Author's note: As we delve a little deeper into the arc, it's about time for Naruto, Hinata an Haku to face their first REAL enemies (those bandits were just a warm up). Also, some little foreshadowing of future events. Hope you enjoy:

Chapter 17:

First C-Rank Mission, Part II: The Sound of Terror

or

The return of an old friend

When Team Kurenai arrived at Sawa Town, there was an atmosphere of grief, sorrow and fear impregnating the air. People barely talked to each other, minded their own bussiness and focused on the matter at hand. Most of them were on the edge, as if they were expecting Death itself to claim them or their loved ones at any moment. And given the situation they were in, such behavior was anything but unusual.

But now...it felt like a whole new place. People would often happily and loudly greet each other. Children freely played in the streets. The townspeople behaved in a much carefree way, as if a huge burden had been relieved from their backs. Hell, even the sun appeared to shine even brighter than it did before.

The three Genins were now in a small grass field close to a river. Hinata and Haku were sparring against a bunch of Naruto clones, while the real Naruto was reading a book on fuinjutsu. While he was progressing at a very slow pace, he was now capable of making his own explosive seals and storage seals of small capacity. Now he was trying for something a bit more advanced.

Elemental Seals

Description:

As their name suggest, these kind of seals are closely tied to elemental ninjutsu, and thus a great mastery of said art is a prerequisite before attempting to create these seals. These seals can be as simple as storing a quantity of an element on a tag or a scroll –especially useful for Water Release or Earth Release users– to crate a seal that will unleash a jutsu once activated.

Components:

1. In the center of the seal, a kanji of the element in question. Fire (火), Water (水), Wind (風), Earth (土) and Lightning (雷).

2. A standard containment matrix around it (see page 25 for reference).

3. A standard chakra filter (see page 31 for reference).

The central kanji must be infused with chakra of the selected element. The containment matrix, chakra filter and other additions can be infused with non-elemental chakra.

For instructions on how create more advanced elemental seals, please go to page 113.

Other Applications:

Elemental Seals can be also carved into weapons to make it easier to channel elemental chakra into them. Containment matrix won't be necessary, since unlike paper, the sturdier material weapons are made of will be enough to contain the seal. Though adding a chakra filter is recommended in order to stop enemies from using your weapon against you. It's also-

The experience from Naruto's clones upon being destroyed flowing through his mind snapped him from his book. He lifted his eyes from the book, and looked at both his teammates, who were looking at him expectantly.

"Already? Wow, you guys are good! They didn't last even five minutes!" Naruto then got up, and made a hand seal. Six clones popped besides him. "Maybe this will be a challenge worth your time!"

"Actually, I believe that the real Naruto joining the fight would be a better challenge, don't you think?" Haku suggested.

"Are you sure you can handle the real me? Alright, don't say I didn't warn you!" Naruto retorted as he walked towards Haku and Hinata, while a clone took his place studying fuinjutsu.

"Besides, Kurenai-sensei has started to teach me some low-level genjutsus, and I want somebody to practice them," the Ice Ninja explained.

"Why can't you practice with Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"T-The Byakugan c-can see through most genjutsus s-save for the strongest ones, Naruto-kun," Hinata explained. "And since I always fight with my Byakugan active..."

"Yeah, I get it," Naruto got into a fighting stance. "Alright, let's go!"

The spar began, Haku and Hinata versus Naruto. While everything was allowed, all three fighters were holding back. Naruto didn't use more than six clones, Hinata only used normal Gentle Fist as opposed to her Lightning-infused version, while Haku limited himself mostly to throwing senbons and casting genjutsus.

The first genjutsu made Naruto lose perception of reality, making it was if the world started rocking, as if Naruto was on a ship during a sea storm, causing Naruto to lose balance and almost fall to the ground before he managed to dispel it. The second one caused vines to grow and wrap around Naruto. Despite knowing it was a genjutsu, he was unable to move until he dispelled it.

The fight continued for a few more minutes, in which the group was unconsciously moving towards the river. And the spar finally came to an end when Naruto, in an attempt to fend Hinata, kicked her in the gut with more force than necessary, pushing her into the river.

"EEP!" She squeaked upon falling into the cold water.

"HINATA!" Naruto yelled, and quickly jumped into the river to save her.

Fortunately, the river was very shallow –it only reached Naruto's knee– so there was no danger, but Hinata fell on her back, and got all her clothes soaked.

"Hinata! I'm so sorry!" Naruto mentioned as he grabbed Hinata's hand, and helped her out of the river. "Hinata's hands are so soft...wait, why I'm thinking this?"

"I-It's okay, Naruto-kun...this kind of things h-happen sometimes..." the Hyuga heired then looked at her dripping clothes. "But my clothes are all wet..."

"I think I can be of help. Please give me your coat, Hinata-san," Haku asked.

