Chapter 10: Team Five
Today was the day we'd finally get to know our new sensei. It was a good thing that medical techniques were so apt at healing what would otherwise be life threatening injuries in such a short time. Overdrawing your chakra actually took longer to recover from than getting stabbed in the back.
In any case, I managed to show up to school the very next day, walking in behind Naruto and watching gleefully as my fellow graduates baulked at his proudly displayed headband.
"Why are you here!?" shouted a group of extras.
I chuckled for a moment when someone smacked into me from behind, eliciting a slight grunt of pain. I gulped when I recognized who it was, "Whoops, sorry Sasuke."
He rubbed at his nose and huffed in agitation, before snorting as he shook his head.
"Laughter? From an Uchiha?"I asked. "That bump must have really rattled your brain."
The barest hint of a smirk painted his lips when he rolled his eyes. "I just found it amusing how you can only land a hit against me on accident," the saucy punk replied.
Naruto pushed past me and got up in Sasuke's face. "Bastard, don't say that! Satoya's a way better shinobi than you!"
Aw man come on, we both know that's not true. You're getting the groupies riled up.
"Ehh, you don't have to say that, Naruto," I said with a nervous chuckle, trying to defuse the situation before the slowly amassing fangirls could get involved.
"Hah, as if! Sasuke-kun can beat both of you up at the same time!" shouted one of said fangirls. Curses.
"Oh yeah!? I just learned an awesome new Jutsu," Naruto retorted. "There's no way I'll lose against him now!"
Stop digging yourself deeper, dammit!
These two truly were incorrigibly antagonistic. No matter how much more social Sasuke was compared to his original broodiness.
I couldn't see Sasuke's face, but I could tell he was seething with anger as he challengingly walked even deeper into Naruto's personal space. Somehow I feel like I've seen this before…
"Now kiss!" Akuma suddenly said from behind them, pushing the two the rest of the way toward each other while cackling madly.
I gasped in shock. The surrounding crowd of fangirls collectively desaturated and gaped in stunned silence. Someone, Hinata?, snorted in the background. Moments later a wave of killing intent was projected onto Naruto, Akuma, and myself.
"ARGH, MY MOUTH IS ROTTING!" Naruto shouted, blissfully unaware of the looming death.
"Haha. We're in danger," I announced, turning to Akuma. "Why'd you have to go and do that?"
She peered at our audience, lightning crackling in the background. "Maybe not my smartest move."
Thankfully, Sasuke came to our rescue, glaring at the crowd. "I don't need you to get revenge in my stead. I can fight my own battles."
"Yeah, kick his ass, Sasuke!" Keiko said, the rest nodding in encouragement.
"Later," Sasuke hissed, before walking to the sink and rinsing out his mouth.
Iruka entered the classroom sometime afterwards and launched into another one of his superfluous speeches, explaining the three-person squad system, which I honestly assumed everyone to have already known about. I only lent him half an ear in case he announced anything unexpected, but it turned out to be for naught.
"We tried to balance each team's strength," Iruka said, finally getting to the point.
The only team that explanation makes the slightest amount of sense for is the original team 7.
And even if it somehow had truly been the case in the original timeline, the teams would have to be different now than they had been in the manga—which, if the first four groups of no-name teams were any indication, they were not.
"Team five, Ibui Satoya, Nakao Akuma and Ogura Yuu."
None of us exploded into cheers, but I could see Yuu's shoulders relaxing and Akuma grinning at the two of us. I wasn't exactly surprised about the result, but definitely felt a bit of relief hearing it spoken aloud. It would have been idiotic to break up three students who already practiced together every weekend after all.
"Team Seven, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke—"
"YEAH!" Sakura squealed in delight.
"—and Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka finished, making both Sasuke and Naruto stare balefully at each other.
Alright, that's another one down for the count.
Just like team 7, the rest of the announcements went exactly as expected, though Shino and Kiba both gave strangely disgruntled sighs when they heard they were on the same team as Hinata. I hadn't really spoken to her, but I thought she was sweet in the anime. I supposed she beat them up one too many times in spars. I could attest she was harder to handle than Sasuke sometimes.
By the end of the team assignments we were told to each enter a designated classroom in the early afternoon, so we could have an introduction with our future team leaders.
I was tense with anticipation on who my future trainer would be, so I decided on an impromptu gathering to calm my nerves. I told Naruto to bring friends and took off to grab our picnic blanket and some food. I may have underestimated how many people would be showing up.
