It took all night to evacuate everyone from the town. Thankfully, they had an escape route set up through the nearby foothills and it was Team Guy's job to help escort everyone to the entrance of these tunnels to make sure that everyone got in safely. After that, they were to wait in the town for the enemy to show up where they would face off against the man wielding the staff.
"Keep moving! We don't have much time left," Hisako ordered the last of the remaining townspeople as she ushered them all into the tunnels.
"Everyone on my side has been evacuated," Neji informed Hisako, jumping down to land beside her.
"Good, I'm almost done here. Then we can go join up with Guy Sensei and Lee," Hisako replied as the last person entered the tunnel, Hisako took a step into the dark tunnel and cupped her hands around her mouth, "Just keep moving! The tunnel is a straight line, so you won't get lost."
No one responded to her, and she didn't wait for a response before she jumped into the trees with Neji to regroup with Guy Sensei and Lee who were waiting on the top of a hill overlooking the town.
The town was surrounded by tall rock formations that towered high into the sky, and as they landed beside the other members of their team, Guy Senseni pointed to one of those rock formations.
"It's time we put your training to good use team! Let's get to the top of that rock, we can get a better idea of what's going on from up there," Guy Sensei yelled jumping down from the hill.
"Right," the three Genin said in unison, following Guy Sensei towards the rock formation.
They concentrated their chakra into their feet, and a moment later, all of them were running up the side of the rock formation, including Lee. It just took them a few minutes to make it to the top where they stood overlooking the entire town forest and hills below.
"It's beautiful," Hisako admired as the wind whipped through her long hair. The colors and beauty of the land stretched out for as far as the eye could see eventually meeting up with the horizon.
"We're not here to sightsee," Guy Sensei scolded, "Neji, Hisako, do you see anything?"
"Oh right, sorry," Hisako replied, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, they were red with her Sharingan with three black tomoe.
Neji was the first to respond though, "There's a massive tidal wave headed in our direction," he observed, and a moment later, Hisako saw the giant body of water too, and gasped.
"It'll destroy the entire town!" Hisako exclaimed
"Good thing we evacuated everyone," Guy Sensei replied, his tone nonchalant, "alright, any sight of the enemy?"
"Yes, two. One is holding a staff, I assume it's the elemental staff that we've been searching for, and then there's one more," Neji replied.
Hisako saw them too. The staff had what looked like the head of a lion on it, and the eyes of the lion seemed to glow with an unnatural power as the wielder held the staff up to control the giant wave.
"Do you think we'll have to take the fight to them?"
Neji shook his head, "No. They're coming our way, and fast,"
A moment later, the large wall of water made contact with the village, the giant torrent destroying the small town below them. Explosions and booms came from the poor buildings that were swept away. Trees and debris littered the ground and forest animals fled the area. A large boom from thunder echoed overhead and Hisako looked up. Dark storm clouds filled with chakra moved in over the area, deadly lightning striking the Earth in deafening booms.
"This storm isn't natural guys," Hisako announced, as she lowed her stance.
"Shinobi from the Leaf, huh?" A man shouted, the second man that Neji and Hisako saw earlier stood on a rock formation.
The man was tall and muscular. He seemed to be in his prime as his tanned skin rippled with power and strength as he flexed his arms. There were scars littering his body, and he didn't have a single hair on his head, his brown eyes met with Guy Sensei.
"It's you again!" the man shouted, pointing a finger toward Guy Sensei.
"Huh?" Guy Sensei responded, tilting his head to the side, "Do I know you?"
The man let out a low growl, "Don't you remember me? I'm Atsushi Tanaka! You defeated me the last time we faced five years ago and I have been searching for revenge ever since! You shall not best me this time!"
Hisako's red eyes widened as she watched in awe. It seemed like Guy Sensei still couldn't remember who this guy was.
"Hm, yeah, still don't remember," Guy Sensei replied, "But if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get! Youthful students, this guy is mine! Take care of the guy with the staff!"
Guy Sensei jumped off of the rock formation they were standing on, leaving everyone but Lee stunned and silent.
"Uh, huh," Hisako grumbled, her jaw dropped.
