Hello, everyone!

Here is the newest chapter of the Flowers of Trees!

But before you can immerse yourselves in the story, I would like to say a few things.

First of all, I am very happy about all your reviews, comments, follows and favourites. By all means, keep them coming!

Next... and this is really the more difficult part. This chapter was supposed to be short (2000–3000 words) and you see what it turned into. Including the author's notes its the second longest one so far. And for those of you who are not comfortable with that – I am truly sorry. It just happens and I really can't do anything about this.

To make matters worse, we still lack any definite romance (but we're getting there, I promise) and good part of this chapter describes other people than Konohamaru and Hanabi.

And the last issue. I will be figuring out the things for the next chapter, just to keep everything (almost) logical and solving some plot-holes (that you may notice in this chapter as well). Also I want to end the current arc with the next chapter... And I'm afraid that it might take some time and the result might be quite a large chapter (don't be surprised with 7000 words).

The bright side is that the next chapter is supposed to be important one, the most important so far, I believe. So be a more than little excited. I am.

Okay, enough talk.

Disclaimer: Naruto, Hanabi, Konohamaru... (static) and other characters and places (more static) belong to (indistinguishable gibberish). All rights reserved. End of tranmisssion.

[this chapter was re-checked for typos and similar errors]

(* * *)

"Hokage-sama, everybody has been assembled!" Shizune announced as soon as she managed to somehow organize all the people on the rooftop of the ninja academy.

"Good" Tsunade stated simply and moved to stand in the front of four columns of a dozen people and a dog.

The first column consisted of Shiranui Genma, who chewed his senbon, seemingly completely at ease, Yamashiro Aoba, whose attitude was conveniently hidden by his glasses and Inuzuka Kiba, who was not too happy to stay the furthest from the front, not counting Akamaru.

The next trio was the Konohamaru Corps – Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi were looking rather similar to each other when they were not snorting, talking, pouting or flailing their arms around.

This, however, could not be said about the third group. At the very back stood Chouji, clearly visible thanks to his size. Ino, on the other hand, would be almost completely invisible in the middle if it wasn't for her long blonde hair. Shikamaru stood at the very front – clearly the most prestigious (and the most troublesome) position to be in.

Finally, the fourth column consisted of Hanabi, who was placed behind Hayakawa Ebisu and some raven-haired boy she did not recognize.

"Alright, everybody listen up!" the Hokage shouted. "I have gathered you for a special mission that will be carried out immediately after this briefing. The issue concerns a renegade group of shinobi, most of them are Iwagakure missing-nins. Your mission is simple: track them, find them and eliminate them, by killing them, if necessary."

"Hokage-sama" Genma interjected. "Does this concerns the missing-nins we encountered during our last mission?" he asked, making several people raise her eyebrows.

"Yes" Hokage answered. "Ibiki and Ino has managed to interrogate one of our prisoners and we have received valuable information about this renegade group" she paused for a moment. "It's seems they had quite the ambitions, planning to grow in strength and create their own ninja system. They have managed to partially succeed, as their resources and workforce are quite considerable and they have set bases in the Land of Earth. Now is the time to destroy them, while they're still mustering their forces."

"With all due respect" Shikamaru interrupted. "How did this group managed to grow so strong? Isn't the Iwagakure supposed to know about them? And why should this be our problem when it's not our territory? Surely, the Tsuchikage has enough shinobi at his disposal to deal with this."

"Your right" Tsunade stated. "At least partly. If those renegades tried to form such an organization in the Land of Fire, they would have been noticed by some patrol long ago. In Land of Wind the harsh and desolate climate makes most such feats impossible without needs of any patrols. However, the Land of Earth has a unique disposition – some areas are remote and hard to reach or monitor even for the Iwagakure, but they still remain habitable, at least for Iwa-nins, which is how this group managed to grow and hide for so long."

"Alright, but why should we intervene?" Ino asked the obvious question.

