Kiba
"We've been doing D-ranks forever now!" I complained. "Can't we do something interesting? Team seven gets to run around on a 'spider world' or something and we're stuck here cleaning up trash!"
We were in the tower for missions, and I had gotten fed up. D-ranks weren't missions, they were chores!
Teams seven, eight, and ten had all been training under Tsume-sensei, when the man had disappeared, taking his team, the ball, and the little spider Ringumo with him.
Shikamaru suggested we just call it a day, but Ino insisted we find our sensei. She probably regretted that, considering how we found them…
Anyhow, turns out Tsume-san not only has a summoning contract (obvious considering all the spiders around him), but he has duties to perform from time to time in the spider plane. Weird. I'm glad we're a dog clan. With earth dogs. That stay here.
"Rest assured, I'll be having words with Tsume-san about that. In the meantime, you can choose from trash collection, painting a section of the outer wall, or mending a farmer's fences," the Hokage explained.
I let out a quick growl before cutting myself off. I was frustrated, but he was the kage.
"I too find myself growing impatient," Shino said, surprising me. He didn't say much, but I had learned to listen when he did. "We are not asking to save the world. Surely there is a C-rank no one else wants that we could deal with, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage seemed to actually be considering this, and I was suddenly glad I hadn't kept Akamaru on my head today. I gave him a look, and he shuffled over to Hinata, and stuck his nose against her leg.
Hinata shot a quick glance at me. "Ano… I wouldn't mind doing something different. I- I think we're ready for something new."
I could have kissed her, but she'd probably faint immediately, and then her dad would skin me.
"Hmmm." The Hokage looked over to Kurenai-sensei who gave a tiny shrug. "I suppose there is something that you could handle. I doubt you'll find it very interesting, but it is a C-rank out of the village."
"We'll take it!" I answered immediately.
Shino looked down and shook his head. He didn't get it, I didn't care if it sucked, it was away from here. That made it interesting.
"Ho ho ho, the passion of youth is inspiring, is it not, Kurenai? Fine, your team can have it. Call in the client from Wave, would you?" This last bit was directed to one of the office personnel.
"You will be accompanying Tazuna-san, a bridge builder, back to his home nation of Wave, and make certain that his project is completed. He suspects that there are elements that want his bridge to remain incomplete, as it would shift the economic fortunes of the area. To this end, you will need to defend him and the bridge from any thugs, Yakuza, or the like which may try to stop him. Any questions?"
As he finished, an older man stumbled in. I could smell the alcohol on his breath from here.
"How long will your project take to complete sir? Approximately," Shino asked this Tazuna guy.
He blinked. "About three weeks if everything goes well. Are, uh, you going to be my guards? I expected… adults."
My dander was up, but before I could say anything Kurenai-sensei spoke up.
"They can handle themselves. And if anything truly dangerous should arise, I'll be with you as well."
His eyebrows went up as soon as he noticed her, and he looked thoughtful. "Oh. Well, I suppose."
I still wasn't thrilled with the guy, but figured I should ask something too. "What exactly makes you think there's danger, who will we be up against?"
He frowned. "I've been around the world. I've noticed shady types sniffing around the construction site. There's been some accidents lately. A few workers got hurt. The ropes looked cut to me, not frayed. I don't know who exactly, but… presumably someone in shipping."
The guy smelled nervous. I wondered if there was more he wasn't sharing, but he probably was just rattled at the thought of someone willing to hurt or kill him and his workers.
"Right then. I think it's time we all packed," Kurenai directed. "Let's meet back here packed and ready in thirty minutes." She glanced at the client. "Assuming that's alright?"
He nodded. "Sooner the better."
••••••••••
*RARF!*
"You said it, buddy!" I said with a smile.
We had just left the Konoha gates behind us about five minutes ago, and I wasn't the only one in high spirits. Hinata had a small grin as she looked around, and even Shino seemed to have a bounce in his step. I looked back at Kurenai. She seemed to be enjoying the bright sunshine as much as Akamaru. It was bright, but not oppressively hot, perfect traveling weather.
The only person who didn't seem enthusiastic was our client. I had to admit, he was fairly fit for an old man, especially considering he was still drinking. Unfortunately he seemed to spend most of his time frowning or looking at Kurenai-sensei. I couldn't fault his taste, but it was still rude.
