Yuri watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye. She knew what he was feeling right now. She had experienced it, too. The first time one of their shinobi connected with their inner being was always the most exhilarating. The next step would be to bring the Kyuubi out of his prison inside Naruto. It would take some time before that would happen, though. To do so would require an extremely threatening situation or a lot of patience. There was also a matter of that seal… Yuri wasn't sure if it would hinder the process of removing the Kyuubi or if she would be able to make a crack in the seal to draw Kyuubi out. It looked very strong. The person who made it must have been well versed in sealing techniques.
Izo slid to a stop and held out his hands, signaling for silence. Yuri obeyed automatically. Naruto obeyed as well, but much more hesitantly. He let out a faint whine as he stopped, earning a sharp look from Izo.
"We'll set up traps here," Izo murmured quietly. "Sooner or later, the wolf team or the flier team will come this way and hopefully we'll be able to stall them enough with the traps to capture a team member."
Izo cast a glance towards Naruto who raised an eyebrow.
"We also need to teach this one how to trap, as he's to be our new trapper for the time being," he continued. Naruto scowled at that.
"I know how to set up traps," he snapped. Izo gave a harsh laugh.
"An exploding tag here? A chakra wire there? That could never be considered trapping. I mean traps where if a shinobi steps even in one wrong spot, the explosion will be seen for miles around."
Izo slid a bag off his back. Naruto peered at it closely. He hadn't noticed it before. It was rather large for a shinobi to be carrying. It would be a hindrance in battle and would only add extra weight and bulk for speed and stealth missions.
"We'll only set up the basic trap layout right now," Izo muttered, pulling a scroll out of the bag and unrolling it. Naruto peered at it closely. It was just a bunch of lines, stars, and slash marks, written in two different colors.
"Black is always the first layer. Blue is second. On more advanced patterns, green is third, brown is fourth, and red is fifth," Yuri explained.
"Layers?" Naruto asked. Yuri nodded.
"The lines are where the chakra wires go. Stars are where we put the devices that trigger the traps and slash marks are the trap itself. Traps include exploding tags, catapults that will launch kunai and shuriken, smoke bombs, poisonous gas, and anything else you can think of. Traps can be in trees, hidden in brush, or even buried underground."
"You need blueprints to lay these out? Sounds like a waste of time," Naruto grumbled, locking his arms behind his head.
"Trapping is only good when you know that it will take a while for your opponent to reach you or if you're defending a certain location," Izo admitted. "We need the blueprints because there are hundreds of ways to set these up and to figure out how to take them down without setting anything off. Most shinobi in the village are rather paranoid and wouldn't be amused if we caused an explosion."
"Yeah, I noticed that this isn't a humorous lot," Naruto muttered under his breath. "Maybe if you loosened up a little, everyone wouldn't be ready to kill everyone else."
"Just hurry up," Yuri hissed. "We've waited around too long. I don't want to walk into an ambush."
Izo stiffened at being given an order but quickly began setting up traps. Naruto watched closely, amazed by the process. It was like putting together a puzzle. Every wire Izo strung was connected to at least three triggers and traps and five other wires. It was quite the process.
"So do we need to get both of the other flags or just one other?" Naruto asked as they began moving on.
"Both of them," Yuri said. "When we get one, we'll have to be twice as careful because if we're attacked, then there's a possibility that the other teams can get both flags. That's why we split up. Makes it more difficult to obtain a flag."
The sound of approaching footsteps made the trio slide to a stop and pull out their weapons. Naruto and Yuri pulled out kunai but Izo grabbed another object that had been strapped to his back.
"What is that?" Naruto questioned, eyeing the strange object. It had sharp ridges but one side of it was made up of wire and there was a large hole in the center. Izo pulled out a piece of wood that was tipped with razor sharp steel and laid it across the foreign weapon.
"Bow and arrow. Good for long distance fighting but the sharpened edges also allow for close combat fighting. Slash it across an opponent's skin and it cuts right down to the bone, slicing through muscle, organs, and veins," Izo explained as he looked for his target. "Now shut up."