I should have seen this coming…
As with how the friendship group got started, Naruto invited Kiba, who invited Shino, who invited Shikamaru, who… you get the picture. Save for Sakura and Ino, all rookie twelve members were gathered on the grassy hills near the Academy.
"We'll have to squeeze together a bit," I said after spreading the blanket out, "I hope none of you care too much about personal space."
Akuma smirked at Naruto and Sasuke. "Petition to move these two next to each other."
"Denied!" they both shouted in tandem.
"Why don't you sit next to him instead," Naruto added. "I think Sasuke would like the chance for payback."
Akuma blanched. "I'm already sitting next to Yuu, right Yuu?"
He feigned ignorance. "What? I assumed I would sit between Shikamaru and Satoya."
"Just take a random seat for now," I piped in. "We'll also need more food so I'm going to come back and sit wherever later."
Hinata shot her hand up. "I'll go."
"Huh?" I glanced at her. "You want to go shopping with me?"
"I can go on my own," she clarified. "Stay with your friends."
Ah, I get it. He was feeling shy around a large group of people and needed an excuse to get some breathing room. I should have considered this might be uncomfortable for her.
Maybe I could ease her into the group a bit. Going shopping could be a good opportunity to get to know her. "How about we just go together. That way there's more space for now. We can also get another blanket on the way."
I might have heard Hinata click her tongue, but she agreed. Our walk along the market streets was filled with awkward silence. I tried a few times to initiate conversation, but she only gave simple one word responses. Even when asked how she felt about her team, she just said, "It was bound to happen."
"Alright Hinata, what gives?" I finally asked, having enough of this weird tension. "I'm trying my best here."
She gave me a dull look. "You don't need to include me in your circle, Satoya-san. I'm fine being left out."
I furrowed my brows. "Weren't you invited by Kiba? Nobody is forcing you here."
"Do you truly believe his clan would not pressure him into forming relationships with another clan heir?" she questioned. "Our camaraderie is a farce. Unlike you, with whom people have no ulterior motives, I am only called upon to keep up appearances."
My eyebrows raised so high up they would have flown away if it were physically possible. "Nobody's just"—I shook my head—"Look, I don't know about the rest, but you can trust me when I say I want you there with us, alright?"
"Whatever you say, Satoya-san."
She obviously didn't buy it. I dropped the subject anyway. There was no use trying to convince someone of something when they wouldn't take your word. The remainder of the shopping trip felt even more awkward than it had to begin with.
Upon our return, I could already hear Naruto from the base of the hill. "It's so unfair! You all get to stay among friends, while I get this bastard showoff and his know-it-all fangirl!"
He picked up that word from me. I couldn't be prouder. Hinata and I stepped into view of the crowd just in time to see Sasuke's red-eyed glare.
"You're telling me, dumbass," he retorted. "You think I'm any happier than you are with this outcome?"
"It's perfectly logical," Shino said, "Why, you ask? Because Sakura and Sasuke are the top scorers in our class, while Naruto barely managed to pass thanks to special circumstances."
Naruto noticed our arrival, and pointed beside me. "Oh come on! Just because she's good on written tests doesn't make her the strongest. If it were really about being top Kunoichi, then how come Hinata isn't on our team? It's obviously just an excuse."
Hinata was surely about to downplay herself, but Kiba chimed in first. "Yeah, there's no way your dads didn't set it up so you'd get put on the same team." He gestured to Shikamaru and Choji to back up his statement.
Shikamaru spoke up, "What I would personally like to know is how you even managed to graduate in the first place. What special circumstances was Shino talking about?"
And how did Shino even hear about that?
"Well..." Naruto started, "I already told Kiba on the weekend, and Satoya was there when it happened."
Kiba grinned in delight. "Yeah, he showed off this sweet clone technique, what'd you say it was called again?"
"Kage bunshin," Naruto declared. "And Iruka sensei told me it was an A-rank technique! Way cooler than anything Sasuke can do."
Sasuke crossed his arms. "Hrmpf, show it off once and I'll be just as capable of using it as you."
"I'd like to see you try!" Naruto challenged, forming his hands into a cross. "Tajuu Kage Bun—"
"Hold on a second!" I quickly interrupted. "Please refrain from flooding the place with copies. Also, Sasuke, you can't just copy this technique. It has an insane chakra requirement."