Hinata nodded, removed her coat and gave it to Haku. Haku placed a hand close to the coat, closed his eyes, and focused his chakra. The water started to slowly leave the coat in the form of tiny droplets, and gathered on Haku's hand while merging into a big watery sphere. After dropping the water ball on the ground, Haku repeated the process.

"This may take a few minutes. You better stay in the sun while I work," Haku advised.

While Haku worked to dry Hinata's coat, they sat down against an old fallen tree.

"Again, sorry for getting you all soaked, Hinata," Naruto asserted.

"A-And I told you t-that it's n-nothing, Naruto-kun. It's not l-like you hurt me or anything..."

"Thankfully. Still, I better hold back a bit more next time we spare. I don't want anybody getting hurt unnecessarily..." Naruto didn't realize that Hinata's wet shirt was clinging to her body, revealing her figure. Upon realizing what he was doing, Naruto blushed a bit, and quickly turned his head back.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Er...just must be cold with all those wet clothes! Do you want me to bring you a blanket?" Naruto quickly offered.

"Eh...okay, thank you."

"What the hell is happening to me?" Naruto thought as he walked towards his backpack.

…

After hours of running and leaping through endless grass fields, Kurenai saw a town in the distance, and decided that it would make a decent spot to rest a bit before continuing her journey. Her stomach was starting to complain through loud grumbles, and her legs were starting to get a little sore. Yes, it was time for a little break.

However, as the town came close to her sight, the Genjutsu Mistress couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong. For once, the ambient noise didn't change as she was getting closer, which would mean that there was nobody there. This assumption was supported by the lack of farmers working on the rice fields surrounding the town. And as she came closer, she saw that her fears were indeed a reality.

The town was a complete ruin. Half the houses had been burned to the ground, while the other half sustained heavy damage. There were broken glasses and pieces of wood scattered everywhere, alongside farming tools. The pools of dried blood didn't go unnoticed either. Still, there was something missing.

Because, despite the overwhelming evidence of the town being victim of an attack or incursion –Kurenai guessed it happened between three and six days ago– there were no visible bodies. If the attackers were a group of bandits like those her students fended off the day before, the Konoha Jonin simply couldn't imagine that they would care about the bodies.

Suddenly, a noise snapped Kurenai from her thoughts. A kunai appeared on her hand, as she immediately turned around and adopted a fighting stance.

"Who's there!?" the Jonin asked, not expecting anybody stupid enough to answer that question.

And indeed, nobody answered. But whoever was stalking Kurenai made a sound while they tried to move. That's all what the Jonin needed to pinpoint their location. Silent as the night breeze, the red-eyed woman burst into one of the less damaged houses, almost tearing the door from its hinges.

"Please don't hurt me!"

Kurenai immediately dropped her fighting stance when she saw a middle aged woman, wearing ragged clothes, sitting on a corner cowering before her. While she lowered her kunai, she didn't drop her guard just in case it was a trap.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Kurenai walked towards the woman, who continued trembling. "M;y name is Kurenai Yuhi, I'm a ninja from Konohagakure. Who are you?"

The middle aged woman finally dared to make eye contact with Kurenai, and her body stopped shaking.

"My...my name is K-Kimi..." the woman stuttered. "Aren't you going to hurt me?"

"I believe I answered that question already," Kurenai helped the woman on her feet. "Can you tell me what happened?" Upon seeing how shaken the woman was, she added: "Take your time to catch your breath if you need it."

Kurenai picked a chair, and motioned Kimi to sit down. The Jonin even shared some of her meal with her, thinking that at least a partially full stomach would be of help. After a few minutes, Kimi was relaxed enough to talk.

"It started happening a few months ago...bandit gangs multiplied like rats...at first, they usually ambushed our caravans or those who traveled to other villages or to the capital...but then they started coming to our town, demanding goods and money...and sometimes they even kidnapped some of us...the mayor decided it was enough and gathered everybody to stand up against them...it was a mistake...when I came out, everybody was gone and our beautiful town is in ruins..."

Kurenai listened intently to the woman's words. The situation was extremely similar to what was happening in Sawa Town. For some reason, Kurenai thought that this was something more than a mere loose gangs. The more reason to reach the capital and contact the Lord of the land.

"How did you survive?" the red eyed woman asked.

"M-My husband hid me in the basement with our two grandkids...we've spent there the past two days...I came out to see it was safe...then I saw you and thought that you came here to finish us off..." the woman sobbed.

"Calm down. Like I said before, I'm not going to hurt you. Now, this is what you're going to do: there's another town a few kilometers to the southwest named Sawa Town. I know that it's dangerous, but I want you to pack whatever you can, pick your grandchildren and go to that town. That town is under the protection of my students, so you should be safe there," Kurenai reassured the older woman.

"B-But...it's too dangerous to travel these lands alone!" the woman protested.

