(Note: Death and blood in this chapter)
The group was standing at the front gates, their client a drunk old man who Daidai was already beginning to dislike. He was rude, and stank of sake, and it was frustrating to have to deal with him. At the very least, he wasn't dealing with any of the things that Neji and Motoshi were doing and called them 'pompous brats' right to their face. Daidai had to try his best not to laugh at that, because it was an accurate representation, no matter how you put it. The pair were stuck up and rude and they needed someone to knock them down a peg since nobody else seemed to have the ability to do so. Perhaps this mission would be an eye opener for them? He certainly hoped that would be the case.
Daidai, Kakashi, Gai, Hinata and Sasuke all had their things stored in a sealing scroll in one of their ninja pouches or in their chūnin vest, meanwhile the two boys were carrying it in a backpack. It was quite amusing to see their faces when they realised that they could have done that too. Daidai did have storage scrolls spare, and he could also make some more, but he felt they deserved to have to carry their own things. If it became a danger he would provide them with one, but for now there was no need to worry about it. He didn't say anything so they weren't bugging him, though the pair kept on taking glances at him as if to ask 'what's this guy got that I don't?'.
Still, Daidai could ignore them. He just hoped that things would turn out alright with them along, since he had a bad feeling that this mission would be extremely difficult despite being only an A-rank and not an S-rank (which Daidai had been on multiple times). As they left to go to wave, he kept his guard up, making sure he had the second stage of his eyes activated so he could see if there were any heat signatures, and also making sure that he was tracking the chakra signatures of people around. He didn't want anything to happen to their client, but he more didn't want anything to happen to their group before it was time for them to be fighting. Having an injured person they needed to look after would be annoying, even if Daidai could probably just heal them with the healing bites.
Even if he had that ability, he still disliked using it since it drained his chakra. He had massive reserves and was comfortably able to make a thousand shadow clones and not have too much chakra waste or backlash, he still didn't like wasting chakra if it was a dangerous situation.
The group were walking along, Neji and Hinata also keeping an eye out with their byakugan. Only Kakashi knew that Daidai was also watching, and the man glanced back at him every once in a while to check up. It wasn't that the byakugan was bad, it was more so that he knew how good the crimson eyed boy's skills were. The two jounin had spoken to Daida (as Hitsuji), Weasel and Hebi about the mission, so they could learn more and get a better gauge on the situation.
The two other anbu were moving silently in the trees, their chakra signatures so well concealed that only Daidai could tell where they were. He could tell Hibiki was tense, and he felt tense as well. The wave mission had been his first anbu mission, and to have to come back to do another mission just held bad memories. As much as he would have liked to spend this time talking to Kurama, which would have helped him to feel better, he couldn't let his guard down.
They walked along for hours, making sure not to expend too much energy. Hinata and Neji didn't have their byakugan on, as they needed to conserve chakra and it was just wasting theirs. They had just gotten to near where they would be hiring a boat to travel across to wave country, about ten minutes walk away. He sensed the chakra signature first, and then saw their heat signatures once he looked. He simply nodded to Kakashi, signing something in anbu code. He knew Kakashi would understand, so would Hibiki and Itachi if they were looking.
'Two ahead, probably chūnin level. Simply scouts. They probably have communication devices' he signed. Kakashi nodded and looked to the group, getting them to stop and telling them that it was time for a drinks break.
"Come on, I can smell the ocean! We're nearly there, why do we have to have a drinks break now," Tazuna complained, pulling out his water flask and taking a sip. Motoshi nodded in agreement, and Neji grunted as if to say 'what they said'.
Daidai just shrugged and stood still, closing his eyes. He used his chakra sensing to get an idea of what was going on, as both Itachi and Hibiki went on ahead to deal with the threat. It was better to let them do it, as they were used to working together and could do it unseen.