To make up for my interruption, I let Naruto recount the events of the last night, even playing up how badass he was, bravely rescuing Iruka and myself from the traitorous Mizuki and totally crushing him up with his horde of copies. We both conveniently left out the bit about him having stolen a scroll of forbidden techniques.
You better remember this when I ask you to teach me.
The rest of our lunch break went by quite swimmingly if I do say so myself. We all returned to class in good spirits, eagerly awaiting our teachers. Asuma was the first to show up, followed closely by Kurenai. After that came a few I'd never heard of before, and eventually.
"Team seven, your teacher will be Kakashi Hatake," Iruka announced. My heart skipped a beat when the man in question entered the room in all his poofy silver-haired glory.
Kakashi took a look around, scratched his chin, and walked straight towards Akuma, Yuu and myself. "You seem decent enough. Let's go."
"Hey, that's team five!" Naruto exclaimed.
Kakashi slowly turned in place, his half-lidded eye resting on Naruto for a good fifteen seconds. "Hmm, no. That can't be right," he said. "I was told team seven had the class's most competent."
"Hey!" Sakura and Naruto shouted while Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Kakashi-san," Iruka groaned. "Please don't make things difficult."
The jonin sighed in defeat, slumping his shoulders. "Oh dear. I suppose I have no choice. I'll have to go complain to the Hokage later. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, meet me on the roof in five minutes."
He disappeared before his team could react to what he'd said.
"That bastard knew!" Naruto yelped.
"You better leave quickly if you want to get to the roof on time," Iruka advised, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.
My own team's real teacher showed up about half an hour later, apologising profusely for having let us wait so long. His clothes were fairly standard for konoha jonin—a green flak jacket and black undershirt. He wore his headband unfurled into a blue bandana. A narrow fringe of brown hair hung above his nose. The bags under his eyes and pale complexion gave the impression he was rather sickly.
He eyed us three, coughing lightly as we stared right back at him. "So, you guys are my team," he said, unsure whether it was a statement or a question. "My name is Hayate Gekko. I'm a tokubetsu jonin and specialise in swordsmanship and reconnaissance."
I could sense the others' apprehension give way to excitement as soon as Akuma and Yuu heard about our teacher's forte. It seemed like more thought went into the selection than I had anticipated at first.
Why in the world was Kurenai selected for a tracking team then?
Perhaps this Hayate fellow just wasn't a very competent teacher. If his continued silence was any indication, the man had no idea what to do with his students.
I took charge and raised my hand.
"Yes, Satoya-san?"
"As you know, I'm Satoya Ibui," I said, "My hobbies are drawing, reading and cooking. I dislike… people betraying my trust. And I dream of retiring with a loving family in the future. Why did you decide to become an instructor, Hayate-san?"
The jonin noted down my personal information and answered, "I applied as a jonin instructor so I can practise dealing with kids." The slightest blush tinged his cheeks. "As for my likes… I can't come up with anything I love more than my partner."
Aww, how cute.
Yuu quickly stepped in with an introduction of his own. "My name is Yuu Ogura. I like fashionable clothes, shopping for interesting wares and spending time with my friends. I dislike stupid people, seeing my friends get injured, and my friends making stupid decisions that get them injured."
Ouch, the triple threat aimed directly at my soul.
"My dream is to travel the world and uncover unforeseen sights and treasures," Yuu concluded.
Akuma barely waited a second before starting her own introduction. "Akuma Nakao. I like forging, fighting and debating. I dislike stupid teammates who act haughty just to annoy me and people telling me how to live my life. I'll be the greatest Swordmaster in the five nations and forge blades to rival the seven swordsmen of the mist!"
Damn this just confirmed it. She really is the Naruto of our group.
Which meant judging by the scale of our dreams… Oh god, I really am the Sakura of our squad. I'd accept that truth over my cold dead body.
Hayate coughed to get our attention. "Now that that's out of the way, come meet me at training ground three."
Hayate had a slight smirk on his face after he said that. Before I could question why, the sickly-looking man took a note out of Kakashi's book and flickered out of sight.
"As you may have already guessed, the academy exam isn't truly all it takes to be accepted as a genin of Konoha. Frankly, after the wars we don't have the manpower to occupy so many high ranking ninja in teaching positions even if we wanted to," Hayate explained, "Typically it is expected that only 3 out of nine teams pass this follow-up test."
