, observing the detailed black illustration, which no doubt was the fuinjutsu. "It kind of looks like a pentagram." Yang remarked.
"It's the style my clan usually uses when developing fuinjutsu." Blake informed her teammate "Although, for your gauntlets I used more of a written style, since I had less area to work with when drawing."
"There are different styles?" Yang asked, knowing next to nothing about the uncommon jutsu practice.
"Hundreds, if not thousands." Blake answered "The source material is the same, just think about it like different ways of accessing it. Everyone has what they prefer."
Blake was surprised at how intently Yang was listening to her explanation, not thinking the blonde would be interested in the art at all. Blake would have eagerly continued, however the faunus noticed the time the kitchen clock read.
"Well blondie," Blake addressed the girl standing up "we should probably get a move on. Pyrrha seems the patient type, but I'd rather not keep her waiting."
Yang noticed the time as well and jumped from her seat leading the faunus to the front door. However they were stopped when Yang opened the door and turned back to Blake with a devilish grin on her face.
"Blondie?" Said blonde asked quite cheekily.
Blake shrugged "If you insist on calling me Blakey, I need something to get you back with. I've come up with a few others if you don't like blondie."
The blonde snorted as she walked out the door "Blondie's great Blakey, but variety is a good thing!"
The faunus rolled her eyes with a smile before following the girl.
(Donkage's Tower)
As Blake and Yang approached the five story tower they saw the redhead standing in front of the doors waiting for them.
"Morning." Pyrrha offered with a smile.
"Heya," Yang offered "we didn't keep you waiting did we?"
Pyrrha shook her head "No, I've only been here for about a minute."
With that the three entered the tower, the first floor being mainly occupied by the administration desk. The administration desk was where missions were received by shinobi and upon completion where mission reports were given. As they entered the girls saw the Donkage sat behind a large white table, several chunin seated by him no doubt addressing mission reports.
"Ah, team Tensai." The Donkage smiled upon seeing the girls approach the desk. "Before you are given your first mission, there is something else I must give you."
As he was speaking Ozpin presented three Vale headbands to the girls. Each headband had the Vale symbol of a diamond composed of four small dots, a symbol for the four villages in the Remnant alliance. What was special about these particular headbands was the mint green ribbon. Usually Vale headbands are tied to a shinobi with a blue ribbon, however the mint green garment was used to show that the shinobi wearing them are Tensai.
The girls smiled upon receiving them and quickly added them to their attire. Blake tied her headband to her upper left arm, Yang added hers to the belt of her shorts, and Pyrrha placed hers on the upper thigh of her left leg.
"Now that that's out of the way," Ozpin began while a chunin next to him handed him a paper "There is actually a special matter I would like you to take care of if you're interested." The girls perked up at that and Ozpin chuckled at Yang's very insistent nodding. "It's considered a C Rank mission, lately we've had a bit of a bandit problem in one of the towns on our border with Konoha. Recently we sent two chunin who took care of the local bandit population and captured the leader. They were going to bring the leader back to the village, but they were needed for another matter in the area."
"So you want us to bring the leader back?" Blake asked, seeing what the Donkage was getting at.
Ozpin nodded "Correct Miss Belladonna."
"May I ask why?" Yang inquired "Is the leader special for some reason?"
"Yes, what can we gain from him?" Pyrrha added.
"Good of you to notice that." Ozpin commended before explaining "First we've had a bandit problem in that area for too long now, it seems every time we destroy their population a new one will arise to take their place."
"So it's like a scare tactic?" Yang guessed.
"Exactly, hopefully any other ambitious criminals in the area will be dissuaded from trying to begin their operations again." Ozpin replied "There is also the matter of Konoha to consider. The town in question, Hirata, is relatively new and hasn't exactly picked a village to pledge themselves too. Normally a population will choose only one village for mission requests, but Hirata being on the border between us and Konoha haven't yet made an allegiance. Hopefully by them seeing us take a known criminal away for punishment will assist in them making up their minds."
The girls nodded at the information "Any threats?" Blake asked, wondering how difficult their first mission would be.
"The leader will be drugged, so he will just be placed in a coffin for transport. There shouldn't be any significant Grimm presence in the area, but a cleaning patrol is due to go through there soon. However, you will have to move at top speed, there's a risk a Konoha team could get there before us and try taking the captive." Ozpin answered.
"How would they even know about the prisoner?" Pyrrha asked.
Ozpin held his hands together replying "The Leaf have also been making efforts to get that village to lean towards them, it's very likely they have agents in the town."
"Then we should get going." Yang stated, as Ozpin handed the mission scroll to Blake.
"Good luck Tensai." The Donkage offered, having the genin nod in return and leave.
Ozpin was about to leave momentarily to brew his special coffee recipe, when a chunin came to his kage's side "Donkage-sama?"
"Yes?" Ozpin asked his shinobi.
"It appears Team 4 has had a small incident." The shinobi reported.
"Oh?" Was all Ozpin offered, normally he would have been worried at the mention of his shinobi encountering trouble, but he remembered giving Team 4 a mission earlier. Team 4 being one of the new genin teams, Ozpin had given them a simple D Rank taking place in the village.
