MISSION II - C-RANK
With advancement, there's always going to be a little bit of worry.
Certain expectations are placed on you, by people you trust and who trust you in return, so you have to make sure not to disappoint.
While his friends are eager to do higher and more difficult missions, Yokumaru's worried what exactly it'll entail and whether they won't go in over their heads. Still, he can't exactly show it to the others, right? Have to be strong and not let them down.
He dons his outfit, saving the headband for last, and makes his way downstairs to the oddly empty and quiet house, save for the sound of cheerful giggling outside, no doubt the twins playing.
He grabs a packed lunch off the table that his mom had made after breakfast and makes his way out, where his suspicions are confirmed.
Byakuren and Gyuji are running for dear life, or as fast their little 3-year-old legs can take them, from Ayame who's chasing them around the front yard. As soon as they spot him leave the house, however, they immediately dart to hug him around the legs.
"Yoku!" Byakuren grins up at him. "Are you leaving? Are you gonna go do something cool?"
"Can we come?!" Gyuji looks at him with pleading eyes. "We can learn cool ninjutsu!"
Yokumaru laughs and pats them both on the head. "It's a little early, don't you think? You'll get in the Academy soon enough."
"Aw, no fair." They both pout.
Ayame comes to them and ushers the twins inside. "Come on, your cousin is busy. You can hound him all you want when he comes back."
"Will you tells us stories, Yoku?" Byakuren hops in place.
"Of course!" Yokumaru grins.
Satisfied, the two run inside and suddenly Yokumaru's worries are lessened. When he knows he has the two little ones that look up to him, his mind becomes clearer as to what he needs to do. Rather than adding pressure, it's an oddly calming thought.
"Are you all set?" Ayame snaps him out of his musing.
"Yep! All good for my first C-rank mission." He looks around both houses. "Is everyone else out?"
"Pretty much." She sighs. "Dad and your mom are on shift at Ramen Ichiraku, Guren and Gozu both have missions, and Yukimaru is working at the library, so that leaves me with the kids."
"Can you manage them?" Yokumaru chuckles.
"Of course I can, they're dolls. Except when they're not. Which is most of the time, really. What about you? Nervous about your first C-rank mission?"
"A little bit." He tugs at his leather harness. "Worried about what it'll be."
"Well, don't be." Ayame ruffles his hair. "We've all seen how hard you've been training and how motivated you are. If anyone's ready, it's you."
"Thanks!"
"Now you best get going, your friend is waiting for you." Ayame points to the nearby rooftop.
Shoto waves from a distance, beckoning Yokumaru to hurry up.
"Ah, right!" Yokumaru gives his stepsister a quick hug and rushes off. "See you later. Maybe."
-x-
Team Nine enters the mission assignment room, eager to receive their first higher ranked mission and show what they've got. They stand in front of the long desk where the people tasked with this job are sitting. Unlike when they received their very first mission, Tsunade is nowhere in sight.
The man sitting in the middle hands the scroll to Naruto. "Your mission is as follows: There have been numerous sightings of giant sand cobras migrating from the Land of Wind to the Land of Fire. They need to be stopped before they damage the local ecosystem."
"Aww, we have to hunt snakes?" Kotori drags her heel across the ground. "Poor things. How much harm could some snakes do?"
"Yeah, why exactly are we needed?" Shoto asks. "Isn't there like wildlife preservation or something?"
"It's because," Naruto explains, "a full grown giant sand cobra can reach something like 50m (~160ft) in length. It can easily swallow all four of us in one bite."
Kotori can feel her heart jump up to her throat. "Uh, okay. I think I'm fine with hunting them now."
"Why does a snake even need to be that big?" Shoto shudders
"Isn't that… a lot, sensei?" Yokumaru looks worried.
'Sasuke's summons are way bigger, though.' Naruto thinks but decides not to scare them too much. "Hah, you guys'll be fine. And if not, I'll be there, too, remember? Whatever you can't handle, I'll take on."
"Further details on sightings and movement patterns are given in the mission brief, but it doesn't sound like there're any adults so you won't be fighting anything quite that big."
"Are we to chase them back or kill them?" Naruto asks.
"Kill. We don't have the time to relocate them, and the Land of Rivers is already having enough trouble with them passing through once, we don't need to cause them any more headaches."
"Alright. If we're heading to the border with the Land of Rivers, that's gonna be a solid day of travel. Hope you guys are ready for a trip." Naruto turns to his group.
"Say," Kotori addresses the man at the desk. "Has Team Five already gotten their mission?"
"Team Five?" He furrows his brow. "Shino Aburame's team, yes? They took their mission a while ago, subjugating giant crazy ants to the north. They've most likely already set out."
"Ants, huh? Guess Shino would be the guy for that job." Naruto jokes.
"Then we can't lose to them! We gotta finish our mission before them!" Kotori pumps her fist.
Naruto chuckles. "That might be difficult since their mission is probably closer than ours. They might be done before we even get to the border."
"Then we run like the wind!" Kotori Flickers to the open window behind the desk, kneeling on the window sill as she beckons her team. "Let's go!"
"I'm up for a little race." Shoto smirks and jumps through, as well..
"Ah!" The man behind the desk looks around in a panic. "Don't jump through the window!"
