Kinari landed on the tree branch at it's base, where it was thickest and strongest, and leaped for the next one, high on a tall oak. He knew he should have been concentrating on the mission, but the exhilaration that flying through the canopy brought was intoxicating. And judging from the occasional un-shinobi like yells of excitement and surprise coming from his left and right, he guessed Miyuki and Kaoru felt the same way.

The three Genin were fanned out about three hundred feet away from each other, so as to cover more ground quickly. Occasionally Kinari would see a brief flash of red hair as Kenta leaped past him, but he knew the Jounin was letting himself be seen. Compared to him, the Genin were like blind cows stumbling through a bog.

Kinari jumped off another branch, half turning in mid jump so he could bounce off a large, thick oak that had collapsed, leaving it leaning against several other trees. His senses were strained trying to detect any subtle danger at such high speeds. Was that trunk rotten? Would that branch hold his weight? Could that be an enemy trap in between those two branches? And endless other automatic checks that had been drilled into him at the Academy. Going head first into a tree could kill you easily, jutsu or no jutsu.

He was still a little surprised they were out in the forest in the first place. The mission scroll had said, in large, plain writing "Special Genin Squad B: Patrol the Southern Forest Area." That had been all. No explanation or detail. According to Kenta very few missions were given with so little instructions, and that although their mission seemed a lot more difficult and prestigious than those most Genin would undertake, it was really just to get them used to moving as a team. The chances of them finding anything more dangerous than a wild boar in the area they were 'patrolling' were remote, even with the threat of the Hidden Mist looming ever closer.

The forest thinned considerably, and then suddenly there were no more trees in front of Kinari. He hit the ground hard, landing on a soft bed of pine needles that had fallen off the nearby evergreens. A three kilometre radius around the Hidden Leaf village was covered in planted deciduous trees, giving a protective layer of vegetation the whole year around.

A second later the rest of his team mates joined him, coming out of the trees at different angles and converging on the same spot.

Kenta clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "Okay Kinari-kun, how many enemy shinobi did you take out" He asked, grinning.

Miyuki rolled her eyes, unimpressed with their sensei's jokes.

"Okay, seriously though, there's something I forgot to mention back at the Hokage's HQ." Kenta said, lowering his voice as if about to divulge some important secret. "Something that's very important for missions like this one, so listen carefully." He added, sternly.

He turned his back to them and rooted around in the large backpack he had been wearing.

"Ah...here we go." He said, without turning around.

"What is it" Kaoru asked, curiously. In the few hours he had known Kenta, the man hadn't shown a hint of seriousness, but he was all business now.

"Bento boxes" Kenta exclaimed, holding out four small, green boxes and grinning.

Kinari, Miyuki and Kaoru stared at him in disbelief.

"A little thanks would be nice." Kenta said, huffily. "I stayed up all night making these"

"But, Sensei, shouldn't we be finishing the mission." Miyuki said, once again wondering if this man was playing some sort of elaborate practical joke on them.

Kenta brushed aside her a question with a lazy wave of his hand.

"We're practically finished. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, the future of Konoha isn't exactly riding on this one." He said, appalling Miyuki further. "Now, let's eat"

"But, shinobi aren't supposed to engage in recreational activities during a mission" Kinari said, quietly.

Kenta gave him a withering glance.

"Jeez, did you eat a textbook or something" He asked, feigning disgust.

Kaoru, meanwhile, was cautiously testing some of the food from one of the boxes, chewing slowly. He paused for a second and laid the bento gently on the ground, backing away from it as if it might suddenly explode.

"Kenta-sensei, your cooking is terrible." He said, grimacing. "The ANBU could use that stuff to assassinate people..."

Miyuki laughed and Kinari managed a self conscious chuckle, but Kenta didn't reply. He was staring intently at a spot in the trees a few metres away from where they stood, his eyes fixed on a small gap in the canopy.

He raised one hand and motioned towards the trees behind them, still not looking away from whatever had attracted his attention in the first place.