"Listen, this town has been ravaged, so no bandit would have any interest in this area. Besides, there are too many open fields to set an ambush. If you set off in an hour, you should arrive at Sawa Town before nighttime."

"O-Okay...guess that it's too dangerous to remain here..." the woman cried. "Wait! Can you come with us? You're a ninja, right?"

"Unfortunately, I can't. I'm going to go to the capital and ask the Feudal Lord why he lets so many bandit gangs to run unchecked through his lands," Kurenai replied, sounding apologetic.

"I see...guess that I'll have to be brave, at least for my grandkids..." the woman wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at Kurenai with a heartfelt smile. "Still, thanks for your help, Kurenai-san..."

"You're welcome. Now, if you excuse me, I need to resume my trip."

…

A few hours later

Kurenai felt a tinge of relief when the walls of the capital of the Land of Rice Fields appeared in her sight. She hoped that it wouldn't take too long for her to have an audience with the Lord.

But, just as it happened with the town she stopped a few hours ago, she felt that there was something very wrong going on. It was the same, silently eerie atmosphere that was present before arriving to the destroyed town.

But it made no sense. Sure, those little towns were easy prey for bandits, with their lack of an organized and well-trained defense force. But the capital was a walled city protected by literally hundreds of soldiers. There's no way it could have befell to the same fate as the town she had been before. Hell, even if all the bandit gangs of the country joined forces under a single banner, they wouldn't be able to lay siege to the city.

But the evidence took no time in presenting itself. As she came closer, she could see the gates of the walls teared from its hinges. Every one of Kurenai's instincts told her to turn back and flee, that only death awaited for her in that city. But there were too many questions that needed an answer. That, and she was a Jonin, for crying out loud. She didn't get the rank for quitting when things got ugly.

Entering the city, she saw her fears confirmed once again: most of the buildings were either reduced to rubble, or extremely damaged. An intense smell of copper and burned wood invaded her nostrils. Debris, rocks, and broken glass was scattered across the ground. Pools of dried blood everywhere. But, unlike the little town, there were copious amounts of corpses littering the destroyed streets.

She couldn't help but having a brief flashback of Konoha right after the Kyubi was sealed. Only this was even worse, since plenty of people survived the Demon Fox's rampage. There was nobody here but dead bodies.

Still, remembering that she found a survivor on the destroyed town, Kurenai decided that maybe it would be a good idea to scout the city a little, and maybe with some luck she could find somebody who explained her what the hell was going on with this country.

"Why would somebody attack this country? The Land of the Rice Fields is a nation of farms. It's not a rich country, and possesses little strategical value. This makes no sense," Kurenai thought as she inspected the ruined city. "But what's most worrying is that somebody managed to launch an attack of this scale and keep it secret from the rest of the world. Hokage-sama needs to hear of this..."

Suddenly, a noise. While the Konoha Jonin hoped it was a survivor, her instincts kicked in, and a kunai appeared on her right hand.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," Kurenai was a bit startled by the voice, definitely male. "Some Konoha scum getting her pretty nose in our turf."

"Let's teach her what happens when you wander too far away from home.." another voice added.

"You know, I'm kinda glad that she showed up. This scavenging job was pretty boring," a third one said.

Looking around, Kurenai managed to track the voices to the top of a half destroyed building. There were four men, wearing a gray and black camouflage uniform. Their faces were covered by black balaclavas, which had a small metal plate on their forehead with a symbol the Genjutsu Mistress was unable to see.

It was obvious that these uniformed men were ninjas belonging to a village, but she was unable to identify which based on the clothes alone.

The black and gray clad ninjas jumped from the building, and landed on the ground, surrounding Kurenai. Now she could see that the symbol on their balaclavas was a musical note, a quaver to be more precise. Kurenai had no idea there was a ninja village with such a symbol.

"A quaver...Anko told me that Orochimaru was in the process of creating a ninja village somewhere, whose name was Otogakure...do these ninja belong to this village?"

"Who are you?" Kurenai asked. "I didn't know that there was a ninja village in the Land of the Rice Fields."

"First of all," one of the ninja replied. "We are the ones that make the questions here. But regarding what you said...well, things change. Yeah, there wasn't a ninja village, but now there is."

"It was your village who caused this destruction?" Kurenai asked again.

"What did we tell you about asking questions, you Konoha whore! You're in our territory, so now you're coming with us! Our boss will have a field day with you!" another of the mysterious ninja shouted as she grabbed her upper arm.

Kurenai's reflexes immediately kicked in, and she quickly stabbed her kunai on the hand grabbing her arm. The man yelled in pain as he grabbed his injured limb and jumped back. His three companions lunged at Kurenai, who jumped back to put some distance between herself and her attackers.

"What do you plan to do with these lands?" Kurenai asked as he parried several kunai swipes from two of her attackers.

"Dead people have no business in asking pointless questions!" another ninja said as he threw a salvo of shurikens.