"It appears that when painting the shop owners wall, Miss Valkyrie painted two walls pink when the owner requested red."
Ozpin made a small sigh "And the owner is refusing to pay?"
The shinobi shook their head, causing Ozpin to blink "Apparently the owner is a Valkyrie as well and loves the look. They would like to give Team 4 a bonus."
(Vale Main Gate)
Pyrrha absolutely loved the glove Blake had made her and immediately gave the faunus a hug upon receiving the gift. The redhead felt a shiver go through her the second she made contact with her teammate for some reason. Still holding Blake, Pyrrha opened her eyes and made direct eye contact with one agitated looking blonde.
Getting the message the redhead broke away from the embrace with the faunus and proceeded to give a verbal thank you. Once Pyrrha had sealed her five foot gold and crimson spear, Milo, into her glove she produced a map.
Holding it open for the others to see Pyrrha began "Vale isn't too far from our border with Konoha, so at full speed we should arrive there in three or four hours."
"I'm guessing stopping for lunch when we get there is out of the picture." Yang stated.
"We can't risk a confrontation with Leaf," Blake replied "we can eat once we've gotten the prisoner and ourselves back closer to Vale."
The blonde conceded and Pyrrha put away her map. They walked to the main gates, where four chunin were present. Two stood at the bottom, while the other two kept watch on the tall wall that surrounded the city. Looking closely you could see pairs of shinobi stationed all around the wall.
Blake handed the scroll to the chunin who inspected it and nodded handing the scroll back to the faunus before opening the gate. As the large doors opened the girls gazed at the green plain that surrounded the village only to end where a thick forest began.
With a nod to each other they broke off into a sprint for the trees.
(Two Hours Later Vale Forest)
For an experienced ninja tree hopping is second nature. It becomes as simple as walking, which is great to have considering that nearly every region in the Elemental Nations have thick areas of forest. Newly made genin might have trouble with the exercise, but being clan heirs Team Tensai had trained in tree hopping many times already.
They travelled in silence focusing on the task at hand and moving at their top speed. Well, top speed for Blake and Pyrrha, Yang was forced to pace herself a bit so the others could keep up. However, as they continued the blonde sensed another chakra source following them quickly. Yang was no sensor, but she had some abilities that one would have, having a knack for detecting chakra was one of them. Now she could detect it, but that was virtually it. She wouldn't be able to distinguish a kage from a citizen.
Yang motioned for the others to stop and they complied, each standing on individual branches. "Something is coming fast." Yang told the two.
Blake removed her katana from the sheath on her side and Pyrrha clapped her hands together, which activated the seal on her glove removing Milo from it. Yang had already had her gauntlets summoned the moment she stopped and watched the ground as she could see something forcing the surrounding bushes to move rapidly. A moment later a large black mass erupted from the vegetation running directly underneath the Tensai and then away from them, not even noticing the shinobi.
"Ursa." Pyrrha identified the creature, having hunted one with her father once before.
"We can't let some poor passerby become it's meal," Blake remarked "c'mon the three of us should be able to take it out fairly quickly."
The other two nodded, completely agreeing with the faunus. "And it happens to be going in the direction we are." Yang added before the three began moving again.
The trio followed the Grimm for a mile until the trees momentarily ended and they entered a small clearing. The Ursa was waiting for them, however it seemed to have had a friend waiting, for another Ursa was with it.
"Oh," Yang remarked surprised at the new foe, but not in the least worried "well that could potentially make me break a sweat."
Blake rolled her eyes with a grin and made two shadow clones to assist with the fight. "So how do we wanna do this?" The faunus asked, surprised the Ursa hadn't decided to just charge them yet.
"Yang take Blake's clones and try to keep one off us while we take the other out." Pyrrha said, taking the leadership role.
Yang nodded with a happy grin as she prepared her jutsu "Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!" The orb of energy was launched from the blonde's hand and the slightly larger Ursa attempted to evade it, but received a glancing blow causing it to howl in pain. Yang leapt away from the others as that Ursa decided to follow the one who wounded it. Both of Blake's clones followed the blonde, and if it wasn't for Pyrrha and the faunus herself the other Ursa would have given chase as well.
"Keep it occupied!" Pyrrha yelled to Blake as she disappeared into the ground only leaving a hole. Blake moved in front of the Ursa as it charged her and ducked under a blow from one of its paws, while delivering a slice to its side. The beast didn't falter from the slight wound and turned to try and strike at Blake with its other paw.
The faunus once more ducked under the paw and decided to try a different attack. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" The ball of compressed air hit the Grimm directly on its stomach, forcing a very audible moan to come from its mouth. Blake jumped back and noticed the several cuts that marked the spot where her jutsu hit.
The Ursa seemed to recover and about to attempt another charge, when Pyrrha took that opportunity to pop out of the ground behind it. Using her spear, Pyrrha stabbed deep into the back of the beast before quickly pulling her weapon out as the Ursa turned around. Blake used this moment to shoot forward and slice the back of the Grimm's neck before stabbing it in the side. The faunus felt her blade slide between ribs and was sure she hit something vital when the beast slumped over.
