Author's Note: So, I'm sure you're all kinda mad that I took so long to upload this... :/
And I don't really have an excuse. Really, I was just enjoying my break from school. I really needed it.
I'm really sorry for making you all wait so long. I hope you can forgive me! :D
Thanks to Echo Uchiha, Angel42497, MikaUchiha666 for reviewing the last chapter!
If you would be so kind as to review, that would be awesome. :)

Nineteen: Breadcrumbs

I took the sample of fabric from Hana's hands so I could examine it for myself. It was so small—I wasn't sure how Hana could be so certain that this was actually from Toshiro's jacket. Sure, the color and texture of the material was the same, but this could have belonged to anyone. "How do you know?" I asked her.

The girl's eyes lowered to her lap as she fiddled with her fingers. "I… I'm not sure," she whispered, "I just know."

I ran my fingers across the fabric. "The edges are torn and frayed," I observed aloud.

"Do you think that they hurt Toshiro?" Hana asked with worry in her eyes.

I thought about it. It was very probable that the men who captured him had injured Toshiro, and this shred of his jacket had just been lost in the process. But as far as I could see, the surroundings held no evidence of blood spilled in a struggle, so I wasn't going to be too quick to judge the situation. Besides, I had another idea as to why I held a piece of Toshiro's jacket in my hands. "Check the surrounding area for more pieces of fabric," I told my teammates, "A one mile radius should be sufficient."

"I'll take the North!" Nikko announced while dashing away from the group.

"Wait!" I shouted at the boy. He stopped dead in his tracks and peeked back toward me. His expression was that of impatience. "It's too dangerous for anyone to go alone. We'll use the buddy system."

"Well, then who's going with me?" Nikko groaned, "We don't have all day!"

I turned to Mai. "Would you mind going with Hana?" I asked in a hushed tone, "Nikko's always been a bit… impulsive. I feel like I should go with him, so I can keep him under control."

"That's fine," Mai smiled.

"We'll take the north and work our way east. You take the south and work to the west. If you see something, let us know. We'll do the same."

"Right,"

Mai and Hana sprinted away to begin their search, so I turned around to start running toward Nikko. He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. "Took you long enough," he grumbled.

"Just when I thought you had changed," I grinned, patting him on the shoulder, "Now, stop whining and get to work."

As we walked further away from our teammates, we examined the ground for traces of jacket fabric. We had to advance slowly and carefully so as to be sure we didn't miss anything as we continued on our way. Much to my surprise, Nikko was quiet during our search. The only sounds that permeated the air were the loud snaps of twigs and crunches of dead leaves under our feet. And though the cheerful chirping of birds was absent, I took the lovely morning sunrise as a reason to remain hopeful.

The sun cast a warm light to the forest, giving the earth a rich, orange-brown tone that would make it easier to differentiate the black hue of the substance we were looking for. As I scanned the forest floor, however, all I could see was dirt, leaves, and the occasional pinecone. I did not see a shred of fabric anywhere. I tried not to get discouraged, seeing as we had only been searching for a few minutes, but, being my impatient self, I found that task increasingly difficult. Even Nikko managed to maintain his composure, so if I were to break now, I would be even worse than him, and I certainly didn't want that.

When we had traveled about a mile from our starting point and hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, we began working our way East. The sun continued to rise higher and higher in the sky, and the blinding light seemed to taunt me as it shone into my eyes. It signified that time was still passing, and we had still found nothing. Nikko and I searched every spot on the ground, and I had even crawled on my hands and knees to get a close up view, wanting to be sure that I hadn't missed anything. But all that got me was a pair of dirty palms and more disappointment.

Before I could let slip a tiny curse, however, I heard a faint sound in the distance.

I tilted my right ear up toward the sky, hoping that would somehow make hearing somewhat easier. "Did you hear something?" I asked Nikko.

Nikko's eyes became distant as he concentrated on listening. Again, far in the distance, I heard a faint cry. A smile crept onto my face, and hope filled my heart once again. "Let's go," I said as I began to sprint toward the sound.

"What is it?" Nikko asked, following closely behind me.

"Hana and Mai," I answered him, "they found something."

I shouted into the air, offering an answer to the voice that belonged to either Hana or Mai. They kept calling out periodically so as to inform us of their location as we approached them. After a mere matter of minutes of weaving in and out of the millions of tree trunks that jutted from the ground, we had made it. Hana and Mai leaned against a large tree, the younger girl holding something small and black in her hand. The two of them smiled victoriously. "We found one," Hana told me.

"Excellent," I said to the both of them, "Where was it?"

The two instantaneously pointed their fingers to a spot on the ground located to their right. "Right there, in between those trees."

I walked to the exact spot. "The second piece of fabric was found here," I repeated. I then pointed my finger toward the spot in which the first piece was found, "And the first was located over there. Seeing as Nikko and I never found anything, the kidnappers—and Toshiro, by default—must be heading this way," I switched the direction of my index finger so it was pointing in the opposite direction.