A few minutes later, Hibiki returned, nodding to Kakashi and Daidai. Motoshi seemed to have noticed all the silent communication going on with the group and growled, walking over. "Just because you're third in command doesn't make you all high and mighty," he told Daidai, gesturing towards Hebi and Kakashi. "You can't expect to know what they're talking about, you've only been chūnin for two months. I'm older than you, I'm your superior. Remember your place."
Daidai just raised his eyebrow and shrugged, not saying anything in response though clearly not caring at all. He wasn't going to get riled up over an immature brat who felt he was superior to him. There was no use spurring on a fight anyways, since they would need their strength later. It wasn't long before Weasel came back as well, and he nodded at them. "The coast is clear," he stated, before disappearing once more along with Hebi. The two had to stay in the shadows mostly, since that gave them an element of surprise when it came to the enemy.
Motoshi looked even more angry at the lack of acknowledgement from the people in the group, but he didn't say anything, instead returning back to Neji. Daidai heard him mumble something about 'stupid brat, calls himself an Uzumaki' which caused him to snicker. Hinata and Sasuke looked at him funny, but the sly smile on his lips and the way he was looking at Motoshi clues them in enough.
The group got a boat fairly easily and began heading back to wave, making sure to take a more obscure route so as not to be spotted by the enemy. Hinata used a water jutsu to create a mist as well, so that it was harder for them to be spotted. She and Neji or Daidai could guide them along through, anyways, so it was a good option.
Somehow they all got across without any actual fighting, which made Daidai a little worried. Even though this place hadn't been patrolled when they came last time, he was still worried they would have expanded their reaches across the whole of wave. He was tense and ready to fight at any moment, at the slightest unnatural sound or movement.
Motoshi and Neji were extremely relaxed, as if this mission would be a walk in the park and they would defeat the enemy easily. That thinking would get them killed one day if they didn't change ways. It was concerning.
They were getting closer to Tazuna's house. Closer to danger, closer to death. Daidai hadn't been on as many assassination missions lately. When was the last time he'd killed someone? Probably three months ago... yes that sounded about right. He didn't enjoy killing, but it helped him to get rid of the pent up anger and frustration of normal life. Kurama might not have been a bad demon, but he still had demonic chakra and it still influenced Daidai. There would always be that suppressed need for blood inside of him.
That was another reason he was worried about going so close to danger. He was worried he would snap.
Yet, they made it back to the house safely. Nobody noticed them, and they were safe. Not truly safe, though. Tazuna's daughter made them dinner, and the group all ate. It wasn't long before they were all sent to bed, so they could get a good nights sleep. Of course, that wouldn't happen for Daidai. He was so tense that he wouldn't get a wink of sleep.
Itachi knew that, Hibiki knew that, and Kakashi knew that. With a small nod from the grey haired man, Daidai got the all clear. He changed from his normal gear to a similar version of anbu gear. He couldn't wear that, for if he was seen by the others his identity would be over and that wouldn't be good. He wore his anbu pants, a plain black shirt, a black version of the anbu vest, and a face mask like Kakashi's. He had his kunai and shuriken; that was all he would need.
He met with the two other anbu outside, nodding silently to them as they organised their plan. While the enemy had many strong ninja, they still had some chūnin level people — mercenaries with minimal ninja skills — that had to be dealt with. They were the ones patrolling around, the ones in camp. They would pose a threat to them if they were attacking all at once. The main fight would likely be the next day, after all, and even a group of their caliber would find it hard to deal with that many people.
The job was rather easy. Daidai completely suppressed his chakra. He made enough clones for every person in the tents, transforming them into small insects. All at once, before they could wake and do anything, they transformed back into Daidai's form. Each clone dragged a kunai across the sleeping men. The clones dissapeared, and Daidai simply frowned and continued locating the people on patrol.
They were finished their work less than an hour later, walking back and meeting in the spot where they'd discussed their plan. It was just another job for them, but at least they could sleep better knowing that the next day wouldn't be as difficult.
In the early hours of the morning, distant screams of anger and anguish could be heard as the enemy realised the slaughter that had occurred as they slept.