With her Sharingan, she saw that Guy Sensei and that man, Atsushi, had already fallen deep into their battle and she realized that the three of them were completely on their own with dealing with the man with the staff.
A moment later, the hair on Hisako's body all stood on end and she saw the chakra concentrating in the air at their location.
"Scatter!" Neji yelled, and without giving it a second thought, all three of them jumped up into the air, barely avoiding a deadly lightning bolt.
"That was too close for comfort," Hisako muttered as she landed on another rock formation.
A man laughed near her location, and she turned to see the elemental staff pointed directly at her as the man waved it through the air, "This is perfect! They send three Genin to take me on? This is gold!" he yelled as mist curled and withered from the staff, creeping along the rocks falling off of the edge of the rock he was on like a waterfall as the fog began to engulf everything.
Hisako gasped, and even with her Sharingan, she was unable to see him clearly. She stood on the rock formation, her gaze darting back and forth to try and grab his location, but the fog became so thick she wasn't sure which way was up anymore. She felt the hair stand up on the end again and she screamed as she jumped into the air, electricity zapping so close to her body she felt it zing on her skin, but thankfully she dodged another fatal blow. A moment later, she felt a kick on her back and was sent flying, screaming as she was pushed out of the range of the mist.
She felt the weightless feeling of falling, her stomach lurching into her throat as she plummeted towards the raging torrent of water below. The moment she was about to fall into the water, however, Neji was there, his hands gripped her upper arms, keeping her upright as they skidded along the surface of the water.
"Thank you," Hisako gasped out as the mist continued to creep its way toward them.
Neji didn't give her time to readjust and forced her into the air with him again as they landed on a rock formation that Lee was standing on. Hisako stayed on her knees for a moment, catching her breath before she stood back up again.
"Neji, our plan from earlier," she gasped out, coming to stand beside him, his Byakugan already observing the mist that continued its slow domination.
Neji nodded his head and dug into his pouch pulling out a kunai knife with a paper bomb attached to it, "yes. And our suspicions were correct. The chakra from the staff is acting like poison to his body with the chakra natures that are unfamiliar to him,"
He pulled his hand back, preparing to throw the kunai knife, "Hisako, on my word," he told her gently, his eyes darting through the mist like he was able to see their opponent even though Hisako's Sharingan was useless.
Hisako nodded her head and brought her hands up right as Neji threw the kunai knife with the paper bomb attached to it, "Hisako do it!"
She quickly performed the hand signs and shouted, "Fire style, fireball jutsu!" and aimed the large fireball directly at the paper bomb.
The explosion was massive, at least twice the size of a regular paper bomb, and where it landed, evaporated the mist, and their opponent was sent screaming and tumbling through the air, burned and bleeding from the proximity of the paper bomb. He flipped in the air, recovering from the blast in mid air, as he landed on a rock formation again. Neji smirked beside Hisako.
"We can do this, he's not invincible," Neji encouraged his team, taking a step forward.
"You little brats!" the man yelled, throwing his staff forward again.
Before he could cast another jutsu, Neji shouted, "Hisako, Lee! All together,"
Hisako and Lee followed Neji's lead and lunged for the man with the staff. It became an intense fight as they closed in on the unnamed assailant, but the man seemed to be dodging everything they were throwing at him. Lee took a bad hit from the staff, and fresh blood dripped from a wound on his forehead as they jumped back away from the man to regroup.
"This is not looking good," Hisako shouted over the roar of the waves as she landed on a large rock, barely avoiding another deadly lightning bolt.
"When they mentioned an Element Staff, for some reason, this isn't what I had in mind!" Lee yelled as the wind ripped at his black hair.
"We just have to get that staff away from him, then we'll just have to deal with him!" Neji shouted, "Hisako, Lee, let's try going at him altogether, one more time,"
"Right!"
They all lowered their stances, preparing to attack this guy one more time.
Lightning crackled overhead, and time seemed to stand still for a moment before they lunged for their opponent again. All three Genin attacked their opponent as one and this time, it seemed that they were making some progress. Hisako eventually got through the man's defenses and grabbed onto the Elemental staff with both hands. This forced him to pause his attacks as he attempted to dislodge Hisako from the staff.
