Chapter 10: Exercise Pains
0o00o0
The moment teams were assigned, Yuko slammed her head against her desk. What in Kami's name had she done to deserve this? She was one hundred percent fine with the placement of Sakura on her team. Sakura was a good girl who just needed a nudge in the right direction to be a great shinobi. She wasn't her problem. Rather, it was their two other teammates for this excursion. Yamanaka Ino, the number one Uchiha fangirl of the younger class, and Uchiha Sasuke himself. She could practically hear the screech from their class.
There was no doubt in her mind that everything was going to be going wrong. When their sensei asked if anyone believed they would need a reinforcement team, she immediately raised her hand leaving her head against the desk.
"Yuko, daijoubu?" Karin placed a hand on her shoulder. Yuko refused to look up.
"Watashi o koroshite," her voice drawled out, almost muffled by the desk.
"Ma, it can't be that bad. I mean, you're platoon leader. They have to listen to you," Karin tried. It was unusually seeing her energetic sister so pessimistic.
"No worries Yuko-chan! My team will be there to help you," Lee gave his usual thumbs up and smile. All he received for the gesture was a louder groan. This was going to be a long day.
0o00o0
Sakura wouldn't admit it, but she was excited. She had gotten to work with Yuko on many projects in the past, along with the girl's friends. They were civilian born just as she was, and they were excelling at great rates. In more than one way, she looked up to them.
Not only did she get to work with a great platoon leader, but also her best friend and their crush. In another life, maybe her original jealous nature would have drove them apart. Here, their friendship had thrived. She learned when and where to back off Sasuke. She remembered Karin's words as if the memory had occurred yesterday.
'Don't let a boy who doesn't give you the time of day eat up your life. You are a strong independent future shinobi. Focus on your friendships, not the boys.'
Of course, the minute she brought up Shino and Yuko, Karin could only say that Yuko was naturally an affectionate person but that didn't mean they were more than friends. Sakura stayed quiet after that.
They waited patiently near the forest training area. Ino ogled Sasuke, leaving him to promptly ignore her. Sakura waved down Yuko as they approached the field. Oddly enough, Lee was with her. She didn't recall Lee being mentioned in their mission detail.
"Senpai, what is Lee doing here?" Sakura asked, causing the lavender hair girl to blink.
"Nee, Lee-kun's mission involves ours. So he's only listening to what our plan is so he can plan accordingly." Sakura hid a frown. If they had another team that meant reinforcements were given for this operation. Not many teams took that route.
Sasuke glared at the older girl. "We don't need reinforcements."
"That isn't your call to make. It's a capture and detain mission. At any point something can go wrong and I'm not going to risk your safety on that just because you are too proud." It was odd. Yuko's normally soft and warm voice had hardened, slipping out like ice. She was serious, throwing her own glare back at the Uchiha.
Sasuke responded with a tsk and glanced away. Ino, for once, remained quiet. With no other remarks, Yuko took out a scroll and began sketching a perimeter.
"Our target will be heading through the forest and attempt to reach the village walls. When that happens it is game over for us. However, I know the forest around here pretty well. We have ten minutes after I explain this to set up everything we need." Yuko explained, pointing out four trees in her diagram.
"This is where we're going to lead them. Each of you is going to take up a corner, keep your chakra hidden and stay high. Those are where the markings will be. Sakura, you are lookout. If our target tries to move away from this area you herd him in. But do so discreetly. Kunai are a good distraction and if need be I will let you borrow some explosive tags. They're fire cracker ones so they won't make too much noise."
"Right." Sakura nodded. Yuko pointed out the other edge of the perimeter where Ino and Sasuke would be.
"Once they are in this perimeter, you two have to cut them off from leaving. But do not reveal yourselves. We have the element of surprise on our hands, do not waste that. It is all of your job to confuse and disorient them."
"What's the perimeter for anyway?" Ino asked.
"That is the boundary for my genjutsu, which is why I need you to disorient them. If they are too focused on the attacks the last thing they will notice is this being set up nee. Even if they get away, they will not be getting away. Once trapped in this perimeter we will work together to take them down. However, if I call retreat you retreat. Is that understood?" Her eyes had hardened as she glanced them over. Ino flinched. Sakura just gave a determined look. Sasuke made no response.