The ninja stars reached their mark, but in a poof of smoke, the Konoha Jonin was replaced by a log.

Kurenai appeared behind the ninja who tossed the shurikens, and kicked him hard in the back. "Your symbol...you're Oto ninjas, right? Do you serve Orochimaru?"

Two of the ninjas visibly flinched, making Kurenai realize that she was right. Still, that wasn't enough confirmation of her doubts. And she still had more questions.

"Come on, she's just one, and we're four! We should be able to beat her!" one of the ninjas yelled in frustration.

"Let's attack her from different angles at the same time!" another suggested.

"You know, shouting your tactics at your enemy is not the mark of a good ninja," Kurenai said, shaking her head. "Whoever trained you did a very poor job. If you got any training, that's it."

"SHUT UP!"

Kurenai thought about creating a couple Shadow Clones, but deemed it unnecesary. Despite being attacked from four different sides at the same time, she had no trouble fending off their amateurish swipes.

"This is getting annoying, you know. And I believe that my questions are rather simple," the Jonin jumped back a few meters while she make several hand seals. "But if you're not going to talk, then I have no reason to prolong this charade. Demonic Illusion: Underwater Burial!"

They didn't know how, but all of sudden the ruined city was transported to the bottom of the ocean. The attacking ninjas clutched their necks as they were unable to breathe and a torrent of water invaded their lungs. In a couple minutes, all four ninja lost consciousness due the lack of oxygen.

Meanwhile, Kurenai watched how her genjutsu made the balaclava-wearing ninja writhe in agony until they stopped moving altogether. The Konoha Jonin decided to inspect them and see if they had something that identified them, or at least identified the mysterious village they hailed form. However, her search turned out fruitless. All these men had were kunai, shuriken, some paper bombs, ration bars, and one of them was carrying a small first aid kit.

"Damn my luck," Kurenai cursed. "Well, maybe I should carry one of these guys back to the village. Maybe Anko may be able to make him talk before this snowballs into a bigger problem. But then again...no visible ninjutsu, mediocre taijutsu and skill in armed combat, and absolutely zero aptitude to dispel or even recognize a genjutsu. If these guys are an example of the ninjas this new village can produce, then there's nothing we should worry about," Kurenai mused to herself.

"Oh, don't judge all of us based on the performance of our lowest members," a new voice startled the Jonin, who turned around and saw another Oto ninja. This one was wearing the same clothes as the other four, except he was also wearing a dark gray light body armor, similar to Konoha's flak jackets. Kurenai deduced that he was either a Chunin or a Jonin. "You made quite a number on my men. But then again, they should know better than messing with a Jonin, right Kurenai Yuhi?"

Kurenai frowned, and stared at the Oto ninja's eyes. "How do you know who I am?"

"Anybody who bothered to read our bingo book could identify Konoha's top genjutsu specialist. Those bright red eyes are a dead giver," the Oto officer pointed at Kurenai's face.

"And you think you're tough enough to take on me alone?" the Genjutsu Mistress slipped into a fighting stance, ready for another short combat.

The Oto ninja smirked under his mask. "Who said I was going to fight you alone?"

The earth started to shake, in an almost impercetible way first, more noticeable with each second. With a loud crash, one of the half destroyed buildings collapsed completely, and from the cloud of smoke, a massive greenish gray snake appeared, its jaws wide open, ready to gobble the red-eyed Jonin.

Kurenai managed to shake off her shock and jump away just a second before the gigantic slithering reptile could get her, its fangs sinking into the concrete floor. Still, the gigantic snake gave her no room to breathe, and lunged at her again. This time, Kurenai jumped above its head, landing just on its neck. The Jonin turned around and tossed a volley of kunai and shuriken at the back of the giant reptile's head. The snake hissed in pain, but the attack didn't appear to cause much damage.

A painful flying kick to the side reminded Kurenai that the giant snake wasn't her only opponent. The Oto official started to make hand seals. Several crescent-shaped blades made of chakra appeared above him.

"Flying Decapitating Blades!"

The chakra blades shot themselves at Kurenai, who dodged them while doing a few backflips. Two of them managed to narrowly hit her, producing a couple of superficial scratches. Taking advantage of Kurenai's predicament, the snake lunged forward once again, it's jaws ready to devour the Jonin. She knew that if she was going to deal with two strong enemies, she should be in two places at the same time. She formed a hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A single clone appeared from a cloud of smoke, and both original and clone jumped in opposite directions to avoid the snake's onslaught. The snake decided to chase the clone, so Kurenai went after the Oto ninja. She started to make more hand seals.

"Earth Release: Field of Stone Blades!" Kurenai slammed her hands into the ground.

Multiple huge spikes started to emerge from the ground. The Oto ninja jumped backwards multiple times to avoid them. When the spikes also started to appear behind him, he decided to jump to the roof of a nearby ruined building. Meanwhile, Kurenai's hand flied through hand seals once again.