Pyrrha ended its life with a quick stab to the heart, allowing the two to check how their bruiser was faring. Quite well they found out, as they turned in time to see Blake's remaining clone use a water whip to stop one of the Ursas paws from coming down on Yang. The blonde used this opportunity to send several electric punches to the beaches face, successfully knocking it over on its back. Yang finished the monster sending several shuriken to its exposed throat.
"Ah, being awesome" Yang began with a devilish grin "is a beautiful thing."
Blake smiled and popped her clone "It is oddly satisfying." The faunus then looked conflicted for a moment "That's not weird is it?"
"In our profession I believe weird has a very different definition, as far as things go this is pretty tame." Pyrrha informed them.
"Do you think we have time to skin them?" The blonde asked, handling a kunai quite enthusiastically.
When the blonde was met with two blank stares, she decided it was best to just put the weapon away.
(Two Hours Later in Hirata)
While the town Hirata may have been relatively new, compared to other settlements it had grown quite rapidly. Judging on the amount of buildings the girls had to guess there was a resident population of at least sixty people. As the population continued to grow, the amount of missions will as well, and Vale could benefit greatly from their allegiance.
The mission scroll instructed that they would pick up the captive at the local prison. Most areas depended on ninja for protection, however if a settlement is located too far away for immediate shinobi aid they have to rely on themselves.
The prison in Hirata wasn't much to look at really. It was next to their town hall and one of the few stone buildings in the settlement. Inside there were only a few cells made of iron bars, and one guard stationed. He was a middle aged man who looked to have a bit of a problem turning the captive over to some girls a third his age. Which was understandable, considering most people who don't live in a ninja village hardly ever have any contact with shinobi, even those who pay for their services don't always get to see their capabilities. However, this was definitely not the effect the girls wanted to leave so Yang may have turned her gloves on for a new "impression".
After the blonde's light show the guard didn't have any other concerns to voice. He opened one of the cells to show the girls what looked like a wooden gourd with a red rope surrounding it. "You're chunin said that the drug they gave him should keep him under for another day." The guard explained as he struggled to bring the container out of the cell.
He was breathing heavily as he carried their "package" outside the jail for them. "Are you sure you can carry that all the way back to your village?" The still somewhat skeptical man asked.
His eyes widened as he watched Yang easily heft the large container over one shoulder, "I think we'll manage." Blake answered with a grin.
The man nodded still shocked and the girls left without another word, making sure to take their time walking through the town. They were quite satisfied with their exit.
(Back Into the Woods)
As the Tensai were once more moving they had to stop when the leading blonde once more felt a chakra source.
"It's more than one this time," Yang informed the others "and they're much faster. Whatever they are they're almost as fast as us."
"Leaf?" Pyrrha asked, voicing what they were all thinking.
"Possibly," Blake entertained the idea "we're not that far into our own territory, so it's not impossible that they'd try and take the captive back. There's also the possibility it's our people, but just to be safe I'd rather they not overtake us."
"This damn coffin is gonna slow us down, so that might just happen." The blonde stated "The longer we talk, the closer they're getting."
Blake decided to make a decision than, she quickly made a shadow clone. "Give my clone the coffin, she'll move ahead while we deal with whoever is coming."
"I don't like it, but our options are limited." Pyrrha stated as Yang handed the container to the clone, who immediately took off in the direction of Vale.
Blake was about to make the hand seal for more shadow clones, when a worried Yang objected "Wait! You've already made three, are you sure you can-"
The blonde was cut off when Blake interjected "Don't worry Blondie, I've recovered some chakra from earlier. A few more clones shouldn't be a problem."
Yang looked like she was about to argue further with the faunus, but Pyrrha cut in "We really don't have time for this."
The blonde kept her stare on Blake for a moment longer clearly worried about her teammate, but then conceded with a murmured "Fine." Blake continued with her jutsu and summoned two more clones.
"Fan out and stay hidden," Blake addressed her clones "if things go bad help where you can."
As the clones left to disappear among the trees the Tensai took a deep breath and prepared themselves. Pyrrha and Blake had their weapons ready, but Yang decided to keep her gauntlets sealed, hoping she could surprise her foe.
The forest became eerily quiet for a moment, allowing the girls to experience their first "calm before the storm".
The moment ended as Yang said "They're here."
Not a moment later three figures burst through the tree line with a shout "Ninja of Vale!"
The girls sized their possible enemies up and concluded that they were Leaf Genin, most likely around the same age as the girls themselves. It was a team of two boys and one girl. The boy in front had long brunette hair with his headband around his forehead, the girl was also a brunette with a very odd hairstyle, although what made the Vale ninja pause was the other boy dressed in some kind of green jump suit.
Heya, hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I planned on making this chapter a bit longer, but I believe this cliffhanger is worth it. I'm sure you can expect what the girls are in store for next chapter. The true question is, will they be youthful enough?
Until Next Time
