A/N: And thus, the second Aika chapter before the third arc I have planned. This will be fun.
"So what else can you tell us?" Denji asked as Arine kept polishing her spear.
"Eh, some of my experience in the war. I guess." Aika sighed, not really wanting to remember it. But she talked to a shrink at one point who said talking about this stuff helped. A bit.
"That works." Yukio leaned back. "Whatever you think is interesting."
"All right then." Aika sighed, taking a drink of water. She hadn't touched booze in a long time and didn't want to. Last thing she needed was liver failure. "Nothing particularly happened early on for me and my team so I'll skip to where I got promoted and the first mission after that." Aika sighed, not wanting to relive it. But she had to, otherwise it'd eat at her.
Years Ago
"With this, I am glad to promote you to the rank of Chunin." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, gave her a kind smile. Aika stood, now wearing her uniform flak jacket along with the rest of her team. She had been the last to be promoted in her team, mostly due to her rash attitude. However the Village was in need of more teams and team leaders and Chunin were ideal
"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Aika gave him a slight bow and stepped back, seeing Rei give her a bit of a smile from the side.
"Lord Hokage, what would our next mission be?" Rei asked him. Hiruzen put a pipe in his mouth and looked at them all thoughtfully.
"Your next mission is to head into the forests on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, bordering the Hidden Rain village. It's likely here that the shinobi from the Hidden Stone Village would enter the Land of Fire." He pointed down to a map on his desk. "Your team and several others are patrolling the borders with the Hidden Rain and Hidden Grass villages. It's these borders that we suspect they'll go after the most. We have a special team going to destroy Kannabi Bridge, the border to the Hidden Grass. It should halt any large scale movement into the Land of Fire." The Third leaned back with his hands together. "I should hope I can trust you all with this mission?"
"Of course!" Rei's students declared, standing at firm attention.
"Good. Rei, I trust you'll make sure the task is done swiftly and efficiently." Hiruzen looked to the Jonin.
"Of course Lord Hokage." Rei smiled and nodded. "Consider the border untouched."
"Good, I expect nothing less from Team Rei." Hiruzen gave them a light grin.
The Next Day
"Is everyone ready?" Rei asked her troop as they stood outside the gate to the village, which was closed behind them. Things were secure these days.
"Yes Rei." Aika answered for them as Akio rubbed his eyes and Senji yawned. They hadn't slept as much as Rei said they should've and they were paying for it. Aika slept what she needed to, what Rei had said, and was feeling perfect. Rei had been their teacher for four years, Aika learned to listen long ago. Senji and Akio didn't as much. But, boys will be boys, as Rei had said more than a few times. Aika wished she wouldn't, it didn't teach them any lessons. She needed to be more firm with them.
"Good, we can get moving right now then." Rei turned and began walking. Aika followed as Senji and Akio slowly walked behind them. They were slower than usual, which irritated Aika. She frowned and wished they'd act their rank. Suddenly, she heard Rei giggle lightly.
"What?" Aika turned on her teacher and frowned. Rei simply looked at her with a grin.
"You know you don't have to take everything so seriously. Lighten up. Not everything they, or even you, do has to meet up with the highest standards. Go as high as you can, obviously, but try and have some fun with it. Don't turn into a sourpuss." Rei looked ahead as she walked. "After all, you never know when you'll be teaching students of your own. You'll have to be a bit lighthearted."
"I don't intend on teaching any students." Aika responded. "I intend to join the ANBU Black Ops."
"I know." Rei simply kept her smile on as they walked, with Senji and Akio slowly catching up. Slowly. "But you never know what life will throw at you. You might end up with some students of your own and have to adjust your attitude for them."
"Yeah." Aika growled and looked ahead. She heard Rei sigh beside her and ignored it. She wasn't going to take students, she just wanted to join the ANBU, who did the most important missions for the village. Nothing else mattered once she got there.
"What's going on?" Akio asked from behind.
"Nothing." Aika growled as they pressed on with the sun rising at their backs. They continued towards the border, a few days long trip at least unless they went through the branches of the trees, leaping several metres in a single bound. However Hiruzen wanted a stealthier approach to this mission, not wanting to alert any Stone shinobi prematurely. So they were instructed to take their time, but no more than three days. Rei had told the Third that it wouldn't take any longer than that to reach the border.
And so they marched onwards towards the border, with exhaustion in some of their hearts and stern determination in others. And with one, they had a slight bit of secrecy in their heart, something that the Third had told her. A possible enemy they could be facing, one who would prove skilled and too far to deal with. Still, Rei had confidence that she and her team could deal with whatever was coming, even if it was who Hiruzen suspected.
"Rei?" Aika asked, noticing her sensei's brow had furrowed slightly. This was unlike her.
"Yes?" Rei asked, her features smoothing back to normal.
"Something wrong?" Aika asked, concern in her voice. "You seem worried."
"Oh it's nothing." Rei brushed aside Aika's concern. "Just concentrating on the plans for the mission." She revealed, which Aika immediately disbelieved. Reo didn't furrow her brow unless it was something important. Something severely important.
"You sure?" Aika asked, beginning to get heated underneath the sun. She was already concerned about the success rate for this mission.
"I'm absolutely sure." Rei said, with some firmness in her voice. She obviously wanted to drop the conversation right now and would tell them later. Aika wasn't about to push her or else Rei would react slightly unfavourably.