"This situation is a complete reversal of the usual shinobi missions. Normally, a group of shinobi tries to ambush, infiltrate or indirectly strike a target, but this time it's the opposite – we are the force that will try to directly eliminate a group of shinobi. They probably can foresee this, so they will try to hide however they can and lay all the traps they can think of. Thus, a larger that normal force is necessary to flush them out and eliminate them. Iwagakure can do this on its own, but it will be a long and costly process. However, since we are now in a post-war alliance with Iwagakure and we were the ones who informed them about this, Iwagakure asked us to help them. This is a perfect chance to score some serious points with the Tsuchikage..."

"Even if the old geezer can kick the bucket at any time" Kiba remarked quietly, only to be discreetly elbowed by Aoba.

"...so we have decided to help them. Iwagakure will attack using its own group of around 30 shinobis. We will use our own group of 12 shinobis..."

"Woof! Woof!"

"...and a dog..." Tsunade continued, her eyebrow twitching for a moment. "...to support them."

"Any intel about the enemy?" Shikamaru inquired.

"The intel we obtained from the prisoners will be handed to all of you. Team Ebisu also met with the enemy before, so they can be a useful source of information during this mission."

"Understood" Shikamaru stated lazily.

"Does the Iwagakure group expects us to fight alongside them?" Udon asked sheepishly.

"If the situation requires it, but the plan is for both groups to come from different directions to flush the enemies out and attack them. However, since the terrain will be harsh, I have divided you into groups of three, as you can see, so you can cover as much of the search area as possible. Also, Kiba, I want Akamaru to help some other group with their tracking."

Inuzuka furrowed his brows, but did not object.

"Okay, as for the... Yes, Shikamaru?"

"With all due respect, Hoakge-sama" the lazy jounin started. "But why not send Naruto?" the others turned their heads to him with the looks ranging from slight surprise to open admiration. "His needs political ties for his... uhm..." Shikamaru struggled for a moment.

"For his future role as my successor?"

"Yes... furthermore he can use his shadow clones and is immensely powerful even without jinchuuriki or rikudou powers. With Sakura for healing and Kakashi for the planning he can't mess this up."

"You're right" Tsunade admitted. "And I would send him out immediately, but unfortunately, he's on a diplomatic mission to the Land of Water and Sakura is with him. Probably to keep the Mizukage from making any moves on him" she remarked with a playful glint in her eyes.

"And what about Yamato and Kakashi?"

"They are outside of the village as well. Top secret." Tsunade sighed. "Actually we still have a manpower crisis on our hands. Trust me, I am not too eager to send four jounins and eight chuunins for such a mission. But, I don't have much choice in this matter."

"How troublesome..." all members of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio mumbled at the same time, making Shikamaru visibly disturbed.

"Any other questions?"

"When do we leave?" Aoba asked.

"Immediately, actually we have sent info to the Tsuchikage informing him that you had already left the village" Tsunade said, receiving surprised stares. "That's how politics work."

"But this way we won't even have time to gather our supplies..."

"Not a problem, your supplies are all here" Shizune pointed to a table packed full of shinobi tools. "That is all" Tsunade said. "Get your gear and move out. Good luck. Genma, Ebisu, Shikamaru, come over here for a moment."

When the three jounins were close enough, Tsunade started in a hushed voice. "I'm really wary to send Team Ebisu on this mission, but we really lack shinobi at the moment and they have met the enemy before, so they can be useful. Just keep our future generations safe."

"Protect the King, right? Leave this to me" Shikamaru assured her.

"What about my team working together?" Ebisu asked nervously, receiving a curious glance from Shikamaru.

"We don't have much time to discuss this, but as you can see I decided to divide your team for this mission. Konohamaru will have a chance to lead Moegi and Udon. They work the best as that anyway."

"And what about keeping Hanabi with Sai? I don't really think two emotionless people are a good match in a team..."

"Sai has come a long way, maybe he can teach her something from his own experience. Just make sure you or Sai won't make her look like a regular soldier or a third wheel, we don't want her to feel any more useless or underestimated."

"Yeah, I know."

"Another thing" Shikamaru started. "Shino and Hinata are not here because..."

"Out on a mission and some damn Hyuuga meeting."

"And Sasuke? You're not going to tell me about som Uchiha meeting, are you?"

"No, but I don't think Tsuchikage would be happy to see him. We don't want to make this mission a political fiasco."

"Figures..."

