Ch.5: First Blood
It was Hinata who spotted them first.
The morning had dawned bright and clear on the day Team Nine was to rendezvous with the merchant caravan they had been hired to guard. As soon as his team had broken camp and set out for the day, Asuma had ordered his female subordinate to scan the area with her byakugan every few minutes and to notify him if she spotted a large group of people moving down the road ahead.
It was mid-morning when Hinata finally spoke up, saying that she saw a group of about thirty people with carts travelling down the road headed straight toward them.
Asuma immediately called a halt, deciding that they would wait until the caravan was in visual range before moving to meet up with them. He ordered his students to rest up and get a drink of water while they waited. He smirked to himself. They would need plenty of energy for when the true mission started.
As his students rested, Asuma knelt down to the ground and opened up one of his storage scrolls, retrieving from it the sealed away box of "special equipment" that the Hokage had given him a week earlier during the mission briefing. When Naruto looked quizzically at the box and asked what was inside it, Asuma replied simply, "Don't worry about it."
A few minutes later a small column of people came into view, cresting the top of a small hill about a quarter-mile down the road. As Hinata had said, the group was only about thirty people all-told. There were only two carts, though they were piled high with barrels and other heavy looking containers for carrying goods. What's more, there weren't even any animals to help move the cargo, as both carts were hand-drawn, pulled along by a single man up front and pushed from behind by several other men when going up hills. This was an incredibly small caravan, and yet, for the people of the Land of Greens, it was probably still a big deal when this tiny band came to town.
As Team Nine and the caravan drew closer together Asuma prepared to hail the merchants from a distance. Before he could do so, however, Naruto beat him to it, waving his arms in the air and shouting at the caravan, "Yahoo! Heeeeey everybody!"
Asuma rolled his eyes and made a mental note to have a talk with Naruto about deferring to the team leader, but didn't say anything for the moment.
As the caravan came to a sudden halt, two young men who had been assisting in pushing one of the carts dashed out ahead of the rest and interposed themselves between the shinobi and the merchants.
"Who're you? Identify yourselves!" the taller one of the two said sharply.
Asuma's eyebrow quirked slightly at the brusqueness of the men's response. Their wariness seemed slightly unwarranted given that they were still less than a day's travel from the capital of the Land of Greens, and Team Nine had approached the caravan from out in the open. Still, he made no comment on it for the moment. Looking the two men over he noticed that the clothing they wore was of a notably different style to that worn by the other members of the caravan.
Probably a couple of over-enthusiastic new-hires, he mentally concluded.
"We're shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, sent here to protect you guys! See...check it out!" Naruto said, enthusiastically pointing at the leaf emblem on his forehead-protector.
Asuma internally rolled his eyes again at the boy's antics. Speaking of over-enthusiastic new-hires…
Staring hard at Naruto's headband for a moment, the two men glanced at one another, then for some reason turned to meet the gaze of a third man standing a few feet behind them. "Could they be…" the shorter of the two men trailed off uncertainly.
Clearing his throat and stepping forward, Asuma decided it was time he took control of the situation. "Ahem, as my subordinate was saying, we are Konohagakure's Team Nine. We received a commission from the Lord of the Land of Greens to provide protection for a merchant caravan travelling from his country to the Land of Birds." Kneeling down to the ground, he opened up the lid of the box he had been carrying. "In addition, we were also given this to help identify ourselves."
Everyone, including the three genin, leaned in to try to see what was in the box. Before anyone could see anything more than folded pieces of cloth, however, a small figure darted forward from amongst the caravaners and snatched one of the grey garments from out of the box. Running back, the figure, a small girl, scrambled atop one the carts, where she sat apparently carefully inspecting the piece of clothing.
"It's true!" the young girl chirped. "These people are from the Hidden Leaf Village, like we were told to expect. See?" Turning back around, the girl held up the garment for all to see.
The object was, of course, a plain grey overcoat, unremarkable overall, except for one detail. Stitched into the middle of the back was a white square on which a message written in bright-red lettering was displayed prominently. The lettering read: Leaf Village Moving Service.
The three genin's jaws all dropped.
"Wh...what is that!?" Chouji stuttered.
"Oh yeah, about that…" Asuma replied pleasantly, "the Hokage sent those along for you guys to wear during the mission. Since you all were so driven to go on a C-rank mission, he figured you'd be eager to help out."
Chouji groaned, looking glumly at the big, heavy carts. Hinata sighed, looking downcast, but resigned.
Naruto was silent, glaring balefully right at Asuma. "I fucking hate you," he whispered to his sensei.
Asuma smiled sweetly. "I know."
It was several hours later when the caravan finally stopped for a rest at the top of a large hill. The three genin of Team Nine immediately flopped down in exhaustion, drinking deeply from their canteens. The hill on which they now rested was the tallest hill in the area, and offered a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately the road they were on went right over it, and thus the genin had spent the last half-hour pushing the heavy carts up a steep incline.
After Asuma-sensei's revelation of the true nature of the mission, the caravaners had all had a good laugh at the unfortunate genin's expense. After this Team Nine had become acquainted with some of the caravan's members.
The rambunctious young girl who had revealed the jacket's writing was named Momiji. Her grandmother, Ms. Miyako, was apparently the de facto leader of the caravan.
The two young men who had intercepted them when they first met up with the caravan had introduced themselves as Kikusuke and Yurinoshin. Upon giving their names, they had also introduced another man, their cousin Shun. As Asuma had suspected, the three were new to the caravan, having just joined up in the Land of Greens.
When the caravan had set out again after meeting up with Team Nine, the genin had joined Kikusuke, Yurinoshin, and a few other men in pushing the heavily-laden carts from behind. Meanwhile, Asuma walked casually beside the caravan, explaining to an irate Naruto that he alone would provide all the protection the caravan would likely need, though he mostly spent the time chatting with various members of the caravan.
As he walked, Asuma did keep a general eye on the group's surroundings, doing the job of providing security for the caravan. At the same time, however, he also surreptitiously watched the trio from the Land of Greens. In particular, he kept a close eye on the third man, Shun. Unlike his two cousins, Shun did not help with pushing the carts, but walked alongside them, like Asuma. Yurinoshin explained that their cousin was in poor health, though Asuma personally doubted this was the reason.
It had taken Asuma all of ten seconds to realize that something was off with this "Shun" character. His face was clean-shaven and somewhat effeminate, with his hair swept up into the oddly tall cap he wore, meaning it was likely longer than it appeared. His small frame was covered with baggy, shapeless clothing. Most tellingly, when he spoke his voice sounded slightly off, as though he was deliberately trying to make his voice sound deeper than it naturally was.
On being introduced to him, Asuma had put on a friendly smile and greeted Shun, walking up to him and amiably holding out his hand to shake. Shun had paused, his eyes darting briefly to his two cousins, before hesitantly shaking Asuma's hand. That had confirmed it for Asuma. Shun's fingernails had been very recently filed down to the quick, but even so, there was no disguising those slender, delicate hands.