"Okay then." Aika let it go and kept walking alongside Rei as Senji and Akio talked quietly to wake themselves up. It wasn't going to work, they'd have to be attacked by bandits or enemy shinobi before they'd wake up. Even then, it was likely not to work.
"Y'know, Aika, gritting your teeth like that isn't very healthy." Akio commented from behind her.
"What do you mean?" Aika turned and looked back to see Akio smirking despite the dark circles under his eyes. Senji chuckled under his breath as he rubbed his eyes, getting the sleep out of them.
"I mean I can hear your teeth grinding against each other and I know it's because we stayed up late." Akio kept that grin on his face. "It's incredibly loud."
"Shut up!" Aika growled, earning a laugh from Akio.
"Oh come on, it's like listening to two stones getting ground to dust in your mouth." Akio rolled his eyes at her.
"Akio I swear…" Aika reached back and gripped her tanto when Rei put a hand on her shoulder.
"Aika, do you see what I mean?" she asked gently. "A little lightheartedness never hurt. Learn to laugh at yourself a bit."
"Yeah, laugh at myself." Aika sighed heavily. That'd help her get into the ANBU.
The Next Day (Day 2)
"Okay gang, I have something that I should prepare you all for." Rei opened up lunch announcements with this statement, which worried Aika quite a bit. Rei never really revealed information late in the mission like this unless she was pondering them not knowing.
"What is it?" Aika asked her teacher in formal tones. Akio and Senji kept eating, casually listening as they waited for Rei to talk about what she wanted.
"I've looked into our mission notes and it seems we could be facing an enemy that is quite deadly in forest combat." Rei revealed.
"Forest Combat?" Aika asked. Such a specific type.
"Sort of." Rei took a drink of water. "He's a mercenary, an archer specifically."
"An archer?" Akio asked with a full mouth so it came out more as "an athah?"
"Could you please-" Aika began before Rei shot her an angry look and Aika stopped immediately. Akio gave Aika a smug look and Aika glared at him.
"Anyway" Aika began again "This archer is well known for his impeccable accuracy with a bow, specifically a greatbow."
"What's a greatbow?" Senji asked, having finished his food.
"It's a bow that's taller than you." Rei revealed and Senji suddenly blanched. The thought of a bow that huge was a frightening thought to all of them.
"Imagine the arrows." Akio joked.
"Oh they're about the same in size, bit smaller, but still." Rei smiled as Akio's eyes widened at that. "They have to be fired from a distance, and they can travel quite the distance from what I've read. He's had accurate shots from quite a distance. He was on a cliff and fired into a thick forest, hitting the target dead centre. Even adjusted for it. It took almost a minute for the arrow to hit."
"That's not so bad, then." Akio tried to sound upbeat. Rei simply raised an eyebrow.
"Have I mentioned the arrows have the speed and force to punch through at least a couple trees in close enough proximity?" Rei smiled as Akio swallowed nervously.
"Okay." He said, his voice up an octave.
"So what makes the Hokage think he's on the side of the Hidden Stone?" Aika asked.
"Supposedly ANBU members acquired records of a financial transport headed to a location. If I remember correctly he charges quite a hefty fee for his services and the Hidden Stone wanted him for as long as possible. Unfortunately the transport went right under our nose and the ANBU only found out after the delivery was successful. So we can only assume he's under their banner."
"Ouch." Akio cringed. "That's pretty bad."
"Very." Rei agreed with him. "While our mission parameters only say to patrol, the Hokage added to me that should we encounter this archer in close enough combat we should take him out before he gets a chance to do more damage."
"More damage?" Senji asked, nervous.
"Nothing's been revealed but the Hokage showed me preliminary ANBU reports of trees with holes in them. Large ones. Along with the people who were behind the trees." Rei grimaced. "So far it looks like he really is keeping the border of the Hidden Rain secure under his bow."
"How many other teams are in the area?" Aika asked skeptically.
"Well there were at least three." Rei gave a humourless chuckle. "Now there's only one four man team and they've retreated far enough that he's stopped giving them trouble."
"You know" Akio piped up "If he's got these massive fuck off arrows, then won't he have to retrieve them? If so then all we gotta do is get at least one of them and we've got some leverage." Aika raised an eyebrow. Akio actually had a good plan for once.
"That's a fantastic plan, Akio." Rei smiled. "However from what ANBU speculates, he's using shadow clones of at least one real arrow. Think about it like this: he has a nearly unlimited supply of arrows that can disappear without a trace aside from the victim. So he can just abandon arrows if they are merely clones. He somehow learned the technique, which has made him quite the adversary."
"That's frightening." Aika admitted, breaking her formal façade. Senji blanched even more, if that was possible.
"That's way more than frightening." He said, a slight tremble in his voice. Aika looked to him and remembered he mentioned having a fear of dropping dead out of nowhere. Brain aneurisms or something. She guessed this archer would fit that fear of his, one that could fire from far away without even being within throwing range.
"It is. So that's why we need to watch for him at all times when we reach the border. We'll be backing up the other team that remains, should they accept it. Though regardless of whether we do or not, we're going in there." Rei grimaced at the thought and Aika realised she would rather not.
"How much of the land does he know?" Aika asked, perhaps hoping they could get a map and find tactical advantages.
"He practically lives there." Rei revealed with a light sigh through her nose. "He knows the land better than most, unfortunately. We're basically walking into a deathtrap of arrows."
"Now I know why that other team doesn't wanna go in there." Akio grumbled. Rei chuckled.