"Earth Release: Flying Piercing Stone Blades!"

The stone spikes that Kurenai created before left the ground and floated menacingly, pointing at the Oto ninja's direction, who was getting ready to dodge or deflect them. Kurenai made a hand seal...and the flying spikes turned ninety degrees, and flied in the giant snake's direction. The snake, who was still chasing the clone, didn't realize what was going on until several spikes sank into its flesh. The snake hissed in pain, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A summoned snake...now there's no doubt that this is Orochimaru's doing...now this land is under his control. That means that my Genin and the people from Sawa Town are in great danger! I have to go back as soon as possible!"

"Now I have all the answers I wanted. This village you belong to was formed by Orochimaru, just like our intelligence reports said, though we weren't aware of its location, or its existence for that matter," Kurenai deduced, while staring at the Oto ninja.

"You're a smart girl, aren't you?" the Oto ninja chuckled. "But I obviously can't let you escape with such a sensitive information about us."

More camo-wearing, masked ninja appeared from the roofs of the semi-destroyed buildings. Kurenai couldn't deal with so many. Fortunately, she didn't need to.

"Were you going to let me go in the first place?" the Genjutsu Mistress asked.

"No," the Oto officer shrugged. "But now I have extra motivation to do so."

"Well, in that case..." Kurenai started to sink into the ground. "...good luck telling Orochimaru or whoever happens to be your immediate boss how you lost a spy."

"NO!" The Oto ninja panicked as he ran through hand seals. "Underground Shredding Blades!"

The Oto ninja slammed his hands on the ground, creating several semi-buried chakra blades, which moved towards Kurenai cutting through the ground as if they were shark fins cutting through the water surface. However, Kurenai disappeared before the chakra blades could slash her.

"Search the area, she can't be too far!" the Oto officer shouted. "Find her! Find her and kill her!"

…

Leaving the ruined capital behind, Kurenai dashed back to Sawa Town. She didn't care about being pursued –she was on an land controlled by the enemy, hostile ninjas could appear anywhere– but she was too busy thinking about what would be of her Genin if she didn't get back in time...

"Naruto, Hinata, Haku...please, stay safe!"

…

A day later, at Sawa Town

"Boy, I hope Kurenai-sensei comes back soon, because this is getting pretty boring..." Naruto groaned, both his hands behind his neck.

Naruto, Hinata and Haku had already finished their morning training, so they decided to take a walk. The first two days they had spend quite a few time exploring the town and getting to know their people, but Sawa was so small that such time was enough to see it completely. Not that a farming town was terribly interesting to begin with.

"I know that things have been pretty...quiet since we beat those bandits. But still, this beats D-Rank missions any time of the day," Haku commented.

"Besides, I-I'm sure Kurenai-sensei will be back soon...she said she wouldn't take more than three days to arrange whatever was necessary to stop this bandit attacks..." Hinata added.

"And all this spare time isn't that bad either," Haku then looked at Naruto. "You could use it to continue your fuinjutsu training, you know."

"I know. But I burned through my supplies faster than I thought, and I'm not somebody who can learn just through theory alone. Though I'm making some progress with my Wind Seal," Naruto said while walking.

"W-What is that, Naruto-kun?" the Hyuga asked.

"It's a seal I make. It's kinda like the explosive tag, only that instead of exploding, the seal releases a gust. Well, it's not that strong, but I'm not that good at sealing yet."

"Interesting. Would you be able to create seals based on other elements?" Haku asked.

"Well, yeah, but first I would need to master said element, you know? Explosive tags are pretty easy, since it's just to create an explosion with chakra, but for elemental seals, you actually need to infuse the seal with elemental chakra. So for the time being I'm just stuck with Wind Seals," Naruto explained.

"M-Maybe Haku-kun and I could help?" Hinata offered. "We do have different elemental chakras, so maybe we could help you make Lightning and Ice seals."

Naruto pondered Hinata's words, as his mouth curved into a smile. "Hey, that's...pretty smart! Yeah, I guess I could do most of the work, then show you how you can infuse the chakra into the seal. We have to try that when we get back at Konoha!"

Suddenly, the group saw a very distressed farmer running into them.

"Ninja-sama!" the farmer, a man in his forties, shouted as he stumbled towards them. "Thanks goodness that I found you!"

Haku helped the man on his feet. "Calm down. Tell us what happened."

"A trio of punks attacked us while we were working on the fields! I managed to escape, but I don't know what happened to the others! Please help us!"

"A trio of punks? Were they bandits?" Naruto asked.

"No, they didn't look like bandits...I think they were ninjas. They were wearing headband with a symbol just like yours, and had some freaky powers..."

Hinata frowned. "Other ninja? If that's the case, then this shouldn't be just a C-Rank mission...were you attacked by ninjas before?"