Yokumaru follows.
"Use the door!" The man shouts after them.
Naruto laughs, "Kids, am I right?" and Flickers out the window.
The man slumps in his chair with a defeated sigh.
Crazy Ant Subjugation Mission
About half a day's travel from the Hidden Leaf, Team Five find themselves at the small village suffering from an infestation of ants.
Even before entering the village proper or meeting anyone, they can already see the damage dealt to the lands around it. Both farming plots and green areas have been upturned, multiple burrowed holes lining the ground to the point of even knocking down trees.
"Ants did all of this?" Kashiwama looks around.
"Not just ordinary ants." Shino clarifies. "Giant crazy ants."
"So is there any particular reason they're called that?" Genzai asks.
"In truth, their name is the long-legged ant, but their occasional erratic behavior has led to their nickname- crazy ant. Ants, as you may be aware, are extraordinarily organized creatures, they diligently follow set patterns and work with efficiency and unity and can quickly return to those patterns if they're disturbed."
"I'm assuming that's not true for these ones." Jiriki looks around the destruction.
He focuses his chakra to his eyes, veins popping out.
[Byakugan]
He scans their immediate area.
"That's correct. The long-legged ant goes into a panic if their pattern is disturbed. The smaller variants do no harm and eventually do find their way. These larger ones, however, cause damages such as this."
"So what do we do?" Kashiwama slams his fist into his palm. "Kill 'em all? Set 'em on fire?"
Genzai lightly prods Kashiwama's side. "Did you forget sensei's an Aburame?"
"Oh, right…"
"No, Kashiwama's correct." Shino says. "They are an invasive species and cannot continue existing here without negatively impacting the wider area. As much as it pains me to say, we must rid the land of them." He then turns to the young Hyūga. "Jiriki?"
"Nothing here." Jiriki shakes his head. "Either their nest is out of my range, or it's somewhere else."
"Then we'll search for it." Shino's coat billows out as swarms of insects fly out from seemingly nowhere. They spread out in smaller groups and go to cover a wide area to search.
Team Five's questioning of the villagefolk doesn't really bear much fruit. They don't exactly know much about the ants to begin with, they weren't even aware a colony was so dangerously close to their home, but they could tell more or less what damage was caused when.
Due to the chaotic nature of the crazy ants, a pattern can't wholly be established but it may aid in finding out where they originally came from. Having a source may lead to the cause of this problem.
By the end of the questioning, some of Shino's kikaichū return, as well. Key word being 'some'. As part of his extensive training, Shino, as any member of the Aburame clan, knows the unique chakra signature of each and every insect he houses in his body. Thanks to that, he knows which ones are missing and where he sent them to search.
"Team Five." He addresses his group. "It seems the ants are spread out through the entire woods surrounding the forest. The kikaichū I sent forth have been killed. I want you to go to the locations with stragglers. My kikaichū will guiden."
"What'll you do, sensei?" Kashiwama asks.
"I'll search for the nest." Shino sends out a few of his insects to guide them, just in case multiple are needed. 'It's odd, though. Where the most kikaichū were killed should be where they're gathered, their nest, but it's far from where the villagers said the attacks started.'
As the kids run ahead, Jiriki activates his Byakugan at certain intervals to check their immediate surroundings. It takes a bit of running around and following Shino-sensei's insect but eventually…
"There's a group on our two." Jiriki alters his course, jumping up the treeline to get higher ground.
Kashiwama and Genzai follow him and, sure enough, see a small group of human-sized yellow ants skittering about and seemingly doing nothing, with abnormally long legs as their real name would suggest.
Kashiwama whistles lightly. "I guess that's where the 'giant' part of 'giant crazy ant' comes from."
"They're still just ants." Jiriki summons his bow from storage and draws the string, an arrow appearing from the storage seals on the bow itself. "It being big just means there's more of it to squash."
He carefully aims, lines up his shot, and fires.
The arrow goes right for one of the ant's heads.
Just as the arrow's about to strike, the ant twists its head to dodge out of the way. It lifts one of its legs and brings it down on the ground, snapping the arrow in half. It turns its head to the tree where the arrow came from and emits a clicking sound from, alerting the rest.
Jiriki clicks his tongue. "These things…"
"They're not normal ants, that's for sure." Genzai jumps out of the tree and makes his move. "Let's blind them."
[Fire Style: Flame Bullet]
He breathes out a continuous stream of fire.
Kashiwama jumps down to ground level and acts in accordance to his friend.
[Water Style: Water Bullet]
He spits out a stream of pressurized water, aiming to mow down all the ants by sweeping his jutsu horizontally.
Some of the ants jump up to avoid, but others aren't as fast and are sent crashing back. One of the ants that jumps up is struck by Genzai's fire which not not burns away at it but collides with Kashiwama's water.
The impact of fire on water covers the entire area in a cloud of fog that no one can see through. No one except for Jiriki.
He immediately sends out a volley of arrows at the disoriented insects. Some he manages to strike the soft parts of but others hit the carapace which proves sturdier than expected. He also noticed them begin to stir and run toward the edge of the cloud.
"Kashiwama, three right in front of you. Genzai, two on your right."
