Speed was of the essence, and stealth was close behind it. Fortunately, most shinobi were capable of both, due to extensive training in the Academy and, after that, a very strong need during missions. Ninja who couldn't keep out of sight and unheard tended to die fairly quickly.

Of course, they happened to have one of the biggest exceptions to that rule in their team now.

"... you're gonna love it, kid! Best ramen in... in the whole world!" he said, though he was kind enough to keep his voice to a low-whisper.

Aoimaru nodded, though this might've been because his head was starting to grow heavy for him to carry, just like the rest of him. As expected, he knew how to tree-hop, as most Academy Students were quickly taught such. But he was still only ten years old and very tired. Plus, he seemed less comfortable running on land (or up in the trees) than he did on water.

Not surprising, mused Kurenai, considering what he is.

A light gasp came from the rear of the group, where Hinata was, and Kurenai dropped into a crouch on the next tree branch, instantly alert. Hyuuga's were rarely surprised. She raised her hand, signaling a stop, and the others quickly gathered around her.

"Five of them," she said, her Byakugan activated, her gaze intense. "No, six," she amended. "Spread out behind us... moving fast. They'll overtake us in under an hour," she said, after a rough calculation.

"Should we set up an ambush?" asked Shino, suggesting Team Eight's common strategy with such a situation. "Or continue to run?" They had specific mission instructions, after all, and maybe they could shake their pursuers.

Kurenai bit her lip, frowning, deep in thought as she glanced about. If Kiba had been here, they'd've just flat out run, relying on their eyes and ears to keep them away from pursuers. But they didn't, and Aoimaru looked dead on his feet. And Naruto...

Then she hit on an idea.

"Here's the plan," she said. No time to second-guess now, just hope that Naruto was up to the task. She knew Shino and Hinata would be. Her faith in her team was unshakable.

Aoimaru, however, might be a problem.

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The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon when they were finally overtaken. Hinata was keeping her eyes open the whole while, and just moments before their pursuers arrived as one the shinobi team dropped down onto the ground into a small clearing and turned to wait. Arms lay at their sides or crossed in front of their chests, no weapons were drawn, and their stance, while tense, was defensive only. Aoimaru stood close by Kurenai, practically standing in her shadow for protection.

It didn't take long.

In Konoha, fog was an infrequent occurrence, but this was far from common, ordinary fog that rose up. This was a thick white mist that obscured vision and made it difficult to see more than ten feet in front of you. And in moments, the Konoha shinobi were surrounded by the thick stuff.

Naruto felt a chill run up and down his spine. Last time he'd seen mist this thick was during his very first mission to the Wave Country, where he'd run up against an unexpected and surprisingly deadly opponent.

He maintained an outer cool, however, though his hands clenched into fists as he prepared himself.

"Come on out," said Kurenai calmly, crimson gaze glancing left and then right. "We know you're there."

As if that was a cue, shadows suddenly shifted through the mist, breaking away. They moved quickly, none of them could keep up with them properly until they emerged from the mist into the clearing. Six of them in a circle around the Konoha shinobi. All uniformly dressed in dark gray flak jackets, nearly black in the dim light, and each one of them wore a pale white mask over their faces, obscuring their features from sight. Several were armed with an assortment of weapons. A chain-flail, a pair of wicked looking axes, a serrated sword. The others were unarmed but still looked deadly.

Kurenai was mildly surprised. These weren't Akatsuki, she realized with a start. They were Hidden Mist Hunter-nin.

Fortunately, that was alright, her plan was still foolproof.

One of them, an unarmed man who was a head shorter than his compatriots but a lot more muscular, stepped forward. He appeared to be the leader of this squadron.

"Surrender," he stated in no uncertain terms, his voice echoing hollow from behind his pale mask.

"If we do, what guarantees do we have that we'll be allowed to leave alive?" asked Kurenai lightly.

"We are just after the boy," he replied, pointing out Aoimaru, who shrank back fearfully behind Kurenai. "Give him to us, and you may leave. That offer is good for the next five minutes only," he added, taking a step back into the circle of death that surrounded them. As one, the Hunter-nin tensed, ready to attack the instant the order was given.

However, there was no need. "Deal," replied Kurenai, without any hesitation. Then, without warning, her arm snapped out and she lightly slammed the edge of her palm against Aoimaru's neck, rendering him unconscious. He fell forward as she caught him by the scruff of his shirt.

To say that Shino, Hinata, and Naruto were surprised was a bit of an understatement.

"Hey! What're you...?" Naruto started. A crimson glare cut him off.

"This boy isn't who we thought he was," she replied, her voice low and deadly. "We are not going to risk our lives for a stranger. If giving him up means my team and you make it back to Konoha alive, then I will gladly do it," she stated.

"Very wise," observed the Hunter-nin leader.

"Come and get him then," stated Kurenai. "He's yours, and we'll go our own way." She held Aoimaru up lightly by his shirt, offering him to the Hidden Mist Hunter-nin. Their leader and one of his subordinates, Chain-Flail, began to make their way forward to collect.

That, however, was when they sprung their own trap.

Although the Konoha Genin had tried to keep an eye on as many of their targets as possible, they had overlooked the possibility of more shinobi hidden in the mists. They assumed all six of their enemies stood around them in an impressive circle. Not so.

