Chapter 32
Tomo and Sakaki stood behind Chiyo and Osaka who were sitting uncomfortably on cold logs. Minamo stood in front of them as other ninja of her higher level began to enter the forest. Osaka had in fact been bleeding slightly, so she now had an oversized bandage on her head. There had only been a little trickle of blood, but Minamo had only had one piece of cloth and Tomo thought it would look amusing.
"So what's happening Miss Minamo?" asked Chiyo. She shivered slightly in the darkness.
"The village has come under attack from an unknown enemy. The forest has been invaded, as has the village. We have people trying to repel the attack, and we are trying to rescue the students out there in the forest" replied Minamo.
"Under attack?" muttered Sakaki to herself. Minamo had sounded downbeat, moreso- she sounded both worried and upset. Sakaki couldn't help but begin to wonder if people had been dying- this was an attack. Would many die?
"So what's the situation?" asked Tomo.
"They're pretty skilled fighters and ninjas" said Minamo. "Some of the village is on fire. We may have to ask some of you students for help to try and repel them."
"Hey, I'd be willing to help" said Tomo. "I'll get rid of them!"
"Tomo, this may be a fight to the death, you may have to kill" said Minamo.
The group fell silent, not even Tomo speaking. Sakaki glanced across at the shorter girl who clenched her fist and looked up towards the teacher. Sakaki was surprised by the determined look on her face, and in her eyes.
"They started it" said Tomo. "This is my home. Sure about ninety percent of the people who live there have badmouthed me at some point, but this is my village. If they want to fight, I'll give them a fight."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Minamo, smiling slightly as Tomo nodded her head. The students she had known since they were kids were growing up. The teacher turned to the taller Sakaki. "Do you want to help?"
Sakaki shifted uncomfortably. "Well I want to help, but I don't know about killing…"
Minamo nodded. "Why don't you help us rescue the other students?" she asked.
Sakaki's face lightened up slightly, there was a way for her to help!
"I can do that" she replied.
"Ok" said Minamo. "Sakaki, you come with us. Chiyo, Osaka stay here. This is our temporary base where rescued students are being taken. Tomo, head back to the village. Tell them the students are being rescued, and that you're here to help. I assume you can stay out of trouble until you reach the village right?"
"Yeah I think I can" said Tomo.
"See you later" said Sakaki as Tomo turned towards the village.
"Take care" said Chiyo. "Please. Don't do anything stupid either" she added.
"I promise nothing" said Tomo. "You three stay alive or I'll be very annoyed with you" she stated. And with that she began to sprint towards the village. Chiyo waved weakly as the older girl began to disappear from view.
"I think she'll be ok" said Osaka weakly, pressing her hand against the bandage.
"She has dumb luck on her side" said Chiyo.
"Come on Sakaki, lets get going" said Minamo. She turned to the two young looking, but experienced ninja who were keeping the base. "You two look after this two girls ok" she stated firmly, pointing to Osaka and Chiyo. "No harm comes to them at all."
"We understand Miss Minamo" came the reply.
Tomo could see vaguely smoke wafting upwards in the darkness. More then that she could smell the burning of many things, buildings, food, possessions…hopefully not people. As she got closer to the village, she pulled out one of the kunai knives she hadn't lost in the forest.
She ducked down as a small group of people ran by a building burning on the outskirts of the village. Someone pointed at something and the group sprinted in that direction, weapons held at the ready. Keeping low, and relatively silent, she moved forwards, feeling the heat of the flames against her body.
"So you're what was sent?" asked a females voice.
"Yukari?" asked Tomo, turning to face her former teacher. She had a long gash in her left arm, the sleeve coated with blood, and a few grazes. However she seemed relatively fine. Just looked annoyed.
"The one and only. And it's Miss Yukari to you" said Yukari.
"What happened to you?" asked Tomo, pointing to the injured arm.
"Oh I walked into a door…I got attacked you idiot. Managed to knock them out. Got out before the place was burned down- they killed some of their own guys."