I looked him straight in the eyes as I asked the question that had been nagging the back of my mind this whole semester, "How is that possibly fair? If I recall correctly, three out of nine teams have future clan heirs in them. By all accounts, you might as well fail us right now."
Yuu furrowed his brows in contemplation, the wrinkles deepening when he concluded the same. Akuma only glared at me as if it were somehow my fault.
"You would be correct in your assumption, Satoya-san. However, just because it is expected does not mean it is mandatory. Though to be honest, it is indeed rather unusual for a fully civilian team to pass, as they do not have the same training options as the larger clans."
Yeah and the unspoken part is that those same clans would throw a hissy fit if their special kids didn't pass.
"Well then bring it on, sensei!" Akuma exclaimed, "Whaddya want us to do so you'll accept us as your team?"
In response he flashed us a challenging grin and explained, "You have one hour. Capture me if you can," before disappearing in a puff of chakra smoke.
Shadow clone, huh? Guess every Konoha jonin and their mother knows that one…
The other two were a bit more befuddled than me. "Satoya, isn't this the technique that Naruto mentioned?"
"The very same," I responded.
"Wasn't it forbidden?" asked Akuma with a sceptically raised brow.
"Well, the variant he used summoned hundreds of clones," I explained, "As I understand it, expending so much chakra could kill the caster."
"Huh, I guess it makes sense," she said, frowning. "Anyway, what in the heck are we supposed to do now?"
What indeed? Hayate could be anywhere, though I found the forest right next to us was the most likely contender. Unless the guy was ordered to give us an impossible test…
"Okay you two, we need a plan. He won't make it easy for us, but I doubt he'll make it impossible," I explained, already noticing the gears in Yuu's eyes as the beginnings of a plan brewed in his mind.
"You two must have noticed it too," he cryptically remarked, "our teacher's issue. It is most fortunate that we weren't forbidden from leaving the training grounds."
What is he… oh.
"How devious," I responded, "We could probably get just the thing back at the forge."
"Yeah that sounds great and all," Akuma added, "but abusing his Asthma isn't a plan. How are we gonna find him in the first place? That forest is huge!"
Huge was an overstatement. Then again, everything seemed small when compared to Hashirama's summoned monstrosities. Finding Hayate, a jonin whose specialty was reconnaissance—ergo infiltration—would be no easy feat. I doubted my chakra sense would be of much help against him at long range.
"What if we don't have to find him?" I question, "Why don't we just bait him out of hiding?"
"How the heck are we gonna bait him out? Threaten his girlfriend?" Akuma challenged.
"Not quite," I replied, "But you're right about giving him a scare."
"And how would we scare him?" Yuu asked. "I highly doubt that we can come up with something that he'd fear enough to override his caution."
"Don't be so sceptical," I responded, "There's something that every teacher fears. Probably every adult who's had to look after kids, actually."
Perhaps I was being a bit too abrasive. From a kid's point of view, you rarely gave these things much consideration.
"Akuma, what would bring your father into the room more quickly than anything?" I asked, trying to lead their thoughts in a certain direction.
"Uh, I guess if he heard kissing noises?" came her unthinking reply. Her cheeks flushed pink moments after what she'd spoken registered in her mind. "Uhh, I mean—"
"Alright no, stop," I interrupted. "I'll just go out and say it before we delve any further into that rabbit hole. We need to make him believe we're in danger."
"We can't just spar, it'd be too obvious," Yuu stated. "Going at each other with killing intent might get him to step in, but I find it dubious to imagine passing his test that way."
"Well then; How about I let you in on my dazzlingly brilliant idea?" I announced. It was time to reveal my trump card.
Hayate Gekko
Hayate smiled when his clone's memories came rushing in. This team was certainly a colourful bunch. They handled the introductions without requiring much input on his part, and seemed unphased by the added stipulations before getting accepted as genin. He doubted the fresh graduates were aware just how difficult his test would be if he truly chose to give it his all.
The forest's shifting shadows and bustling critters made for an ideal hiding spot. Therefore the majority of Hayate's prep time had actually been spent on making things easier for his prospective students. A few snapped twigs, footprints, even drops of blood were added to select locations, emulating the scene of an injured target's harried escape. With obvious hints to his passing in place, all he had left to do was lie in wait and evaluate.
It took almost forty minutes for them to arrive.
At first, he believed they'd rushed off into town to search for him. That thought was quickly discarded as soon as he rationalised they must have been smart enough to figure out he wouldn't give them an impossible task. Were they trying to find colleagues who could give them some advice? It was unlikely they'd get much information out of his fellow jonin. They must have been getting some additional equipment.