Instantly serious, the three Genin ran to where he indicated, shooting nervous glances at the trees around them. Kenta might act unprofessional at times, but no Jounin would pretend something was wrong just for a practical joke.

Kinari silently pulled himself onto a tree branch, hiding behind the oak's thick trunk. Whatever Kenta had seen, he would be hidden from it. Assuming it hadn't moved, of course.

A few seconds later Kenta joined them, sprinting quickly into the relative safety of the trees. He nodded at their choice of hiding places, apparently approving despite the fact that he had spotted them instantly.

"Keep your voices down. There's someone hiding in the trees. Badly, I might add, but still hiding, and that means they could be hostile. I couldn't get a look at his headband, but he's not Konoha."

"Hidden Mist" Kinari whispered, his throat suddenly dry. The calm serenity with which Kenta spoke gave the situation an odd, surreal edge, as if it was a hallucination or a particularly odd dream.

"I don't know. Maybe. Here's what we're going to do" Kenta began, then suddenly froze as a quiet, but unmistakable snap interrupted him.

"MOVE" He yelled, all thoughts of stealth abandoned. Kinari, Miyuki and Kaoru didn't hesitate. They knew what that sounds meant as well, and the procedure for such a situation had been drilled into them from their earliest days at the academy.

They instantly abandoned their hiding places and followed Kenta, leaping madly through the trees in a desperate attempt to get away in time. A second later a fireball, disturbingly close, engulfed the place they had been standing, sending a shock wave that shook the trees for hundreds of metres around.

"Shit, that was a bomb trap." Kenta hissed, once the ringing in his ears had died down to a tolerable level. "That guy must have set it off on purpose."

Kinari didn't say anything in reply, and neither did the other two Genin. The same thought was going through all their minds, that they could be suddenly cut down by a group of enemies at any moment. Children who had never experienced real combat didn't yet have the ability to push those kinds of thoughts to the back of their minds, where they could barely trouble them.

"Alright, right now we have to concentrate on getting back to the village." Kenta said. The wide eyed stares the three Genin gave him in return worried him.

'They're not ready for this.' He thought, cursing his own stupidity. He had just assumed that no enemies would attack the village from this side, and now he was paying for the mistake.

"Kaoru, you guard the rear. Miyuki, you go in front of him, then me, then Kinari. Don't move from that order unless you have to. Miyuki, you keep an eye on our left, and Kinari on our right. Got it" He forced himself to sound calm, but it was an effort. Could this be the beginning of the Hidden Mist's attack? If so, they would swept away in a tide of death before they could get anywhere near the village. "Move"

Kaoru blinked and seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in. He walked a few feet behind Kenta, dragging Miyuki along with him. After a moment of brief hesitation, Kinari stood in front of Miyuki.

"Alright, that's good. Remember, keep watch on your side only. Trust the person behind and in front of you to watch what you're not. You can't afford to be distracted for even a second." With that, Kenta took off once more, keeping at a speed the Genin could match.

A tense ten minutes passed, with no sign of any enemy shinobi. Kenta began to relax, thinking that perhaps the man he had seen had just been a patrolling Konoha ninja. He doubted it, but it was a comforting thought, all the same.

"Stop." He said suddenly, landing on a large branch abruptly. Kinari landed beside, and Miyuki and Kaoru came to rest on the branch below, so they could all see the same sight that Kenta had first noticed.

Stretched across the trees in front of them was a web of thin, almost invisible strands of something that could be spider web. Except that it wasn't, it was a massive bomb trap that would vaporise anyone foolish enough to get caught in it.

"Damn..." Kenta muttered. So much for his 'patrolling Konoha ninja' theory. He was about to tell the Genin to turn around and go back when a kunai lodged itself in the tree next to his ear, barely missing his head. Wrapped around it was a piece of white paper covered in kanji.

This time he didn't need to tell them to move. Five more explosion notes joined the first one, bursting into flame a second after the kunai found their mark in the soft wood of the tree. The shinobi took a fraction of a second to find a place where the wires seemed less dense and then jumped, curling themselves into a tight ball, trying to occupy as little space as possible.