"I still don't get it," Nikko interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows, "What exactly is the deal with Toshiro's jacket? Why is it in tiny pieces on the ground?"

I smiled at the boy. "Your teammate is smart, you know."

"Well, duh," Nikko rolled his eyes, "We know, he's a freaking genius. What does that have to do with anything?"

Mai gasped quietly. "Wait," she whispered, obviously having a realization, "Are you telling me that he—"

"Yes," I interjected, unable to hide my growing smile, "The reason his jacket is in tiny shreds that are frayed at the edges is because Toshiro chewed his jacket into pieces. He then spit them onto the ground to let us know where he was being taken. Like the breadcrumbs that led Hansel and Gretel, these pieces of his jacket are our key to finding Toshiro."

"Wow," Hana sighed, "Toshiro really did that?"

"For being so young, he really is intelligent," Mai said softly.

Nikko crossed his arms over his chest, letting a tiny 'hmph' escape his mouth. Before he could turn his face away from us, however, I noticed a tiny hint of a smile playing on his lips. He was happy that his teammate was so smart, but his tough exterior, which was still alive and well, would not allow his true emotions to come through.

"Alright," I sighed, "We have to hurry. Be sure to look for more pieces of his jacket as we go."

With quick nods of approval, my team followed me deeper into the forest. Relief soothed my heavy heart, and I found myself traveling with skip in my step. We were going to find him. It had been less than half a day, and we had already found a trail leading straight to Toshiro and the men that held him captive. It almost seemed too good to be true, but I was so thrilled about the situation that I paid no mind to the convenience that would normally puzzle me.

More "breadcrumbs" were found at five-to-ten-minute intervals of sprinting through the forest, and I was growing increasingly anxious with each passing second. I wondered what would happen when I saw the man who kidnapped my student. I wasn't sure if I would be able to compose myself long enough to actually question the man's motives, or if I would become so enraged that I would attack him immediately upon seeing him. I told myself that I would control my impulses, but even I couldn't predict my own moves. Like Naruto and Nikko both, I was somewhat of a hothead, and, although I knew full well that it was a troublesome quality of mine, it had always been hard for me to control.

We came to a break in the forest, and ahead of us was a small bridge that crossed over a calm river. There was another shred of black fabric at the base of one of the fence posts, assuring us that they did, in fact, pass over the bridge. I picked up the fabric and put it in the front pocket of my Jonin vest, where I had kept all the other pieces of material, and urged my teammates to hurry to the other side. As our heels clacked against the hardwood, my heart raced not only with fatigue from running, but also with the anticipation of encountering the kidnappers.

When we had made it to the other side of the river, I scanned my eyes across the horizon. The surroundings were bare, but in the distance was a small rocky mass with a path of flattened prairie grass leading toward it. "There," I breathed, "That has to be where they are,"

"There's another piece of Toshiro's jacket!" Nikko shouted, pointing to a small black speck in the lightly colored grass. That confirmed it. Toshiro was up ahead.

"Let's hurry," I said.

We sprinted down the trail toward the brown mountain of rock in the distance. As we approached it, I noticed a small opening that lead inside the rocky mass. A hideout?

"Well, what do we have here?"

I heard a voice from somewhere in front of me, a voice that I didn't recognize. It was deep and rough, so I assumed that it belonged to a man. Searching the vicinity, however, I couldn't pinpoint the owner of that voice, for there was no one to be seen but the other members of my team. "Looks like I underestimated you," I could hear the smirk in the man's voice, "Kaeda."

"Show yourself, coward!" I shouted. I lowered myself into a battle stance, preparing for combat, which could happen at any given moment. To my team, I whispered, "Get ready."

Suddenly, atop the mass of rock before us, a figure phased into sight from out of nowhere. Shocked by his sudden appearance, I gasped quietly and furrowed my eyebrows. The man had long dark hair that flowed gently in the current of the breeze. His trench coat covered the majority of his body, from the high collar that hid his face to the bottom hem that extended just past his knees. Mai grasped my shoulder firmly in her hands. "That's him," she breathed, "that's the guy that I saw in the village."

"Who are you?" I demanded, gritting my teeth in rage, "And where is Toshiro?"

"You mean that Isami boy?" he questioned, clearly enjoying the anger he had stirred within me, "Don't worry, he's perfectly safe. I haven't gotten a chance to perform the extraction."

"Extraction?" Hana whimpered from behind me.

This can't be good, I thought to myself, Don't tell me that he's…

"Look, pal," Nikko growled, "Are you going to tell us who the hell you are, or what?"

The man chuckled. "Since you're all going to be dead soon, I might as well tell you," he said in a condescending tone, "My name is Koji Gensai, and, in a matter of days, I will be the supreme ruler the world."