"As for all further details you have to discuss them during your trip. Time is of essence here. I leave all strategy to you, Shikamaru. This mission is politically crucial, but your lives are more important. Don't risk them. Your enemy is hunted, so things will get ugly when you force them into a corner."

"Understood" Genma stated calmly. "We will be moving out them."

"Very well. Good luck."

(* * *)

A few hours later they were already moving quickly through the forests outside of the Konoha. The time was crucial, so they were moving fast. Too fast for Hanabi's liking. The Hyuuga girl was once again reminded that she was not used to long-distance travelling, especially at this speed. She was already starting to worry what will happen when they reach the Land of Earth.

They have decided to put their three-member cell rule into action from the very start, so they were moving in their designated teams, far enough from each other for the whole group to not be detected easily. This meant that even with the Byakugan Hanabi had no real idea where the other were at the moment. All she knew was that her sensei and the black-haired boy she didn't know were in her team and that she was slowly, but surely falling behind.

Just when she started thinking about some counter-measures, the boy slowed down, so he could travel alongside her.

"Ah... hello there..." he said, his voice and face looking generally cheery, but Hanabi sensed that it was not exactly what people used when they were cheerful. "I believe, we were not introduced yet. I am Sai."

Formal introductions... that's something she could do.

"Yes, excuse my rudeness. I am Hyuuga Hanabi, the daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi and..." she went quiet, catching herself that she was about to say 'the future heiress of the clan'. She chastised herself mentally for that.

"And Hinata is your older sister" the boy finished for her without waiting for her reply. Hanabi looked at him strangely.

"You know me?"

"Of course, I heard Hinata speak of you a couple of times. And the Dobe has mentioned you as well."

"The Dobe?" Hanabi asked, this time completely surprised. "You mean Sarutobi Konohamaru?"

"Oh no... he is the Muffler. The Dobe is Uzumaki Naruto."

"What?" she asked, clearly not understanding. "What would you call him like that?"

"Well... he is a dobe, isn't he?" Sai asked, confused. "Besides, Cockatoo calls him that all the time."

"Cockatoo?"

"Oh yeah... Uchiha Sasuke" the boy said smiling.

Okay, most of the shinobis she's met, even in her clan, were weird. But this guy was a real whacko.

"Do you always give people such strange nicknames?" she asked, incredulous.

"Yeah... that reminds me... I need a nickname for you as well, let's see..." he said, while rubbing his chin.

She felt a terrible foreboding.

"Your name's Hanabi... then maybe it's a firework?" he mused. "Nah... you're not that stunning and flashy... Perhaps just a firecracker..."

"I'll show you a firecracker!" she shouted and launched herself in his direction, but he expected this and dodged easily, making her crash into a tree, sending tree bark in every direction.

"Yup" he said. "Firecracker it is."

Several meters further Ebisu just sighed. A girl who thinks she can't be riled up, but gets riled up easily and a boy who doesn't know when to stop riling people up.

"Why me?" he asked to no-one in particular.

(* * *)

"Shikamaru!"

"Troublesome..." the genius jounin mumbled and raised his head from an impromptu shougi game he was playing with Genma.

"Yes, Ino?"

"Konohamaru's team has arrived."

"At last" Shikamaru responded and stood up. It was Genma's turn anyway.

Not a fifteen seconds later the three chuunins landed in the clearing.

"What took ya so long?" Kiba asked.

"We run into some problems on the way..." Konohamaru started.

"Ya mean like a dango shop or somethin'?"

"No, you idiot" Moegi answered. "We run into some shinobis from Kami-knows-what small country and had to go around them to remain unnoticed."

"Yeah, right..." Inuzuka replied, clearly unconvinced.

"Shut up!" Konohamaru and Moegi shouted at him.

"Easy, easy now" Udon raised his hands.

Kiba was about to open his mouth to tease them further, but a sharp glare from Shikamaru stopped him.

"Tch... you guys are no fun..." the Inuzuka said.

"Quit your whining!" Ino shouted and hit him on the back of his head. "You're not a dog!"

"Oww! That hurt" Kiba complained only to receive another strike. "Shikamaru! Make her stop!"

