Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Here's hoping 2022 won't suck as much as 2020 and 2021 did!

The Attack

Ino was struggling to keep her eyes open. The wind was hitting her face hard, especially since she was on the front of Nimbus. What's worse, her hair continuously smacked Shivaroku in the face, making him struggle to keep his eyes open as well.

"I can't see a thing. This wind sucks!" said Ino.

"Yeah you get used to it after a whi-*cough* *spit*"

"What's wrong?"

"Your hair keeps flying into my eyes and mouth, it's fine."

"Oh sorry! I should've tied it into a bun," said Ino, as her hair hit Shivaroku in the eyes again.

Shivaroku took his hands off Ino's waist and proceeded to rub his eyes. However, because nobody was securing Ino, she suddenly started panicking as she felt she was about to fall over. She quickly turned around and gripped Shivaroku tightly. "AHH I DON'T WANNA FALL!"

"Hey Ino! It's okay, Nimbus won't let you fall! You can let go!"

"Nope! Not taking a single chance!" Ino's squeezed Shivaroku even tighter and closed her eyes.

Shivaroku's heart began to beat a bit faster and his emotions were all over the place as he stared at this beautiful girl hugging him so tightly. He hasn't felt this way since Bulma. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Ino, holding her tight.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise," said Shivaroku softly.

Ino opened her eyes in a surprise and blushed enormously. Her heart also started beating faster, and she wanted to let go so Shivaroku wouldn't feel it, but her fear was greater than her feeling of embarrassment, so she continued to hold on.

After a couple hours, the two took a short snack and water break. Before they hopped onto Nimbus again, Ino interrupted.

"Wait Shivaroku. I think I should sit in the back this time," said Ino.

"Why?"

"Well because—I'm sorta used to it now. Besides, if I'm behind you my hair won't keep hitting you in the face and you'll block out some of the wind from hitting my face. It's a win-win."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I don't want my fear to get in the way of finishing our mission on time."

"Well, alright," said Shivaroku as he boarded Nimbus and extended his hand to Ino to help her up. Ino took his hand and climbed onto Nimbus.

"Okay, go Nimbus!"

The sudden acceleration reminded Ino of her fear, making her immediately wrap her arms around Shivaroku's abdomen and bury her face into Shivaroku's back. Shivaroku could feel her trembling. He felt his heart aching and his gut wrenching. He placed his right hand on Ino's hands and held them tight, saying "Everything will be okay."

Just those few words got Ino to stop shaking, but she continued to hold onto Shivaroku with her face nuzzled against his back.

"Why the heck am I like this. I'm making an absolute fool out of myself. He probably thinks I'm weak…but he seems to be really understanding, and he's making an effort to make me feel more comfortable," thought Ino.

After flying for about 4 hours, Shivaroku spotted the caravan of traders at the base of Mount Nio. He steered Nimbus downwards and descended towards them. The duo hopped off nimbus, and Shivaroku undid the summoning jutsu. They walked up to the leader of the caravan and asked them to present the mission contract. The leader happily agreed, and the two shinobi confirmed that they were the group they were supposed to escort.

"May I ask why you don't want to go through the pass? I saw no signs of potential rockslides or cave-ins as we were flying overhead," asked Ino.

"Please trust us. We were here since last night. The ground along the pass is very unstable. Besides, we have some very important merchandise in our carts. Going around is the safest way, even if it takes longer," replied the caravan leader.

"Alright then. Our job is to escort you safely. So, if you prefer this way, then we have no choice but to agree," said Shivaroku.

The shinobi took their positions, Shivaroku in the front of the caravan and Ino in the back, and they started their trek around Mount Nio. The forest was dense, and the pathway was extremely rocky, making the carts unstable as they were being pulled. Shivaroku looked back to see if everything was going smoothly, but he spotted many of the traders looking around cautiously. Beads of sweat were going down their face and a couple of them were trembling. They were looking around as if expecting something or someone.

"What's gotten all of you so tense?" asked Shivaroku, suspiciously.

The leader spoke on behalf of everyone, "Oh nothing. They're just a bit on edge because of the forest. They're just afraid some beast will attack. That's why we have you Shinobi here though!"

"There are no beasts in this forest. At most there are a few mountain lions, but they reside and hunt more towards the peaks," replied Shivaroku.

"Ahh-well…you can never be sure, am I right?" said the leader nervously.

Shivaroku got more and more suspicious as the journey went on. They reached a small lake after a few hours, and Shivaroku called for a short break, seeing that the traders looked a bit tired. He took this time to confer with Ino.

"Ino. Are you getting a weird feeling from this?" asked Shivaroku.

"Sorta. I can't explain it, but I feel like these guys aren't telling us something," replied Ino.

"Agreed. Something seems really fishy."

"What have you noticed?"