"Cheer up, Akio. We could walk in there as an eight man team. Or a four man team. Either way, we have a mission to fulfill and we have to do it. Rei sighed as she said that, sitting in the revelation that this might not end up as well as she originally thought. Aika was feeling herself getting worried, seeing Rei unsettled like this. She hardly ever got nervous and an archer who could pick off people from so far away was giving her a scare was something to be feared.
All we have to do is get in close. Then he's useless. Aika thought to herself, looking at Akio and Senji. Senji was drinking water at an alarming rate while Akio's good natured, light hearted mood was slowly falling. Rei being unsettled wasn't helping matters. However Rei had a point, the best point, that they had a mission and they had to stick with it. No matter what. Who knows what could happen if they failed and the Hidden Rain was used as a transportation funnel into the Land of Fire? Complete annihilation. They had to persevere.
The Next Day (Day 3)
"How much longer?" Akio asked behind Aika, which was beginning to really aggravate her.
"Would you please…" she grumbled under her breath, knowing Rei would punish her if she kept complaining.
"About another day, roughly. Then who knows how long on the border." Rei revealed as they walked under the cloudy sky. It hadn't rained but the clouds were threatening to. It was nice to have a cool day, but the threat of looming rain didn't lighten Aika's mood any. And she liked the rain.
"Just be patient." Senji advised Akio. "No need to rush into this."
"There will be a need if we're late." Rei explained to him. "I'd rather get there on time. Though you are right, no need to rush just yet."
"Good." Senji scratched the back of his head nervously and looked around. Aika was getting worried, maybe this wasn't the best place for Senji. After all what if he had some sort of panic attack and lost effectiveness in battle? Aika turned to tell Rei but her teacher gave her a quick glance. It told her all she needed to know: Rei knew that Senji was likely unable to cope properly if things got too heavy. Maybe they could just keep him out of harm's way as much as possible. It was worth a shot at least.
"So what exactly is the plan when we get to the border?" Akio asked. "I forget if you mentioned it." Aika rolled her eyes at Akio as Rei sighed.
"Once we get within range of the border, we'll contact that team that's still stationed there and formulate a plan, as much of one as possible. Then we move on from there and do our initial duties. Should we encounter the archer then we will deal with him accordingly. By that I mean, in the most sincere way, as cautiously as possible. We don't know what his skills are outside of using a greatbow so approach cautiously and in numbers. The last thing we need is to scare him off or lose one to him. So be patient."
"Sure thing." Akio responded, looking around at the surrounding trees. "So he keeps to the border?"
"Yes. He doesn't leave it, or as far as our records show at least. He could travel quite a bit and just have been visiting. Though if that were the case then other places would be where his work would take him." Rei explained. Akio made a noise of affirmation and Senji began wringing his hands. This wasn't helping his nerves any.
"Well we'll have to just keep an eye out for holes in trees, to start with at least." Aika said aloud. "Maybe pin point some firing origins?" she turned to Rei.
"That'd be a great plan, though his attacks don't have a definite origin point, or one that anyone has bothered to explore. Though a smart sniper would move his position constantly, keeping the point of origin from his shots a secret, no matter how distant his shots. This means there's likely no way anyone would be able to find him, at least on purpose." Rei sighed. "At least that's what I would do. He could simply find a spot and get comfortable."
"Well that's great." Akio grumbled. "A guy we can't even find."
"Well put that out of your mind and focus on the primary goal: defending the border." Rei ordered Akio, who sighed and rolled his eyes again.
"Fantastic." He growled sarcastically, looking up at the sky as they walked. The clouds continued to darken, threatening rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Weather's cooperating too."
"Oh cheer up a bit." Rei accosted her student. "Rain isn't the end of the world."
"I know. Just isn't helping much since our morale is dropping." Akio said what they were all thinking.
"Well just try and be chipper before we hit the border. I don't want depressed teammates when we get there."
"Yes ma'am." Akio sighed. He tried to sound a bit chipper at least.
The Next Day (Day 4)
"You sure this is the right area?" Aika asked Rei, who was searching.
"It should be. It's near this large boulder." Rei consulted her map. "Locations were made by ANBU and the last team said they'd be in this area." She explained, consulting it. "There's no signs of a battle so what happened?"
"Yeah." Aika looked around and saw nothing. Not even foot prints. Nothing showed any sign of-
"Hey guys!" Senji called. Rei and Aika quickly walked the small distance, to a tree Senji and Akio were staring at. It looked normal from the one side, but Senji looked incredibly worried, as did Akio. Once Rei and Aika reached the side they were staring at, Aika saw what made Senji so worried. The tree had a massive hole spiraled into it, opening up to the other side. On the ground was a conical hole in the dirt, where the object had impacted. Nothing else to show it had been removed from the dirt aside from the absence of the object itself.
"I think I found out what happened." Akio said, his voice oddly steady. Rei looked at the scene, crouching and scrutinising it severely.
"There's no blood, no body, nothing." Rei muttered. "This makes me wonder if this was a warning shot."
"If what you said is true, then I doubt this was a warning shot." Aika said, morbidly. "I think someone somehow dodged the arrow."
"But that's impossible, right?" Senji asked. "I mean he's never missed a shot."
"That we know of…" Rei put a hand to her chin in thought. "It's entirely possible that either our archer friend got too antsy, or they got too close, or he decided to move forward." Rei kept looking to the hole in the dirt. "The last one wouldn't make sense, though. If he has the advantage in this forest, why would he move forward? It doesn't make any-" Rei suddenly jerked her head to the side, closed her fist, and pulled it to her. Aika turned and saw wires Rei must've let loose close tight together into a small square of mesh that blocked a kunai knife that was thrown at them. Aika was suddenly alert, taking a defensive stance with her tanto out. Akio and Senji took up formation on other sides around Rei, who had her hands ready to pull wires should she need to.