"No can do..." the Nara jounin replied, smiling. "She's too troublesome and she's your problem now" he turned to the Konohamaru Corps. "I'm just glad you're here."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Konohamaru shot back, before Moegi or Udon could stop him. "We were supposed to rendezvous here, so we're here. Have a little more faith in us, will ya?"

"Yeah, yeah" Shikamaru responded. "Don't give me that, it doesn't work on me."

"According to Naruto-niichan it does" Konohamaru shot back proudly, his arms folded on his chest.

"Great... that's exactly what we need. Another loud, obnoxious, shadow-cloning troublesome kid" Shikamaru remarked sarcastically. "Continue to act like Naruto and you're sure to wind up as Hokage someday."

"Yeah" Konohamaru replied. "That's the plan!"

Moegi looked at the ground and facepalmed while Udon just chuckled softly.

"So, let's get to business then" Konohamaru said enthusiastically.

"Hold your horses" Chouji said. "We're still waiting for some people."

"Huh?" Moegi looked around, counting those around her. "Wait a moment... Where's Ebisu-sensei?"

"And Sai?" Udon asked and hesitated. "And Hanabi?" he added, looking warily at Konohamaru and Moegi.

The boy looked like he didn't hear him on first glance, but Udon could see a glint of worry in his eyes. Moegi, on the other hand, was more vocal.

"I bet our little princess is lost and the others have to look for her. Apparently she's good at everything. Except for not getting lost."

"Who got lost?" a new voice interjected.

The assembled in the glade turned around only to notice the missing team just emerging from the bushes.

"Finally! What took ya so long?" Kiba repeated himself. "The Sarutobi brat and his team" at this Konohamaru glared at the Inuzuka. "Used the long way and still went before you, ya know?"

"So now, you believe us, huh?" the mentioned Sarutobi asked through his teeth.

"Well, we might not be the fastest team around" Ebisu explained, trying to remain calm. "But, we're stealthy. Until we wanted to be noticed, you couldn't tell we were there, could you? The same goes for your nose, Kiba!"

"What?" the Inuzuka stood up. "Are you sayi-"

"Enough of this!" Shikamaru's voice once again proved the young jounin's authority. "No more bantering or bickering. That's an order. We're on a troublesome mission, so let's not make this any worse."

"My, my..." Genma mumbled, voicing his worry, amusement, anger or whatever was hidden behind his calm eyes.

(* * *)

The next day came and soon the entire group left the green forests and ventured into the Land of Earth. Now, when the terrain was more open, Konohamaru could see most of the group, with the exception of Kiba and Akamaru, who were scouting ahead.

He briefly remembered the discussion from yesterday and Shikamaru's voice echoed inside his head.

"The most important ability for a shinobi on a mission like this is teamwork" the genius jounin stated the obvious, his gaze stopping for a moment when he looked on Hanabi, Kiba, Sai and Konohamaru Corps. "And if everything goes smoothly, we will be able to overcome our enemy with this teamwork of ours."

He waited for a moment, making sure that everyone understood.

"However" he continued. "I very much doubt it will go smoothly. Our enemy is aware of his position. Thus, we should expect every effort aimed at dividing and confusing us. Because of that I want you to understand that each one of you might be forced to separate from your team and to face several enemies. When such thing happens, remember that your individual skills are your best weapon."

Shikamaru turned to Chouji and nodded.

"From now on we need to move fast and be prepared to enter combat at any time. Possibly long combat. Thus, each one of you will receive one soldier pill now. This should keep your energy levels high enough for the trip and the battle."

Just as Shikamaru have said, the pill made the travelling much easier and increased their chakra reserves. Konohamaru could practically feel all the stamina that was at his disposal now. Even his residual chakra was much stronger than usual. These pills were the real deal.

Still he didn't fail to notice that was his second mission in a row with the same enemy and with a soldier pill. He sighed, hoping that this was the last time something like this happens.

He quickly checked the surroundings for any suspicious sings and then resumed his musings, his thoughts now wandering freely until Hanabi floated to the front of his mind.

He sighed again.

The proud girl had been acting relatively meekly throughout both briefings, not even perking up when Shikamaru mentioned individual skills. And only sometimes would she glare at Kiba or Sai, which was completely normal for any shinobi.