Neji saw his opportunity, and distanced himself from their enemy, dropping low in his stance, extending one arm in front of him and the other behind him at an angle. Lee's hands grabbed onto the staff too, both Hisako and Lee trying to force the staff out of their opponent's hands as a green and white symbol appeared on the ground with the yin yang symbol in the middle.
The staff was engulfed in flames, Hisako and Lee screamed in pain as their hands burned at the staff but they refused to release it. Lee let go of the staff with one hand, and brought his fist down on their opponent's arm, forcing him to release the Elemental Staff.
"8 Trigrams, 64 palms," Neji said, his voice low and dangerous the moment the staff exploded with a chakra burst, sending both Lee and Hisako flying back as soon as Neji dove forward, bringing his hands up in a series of attacks.
Hisako and Lee landed on their backs a few feet away, breathing hard. Their hands and lower arms stinging from the burns. Hisako was the first to recover as she got to a sitting position, watching in awe as Neji performed his jutsu flawlessly.
"2 palms," she heard him say as he blocked two of their enemy's chakra points, "4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms, 32 palms, 64 palms!"
By the time Neji's attack was completed, 64 separate chakra points had been completely sealed. Their enemy was now suffering from massive internal bleeding, nerve damage and a completely disrupted chakra network. The enemy was now lying motionless at their feet. The staff lay between Lee and Hisako completely forgotten as they stood staring at the enemy that they had just managed to take down themselves.
"Three Genin, versus him, and we did it," Hisako finally said, breaking the silence, her voice airy and she let herself fall back on the ground, breathing hard.
"Of course we did it!" Lee shouted, somehow still having energy as he stood up, cheering.
Neji went to stand beside Hisako, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched their unconscious foe with a wary gaze. A moment later, Guy Sensei reappeared with his own enemy thrown over a shoulder, his enemy was out cold as well.
"Ah, I knew my youthful students could handle him!" Guy Sensei exclaimed, giving them all a thumbs up as he tossed his opponent on the ground by their second enemy, "you three go on ahead, tend to those burns on your hands, you two."
"Yeah, but go on ahead where? The town was destroyed," Hisako asked, flipping on her stomach to look past the rock formation they were standing on top of.
The water that had flooded the area had vanished and left the destroyed town far below them. Debris and what used to be homes and shops now scattered the barren landscape and Hisako couldn't help but feel a little bad for the state the town had fallen in.
"Ah, well, meet up with the others on the other side of the foothills, inform them that we have succeeded, and return the staff to them," Guy Sensei ordered, throwing the staff towards Neji.
Neji caught it with one hand and waited for Hisako and Lee before the three of them jumped off the rock formation, running down the side.
It took them about an hour to find where the villagers went, but they eventually found them making camp in an old run down abandoned town on the other side of the foothills they had escaped from earlier that day.
"The Leaf Village Ninja have returned!" the headman shouted, grabbing everyone's attention as the villagers all turned to cheer, "And they come with the Elemental Staff!"
Neji walked over to the headman and gave him the staff. Hisako was just glad to be done with that thing. Hisako's attention slipped away from the Headman as Neji recounted the events of the battle, and had to inform him that the town was destroyed just like he thought it would be.
"Ah! Who cares about that old town? I was looking for an excuse to rebuild! Just you wait, in a few years, our town will turn into a big and powerful village!" the Headman exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, "till then, come, I know this little town isn't much, but this was our town before we relocated. We have set up a medical house over there, tend to your wounds and I'll see that you get accommodations,"
Neji bowed to the Headman when the Monk whom they had first met when they came to the town walked over, holding his arms out wide, "I'm so glad to see the staff has finally returned!" the Monk yelled, taking the staff from the Headman, "thank you for your work, young Shinobi,"
All three Genin bowed to the Monk and waved as the Monk turned on his heel and quickly left to go find the staff a temporary home until a new shrine could be built.
The walk to the medical house was quiet, and when they got there, Hisako was the one who tended to her and Lee's injuries.
"Let me see your hands, Lee," Hisako ordered Lee, holding a salve that was meant to treat more serious burns in one hand, and holding her other hand out to Lee.
They both had second-degree burns on their hands and fingers, and on their lower arms, first-degree burns. Hisako was going to treat her hands last. It wasn't going to be easy having to wrap up her own hands and she wanted her hands to move freely despite the agony that came with it so that she could treat Lee better.