"Who's out there!" Aika shouted.
"Get out of here!" a female voice screamed shrilly at them. Another knife flashed in a sun ray before Rei blocked it with her wires. "It's not safe!"
"You're not making it any safer!" Akio yelled, looking around for any more attackers. Senji kept his defences up but looked around erratically, frightened. Aika would inform Rei of this if she didn't notice already.
"Just leave!" She shrilled. "He's out there! He's a monster! He'll attack from miles away!"
"Listen!" Rei barked, standing. "My name is Rei Amano of the Hidden Leaf village, Jonin! Identify yourself!"
"Run!" the woman shrilled and Rei finally had enough. Aika watched Rei walk out of the formation and into the line of fire, though she could use her wires to protect herself.
"Identify yourself!" Rei shouted into the woods, hoping for a new response from the mysterious woman. The branches above rustled, the motions moving along ahead of Rei before someone poked a head down. The hair on it was short and blonde. The eyes were green and wide, frightened and scared.
"He's watching!" she hissed harshly.
"So should we come up there?" Rei asked, her voice irritated.
"Yes!" she hissed before she went back into the trees. Rei looked behind her and nodded at her students before leaping up into the trees. Aika quickly climbed the tree that the archer used as target practice, appearing in the branches just before Senji and Akio, and made her way over to Rei with just a few leaps. They joined Rei and the woman, who wore a Hidden Leaf flak jacket and a scratched and dirtied headband around her neck. Her eyes were wide, darting around rapidly as if she were watching for something.
"Okay, my team is here." Rei said firmly to this woman. "Now who are you?"
"I-I-I'm Sohara Sagara. Jonin." She revealed.
"Are you a member of the team that's on the border to patrol?" Rei asked steadily.
"Was." Sohara said quickly, her voice quick and hoarse now. She swallowed and her voice was back to normal, relatively. "TH-th-th-they got…" her eyes darted around, her breathing increased rapidly. "First one, Yukinari. He went in too far. Got shot within seconds. Impaled to a tree, he screamed. A lot." Sohara blinked. "Died after a couple minutes, took longer than I thought. Second was Maharu. She lost her arm, bled out. Took a couple days. Didn't scream as much. Third was Mugen. He went in to try and kill the archer. Came back within the hour. Crawled back, legless. Tears, a lot of them. He cried for me to do something. I didn't. He should've learned what I said." Sohara looked between Rei and her teammates. "You should learn too. Leave. Or else he'll kill. All of you."
"Our mission is to secure the border and this archer is in our way." Rei elaborated. Sohara began shaking her head violently from side to side.
"Nonononononononononononono." She said incredibly quickly. "Can't. Leave or else he'll kill."
"We can't." Aika intervened. Sohara focused her eyes on her.
"If you don't leave, you'll see them die." She said to Aika, directly. It was the most coherent sentence she had spoken in their short time together. "Won't last long, any of you."
"How long have you been out here?" Rei asked, drawing Sohara's attention again.
"Weeks, months, days, lost track." She looked around, her ears cocked. "Not good." She said suddenly. "Not good, not good, not good." She stammered, looking around, afraid. "have to run, have to run."
"What is it?" Rei asked.
"He's spotted us, he can see us!" Sohara said urgently, looking around. "You have to-" she was cut off as something suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pulled her from the branch and down to the ground. The whole group was stunned for a second before Rei braved a look down. She swallowed and quickly gave one order.
"Run." She said urgently. They didn't need to be told twice. Aika, Senji, and Akio quickly darted from their spots, only barely braving a look down. Sohara was impaled to the ground by a massive metal arrow through her abdomen. Blood flowed from her torso into the dirt and down the arrow until it disappeared in a small puff of smoke, leaving just the holed corpse to lay there. These details stuck with Aika as they ran out of the kill zone, which wasn't too far away. They managed to get behind the boulder with Rei joining them a second later.
"Rei, was that…" Senji asked her, looking more green than pale.
"Yeah." Rei panted, swallowing quickly. "That was him."
"Oh Kami…" Senji whispered, breathing heavily, trying to control himself.
"This is insane!" Akio hissed. "How can we fight that!? We don't even know how far he was! You heard what Sohara said!"
"I know." Rei spoke calmly. "But we have a mission."
"Rei!" Akio tried to counter.
"Akio!" Aika interrupted. "We have a mission to complete, we have to finish it. At the very least we can patrol here."
"No." Rei breathed. "We can't remain here, we have to push in."
"Are you insane!?" Senji exclaimed. Rei shot him a withering glare.
"I know it's terrible but we have a mission to complete, Senji." She said, forcefully enunciating every syllable. "We will complete it or else the Hidden Leaf village could suffer dire consequences, nothing compared to what I am willing to do to you if you run!" Rei growled. Senji's eyes were wide, as were Akio and Aika's. Rei kept glaring at her student with anger in her eyes. Senji looked back, fear in them as he tried to either argue silently with Rei or quell his own fears. His face was pasty white and he was visibly shaking before he finally responded.
"Okay." He let out, exasperated. "We'll do it." He swallowed, his face covered in sweat.
