"This is Silver. Any sign of the target?"

"This is Black. No sighting at all."

"This is Grey. I don't see anything."

"This is Red. I don't see it but I have found the scent trial."

"Follow it Red. Everyone else, head towards his location. And remember, we need it alive."

"Why would we kill it?"

"When you find it you'll know. Of all the enemies of Konoha, this one is by far the most cunning of them all."

"How cunning?"

"He has escaped imprisonment more times than remembered, he is very fast and very agile. And further more you need to beware of his attack, it can be deadly."

"Understood." All of them said at once as they began to move in on their target.

"Team Seven reporting mission success." Kakashi said when he and his genin students returned to the Hokage Tower, with a certain cat struggling to get free from their hold on it. Sakura ended up being the one to hold it since she was the only one it couldn't hurt. Naruto and Sasuke were both covered in small red scratches.

"And people call us monsters. This cat is more of a monster than Tenten is." Naruto commented as he gingerly rubbed some of wounds, flinching at the stinging feeling.

Sasuke put some bandages over his cuts, having put a little antiseptic on them to prevent infection. "All I can say is vampires are not supposed to bleed."

"Could we get this thing in a cage please? Don't know how much longer I can hold it without a solid body." Sakura pleaded, struggling to keep Tora from escaping her ethereal grasp.

"Here." One of the chuunin said as while filling out a mission file and another chuunin came up to them with a cat carrier. "Hurry, before the Damiyo's wife sees this. She hates these things."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Maybe if she bothered locking the cat up it wouldn't run off."

Sakura handed over the feline. The chuunin took it and and gave it to the Fire Daimyo's wife who gushed over it despite the cat's protests. "Just be careful not to say a word about this in earshot of her. She doesn't take criticism well. And here's your pay." He then handed them their paychecks. "If it makes you feel any better, that cat doesn't seem to like any genin, human or demon." The chunnin then smiled. "I remember when I had to retrieve the cat, it nearly clawed my eyes out."

"I still got a scar on my ear from the worst time I had to get it." The other chuunin added in, gingerly touching the right side of his head in memory before walking away.

"Maybe genin shouldn't be assigned to retrieve it anymore then." Kakashi suggested. "That thing is the equivalent of a rogue ninja."

"If doing the work wasn't a complete waste of chunin talent then I'd agree." The chuunin with the reports replied, then got ready to return assigning missions.

"So team, ready for another mission?" Kakashi asked.

The chuunin at the desk went thru the file of D-rank missions. "We've got weeding a garden, building repair, walking some dogs, cleaning up a river-"

"No! I can't deal with this community service anymore!" Naruto shouted impatiently. "I know there are civilian services for that sort of stuff so why should we have to do it? We did not become ninja to do what a chain gang would do!"

The chunnin shook his head, having heard this complaint a hundred times before "You haven't been out of the academy that long. You need time to prepare for the harder stuff and doing this kind of work will give you time to practice while keeping your village up and running."

"How exactly is weeding a garden helpful to ninja training?" Naruto irritably asked.

"Teaches you proper plant identification so when you go foraging you can tell the difference between the edible and inedible?" The chuunin guessed, not actually sure or caring about the reason.

"Is there a problem here?" Mito came forward after having a brief chat with the Daimyo's wife, though it had really been one-sided; she has just stood there listening to the Daimyo's wife go on and on about random pointless topics. Actually, she had used the commotion over here as a means to excuse herself lest she dispel herself and reveal 'Mito' was a shadow clone.

"Yeah, we want something worth doing. No more chores around town." Naruto told her. He was unaware Mito was a disguised clone of his mother, but having seen her around Kushina on occasion he had gained a measure of comfort around her so he wasn't afraid to talk to her normal most of the time. Something Kushina tried to correct in him so he'd be respectful around authority figures.

"Naruto, you're just a genin and a young one at that. You're not ready for anything more advanced than D-rank yet." Mito told him firmly.

Naruto just frowned. "All of you are treating us like we're just kids. Didn't we become adults once we got these hitai-ates?" He thumbed his headband for emphasis.

"If that was all that was needed to become an adult then every civilian in the world would be just a child." Mito told him. "Naruto, you're only an adult legally, not emotionally or mentally. Right now you're more like an old child than a young adult. You need more time to grow before we can send you out into the real world."