"Nee, there will be several signals you need to be aware of," she said before turning around. It looked as though she was reaching for a shuriken but instead she crossed her fingers behind her back. "This will be the sign to retreat."
She then let her arm slack, close to her holster with all but her pinky extended. Her other arm was at her hip. "You will not be allowed to show yourselves until you see me in this stance. I will make first contact point. We do not know how strong this person is and as platoon leader I will not risk your safety to test them."
She then mimicked the action of playing a flute. "When you see me do this, cover your ears and hide in the bushes."
"Why?" Sakura blinked.
"I only know two genjutsus right now. The first, which begins our trap. The second is a musical one that I control. Usually I use it for myself to help my katas nee. However, Shibi-tou-san suggested I make use of it to also disorient opponents. The down side however is that it affects anyone within a certain distance of me. However, that's just a last resort jutsu. I can't over use that while keeping the surrounding up. It should stun for a few seconds, and I'd probably only use it to buy us time.
"I will show you where will be setting up. But first I need to speak with Sakura-chan and Lee-kun. Go over your equipment. Keep explosives to a minimal nee."
Ino and Sasuke gave curt nods, turning away from them. Yuko then pointed to the outside points of the perimeter. "Lee-kun, I am going to be setting up the flares on these trees. When they go off, the mission is yours. It'll be on more than one in case something happens to one. In any case, I should have enough to give you one. That one will only activate if the others fail. Also, remember what I said before."
"Right my youthful rival. I shall go inform my team then!" Lee grinned. He bowed to her and Sakura. "I wish you both luck on this exercise." With that, he sprinted off to wherever his team was waiting.
"Why did you need me senpai?" Sakura asked, rising an eyebrow.
"No matter what, try not to get knocked out," Yuko's voice had lost the edge it held moments ago.
"I-I know my taijutsu is pretty bad but-"
"That's not why." Yuko giggled, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Sakura-chan, you are very skilled. You know your limits which is more than I can say for a lot of people. With that in mind, I have a feeling things are going to go bad."
Sakura watched as Yuko made a hand seal. It was a peace sign, with the thumb sticking out. Instead of facing Sakura, it faced the side. "This is the sign I will make for the flares to go off. That means someone is unconscious… maybe even both of them nee. You get them out of there, even if I don't leave."
"I can't just leave you senpai!"
"You aren't leaving me. I simply will stall for time. I have to keep the genjutsu up until Lee's team gets there." She circled a part on her mini drawn map. "There is a clearing here. That is where you all will wait should that worst case scenario happens. Protect your teammates, Sakura-chan."
Sakura stood, staring at her agape. How… why did she have so much faith in her? She was trusting her with this over her other teammates. "I-I… I'll do it senpai."
"I knew I could count on you Sakura-chan."
0o00o0
Tora quietly wondered to himself why he agreed to this kind of mission. When Hokage-sama told him that he and the others were on academy duty, he simply thought it meant another presentation. He did not agree to almost being blown up by the Sandaime's 'adopted' granddaughter. He never recalled her having a thing for explosions until she met two certain Aburame and Nara. If he wanted to complain, then he really needed to keep his mouth shut because that meant going to the heirs' fathers.
He didn't need that in his life.
Senbon were thrown at him, causing him to veer right. He had to admit, she was doing a decent job of keeping him from the wall. But he was still quicker and could out pace her. She couldn't have been alone though. The academy never gave single person exercises. Her teammates could be anywhere.
A kunai flew at him. Someone had gotten ahead of him. He had to give them another point for that. However, something was attached to the kunai. He instantly jumped left, out of the path. A second later, the kunai blew up midair.
Another round of senbon were thrown at his feet and to his right. They were herding him somewhere and they were covering his openings. If he wasn't forced to go easy he'd be able to escape easily. His clones didn't last too long and only seemed to throw them off for a few seconds.
He kept running, sending off another clone. The senbon had stopped, meaning Yuko had likely stopped to retrieve them. That still left her other teammate. He heard the snap of a wire and looked up to see a log swinging at him from above. Instead of jumping away, he added chakra to his fist to break it in its place as he punched it.