"Good." Rei panted as she looked around. No more missiles came flying at them from out of nowhere. "So far we haven't experienced anything that bad. Aside from, you know." Rei didn't mention Sohara, nor did she have to. The impact of her death was left in Aika's mind for the rest of her life.
"So what now?" Akio asked, his chest heaving but he sounded calm at the very least. For now.
"I think we make a camp out here, some distance away. Not too far, however. Then perhaps tomorrow we can search." Rei planned thoughtfully when Aika piped up.
"Actually, Rei, I suggest we attack at night." Aika suggested. "It'd be our best chance, objectively."
"A good plan, Aika. However, we need to regroup and rest First and foremost. I know it'll be a while before we can really do anything. I think. I want to send a message to the Hokage, but I don't have a bird to send a message with. That's the worst thing, and I'm not about to tame a wild bird who isn't trained in message delivery."
"So we wait?" Akio asked.
"Yes. But for now, we try and leave, get some distance. If we leave he might think we've simply abandoned the area. Or not, I'm not sure. However I think the best thing we can do is search in the early morning, when he's either sleepy or just asleep. That's our best bet right now. A night attack is a one-time thing only, really. Either it succeeds or it doesn't." Rei sighed. "But enough talk, we have to move. Stay low." Rei then moved from the rock and kept crouched, moving fast. Aika followed with Senji close behind and Akio taking up the rear. They moved back, slinking into a part of the forest that eventually lead to a large crater in the earth close to a cliff. The group fell into the crater and Rei immediately erected her wires tightly above them in a tight mesh.
"You think that'll work?" Senji asked.
"It probably won't, but it's worth a shot." Rei admitted bluntly.
"That's reassuring." Senji muttered as Rei addressed her entire team.
"Okay, get some sleep, we'll sleep in cycles with someone on watch. I'll take first watch, then Akio, then Senji, then Aika. That's as fair as I can break it. That work with everyone?" she asked rhetorically. They all nodded. "Good. Now sleep what you can."
The Next Day (Day 5)
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Rei asked in hushed tones. They all nodded, though Aika was feeling the effects of being on watch for the past several hours. Senji was nervous and asked Aika to take the last hour of his watch extra. She would have berated him but Senji was incredibly nervous. He had every right to be, Aika admitted. After seeing Sohara get impaled from what seemed like the vengeful finger of an angry god, Aika would be scared too, in his position. Still, he had to deal with it a bit. See counseling or something.
"Ready as ever." Aika affirmed. Rei nodded.
"That's good, let's get searching. If arrow's come at you…" Rei let the sentence drop.
"Start screaming?" Akio asked.
"Yeah." Rei looked off to the side. It was honestly the only advice she could give that wasn't 'avoid the arrows' since they didn't seem likely to be able to do that. The best they could do was warn the others. Somehow.
"Maybe we should keep explosive tags on us." Akio added, albeit caustically. He didn't sleep well form what Aika heard while she was on watch. Akio was probably a bit grumpy from his lack of restful sleep. That wasn't really good since they needed him at the top of his game, but Aika didn't bother to get on him about it. The last thing he needed was to be antsy over things Aika was saying. That would just throw all of them off.
"Not a bad idea but I'd rather try and find students in one piece." Rei admitted. "Besides, if I'm right, we should be relatively fine in the forest."
"I hope so." Senji said, sounding incredibly nervous. "I don't want an arrow sprouting out of me in the blink of an eye."
"It shouldn't happen. But still, be on guard." Rei emphasised those three words heavily. She didn't want any of them to die, and none of them wanted to die.
"Yes ma'am." The three of them responded in unison.
"Good. Now move out." Rei ordered and pulled down her wire mesh that was on top of them, letting her students out into the woods. Aika quickly took to the treetops and moved as fast as possible, to avoid any bead being taken on her. Rei hadn't mentioned anything about how fast any of his targets were and a bow that large, supposedly, would take targets that weren't as fast as a priority. At least that was Aika's theory. If she was right then she could at least lower herself on the priority list for this archer's targets, if his sight was as good as Rei had mentioned.
Though it was entirely possible he was targeting her now. Hopefully Rei was right and he was either falling asleep or already asleep. If so he would hide in a bolt hole, some place no one would think to look, nor a place that could be found easily. That took quite a bit of planning and thinking and good knowledge of the area. Incredibly good knowledge of the area. Perhaps that was why he was so feared in these woods, his knowledge of the area was so thorough that he could simply pick and shoot from any distance. Perhaps.
Then Aika was assailed by a horrid smell. She stopped on a high branch just long enough to look down and see what it was. Below was a rotting corpse with a massive hole in the torso. That first victim that Sohara mentioned: Yukinari. Aika swallowed her disgust and kept moving, zig zagging her way towards where she estimated the arrows were firing from. It had to be near the back of the forest, it had the most strategic advantage in this forest, he had the clearest line of sight, and it gave him an open field for all anyone could do to avoid them. Why would he move?
Because that's where people would expect him to hide. Something in Aika's brain clicked. It made sense. Hiding where he fired from was the obvious choice. Anyone would head in that direction in an attempt to get at him. But if he kept his bolt hole away from where people would go, then he was safe. He could simply hide out and enjoy safety while people struggled to search for him, give up, then he can find a nice spot and fire from there, picking them off while they scramble. Ingenious. Though something was missing. Aika couldn't figure it out right now, but she felt like she had most of the theory down, but something was amiss.