Kaoru's foot slipped just as he jumped, and for a second it seemed he would hit the mass of wires head first, killing himself and his team mates. At the last second he drew his wakizashi, slashing at the wires in front of him in the same movement. He barely made it through the hole he had made and onto the ground before the trap was set off, the explosions joining those of the explosion notes to create a massive, deafening firestorm behind him. Miraculously, the bombs detonated in the order they had been set rather than all at once, and Kenta, Miyuki and Kinari were just barely out of their reach before the trees behind them were engulfed in flame.

"Is everyone okay" Kenta said, shouting to be heard over the roar of the fire behind them. If nothing else, it would undoubtedly attract Konoha's attention.

"Yeah...yeah, I think so." Kaoru gasped, out of breath. Miyuki and Kinari just nodded.

"We're lucky that trap was so poorly set. If it had gone off instantly, we'd all be dead by now." Kenta said, looking back at the raging inferno behind them as if he could work out the wiring system's faults by examining it's ashes. "We should move, and fast. That explosion will draw at least two ANBU squads, but there are multiple enemies for us to worry about first."

The Genin didn't need to be told twice. Silently, they took up their previous positions and followed Kenta through the forest, staying at ground level this time. None of them were sure why Kenta was sticking to the forest floor, and none of them asked. Questioning the only person who could get you out of a situation alive wasn't something most people did.

Kenta cleared his head of the questions plaguing him, like who was attacking, why, and how many. There was going to be fighting shortly, he was sure of it, and he needed a clear head if he was going to come out of intact. His main concern was for the three Genin entrusted into his care. Even if they all survived, it was normal enough for untrained Genin to have a bad experience too early on and never be the same again, certainly not fit to be shinobi. He didn't think that would happen to these three, though. They were strong, he knew that the instant they had climbed the Hokage's building only hours previously. Especially Kaoru. He had a hunch about the young swordsman, and he was sure he was right...

Suddenly, that feeling that every ninja knows so well and yet at the same time fears drew his eyes upwards and to the left. A shinobi was standing, unhidden, on a low branch, and his killer intent had draw Kenta's attention. He knew without looking that the man's eyes would be fixed greedily on his intended targets, already seeing the flow of red blood that he would soon release.

To someone who knew death like Kenta did, that malevolence was a beacon that told him exactly where his opponent was.

Most of Kenta's worry drained out of him all at once. Anyone who was foolish enough not to hide their intent (Or inexperienced enough not to know how) wouldn't post any sort of threat to him.

"Stay here" He hissed, not turning around, and then leaped at the man in front of him as a wolf would leap at an injured dear. He went straight at him, kunai drawn, no dodging or confusion tactics. He was going straight for the kill.

The razor sharp blade of his weapon sliced easily through the man's jacket (Not a Konoha design, Kenta noted) first baring his chest and then his insides as it sliced him neatly open.

It also revealed several small pieces of paper that had been stuffed into the man's shirt, most of which were now cut in half. And on fire.

'Crap.' He thought, knowing that he couldn't escape the explosion note's blast in time. He had been intent on killing the man as quickly as possible, and his strike had left him off balance.

Suddenly, he felt a hand close around his throat from behind and hurl him off the branch he was standing on. In surprise and horror he saw Kinari jumping past him, all signs of fear gone from his face. Instead he wore look similar to the one Kenta had had just moment earlier. His eyes were focused only on his target, his mouth set and grim.

"No" Kenta yelled, but it was too late. Kinari hit the man feet first and bounced off of him, sending him sprawling through the air, almost far away enough to protect Kinari from the sudden blast that engulfed the already dead man. Almost, but not quite. Deafened by the sound of yet another explosion too close to him, Kenta hit the ground head first and fell unconscious, cursing himself as he slipped into darkness.

The back half of the room was dark. Unnaturally dark, for strong electric lights lit up the front half. Their glow abruptly stopped at some invisible barrier in the middle of the sparse, rectangular chamber, and it was in front of this odd darkness that a middle aged ninja stood, his hands folded behind his back.