"The traders are looking around as if they're waiting for someone to attack. Their eyes are glued to the trees, and their free hand is always close to their weapon pouch. They get surprised with every weird sound they hear."

"That…is very odd."

"And what's more, the leader says that they're afraid of beasts attacking them, but only mountain lions reside here and even they live towards the top."

"Yeah, something's definitely off here. I suggest we question the leader."

"Yeah, let's g—what the hell?" said Shivaroku as he jolted his head towards the West.

"What's wrong?"

"I sense chakra signatures. At least forty of them coming our way! Ino get ready! EVERYONE, GET BACK TO THE CARTS!" yelled Shivaroku.

The traders all scrambled towards their carts and drew their weapons. "Where are they coming from?" asked the leader.

"How did you—never mind we don't have time for this. I sense forty of them coming from the west. There may be more hanging back, but I can't sense them yet. They'll be upon is in about 5-6 minutes," responded Shivaroku.

"Right. Men, secure the governor!"

"The governor? Just what the hell is going on?"

"I promise I'll explain after we defeat our assailants. I'm sorry," said the leader sullenly.

"Shivaroku! Based on how many attackers you said there were, I have a plan!" yelled Ino as she was running towards her comrade.

"Shoot," said Shivaroku.

"I should use my mind transfer jutsu on a few of them, but I'll need one of the traders to keep watch over my body."

"Sounds good, but don't you need a clear shot for that jutsu to work?"

"Yes I do, but this is the best way to deal with so many shinobi at once. I can sense them too now. They all seem to have pretty decent chakra levels."

"Alright, then I'll hold down one of them so you can use your jutsu. Every time you release the jutsu just yell out and I'll pin another one for ya."

Ino nodded as she stood next to Shivaroku, faced towards the West, and drew her kunai. Shivaroku took up his battle stance, and the rest of the traders formed a line, with two of them standing in front of one of the carts. Obviously, that must be where the governor was.

Suddenly several shinobi started coming into view, some from the trees and some on the ground. Shivaroku skillfully caught one of the attackers and exposed him to Ino's jutsu. Ino quickly took over the man's mind as her body flopped to the ground. The leader yelled at one of his comrades to go over and stay by her body. Shivaroku began using his taijutsu skills to knock the attackers out one by one. The Ino-possessed attacker turned around and started taking down the others, causing much confusion among the enemy. At a certain point, about five of them lined up perfectly for Shivaroku, allowing him to unleash a small Kamehameha wave, taking them all out in one go. It was slow, but one-by-one the enemy's numbers were dwindling. Every so often, when the Ino-possessed attacker was taken down, Shivaroku pinned another assailant and pointed them directly at Ino for her to reuse her jutsu. It was efficient and effective, but because Ino was continuously using the mind-transfer jutsu, she was running out of chakra. Shivaroku used combinations of fire and earth-style jutsus to both defend the entire caravan from the enemy as well as for offensive purposes, but he also slowly began to lose chakra.

Finally, Shivaroku took down the last attacker. He was slightly battered, with a few scratches over his body. Ino was breathing heavily, and the traders collapsed in exhaustion. Shivaroku looked around at the many fallen bodies. He went to inspect one of them to find any information of who sent them, but none of them had any possessions that hinted at their origin. His only way of getting answers was to ask the leader and this mysterious governor they were hiding in one of the carts.

"Hey asshole," Shivaroku said angrily as he walked up to the leader. "It's time you spilled the beans."

The leader sighed. "What exactly are you talking about?"

Ino grabbed the man by his shirt and pushed him against one of the carts, saying "I think you know exactly what my friend is talking about. You all have been acting suspicious since the very beginning. This is supposed to be a C-rank escort mission. Since when did a C rank mission entail a small army of rogue ninja?"

"They seemed like bandits to me," said the leader dubiously.

"Enough of your bullshit. Every single one of those people were trained in the shinobi arts. They all came at us with the intent to kill," said Shivaroku.

"If they were so powerful, how come you two genin could take them down so easily?"

"Ino and I aren't your ordinary genin. If an average genin were here on this mission instead of us, they would've died, and so would have all of you. Now start talking before I—" Shivaroku paused.

"Before you what?" asked the leader.

Shivaroku wouldn't answer. Ino turned towards him in concern, and she saw a serious look on his face as it was turned towards the West again.

"Shivaroku?" asked Ino

"We'll finish this damn talk later. We have more incoming," said Shivaroku.

"What? More?! How many?!" asked the caravan leader fearfully.

"About 20 of them…all of them more powerful than those who attacked us before. Ino, let him go, we don't have time to be mad at him right now."

"It looks like each of them have chunin-like chakra levels. This isn't gonna be easy," said Ino.

"Yeah I know. But let's use the same plan this time."

With that, Shivaroku and Ino took on their battle stances once more, and so did the traders.