Should've worn gloves, "Shun-san".
Asuma was entirely certain of it now. This was a woman disguised as a man. But why, was the question. It was true that, in the wilds between population centers, bandits could be a problem, and it was sometimes safer for a woman to travel as a man in order to avoid undue attention. That said, the Land of Greens wasn't particularly known for such problems, and it seemed especially unnecessary in a caravan that already had several women in it, and had hired protection to boot.
It may have nothing at all to do with his mission, which was why Asuma had as of yet said nothing. All the same, it was a potential complication that needed to be watched closely.
Fortunately, Asuma had a good reason to keep looking in Shun's direction. For once, Naruto's obnoxious personality was working in his favor. For most of the day since meeting up with the caravan, Naruto and Shun had been bickering back and forth constantly. For whatever reason, Naruto's personality seemed to get on Shun's nerves (not that Asuma couldn't relate), and Shun had seen fit to lob a few unnecessary insults Naruto's way. Naruto, of course, was incapable of taking an insult lying down, and proceeded to shout at Shun whenever the job of pushing the carts would allow. Normally, Asuma would have intervened and told Naruto to shut up and focus on the job, but for now he was curious to see how Shun behaved in order to get a handle on her personality. Anything he learned now could prove important later.
For their part, Yurinoshin and Kikusuke seemed somewhat embarrassed by their cousin's snide behavior, but didn't say anything to stop it, either, which was interesting. If they were truly related, Asuma would've expected them to scold their cousin if they disapproved of her behavior. Certainly, in Asuma's own family, they had never hesitated when it came to calling one another out. Instead, the two seemed to defer to Shun, and never opposed her, even when they disagreed. Their relationship was less like family, and more like master and subjects. Something to keep in mind, no doubt.
As the entire party rested atop the hill they had just ascended, Asuma walked toward his students, who appeared to be chatting with Kikusuke.
"I fear I must apologize for my cousin's behavior," Kikusuke said to Naruto. "I'm afraid Shun can be a bit unreasonable at times."
Naruto waved him off. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault," he said, glaring in the direction of the most recent object of his ire. If Shun noticed Naruto's glare from the other side of the clearing, he gave no indication.
Noticing their teacher approaching, Hinata spoke up, "Ah, Asuma-sensei! We needed to talk to you…"
"You guys are pushing the carts for at least a couple more hours," Asuma said, preempting the request he suspected was coming. "I've already talked to Ms. Miyako about letting you kids have evenings off from pushing, so you can have the energy to get a little training in when the caravan stops for the day."
In truth, making sure his students had enough time and energy to train may not have even been necessary. Hinata had already long since finished the tree-walking training, and even Naruto and Chouji were getting close. Hinata's success he had somewhat expected, but Naruto and Chouji were progressing with the training even faster than he had anticipated, thanks in no small part, he suspected, to Hinata's assistance.
Naruto scowled up at his sensei, but didn't erupt like Asuma half expected him to. "Not that, you jerk," Naruto replied caustically. "We've got a serious problem here."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
Turning his opened canteen upside-down, Chouji held it out to his commander and gestured to the single, solitary drop of water that fell out. "We're all out of water," he explained. "Even Kikusuke-san says he's run out."
The tall young man nodded apologetically, displaying his own empty, upside-down canteen.
"Hmm, I see…" Asuma responded. That was actually a legitimate gripe.
Spotting the caravan's youngest member, Asuma called out to her, "Oi, Momiji-chan!"
Turning her head at hearing her name called, the impish little girl smiled and darted over to the group. "What's up?" she said pleasantly.
Gesturing toward the others, Asuma explained, "We're starting to get low on water. I assume your caravan carries some water reserves with you?"
Momiji nodded and tilted her head. "A little. We're actually a little low ourselves at the moment, but we're planning to fill up again soon."
The girl's answer caught Asuma off guard. "The caravan is low on water!?" he said in genuine surprise. "Didn't you just set out yesterday?"
Momiji nodded and replied, "Our caravan probably doesn't carry as much water in reserve as other caravans do. Granny generally finds us fresh water sources along the way."
Asuma quirked an eyebrow. "Your grandmother does?" he said. "How does she do that?"
"With these!" an old voice suddenly spoke up from behind Asuma.
Turning around, Asuma saw the old woman herself approaching them, a pair of bent metal rods held in her hand.
"Huh? What're those?" Naruto asked.
"They're dowsing rods." Momiji supplied helpfully.
"Uh...dowsing?"
"It's an ancient technique passed down by our forebears," the elderly Ms. Miyako explained. "It can be used to find hidden water sources, or conversely to find items you've lost or misplaced. You simply hold the rods like so and focus intently on whatever you are looking to find. The rods will react by getting closer together when you are getting closer to that item."
"Granny can only ever use it to find water, though," Momiji quipped.
"Hush child," Ms. Miyako said to her granddaughter. "Now come along. I know there's a spring nearby. I'll get you pointed in the right direction, and then you can lead these nice people the rest of the way to get filled up on water."
"Okay," Momiji replied, following her grandmother away from the others to the edge of the camp.
"Huh...that's pretty amazing!" Naruto said in awe. "Can you really use something like that to find missing items?"
"No, you can't," Chouji said quietly to Naruto, making sure to speak so that Momiji and her grandmother wouldn't hear him. "People have believed in dowsing for centuries. In some places they believe you can use it to find precious metals underground. Sometimes it's water, or just general lost items. Regardless, though, it's all a lot of baloney. Dowsing's just a myth, it doesn't really work."
Suddenly speaking up from the side, Asuma responded to his student's explanation, "That's generally true," he confirmed, "but even so...it's possible that Miyako-san's technique might actually be real."
"Huh!? What are you talking about, sensei?" Chouji said, surprised that his teacher would actually speak up in defense of such a thing.
Instead of responding directly, Asuma turned and addressed his female student. "Hinata," he said, "why don't you activate your byakugan and see if you can see anything unusual."
"Um, okay," Hinata responded. Running through the familiar set of hand seals, she activated her doujutsu. When her expanded vision settled on the old woman, her eyes widened. "Ther...there's chakra!" she said in surprise. Focusing her enhanced sight, she carefully observed the old woman. "I can see chakra flowing into the dowsing rods and expanding outward like a ripple!"
Asuma smiled. "I suspected as much. What Miyako-san is doing is actually a massively powered-down version of a shinobi technique called chakra sensing. A skilled sensor-type shinobi can detect certain objects and especially other chakra signatures from up to miles away. It looks like Miyako-san can use it to detect sources of fresh water nearby. I'll bet she has a water elemental-affinity…"
"But wait, that means…" Naruto also turned to look at the elderly woman and her granddaughter, "...that old woman is a shinobi!?" he said in absolute shock.