"Got it!" Kashiwama goes through his hand signs, prepared for the fog to be broken.
As soon as the ants appear, he slams his hands on the ground.
[Earth Style: Ground Bedrock]
The ground on both sides of the ants begins to shift, two large squares breaking off flying up to create a natural press that squishes one of them but the others prove faster than expected.
They rush at Kashiwama and strike down with their legs to leave large indents. Kashiwama tries to dodge to the side but he's about to find out why they're called the long-legged ants.
The one closest to him raises its leg and extends it at a great speed, having a much greater reach than initially expected. Kashiwama is struck in the stomach and sent flying back.
"Kashiwama!" Genzai calls out but he has his own ants to deal with, much faster than one might assume.
"I got him." Jiriki says as he readies another arrow, this one tipped with a glass-like blunt tip.
He lets the arrow loose at the first ant and himself Flickers to the other one. It readies a kick just like with Kashiwama but the sudden appearance of Jiriki catches it by surprise and its reaction is slow. The odd arrow then strikes, the blunt tip shattering on impact and causing the ant to violently convulse.
[One Blow: Body]
Jiriki sends out a burst of chakra from every single chakra point in his body. The wave knocks the ant off its balance.
Kashiwama acts, with one ant stunned and the other off balance, slamming his hands on the ground in spite of the pain in his stomach.
[Earth Style: Ground Bedrock]
As before, two plates rise from the ground to crush both of them, ending their fight.
To the side, Genzai is finishing up his own battle. The entire area is lined with kunai, wire strings all leading to the young Sarutobi. He leaps into the air, over the ants and binds them with the wires.
[Fire Style: Dragon Fire]
Genzai sends out streams of fire through the wire strings and burns the ants to a crisp.
They fall to the ground and the kids breathe a relieved sigh.
Genzai looks around for any more threats and when he sees none, he deactivates his Byakugan.
"We good?" Genzai asks.
"For now. There's a cave not far from here that has ant markings. They've been coming in and out of there."
"Might be good to check it out, then." Genzai then turns to Kashiwama who's already applying his [Mystical Palm] to his wounds. "How are you?"
"I'll be fine in a minute." He groans. "They hit harder than I thought."
"Can you keep going?" Jiriki asks.
"Of course!" Kashiwama flashes a grin. "Just who do you think you're talking to?"
-x-
On the other side of the forest, Shino stands surrounded by a small army of giant ants, all in the process of being consumed by his kikaichū. He kneels down and rolls one to its side to examine it more closely.
"This is odd. All of these are workers. If their nest is somewhere in the vicinity then there should be signs of guards, as well. Unless… I need to get back to the kids." Shino rushes off back from where he just came from. "Please stay safe."
-x-
Going through the cavern Jiriki found, Team Five make their way through winding corridors, guided by the Byakugan which can see traces of previous movement no matter how small or insignificant.
No signs of ants themselves, though.
Some tunnels are very clearly not natural and not man-made, making it even easier to guess where the right way is.
They walk slowly and quietly so as to not attract any unwanted attention, only carrying a flashlight to light their way.
Eventually the dusty and suffocating caverns lead them to a giant chamber that has multiple similar caverns lining the entirety of its walls. The chamber itself has the very visible signs of a cave-in, with much of the floor being covered in boulders and earth, the chamber itself being oddly misshapen and even some of the tunnels being collapsed.
"Do you think this is like a nest?" Kashiwama wonders.
"Couldn't be." Genzai answers. "Didn't Shino-sensei go to the nest?"
"Then we're good, right? Let's see what else we gotta kill." Kashiwama hops off the edge of their tunnel to get into the chamber proper.
"Oi!" Jiriki calls out to him. "Don't just jump in on your own."
"Do you see anything?" Genzai asks.
"Not here, no." Jiriki shakes his head, still keeping his Byakugan active
Genzai shrugs and hops off, too. "Then we may as well look around."
With a defeated sigh, Jiriki goes in, too. The three look around the tunnels for any signs of life or even death. As they get closer, something comes within Jiriki's range; a fairly large ant crushed under some rubble in the far back of the chamber.
"Guess a cave-in did some of our job for us." Jiriki says.
Then, something else enters his range. Coming from the ceiling just above the tunnel they came from, Jiriki sees a gigantic form, several times larger than the ones they killed earlier. Because he was so far away from the tunnel, he only sees it at the very last moment.
"Incoming!" Jiriki calls out a warning to his team.
They all ready themselves for combat.
The giant ant burrows its way through, falling to the ground with dust and rubble, showing itself to everyone. Standing at well over 4 metres / 13 feet in height, the giant warrior ant screeches, its mighty legs cracking the ground underneath it, its head whipping around to stare right at.
With little to no warning, it rushes at them with great speed, much faster than the kids could've ever expected.
Kashiwama slams his hands on the ground.
[Earth Style: Earth Wall]
A small wall of stone rises from the ground with the intent of stopping or at least slowing down the warrior ant but it outruns the rising earth, even having enough time to crush it with its back legs.
Jiriki steps in front of him with just barely enough time to try keep the ant at bay.
[Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm]
He thrusts his hand forward, creating a vortex of pure chakra bursting from his hand, but the ant dodges to the side.