Regardless, she headed towards the right side of the forest, which was still incredibly huge. Aika decided that it was as good a place to start as any since it was a place to start. She zipped through the trees, keeping herself in as much cover as she could. Her footfalls were as silent as could be, but this man would likely hear her regardless. In all honesty, Aika was tempted to set the forest ablaze, but Rei had mentioned something about burning the border being a big no-no when Aika suggested it, which was unfortunate. Fire would weed this pest out easily.
Still, Aika jumped around trees, keeping an eye out below her for any sort of cave or rock formations, but found nothing of the sort. Simple trees and small rock clusters. Nothing that would spell easy hiding place. Or even complicated hiding place, not right away. The issue was Aika had no experience in this forest, just rudimentary knowledge. Nothing spectacular. In fact her knowledge of the forest, along with the rest of the team, was a hindrance if anything. Which was a shame. ANBU would be better for this kind of thing. This was why she wanted to join the ANBU, to be the one that finds out the important intel and give it to the village so that there would be fewer lives lost.
ANBU did a lot in the village but many people didn't know that. They saw them as spies but they were more than that. Some people were, like Kaka-
Aika stopped herself right there. She felt her face heat up as she began thinking about him, but she pushed those thoughts from her mind. She couldn't be distracted… she stopped on a branch and saw that the sun was reaching high noon. Rei had mentioned something about being back before noon, right? Then again, Aika hadn't seen or heard-
Then she heard it, incredibly faint, but it was the sound of a bowstring being drawn taught. Aika knew she had less than a second to do something. Whether that something was throwing a knife or running was the choice. Aika took the less dangerous route and shot away from the sound. She kept zig zagging, hoping he would lose interest, then she heard it fire.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no! Aika thought in her head, her thoughts leaving her aside from one: RUN! Aika pushed forward, hoping to out run the arrow that was launched at her. If she could avoid it, she could go to her friends, go home, and spend more time with her mother. Anything was preferable to being impaled on one of those hulking arrows. Then she heard the sounds of branches being snapped from their positions.
Aika shouldn't have done what she did next, for it would have cost her life. However, what she did unintentionally saved her life. She turned her head and looked back. When she did, the world seemed to dip into slow motion. The only things in the woods were Aika and the arrow spiralling towards her. It was massive, as tall as her, if not bigger. Aika could see it doing more than just impaling her, it would sail right through her and leave her for dead. She had no way of avoiding it, it was on her faster than she could think to react. However, something incredible happened.
Aika ran face first into a large tree branch.
Had she been paying attention, she would've noticed the large tree branch was approaching fast. By the time she turned her head, it was too late. She turned back only to see wood before she smacked headlong into it, spinning her body up just fast enough that the arrow sailed just down her spine. It was spinning so fast, the back of her jacket was shredded by the bits of metal and the air current, along with the back of her shirt. Aika spun, in a daze, until she hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from her. She lay on the ground for half a minute, regaining her breath, before she managed to get up slowly. The world was spinning, but it soon came into focus. Aika looked behind her, her face throbbing along the bridge of her nose. She might have fractured or broken it. There, the arrow stood, half impaled in the dirt, standing resolute. A symbol of extinguishing life, sitting there until it faded in the light of the sun. Aika held her back from not only the pain, but her jacket and shirt were loose, hanging on by threads, if that.
"That was too close." She breathed before turning and running as fast and as hard as she dared, not wanting to put herself through too much pain, but any pain was bearable to being picked off by that sniper. His skills were incredible already.
It wasn't all that long before Aika made it to the crater, by that point she was panting hard and slowly running. Rei saw her and pulled her in forcefully enough that, when she fell down the side and the wire mesh was brought back up, Aika's top had gone completely, leaving her exposed as her clothes flew off. Aika quickly covered herself with her arms as Rei let out another layer of wire to add to the mesh above. She closed her fists and tightened it quite a bit before she went to address Aika.
"Aika, where were you!?" Rei turned to her student, her expression frightened.
"I went to the one side, the north part." Aika explained, breathing heavily. "Then I heard him and he fired." Rei quickly pulled her own flak jacket off and put on Aika, so she was covered a bit.
"How did you get away then?" Senji asked. Aika looked to him, then immediately to Akio, who was staring. She'd deal with him later. Senji looked panicked but happy she was alive.
"I…" Aika started, but stopped when she realised she was feeling something warm on her face.
"Kami…" Rei hissed as she pulled out first aid bandages and touched Aika's back. "What happened?" She grabbed Aika's face and looked at it. "You're bleeding from your back and face, and your face is bruised badly." Rei let Aika's face go.
"I… I ran and I heard him fire. Then I kept running and I turned to look and when I turned back around I… I hit a branch." Aika put the pieces in her mind, despite how much her head hurt. "Then I felt the arrow miss me, barely. Tore my jacket and shirt up, though. When I landed, I ran as much as I could." Aika gave sigh of relief. "I lost track of time, but I heard him cocking his bow. I got close."
"Well" Rei sighed "at least you're alive. Now turn around, I need to take off the jacket." Aika did as she was told and Rei slipped off the jacket and began treating her back, cleaning her wound.
"So how could the arrow tear through her jacket and stuff but not her?" Akio asked. A legitimate question.
"It was huge, and it spun as it was shot." Aika said, relating her slow motion experience.
"Makes sense then. An arrow that large and spinning would cut through a lot even in close proximity. You're lucky you arced in such a way when you hit the tree." Rei sighed as she began wrapping bandages around Aika's torso. Aika hadn't even felt the cleaning. She was out of it.