The strange thing was that she did not glare at him. At first Konohamaru thought that she would do that when he was not looking, but then he noticed her looking at him once or twice with an expression he couldn't help, but call a default one, before she turned away. Like she didn't know what she wanted to do, much alone what she was supposed to do when it concerned him. He briefly wondered whether this was a good or bad sign.

During their talk, when he's told Udon that this was just a temporary crush, he'd been honest for the most part. He still hoped (no, not hoped! Believed!) that this would end soon, but as long at it lasted it was... difficult... painful even. Then he realized how screwed up his team was.

He had a crush on Hanabi. Moegi had a crush on him. Udon had a crush on Moegi.

This was beyond what he has ever heard of. A new level of team dynamics. The only thing missing was for Hanabi to have a crush on Udon. That would be a final blow to their teamwork as they knew it.

He sighed for the third time.

"What's wrong, Kono?"

Konohamaru winced, knowing exactly who it was.

"Nothing!" he answered, putting on a smile. "Why would there be anything wrong with me?"

Moegi looked at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing and studying him for a moment.

"This is your first official mission as a team leader, yet you're not happy about it at all..." she remarked.

"Yeah, I'm not used to this much responsibility" he lied. "Besides, Shikamaru's our real leader this time around."

She looked unconvinced.

"Anyway... you don't need to worry about me."

"Hmpf!" she snorted and sped up ahead. Then he could hear her mumble "Idiot..."

"Women have intuition, you know?" Konohamaru this time openly groaned, not in a mood for one of Udon's lectures. "If I can sense something is wrong then she can too."

"Thank you for summing that up" Konohamaru replied sarcastically and sped up too.

(* * *)

In the evening they made another camp and each 3-man cell stood guard duty for a few hours before shifting. In the morning they resumed their trip, now quite deep in the territory of the Land of Earth.

They travelled like that for the good part of the day when Shikamaru noticed that Kiba and Akamaru have stopped.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked when he came close to him.

Instead of answering the Inuzuka jerked his head, motioning forward. Shikamaru looked in the indicated direction and squinted his eyes to see a lone figure in the distance. He summoned Hanabi to his side and showed her the figure.

"Can you identify?"

The Hyuuga girl activated her Byakugan and using her enhanced chakra reserves she quickly zoomed in on target.

"Looks like some Iwagakure shinobi. He's standing right there in the open."

"Can this be a clone or an illusion?"

"It's certainly not a genjutsu and not a regular bunshin" Hanabi answered. "But, it can be iwa bunshin no jutsu..."

"Alright..." Shikamaru muttered. "Aoba, Sai – you're coming with me. The rest of you stays here. Genma, you're in charge."

"Aye, aye" Genma answered calmly.

Hanabi observed the trio as they quickly approached the man. She saw them talk for a minute after which the man turned to stone and collapsed. Rock Clone indeed. After that the trio quickly returned.

"Alright, we have some news" Shikamaru announced as soon as he was close enough. "The Iwagakure force has found the tracks of the enemy and is currently trying to force them into a corner. Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi are in their group as well. We also know where to proceed from here."

"So let's move ahead then!" Kiba interjected eagerly.

"Not ahead" Shikamaru corrected him. "Iwagakure has managed to push the enemy in the direction of the Land of Fire. From here we head to the east."

At this Hanabi felt a wave of relief wash over her. The closer to the kind of terrain she was used to the better for her and worse for her enemies.

"How do we know that this guy was not some imposter?" Ino asked and a few heads nodded in agreement.

"The person knew of the secret protocol we established for this mission, but as a matter of fact – we don't. Thus, I want all of you to remain cautious and vigilant. We will now split into groups and use our trackers to find the enemy. Kiba will remain as the main tracker for Genma's group. Ino will use her mind jutsus in our group. Hanabi and Sai will be trackers for Ebisu's group. Konohomaru's group will use his shadow clones and will also be aided by Akamaru."

Shikamaru looked around for any signs of confusion or objection. When he saw none he continued.

"Fron now on our real mission begins. Let's move."

(* * *)

The evening was once again upon them and it brought a certain feeling of foreboding to Hanabi. She couldn't let the history repeat itself. Everything will be fine. You are more prepared now and have more shinobi with you, she told herself, but immediately knew it was false. This time the enemy was the one surrounded, the one desperate and the one unpredictable. This could still turn ugly.