It slams several of its legs on the ground in an attempt to squash the kids. Kashiwama and Jiriki dodge backward while Genzai jumps up, trying to get all of its legs in his sight for a jutsu that can target and potentially take out its massive appendages.
[Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fi-
His jutsu is interrupted when a giant leg slams him square in the chest. He manages to bring his shielded arms to protect from the brunt of it, but that leaves a crack in his armoured plates. He's sent flying into a wall.
"GENZAI!" Kashiwama shouts at his friend for confirmation that he's fine. None comes.
"Kashiwama, focus." Jiriki warns. "Can you get me onto its back? I don't think I'm fast enough alone."
Kashiwama growls but turns his focus to the ant. "I can but I'm not leaving Genzai there."
"That's fine. Just get me up there."
Jiriki begins running at top speed, firing several of his special arrows. They're not as effective at stunning this one as they were with the smaller ones but it serves as a good distraction, at the very least.
Kashiwama, not wanting to needlessly draw its attention, runs over to Genzai while Jiriki finds a way to get closer to the monstrous ant.
When Jiriki starts running toward it rather than around it, it prepares to strike own as it's been doing until now.
"NOW!" Jiriki shouts.
Kashiwama slams his hands on the ground.
[Earth Style: Ground Bedrock]
As before, two plates of stone rise up but this time not with the intent to sandwich whatever stands between them. One of the plates forms right under Jiriki's feet, giving him a boost in height.
The ant tries to stomp on him but by the time it does, he's already in the air, and all it stomps on is Kashiwama's Earth Style. The second plate comes from the other side and actually manages to slightly knock it off its balance.
Jiriki lands on its back, clinging to it with his chakra.
With the operation successful, Kashiwama turns to Genzai, who's holding his arms.
[Medical Water Style: Forest]
He immediately begins healing his teammate with his watery woodlands.
"Thanks." Genzai manages to grunt out a word of gratitude.
"Save your strength." Kashiwama keeps a close eye on Jiriki.
The young Hyūga does his best to make use of his new position. With his Byakugan, he focuses on the giant ant's weak points.
Running across its back, he strikes down at the chakra points within range.
[Eight Trigrams: 32 Palms]
The ant cries out in pain and begins violently contorting its body to shake off the unwanted intruder. When it rolls around on its side, Jiriki takes that as a hint to jump off to avoid being crushed by its massive weight.
Jiriki would've preferred to not put himself in such a vulnerable position, knowing full well what these ants seemingly love to kick with their many legs, but it's better than being trampled. Besides, he just might have the tool for the job.
As expected, the ant goes to kick its defenceless target.
When the leg gets close, Jiriki opens every single chakra point in his body to create a force of chakra power enough to get him out of harm's way.
[One Blow: Body]
Jiriki crashes on the ground skids back, getting some distance but the angered angered ant screeches and follows him, swinging its legs around to step on him.
[Water Style: Water Bullet]
[Fire Style: Flame Bullet]
A stream of pressurized water and a cone of fire shoot over Jiriki's head to get the ant off his tail. He hops back to his team to strategize, his Byakugan now deactivated.
"Just so you know," Kashiwama pants, "I don't actually have a lot of chakra left."
"I can fire off a couple small ones or a big one" Genzai stands up by propping himself against the wall.
"I'm going to make an opening where it can't dodge our attacks." Jiriki proclaims.
"Think you can do that?" Genzai asks.
"I think so, but it's going to use up every bit of chakra I have left. If we fail this, it's over." Jiriki points to the far right hand corner of the chamber. "If you can, push it over there. I'll take care of the rest."
Jiriki runs forward, his teammates putting all of their trust into him and whatever his idea is.
He readies his bow as he runs, summoning arrows wrapped in paper tags. Firing them as he runs forward, they detonate mid-air before even reaching the ant, surrounding the entire area in a smokescreen.
[Byakugan]
He runs in before the ant can move away, taking position just under its body. He jumps up and opens his chakra points, this time exerting a much greater force than before. Jiriki lets out a shout as he forces much more power out of himself than he's ever needed to before.
[One Blow: Burst]
A violent explosion of chakra sends the smokescreens away, clearing the whole area. The ant is just as unable to resist the force that hit its thorax. The violent thrashing of its legs manages to hit Jiriki who's sent crashing to the ground but the deed is done.
The ant is airborne and unable to use its speed to escape.
[Water Style: Water Severing Wave]
Kashiwama spits a high pressurized stream of water, exuding much greater force than anything he's used up until now.
[Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet]
Genzai breathes a fire of intense heat, the initial breath curving around him almost like a shield.
Both jutsu strike the giant ant and knock in the exact direction Jiriki said to.
The Hyūga manages to get his bearings enough to draw his bow, summoning an arrow wrapped in explosive tags.
He fires it at the ant, curving it in a way that it wouldn't be detonated too early by Genzai's jutsu. When the explosion detonates, the entire cavern rumbles and shakes, loose rocks falling from the walls and ceiling. The corner the ant was thrown in crumbles and falls onto it, crushing its body under massive boulders.
"We gotta get out!" Kashiwama calls out.
"No." Genzai places an arm on his shoulder. "I think we're fine."
They both look at Jiriki, who's still on the ground and not making any moves to get away.