"No, just bandits, like those you beat up the other day, I swear!"

"Come on guys, why are we still here? These people needs our help now!" Naruto was shaking his fist.

"But we don't know how strong these ninja are! If we aren't careful, we may walk to our deaths!" Haku countered.

"I'm not going to let these people to die!" Naruto then turned at the farmer. "Take us to the place in which you were attacked!"

Haku sighed. Even if he really didn't want to engage enemy ninja without any kind of intel on them, he knew that there was no way to convince his blond teammate to stay. Better go all together, than let Naruto go alone.

"Alright, Naruto-kun, I will go with you then. Hinata?"

The Hyuga merely nodded, and they headed to the rice fields.

…

A few minutes later, they arrived at the rice field. It was apparently empty, save for a trio of farmers, to each other, sitting in the middle of the field.

"Of thank Kami, they look to be alive!" the farmer who asked for the Genin's help rushed to untie them, but he was stopped by Naruto. "What are you doing?"

"Don't rush in. This smells like a trap. Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, and activated her Byakugan, and inspected the fields. "There are several explosive tags hidden among the rice plants, forming a circle around the hostages. They're set so if one explodes, it will trigger a chain of explosions that more than likely will kill the hostages."

Naruto rubbed his chin. "That sounds as if they were expecting us..."

"Over there!" Hinata pointed to the right of the tied farmers. "There is a trio of ninjas hidden among the rice plants!"

"Those are some impressive eyes, girl. If I knew that we were going to face an Hyuga, we would have prepared a more elaborated trap," a male voice said as the trio of ninjas revealed themselves.

There were two boys and a girl. One of the boys had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He was wearing large poncho with long sleeves, a camouflage gray scarf, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a metallic gauntlet on his right arm. His back was hunched, which made him look smaller than he actually was.

The other boy had spiky, black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front, and a camouflage gray scarf.

The only girl of the trio had very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end, and black eyes. She was wearing a pale green vest somewhat similar to a flak jacket, and camouflage gray vest and pants.

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto asked, while pointing a finger at them.

"Actually, we should be the ones asking the questions, you loudmouth, given that you're in our territory," the boy with the spiky black hair replied.

"Your territory? But the Land of the Rice Fields doesn't have a ninja village!" Hinata said.

"Let me enlighten you, then," the bandaged boy spoke. "First, yes, there is a ninja village here. And second, this is no longer the Land of the Rice Fields, but the Land of Sound, since it belongs to Otogakure now."

"Wait, but...why are you attacking these farmers then? If you're a ninja of these lands, you should protect them instead!" Hinata cried.

"Enough with your stupid questions already," the raven-haired girl interrupted Hinata. "Dosu, Zaku, I think we should kill this trio of meddlers right now."

"Agree, Kin," the bandaged boy, Dosu, replied. "Come on, let's go!"

As the trio of mysterious ninja dashed towards them, the Konoha Genin slipped into their usual fighting stances.

"We need to drive the fight away from the hostages, or else may risk activating the explosive tags," Hinata noted. Her two male companions nodded.

"I'll create a Shadow Clone to remove the paper bombs and release the hostages," Naruto whsipered at them.

Once they were close enough, Zaku stopped, and aimed his holed palms towards the Konoha Ninja. "Decapitating Air Waves!"

Zaku shot from his palms an air blast at the Konoha Genin. Naruto flied through hand seals.

"So, another Wind User, huh? Let's have a competition then! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto waved his arms in a cross, producing a powerful gust of wind, which clashed against Zaku's air blasts.

"My turn!" Haku said as he also formed hand seals. "By the way, thanks for choosing a battleground that gives me so much terrain advantage! Ice Release: Thousand Needles of Death!"

Using the water of the rice fields, Haku created multiple spikes of ice, which flied towards the trio of sound ninjas. Unfortunately for him, Dosu was already preparing a counterattack.

"Vibrating Sound Blast!" Dosu made a punching motion towards the incoming ice needles.

Dosu's sonic attack shattered Haku's ice spikes before they could land on their intended targets. After that, he held his right arm in front of his face, and dashed at Haku. However, Hinata intercepted Dosu before he could get to the Ice Ninja, and attempted to hit him with her Gentle Fist strikes.

If the rice fields granted Haku a boon thanks to his Water and Ice jutsus, it was a liability to Hinata, since she couldn't use her Lightnging jutsus without a huge risk of hurting her teammates or the hostages –or worse, set off the explosive tags–, and was forced to rely on the normal Gentle Fist that she was far from proficient.

Dosu dodged, or either parried with his gauntlet Hinata's palm strikes, until he saw an opening, and tried to punch the Hyuga in the face. Hinata, displaying her flexibility, bend backwards to dodge the hit. However, after doing so, she was hit by a wave of vertigo and nausea, making her fall on her knees and vomit.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled, while still trading wind blasts with Haku.