"So, how far is Wave country, sensei?" I asked.
"About three days at civilian pace. Is that about right, Tazuna-san?"
"I made it here in two, but I was hurrying. I'd like to get back as soon as possible. Construction should have continued while I was gone, but I still need to supervise it. And there may be further 'accidents' until you all can keep an eye on it."
"By all means, set the pace. We can keep up with you," Kurenai said.
This seemed to energise him, as he picked up speed quickly. I grinned, maybe we just got off on the wrong foot. I pushed back my hood. "Come on buddy, you could use some exercise. Scout ahead!"
Akamaru leapt of my head and ran in front, sniffing excitedly.
As far as I was concerned, things were looking up for team eight!
••••••••••
Hinata
••••••••••
We had been traveling several hours when Kurenai-sensei spoke up, "We should take a water break soon. If anyone sees a good spot, speak up."
"I thought you all could keep up with my pace?" Tazuna asked, sounding slightly grumpy.
"We can go much faster, if necessary. But it's important to stay hydrated. Especially if we need to defend you from something. I'd ask you to drink water when we stop. You're setting a commendable pace, but booze dehydrates the body. We'll get back faster if you stop drinking."
Tazuna snorted. "Fine. I can stop for a few days if we'll get there quicker."
Akamaru was still ahead of us all, and stopped at a puddle. I grinned, it seemed he was thirsty too.
*RAWF RAAWF*
Kiba's head swung around immediately, concern etched on his face, and Kurenai's attention focused on the dog just fractionally slower.
"Akamaru?" Kiba asked.
I activated my eyes. "Akamaru, RUN!"
As he turned back, I watched two ninja with odd masks and massive gauntlets float out of the ground and start to charge us, Akamaru only half a second ahead of them.
Kiba ran forward immediately, quickly dropping onto all fours and loping ahead.
"Damn it Kiba!" Shino shouted, chasing after.
For a moment, it seemed like Kurenai-sensei and Tazuna disappeared, but suddenly they reappeared in a bush, looking strangely fuzzy. With the client taken care of, I raced after my teammates.
"Passing Fang!" Kiba flew into a spiralling corkscrew, headed straight for the two ninja, who brought up their giant metal gauntlets. Kiba connected, and the three of them slid back several feet as he pushed against their united defense. Finally, Kiba's attack ran out of power as he slowed down, and the two ninja flung him back, their gauntlets dented and nearly ruined.
They immediately counter attacked, flinging the gauntlets off, the chain disconnecting in one fluid movement. One heading towards Kiba, who was rolling back across the ground, while the other clipped Shino's arm as he tried to dodge from a forward sprint, sending him tumbling to the side. Akamaru lunged through the air and caught the gauntlet headed for his master as Kiba shook his head and jumped to his feet.
"Where'd the target go?" one of the enemies asked.
"I don't kn- GURK?" Kurenai had run up and stuck a kunai into his chest without either of them noticing. As I ran up, she suddenly lost the haziness, and I realised she had been under a genjutsu the whole time, presumably invisible.
"Damn it! Brother!" The other ninja jumped away from her, startled, straight towards me.
"Hinata!"
We fell down in a tangle of limbs, and moments later I realized he had my arms held together behind my back.
"Back off from my brother, or else the genin gets it!" he shouted, and I felt a kunai against my throat. "Stand up slowly, girl."
The two of us stood up slowly, as did Kurenai, and she cautiously walked away from the ninja on the ground. "Don't be rash. He's not dead. Yet. If you get him treatment soon he should recover, but if you so much as hurt her… I'll track you down. There's nowhere you can hide from me."
He seemed shaken, and I turned my head slightly. I could see one of the major chakra points in the chest near my fingers, if I could just move my hands slightly…
"I'm giving the orders now! Keep moving! Not that way. Towards your other genin. Make sure they don't do anything stup-"
I shoved all the chakra I had into my fingers, and he collapsed on top of me like a sack of grain. I rolled my shoulders and he fell to the ground. Kurenai was on top of us in a flash, checking me for injuries before checking him for a pulse.
"Gentle fist?"
I nodded.
"Brilliant. Good work!" She quickly started tying him up, and I realized I must not have killed him. My fingers were probably a little too short to reach.