The trap however, did not go off alone. Right behind it, a fireball came straight at him. He braced himself, creating the hand tiger hand seal.
"Suiton: Suijinchuu (Water Pillar)" Water expelled from his mouth and curved, covering him. The fire extinguished on impact. He smiled under his mask. It was a good try on their part. From his knowledge, very few students were able to perform nature manipulations. So the Uchiha was paired with her. He knew how to deal with that.
"Is that all the famous Uchiha can do? I thought you were rookie of the year?" He remained calm, deflecting on-coming kunai. They were coming from two sides. It was either the last teammate or the person from before. Perhaps even Yuko. But he doubted Yuko would get angry enough to that kind of response.
"Poor little Uchiha. Am I getting on your nerves? I thought you were going to make your clan proud. I don't personally see that happening at this rate."
That seemed to piss the boy off enough to reveal himself. He outright tried to punch the man. Tora quickly caught his fist and tossed him to the side. He had to subdue without hurting them too badly.
The boy's anger was strong. He pushed himself back up and rushed at him, throwing more punches. From the side, their other teammate was throwing shuriken. From what he could tell their aim wasn't the best, many hitting the floor or accidentally hitting the boy. Sasuke refused to let that stop him. Tora grimaced as he dodge the hits. It would be best to end this quick.
He stopped the assault with one punch, sending the Uchiha flying into a tree.
Sasuke slid on the ground, but pushed himself up, preparing another fireball technique. Tora didn't give him the chance, flinging shuriken in his direction. A purple blur had stepped in front of the boy, deflecting all but three of them. The other three scrapped their arms and legs, embedding in the tree behind them.
"Don't you dare hurt Sasuke-kun!" The girl in purple glared, keeping her kunai out.
'Ah the Yamanaka girl. Poor Yuko. I should take care of them quickly.' Tora thought to himself. He quickly did a tori sign, causing the earth to shake. "Doton: Doryuusou (Earth Flow Spears)!"
Sasuke immediately grabbed Ino but the waist and jumped up. Earth spike spikes shot up from the ground, scratching his ankle. They landed on a branch as Sasuke fell onto his knees. He clutched his ankle with a wince. Ino immediately looked over him.
Tora sighed, 'more focused on the boy than the mission.'
From the corner of his eye he spotted a kunai and jumped into the air. It was likely the third teammate who was helping Yuko. In the air, he felt something prick his back. It was too thin to be a kunai. He could only assume it senbon. 'She's gotten better at hiding her chakra… Shibi-sama has taught them well.'
0o00o0
After Tora entered the perimeter, Yuko immediately followed, climbing up to the highest point possible for her. It had taken her a long time to set up this perimeter with Shino's help. She took a deep breath, making the hand seals she needed.
"Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu (Sly Mind Affect Technique)," she whispered, quietly sending her chakra out. She could only hope that the others were following through with her plan.
Sakura met up with her as according to plan and they headed further into the perimeter. They didn't need to get far to hear Ino shouting at their target.
"Chikusho, they weren't supposed to reveal themselves," Yuko cursed.
"Senpai, they're in trouble. What do we do?" Sakura frowned.
"Stay here, I'm going to go around. When you see a kunai drop from the tree, throw a kunai at him. Throw it at an angle so he can see it, but just barely. He'll change his focus to that. I'll get him from behind."
"O-okay. But I'm running low." She murmured. Yuko shook her head quietly and handed her two of her own.
"Use them wisely."
"Right."
Yuko sighed, hiding her presence to the best of her ability. She had to thank Shibi-tou-san again after this was over. She clung to her tree as the ground began shaking. Why had they revealed themselves before she gave the signal?
She dropped a kunai and grabbed her senbon. Without another thought she tossed them. She wasn't skilled enough to hit any vital points. However, she could at least hit him, which became prominent when two of her three senbon embedded in his back. She observed the situation quickly while he was distracted. Sasuke was already injured. It didn't look at though he could walk easily. Ino was more focused on Sasuke. Ino had done average in her taijutsu and accuracy classes. She had clan ninjutsu, but wasn't as far along as some of her other classmates. Sakura had done better in accuracy, but her taijutsu needed work. The girl knew the basic ninjutsus, but that was it. She could not risk Sasuke taking their opponent head on in that condition.