"And how do you know we haven't grown enough? How will these crappy missions prove anything like that?" Naruto asked.

Mito looked at Sasuke and Sakura. "Do you agree with him, or is he just assuming when he says 'we'?"

"I don't really have an opinion here." Sasuke answered, though he did secretly agree with Naruto on this matter. Just not enough to draw attention to himself on it.

"Well, I agree with Naruto in principle, though I think he's speaking more out of frustration than principle." Sakura replied.

Mito looked at the three kids and after a moment smiled. "Alright." Everyone who heard that was confused. "I think I will give you a chance to prove you can handle better. It'll be only a simple C-rank and one of the tamer ones we have, but at least you'll feel like you're doing something productive." She went to the mission desk and pulled out a portfolio filled with assignments, flipping thru pages before she found one that fit her standards. "Here's one. A standard bodyguard/escort mission that should be harmless."

"Escort? So we're protecting someone on their trip to somewhere?" Naruto asked, some eagerness in his voice.

Mito nodded. "I'll go get the client. Just wait here." She then walked away.

Kakashi went right to his student. "Naruto what have I been telling you all this time?"

"To cut back on my ramen eating because the sodium level might kill me?" Naruto joked.

That got a quick flick to the forehead. "Besides that. You should not go looking for more trouble than you can handle."

"You should be thanking me Kakashi-sensei. Now we get to do real ninja work."

'Real ninja work? I don't think you know what that means.' Kakashi thought. He was a veteran of the last ninja war, and the moment he had become a genin he had been thrust into A and B rank missions. He had seen enough blood and death to last a lifetime. 'If you had to experience all that Naruto you'd be happy you're stuck with D-ranks. Excitement is a double-edged sword.'

"Naruto, what if we aren't ready for this?" Sakura asked, fearful of the worst.

"What could go wrong Sakura? Me and Sasuke are too tough to hurt and you can't be hurt anyway."

'Maybe not physically.' She thought. "Naruto, you may be strong but you're not invincible. Remember the old Kyuubi after all and what happened to it."

"That's why you guys will be there to make sure I don't die, just like how I'll be there to make sure neither of you will either." He told her.

Somehow that statement was very reassuring to the vampire and banshee, and helped them build up their resolve for this mission.

Mito came back. "Here's your client." Next to her was an old man dressed like a fisherman with a pack on his back and a bottle of booze in his left hand.

"What's this? I paid fer ninja, not brats." He said, a drunken slur to his words. Even his eyes looked drunk. "Are they really ninja? Are ya trying ta rip me off woman?"

Mito ignored the insult and just smiled. "Rest assured they are licensed ninja and should be fit for the job you paid for. If you insist on better that can be provided, but it will cost you a little more."

Resigned to getting what he paid for and the fact he could not afford any more, the old man looked back at Team Seven. "Hiya, I'm the supah impressive bridge builder Tazuna. I expect ya all ta give me super protection until I git home to Wave Country and complete ma bridge."

'Great, we're stuck with a guy I can smell the sake off of even without a kitsune nose. This is going to cost me a few snide remarks later.' Naruto told himself.

"Oh my little boy is going on his first C-Rank mission. I am so happy." Kushina squealed with joy as she petted him on the head like he did when he was a boy.

Some of the younger demon children giggled when they saw this and ran off before anything could be said to them.

"Moooom! Stop it, you're embarrassing me." Naruto groaned.

"Oh it's a mother's job to embarrass her child. That's half the fun of being a mom." She said with a smile and moved to pack some stuff into Naruto's mission bag. "Especially since he is going off on an important mission."

"It is just a bodyguard assignment, Mom. I doubt it will be anything special."

"Never doubt. If it was nothing special then it would a D rank mission." Kushina said as she continued to pack Naruto's travel bag.

"I just think it will be good to get out of the village for a while. I was going stir-crazy here. Chasing cats, weeding gardens, walking dogs, picking up trash. I want do something more… ninja-like."

"Oh I can remember feeling the exact same way when I was a genin. Wanting to get out in the world and show off what I could do." She smiled at those memories but then her expression turned serious. "You just remember though, don't get ahead of yourself or become too arrogant about your skills. If you do, you will fall hard and fast."

Naruto nodded. "Yes Mom."

"Good. I lost at least one friend that way. I'd hate for you or your friends to experience that." She handed him his bag. "Now, you stay here, I am going to get Sakura and see you both off properly." She said as she left the room and headed up the stairs.