"Kiba, Shino, tie up the other one. Leave the kunai in, it's deep."
••••••••••
A few minutes later, the ninja were tied up sitting next to each other.
Kiba had been fussing over Akamaru, but got up and walked over to me.
"EEP!"
Kiba was wrapped around me in a hug, and I knew my face must be incandescent."You saved Akamaru. Thank you!"
I think Shino could tell I was nervous, as he pried Kiba off of me. "Very commendable, Hinata. You did well."
"I, I got captured."
"And you reversed the situation and took him out. I never even made contact. Even Kiba managed to damage their gear."
*ARF*
Kiba picked Akamaru up, and he jumped into my arms and started licking my face.
"Akamaru says thanks too, in case you couldn't tell."
Kurenai finished making sure the two ninja, mist nukenin as it turned out, were suitably trussed up and not going to bleed out immediately, and came over.
"You all did very well in a hairy situation. We'll talk more, but this changes things. I need to interrogate these ninja, and possibly talk to Tazuna. Right now, I want you three to find and guard him. He should still be unconscious for a while. Don't come over here, I don't want you to see this yet."
I nodded, pointing to Tazuna. "I see him in the bushes."
"Good. I want you to know now, we might not be continuing this mission."
"What?" Kiba asked loudly.
"Depending on what's going on, this might be above our level to handle. That's what I'm trying to determine. If a C-rank mission includes enemy shinobi, it's shouldn't be lethal. It's usually over who completes the contract, or sabotage. These are nuke-nin. They don't play by the rules. This should be a B-rank at least, and Tazuna didn't pay for that kind of protection. If Akamaru and Hinata hadn't spoiled their ambush, things could have gone very poorly."
"But-" Kiba started.
"Hush. We do not know what she will find out. Save your arguments until we understand what we are dealing with," Shino interrupted. "It may all become moot."
Kiba frowned, but nodded and walked over to where I had pointed.
Shino and Akamaru followed. I gave one last look at the two nukenin before heading over myself.
••••••••••
Shino
••••••••••
My teammates and I sat around Tazuna. It was unlikely there were more enemy assets in the immediate area, or they would have surely acted when the ambush was ruined. At worst, a ninja fled to report the results. Still, we should not take this assumption for truth.
I frowned, knowing my teammates could not see it. I had performed poorly. I did not begrudge my teammates success, they had used their abilities admirably. I should have been scouting too. I should have-
"Knock it off, Shino," Kiba broke my thoughts.
I glared at him.
"If sensei hadn't snuck in and stabbed that dude, I'm sure you would have kicked his ass. Don't get all grumpy. It makes you stink."
I rolled my eyes and looked away.
"What are we going to do if sensei says we should go back?" He asked.
"Listen?" Hinata suggested. "She's our jonin-sensei. If she says we should go back, we should."
"But this is our first real mission," Kiba said with a bit of a whine.
"Precisely," I answered.
He let out a huff and leaned back, petting Akamaru.
"Do not be grumpy, it upsets my kikaichu."
Kiba snorted, but I noticed the edge of his mouth turn up into a grin for a moment.
••••••••••
After maybe half an hour, Kurenai joined us again.
After an awkward pause, Kiba broke the silence. "Soo-o…"
Sensei frowned. "I'm not sure if we should go back or not. I got some information out of them. Genjutsu is useful for that, but I've not focused on that type previously. I'll have to fix that."
I was surprised. I knew that jonin-sensei were not perfect, but I had not expected her to be so blunt about her shortcomings.
She must have noticed. "Always recognize areas for improvement. Don't dwell on them, just make notes, and DO something about it when you can. I know some people who specialize in interrogation, I'll ask for some tips. I've focused on battle genjutsu, which is much more difficult in many ways, but interrogation is…" she frowned, "difficult."
"W-what did you find out?" Hinata asked.
"They're working for Gato, a wealthy tycoon. He has ties to many things, shipping included. They have a jonin nukenin waiting in case these two failed."
Kiba grinned. "You're a jonin! With us, we can definitely take them!"
Kurenai grinned at his enthusiasm. "Slow down there. You know that's not how it works, right? I can trust you all to defend yourself against genin, or even chunin if the numbers favor you, like just now. In a fight against a jonin, you're liabilities. I'll have to spend a lot of effort keeping you alive, and they'll know it."