"Sir, we just received reports of several large explosions a kilometre outside the Konoha village." He said, his voice steady and strong.

For a moment there was no answer, and the man might as well have been alone in the room, but a quiet "I see." emanating from the darkness confirmed that someone was indeed hiding themselves in that unnatural shadow.

"It was most likely a large explosion trap, sir." The man said, the long silence unsettling him.

'Fool!' He berated himself immediately. 'Don't show weakness! Not in front of him!'

"Yes, that or some very powerful jutsu." The darkness said, lazily. "Either way, it doesn't really affect us, does it"

"But sir, if we intent on attacking Konoha, it could get troublesome if a second force also moves against them."

"And you think this is what that is" The man failed to notice the icy tone that had suddenly appeared in the shadow's voice.

"Yes, sir, I do." He said, then uttered the words that would get him killed. "And I think it would be foolish to"

Before he could finish, five massive black hands shot out of the darkness in front of him and grabbed him, one on each limb and one gripping his head, hard enough to crush bone and tear muscles. He didn't even have time to scream before the hands pulled apart, tearing him into several chunks which were quickly pulled back to wherever the hands had come from, consumed by the inky blackness.

"Was that really necessary" A man asked stepping out of the shadow calmly. He was tall, but not overly so, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were as black as the shadows he had just emerged from, as if his pupils had been made of whatever substance dominated half of the room. He looked down at a small patch of blood on the floor, the only trace of the man's rapid demise left behind. "You're not usually so...intolerant of advice."

Whoever was still residing in the darkness chuckled.

"Yes, you're right. However, that man was a spy for the Hidden Mist, Asuke-kun." He said, lazily. "And besides, it'll stop the rest of the shinobi from bothering me too much. I don't think I've quite gained their respect yet."

"I'm sure a public demonstration would do the trick." Asuke said, peering into the darkness. He couldn't see anything, of course, but it was remarkable how you could see perfectly well once you were actually inside it, as long as the jutsu's user wanted you to. It was a remarkable technique.

"No, no. Not yet, anyway. This jutsu will be my trump card should our forces need some...emergency motivation. I don't like killing my own, but sometimes the only way to get people to start running is to slaughter a few of the stragglers."

Asuke couldn't help but notice the glee in the man's voice, as if he relished the prospect.

Kenta came awake far more peacefully than he had fallen unconscious, floating back to the world of the living as if coming out of a light sleep. The sound of the fires had disappeared completely as well.

"Kenta-sensei! You're awake" Kaoru said, rushing over to him on his hands and knees. Miyuki was still on the ground a few metres away, leaning over something he couldn't see.

"What...what happened" He asked, his voice slurred despite his completely clear head.

"That guy...well after Kinari kicked him all the explosion notes he had went off, and he sort of got hit in the blast." Kaoru said, nervously. He kept shooting nervous glances towards Miyuki.

"What's wrong" Kenta asked, suddenly feeling as if the bottom of his stomach had dropped out.

"Where's Kinari"

Without waiting for an answer, he stood up and pushed past Kaoru, ignoring the sudden thumping ache in his head and the nausea that made him want to vomit. Obviously his head wasn't quite as undamaged as he had first assumed.

Silently, he looked over Miyuki's shoulder. Kinari was only burnt on his face, miraculously, probably due to some last second acrobatics on his part. That, or sheer luck.

However, the skin on one side of his head was badly burnt, and would be scarred permanently unless a team of medical-nin could be summoned, and quickly.

"Kaoru-kun! Did you set off a distress flare" He yelled to Kaoru, who seemed reluctant to get too close to Kinari.

"Yeah...about fifteen minutes ago." He said, quietly. "Kenta-sensei...he'll be okay, right? I mean, those burns. They'll heal right"

Kenta quickly decided this wasn't the time for his usual brutal honesty. Kaoru looked as if he was on the verge of crying, and Kenta knew from experience he was probably blaming himself for Kinari's injuries. In situation's like this, friends always felt as if there was something they could have done to protect someone from being hurt. Or killed.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Kenta said calmly, although he was painfully aware of the fact that Kinari, a mere genin on his first mission, had saved his life. "I've seen medical-nin completely heal people who've had most of the skin on their bodies burned right off." He didn't add that those people had been treated only seconds after the initial injury. He didn't know much about medical jutsu, but he did know that the longer a patient was left, the less effective the usually miraculous medical jutsu would be.