"I know." Aika sighed, lifting her arms as Rei wrapped around her chest, constraining her breasts beneath bandages.
"Well that should do it." Rei let Aika put the jacket back on. "Turn around." Aika turned around and Rei took a cloth and wiped her face, taking off the blood and dirt, what she could anyway. Soon Aika was more or less presentable, minus the fact that she was only topped with bandages and a jacket.
"Well you look fantastic." Akio commented, earning a well-deserved glare from Aika. However, she couldn't hate him right now. Even this compliment, while its intent was perverted, was nice in its own way.
"Well, thanks." Aika sighed, giving Akio a grimace. Akio grinned back at her. It was a nice moment. Then Akio said
"By the way, your breasts are lovely." With a toothy grin. Aika's expression went from mild back to angry in no time flat.
"Shut up." She growled.
2 Days Later (Day 7)
"You sure it was in here?" Rei asked as they crawled through the brush. Their voices were as hushed as possible. Rei ordered no speaking unless it was necessary. Absolutely necessary. Aika nodded in response and Rei nodded, pushing forward. The group moved as one, crawling on their stomachs through a thick cluster of bushes. It was tough and gruelling, and they had been crouched or on their stomachs for the past couple hours, but it was necessary. They were closer to finding the archer, at least as far as Aika was concerned. It was early in the morning and Aika was given one of Rei's spare shirts to use, which was nice. Though her bandages were still quite constricting, they didn't prevent her from doing too much which was needed for this bit of the mission.
They crawled around the underbrush for a while until they came to where Aika was attacked two days prior. The hole in the ground from the arrow was seen on their way past, which showed the destruction one arrow could bring. They pushed forward, the four of them, until Aika said this was the general area where she heard the arrow notched for her.
"Okay." Rei sighed quietly. "Let's begin searching." They were finally allowed to stand, which meant some time was spent stretching their stiff limbs before they could truly begin searching. It wasn't that long before Akio found something. They made their way over and saw a small hole in the dirt, as if something had been placed there.
"You think?" Akio asked Aika, who nodded.
"Makes the most sense." She whispered. "After all if what the rumours say are true, then his bow would need a grounding."
"It's true." Rei muttered. "Let's spread out from here, but try and keep each other in sight. I don't want anyone running off and dying when we can't help you."
"Yes ma'am." Aika answered.
"Yeah." Akio agreed.
"Uh, sure." Senji swallowed.
"Excellent." Rei nodded. "Let's get moving. Spread out in a square formation. Keep your eyes out for clues, and keep an eye on each other." Rei looked them all in the eye. They all nodded in unison and moved out. Aika headed more inwards to the forest, something she'd rather not do. Senji headed out more towards the edge, though it wasn't even in sight. Akio headed closer to the edge, which would be more or less the border. Or in that direction. Rei, meanwhile, headed more in the direction they came from. This ensured that every angle was covered, roughly. Even still, there was the chance that the archer could just pick them off.
But why would he do that if he's hiding here? Aika thought to herself as she looked around. Nothing that could show a hideaway, though it wouldn't be obvious would it? Not to the naked, casual eye. Sure, shinobi were trained to watch their surroundings, but this man obviously operated on more than fear. People could avoid him, sure, but he would have to have a hideaway. Or several. Though one would suffice. After all, if he could operate based solely on fear then he wouldn't need many boltholes. He would only need one, unless someone managed to surpass his arrow barrage and actually enter the forest with little fear of harm. Then he would need more boltholes, at least one or two more. But these people used a time of the day where he was asleep and caught him off guard. There he would hastily attack the closest person to him. However, if that person escaped, but had wounds, then he would have to hide somewhere the group wouldn't think he would hide so he could avoid them. But why would he let them wander around?
To lure them into one spot. Aika suddenly realised with a start. She could practically hear the arrow being notched as she turned around. Akio was to her left, a decent distance away. Senji was in front of her, in front of a tree not too far from her. Rei was perched in a tree some distance away, but still in sight.
"Guys! We have to leave!" she called. All three turned towards her as she began running. "We have to run!" Aika yelled, but she heard it.
"What do you mean?" Senji asked her loudly before the arrow impaled him through his torso and to the tree behind him.
"No!" Aika skidded to a stop as Rei suddenly charged towards her student. Senji began screaming as Akio ran to him as well.
Like moths to a flame. She thought, turning. Then she saw it, a glint in the distance that moved up. He was drawing again. No! Not again! Aika began running at him as fast as she could as she saw another arrow begin flying at her. Aika rolled to the side as it plowed past her. She got up and kept running, hearing yelling behind her. Aika kept running, watching the arrow getting notched with its sunlight glints, until she passed through some bushes and she finally saw him.
His hair was close cropped and blonde, golden, his eyes green as the trees around them. He wore evergreen pants with a matching jacket, zipped up. The greatbow itself was an ornate figure, being made of metal with engravings on it. The top was flat, which lead to a semi-thin curve that ended in a sharp point that was in the ground to anchor it. The man stood over six feet tall and the bow was a bit above that. He saw Aika running at him and tried to notch the arrow faster and aim, but Aika was too fast. With a yell she threw a knife at him, forcing the man to let go of his bow. It began tipping forward and he hastily grabbed it, hauling out and spinning it around until the spear tip was pointed at Aika. Aika pulled her tanto and charged at the guy as he held his bow as a spear. Aika ran in fast and low and the archer jabbed at her. With a yell Aika flipped her tanto around, wielding it backhand, and slashed up, managing to cut his chin slightly. The archer backed up but Aika ran at him, pulling a kunai from her pouch and wielding it normally. She slashed with her tanto, then her kunai, keeping the pressure on him. She kept slashing at him over and over until he thrust the end of his bow at her and she blocked it with her knives, barely. It pushed her back a bit, to the length he could push his spear. They were locked in a stalemate.
