(Thanks for coming back to read the sixth chapter of the series. We continue with Team 3's first real mission outside the village. How will they fare? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
...Meanwhile Nobuo is in another area of the forest kicking a log. "Dumb Enji, he always has to be right," mumbles the young lad as he kicks the log in frustration and stubs his toe, "Ouch, ouch, you stupid log! Why are you so hard?"
He hops up and down holding his injured foot in an attempt to ease the pain. But slowly it dawns on him that something seems to be out of place and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Nobuo freezes in fear, staring ahead before gathering his courage to slowly turn around.
"Well, well, isn't this convenient," says a bandit as he picks up Nobuo by the collar, "We were just about to decide how to attack and capture you, but then you decided to come to us."
"Yeah, but where is the other one?" asks another bandit slithering out from the woods and scratching the long scar on his chest, "It is a package deal."
"Let me go!" shouts Nobuo as he angrily kicks and squirms trying to get free. More of the kidnappers emerge from hiding and surround the boy.
"Shut up, you brat," says one of the others, who dons a black eye-patch, before punching the boy in the gut. They watch in satisfaction as the small boy coughs and gasps for breath
"We can use this one as bait and set up a trap," suggests the one holding Nobuo whose neck and mouth are covered by a long, thin blue scarf. They all slowly turn to look at Nobuo, grinning evilly, while he cowers in the hold of his captor.
"Damn, they got to him before us," says Jando as he uses his Byakugan to observe from his vantage point, hidden in the boughs of a tree about a hundred meters away.
"We should pull back," advises Sakura nervously.
"What are you talking about? We have to go save him now, or else we might not have another chance," argues Jando, "Besides they are only ordinary bandits, we can take them."
"I don't know Jando, there are a lot of them," replies Sakura skeptically. She looks around at the grove the bandits are standing in and tries to find places where an attack would work in their favor.
"We can do it, we have the element of surprise on our side this time," encourages Jando, "Look, I will go in first and distract them. Then you come in and get Nobuo."
"Okay, I guess that sounds like a good plan," says Sakura with a bit of uncertainty still lingering in her voice.
"So how should we set up this trap," asks a smaller member of the bandits who carries a large number of deadly-looking knives.
"It needs to be good, because they are ninja," advises a tall, skinny bandit, "They won't be fooled easily."
"You got that right!" shouts Jando as he lands in the middle of the group and starts his assault on the nearest bad guy with his Gentle Fist Taijutsu.
"They found us," yells the bandit holding Nobuo captive, "Watch out for the other three!"
"Wrong, I am all alone!" announces Jando as swipes the feet from under the closest enemy, "I don't need them to take…" The tall, skinny bandit sneaks up behind Jando and chops him on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious.
"Why didn't you just kill him?" asks the smaller bandit as he examines one of his blades.
"Because now we have another hostage to use as bait," the taller man gloats as a huge grin grows on his face.
"Damn! Jando got captured. I knew it was a dumb plan," thinks Sakura as she hides in a tree, "I can't rescue them on my own. I need to go back and regroup with Sensei and Kuroda."
"Somebody is approaching," announces Kuroda.
"Who is it?" asks Kayo looking up at the boy perched in the tree.
"It is Sakura," he replies, "But she is alone. Jando and Nobuo are not with her."
Sakura arrives seconds later at the campsite looking winded. "What happened, Sakura? Where is Jando?" asks Kayo feeling uneasy about the girl being on her own.
"We were able to find Nobuo, but the bandits had already captured him," explains Sakura while she catches her breath, "Jando rushed in and got captured as well. I retreated back here to tell you."
"Good choice, if you didn't come back we would have been in a big jam," says Kuroda cleverly hiding the sarcasm.
"Sakura, while I commend you on wanting to assist a comrade, it was a very bad decision," Kayo says sternly, "If you would have waited for me to come up with a plan then the enemy would not be holding two of our people."
"I...I'm sorry Sensei, I should have thought before I acted," the girl replies staring down at her feet feeling guilty and dumb.
"Everyone makes mistakes," replies Kayo, "Just make sure you learn from this experience."
"I will, I promise. So what are we going to do now?" asks Sakura.
"Well if they are smart, they probably changed their location. So we have to track them down first," comments Kuroda matter-of-factly.
"That part is easy," says Kayo.