Asuma shook his head. "Of course not, Naruto. Shinobi may be unique in our use of chakra for ninjutsu, but everyone technically has chakra."
"But sensei," Hinata piped up, "if she's not a shinobi, who taught her how to use a chakra technique?"
"Probably no one," Asuma replied. "Over the years, Miyako-san likely trained herself subconsciously to use her chakra in this way. In fact, she probably isn't even aware herself that that's what she's doing. She just assumes that dowsing actually works. Like I said, every human-being has chakra, and while this doesn't mean much for the average person, it's not at all unheard of to encounter people throughout the world who have learned to use chakra in various ways. It's always good to keep an eye out for things like this. You never know what kinds of interesting techniques you might come across."
As Asuma wrapped up his explanation, Momiji turned back to the shinobi and waved to them from across the camp, "Hey! Granny says there's a natural spring just over this way! Come on, I'll lead you guys there!"
It was only a few minutes later that the mission began to take a turn. The first indication Asuma got was when Hinata returned to the caravan alone.
Asuma turned to look at the Hyuuga girl in surprise. It had been only a couple of minutes since she had left the group with Naruto and Chouji, following Momiji to where the young girl claimed there was fresh water to be found. That she had returned so quickly, alone and empty-handed, was odd.
As soon as she spotted him, his female student made her way quickly over to him.
"What's up?" he asked her as she arrived to stand before him.
"Um...sensei…" Hinata said hesitantly, fidgeting slightly more than was normal as she spoke. "We thought...uh, that is...there's something we thought you should see." Asuma detected a note of uncertainty in her voice.
Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Naruto and Chouji?"
"Th-they stayed with Momiji-chan...um, this way." She said, pointing in the direction the four kids had left in only moments before.
Asuma stroked his beard as he replied, "Hm, is it far? We shouldn't leave the caravan completely alone if we can help it."
Hinata shook her head quickly. "N-no, it's not far at all. It's not even beyond the range of my byakugan. I can keep an eye on the caravan from there."
Asuma nodded in acceptance. "Alright then, lead on."
Following his student away from the clearing, Asuma arrived a mere moment later where the other two genin and Momiji were gathered. As Hinata had said, the spot was no more than fifty meters from the road where the caravaners were resting. Naruto, Chouji, and Momiji stood at the edge of a cliff at what appeared to be the apex of the hill. All three appeared to be looking at something off in the distance.
Naruto heard his sensei and Hinata's approach first. "Ah, Asuma-sensei!" he said, causing the other two to also turn around. "Look at that!" Naruto pointed at something off in the distance.
Walking up to the lip of the cliff, Asuma looked off in the direction his student was pointing. Sure enough, he spotted what had his students concerned. "Smoke?" he muttered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.
Naruto nodded and responded, "Yeah, we thought that was a little weird, so we figured we'd better let you know."
"I still think it's probably nothing," Chouji said.
Asuma nodded while carefully looking at the smoke trail in the distance, replying somewhat off-handedly, "Could be nothing...could be something. It was the right call, letting me know."
Though he kept his voice neutral, internally, Asuma began to feel somewhat concerned. Even from this distance, that smoke trail looked too big and too dark to be something as benign as a campfire. Something large was burning. Just as important was the direction the smoke was coming from. Asuma looked down at the valley spread out beneath him. The road they were travelling on snaked its way down the hill they had just ascended and then straightened out in the valley, heading due west into the forest, and right in the direction of the smoke on the horizon.
"Momiji-chan…" Asuma addressed the young girl. When she turned to look at him he pointed at the smoke and asked, "The capital of Greens Country is in that direction, isn't it?"
The girl nodded slowly. "Yes. That's where we were just yesterday."
"Hm." Asuma turned back towards the smoke and began pondering his next course of action.
After a moment, Hinata spoke up from next to him, "W-what should we do, Sensei?"
Making up his mind, Asuma nodded and turned to face his genin subordinates. "You three," he said, "are going to take Momiji-chan and go fill up on water like you planned. When you get back to the clearing get the caravan moving again. Not too quickly...just get them moving like normal. Momiji-chan," he addressed the girl, kneeling down so he was on eye-level with her, "do you think you could keep all this to yourself for now? Not forever, I just don't want to worry everyone before I can confirm it's not a problem. Alright?"
Nodding hesitantly, the girl answered, "O-okay…"
"That goes for you all as well," Asuma said to Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji. "Just keep this to yourselves for now. We don't want to panic the caravaners needlessly. Just get them moving again, and keep an eye on your surroundings."
"What are you going to do, Sensei?" Chouji asked.
Pointing at the smoke in the distance, Asuma replied, "I'm going to go check it out, obviously. I'll be back within the hour. I leave the protection of the caravan to you while I'm gone. Do you all understand?"
"Yes sensei," the three genin responded together. Hinata looked nervous, Chouji was passive, and Naruto appeared decidedly unhappy.
Asuma nodded again. "Good. Be back in a bit."
Leaping off the edge of the cliff, Asuma propelled himself in the direction of the smoke cloud, determined to learn as much as he could, and then get back to the caravan as quickly as possible. All the while he did his best to ignore the all-too-familiar chill sensation creeping slowly up his spine.
It was just a simple C-rank mission. It couldn't possibly go that poorly.
Several minutes later, Naruto and the others had rejoined the caravan, their canteens refilled with fresh water. With only a little bit of prodding, they got the caravaners up and moving again, and soon enough the three genin again found themselves pushing the heavily-laden carts down the road.
As he pushed behind the rear cart with Hinata, Naruto did his best to push while simultaneously keeping watch on their surroundings. It would have been simple enough, if it weren't for…
"Oi, Mover!" Shun snapped at Naruto. "Quit slacking off and push! We're falling behind the other cart."
Glaring at the annoying man, Naruto loudly replied, "Shut up! I'm not slacking off."
"You clearly are," Shun replied with a sneer
. "I see you looking around all over the place. Someone as dim as you can't do two things at once, so quit it and focus on pushing. Your captain told you to help the caravan."
"I'm doing...!!" Naruto sharply cut himself off. Grinding his teeth, he turned away from Shun and glared forward. I'm doing what sensei told me to do! He thought angrily. But I can't tell him that without letting everyone else know there might be a problem!
Naruto's already fragile patience was beginning to wear dangerously thin. In truth, Shun's insults weren't what was really bothering Naruto. Or rather, Shun was only poking Naruto's already wounded ego.
He had tried to temper his expectations with this mission, he really had! Guarding merchants may not have been something extraordinary, but it was something real! Not like babysitting, or painting fences, or walking dogs...real shinobi work! Naruto didn't honestly expect to get to save a princess or something like that...but he had thought that maybe, just maybe, he would get the opportunity to feel like a real shinobi at some point during this mission. But of course, Asuma-sensei and the Hokage had to go and ruin that too, and turn Naruto's first C-rank mission into just another menial chore. And to top it off, the first time it seemed like something interesting might be happening, Asuma-sensei had run off to check it out on his own, leaving Naruto and the others to continue pushing carts like a bunch of freaking pack mules.