Therefore, she was using her Byakugan quite often, checking for enemies and their traps, while they were getting close to the foot of some mountain. Two other groups were a little ahead of them and quite far to either left or right, but Hanabi still spotted them with her enhanced range

And it was her enhanced range that let her finally notice something.

"I've got some chakra signatures 1 kilometer ahead, halfway up the mountain" she reported to Ebisu.

"Can you identify?" Hanabi was beginning to think that she will be hearing this question a lot in the near future.

"Not from this distance, all I know is that they're not moving."

"Alright" her sensei answered. "We will move closer and then Sai will deploy his mice. For now let's inform the others and advance."

So they did, moving slowly throughout the desolate terrain, using every possible rock formation to cover their approach. Soon Hanabi was close enough to notice that the chakra signatures were very weak, small and certainly non-human. Traps were the only possible explanation.

"Okay, Sai, you know what to do" Ebisu told the raven-haired boy.

Hanabi turned to Sai, her basic Byakugan range still activated just in case, curious about what he was about to do. She saw the boy pull out a small summoning scroll only to summon... a larger and blank scroll.

Hanabi was confused, especially when the boy started to draw something at an amazingly fast rate. She noticed that he infused his ink, and therefore the entire drawing, with chakra. When ready, he made some handseals.

"Ninpou" he stated calmly. "Choujuu giga."

Hanabi watched fascinated as the contents of the drawing, a multitude of mice, immediately came to life. She furrowed her brows, though. Why mice? Why couldn't they be birds? She would be comfortable with butterflies really... Well at least, they were not bugs.

The small rodent spies were unleashed into the enemy territory. After some five minutes Ebisu ordered for another wave of mice just in case. Hanabi once again turned to Sai. The boy was weird and rude idiot, granted, but he knew how to draw. She hoped that such techniques was not what her father wanted for her to learn, cause she would be never able to do such a thing. She observed Sai as again draw another army of mice.

And it was then that she heard a series of faint, but certainly humand-made clicks.

Hanabi raised hear head in confusion. Did she misheard something?

"What was that?" Ebisu's voice proved that was not the case.

Hanabi turned back to Sai to ask him about it, but she stopped when she noticed his stare. The boy was looking at something above her head, surprise and fear visible even in his eyes.

Before Hanabi could turn around or open her mouth the incoming objects breached the range of her Byakugan and her eyes widened as well.

"Everyone take cover!" Ebisu shouted. "Move!"

He didn't have to repeat that, she saw it now.

The rain of kunais was dense and clearly visible in the red evening sky. But that was not the problem. The problem was a white and gray spots attached to every kunai – explosive tags without doubt. Even if most of them were fake, they were in trouble.

Hanabi had no time to wonder how in Kami's name the enemy got so well equipped or to check if her group was the only one being attacked. All she did was run for cover.

When she found one, she looked once more into the sky and then closed her eyes, covered her ears and waited.

The first explosion tore through the air and was quickly followed by another as the ground shook violently. Soon enough her ears started to hurt and she was no longer able to distinguish between each explosion. This continued for something that felt like minutes and then came some rustling as debris was flowing around. After it she registered the most dreadful thing of all.

Silence.

After a moment she started to cough, emerging from her, now almost non-existing, cover and looking around.

Dust, dirt and smoke was covering everything, but she could see past it and noticed that the smoky cloud was present in other places as well. The attack was powerful, yet accurate, she concluded that they were showered by no less than two hundred well-aimed kunais. Those couldn't be hand-thrown, not from that distance and not in this quantity. Summoned perhaps?

Though Byakugan could see through the smoke pretty easily, the smoke was not completely powerless against her kekkei genkai, as she soon noticed that it got into her eyes and was becoming very irksome, forcing her to squint them.

"Is everybody alive?" she heard Ebisu's loud voice and saw him a good fifteen meters away from here. She doubted that he could see her, however.

"I'm fine" Hanabi shouted back, fully aware that the flying debris left some cuts on her. She really started to hate any similarities between this mission and the last one.