A seventh was hiding up in the trees directly behind them, and had palmed a number of sharp needles, tipped with poison. He drew back his hand, silent as a shadow, and hurled the needles with pinpoint accuracy. Tenten could not have made a better shot. One needle struck Kurenai directly in the back of the neck, the other hit Aoimaru below his knee, where his shorts ended.

The Hunter smirked behind his mask. The Genin would be easy to take care now that...

Poof. Just like that, Aoimaru and Kurenai vanished in twin puffs of smoke.

"WHAT!"

"Sucker!"

As the Hunter watched in a mixture of shock and horror, the blonde Genin thrust his hand out behind him, palm up. And the other boy in the sunglasses and the white-eyed girl ran up behind him, filling their own hands with pulsating blue chakra, which they fed into his hand. It swirled into a whirling ball of chakra. As the ball of energy reached fruition, the second boy and girl were engulfed in a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, they looked exactly like the blonde.

Henge no Jutsu -and- Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! They'd set up the trap, but the Konoha twerps had used it to set a trap for them!

Still totally stunned, the Hunter-nin was barely able to throw up his arms in time to block the blonde Genin's attack. And that was as useful as holding up a piece of paper to block a tidal wave. Naruto's Rasengan crashed full-force into him and sent the Hunter spinning away off into the distance, where he crashed into a tree with enough force to tear clear through it and past it, skidding along the ground and out of sight in the mist. No way he would be getting up anytime soon.

That was when the real Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai made their move.

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The seventh shinobi quickly palmed another set of throwing needles, again tipped with lethal poison, and took aim for the three of them. Even if two were still Kage Bunshin he'd be able to get them all and take out the boy once and for all. He reared back his hand.

"Kikaichuu no Jutsu!"

The Hunter-nin's head snapped up just in time to see a literal wall of black insects bearing down on him. He gave a scream, hurling his needles with reckless abandon, but they couldn't hurt the swarm. It didn't help much as he was quickly overwhelmed, his chakra sucked clean out of his body by the destruction insects.

Shino dropped down into the clearing, pausing only to tear the needles out of his jacket where they'd hit him, passing clear through the bugs to his physical body. He could feel they were tipped with poison, but his destruction insects would be quick to neutralize it, he hoped.

Bugs began streaming from under his jacket, swarming out of his sleeves and from his high neckline and writhing about, itching for a fight. He didn't disappoint. Nor did the Hunter-nin nearest him, who came charging at him, swinging his chain-flail end over end. Shino dodged aside, hurling himself back into the brush, but the Hunter was right behind him. He hurled his weapon directly at Shino, and the chain wrapped itself around his arms, preventing him from moving. The Hunter-nin grinned behind his mask, but like before, his grin of triumph became a gasp of shock as Shino's body fell away, revealing another trick.

"Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu," remarked Shino casually from behind him. The Hunter, enraged, turned to see his quarry standing less than a yard away from him, and brought up his weapon to bare again. But, unfortunately, he'd neglected to get a proper look at it. If he had, he would've noticed all of the insects from Shino's Bunshin had fallen onto it, crawling up along the length of the chain. He only noticed when they were already halfway up his arms, and by then, it was far too late.

Shino watched him dispassionately from behind his sunglasses as he dropped down to his knee, panting softly for breath, his expression unreadable as the hunter's mask.

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Kurenai was boxed in, cut off by one retreat by a tree against her back and two opponents in front of her. But she was completely calm and collected.

"Mizu no Muchi," intoned the first of the two ninjas, stretching out his bare hand towards the ground. A small puddle of water was found there, condensation from the mist. It was all he needed. The water leapt up and slid easily into his hand, and remained there in a physical form as a long whip composed of water.

The second one, the only female Hunter-nin in the squad, formed a quick series of hand-seals before her. "Magen, Narakumi no Jutsu," she cried, her voice a shriek that grated on the ears.

Both attacks came at her simultaneously, and Kurenai was forced to roll backwards to avoid the water-whip, springing into a backflip to land on the tree branches above. About this time, the female Hunter's genjutsu hit her, and she staggered, her gaze vacant, under it's spell. By now, the female surmised, she'd be bombarded by horrific images and sounds and wouldn't know up from down. She would be helpless within the power of the demonic illusion.

"Now!" she cried out to her comrade.

The whip lashed out again, intend to wrap around Kurenai's midsection and restrain her, leaving her helpless to the two hunter-nin...

... but it slid right through her as she vanished, insubstantial as smoke.

"Amateurs," remarked Kurenai, from her real position, a few tree branches up. Both Hunter-nin spotted her at the same time, but before either could react she formed a quick series of hand-seals and performed her own technique.

"Jubaku Satsu."

The tree they stood on was then no longer still, but active, and tree branches wrapped around the two Hunter-nins arms and legs, pinning them down, despite their valiant struggles. In moments they were completely trapped, and Kurenai dropped down lightly between them on the tree branch.

Neither of them -actually- were caught up in gigantic, mobile tree branches, of course. It was all in their heads. Genjutsu was like that. But she was a real master of it, not a half-trained amateur. She'd seen right through her tricks, and turned them back on them.

With a quick, decisive movement, she grabbed up two kunai and stabbed them both, ending their miserable careers as Hunter-nin.

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Author's Notes:

Any and all Jutsu are italicized, and can be found on Leafninja if you're not familiar with them, as I'm not providing translations. Japanese names kept intact doubly to A, make them easier to find on Leafninja, and B, sound thirty percent cooler.