Seeming to take pity on Naruto, Kikusuke spoke up, chastising his cousin, "Shun...lay off him a little. He's probably just trying to keep watch for the caravan."
Shun snorted in derision. "You and I both know that his commander is the only real protection this caravan has. That's why he told these kids to help with pushing the carts." Staring haughtily at Naruto, he continued, "If you can't be a decent shinobi, you should at least put your all into being a useful pack mule."
And with that, Naruto's patience snapped. That tears it!
"Oi! You!" he snapped at an older man, one of the movers who was taking a break walking beside the caravan, "Take over for me!"
Taking his hands off the back of the cart, Naruto moved away and dashed up to the leading cart, where Chouji was pushing while Momiji sat atop the cart itself. The mover he had addressed was forced to jump quickly and assume Naruto's place behind the rear cart.
"W-wait! Naruto-kun!" Offering a hurried apology to the movers that were forced to take over for them, Hinata ran up to the lead cart where Naruto was now walking next to Chouji.
"Listen, you guys…" Naruto said when Hinata had caught up with him and Chouji, just loudly enough so that the two of them could hear "I think we should go after Asuma-sensei."
"What!?" Hinata said, alarmed.
"What for?" Chouji asked.
"To help him scout! I mean, more eyes means more information, right? Hinata's byakugan is the perfect scouting tool, so if you think about it, he's wasting resources by just leaving us here. Besides, we potentially could back him up in case there's a problem!"
Hinata pressed her fingers together nervously. "Um...Asuma-sensei told us to stay with the caravan…"
Naruto waved her off. "That's just busy-work and you know it. Come on, don't you guys want to do at least one shinobi-like activity this whole mission?"
"I don't know, Naruto," Chouji said, shaking his head. "Asuma-sensei left the caravan in our care. He'll be pissed if we just leave it alone."
Seeming to think for a moment, Naruto suddenly smirked. "Well then, if we don't actually leave the caravan alone, he'll have no reason to complain, right?"
Before Hinata or Chouji could ask him what he meant, Naruto suddenly slammed his hands together into a hand-seal. "Shadow-clone jutsu!"
With a sequence of bangs and clouds of smoke, a dozen copies of Naruto burst into existence, much to the shock of the caravaners, several of whom leaped back in surprise.
"All right, then," Naruto said, addressing his clones. "You three, help push the carts. The rest of you spread out and guard the caravan." Ignoring the complaints of the three clones who had been ordered to push carts, Naruto turned back to his teammates with a grin. "There. No problem now, right?"
"Hey, what's going on here!?" Shun demanded while walking up to them, doing his best to push away the Naruto clone that had apparently been subconsciously assigned to kick him in the shins.
"Shut up, prick. No one asked you," Naruto said dismissively before turning back to Chouji and Hinata. "Well, look...I'm going. You guys can come too or stay here if you want."
Without waiting another moment, Naruto turned and dashed back down the road in the direction the caravan had come from.
Hinata was stuck, looking desperately back and forth between Chouji and the road Naruto had just run down.
Chouji gave a long-suffering sigh. Nodding in the direction Naruto had just left in, he said to Hinata, "You'd better go after him. We wouldn't want to leave him alone either."
Hinata looked back at Chouji in surprise. "Um, what will you do?"
"I'm gonna stick with the caravan," Chouji replied. "It's probably for the best that at least one of us stays here."
Nodding, Hinata responded to Chouji appreciatively, "Thank you, Chouji-kun."
Taking off down the road, Hinata ran as hard as she could to catch up with Naruto.
Asuma held a pair of binoculars up to his eyes and peered into the distance. He had run at high speed for a while to get closer to the smoke, and then left the road and run a short way into the forest in order to ascend another hill that he hoped would provide a somewhat better view of the capital of the Land of Greens on the horizon. He still couldn't make out the city itself in the distance, but he could tell something new about the smoke.
Asuma cursed under his breath.
The smoke didn't come from just a single source, anymore, but appeared to come from multiple large and small fires spread out over an area. Asuma knew all too well what that meant.
A battle. The capital of Greens Country was in flames.
Turning around, Asuma took off in the direction of the caravan. He didn't need to get any closer, he had seen enough to know that he needed to get back to the caravan now.
As he ran, Asuma felt the chill feeling in his spine transform into a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut. It was an instinctive feeling honed by years of dangerous work as a shinobi. The feeling he got when the shit was about to hit the fan.
The capital of the Land of Greens has been attacked. He thought to himself. And I'm guarding a caravan containing a disguised female VIP and her two bodyguards…
Pushing himself to run at speeds available only to a top jounin, Asuma grit his teeth. Shinobi Rule #47: There's no such thing as coincidence.
He needed to be back at the caravan already.
Naruto moved down the road at a fast clip. The trees to sides of the road blurred together as he sped by, covering the ground it had taken the caravan hours to cross in a matter of minutes. Sending chakra into his legs he was able to move at speeds unreachable for any civilian. After a week of walking, and most of a day pushing heavy carts, it felt good to finally let loose and run flat out.
Behind him, Naruto knew Hinata was following, doing her best to catch up. Rather than slowing down for her, Naruto had put on a little more speed as soon as he had detected her. He had a feeling that as soon as she caught him, Hinata would try guilting him into returning to the caravan, so he put on just enough speed to stay just out of her reach without losing her completely. He wanted to get a little closer to the smoke before they stopped, so they could at least do some scouting before they turned back.
One flaw in Naruto's plan was that he hadn't really calculated the distance between themselves and the smoke, and so didn't really know how far they needed to go before reconnoitering the area. After what seemed like a decent amount of time to him, he stopped at a spot in the road that looked good.
Less than a minute later, Hinata pulled up beside him, pausing only a moment to catch her breath. Her stamina may not have been as good as Naruto's, but it had always been decent, and after their commencement team "exercise" and Asuma-sensei's training, this amount of running was really nothing.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke, planning to plead with Naruto to return to the caravan.
"What do you think, Hinata?" Naruto interrupted her, not giving her a chance to say what she had been planning. "Do you think we're close enough to get a better look at the smoke now?"
Shaking her head and letting out a frustrated breath, Hinata replied, "No. We may be closer now, but we're also at a lower elevation. We won't really have a better view from here than we had from the hill we were on before."
Naruto thought about this for a moment. "Hm, what about your byakugan? Can you see anything from here with that?"
Hinata shook her head. "My range isn't that good. Honestly, compared to most of the adult members of the Hyuuga Clan, my byakugan's range is tiny," she said. She didn't mention that her cousin and younger sister also had far superior range.
"Hmmmmm…" Stunted for a moment, Naruto pondered their options.
Seeing an opportunity, Hinata decided to go for it. "Naruto-kun, we really should go back…" she began.