"Me too" Sai stated from above, Hanabi now noticed that he was flying on a large ink bird, high above the smoke. When did he get there? She had no time to think about it, though.

"We have another wave incoming!" Sai shouted and Hanabi saw it.

This time around she reacted quickly and in time. She used shunshin no jutsu to escape the targeted area. Moments later a second barrage of explosions ensued, thankfully a safe distance away from her.

Her relief was cut short however, when she noticed one thing – Ebisu-sensei was now over a hundred meters away from her and Sai was even further. With terror she realized that Shikamaru was right – the enemy was trying to separate them and succeeded.

"The enemy!" she heard Sai shout. "The enemy is-" he was cut off when something hit his ink bird. Hanabi watched as the bird disappeared in a black splash. She quickly refocused her chakra and noticed that several enemy shinobis were indeed approaching them. Fast.

Her first instinct was to return to Ebisu, but the enemy would have none of that. Another bunch of explosive tags landed in front of her and exploded. She covered her face while the ground around her shook once again. These tags, however, were thrown by hand, probably thanks to the fact that the enemy was higher than her, she concluded.

The enemy was now clearly visible to her eys and Hanabi noticed that only two of enemy ninjas headed in her direction while the others turned to the side.

It seemed the enemy underestimated her again. She could use that. She reached inside her ninja pouch for some explosives on her own and patiently waited for the enemy to reach her.

Finally the two of them arrived and stood on some rocks not further than twenty meters from her.

"Long time no see, little rat!" one of them, exclaimed. He had a nasty wound of his face, like he was kicked with a chakra-enhanced foot.

"Don't remember us, huh?" he continued seeing confusion in her eyes. "But I am reminded of you every time I look into a mirror" he spat out venomously.

Hanabi suddenly remembered him. Both of them actually. They were the ones that opened her crate. As disturbing as it was, it also brought a sense of relief. If she kicked their asses before, then she could do it again.

"And I'm proud of that" Hanabi answered, dropping into a fighting stance. "If you want another piece of me, then come here and get me."

To her surprise they just smiled.

"We would really like that, trust me" the one with the wound replied. "But are orders are quite different."

He was still talking when both of them pulled out a number of explosive tags and threw them at her. Hanabi reacted instantly, by hopping backwards, prepared to jump further as soon as she touched the ground.

However, she noticed that the eight kunai were not aimed at her, but around her, embedding themselves into the ground in a shape similar to an octagon. She also observed that the tags were larger and certainly not explosives. They looked more like... summoning ones.

"Have a nice trip, bitch!" the shinobi shouted while quickly performing some handseals.

She moved instantly, trying to get out of the octagon, but she was too late. The kunais glowed with blue chakra and quickly created something like an octagonal barrier all around her. The barrier started to move quickly in one direction like a bizarre hurricane with Hanabi in the eye of the storm.

She watched in horror, as the storm compressed, getting closer and closer to her. She felt her feet leave the ground and her body start to rotate faster and faster. Soon enough it was too much for her and she wanted to scream, yet she heard nothing past the rush of the artificial wind raging all around her.

Finally, the storm crushed on her, but instead of feeling pain and pressure she felt a strong tug downwards, as if the gravity was making every effort to bury her beneath the rocky ground. Short silence followed, during which Hanabi felt like she was falling and then she met the ground again.

Hard.

She lay for a few seconds, her Byakugan deactivated and for a moment everything was quiet, except for the ringing in her ears. After it calmed down she raised her head, but instead of a red and dark evening sky, she saw what looked like a rocky ceiling, barely visible in the weak flickering light.

Before she could make sense of any of this a new voice resounded, followed at least twice by the echo.

"Welcome, Miss Hyuuga" the voice said. "I have been waiting for you."

(* * *)

So what do we have here?

A bunch of different characters... Shikamaru acting bothersome, Sai acting like... you know what. Konohamaru and Hanabi getting not enough screentime, Udon giving obvious women advice (and how would he know?).

And, most important of all, the history seems to repeat itself – Iwagakure renegades are just huge fans of Hanabi...

Anyway, as I said before, await the next chapter, where the second arc reaches its conclusion.

As for now: rate, comment and review!

P.S.

Today's reference is sponsored by the dark side of the Force.