Yuu, who had been wearing a long flowing robe earlier, was now dressed in a short, knee-length kimono with a light armour vest strapped over his torso. He had a tanto holstered at his side alongside multiple pouches, presumably filled with various ninja tools.
The frizzy-haired Akuma was dressed in heavier gear. A flak jacket was draped over a mesh armour shirt, with metal shoulder and knee pads added in for extra protection. She also had a katana strapped to her back.
"Man, where the heck is Satoya!?" Akuma shouted. "He's the one who told us to meet back here by now! We need him to—"
Her friend shushed her before she could continue babbling about their plans. At least one of them was covert. Yuu mumbled something that Hayate couldn't hear, and they began setting up a few traps. Hayate mentally subtracted a few points from their score. Starting a mission despite a handicap would be dangerous in active duty. Then again, they knew he wouldn't truly hurt them, just like he knew it was not fair to assume they'd take risky missions if they were less aware of such a fact.
Let's see what they came up with. They've taken nearly forty minutes to prepare, after all.
Akuma pulled up a small sheet or parchment and wrote something down as she walked through the forest. Yuu followed close behind her, keeping a lookout for potential hiding spots. Eventually Akuma raised up one of her fingers in a strange hand sign. She must have noticed something.
Smart. They invented a code I can't read.
Even so, he wouldn't make the capture too easy. The test was meant to examine teamwork and strategy. He'd get out of just enough traps to see if proper contingencies were in place, before letting himself get captured. Of course, if the third never showed, they'd automatically fail the teamwork portion.
He watched them follow his trail a bit further, Akuma scribbling down a few additional things, before they suddenly froze. Another signal, and Yuu started laying traps in a perimeter around a location decidedly not where Hayate was hiding. He quickly reevaluated his measure of the team's capability.
As the minutes went by, Hayate became more and more baffled. Yes, that Yuu kid was quite creative with his trapping. Everything from tripwires, to snares, to sinkholes. But that didn't change the fact that they were in all the wrong places!
He'd already determined that the Akuma girl must have some kind of scouting ability, as she dutifully led her companion around a specific spot, making sure they couldn't get spotted. Still, whatever she noticed had been a complete false alarm.
Hayate had no choice. Originally, he'd vowed not to use his chakra-enhanced hearing to make it a bit harder on himself, but he simply needed to know what in the world those two were planning.
"Are you sure we haven't been noticed?" whispered Yuu to his colleague. "He proclaimed himself an infiltration expert."
"Yes, I'm sure!" she hissed back, "We never got into line of sight, and he hasn't moved from his spot! If he has some kind of sensing ability, then he's not using it."
At least her assessment was half correct. Not that he'd ever engage them unless they were about to spring their trap.
"If you say so," Yuu replied with a shrug, "My preparations are nearly complete anyway."
The girl gave him a thumbs up, and stored away her writing supplies. Yuu's frown deepened.
"I don't think we can do this without Satoya," he said, "Where is that treacherous coward, anyway?"
"Probably getting chewed out for some prank of his," Akuma growled, drawing her blade from the holster on her back, "Just typical that he'd miss this."
She then wandered across to the other side of their encirclement, silently counting down.
They are about to be very disappointed.
Yuu flung kunai in the direction of an inert shrub. They had explosive tags attached to them and promptly blew up, conjuring a spectacular ball of flame. Hayate sighed, but just then his breath caught in his throat.
A silhouette. Something jumped out from the shrub. No, not something. Someone.
Said someone hopped from the brush and straight into a web of ninja wire. Reacting in just the last second, the man unsheathed his lengthy blade and sliced the wire apart. The attack looked rather clumsy, and Hayate quickly surmised whoever it was only knew the bare essentials of swordsmanship.
As the smoke cleared, Hayate sharpened his eyes as he heard the distinctly male voice hack out a dry laugh, "You're going to have to try a little harder."
That man was...
Me? No. That can't be, it must be a transformation. Of course, it is. That's where the third teammate went, they're trying to bait me out.
"You must realise I let you find me, right?" the transformed Satoya questioned.
Akuma snarled, "Then you're an idiot for giving us so long to prepare!" She then shot up from the ground and ferociously slashed at her friend. It would never land against someone of Hayate's calibre. A freshly graduated genin on the other hand...
That looks dangerous. She's overselling her act.