"Who are you?" Aika asked through gritted teeth.
"No one." He responded, forcing his bow up. Aika quickly tried to stab him but he slammed the tip down, forcing her to back off. Aika then charged forward, faster than the man could react, and shoved both of her knives into his torso. The archer grunted and fell with Aika on top of him. His bow fell to his side and Aika held her knives in his torso as blood slowly began pouring out.
"Tell me, who are you?" Aika growled. The archer spat at her but Aika moved her head.
"Who wants to know?" he growled back.
"Aika Furude of the Hidden Leaf." She twisted her knives in him. His face scrunched up in agony. Then he made a tight, pained grin on his face.
"Fine, Aika Furude. I'm Makoto Imaishi. I hope you're happy." He grinned, baring his teeth. Aika growled, pulled her knives, and stabbed him on either side of his torso once more before getting up and leaving. She was sure she hit his heart, and she left him to bleed out. She ran back to where her team was and… no.
Rei was on the ground, holding her side while Senji was on the ground, still. Akio was at Rei's side, trying to help her. Aika ran over to Rei, not wanting to look at Senji. She slid to a stop on her knees by Akio, when Rei noticed her.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice strained.
"Don't talk…" Akio spoke, his voice worried.
"He's dead. Makoto Imaishi was his name, he's dead now." Aika breathed. Rei grinned.
"Good." She strained. She inhaled sharply through her teeth. "At least these deaths have been avenged. In some way." She swallowed and gritted her teeth as Akio tried using his jacket to stop the bleeding. His jacket was soaked through.
"Don't. Talk." He spoke through gritted teeth.
"Rei, you're not going to die." Aika said, almost forcefully. She turned to Akio. "What happened?"
"Senji got killed. Then another arrow came and Rei tried to dodge it. She was too slow and it got her side real bad." His voice was oddly even, but spoken through teeth.
"No…" Aika looked to Rei, who looked back, her eyes fierce despite the fact that they were slowly getting more and more cloudy.
"Aika, it isn't your fault." She said immediately. Rei inhaled deeply again, and Aika noticed just how pale her teacher was. "It was either go after him or we all die. At least you've prevented more deaths from him." She coughed, her body bucking with it.
"Damn it, I said don't talk!" Akio growled at her and Rei glared at him.
"Your efforts are valiant, Akio, but we both know what's going to happen." Rei managed before she took a slow, ragged breath.
"Rei, no." Aika began. "You're not-"
"Listen." Rei cut her off. "What's going to happen is inevitable. Not just for me…" she took a breath "but for all of us. Mine just came sooner. What you're going to do…" she breathed "is go back to the village and tell them everything. Everything." Rei looked at both of them with equal determination. "Don't let us be forgotten." She said before she closed her eyes and exhaled as if she was sighing. But she didn't take another breath.
3 Days Later
Aika knocked on Akio's door and stood there, wondering what was going to happen. He opened the door, dark circles under his eyes.
"Hey." Aika greeted him. She only wore a t shirt and loose pants. Akio was in a rumpled shirt and shorts.
"Hey." He said back.
"You got a minute?" Aika asked, hoping he did.
"Yeah, sure." He stepped outside of his apartment, closing the door. "What is it?"
"Just wanted to check up on you." She admitted.
"Well I'm doing as well as you'd expect." He admitted. "How long til you're back out there?"
"Another week. We're lucky we got even this." Aika told him.
"Well, teammates and sensei die in one mission, something's gotta be given." Akio sighed.
"Yeah."
"I mean…" Akio sighed. "This kind of thing puts it into perspective, doesn't it?"
"What?" Aika raised an eyebrow.
"I mean…" he sighed again. "Like it makes you want to keep the things you like close, y'know?"
"Yeah." Aika sighed, noticing how close Akio was. "Things you like." They looked at each other for a second, the hallway still and silent. Then the two of them leaned in and kissed. It only lasted a few seconds before they pulled away. Aika's face warmed up, and Akio's turned somewhat red. But then they both began chuckling.
"You know, that wasn't as… good as I thought it'd be." Akio admitted.
"Yeah." Aika smiled a bit. "I should still hit you for your comments."
"Do whatever you want." Akio grinned as he turned to go back into his place. "Just keep yourself healthy." He gave her a smile before he headed back inside, leaving Aika to go back home.
"Only a kiss?" Yukio asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes." Aika sighed, leaning back. "Wasn't all that good. Didn't have the spark that it needs I guess. Though that wasn't the only thing we did."
"What's that mean then?" Denji asked.
"We slept together once a few years later. It was okay." Aika shrugged. "I got a boyfriend later on but that's a tale for another time." She grabbed a bucket of water and stood. "Get to bed, it's late. I know you have tomorrow off but try and sleep."
"All right." Denji sighed, standing. Yukio followed, quickly walking into the cabin. Denji was right behind him, but Arine lingered for a second before heading inside. Aika waited until they were inside before she put the fire out and looked up to the sky.
"What are you doing now, Akio?" she asked but received no answer. Aika sighed and headed back in. She was tired.
A/N: Took longer than I thought but I got it done.