"What do you mean Sensei?" asks Sakura.
"Well since you came back here I assume you got the message I sent you," says Kayo.
"Yeah, I did," Sakura confirms staring at her master with a confused expression.
"Oh, I get it now," comments Kuroda folding his arms behind his head and looking at the night sky.
"Get what? I don't understand," says Sakura, a bit confused.
"Sakura, didn't you find it a bit strange that the mechanical bird was able to find you so quickly?" asks Kuroda.
"Yeah, that was pretty lucky," admits Sakura.
"It was not luck," explains Kayo, "My device found you by keying in on your chakra. Since we are a team and will be for a long time, I took samples of your chakra and exposed each of them to a specific device. So, the birds are able to track you if the team is separated."
"I get it now!" exclaims Sakura, "And since the bandits captured Jando we can use a bird to track where they took him and Nobuo."
"Exactly," says Kayo, "The birds do have a limited range, but I doubt they will go very far since they only have one of the boys. There is also a possibility that they split them up and took them to separate locations, but we will have to deal with that if it comes up."
"So what's the plan of action then Sensei?" asks Kuroda.
"Well they will most likely be setting up a trap, on the basis that we will be attempting a rescue. Either that or they will attempt to trade Jando for Enji so they can get a better ransom," states Kayo.
"Why don't we just leave them both behind?" suggests Enji.
"Are you serious?" exclaims Sakura disgusted by the suggestion, "You're willing to leave your brother behind with a bunch of bandits?"
"Who cares about him?" replies Enji.
"Maybe you are willing to leave a member of your own family behind, but we can't leave Jando behind," Kuroda says harshly, "Not only is he a friend, he is a member of Team 3, and a Leaf Ninja. If you can say one thing about the ninja of Konoha, it is that we don't leave our comrades behind."
"Yeah, that's right!" adds Sakura.
"It good to see my students have already taken up the mind-set of a Leaf Ninja, but I am a bit surprised that Kuroda would call Jando a friend," Kayo ponders, "I was under the impression that they were anything but friends."
"Fine then, one of you go and save your friend while the other two escort me to my home," replies Enji.
Kayo squats down in front of Enji and looks at him directly in the eye, "You are angry at your brother, and with good reason. However, that anger is not going to last forever. He is still your brother, and always will be. If you leave him behind now you will regret it for the rest of your life."
"I guess...I guess you are right," replies Enji trying to cover up the shame he is feeling.
"So how should we do this?" repeats Sakura.
"Well if they want Enji, then we will just give Enji to them," announces Kayo, "How is your transformation Jutsu Kuroda?"
"I can handle it, but what are we going to do with the real one?" he asks.
"I can hide him with my own Jutsu," replies Kayo, "Now, let me explain the full plan."
A little while later, as the sun rises for the new day, Team 3 has managed to track the bandits to a small complex and tries to negotiate for the release of Nobuo and Jando. Kuroda has transformed himself to look like Enji and he is looking cool and comfortable while impersonating the boy. Meanwhile Enji has been transformed to look like Kuroda through the use of Kayo's advanced Jutsu. He on the other hand is struggling to keep his composure while pretending to be a ninja. Sakura is also looking a bit uncertain, but trusts in the plan that her sensei has devised.
"Well, well, well, we thought you might come to rescue your teammate and the boy," says a bandit with a sword as large as a man; as a bunch of his friends file silently out of the hideout and stand their ground staring menacingly. They drag out their two captives who are tied up with rope. Jando is unconscious, but Enji is struggling to break free from his bindings.
"Actually, we are here to make a trade," replies Kayo, showing no sign of fear; in fact looking completely confident in her abilities.
"A trade? Well, that is an interesting proposal," says a very short bandit as he plays around with a few knives, "What were you thinking?"
"We will give you the second boy if you give us back Jando," explains Kayo.
"What? You are selling us out?" screams Nobuo in the arms of a large, muscular bandit.
"Looks like you are out of luck kid," laughs his captor.
"So, you are selling out your client to get one of your own back?" asks the small bandit as he scrapes his knives together creating a defined screech.
"He is more important to us," comments Sakura.
"You good-for-nothing ninja," yells Nobuo, "My mom will have your heads for this!"
"Something seems strange about this," comments the tall skinny, bandit, "I don't like it."
"Do you have another proposal then?" asks the fake Kuroda.
