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Chapter 21 – Supposedly Simple
Groaning, Kazuma opened bleary eyes and tried to sit up. A firm hand pushed him back down. He blinked several times to clear his vision and found Amaya beside him, firelight dancing across her face. The Anbu licked his cracked lips. "...my Genin?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I think a better question is what you were doing with Genin in the first place."
He opened his mouth to respond but started coughing.
The auburn-haired Jonin propped Kazuma against her while Haku fetched water. The young shinobi handed him a filled canteen and he drank greedily before trying to speak again. "That's better. So why're you and Haku here?" He glanced at the ninja silently sitting across the fire from them.
"Don't change the subject," Amaya commanded, inwardly cringing at Kazuma's nonchalant attitude. If Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were missing, she'd be climbing the walls wanting to search for them, injuries or no. But she reminded herself that this was his way of dealing with worry. Ignore it and it might go away.
"All right, all right. The day after I got back, the Sandaime wanted to see me. He said there was a team of Genin in need of a sensei. They'd been without one for nearly a month. He said they would 'help me heal'."
"What happened to their sensei?"
"He died on one of his missions. I didn't really want them, but the Hokage gets what he wants. When I met them later that day, somehow they sucked me in. It took me less time to realize I cared about them than it did to train them the rest of the day."
Amaya smiled. "Yeah, they can have that effect, though it's usually the younger ones."
"Yeah, well, they're crafty…. And the little brats can be kind of endearing if you give them the chance. Anyway, this was our second C-rank mission together. Wasn't supposed to be hard. A simple delivery."
"What happened to complicate it?"
"Rogue Grass nin attacked, a lot of them, wanting the package. I was overconfident and it cost me. Before I collapsed, I saw the shinobi knock out my Genin and take them away. Probably because I was able to hide the case."
"Is it still where you hid it?" Haku asked his first question of the night.
Kazuma shrugged, wincing as he did so. "Don't know. It's not far, though, if you'd like to go check." He gave Haku a description of where he'd hidden the package. Once the dark-haired shinobi was gone, Kazuma tried to sit up again. Amaya allowed it and he leaned against her as if the simple act of righting himself had been exhausting. "So, how's the love life?"
"My relationships aren't any of your business."
"Oh, come on. Indulge an injured nin with too much on his mind." Her silence was as good as an answer. "You back with Kakashi yet?"
"Oh no, you don't. You first. Or should I call Mamoru? I only need one free hand, you know."
The Anbu stuck out his tongue like he'd done when they were Genin.
"Put that back where it belongs or I'll have Mamoru bite it."
His tongue quickly retreated into the safety of his mouth, knowing full well that the auburn-haired Jonin wasn't joking. She'd made good on her threat once and Kazuma wasn't eager to repeat the experience. "Fine. You win, all right? I met a girl while I was in Kumo. At first, I tried my best not to get involved, but she wore me down until I agreed to a date. We dated almost the whole time I was undercover. If circumstances had been different, I would've asked her to marry me. Actually, I almost did and just about blew my cover too."
"What about Badger? Haku said you and she were together."
Kazuma's face reddened. "Oh. Well, um, she was undercover with me, and after we had to leave Kumo, I was a bit depressed. But she just kind of…brought me out of it. Being around her made me feel better somehow. I know it seems weird that I could bounce back so quickly after being forced to leave someone I honestly loved, but…." He gestured feebly.
"It's not weird. Not in your case, anyway. Badger's your partner. You have to trust her with your life and that kind of trust can easily turn into love."
"I guess so. Anyway, come on. It's your turn."
"Despite your assumption, I haven't gotten back together with Kakashi. I'm dating Genma."
"Genma? Huh. Didn't see that one. If you weren't with Kakashi, my next guess would've been you were single."
Amaya frowned at her former teammate. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing really. I just didn't think Genma would act on his feelings."
"Well, he did."
"And I'm glad he did. You deserve the best."
Their conversation trailed off as Haku returned, a scroll-case in his arms. "Is this it? It was where you said it'd be." He handed the case to Kazuma, who'd stopped leaning on Amaya because he had the strength to support himself at the moment.
"That's it. Thank you, Haku. I'm glad to see that it's safe."
"What do you plan to do?" Amaya asked, though she already knew the answer.
"I'm going to rescue my students." The three nin spent a good portion of the night planning how they'd find and rescue the Genin. Amaya filled her former teammate in on what the Hokage had told her. She was grateful Kakashi's Genin, for they were technically no longer hers to claim, weren't with them. Naruto would have wanted to open the finely decorated scroll-case while Sakura chided him, though she too would secretly want to know the contents of the case. Sasuke, Amaya decided, would've been the only bearable one of the three, at least until he baited Naruto again. Her lips quirked up into the slightest smile.
"Do you have any idea where they might've taken your Genin, Izashi-san?" Haku asked.
"Just Kazuma, please. And, yes, I have some idea. I've traveled this land before. The trees stop a few miles from here, and from there it's almost nothing but open grassland. In some places, the grass is so tall, a fully-grown man can hide in it with no problem, though these areas are far and few between. I doubt they were taken to Kusagakure. I'm almost certain that these shinobi were acting on their own."
"Great." Amaya rolled her eyes. "Rogue nin could be anywhere."
"Don't worry. At dawn, I'll send Kogera after them. He'll be able to track them."
"When did you get a summon, Kazuma?"
The injured nin puffed his chest out. "You've been gone a long time, my friend."
"So what is he?"
"He's one of the Inuzuka's dogs. Well, sort of. He was rescued by them from an owner who fought him against other dogs. His mother was bred with a wolf, so he's a bit more wild than your regular ninkin. They were having some difficulty reigning in his wilder nature and he was going to be put down until I offered to see if I could work with him. They laughed at me, told me there was no way I could tame him when Tsume herself couldn't. Tsume told me that if I could, then I was welcome to him."
The auburn-haired shinobi frowned. "But aren't the Inuzaku dogs bred to be partners rather than summons?"
"Not all, but most. Kogera's too wolf-like to be kept with the other dogs and too unpredictable to be around anyone but me for long, so he lives outside the village."
"You'll have to tell me how you managed to tame him. From what you've said, I'd wager you got bitten at least a dozen times."
A grin spread across Kazuma's face. "More like two dozen."
The trio drifted to sleep soon after, with Mamoru to stand guard so they could all be rested come morning. Tomorrow, they'd set out to rescue Kazuma's Genin. Perhaps the thing Amaya hated most about being a shinobi, the only thing she truly hated, was the loss of a Genin. They needed to be protected, needed to have no fear when their Jonin sensei was around.
Granted, a little fear was healthy, crucial even, to producing a ninja who could survive. But a Genin should know without a shadow of doubt that their sensei would do anything to protect them. She thought that, despite having known him only a short time, that Kazuma's Genin would already have that knowledge. Her former teammate's need to protect was great, to the point where she was surprised he hadn't insisted on searching tonight. That he hadn't insisted on searching served to indicate just how much pain he was in. She smiled to herself. It was fitting that Kazuma had made friends with a wolf. Amaya said a prayer before letting sleep carry her away that the Genin would be safe until help arrived.