That meant she and Ino would need to attack head on. Kuso. His focus was currently on her, meaning she would need to have her clones inform the others of her plan. 'I'm already running low on chakra from leading him here… we have to do this fast.'
She summoned her clones in the shadows before throwing more senbon at Tora. She had to distract for at least a minute. "Surrender now and maybe you'll get out of this alive." Her voice was cold as ice.
"Not even a genin yet and you're already overconfident," Tora snorted. She twitched at that. No… deep breaths. Remember what Iruka told her. Feelings are good, but not on a mission.
"Aww, you're just mad I got a hit on you. You know, when I heard this was supposed to be some great 'missing-nin' I thought you were gonna put up more of a fight nee," she laughed, blocking a kunai heading for her face. She tossed her last senbon and summoned one final clone. 'Let's try an aerial distraction.'
She closed her eyes, jumping down the tree in the shadows. Imagine the rush of the violins. A sharp 4/4 quadruple at 90 beats a minute. Time her hits. She could do this. She heard a pop and danced.
0o00o0
Tora kept a kunai in his hands, expecting an attack. What he hadn't expected was Yuko to launch herself out of the tree she was in and dive at him, kunai outstretched. He tossed the kunai in his hand expecting her to block it with ease. However, she had taken it to the shoulder and burst into smoke. A substitution? No there was no log there, meaning…
"Kus-"He couldn't even finish the curse as he turned. Instead a knee lodged itself in his gutt and sent him sliding backwards. He coughed out, was that girl trying to get him where he thought? It wouldn't be a surprise.
She just smiled, hopping from foot to foot. He took a breath to recover before launching at her. She didn't play on the offensive however. She twirled and would only throw a few punches. Other than that, she danced around his hits, taking quite a few. Most of those hits would a left a child unconscious. But then he remembered the people she trained with: the jinchuuriki, an Uzumaki survivor, a future taijutsu specialist, the Aburame heir, the Hyuuga heir, and Sai. There were plenty of days she'd come to school bloody and bruised with the others.
She suddenly ducked down into a crouch, though he didn't throw a punch. Within the next second he felt a large sting in his back. Apparently the others had recovered enough to attack. Yuko responded immediately, delivering an uppercut to his chin. It wouldn't launch him far in her tired state. That wasn't what hurt him.
The Yamanaka girl had left her crushes side and brought her leg down, kicking him in the face. Yuko rolled out of the way as he crashed into the floor. From that point, both the Yamanaka and Yuko went after him, trading blows. Yamanaka had a lot more energy than Yuko, probably from staying hidden for so long. Yuko kept on the defensive for that very reason.
It didn't help that their two other teammates were tossing projectiles. He hadn't missed how the senbon and kunai that originally laid on the forest floors mysteriously would disappear. He needed to end this quickly. First, he had to knock out Yamanaka.
She had done well enough in attacking him, managing to land a few of her own punches. However, she hadn't the stamina to keep up with him. Yuko would try her best to change his focus, but the second he landed a punch on the blonde haired girl, he knew she was done. She hit the tree hard and didn't get back up.
The Uchiha dropped down as a result, fury written in his face. Odd, he normally didn't care for his teammates. Yuko had jumped between him and the Uchiha, reaching for her pouch. He hadn't expected the boy to growl and push the older girl away. Yuko scrapped against the floor, breathing heavily. She wouldn't be able to continue for much longer.
Uchiha limped on the field, but got into the standard academy stance. His movements were slower as he tried to rush at him. Tora punched him in the face. "Stay down kid."
The boy glared and pushed off the ground. Tora sighed. He didn't want to do this. He walked toward the boy and punched him in the gutt, knocking the air out of him. He coughed and fell limply on the floor.
"Two down, two to go." He remarked, leaving the boy on the floor. He jumped back as shuriken shot out at him.
Yuko choked, pushing herself off the floor. Two of her teammates were out cold… she had to get them out of danger. She stood up, leaning against a tree for support.
"Well, what do you plan on doing Yuko?" He smiled under his mask.
Yuko just smiled tiredly, pointing at herself with her thumb before adding in a small peace sign, "Nee I'm gonna do what I do best."