After a few short seconds, the rumbling stops and Jiriki stands up to his feet. Kashiwama and Genzai run up to him.
"That was awesome!" Kashiwama slaps him on the back. "Did you know that was gonna happen?"
Jiriki composes himself after the slap nearly knocked him off his balance. "I looked over the cavern while I was running around and saw some structural integrity. That corner was in a position where we could crumble it without bringing the whole thing under us."
"I'm impressed." Genzai chuckles.
"This much is as to be expected." Jiriki boasts. "This is the might of the Byakugan."
Kashiwama pokes one of Jiriki's many bruises. "Is this also the Byakugan's might?"
"Ow!" He hisses in pain.
Kashiwama begins healing the more severe injuries, his hand glowing a distinct green colour.
[Mystical Palm]
"We ought to go find Shino-sensei as soon as we get healed up." Genzai looks over his surroundings. "Not liking this place one bit."
They sit by the entrance for a few minutes to get their breath and energy back after exhausting most if not all of their resources. Kashiwama's chakra doesn't last him long enough to fully heal everyone so resorts to healing balms which help some but not as much as medical ninjutsu.
As they sit, the cavern rumbles again.
"Another cave-in?" Kashiwama stands, ready to get out of there.
"I don't think so." Jiriki looks around. He activates his [Byakugan] using whatever chakra he has left. It doesn't last him long, but it's enough for him to stumble back in shock.
"More are coming." He says in a wispy voice.
The walls and ceiling burst, multiple additional tunnels openings up. From the dust and rubble, an army of ants spring forth. Most of them are small workers but four of them are giant warriors like the one they just fought.
All of them skitter in the kids' direction.
"Shit…" Jiriki curses.
Their legs tremble. They know they have to escape, to get as far away from here as possible. Just one of the big ones gave them so much trouble and yet there's more of them in addition to the smaller ones.
Genzai falls to his knees. "There's no way we can win this."
"Oi, we gotta go!" Kashiwama calls out despite his own body refusing to move. "We gotta run back to Shino-sensei!"
Just then, as they helplessly observe the army coming toward them, something passes by them. Something small and flying that they'd completely forgotten about until now. Shino's insects that he'd initially sent with them go into the cavern.
They land on the ants at the front and burrow into their bodies. After a moment, the ants burst from the inside out, in their guts now standing Shino's kidaichū. The kidaichū then move in to devour as many ants as they can before being overwhelmed.
However, they manage to hold off long enough for swarms of kikaichū to fly in and completely overwhelm all the ants.
The kids stare in disbelief as Shino calmly walks behind them.
"I miscalculated and put you all in danger. Please accept my deepest apologies. I thought where the most giant ants had gathered would be where their nest is, but didn't take into account that that location is where they ran to from their nest and not their actual nest."
"Shino-sensei…" Kashiwama falls to the ground, leaning against Shino's leg.
"You've all done exceptionally well. Leave the rest to us."
It only takes a couple of minutes of intense fighting, giant ants versus kikaichū, for the parasitic insects to wind out, devouring even the much larger warrior ants.
With the battle won, Shino steps into the cavern to observe the situation.
"Woah…" Kashiwama stares. "I had no idea Shino-sensei was that strong..."
"I've heard stories of the Aburame clan but never seen any of them in real combat." Genzai stands up to his feet, no longer trembling.
"He doesn't even need to fight." Jiriki states. "He has his own personal army with him."
They walk over to their sensei, carefully stepping around insect guts.
"So, is it over?" Genzai asks.
"I believe so." Shino extends a hand for one particular insect, after emerging from a pile of rubble that was there prior, to land on his finger. "I believe I've discovered what incited their erratic behaviour. Their queen had died. Crushed under soil."
"That one's their queen?" Jiriki sighs. "I saw it with my Byakugan but didn't think it's an important one."
"Well, I suppose it's no longer important to us as there's nothing we could have done about it. We've completed our mission, regardless. Prepare to return to the Hidden Leaf."
"Wait," Kashiwama steps forward, "We're leaving already?"
"You take issue with that?" Shino asks.
"I mean… yeah! We gotta help the villagers. They've had their farms destroyed and their animals killed; we can't just leave them."
"Our mission was to deal with the giant ants and we've done precisely that. Anything else falls beyond the scope of our mission."
"But…"
"Sensei's right." Jiriki interjects. "The villagers can take care of they can't, they can file a D-rank mission to get aid."
"Sensei." Genzai speaks up. "Can we say with certainty that we've accomplished our mission? Are we sure we've dealt with all the ants? Isn't it our duty to remain until we know for a fact that we've done what we were sent out to do?"
"Even you, Genzai?" Jiriki narrows his eyes.
Shino takes a moment to contemplate, looking into the distance which isn't all that distance given they're in a cave. "You are correct. My kikaichū found and took care of some stragglers but there may be more in hiding who may return to find their whole nest dead."
"Then…" Kashiwama cheers up. "We have to stay longer, right?"
"It appears that may be necessary." Shino nods.
"Alright!" Kashiwama jumps in place and pats Genzai on the back. "Let's go check on everyone."
Jiriki rolls his eyes. "Great."
Shino chuckles. "Seems your exhaustion has already faded. Come, let's return to the village."