"Well then, we can protect Tazuna while you kick their ass," Kiba tried.
"That is a possibility I'm entertaining," Kurenai admitted. "I'm just wary. I couldn't get either of them to divulge anything about this guy. Just kept referring to him as a 'swordsman'. Or 'the swordsman'."
"I assume that is not an alias you are familiar with?" I asked.
Kurenai smiled. "Good idea, and correct. Could mean he's not good enough to merit attention, but they're nukenin. I was using genjutsu, it all gets… psychological. So it could be his mission call sign, or he's using it as an advertisement to keep his real name away from hunter nin. Anyway, plenty of ninja use kenjutsu. Not very helpful. Mist ninja especially. It is the home of the 7 swordsmen after all."
Hinata blinked. "W-wait. You don't think that-"
Kurenai grinned. "That we're up against one of the seven swordsmen? I highly doubt it. I think a few have gone rogue over the years, but even so, none of them would be slumming it around here, even for a patron as rich as Gato."
That was relieving. I did not know any real details, but everyone had heard of the Seven Swordsmen. It was an elite club based around exceptionally crafted swords with weird abilities in Hidden Mist. I remember that one of them exploded a lot, apparently. No one in the academy could really figure out how that would work, but ninja would find a way.
"What if we go in and get enough information to determine if we should press on or send for reinforcements?" Kiba asked.
Kurenai nodded. "Now that is one of the most sensible things I've heard you say in a while, Kiba."
Kiba grinned. I rolled my eyes again. I like wearing shaded glasses.
"Shall we wake up Tazuna, sensei?" Hinata asked.
"No. We'll be moving quickly. I'll carry him to the coast, we can wake him up there."
"What about the nuke-nin?" I asked, thumb over my shoulder towards the two.
Kurenai blinked. "They're nuke-nin. They gave up the protection of the Mist when they scratched their hitai-ate. We don't have the time or manpower for prisoners."
Kiba looked over to where they had been left. "You mean, uh, you killed them?"
Kurenai nodded. "Nuke-nin get no quarter. If they had been allied with any village, we'd be bound by the accords. Be certain, none of us would have lived if they had the chance. Nukenin are constantly on the run. They leave as few witnesses as possible."
"... Oh."
I looked around. I wasn't the only one somewhat surprised by this turn of events. Ninja died, but… if you were caught, there were rules. Not ironclad, and they became... flexible during war, but…
"Come on. I want to get to the coast before nightfall. We're going to be pushing it to your limits." She hefted Tazuna-san onto her shoulder like a bag of rice.
"Move out."
••••••••••
Akamaru
••••••••••
Woof. Woof wof wooof. Bark woof, woooo bark huff. BARK! Woof bark huff huff snort.
"Bark," whoof whuf.
"I know, we gotta keep going though," riff ruoff bark.
"Bark woof huff rark rark!"
"That's rude! Don't say that about sensei. This is a mission, of course we're running!" Ruff bark ruff.
Bark. Ruff woof wuff aroooo!
••••••••••
Kiba
••••••••••
The miles had melted by. It was dark, and we were at a hill overlooking the shore. In the distance was a small port and fishing town, lit up here and there with a few lanterns. Other than sensei, we were all sore and panting. I had to get Akamaru to run by himself after the second hour, so he was panting right there with us. Or perhaps we were panting with him?
Kurenai cut through my musings. "Well, we didn't make it before nightfall, but not bad. We covered about 115 miles since we left Konoha at noon. Rest up, I'll need to wake up Tazuna. He'll have had some sort of transport arranged off the mainland."
I didn't need to be told twice, and sat down, digging through my pack for a snack and my canteen. I heard rather than saw my teammates do the same, as my eyes were shut, and the cool water ran down my throat.
I poured some into my hand and held it out for Akamaru. He hurried over and lapped it up. I poured some more, with similar results.
"Wha- where are we, what happened?"
Tazuna must be up. I didn't even bother to turn around and watch.
"We're on the coast, Tazuna-san. You and I need to have a chat about a few things. Like why you were attacked by nukenin."