Their forth teammate jumped down from the tree, breathing heavily. Pink hair girl. He didn't know her name. She must have been the one helping to lead him to this spot. She kept a kunai out but went to retrieve her fallen teammates. Yuko kept between them, panting. So it was a retreat then.
"I knew I could count on you Sakura-chan," Yuko murmured. She placed a hand behind her back, and smoke appeared. He could vaguely see the girl, Sakura, take off into the forest. Yuko however remained in place, now wielding a scythe.
"You're exhausted. You can't keep this up," He said flatly.
"A-as leader, I will not allow a-any more harm to come to my teammates," she hissed, whether it was in pain or anger, he did not know. "M-meaning, I cannot let you anywhere near them."
Typical Yuko. He wouldn't go after her teammates. Not that she would believe him had he said so. She stumbled, nearly tripping over herself but tried to swipe at him. He jumped above the blade and made several hand seals. The floor began to shake.
"Mokuton: Shichuurou no Jutsu (Wood: Four Pillar Prison)!" Yuko had no time to react as wood surrounded her. Instead of a prison box, as Tora normally would have used, the wood changed into clamps, restraining her arms and body movement.
It was better than trying to fight until she fell conscious. Not that it would take long. From the looks of it, she was already drifting in and out of consciousness. But he was already going to be reprimand for the damaged he'd done to her and that would only be from the Hokage. To think what her friends would do… shivers ran down his back.
Without another word, he took off towards the wall. Well… he thought he was. How… had he returned to the same spot? Yuko just smiled from her prison.
0o00o0
"L-Lee-senpai, the flare has gone off," Hinata murmured.
"Yosh! Then my youthful team, we shall make our move. Remember the plan!" Lee grinned, looking at his team. It was much easier having Hinata on his team. They also had been pair with Akimichi Chouji and Inuzuka Kiba. At first, Kiba wasn't too keen on taking orders from the boy. Hinata, however, persuaded him in her own special way. Perhaps she spent too much time with Karin.
Lee gave a thumbs up as Chouji took off to the left. The rest of them headed right. "Hinata-chan, keep us posted on the status of everything alright?"
"Hai. Sakura has safely left the genjutsu with two others. The genjutsu however, is beginning to f-falter. We must reach it soon."
"Good. Chouji-san should intercept them then. As for the genjutsu, we have until it falls to reach it. I will move ahead. Hinata, lead Kiba there." Lee said, playing with the weights on his ankles. He dropped several pounds and sprinted off.
Kiba watched with wide-eyes, "How in the world does he move that fast?"
"Lots and lots of weight training Kiba-kun. Come on. We can't let him take on our opponent alone." Hinata giggled, hopping ahead of Kiba in the trees.
Lee knew the forest well. The moment Yuko had pointed out which area she planned to trap their objective in he was ready. It was the same place the others had begun tree walking exercises. The same place he began work on new taijutsu moves. The same place Karin and Naruto tested their first few burst clones. He knew the area like the back of his hand.
He could reach it within minutes, not taking long with his weights off. It was hard to read if the genjutsu was still active. By the voices in the mini clearing, he assumed not.
"Yuko, I swear to Kami, deactivate this genjutsu."
"B-bite me."
"I can't send a pulse without hurting you! Deactivate it!"
"Nee, not… n-not my p-problem…"
Lee frowned at her tone. It was cold, but more prominently there was the air of weariness. She was exhausted, likely ready to collapse at any moment. If anything she was just stalling until he got to the area. If this were any other opponent, she would have dropped already.
His stomach bubbled as he clenched his fists tightly. Any tighter and he was sure they'd be bleeding. This was his sister. His best friend. And she was hurting. Without another thought, he moved.
"Konoha Senpuu (Lead Huricane)!"
0o00o0
Hearing the cry out, Tora had no time to react when a series of kicks hit his back. He was knocked forward and rolled with the kicks. It dug some of the senbon already embedded in his back with a wince. Standing in front of Yuko stood a familiar shiny black haired boy. He let a groan escape.
She called in a reinforcement team. Leading that team was Rock Lee. From the shaking fists, flushed face, and lowered eyebrows, it was clear how the boy felt. Fury built up. It was that moment Tora knew he was screwed.