Kashiwama runs ahead, followed by Shino and Genzai, with Jiriki dragging his feet behind them.
As they leave, the kikaichū fly back to Shino, returning within his body.
Giant cobra subjugation mission
Arriving at the border between the Land of Fire and Land of Rivers, it doesn't actually take Naruto long to figure out where their targets are. With his Sage Mode, he can sense over a fair distance and is already tracking the cobras' movement. Of course, he's keeping silent to allow the kids to show what they can do.
Since the cobras are large in size, that means they leave very visible tracks wherever they slither to, which makes their trails easy to spot. Team Nine keeps to the trees, certain that such big animals wouldn't be able to climb and remain unseen.
Kotori, as the de facto scout, has her sparrows flying around as lookouts, keeping to above the treeline and watching for any suspicious and overly large movement. From time to time she stops to look through their eyes with her [All-Encompassing Sight].
"Who knew giant snakes were difficult to find." Shoto chuckles.
"Aren't they, like, good at hiding?" Yokumaru wonders. "Makes sense, right?"
"Some of them are." Kotori snaps out of her trance. "But these guys live in the desert so they shouldn't really be good at hiding in grass and trees."
"You studied up on snakes or something?" Shoto cocks his head.
"Of course! Plenty of birds actually eat snakes so I've looked into their diets." Kotori boasts. "Also, I found some."
"What, already?" Shoto sounds surprised. "Didn't take long, did it?"
"Told you," Kotori grins, "They're not good at hiding in green."
Naruto smiles as he runs behind them, having the kids take the lead on this one. 'Good job.'
After a short run through the canopies, Team Nine notices more and more trees knocked over, snapped in half, or just damaged in some ways like their branches being torn off. The signs of a slithering giant become more and more prominent. At the end, they find themselves at the top of a hill, looking down at a clearing where a massive cobra, decorated in varying shades of brown, lies curled up.
"Wow, you're right." Shoto looks on. "It doesn't blend in at all."
"Told you." Kotori sticks out her tongue.
The cobra stirs awake. It rises its body high into the air, showing off its impressive size, and opens its hood. It looks directly at them despite how far they are.
"It noticed us?!" Shoto curses under his breath.
"Yep." Naruto nods. "They got a really good sense of smell so it probably saw us coming a while back. It also sensed we're a threat."
"Have you also been studying up on snakes?" Shoto raises a brow.
"Kinda. I left a Shadow Clone back in the Leaf to read up on 'em while we travelled." Naruto laughs.
"That's cheating, dad." Kotori pouts.
"So." Naruto turns to the cobra looming over the treelines as it hisses and tries to make itself look even bigger than it already is. "It's trying to scare you away. Gonna let it?"
"I'm starting to consider it…" Yokumaru squeaks out.
"Of course not!" Kotori proclaims. "Come on, Yokumaru, let's distract it while Shoto gets close."
"Alright…" Yokumaru reluctantly agrees.
They both take to the canopies to draw its attention while Shoto goes on the ground.
[Aviary: Falcons]
Kotori summons two of the birds by her side. "There was a second one but it's not here right now. Let's get this one before back-up gets here."
"Now you tell us?!" Yokumaru protests but it's a bit too late for that now.
[Crystal Style: Crystal Hexagonal Shuriken]
Yokumaru forms the discs around him and fires them, following Kotori's falcons.
The cobra hisses and reels back its head. Thrusting forward, streams of clear liquid spurt out from the tips of its fangs. The falcons manage to dodge out of the way but the crystal shuriken are knocked out of the air.
"It can shoot venom?!" Yokumaru cries out.
"It's a spitting cobra!" Kotori laughs. "That's awesome!"
"Not the time to admire them, Kotori." Shoto says as he runs underneath them.
[Ninja Art: Aerial Ace]
Kotori sends out the falcons with their immense speed. They fly by the cobra, lightly cutting its scales with their beaks and claws but it's little more than an irritation.
The cobra begins thrashing and lashing out with its tail to swat at the falcons flying around it. As Kotori and Yokumaru enter the clearing, they come in range of its thrashing, with Kotori being directly in the way of its tail.
[Crystal Style: Crystal Wall]
Yokumaru acts immediately to help his friend. Kotori takes the additional footing and jumps above the sweeping tail which breaks the wall.
Kotori uses this moment to inflict some pain.
[Feather Kunai Barrage]
A whole arsenal of feathers materializes next to her, raining down on the cobra as she falls along with them. They embed themselves between its scales with some feathers not managing to hit their mark.
It's then that Shoto joins in on the action, Flickering to the snake's side.
He brings in both fists close to his side, [Earth Spear] already active, and thrusts them forward with all his might, twisting as he strikes.
[Parallel Strike]
The hit sends waves of pain through the snake's body.
It slithers away while using its way to deter its pursuers, although they don't exactly need to stay close to it.
Shoto slams his hands on the ground.
[Earth Style: Stone Bamboo Shoots]
Two spikes jut out from the earth in an attempt to stab at its body but it only slithers past them, unphased by the moving stone. Before it fully gets away, it flicks its tail one final time, catching Shoto by surprise.
He braces himself for impact, the very tip of the tail whipping him across his arms. He's sent flying back from the force of it.