Shaking his head sharply, Naruto replied, "No way...not yet. We'll keep getting closer if we have to, but I'm not going back until we've at least done a little scouting."
An idea occurring to him, Naruto snapped his fingers. "I've got it! We'll use the tree-walking technique!" He turned to face Hinata. "Use your byakugan to find the tallest tree in the area. Then we'll climb up to the top, and see if we can see anything from there."
"Um, Naruto-kun...you haven't finished the tree-walking training yet…" she said somewhat hesitantly, worried she would make him mad.
Seemingly unoffended, Naruto waved off her concerns. "That's just because the training requires you to go all the way to the top in one go. If I run from branch to branch, I can get up to the top...maybe not as fast as you can, but still." Pushing onward, he resumed, "But don't worry about that. Just turn on your byakugan and see if you can find us a good tree to use."
Sighing, Hinata decided to give in for the moment. She hoped that maybe humoring him in this would get Naruto to return to the caravan a little faster.
Running through the familiar series of hand-seals, Hinata activated her bloodline-limit. Doing a cursory scan of the trees in their area, as far as her limited range would allow, Hinata turned back to Naruto. Pointing off to the side of the road, she spoke, "There's a pretty good-sized fir tree over th-GET DOWN!"
Naruto suddenly felt himself being thrown back as Hinata slammed into him, tackling him bodily to the ground. He found himself lying on his back with Hinata on top of him, his eyes staring up into the sky.
Before he could even begin to get his wits about him and ask Hinata what the heck she was doing, he became suddenly aware of a new sound appearing out of nowhere and rapidly getting louder, a slicing, almost buzzing sort of noise. As he watched, a series of grey, metallic objects cut swiftly through the air just a few feet above him, rending through the space he and Hinata had been occupying just a second beforehand.
Those were...shuriken. Naruto thought, uncomprehendingly. Suddenly his eyes widened in shock as comprehension dawned on him. We're under attack!
"Move!" Hinata screamed in Naruto's face, leaping off him and rolling to her right.
All at once Naruto's training took over. As soon as Hinata's weight was off him he threw his legs up and over his head, executing a backwards roll, before pushing off the ground with a chakra-enhanced shove that sent him soaring backwards through the air, his grey movers jacket coming off and fluttering down to the ground as he did so. Completing his rotation, he landed facing the direction the attacks had come from, just in time to see his jacket get nailed harshly to the ground, impaled by a half-dozen kunai that slammed point-first into the road where he and Hinata had been laying. Without needing to think about it, Naruto entered a ready stance and drew a kunai. To his left he saw that Hinata had risen and done the same.
"Well what do you know," a voice said from above and to the side of the road, "they actually managed to dodge that."
"I guess they're shinobi after all," another voice replied in a seemingly bored tone, "...if just barely."
Looking up, Naruto and Hinata got their first look at their attackers. Standing on a tree branch just to the side of the road, two men stared down at them with cold malice. The two wore nearly identical clothing in what appeared to be a kind of uniform: green, sleeveless shirts and matching fingerless, arm-length gloves; plain, brown pants under a grey kilt-like wrapping that was held up with a white obi at the waist. Each man had a sword belted to his left hip. Their faces were mostly obscured by black face masks that covered everything below the bridge of their nose and their eyes. The one notable difference between the two men was that the taller man had his hair held up in a ponytail, while the shorter man wore a black bandana, leaving his face entirely covered except for his eyes.
Hinata felt fear beginning to take hold of her as she looked up at the two enemies. They're...they're shinobi! She thought, trembling slightly as she met the men's heartless gaze.
Naruto recovered his voice first. "Who're you guys!?" he shouted at the two shinobi. "Why are you attacking us?"
Seemingly ignoring Naruto's question, the shorter ninja spoke to his comrade, "Hm, those headbands...looks like these two are from the Hidden Leaf Village."
Nodding, his counterpart replied, "Must be the foreign shinobi we were told to expect. Hmph, if this is all they've got we could probably take the target ourselves. No need to wait for Ruiga-sama."
Leaping down from the tree branch, the two shinobi landed in the road and began walking sedately toward Naruto and Hinata. "Hey, kid…" the taller, pony-tailed man continued speaking to Naruto, "...there's a merchant caravan just up ahead, right? How far away is it? Are they still following the main road? Tell us what you know, and we'll consider letting you and your friend scurry back to your home village."
Listening carefully to the man's words, Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. They know about the caravan! But...how?
Incensed by the man's words, Naruto replied, "Screw you! We're not telling you guys anything!"
The other enemy shinobi chuckled darkly at Naruto's words. "You don't get it, kid," he said. "We don't really need your help to find the caravan. He was giving you the chance to run away. There's no point sacrificing yourself for a bunch of worthless peddlers, right? I'd tell you not to look a gift horse in the mouth next time...but there's no point in teaching a lesson to a corpse!"
As if on cue, the two shinobi went from walking to suddenly dashing straight at Naruto and Hinata, both of them drawing their swords in the blink of an eye.
Caught off guard, Naruto blocked the man's first slash with his kunai, then deflected the next slash as it came in from above, all while rapidly backpedaling as his opponent's momentum pushed him back. Crap! he thought, I didn't set my feet properly to hold against a charge! Pushed back more and more, Naruto desperately defended against his opponent's furious attacks. I gotta create some distance!
Seeing his opportunity when his opponent slightly over-swung his blade, Naruto leapt backwards, putting several feet between him and his enemy. He threw his kunai at the man to try to stall him even more, drawing a replacement dagger out of its holster just as quickly.
The man easily swatted the kunai away with his blade and resumed pushing after Naruto. This time, however, Naruto was ready, and met his charge head-on, holding his ground as he blocked sword with kunai. Acting on instinct now, Naruto pushed back against his enemy, shoving the man's sword back and rushing in for a counterattack. This turned out to be a mistake. The man's greater height and strength, combined with his weapon's much greater reach, gave him a distinct advantage over Naruto's far smaller body and kunai. With relative ease the man was able to use his sword's length to keep Naruto back out of striking distance, and soon enough launched a counterattack of his own. Within a matter of seconds, Naruto found himself once again falling back, forced to do nothing but defend. Damn it! he thought.
Meanwhile, Hinata was not having much greater luck against the ponytailed shinobi.
Using her kunai, Hinata blocked his sword strike from the side, and then neatly deflected his follow up swing from above. Her opponent then stepped back slightly, before rushing in with a sword thrust aimed at Hinata's middle, which she nimbly dodged to the side of. This left him in an awkward position of having his sword held straight out while his opponent moved to his exposed left.