Kaoru nodded, but Kenta wasn't sure if the boy believed him or not.

"Miyuki-san, what are you doing" Kenta asked, for the first time looking at what the girl was doing. She had a number of small leaves laid out in front of her, and she was running her fingers over them nervously, looking for something different in them that Kenta couldn't see.

"These leaves are really good for burns." She muttered, distractedly. Kenta simply nodded and watched silently. After another minute of nervous consideration she nodded to herself and picked up a few of the larger leaves, putting them all in her mouth and chewing them rapidly. She wasn't too happy about having the leaves in her mouth. They were mildly poisonous if swallowed, and absolutely deadly if mixed with the usually weak poison of a certain frog, but she would need water and time to mix them into a proper poultice. This would have to do.

She spit the leaves out and pressed the together in her hands, flattening them into a damp green

rectangle. This she laid on the burnt part of Kinari's face, pressing down on it gently.

"There." She said, hoping she hadn't used too much. "That will help a lot, as long as the medical

team gets her fast enough."

"Good." Kenta said, and it was only then that she realised he had been watching her all along, gauging her abilities. She felt sick, wondering what kind of person would be worried about testing their student at such a time.

They sat in tense silence for several minutes, Miyuki and Kaoru showing it clearly on their faces,

Kenta and Kinari apparently calm.

At length, Kenta looked up sharply, staring intently into the trees. He held up a hand to Miyuki and Kaoru and they tensed up immediately, shooting nervous glances towards the still unconscious Kinari.

A minute later Kenta relaxed, and a white clad figure appeared out of the canopy, landing lightly on the ground beside Kenta, who was very obviously the most senior shinobi.

"Alone" Kenta said, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"No." The medic said, his voice hard and toneless. He had cold, thin eyes and wore a severe expression on his face. He did not look like the compassionate person most medical ninjas were thought to be. "There's a squad of ANBU patrolling the area behind me with another medic. Those explosions drew quite a lot of attention.

Kenta scratched the back of his head, as if he was embarrassed about something.

"Yeah, we had a bit of a...situation there."

"Sensei" Miyuki yelled, tears of rage stinging her eyes. What the hell was he doing?

The medical ninja glanced over at Miyuki, narrowing his eyes even further.

"Shut up." He said, bluntly. "I'm not talking to you."

He turned back to Kenta, leaving Miyuki staring at him open mouthed.

"Do you have any injuries for me to attend to" He said, oblivious to the Genin's outrage.

"Yeah, over there." Kenta said, sounding for all the world as if he was pointing out some interesting flower or piece if scenery.

The medical ninja walked over to Kinari, pushing Miyuki aside roughly. He knelt next to the boy and examined him briefly. He ran his fingers gently over the poultice on Kinari's face, nodding to himself.

"This your work" He asked, turning to Miyuki. She nodded apprehensively, expecting some insult or criticism on her work. Instead, all he said was "It's good. Very good, in fact. Samagi family"

Without waiting for an answer he picked Kinari up and lifted him into the air easily, as if he was made of straw.

"I'll take him straight to the hospital. The burns aren't too bad, but I need to be quick anyway to prevent scarring. Judging from the amount of smoke coming out of the forest over there, I'd say you were all incredibly lucky. Shinobi proficient in water based jutsu are already on there way to put the fire out. The Hokage ordered me to escort you back to the village with the Genin and the rest of my squad for debriefing."

Kenta nodded. "Miyuki, Kaoru, come on. Let's get out of here." He seemed completely undisturbed by the near death experience he and his new students had just gone through, but his mind was going over several unpleasant possibilities. He had a few theories about who was behind the attack, and he hoped fervently that none of them were correct.