"Actually, I do," replies the skinny bandit, "I was looking in this useful book I bought the other day, and I figured out who you are. You are Kayo Yuhi of the Leaf Village."
"Yes, what of it?" asks Kayo.
"The bounty on your head is at least double what we would get for ransoming these kids," he states, "How about we give you both of these boys in exchange for you?"
"It is a deal," she replies.
"Wait, Sensei that was not part of the plan," whispers Sakura franticly as she tries to hide her anxiety from the bandits.
"Sometimes you have to alter your plan," says Kayo evenly, staring straight at the negotiator the whole time.
"You there, the other little rich kid. You go over and tie up her hands nice and tight, then we will do the exchange," says the skinny bandit taking charge of the situation. The fake Enji follows the orders.
"What is Kuroda doing?" thinks Sakura, "I guess he caught on to Sensei's plan. I will just have to trust them."
A few moments later the three people walk across to the opposing sides. The large, muscular bandit puts Kayo in a bear hug as soon as she gets near and laughs, "This was a great idea. We will get a ton of money for her, and maybe we can have some fun with her first."
"Maybe another time," says Kayo smirking.
"What was that?" asks the bandit. Suddenly Kayo's body starts to disappear, starting from the bottom up. Her captor tries to hold on, but she dissolves into nothingness and disappears from his grasp.
"She vanished!" yells the smaller bandit as he slips out more of his knives and prepares to attack.
"It's a ninja trick!" shouts the tall, skinny bandit, "Get the others before they can escape!"
The rest of the kidnappers snap to attention and start pulling out their swords, hammers, maces, and other weapons.
"Sakura, Jando, get the boys to cover!" yells Kuroda as he turns back into himself and prepares to fight.
"What the hell?" yells one of the bandits swinging around his humongous sword, nearly taking out some of his comrades.
"What is this?" yells another man as he fumbles with his black eye-patch.
"I can't get free!" yells the smaller bandit as he slashes around with his knives.
Trees start to growing behind every one of the bandits. The branches creak as the trees slowly push up through the ground while the bandits stand frozen in the Jutsu, expressions of horror on their faces. As the trees grow the branches of the trees wrap themselves around the victims and immobilize them.
"Damn, this must be one of her ninja techniques," says the tall, skinny bandit as he struggles to get free like the others.
"It is called Tree Capture Death," says Kayo as the top half of her body emerges from the tree right above the bandit, "It is one of my Genjutsu techniques."
"Damn you Leaf Ninja!" yells a man with a long, painful looking scar across his chest. He glares towards a second Kayo who has appeared above him. In fact, every bandit is trapped in a tree and has a clone of Kayo above them. A kunai appears in all of the copies' hands and they all draw back preparing to strike.
"I underestimated you," comments the tall, skinny bandit.
"You seemed like the smart one. You should have known better than to take on a Leaf Ninja," says Kayo before swinging her arm down for the final strike.
All of the bandits collapse on to the ground and then Kayo reappears next to Kuroda. "So that was all Genjutsu?" asks Kuroda, "I couldn't see anything. They all just started freaking out, and then boom they were down."
"It's just a good thing they talked for so long, otherwise I might not have been able to trap them all in it," she reveals.
"Wow, Sensei, that was amazing!" yells Sakura running over to them.
"So, it was all a trick?" asks Nobuo walking over with his brother visibly shaken.
"You didn't really think we were going to leave you behind, did you?" asks Kuroda.
"I guess not," he replies, still looking unconvinced.
"Yeah, you totally did," teases Enji, punching his brother's shoulder and smiling.
After going back to the campsite and gathering up all their gear, they set out on the road again. The rest of the journey is much easier as there are no more attempts to kidnap the boys. Nobou and Enji still fight with each other, but their banter is much more light-hearted than before. After a while they get bored with each other and turn to annoy Team 3.
"Are we there yet?" asks Nobuo, for the tenth time.
"Does it look like we are there?" counters Jando through gritted teeth as he struggles to hold on to his patience.
"Are we there yet?" asks Enji, as he drags his feet along in the dirt.
"No, not yet," replies Sakura, as she tries to keep the bulging nerve on her forehead from exploding.
"Are we there yet?" asks Nobuo, tugging on Jando's clothes.
"Shouldn't you know? I mean, you do live at the place we are headed to," says the Hyuga.