"W-What..." the Hyuga weakly said. "But...I..."

"You dodged my attack? Yeah, sure. But you didn't, nor couldn't, dodge the sound waves generated by my Melody Gauntlet," Dosu smirked under his bandages.

"Haku, defend Hinata!" Naruto shouted, in an almost commanding tone.

Haku nodded, and made multiple hand seals. "Water Release: Water Wall!"

The water around Hinata started to rise until the Hyuga was completely hidden, quickly forming a swirling water barrier around her.

"That barrier will last about a minute or so. Let's hope she can use that time to heal herself."

Unfortunately for Haku, while he was thinking about Hinata, he didn't see Kin's flying kick until it was too late, and the Ice Ninja was sent back flying a few meters, landing on his back, making a splash.

"Sorry, sister, no time to stop to smell the roses," the raven haired kunoichi mocked as she pulled out a few senbons from her pouch.

"Actually, I'm a boy," Haku repeated for the thousandth time, getting up and also grabbing some senbons as well.

Kin raised an eyebrow. "Really? Oh well, it doesn't matter, given that you will be a corpse soon enough."

With Hinata weakened and hidden under a shield of water, and Kin engaging Haku, Dosu decided to lend Zaku a hand. Naruto, however, did notice the bandaged ninja dashing at him. Like he did with Hinata, he swinged his metalic arm at Naruto. However, the blonde already saw the effect it had on her female teammate, and knew that dodging it wouldn't be enough.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Multiple clones appeared in front of the blond jinchuriki as he jumped backwards. Most of them were dispelled by Dosu's sonic waves.

"Dammit, two versus one...with such destructive wide-area attacks, my Shadow Clones won't be of much use...guess that I'll have to call somebody sturdier than a Shadow Clone,"

Naruto bit his thumb, and formed five hand seals before slamming his hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

From a cloud of smoke appeared a toad roughly the size of large adult. It had dark green skin with numerous warts, a dull yellow belly, and yellow eyes. The toad was wearing a red samurai armor that was one size too small.

"Gamakazu is the strongest toad I can summon yet...hope he will be enough to deal with these assholes!"

The armored toad looked around, inspecting the surroundings, before taking a look at the expectant Dosu and Zaku, and lastly to Naruto.

"Naruto...?"

"Gamakazu, I need your help dealing with these two punks! Can I count on you?" Naruto asked, almost pleading.

The toad smiled. "Sure! That good for nothing Jiraiya hardly summons me anymore, so I'm more than eager to fight again!" the toad clenched his fists, and adopted a fighting stance.

Zaku laughed uproariously. "Oh ho ho, this so good! You think that summoning a fat frog is going to be of any help against us?"

Gamakazu snarled. "First of all, I'm not a frog but a TOAD, remember that! And second, let's see if you laugh so much when I tear your arms and force you to swallow them! Naruto, let's go!"

Naruto jumped on the back of Gamakazu, and leaped into the air above the two Sound Genin.

"Water Release: Water Bullet!" The Toad's jowl puffed out, and released several watery blasts.

Zaku smirked confidently, not impressed by the toad's boast or attack. He raised his hands upwards. "Decapitating Airwaves!" once again, Zaku's palms released a concentrated blast of air and sound that stopped the Gamakazu's water bullets. However, just like Naruto had planned, doing so left him completely wide open. Forming a hand seal, he created multiple Shadow Clones that descended upon him.

Dosu, however, was ready to fend off the attack. He aimed his Melody gauntlet at the clones. "Vibrating Sound Blast!"

Dosu's sonic waves poofed most of Naruto's clones. But unfortunately for him, neither his nor Zaku's attacks managed to hit either Gamakazu or Naruto, and the blond was about to capitalize on this. He threw a shuriken while making several hand seals as fast as he could.

"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"

The single shuriken flying down suddenly turned into three dozens. Without time to counterattack, the two male Sound Genin were forced to jump backwards in order to avoid the rain of metallic death. While Dosu managed to use his Melody Gauntlet to parry the shuriken he couldn't dodge, Zaku wasn't so lucky, and ended up with a few shurikens hammered into his arms and shoulders.

"Zaku! Are you okay?" the bandaged boy asked.

"RAAAAARGH! YOU ASSHOLE!" Zaku screamed as he removed a shuriken from his arm. "You will pay for that!"

Meanwhile, Haku was still fighting Kin. Senbons flew in every direction, some hitting their target, others hitting each other, and others missing. Haku managed to get a lucky shot, and three senbons lodged into Kin's right shoulder. She'd have to remove them if she wanted to use that arm. That would give Haku a window of opportunity to form some hand seals and use his powerful ninjutsu. However, when he was about to form the first seal, his hands phased into each other.