"I understand the bomb traps failed."

There was a tense silence in the room, made cramped by the presence of too many people in too small a space. The five men and two women met their superior's angry gaze, but just barely.

"Maehara cannot be allowed to live. He is the only high ranking Jounin in the Hidden Leaf who knows about the chakra experiments and opposes them. If we're not careful he may expose our plans to the entire village."

"Sir, perhaps if we just talked to him." One of the women said. "The Advanced Bloodlines are getting weaker and weaker every generation. He knows that we ordered the families and clans to

limit their own power, and he knows how badly it backfired for us. In two generations we'll only have the Hyuuga and the Uchiha left. And they're the only two that didn't agree to the plan thirty years ago. It can't be a coincidence."

There was silence for a long time, and when the Hokage spoke his previous anger had evaporated.

"I know that as well as anyone else. But Maehara refuses to see the necessity of our experiments. No, it would be safer for us all if he was dead. Do whatever you have to, just make sure no one knows it was us. You can use some of the hinin, if you want. Understood"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The hospital room was quite large, with a huge window taking up most of the outside wall. No one had thought to pull the curtains closed, and afternoon sunlight painted the room a deep orange.

Kinari lay sleeping on the room's only bed, dressed in a light blue hospital shirt. His face was completely healed, thanks to the miracle of jutsu that could operate on a cellular level.

Kenta sat on a small chair beside the bed, staring out the window at the spectacular sunset that was turning the sky a brilliant red. Although he couldn't see it from here, he knew the massive fire that had threatened to burn down a large area of the fire had been quenched some time ago.

The people responsible hadn't been found. Instead, the ANBU squad checking the area afterwards had found several charred bodies, impossible to identify. It looked as if several people had jumped into the middle of the fire, or had been made to jump.

The jounin was debating over whether he should tell Kinari all of this when the Genin woke up.

He stared up at the roof for a second and then turned his head to look at Kenta.

"What happened" He croaked, his voice dry and cracked. He reached for the glass of water on the small locker beside the bed and drank it all in one gulp. "How did I get here"

"Well, you tell me. What do you remember" Kenta asked, tensing himself to restrain Kinari if he started freaking out.

"I remember we were in the forest, and there was a bomb trap..." Kinari said. He paused for a moment. "There was a man, a shinobi with a lot of explosion notes. You killed him, didn't you"

"Yes." Kenta said, amazed at how easily Kinari was saying all of this. When he had witnessed his first death he had been older than Kinari was, but it had taken him a month to get over it. "Do you remember anything else"

"Not really. The explosion notes went off, and I didn't think you could get away in time." He smiled weakly. "But I guess you did."

There was silence for a moment, and Kenta decided not to tell Kinari what he couldn't remember.

It seemed like a bad idea, for some reason, and he had learned long ago to go with his gut instincts.

"Miyuki and Kaoru are fine. Actually, it's because of Miyuki that your face isn't scarred. You can ask her about it next time you see her." Kenta said, quickly changing the subject. He stood up, suddenly eager to be out of the hospital room. He had been in places like this too often in the past, and he was just glad the person he was visiting was still alive this time.

"Kenta-sensei" Kinari said, urgently. "Wait a second. Um...about what happened...they didn't disband our group or anything, did they? I mean, we almost got killed..."

Kenta stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing, his mood instantly lifted.

"Of course not" He said, smiling openly. "You all acted amazingly well, considering it was your first mission, and you kept your cool even in an extremely dangerous situation. That's the kind of thing they look for in the Chuunin exam, although it'll be a while before you have to worry about that."

"Oh." Was all Kinari said. "Um...thanks, Kenta-sensei"

Author's Notes: The third chapter is finished at last! Much like the second chapter, this took a lot longer to write than I intended, but I think it's better than what I originally had in mind, which was nearly 30 pages long o.o; I cut off the parts I didn't like and re-wrote what I needed to keep. As usual, tell me what you think! My e-mail address is in my profile. If you notice any annoying formatting errors, please alert me as soon as possible, and I'll give you special mention in the next chapter