Naruto sat down in a chair and looked in his bag, smiling when he saw that his mom had made sure to pack him a few packs of his favorite instant ramen and his fat frog wallet Gama-chan.

"Naruto?" A voice from behind him said all of a sudden.

The boy nearly jumped out his skin from surprise. Steeling himself he turned to see Hinata standing in the space behind the chair, which just a moment ago he could have sworn had been empty. "Hinata, when did you get here?"

"I've actually been here for a while. I was just standing in the shadows and didn't say anything." She said with a smile.

"That is kind of creepy." Naruto said with a serious face, then suddenly laughed. "Seriously, of all our group I have no doubt you are going to be the best spy someday. And with your ice powers the enemy wouldn't stand a chance."

"Thanks, so you got your first C-Rank mission?"

"Yes, I am leaving soon. It's going to be awesome."

Hinata smiled. "Well congratulations. I know that the other teams are sure to be jealous of you. Especially Kiba, he has been wanting to go on something other than a D-Rank mission for a while. How did you manage to get one?"

Naruto grinned. "Maybe the Hokage recognized Team Seven's talent?"

Hinata stared at him with a smile. "Did you beg?"

The kitsune seemed insulted. "I am a Namikaze, I would never lower myself to beg for something."

"What about when you begged Miss Kushina not take Gama-chan to pay for the damages from your last prank?" She reminded him sternly.

Naruto's face fell slightly. "That was not begging, that was pleading. There is a difference between the two."

Hinata smiled. "Still, I'm happy for you, and I'll miss you while you're gone. Please don't get into too much trouble while you're away."

"I'll be fine, and I'll miss you too Hinata. Maybe when I get back we can have that special curry of yours."

Hinata smiled. "Only if no humans are around. You remember what happened when Iruka-sensei tried some at the party?"

Naruto lightly laughed. "Oh yeah, that really cheered us up after the crap Mizuki pulled. I'm still surprised that spice you used has that effect on humans but not demons."

"Have you heard if he's gotten better?" The yuki-onna asked.

"Last I heard his skin's not changing color like a mood ring anymore but he still loses the ability to stand up after he burps." The kitsune told her, still chuckling a bit which made his friend join in. "Still, that was some great curry you made. Never would have thought you'd have talent for spicy food."

Hinata blushed. "I'm surprised too, but I can't live off frozen food forever so it's nice to know how to make hot meals. Especially when I... have a mate in a few years."

"No need to worry about that. You've got plenty of time to learn a lot before that comes up." Naruto replied friendly, not wanting to talk too much about mating since he was well aware her and three girls were hoping he'd choose one of them and he wasn't ready to take that seriously yet.

Hinata nodded, knowing he didn't want to make an issue of their possible romantic future when he had something more immediate on his mind. "Anything I can help you with before you head off?"

"No, but that doesn't mean you have to leave or anything." He stated, making her really happy.

Sakura was going thru all of the stuff in her room in a systematic fashion, making sure she had not forgotten anything when there was a knock at her door.

"It's open." She called.

Kushina pushed open the door and walked in. "How is my girl doing?" She asked happily.

Sakura immediately looked up and quickly bowed her head respectively. "Mrs. Namikaze-"

"HEY! How many times have I told you, just call me Kushina? Mrs. Namikaze makes me feel like an old hag and I am no baba yaga."

Sakura nodded. "Of course, I am sorry Mrs.… Kushina."

The redhead woman sighed and shook her head, she loved Sakura like a daughter, but that girl was far too serious sometimes. "So are you all set for your first real mission?"

The banshee nodded. "Yes, I have made sure to pack all of the essential items needed for the mission, also just a few things for precautionary measures."

Kushina smiled, something she liked about Sakura was that she was always prepared for anything. Whenever one of the younger children hurt themselves she always seemed to produce a first-aid case out of thin air. An appropriate talent for someone who themselves can appear out of thin air.

"Good, I am sure you will do well on this mission. Which is why I want to ask you a particular favor." Kushina said, her voice growing serious.

"Of course, anything."

"I need you to watch out for Naruto. We both know that he can get a little excitable and I don't want him doing anything super foolish while on this mission that might get himself hurt."

Sakura didn't need to think about this request and nodded. "Of course Mrs.- Kushina, you can count on me."