"So why aren't you getting your hand sliced off?" Naruto asked curiously. Izo glared at him and refused to answer.
"Look at his hands," Yuri whispered. Naruto did so and then noticed that the other boy was wearing gloves that protected his hands from any damage. Peering closer, Naruto could see where the bow had left its mark. There were countless scratches and slits where it had dug into the fabric.
Akahana burst through the trees, Hotaru close behind her, and neatly dodged the arrow Izo let loose in her direction. Landing softly, she glared at the older boy.
"You know, just once, I would like not to get shot at," she growled. Izo stared at her impassively.
"It keeps you on your toes," he replied. "Or, if you would rather, come up with a signal that lets us know it's you and not someone else."
Akahana narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
"Atsuo had the flag for the wolf team. I managed to take it from him in a fight," she reported, waving the said object.
"A fair fight?" Izo asked. Akahana snorted.
"Not really. He'll be whining about it when we finish and meet up."
"What about that scream we heard earlier?"
Akahana shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing to concern yourself with. I'm fine now," she said calmly. "Tobikuma and Shouta are out by the way. Kotori has the flag."
"How did Tobikuma and Shouta get out?"
"Shouta was taken out by Fukuyo, Rikiya, and Miyu and I was able take Tobikuma out while they were occupied with Shouta."
"Are you going to give any actual details or just vague answers?" Izo asked in an irritated voice.
"Just vague answers," Akahana replied with a small grin. Hotaru chuffed a little. Izo sighed.
"Did you find out where the fliers have hid their flag?" he asked.
"With Kotori," Akahana replied slowly. Izo scowled.
"And where is she?" he asked.
"Trapped in behind the eagle estate."
"Trapped in?" Naruto tilted his head. "Couldn't you have just gotten it when she was trapped?"
"Trapped in means she set up traps around a certain location, like a tree, and placed herself and the disablers in the center, so the only way to get to her is to avoid all the traps or to set them off. How many layers?"
"Four," Akahana replied. "One underground, one low to the ground, one at waist height, and one at shoulder height. The only way to avoid them is if you can cut yourselves into pieces."
"So it's a stalemate," Yuri sighed.
"Maybe not," Izo replied, eyeing Naruto with a look in his eye that made the younger boy shift nervously.
Ten minutes later, Naruto stared at a large tree and then back at Izo.
"So I should…"
"Yep."
"Just go right in?"
"Yep."
"And set off as many as possible?"
"Yep."
"Weren't you the one who was saying that we shouldn't just charge right into things? And weren't you also the one who wanted to prevent as many explosions as possible?"
"That was before we were this close to getting to our goal. I've also thought this through. You charge in and set off as many traps, Kotori gets frightened and abandons her post or disables some of the other traps, and then it becomes easier to maneuver."
"And if people get pissed off?" Naruto asked, not wanting to have to be chased around by pissed off shinobi.
"We blame it on Akahana," Izo smirked. Akahana, who had been nodding in agreement with Izo the entire time, shot him a nasty look.
"Or you can say it was all Izo's idea," she added. "He can afford to be in trouble with the Soshikage."
"All right," Naruto reluctantly agreed and prepared to make his shadow clones.
"Wait!"
The four turned at the sudden shout. Izo had his bow drawn and an arrow ready to fly in the second it took to turn.
Another shinobi was jogging toward them. He looked to be more about Naruto's age instead of Akahana's age. His hair was a dark brown and was shaggily cut, giving him a scruffy and wild appearance.
"What do you want, Atsuo?" Akahana's voice was sharp and irritated. "We're still playing."
"We're finished now," the younger boy replied. "We need your team. There's been another incident."
Yuri stiffened.
"Why is the entire team needed?" she asked. "Why am I even needed? Surely the hospital has enough competent healers that I'm not needed at the moment."
Atsuo looked grim.
"The shinobi in question was already dead when found. He was found inside the cat clan estate."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!
