We're back! I know it's late, and also a bit short, but it's a double, to make up for that!


Knuckling his back, Ry stood up as Mizuri ended history class.

The grey haired instructor didn't pay him any attention. Hadn't, since the beginning of this particular rotation. Her attention had been solely focused on Saneko, Junji, and Fuyuka. Ry, Shikahana, and Chori were more or less background noise. Ry could understand why; Mizuri fell into a camp about half the instructors occupied, where they didn't bother disguising their favoritism. Every instructor in that camp was currying favor with the future Clan Head of the Uchiha.

"Akimichi-san." Ry said, nodding his head off to Chori's right.

Chori glanced in that direction. A fond smile played across her features as she reached over. Shikahana had been asleep within minutes of class beginning, and the dismissal hadn't roused her.

"Wake up, sleepy." Chori said. "We have to go to taijutsu. There's a good spot to nap in Seong-sensei's class, remember?"

"…mmghdrag." Shikahana grumbled as she picked herself up.

Ry was always amused by Shikahana. He knew she was brilliant, but she cared even less than Narisa did about her grades. Her slacking had gone on for years, to the point where the instructors had clearly given up on trying to get her to pay attention. Shikahana seemed pleased with those circumstances, napping freely throughout the day.

The amusing part to Ry was that she wore the same hairstyle as Shikamaru from the show. It wasn't that strange in comparison to some of the other things Ry had seen, but also made it difficult to argue against Narisa dubbing the Nara as Pineapple-chan.

"Sorry about missing the offer to hang out with you and Narisa." Ry told Chori as they walked. "My mandatory lessons had some complications."

"Eh, it's fine, we had to turn you down the first time, anyways." Chori said. "Shika just got more time to nap and watch clouds."

"We should still hang out, though." Ry said. "The four of us."

"I dunno." Shikahana said. "You and Narisa are too energetic, Shiranui, seems like a real drag."

"I'd argue against that, but Narisa has enough energy for like six normal people." Ry replied.

Chori chuckled at that. "We can hang out. You don't have mandatory lessons today, right?"

"Nope." Ry shook his head. "I even got cleared by the medical nin for full activities again."

Hirana had cleared him, after a thorough examination before the morning iryo class. Something about her behavior told Ry that she hadn't expected to clear him, but he was fine. Other than the chunk of Bijuu chakra in his hand. It didn't cause him issues anymore, unless he was actively using iryo ninjutsu on Narisa, which was good enough for Ry.

Still can't figure that one out. Hirana seemed certain she'd eradicated all of it. I guess the Kyubi wants me to be the only one who can see Narisa's eye.

Somehow that doesn't strike me as a benign choice. Still a raging ball of hate around now. Raging balls of hate rarely make decisions with the intention of benefitting anyone other than themselves.

"Oh, you can spar with us? In taijutsu?" Chori asked, carefully folding up the bag of chips she'd been eating.

Ry nodded. He could hear the hope in her voice. When it came to taijutsu, Chori was only above Shikahana in their current rotation. The Nara just surrendered every time, which both made complete sense and baffled at the same time. Ry assumed that the Nara was getting private training from her Clan, because she was far too competent at the katas the few times Seong-sensei forced her to go through them.

Chori tried, but she had little hope.

Saneko, in her own way, was kind about her matches. Mostly because she beat Chori too quickly to inflict much pain. The Akimichi was incredibly vulnerable to having her legs swept, which Saneko took advantage of ruthlessly.

Junji's matches with her took longer, but that was due to his taijutsu style. Junji was brutally straightforward. He reminded Ry of Narisa, except Junji's motions were rigid and unyielding. He typically pummeled Chori into submission.

The real problem was Fuyuka. Unlike Junji, she seemed to carry a real chip on her shoulder when it came to Clan nin. Any Clan nin, other than Saneko. Ry had seen her kick the crap out of Ikuhito, Hizashi, Tsugumi, and a number of kunoichi from the Clans during the large class taijutsu sessions. Chori hadn't earned any particular ire as far as Ry could tell, she just happened to be Fuyuka's current outlet.

As for Ry himself, he'd been unable to spar in taijutsu for the last few weeks, on Hirana's orders. Even his taijutsu and kenjutsu lessons had been all about form and kata, rather than any live contact.