Kotori Flickers over and grabs him, taking him further back.
Kotori looks back to Yokumaru. "Your Crystal Style's super versatile. Can't you stop it?"
"I don't think so." Yokumaru answers. "I still need time to make them hardy enough."
Shoto hisses in pain. "Couldn't you just turn it to crystals? Be a lot quicker."
Yokumaru looks away, hanging his head. "I...don't know if I can."
He walks over with his head lowered and places a hand over Shoto's arms.
[Mystical Palm]
Shoto clicks his tongue. "We're here to kill them, anyway, remember? Whether it's gonna be you or us, we still have to do it."
"I know that! But still..."
"That's fine, Yoku." Kotori gives him a thumbs up. "If you don't feel up for it, we'll handle it."
"You baby him too much." Shoto readies his stance. "It's coming again."
[Aviary: Ostrich]
Kotori summons her big hitter.
-x-
From the treetops overlooking the clearing, Naruto carefully watches on as his kids fight. He keeps a careful eye on them in case they get in over their head but so far it seems like a fight they can easily handle on their own.
Of course, fighting more of them might prove a bit difficult at their current level so when they go on to kill the remainder, he'll be fighting right there with them to help them conserve energy.
Speaking of the remainder… From behind him, he senses a threat approaching at great speeds. Several in fact. He waits until they're close enough to act.
As a giant cobra leaps from the ground to swallow him whole, he turns to glare at it with yellow eyes.
"Oi." His cold voice stops the cobra in its tracks.
It slithers back, both it and its companion cowering in fear.
"I'm trying to watch my students here." He growls. "Get lost."
Naruto disappears from the trees, appearing in the air right next to them.
His neck bulges out, kneading chakra into his tongue.
[Fighting Tongue Slash]
He lashes out with his elongated tongue, ripping into the snakes at the blink of an eye.
-x-
The cobra slithers toward the kids, zig zagging in a seemingly random pattern. It spits its venom once again causing them to spread out to avoid.
It whips its tail around, this time in a wave-like pattern making it much more difficult to dodge.
Yokumaru is blown back, Shoto manages to jump over it as do Kotori and her ostrich. However, it rears its tail back again, catching Kotori off-guard. She's slammed against a tree.
As she lies by the tree, dizzy, the cobra lunges at her.
"Kotori!" Shoto calls to her and rushes to help.
"Shoto, your arms aren't healed!" Yokumaru cris out.
"Don't need them." He proclaims
Shoto focuses on his [Earth Spear] and transfers the hardened attribute from his arms to his legs. He leaps into the air, right at the lunging cobra. He spins his whole body around, prepared to strike.
[Back Kick]
He hits it right in the side of the head, sending it flying back.
Kotori snaps out of it just in time to see how dangerously close she is.
When the snake opens its giant maw to try and eat Shoto, she makes a move. Her ostrich runs right into its mouth, stomping on its insides as it does. Once it gets inside, Kotori dismisses her jutsu. The ostrich turns into a clump of feathers.
[Feather Kunai Barrage]
The snake reels in pain as its insides are pierced by the sharp feathers.
Yokumaru watches on as his friends take on the cobra with such determination, gripping onto his harness. 'They're not even remotely hesitating. Meanwhile I'm back here…' He bites down on his lip hard enough to draw out blood. 'Damnit.'
It's then that he notices another entity approaching from behind the trees. Slightly smaller than the cobra they're currently fighting but still an impressive size in its own right, a second cobra emerges and spits out venom from its fangs.
"KOTORI!" Yokumaru calls out a warning but it comes too late.
Kotori manages to turn her head around enough to see the venom coming at her but not soon enough to react. It hits her in the back, seeping through her clothes and sizzling as it touches her skin.
She screams in pain as she hits the floor.
[CRYSTAL STYLE: DIVINE PATHWAY]
In a rage, Yokumaru activates his jutsu without even thinking. A series of crystals jut out from his position, forming in a herringbone pattern and growing ever larger and larger as they go forward.
When they reach the snake, it tries to slither away but their increasing size trap it in place.
Seeing this happen, Shoto acts.
[Earth Style: Stone Bamboo Shoot]
A spike of rock emerges right under the trapped snake's head from between the gaps in Yokumaru's crystals and pierces right into its head. The snake struggles for a bit before going limp.
Kotori hisses in pain but picks herself up. "Can't let you guys have all the fun."
"Don't push yourself." Shoto warns her.
"I'm fine." She says, shaking hands betraying her words. She goes through her signature hand signs.
[Aviary: Hoatzin]
The colourful bird materializes in front of her with its darker top, orange underbelly, and wild comb of hair.
"I don't think the stinky bird is going to help you."
Kotori grins. "Just watch. This is a trick Shizune taught me."
The hoatzin flies toward the cobra to put itself in a better position. When it gets close enough, it flaps its wings, the air around it refracting from the very stench that covers its body.
"You better cover your nose." Kotori warns.
[Ninja Art: Poison Mist]
From the hoatzin's body, it emanates a purple cloud of poison and uses its wing flap to direct it at the cobra. The cloud envelops the cobra's entire body and while it does manage to get out of it, it's already taken in poison in its system.