Their blades clashed a few times before Satoya was nearly speared in the back by Yuu's ambush. Satoya dashed into the air to escape the attack and Yuu threw a Kunai after him. It looked like he'd whiffed completely, yet his intentions became clear when the branch Satoya landed on snapped in half along a preplaced cut.
Akuma growled as she launched after him, swords colliding mid air, pushing the falling Satoya into a tripwire that triggered a hail of Kunai. Satoya then pulled off the miraculous stunt of flinging himself out of the way by yanking at the tripwire with his legs.
Yuu tried another slash from the side, barely parried by the transformed Satoya's sword. A short exchange followed that highlighted just how outclassed Satoya was. Akuma and Yuu worked like clockwork, each movement flowing into the next. It was quite impressive for academy students.
Hayate was confused as to why they'd have their worst swordsman be the one to impersonate him. Were they trying to antagonise him? It was unbelievable that no blood had been shed until this point.
No, of course the attacks aren't connecting.
They couldn't connect, else the transformation would go up in smoke. Still, their play-fight was impressive to watch. It would likely convince a less keen observer.
"What's wrong, sensei?" Akuma taunted, "I thought you were supposed to be a blademaster."
"I'm going easy on you," Satoya huffed, "These things are quite sharp after all. I wouldn't want to hurt you."
Akuma seemed to take that as a challenge, bashing her opponent's blade with ludicrous force. Satoya may have underestimated her strength, because a moment later Yuu stabbed him in the shoulder from behind.
Hayate heard someone say "Shit!" as the henge dispelled and someone's shadow punched out and clipped Akuma in the chin. A split second later a man dashed forward and viciously sliced down at the girl's prone body with a kunai, barely getting intercepted by… Satoya?
"You bastard; About time you showed up!" shouted Akuma, clenching her sword and rising from the ground.
"So this is our teacher?" he asked, "Weird that he kept up a transformation this whole time."
The man gnashed his teeth, "Rule number one of being shinobi: Look underneath the underneath."
Hayate's thoughts raced to come up with a plausible explanation for the scene as he noted the blood dripping from Satoya's arm.
Yuu had disappeared into the shadows earlier. He must have transformed right as Satoya's transformation ended, with Satoya intercepting the attack. A good contingency plan for when they messed up as they had. The spectacle was a lot better thought out than Hayate had expected, he had to give them that.
Getting each other injured, however, was unacceptable. Hayate was about to call them off, when Yuu once again attacked from the shadows, giving Satoya the space to pick up his previously dropped sword, but getting caught by a thrown kunai in the process.
Hayate did a double take. There couldn't possibly be four people here. Shadow clones? No, hold on, the man was bleeding from his shoulder due to the earlier wound, could that really be a clone?
The preteens encircled their opponent. Akuma with her bruised chin, Satoya with a sliced-up arm and Yuu with a gash on his shoulder. They were all injured. Who was that man? Had they convinced a fellow ninja to transform into Hayate for this ruse?
"Okay kids, three on one hardly seems fair now, does it?" the unknown man chortled.
"Hey, you're the one who gave us the test!" Akuma bit back.
The fourth frowned for a moment as he answered, "That I did. Honestly, I was wondering when you'd finally team up. You really went all out in this place, huh? I shouldn't have stayed still so long."
Hayate's heart pounded. Who was this man? He knew most of Konoha's higher ups by name, and he'd recognize most people's faces. Could they have truly found someone he didn't know?
"So, do we pass?" Akuma asked in a hopeful voice.
Their 'teacher' gave a friendly smile. "You haven't caught me, but honestly even landing a single hit is more than adequate a display of teamwork. Why don't I invite you out to a celebratory dinner?"
Star's shone in the three friends' eyes as they collectively whooped in the affirmative. The man motioned for them to lead the way as he followed close behind. Hayate barely noted as the man's grin turned malicious when the kids turned away. His hands moved to the pockets on his hip.
Hayate held the hilt of his sword in a tight-knuckled grip and flickered from his hiding spot to press his blade up against the possible infiltrator's spine.
"Identify yourself!" he commanded with a harsh tone. The man slowly raised his hands, speaking in some foreign tongue, "{Okay everyone, now is the time.}" A moment later Hayate was pelted from all sides, he gasped in shock only to immediately regret that decision as he began wheezing uncontrollably.
Dust!?
Preoccupied by his overreacting lungs, the four ninja made quick work of him.