"What...?" Haku slurred, as he tried to form more hand seals, unsuccessfully. Then, looking around, he realized that there was something very wrong. Everything looked extremely blurry and shaky. He tried to move, and he nearly fell on his face. "What's...happening...?"

"You just fell victim of my genjutsu, sucker. Have fun trying to fight like that," Kin smirked at him.

Haku tried to make a hand seal to dispel the genjutsu, but once again his hands phased through each other. Though what in reality was happening was that he wasn't even brining his hands together, the genjutsu was messing up with his eyesight and depth perception, among other things.

"Any last words, pretty boy?"

"Eight Trigrams, Thirty-Two Palms!"

Upon hearing that, Kin paled and turned around, only to see an enraged Hinata ready to hit her. She wanted to block the attack, but it was too late.

"Two trikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-Two Strikes!"

The devastating attack left Kin nearly drained of all her chakra, and fell on her knees, pained and exhausted. Ignoring the fallen Sound kunoichi, Hinata rushed towards Haku. She disrupted his chakra to dispel the genjutsu he was under, then she applied her Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal his injuries and restore some of her energy.

"Are you okay?" the Ice Ninja asked.

Hinata smiled at him. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

"I guess so. But yeah, I'm feeling better now. Thanks."

"I should thank you too for providing me with the cover I needed to recover myself. Shall we help Naruto-kun? He's fighting against two enemies. Oh, and Naruto-kun's clone has released the hostages already. There's no more need to hold back."

Haku's mouth formed an uncharacteristical smirk. "If that's the case..." Haku started to form hand seals while looking at Naruto duking out with Dosu and Zaku. "Ice Release: Certain Kill Ice Spears!"

The water around Haku and Dosu started to freeze into large, sharp spikes. The two Sound Genin managed to jump in opposite directions before being impaled by the freezing spears. Dosu released more sound waves that easily shattered the ice, but upon doing so, he realized that Haku and Hinata had rejoined Naruto, and that Kin was lying on her back, unconscious, all while he had been separated from Zaku.

"Give up already, you're outnumbered, and your hostages have escaped long time ago!" Naruto angrily shouted, pointing a finger at Dosu.

The bandaged ninja frowned. On one side, he couldn't help but agree with the blond. On the other, this was his group's first confrontation with other ninjas. He couldn't allow their first fight to end in defeat. Otogakure had no place for weaklings. However, there was somebody who was about to make that decision for him.

"I've already seen enough," a new voice said, as somebody landed near the Oto ninjas with a loud splash.

It was a tall man with silver, shoulder-length hair, who was wearing a gray and black camouflage shirt and pants, and a bandanna-style forehead protector with a quaver on it. A Fuma Shuriken was strapped to his back. This man was somebody who Haku didn't recognize, but Naruto and Hinata did, despite not seeing him for more than four years.

"Mizuki-sensei...?" Hinata was taken aback by his appearance.

"What? No, it's our sensei, you bitch!" Zaku shouted at her.

"Zaku, I think that this Konoha kids used to go to the Academy in which Mizuki-sensei was a teacher before he joined our village," Dosu explained. He then smirked under his bandages. "What are the chances of such encounter to happen? It's a small world indeed."

"You traitorous scum! Not only you defected from Konoha, but stole the Scroll of Seals! Just wait until I tell dad!" Naruto's blood was boiling with anger.

Mizuki smirked as well. "For such thing to happen, first you'll have to get out of here alive, which I'll make sure you don't, demon brat," Mizuki then turned at Dosu and Zaku. "You three have done enough already. Get Kin and return to the base."

Zaku tried to protest. "But-"

"Don't question my orders!" Mizuki yelled, making Zaku flinch. "I don't need your help to deal with these trio of brats. In fact, I've been dying for something like this to happen. I never had the chance to test in a real combat the power Orochimaru-sama granted me."

Dosu picked Kin's unconscious body, and alongside Zaku, fled the scene, leaving their sensei alone against the Konoha Genin, who slipped into fighting stances.

"An unsealed Hyuga, an Ice Release User, and the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi," Mizuki smiled evilly as a pattern of chains of crescent-shaped marks started to spread around his skin. "If I manage to bring you to Orochimaru-sama, my reward will be even greater."

Author's note: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNN! Mizuki is back! And he has a cursed seal! Plus other abilities neither Naruto nor you, the readers, know about! Naruto easily defeated Mizuki in the manga, but this one won't go down so easily. Oh yeah, and I decided to give Mizuki a normal cursed seal because not only is a power-up I love, but I really disliked Mizuki as Tony the Tiger from the anime filler.

One of the things I liked the most about writing this chapter was the debut of the Sound Genin. They're among my favorite villains. Too bad Kishimoto killed them so quickly, all of them had potential, especially Dosu. One of my minor goals, if you could call it that, is to try to give them a bigger role, or at least a bit more presence in the story.

Anyway, while you wait for the clash against Mizuki in two weeks, leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!