"I knew I could, and stop calling me Mrs. Namikaze."

"Force of habit, sorry."

"Did you remember to pack plenty of sun-screen?" Mikoto softly asked her son Sasuke.

"Yes mother." Sasuke said, holding up two bottles of the four he was bringing. Since he could not bring his coffin to block out excess sunlight, he made sure to bring plenty of sunscreen as well as air freshener for when he smelled bad at night. Of course the amount he would need for ample protection and to prevent weakness meant he would use roughly half a bottle each day.

"Do you have enough blood packets for meals?"

"Yes mother, I have a good supply and made to wrap them well to prevent puncture. I also packed a few cans of tomato juice just in case."

Mikoto smiled. "That is good. I am very proud of you Sasuke. I just know you are going to do well on this mission." Sasuke nodded and smiled back as his mom. Mikoto suddenly realized something else. "Oh yes, I have something for you. It's a gift from your brother."

"Onii-sama?"

The Uchiha matriarch nodded. "Yes, he wanted you to have it for your first non-D-rank mission." She reached into her pocket and withdrew a kunai. This was highly polished and actually had the symbol of the Uchiha engraved on the blade.

"Wow!" That was all Sasuke could say as he stared at the kunai.

"Custommade. Your brother had it made to give to you as a present upon graduation from the academy. But before… before he left he told me to give it to you for a mission." She said as she placed it in the hands of her remaining son.

Sasuke held the kunai in his hands for a moment, feeling the cool and slick metal. Then, after setting it aside, he hugged his mother tightly. "Thank you."

"Don't use it carelessly. I suspect Itachi intended it to be more than just a mere kunai."

"You mean it can do something? Is it like a Hiraishin kunai?"

Mikoto quickly shook her head. "Oh no, nothing like that. Itachi couldn't possibly know that jutsu or replicate it. I have no idea what it does or even if it can do anything, I'm mostly theorizing here. But it wouldn't surprise me if it could do something an ordinary kunai couldn't do."

"I'll examine it when I have a chance." Sasuke said, his curiously peaked.

That afternoon, Team Seven reunited by Konoha's main gate with a few of their friends there to see them off.

"You lucky bastards." Kiba said in good jest.

"So you're going to Wave Country?" Ino asked and got a nod for an answer. "You're so lucky. You'll get to go by the ocean."

"Yeah, lucky us." Sasuke complained.

"You ready Sasuke?" Naruto asked. The vampire just shrugged. "C'mon, we're actually getting to go outside the village for once. Can't you at least pretend to be a little excited?"

"Kind of hard to." Sasuke commented.

"Why?"

"Several reasons. We're going to an island which means we'll be surrounded by water."

"Oh yeah, that's not good. For you at least." Naruto interrupted.

"Tell me about it." Kaede sympathized. "Just be glad it's not Land of Water. That would suck big time, and not in the way we vampires like sucking."

"You do realize how that sounded right? Chouji asked.

"In my defense was there a better way to phrase it?" The vampire girl replied.

"I guess not." Chouji decided.

"Trade you spots Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"Nope, this mission's still mine. And don't even think of using your siren song to change that." He told her.

The siren huffed. "No fair. I'm the only one here who's at all fit to be near the ocean and you don't even like taking a bath. I should be the one going, not the vampire. And if I was there I could show Naruto my new sexy bikini."

Sakura fumed jealously then smirked triumphantly. "Well lucky me I get to show him mine instead."

"Who would let you have a bikini banshee? You'd still fit into a grade school swimsuit. With room to spare." The Yamanaka retorted.

"You're both underdeveloped compared to me. Everyone knows the only thing sexier than a fox-girl is a cat-girl." Yakumo claimed.

"What about a succubus?" Kiba asked.

"Overrated."

Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand. "Naruto, I bet you're excited to be able to go to the beach for once when we get there. It'll be a lot of fun for us."

"I'd make it more fun." Ino stated.

"In your dreams." Yakumo declared.

Before the arguing could go any further Hinata encased the three girls in ice.

"Thanks Hinata. That was about to get really troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, especially since I know for a fact Hinata's the one who looks best in a bikini." Naruto stated before realizing what he was really saying.

"How would you know that?" Shino asked.