Tazuna preceded to try and sell us a sob story about their country being overrun by Gato. I mean, don't get me wrong, sounds pretty awful, but he should have come clean and asked for help properly. Things could have gone pretty bad if he had ended up with one or two chunin, which is what frequently happens to low priority C-ranks. Not that we're better than chunin, but sensei is.
We slept in a motel. The walls were so thin I was surprised they weren't translucent. It was drafty, and I couldn't get the smell of salt out of my nose. I shared the room with Shino and Tazuna.
What a surprise: Tazuna snores when he's not knocked out by genjutsu.
So, first thing after dawn, I kid you not, there we were, in the middle of the channel in a rowboat. Somehow Shino and I were the ones rowing, though neither of us knew how, while the genuine fisherman 'kept lookout' as if Kurenai-sensei was blind.
At least the bridge was pretty impressive.
••••••••••
We all got on shore without any mishaps, thank goodness. The fisherman buggered off real quick, and sensei called for a team huddle.
"We're going to be discreet, quiet, and stealthy. We're going to need some time to do proper reconnaissance, so we need to get to Tazuna's house without being noticed. From there we can make a plan to get enough information to decide on an actual course of action."
Everyone nodded.
We set out. Our travel was the exact opposite of the previous afternoon. We traveled slowly, in a tight group, off the paths. Akamaru didn't scout, as much as I would have liked him to. We weren't worried about finding the enemy first, just not contacting them at all.
Somehow, none of that mattered.
We reached a small, natural clearing in the forest, the log of an old fallen tree laying in the center. As we moved around it, Shino froze stiff.
"They're here."
Kurenai blinked, and tilted her head, straining to hear something.
Then I heard it as well, something large flying towards us.
"Get down!"
••••••••••
Hinata
••••••••••
Even as I jumped to the ground, I was flashing through the seals to activate my eyes. I had wanted to activate them before, but Kurenai said that chakra sensors could sometimes notice even the most passive of techniques.
I heard a massive weapon swish through the air above me and lodge itself into a tree on the far side of the clearing. We all rushed to our feet, but I could already see a large nukenin standing on a massive sword. He was shirtless, but wore arm and leg warmers.
"He's got a sword, all right," Kiba commented.
"Oh dear," Kurenai murmured.
"I'll be taking the old man's head now," the ninja said.
"No way! We're defending him!" Kiba shouted, a kunai in one hand.
"RARF!"
"Oh. How cute. Well then, I suppose I've lost the day. I'll just head home shall I? Shut up, it's time for adults to speak."
A massive killing intent slammed down, stifling, making it hard to breath or even think. My body froze up completely, and I wanted to hide in my jacket. Far, far inside, and never come out again. Just dig into the earth and hide for the rest of my life and never feel this hate again.
"I don't think I know your description. You a new jonin? What do you think? Can you keep all your student and your client safe?"
Kurenai gritted her teeth. "I will."
He seemed to grin under his mask. "Oh good. That will make this interesting."
He flashed through several hand seals and breathed out, a dense fog enveloping him immediately.
"Crap, he's a blind fighter too. Hinata, get next to Tazuna, and let me know what's happening."
I maneuvered over, "He's making some sort of clones. Not standard bunshin, or what Naruto does."
"Water, most likely. They're solid, don't let them hit you."
CRUNCH
"What the hell was that?" Kiba asked.
"I- I think... a giant spider landed on him? And a few trees?" I answered.
"What." Kurenai asked.
"It's got passengers too?" I continued. Was that…?
"Tsume-san! I think I landed on someone!" A massive voice called out from the mist.
"Why'd you do that?! Get off, they might not have insurance!"
"Where are we anyway? It's so foggy. This isn't Konoha."
I looked closer. It was him, I'd recognize that fascinating chakra network anywhere. "Naruto?" I whispered. What was he doing here though?
Oh. His team was here too.
"Don't worry, I landed on a ninja, they're alive!" The spider seemed cheerful enough. I wondered if they knew Ringumo, and if she had a human form yet.
"Oh great, now they're going to be pissed off at me. Please let's not cause a diplomatic incident."
Kurenai-sensei seemed to have snapped out of her shock. "Tsume-san, is that you? Blow off this mist, would you?"
"Kurenai-san? Sure, one moment. Where are we?"
"We're in Wave. Your summon just crushed a nukenin," Kurenai explained. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"... Um, no problem. Happy to help."