Hinata's eyes widened. He's open! She realized, seeing that her opponent was now overextended. I can counterattack!...But, if he reverses his grip, he could potentially cut me from the side…
Instead of countering, Hinata stepped back and prepared for her enemy's next move. Recovering his stance, the swordsman rushed at Hinata again and delivered two more sword strikes from above, both of which she blocked. Bringing his sword up again, the shinobi feigned another downward slash, before checking his swing and bringing his sword around to strike from the side instead. Not fooled, Hinata swiftly dodged back, the sword missing by a hair's breadth, but not touching her all the same. Caught off guard, the enemy shinobi overswung and was thrown off balance.
Hinata once more found herself facing her opponent's unguarded side. He's vulnerable...but if I get in close and he strikes out with his elbow, he could knock me off balance and finish me…
This continued on for some time, with Hinata neatly blocking or dodging all of her opponent's attacks, but nonetheless unable to capitalize on any of the openings she created. Internally, Hinata was beginning to despair. Every idea she came up with seemed to defeat itself before it could even begin to come to fruition. In spite of the fact that she was managing to keep her opponent at bay, counter-attacking seemed impossible. What's more, her opponent was slowly beginning to adjust to her style. Already her arm was starting to hurt as she was forced to block more of his heavy blows with her kunai, instead of dodging them.
I can't win. She realized, dread beginning to take hold. It's impossible...there's no way I could beat someone so much older than me...
With her byakugan still active, Hinata could see Naruto's fight happening simultaneously. Naruto was being pushed back more and more, and Hinata could tell he was beginning to falter as his opponent's furious assault pushed his defenses to the brink.
Seeing this gave her just enough impetus to act. I've...I've got to do something! She thought. I've got to try! After a few moments, Hinata saw her next opportunity, as her opponent again missed his swing and went off balance. This time Hinata rushed in, aiming for the man's exposed flank and thrusting her kunai straight forward.
Suddenly, before Hinata could react, the man's hand detached from his sword and snaked out, catching Hinata's thrusting arm by the wrist.
For a moment, everything froze, and Hinata found herself overextended and caught, unable to move or escape. Cold realization swept over her. He...he baited me!
Looking up, Hinata found herself staring into the heartless gaze of her opponent. She could tell from the way the corners of his eyes crinkled that he was smirking under his mask. "That was the wrong time to counterattack," he said softly, his voice laced with amusement.
Suddenly yanking her held wrist back and down, the enemy shinobi pulled her fully off balance, leaving her unable to react at all. Meanwhile his other hand, still holding his sword, lifted the weapon up, preparing to bring the blade down in a wicked arc that would end Hinata's life.
In that moment, Hinata's life flashed before her eyes...every painful, depressing, pathetic moment of it. In the end...I really couldn't do anything at all. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry...Naruto-kun…
Her enemy had just begun to bring his weapon down, when suddenly his head twisted bizarrely to the side, impacted by a large fist attached to a thick, heavily muscled forearm. So powerful was the strike that the shinobi went flying, tossed through the air like a ragdoll, before slamming into a tree on the side of the road, impacting into the trunk with a sickening crack. Her byakugan still active, Hinata could clearly see into the man's body. She saw his chakra network, and as such she saw the very instant when his chakra stopped circulating. Within a few seconds, the once clear lines of his chakra circulatory system began to blur. His chakra, no longer held in motion within the chakra pathways, began to disperse throughout his body. Within a few hours, she knew, the chakra would dissipate entirely, leaving the body naught but an empty hunk of meat.
Hinata knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she had just witnessed a person die for the first time.
Turning her attention back to what had saved her, she saw that the fist that had struck the rogue shinobi was attached to a large, familiar frame. "A...Asuma-sensei…" she stammered out in shock.
Of course, Hinata wasn't the only one to react to Asuma's unexpected arrival. "Shit!" Having witnessed the near instant take-down of his comrade, the other enemy shinobi leapt back and away from Naruto, repositioning himself to account for the new threat. Pausing for only an instant to take in the situation, it took the man no time at all to decide to retreat. Three against one was bad odds, not to even mention the arrival of a Leaf jounin.
Unfortunately for him, that instant was all that was necessary to seal his fate. Moving faster than Naruto or Hinata had ever seen him move, Asuma charged at the bandanna-wearing shinobi, drawing a trench-knife as he did so. Caught off guard by the jounin's speed, the rogue ninja made a single, desperate slash with his blade, which Asuma caught almost casually with his knife. Strangely, as soon as the sword made contact with the trench knife it instantly fell apart, most of the blade falling to the ground as the knife cut right through it. Looking in shock at the now-useless stump of his blade, the man was unable to react as Asuma's follow up punch caught him right in the gut. The wind harshly knocked out of him, the enemy shinobi was rendered completely helpless, bent over and gasping for breath, before Asuma's fist came crashing into the back of his skull, slamming him into the ground and knocking him instantly unconscious.
And just like that, in an instant, the battle was over. For a moment, everything was quiet. In the ensuing silence, the sound of the wind blowing seemed inordinately loud. In their respective positions, Naruto and Hinata remained frozen in place. So rapid had been the sequence of events, the two genin were left overwhelmed and unable to react. Slowly but surely, however, one thought began to permeate both of their consciousness. We...we survived.
"Naruto." Both genin jumped as Asuma's voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Uh...Y-yes, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto stammered in reply, still struggling to regain his equilibrium.
Dropping his now spent cigarette, Asuma wasted no time in taking out another and lighting it up. He resumed speaking to Naruto in a calm voice, "Why didn't you create any shadow-clones?"
Blinking in surprise, Naruto responded, "I, uh...I didn't…"
"You didn't think to," Asuma finished for him. Turning to face Naruto, he continued, his voice hard, "You're not thinking enough! If you had created shadow clones you could have outflanked your enemy, and potentially even supported Hinata as well. It's not enough to just react on instinct. What are the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your opponent? How can you create an advantage for yourself? You have to think about these things, and create a plan. A shinobi has to be able to think and act at the same time. If you don't, you'll just end up getting caught up in your opponent's pace, and he'll have full control of the battle. I know that you're capable of this. Don't forget it."
"Hinata…" Said girl winced as Asuma-sensei's stern gaze now settled on her. "You're thinking too much! There's no such thing as a perfect engagement. If you're always waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, it'll never come. Every action comes with risk, but trying not to risk anything concedes the battle before it's even begun. You have to choose what risks to take. If you can't, it's not just you, your teammates will be placed in danger. If you risk nothing, you'll lose everything. Next time you fight, know what it is you have to do...and decide what you're prepared to sacrifice to make it happen."
Looking down at the unconscious shinobi at his feet, Asuma resumed speaking, his voice now sounding regretful, "I'd hoped we'd have more time. I thought there would be time enough for you all to learn these lessons later." His voice now growing serious again, he continued, "But time's up. I can't afford to be easy on you kids anymore."
Asuma's eyes raised up once again, his gaze boring into the two genin. "Listen to me, both of you...as of this moment, this is now a combat operation! I'm not 100% certain what's going on, but I'm pretty sure this is only the beginning. There's almost definitely going to be more fighting, and more deaths before we make it home. Any decision you make can have the possibility of death for you, or for one of the people we're here to protect. So discard any lingering doubt. Work fast, and follow my instructions exactly. There are hard times ahead, but if we work as a unit we will get through this. Understood?"