"What about other people?" asked Tomo. "You aren't the only one left are you?"
"Of course not" replied Yukari. "I hope. Last I had heard some of the people were falling back to the training centre- your old school. There are supplies and weapons there, and it's built to withstand attack."
"So all we have to do is get there somehow?" asked Tomo.
"Yeah that's right" replied Yukari. "What a lot of fun this is going to be."
"I thought this would be an opportunity to let out some aggression" commented Tomo.
"Yeah but it's getting late. I just want to go back to my room, sit in bed and eat, but it seems I won't be able to do that tonight. Hey, I haven't been out in the field for a few years now" she said, noticing Tomo's expression.
"A few years? How old are you?" asked Tomo.
"About that opportunity to let out aggression" said Yukari menacingly.
"I think we should get going" said Tomo.
"Good idea, we should hurt the enemy, not each other."
Takaya grumbled and rubbed his injured arm as two of the remaining men marched towards him. He held up his injured hand, annoyed at the loss of his little finger. Now his hands were uneven, and ugly. Only one of the men carried a flaming torch, the other was pushing two tied up girls' forward. He recognized them as the bespectacled girl and the athletic person who he'd fought earlier. He saw the girl with the glasses mouth a swearword as she spotted him.
"What do we do with these?" asked the man without the torch, talking about them as though nothing more then a box of miscellaneous junk he'd found.
"Keep them bound for now, it's always useful to have prisoners at hand." He crouched down. "I assume you two know it's in your best interest to behave."
"Whatever" said Kagura angrily. Takaya smiled.
"You can remain sarcastic and pissed off. As long as you don't do anything stupid you can talk about me any way you want." He stood back up and turned to face the two men. "Any word from the sentries? I assume the village knows the forest has been invaded by now?"
"There is a rescue mission underway" replied the man. "Older ninja are entering the forest to retrieve the students and try and stop us."
"What do we do now?" asked the other man.
"Get as many of the men back here, bring any students you get as hostages. We're moving out of the forest and into the village to help. Don't try and get everyone. Some can stay in here to make them think we're all here. It'll take a long time to search the entire forest."
The men nodded in the darkness and pushed the two girls away before returning from where they had come. Takaya walked away, knowing the two girls were tightly bound. Now he had to wait for the others to arrive.
"I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting this when I started the exam" said Kagura.
"Neither was I" replied Yomi, coughing slightly, her face and mouth resting against the dirt. This decidedly crap situation had managed to get worse with every passing moment Yomi had found. "Can't do much like this, so I guess we'll have to do what they say." Though both had trained in the art of escaping from being bound while at the academy, both had found they couldn't in this situation.
"Think we'll get out of this with all our limbs intact?" asked Kagura sarcastically.
"We might be able to" said Yomi. "But I'm preparing for the worst just in case…prepare for the worst and if it's a disappointment you end up happy."
"Well we can try. I guess on the positive side Chiyo must have managed to escape" said Kagura. "I haven't seen her since we got separated. But-but I feel that she's ok." She smiled faintly. "I'm sure of it."
"Tomo probably stumbled across her accidently knowing how these things usually go" said Yomi.
"Wouldn't that put her in even more danger then being on her own?" asked Kagura.
"Probably…knowing how these things usually go" replied Yomi.
Takaya stood pacing around. He knew he'd probably have to wait a long time for the others to show up. Always quick to action, but always slow to respond. He'd wait for them to get here- then with his knowledge of the forest it'd take under twenty minutes to reach the village and join up with the others. Hopefully it might end soon with little bloodshed. But he knew with their leader that probably wouldn't happen.
Away from Takaya and across the forest twoof his men walked towards the perimeter fence. One looked out at the open area beyond. Two adult ninja stood paying little attention to the surroundings. A short distance away from them sat a small girl, and an older teenager who was sleeping.
"Look, more hostages."
The other man grumbled. "I can't believe it. That river got so narrow and shallow and I still stepped in it. My boots are all wet!"
"Quit your whining and get moving" muttered the other man.