Lee complied and held out his burned hands so Hisako could slather the ointment over the burns before she wrapped them in a light gauze. She then moved to address the cut on his forehead, applying some butterfly bandaids and a patch of gauze over that as well after she had disinfected it.
"There," Hisako muttered, stepping back.
She sat down on one of the chairs they had and went to spread the ointment on her hands as well. It stung as she applied it, but she tried to distract herself from the stinging with thoughts of their successful mission, or of how Neji had caught her when she fell from that rock formation earlier. Or even how his Byakugan was able to see through the mist when Hisako's Sharingan couldn't.
When it came time to wrap her hands up, she reached for the rolled up gauze and her hand brushed Neji's for a moment.
"Oh! Neji," she shrieked, pulling her hand back as Neji picked up the gauze.
He held out a hand to see Hisako's hands, and she silently accepted Neji's help, letting him gently wrap her hands and lower arms up in the light gauze. Hisako sighed in relief once the gauze was in place, the salve easing the burning and stinging sensation from her burns slightly.
Guy Sensei entered a moment later, a giant smile on his face, "Alright, my students! We'll take tonight to rest but after that, we received payment and a large tip. We'll be heading home in the morning!" he announced, giving his team a thumbs up.
Hisako's shoulders slumped forward at the thought of being able to rest for the night. She hadn't realized until just that moment how truly exhausted she was. Her only plans tonight were going to be sleeping through the entire night.
"Oh! One last thing, the Headman told me that there are natural hot springs in the area. We can utilize them if we wish,"
Hisako perked up with that knowledge, standing up from her chair. Okay, maybe she would have two plans tonight.
"Hot springs? Sweet!" she yelled, throwing a bandaged fist in the air.
That night, after a large dinner provided by the Headman, was served, and her stomach was wonderfully full, Hisako and the rest of Team Guy all headed towards the hot springs. Hisako split off to go to the girl's section of the springs and spent a long while soaking in the wonderful waters. When she finally did get to sleep, despite her hands and arms still stinging, she hadn't slept as well as she did in ages.
When they woke up the next morning, Guy Sensei was already awake saying a few last words to the Headman before they were to leave the town. They had a short, quiet breakfast, then all of them took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch on their way back to the village.
The three days it took to get back felt longer than it did when they started the mission. Hisako wasn't sure if that was because Guy Sensei was letting his team take more breaks this time, or something else. But, the silence seemed to drag on between the team members. Even Lee was silent for most of the way until he saw a squirrel or something.
"Lee, what are you doing?" Hisako asked, taking another bite of her rice ball as she watched Lee staring up into the branches of a nearby tree.
"There's a squirrel! I wanted to say hello," Lee responded, Hisako raised an eyebrow, "Hello Mr. Squirrel!"
"Lee, squirrels don't talk," Hisako scolded.
"You don't know that! We did meet talking groundhogs on one of our missions," Lee retorted.
Guy Sensei laughed beside them, "Lee's got a point," he replied.
Hisako's eyebrow twitched in exasperation and she let out a groan as she turned her back to them, "Yeah, okay, whatever,"
She started walking through the trees again when she spotted a familiar path. Her eyes widened when she realized where the path lead and she turned back to her team, pointing to the familiar beaten path.
"Hey! You guys! That's the path that leads right to the main gates of the Leaf Village! We're almost there!" Hisako yelled, mustering up the last remaining energy Hisako had left to run down that path towards the village.
"Yay!" Lee yelled, rushing forward bypassing Neji and Guy Sensei, and running past Hisako.
Hisako let herself smile and she followed Lee running down the path toward the Leaf Village. A few minutes later, that wonderful large gate came into view, the proud Leaf Village symbol displayed high on the two opened gates as they rushed towards the entrance.
Hisako couldn't help but admire and appreciate these gates every time she saw them. They represented so much for her. A new beginning, a new family, a new life. New hopes and new dreams. These gates represented life for her and every time she could look up and see this symbol, every time she could look up and see these beautiful gates, and walk under the glory and beauty, she knew without a shadow of a doubt, that she was home.