Finally snapped out of their daze, Naruto and Hinata jumped to attention. "Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now get back to caravan, and get them to increase their pace. Try to keep them calm, but we need to get them moving faster."
"Uh...what are you gonna do, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked.
"I'll be along shortly," Asuma replied. Nudging the unconscious man lightly with his foot, he continued, "First I need to find out what all this is about."
About to begin moving down the road in the direction from which they had come, Hinata paused briefly, and turned back to Asuma. "Um, Asuma-sensei...they knew about us. They asked about the caravan, and somehow they knew that we were here to guard it. I think one of them said they expected us…"
Asuma paused on hearing that, then he nodded, "I see. That's good information, Hinata. Thanks for letting me know."
As Naruto and Hinata took their first steps in the direction of the caravan, Asuma called out to them one last time, "Oh, before I forget, Naruto…" Said student turned back to face his sensei again, and found himself now looking into his teacher's cold glare. "I'm pretty sure Hinata is only here because she followed you. So I'll say this only once. If you disobey me on this mission one more time...I'll make damn sure you never leave the village again. Is that clear?"
Swallowing hard, Naruto replied, "Y...yes Asuma-sensei."
"Good. Now get going."
The woman known to the caravaners as Shun was having an exceptionally bad day. Not that she had honestly expected anything good to come from today, but the sheer speed with which things had gone from bad to worse was a surprise, even for her pessimistic mind.
At first, the arrival of the shinobi from Konoha had been something of a relief, especially given the unexpected appearance of a Leaf jounin. From what she understood, they had only been able to hire very light protection for the caravan. At best they had been expecting two or three low-ranking ninjas to provide additional security against mountain bandits and the like. Amongst the shinobi villages, jounin were always considered the cream of the crop, the true elite, so such a one showing up instead was highly fortuitous, to say the least.
Unfortunately, of course, the jounin hadn't come alone, but had brought three obnoxious little brats along with him. Well, to be fair, two of the three weren't really obnoxious, just pitiful. But the third one...from practically the first moment he had appeared, the whiny, loud, impudent orange ninja had grated on her nerves. He was noisy, stupid, and didn't show proper respect to anyone. Shun had been unable to resist launching a few well-placed barbs his way during the trip, which of course had only antagonized him and inspired him to make himself even more of a nuisance to her. Shun wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to put the boy down. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she had been just like him at that age, many years before, but that was neither here nor there.
Things had begun to get worse as soon as the jounin disappeared. The younger shinobi wouldn't give any specifics about why he had left or where he had gone, only insisting that he was "out scouting", but she didn't need to be a shinobi to recognize a half-truth when she heard one. Worse, without their commander around to keep him in check, the orange ninja (Shun hadn't bothered learning his name) had immediately lost all focus and begun to goof off, even leaving his post pushing the cart when she had ordered him to do his job, like a true good-for-nothing.
As soon as the two leaf shinobi had moved away from them and joined their other companion at the lead cart, Kikunojou and Yurinojou (whom the caravaners knew as Kikusuke and Yurinoshin) had immediately moved together to hold a hushed, urgent conversation. By this time they had spotted the smoke in the distance, and were worriedly speculating about what it might mean. For her part, Shun had no need for such speculation. She already knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what had happened.
The Land of Greens had fallen.
Before she had left, her father had promised her that he would buy her time. Though the defences of Greens Country were tiny, he was certain that they would be able to hold off their enemies for a least a few days, hopefully giving her and her bodyguards enough time to escape the country, and get beyond the Janin's reach. Instead, they hadn't even managed to last one whole day, meaning that their enemies were likely already in pursuit. Just one more broken promise, Father, she thought, but what else is new?
At one point, Kikunojou had floated the possibility of one of the two of them going back to scout out the situation, which she had honestly considered. Not that she needed them to tell her what was happening, but if they were already being pursued, one of them might be able to slow the enemy down for a while. Of course, if they were, in fact, already being pursued, then there was very little chance of either of the men coming back from such a mission, which meant she had to consider very carefully whom to send. On the one hand, Kikunojou was easily the more skilled of the two, so would likely be able to buy them more time if he went. Conversely, this would leave her with the lesser skilled Yurinojou as her only remaining bodyguard going forward, so it may be better to send him instead, and keep Kikunojou with her. It was a question of short-term versus long-term gains.
There had been a time, many years ago, when she would have been genuinely horrified at such a line of thought, and disgusted with herself for thinking it. Kikunojou and Yurinojou had been with her practically since birth after all, and were the closest things to brothers she had ever had. But that version of herself had disappeared a long time ago. The world, she now understood, was dominated by those that looked after their own interests first and foremost, and used others as necessary. So why not her? So long as she still did her duty as her father's daughter, no one else would have room to complain.
Of course, it had all ended up being a moot point, as mere seconds later the little orange shinobi pulled off the shocking feat of apparently duplicating himself. When Shun had gone forward to find out what was going on the boy had promptly blown her off and then taken off down the road, abandoning the caravan he was supposed to be escorting and forcing one of his cohorts to run after him, leaving them with only a single leaf shinobi remaining and a bunch of copies. As if this wasn't bad enough, the boy's copies had the added drawback of making it that much more difficult for either of her bodyguards to slip away unseen, as the caravan was now surrounded by orange-clad clones, one of whom had taken it upon itself to harass her in the original's place.
It had taken her several minutes to deal with the errant clone (for some reason Yurinojou and Kikunojou hadn't intervened). Unfortunately for her, no sooner had the clone dispelled in a cloud of smoke, than the original himself had actually returned.
When the two young shinobi came back it quickly became obvious to everyone, even the otherwise oblivious caravaners, that something was wrong. The two both looked considerably worse for wear. Neither was visibly injured, but both were dirty and disheveled, and the boy was now missing his grey mover's jacket. What's more they both had a slightly wild, fearful look in their eyes, the sort of look that told her they had just been through more than just a chewing out by their commander.
As soon as they arrived the two went immediately to their overweight counterpart and began speaking with him in hushed tones. The boy looked clearly alarmed at whatever they had to tell him. After a moment, the orange genin turned and loudly addressed the entire caravan, "Listen up, everyone! Asuma-sensei wants the caravan to increase its pace, so we'll be going at least twice the speed we've been going so far today."
"Hey, what's going on here!?" Shun pushed her way to the front of the caravan. She needed to get as much information on the current situation as she could. Since they had been stuck staying close to the caravan they were currently running blind. "What happened while you were away? Why are we increasing pace?"