Hinata turned bright red. 'Na-Naruto... thinks I'm sexy?' She quickly fainted, but was caught by Kiba who settled her down.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and decided to pull his teammate out of a metaphorical fire. "All this aside, what really bothers me about these missions are how we have to act out in the rest of the world. We have to pretend to be human." He spoke the last part quietly and while he did the three frozen girls broke out of the ice and shivered while looking mad at the unconscious yuki-onna.

"Why is that a problem? We already do that." Naruto asked.

"Would you let me finish please?" Sasuke asked back, a bit irritated now but he was still whispering. "Yes we pretend to be human here, but we're allowed the occasional slip-up in use of our abilities. The villagers know what we are and any spy would think we were using a ninjutsu or genjutsu for practice. But out of Konoha, it's a little harder to justify since we won't be around people who are used to ninjas or demons."

Sakura nodded in understanding, still shivering a little. "I see your point. I can't exactly walk thru walls whenever I want without drawing suspiscion to the people we'll encounter. Anyone could leak that information out. We'll have to be careful what we do until we get back."

Sasuke nodded. "And worst of all, where am I going to get blood without hunting down someone?"

"Don't you have any packets with you? I'm sure Mom would have sealed up some for you and given it to your mom." Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I got some, but it's unlikely to last the entire trip. Sunscreen I can buy anywhere, but not blood. Besides, it always tastes better warm."

Naruto and Sakura rolled their eyes. "Maybe you'll get lucky and we'll find someone who has to be killed so you can drink their blood and be safe. Until then, just deal with cold blood." Sakura told him.

"Hey, that's like being told to eat your favorite food cold." Kaede defended.

"Ready team?" Kakashi asked with Tazuna next to him. The three genin nodded. "Alright, let's get going."

"Bye everyone." Naruto and Sakura said as they waved and headed out, receiving waves in return.

"I'll show you how I look in my bikini when you get back Naruto." Ino called out.

"Looking forward to it." Naruto replied, again not realizing what he said until after it was too late to stop himself.

Yakumo frowned at the siren then called out to her fellow kitsune. "Then I'll show you how I look without one when you come back."

Naruto just waved more, not wanting to put his foot in his mouth again. It didn't matter, because right then Ino and Yakumo were arguing too much to have heard him by them.

Three hours went by and so that everything had gone perfectly. No surprise attacks, no whiny genin, not even so much as a hint of bad weather.

Feeling a bit safer, Sakura decided to break the monotony with some light conversation. "So Tazuna, what kind of place is Wave Country like?"

The old man couldn't respond right away because he had his sake bottle in his mouth at the time, and even after he stopped he wiped his mouth with his arm. "It was a great place to live. A small island nation with three towns total and no daimyo because we ne'er needed one before. We just sorta managed ourselves with our mayors being the closest ta daimyos we ever needed. The weather was nice, occasional sea storms but fair weather and more fish than we could ever eat."

"But now...?" Naruto asked, sensing something had changed from the way the carpenter was reminiscing.

Tazuna just shrugged the question off. "Just hard times going on. But I gotta project going on that should change that."

"Like what?" Sakura asked.

"You'll see when we git there. Words don't-" He interrupted himself with a burp and cough. "They don't do it justice."

"Or maybe you just want to stop talking since you're slurring your words so much." Sasuke commented.

"Ah shaddup." Tazuna grumbled.

While the genin were chatting with the client, Kakashi observed something inconspicuous yet quite out of place. ' A puddle on a hot day when there hasn't been any rain for a week? Either the one behind this is stupid or thinks we are.'

"Hey Sasuke, you usually keep track of the weather. How long has it been since it last rained?" Kakashi asked as they passed the puddle.

"At least a week. Why?"

Before Kakashi could answer the puddle burst to reveal two hiding ninja with a barbed chain between them. They sprang at Kakashi and wrapped their chain around him, and it looked like he was cut in half by their weapon.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto and Sakura shouted, though for Sakura it was a moderate shout that only irritated the ears. Sasuke didn't shout but his eyes widened in shock.

The two enemy ninja managed to get behind Naruto, and they pulled their chain so that it would decapitate the redhead boy. Naruto ducked down to get on all fours like an Inuzuka might, thus the chain missed him. But of course these guys weren't going to stop just from that. One of them rushed forward with their clawed gauntlet to strike him.

Sakura jumped in front of this enemy, taking the claws right to her heart, making the enemy smirk under their mask. "Two down."