[Aviary: Ostrich]
"Shoto's let's finish it." She declares.
"Right." He rushes toward it.
Both Shoto and the Ostrich jump high into the air, ready to come crashing down with their full might.
[Ninja Art: Crushing Impact]
[Heel Drop]
The force from both jutsu sends the snake crashing into the ground, unmoving.
With the dust clearing and both cobras lying dormant, Yokumaru immediately runs to Kotori to check up on her burnt back.
"Are you alright?" He worries over her.
[Mystical Palm]
"Yeah, I'm fine." She winces but bears a grin.
Shoto walks over and crosses his arms. "That wouldn't have happened if you'd acted earlier."
Yokumaru lowers his head. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't yell at him." Kotori puffs out her cheeks. "You did good, Yoku." She looks back to him with a smile.
At this point Naruto walks down into the clearing with them. "What happened?"
"Sensei…." Yokumaru looks back with worry as he heals Kotori's injuries. "I'm… I'm sorry…"
"It's alright, dad. I wasn't being careful." She keeps up her smile despite the pain.
Yokumaru lowers his head again. 'Shoto's right. If I wasn't so…'
Naruto kneels by Kotori to inspect her wounds and places a hand on Yokumaru's head. "I see. You all did your best, right? That's good."
"Yeah…" Yokumaru nods meekly. 'I didn't, though. Not really.'
"How's it looking, doc?" Kotori tries to keep the mood lighter.
"I think I can heal it with what I have." Yokumaru releases the [Mystical Palm] and takes off one of the scrolls attached to his harness.
He unrolls it on the ground behind Kotori, revealing the complex jutsu formulae written on it. He places his arms on the scroll and they all watch as the writing moves and spreads out of the scroll and covers Kotori's back.
Naruto whistles, clearly impressed. "Didn't know you could do that."
"It's for more serious injuries. Sakura-sensei said it was recently devised as a portable healing station. It's nowhere near as strong as what they have in hospitals, though."
"You're pretty awesome, Yoku!"
"So what do we do now, shisho?" Shoto asks.
"We wait for Yokumaru to heal Kotori and then your arms, and we move to find the rest of them. I expect you guys to take down the rest of them even faster."
"Yes, shisho."
Naruto pats Kotori on the head, both giving each other a silent assurance, and sits to act as lookout while the kids rest up.
Hidden Leaf Village
As Team Nine returns from their very first C-rank mission, pleased with their work, they of course make their way to the missions assignment offices to hand in their report and sign off on a job well done.
As they approach the building, they actually see Team Five coming from the opposite direction, about as exhausted as them from all the running around.
"Yo!" Naruto waves to them. "You guys just get back, too?"
Shino nods. "Indeed. We've accomplished our missions successfully and come to report it. I presume the same goes for you."
"You bet!" Naruto gives a thumbs up.
As the two teams stop by the main gate to have a chat, Kotori keeps eyeing the front door of the building. Kashiwama follows her gaze. She slides a step toward the door and he does the same. She begins power walking to the door with him right by her side.
As Kotori speeds up her step as they approach the building, so does Kashiwama. Kashiwama speeds up his step, so does Kotori. In the end, they both end up running at top speed parallel to each other.
"Aren't those two tired?" Shoto groans as she rubs his sore shoulder.
"What's even the rush…" Genzai looks on as their forms hide behind the front doors. "We only just got back."
"Oh," Naruto laughs, "Kotori decided to make this a race as to which team finished their first C-rank mission first."
"So she and Kashiwama made a bet all on their own?" Jiriki asks.
Naruto scratches his chin. "No, I don't think Kashiwama knew."
"Then what's he running for?" Genzai sighs.
"Must be some kind of idiot-telepathy." Jiriki admires their stupidity.
It seems like Kotori and Kashiwama entered the room at the same time, causing a ruckus that ended up with them being reprimanded as their teams entered the room, long after they did.
In the end, neither team actually finished their mission first, as Naruto and Shino handed their reports together.
-x-
With that out of the way, the kids run out in a rush, excited to share their stories about how their C-rank missions went. As always, their place for meeting and talking is Ramen Ichiraku where Yokumaru's mom is currently on shift.
The sensei, meanwhile, have a chat of their own up on a rooftop, away from the kids. Naruto catches Shino up on how the kids did and Shino does the same.
"So," Naruto leans against the railing, "How many stragglers did you miss?"
"Please, Naruto, I wouldn't allow any such stragglers to exist." Shino states. "My kikaichū were thorough in their hunt."
Naruto raises a brow. "So how come you agreed to stay if you got 'em all?"
"I suppose I needed a reminder that our duties extend beyond our missions. Our duties as people, as opposed to shinobi."
"So you just wanted to help them as much as Kashiwama, huh?"
"Precisely." Shino turns to look at Naruto although his glasses make it difficult as always to gauge his expression. "He reminds me a lot of you, in a way. Willing and eager to help those who need it. It's where he thrives, in fact."
"Yeah, he's a good kid." Naruto smiles.
"I feel like you just complimented yourself by extension." Shino says.
Naruto laughs and pats him on the back. "Come on, let's go treat our kids." He hops off the rooftop.
Shino chuckles lightly and follows him down.