At this the furtive girl ninja responded, nervously pressing her index fingers together even more rapidly than before, "A-Asuma-sensei will explain everything when he gets back. For now w-we just need to move…"
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan…" Ms. Miyako, the old woman who lead the caravan, approached the two. "We generally don't move any faster than this. We have several children and elderly in the caravan as well, who may not be able to keep up a faster pace."
The dumb orange ninja seemed to think about this for a moment, when the third genin, the fat one, stepped forward and spoke up. "In that case, why don't you all just do what Momiji-chan has been doing?" he said, pointing to where said young girl was sitting on top of the nearest cart.
Snapping his fingers, the orange genin agreed, "Yeah, that'll work. Get the very old and the very young up on the carts. We'll push them along."
"No." Shun decided to put her foot down, and force some information out of the young shinobi. "Why would we agree to that? Why should the other movers have to push extra weight, especially when you won't even tell us what's going on? You need to let us know what's happening, or we're not going along with your plan."
Eyes narrowing, the young shinobi's expression hardened. "You don't get it," he said, his hands beginning to move through a series of hand-seals. "We're not asking you."
Behind her, Yurinojou and Kikunojou tensed and moved closer to her. As it happened though, the boy was just making more copies of himself. "Shadow-clone jutsu!" As they watched, a dozen new clones of the boy appeared, distinguishable from the last set, that still surrounded the caravan, by their lack of grey jacket. In the back of her mind, Shun idly wondered just how many replicas the boy could create.
Before anything more could be said, the clones spread throughout the caravan, picking up the young children and assisting them and the elderly up onto the carts. Forcing the other movers aside, the clones took over pushing and pulling the carts entirely. Pausing only a moment to make sure everyone was secure, the shinobi took off down the road with the carts, the young children on top of the carts squealing with delight at the increased speed, forcing the other members of the caravan to jog along in order to keep up.
Like this, the caravan moved along quite quickly for what felt like hours to Shun, but was probably more like fifteen minutes. After a while the mousy kunoichi moved over to her counterparts and muttered something to them, causing them to call a halt immediately. As the caravan came to stop, Shun did her best to recover her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. She wasn't actually sick like her cover-story claimed, but nevertheless her lifestyle hadn't prepared her to do much strenuous physical activity, especially over these last few years.
An instant later the genin's commander jounin finally returned, his large frame suddenly appearing next to the caravan in typical shinobi fashion. When he arrived the elite shinobi went directly to his subordinates and began speaking with them and Ms. Miyako, who was currently seated next to her granddaughter atop one of the carts. Recovering her composure as best she could, Shun decided to try getting something from the lead shinobi.
"Excuse me," she said, approaching the man from behind. She showed a touch more respect to him than she did to his subordinates, but nevertheless did her best to convey authority with her tone. "Your subordinates have been forcing all of us to run for the last several minutes, without telling us why. In fact, they haven't told us anything at all."
Not turning around, the man responded, "I know. I ordered them to do it."
Slightly incensed by the man's lack of regard, Shun pushed on. "Then don't you think you should tell us what's going on? I think we should be given an explanation. If it's something that affects us, we deserve to be told!"
Spinning around suddenly, the man turned to face Shun. In spite of herself, Shun flinched when the man's gaze settled on her. His eyes were cold and hard as ice.
"I agree," the tall jounin replied sharply, dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding it into the dirt. "I agree completely. I'd very much like to know exactly what is going on here myself. So why don't you go ahead and start at the beginning...your highness?"
Chapter End
A/N:
Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated.
Soooooo...yeah. I know it's been a while since I last posted a chapter. I apologize for the wait. Long story short, for reasons both good and bad, December and January were both extremely hectic months for me. I was only really able to put serious time into this chapter in February. This is only a hobby for me, and the only time I'm really able to write is late in the evenings after I get home from work (I work pretty late). Unfortunately I can't make any promises about update schedules, but I will try to get the next chapter out quicker.
Anyway, this chapter is the longest one yet, which I hope will slightly make up for that, and also contains the first real fight scene. Let me know what you thought of that, by the way. As I suspected, I lack the ability to give really in-depth descriptions of combat (R.A. Salvatore, I am not), so I tried to keep things simple while also giving a good idea of what was going on. Let me know how well I succeeded or failed.
In any case, there are some more chapter notes below, this chapter. I think I have decided to stop putting the note markers in the story text itself, but I will still be putting the notes below the chapter any time there's something I want to clarify.
(1.) So I'll start with the question some of you are probably wondering: If her byakugan was active, why didn't Hinata spot the incoming shinobi? To explain this, I'll first have to give a brief explanation of how I think the byakugan works (or at least how it works for the sake of my story).
In my view, the byakugan's power can essentially be broken down into three interrelated parts: range, field of vision, and piercing power. The range, obviously, is how far away the byakugan's vision can reach, or how far the user can clearly perceive things. Field of vision, of course, refers to the byakugan's ability to see in all directions at once (except the blind spot). Finally piercing power is the byakugan's ability to see through solid objects, and to observe things like chakra and the chakra network. As I said, these are all interrelated, but in order to maximize their vision in one of these areas, there is a tradeoff made in the other areas. For example, if a Hyuuga was surrounded by enemies, they may focus their eyes on expanding their field of vision, so they could clearly see enemies in all directions, including to the sides and behind them. However, in this state their range would be more limited, perhaps to only a few hundred meters (or in Hinata's case, about fifty meters). Conversely, they could also push their vision to the limits of their range, enabling them to clearly see things several miles away. However, in order to do this, they would have to "focus" their vision in a particular direction, meaning that their vision in other directions would suffer (like how our own eyes can focus on things either close or far away).
Essentially what happened is this: during the enemy shinobi's approach, Hinata was pushing her vision to the limits of her range, while looking for a tall tree to use for Naruto's plan. Hinata's range is not very far, perhaps a kilometer when she focuses on distance, and far less when not doing so. The shinobi were able to cover the distance between them while her sight was focused in other directions. As a result, they were able to get fairly close, and Hinata didn't spot them until she had finished her sweep of the area and allowed her vision to "relax" into a more natural state. When she stopped focusing on distance she was able to see all around her more clearly again, and then spotted the approaching enemies just in time.
(2.) So this was Naruto and Hinata's first real fight in this story, and there are a couple of things I'd like to address regarding it. First, as some of you probably know, this fight also took place in the anime. In that, Naruto was able to take on both of these shinobi and defeat them single-handed without too much difficulty. But that was after the Chunin Exams, and several other adventures. This is meant to display the difference in Naruto's strength and ability between that point of the story, and this his first real mission. Also, you may have noticed that, unlike in canon, Naruto didn't freeze up in his first fight this time. This largely has to do with Hinata tackling him, and then galvanizing him to action. Once Naruto just started moving, his training took over and he was able to act without needing to force himself to move.
So yeah, the action is really starting to pick up now. There are going to be plenty of fights going forward, which is going to be a challenge to write, but I'll do my best to muscle through it. I hope you guys will stick with me.
Regards,
MD