Sakura smirked too. "Sorry to disappoint, but I can't be cut." 'A Kiri symbol with a slash across it, this guy's a missing nin.'

Before the other ninja could move to help the first, Sasuke jumped above them and threw a shuriken and kunai. The weapons together managed to pin the chain to a nearby tree so it couldn't be used easily right away. Effectively the ninja were stuck to the tree, though not in a way they couldn't break free of with effort.

The ninja that had attacked Sakura withdrew his gauntlet in an effort to break free. In that he saw there was not a mark on the pinkette, not even a tear on her dress. 'How is that possible?'

Rather than answer the unspoken question, Sakura took a kunai in her hand and made herself ethereal again, thus making the kunai ethereal too. She stuck her hand inside his neck with the kunai pointing upwards then let go, thus turning the kunai solid and lodged in his windpipe. The missing nin was choking on the kunai now and when his gag reflex kicked in all that did was force the kunai to stab into where his brain connected with his brainstem. So if choking didn't kill him, his own reflexes would.

Naruto at the same time was fighting the other missing nin and keeping him quite busy with a never-ending set of slashes. 'His nails are like claws, my clothes and armor are actually taking damage from his fingers alone. But he'll have to do more than scratch me to beat me. Me on the other hand, my scratches are much worse.' Blocking one attack the enemy uses his free hand, which was covered in a clawed gauntlet, to slash back at the redhead boy. "Take this!"

Naruto unfortunately couldn't dodge and got cut on his left forearm. He noticed the cut burned more than it should. "Your claws are coated in poison aren't they?"

"Right, so now you can't beat me."

"I wasn't trying to beat you." Naruto said. "I was trying to make you forget."

"Forget wha-?" The enemy said but was cut off by Sasuke attacking from behind and latching onto his neck, now able to do so thanks to the cuts Naruto made to the missing nin's collar.

"That there was a third genin here." Naruto answered with a grin.

Sasuke let go of the missing nin's neck, blood around his lips and nodded to Naruto. The kitsune pulled back his fist and rammed it into the enemy's face, knocking him on his back. The enemy tried to get back up but found themselves not wanting to.

'I feel so sluggish, so drowsy. Did that kid... drug me?' He asked before he passed out.

Tazuna was shocked to see three kids he considered greenhorns at best take down two adult ninja. 'How do they train these kids? On second thought maybe I don't want to know.'

Clapping was heard and everyone turned to see Kakashi walk out of the forest unharmed. "Well done guys, you did good."

"Kakashi-sensei?" The three asked. "But we saw you-"

"You saw me substitute before their attack got to me. Notice how once they finished with me there were no remains on the ground. That should have tipped you off that I had tricked them. Just be glad it didn't tip them off either."

"So you were just watching us?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded. "I wanted to see how good you three could do when you thought no back-up other than your own teammates was available. It's one of the best ways to test for teamwork, give the team a situation where the only help they have is each other. In that scenario you discover just how much faith you have in them and how much faith they have in you. Teammates that abandon you as soon as things get tough are the worst kind to have."

"Sepaking of which, Sasuke can you help me out here? I think I was poisoned a bit." Naruto asked, showing his injured but healing arm.

"Fine, but only because we can't risk this slowing you down." Sasuke said before sucking the poisoned blood out of Naruto's arm. When he finished he spit it out. "Gross."

"I'm going to assume that it was the poison that tasted gross." Naruto said before wiping the wound.

Sasuke wiped his mouth at the same time. "Now I have to get tested for rabies."

"You can't get rabies and you know it Sasuke." Sakura chided.

Kakashi decided to check the bodies. "One of them is about to die but the other's not so we can still interrogate him. Let's tie him up before he recovers." The genin nodded and assisted him in restraining the prisoner, receiving a few lessons in how to better do so in the meantime.

Afterwards, Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "Now, could you explain to me why two missing ninja would bother going after you?"

"How do you know they're after me? Maybe they were after you instead?" The carpenter asked back.

"You're sweating too nervously for this not to be something you were expecting. Besides, they were laying in wait, which implies they knew full well someone was going to walk down this road today. And since they sprang up at us before we made a move, that tells me they were after this exact group more than trying to defend themselves. They wanted us, and I suspect the one they were after was you. So again, what are you not telling us?"

Seeing four ninja stare him down, Tazuna cracked. "It's a long story."