"We have only been there a few times, and we always rode in a carriage," Nobuo explains.
Everyone is so caught up in the argument that they don't notice the landscape around them changing; the woods thinning out, the path becoming a proper road, the animals hiding their presence.
"Are we there yet?" asks Enji.
"Actually, we are," says Kayo.
"What? Really?" the boys exclaim in unison.
"Yep, just look," she says pointing up ahead to a large white stone wall up ahead.
"We're here, we're here!" shouts Enji with a sudden injection of energy.
"Come on, let's hurry," encourages Nobuo as he races ahead of the group.
"We are almost rid of them," thinks Jando with a tired smirk.
The team follows the boys ahead to a black wrought iron gate in the middle of the wall. As they approach the gate opens and woman with long, dark hair wearing an extravagant purple dress comes out.
"Mommy, Mommy!" the boys cry as they jump into the arms of their mother. Tears streak down their cheeks as they are reunited with the woman who created them. Their mother is surprised and amazed to see that the two are getting along so well. After a short conversation she rewards the squad handsomely, far over the actual cost of the mission. After saying their goodbyes Team 3 quickly heads back for the village.
On the journey home Kuroda questions Kayo about her Genjutsu. He asks, "Kayo-sensei, I was very impressed with your Genjutsu. You took care of those bandits so easily. Could you teach us some of the basics? Because it might come in handy in battle."
"Yeah, I want to learn too, Sensei!" adds Sakura enthusiastically.
Kayo says, "I doubt that you will be able to use it, it requires a certain knack, but learning to defend against Genjutsu is an essential skill for a ninja. So, I should teach you about that. We don't have any missions coming up so we will meet tomorrow and train."
"Awesome!" thinks Sakura doing a fist pump in her mind, "If I can learn Genjutsu then I can be much stronger."
"Genjutsu? Who needs that?" thinks Jando, choosing not to voice his opinion, "Ninja who rely on tricks and illusions are weak, but I guess it might be worth learning."
"So she wants to teach us how to defend against Genjutsu?" Kuroda ponders, "I didn't think she would say yes. Usually we wouldn't be going over something like this so early in our career, but now that I have the chance I definitely need to learn as much as I can. This is one skill that I can't just learn on my own by reading a book."
Team 3 arrives home at the same time as Team 15 is returning from their own mission. The Genin greet each other and exchange stories about their missions while the Jonin exchange information with the gate guards. After both teams finishes recounting the tale of their adventures Naoko comments to Sakura, "You are so lucky to have a female leader. Our Jonin-sensei, Tousen Nohana, is completely incompetent, plus he is a total pervert."
"Yeah, I'm so jealous," adds Rame Tsu, "I so wish we were on your squad."
"Well, if it isn't Kayo Yuhi. You're looking ravishing as always. I didn't realize that you had your own squad of Genin. I didn't think you wanted to teach, but I guess things change. It looks like you completed your mission successfully. I myself just completed a tough C-rank mission with my own squad. Maybe we can go out later and celebrate," says Tousen lifting his eyebrow.
However Kayo is not paying attention and says, "I have to go make a mission report to the Hokage. I'll see all of you later for training."
"Bye Sensei," replies Sakura, waving with a genuine smile.
"I will win the affection of the beautiful Kayo Yuhi," Tousen vows as he stares longingly after her.
"What a loser," thinks Jando as he stares at his elder, "He should be focusing on training his team instead of lusting after women."
Naoko and Rame Tsu slap a hand to their foreheads in synchronized movement and sigh, "You're so pathetic."
"I am going to train," comments Shun uninterested in the antics of his team. He walks off without another word to them.
"Something about that guy just doesn't sit right with me," says Jando.
"You are just jealous because he was the top of the class," comments Sakura before grabbing Kuroda's hand and dragging him off, "Come on, let's go get something to eat."
"If you want to beat him then you have to train even harder than he does," Kuroda calls over his shoulder, allowing Sakura to drag him away.
"Not likely," says Rame Tsu, running her hands back through her hair, "That kid spends almost every free moment he has training."
"Yeah, you'll never catch up to him," adds Naoko as she adjusts her ponytail.
"I'll beat Shun and you Kuroda!" vows Jando, shoulders squared in determination even as jealousy shimmers in his milky white eyes.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? Will Tousen be able to win Kayo's affection? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)