Still, he had a pretty good idea of where he ranked. Both when restricting himself to Leaf Style, and without it.

Entering the classroom, Ry felt Seong-sensei's eyes on him immediately. She had an impassive mien on her face as she watched them enter, but Ry could feel her regard. It felt far too similar to how Akena sometimes looked at him right before making her point about any bad habits he was developing. Those points were always made with the blunted edge of a practice sword leaving bruises all over Ry.

This is going to hurt, whatever it is.

"Good day, class." Seong-sensei said.

"Good day, sensei." Ry said in chorus with the others.

"I've been informed that Shiranui-san will be able to participate today, so we'll be including him in the mix." Seong-sensei said. "Let's start by warming up."

"Considering that the end of the year exams are coming up soon, we're starting ladder matches." Seong-sensei said after stretches. "Shiranui-san, you'll be the first demonstration. Shiranui and Nara, in the sparring ring."

Ry took his mark opposite of Shikahana. Though the Nara looked bored, Ry could see a glint in her eyes.

Still even odds that she surrenders, whatever this is.

"Approximately three weeks before final grades are given out for the year and the Genin Exam is administered for fourth years and beyond, the official rankings in every discipline will be posted, for all students." Seong-sensei said. "I know your other instructors haven't mentioned this yet, but none of the other disciplines involve sparring to determine ranking. Everything, from ninjutsu to brushwork, will be listed. There will be more rankings than you have fingers and toes."

"As future nin, the most important rankings will of course come from the disciplines that are the pillars holding up a nin's competence." Seong-sensei had her hands crossed behind her back as she spoke, a small grin on her face. "Those are, of course, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and bukijutsu. Score well enough in those, and provided you're literate enough to write your name on the written portion of the Genin Exams, then you'll be graduating at the end of your fourth year. Academics are taken into account, but that's much harder to make count in graduating."

"Obviously, that doesn't concern you, this entire group happens to be third years." Seong-sensei said. "Still, rankings are indiscriminate of year, applying to third years, fourth years, and beyond. You may be placed above fifth years, or below fellow third years. It's entirely based on merit."

"Yes, I realize I'm not saying anything new for most of you, but I like to be thorough." Seong-sensei said.

I certainly appreciate it, though I'm well aware this little speech is directed at me.

"This year, however, will be the first year that you're allowed to compete in the taijutsu ladder matches." Seong-sensei said. "In this group in particular, I suspect a number of you will be involved in them."

"Ladder matches are how the fourth years and beyond will improve their taijutsu ranking. Considering any nin that falls below the top fifty in taijutsu is considered to have failed the Genin Exams, they have little choice. Because, while there are nearly seventy students at The Academy that are in their fourth year or beyond, by my current assessments, less than half of them are in the top fifty." Seong-sensei paused, her smile sharpening. "And yes, I expect you to spread that around."

"Ladder matches are quite simple." Seong-sensei said. "The fourth year, or above, in question will be required to challenge the student above them in the rankings. Then the student above them. And so on, and so forth, until they are defeated. After which, their ranking will be improved by half the total of their number of wins."

Chori raised her hand.

Seong-sensei paused, pointing at the Akimichi.

"Sensei, does that mean they have to win two matches to advance up one rank?" Chori asked.

"Yes." Seong-sensei replied. "And four to move up two ranks. Yes, it's not fair, before you comment on that. It is not intended to be fair. Neither is the outside world, which often forces nin to fight with everything they have, only to be rewarded with little to no gain."

"Now, they aren't just limited to one ladder match." Seong-sensei said. "And students above them cannot refuse to be part of a ladder match. You've seen how haggard the students above you looked in their final few weeks the last two years. Now you know why. Third years, fourth years, and beyond can be pulled from their classes at any time. It will happen frequently, and collusion is both expected and encouraged. Forfeits count as wins, but no shows are not permitted. Nin will not always have the luxury of operating at full strength while in the field. Nor will they have the luxury of knowing precisely when they will be called on to fight. The final three weeks before the Genin Exams will be a taste of that for all of you."

"To demonstrate, simply by lack of current participation, Shiranui-san here sits at sixth place in this group's ladder." Seong-sensei said. "If he wants to move up, he'll need to defeat at least Nara-san and Akimichi-san."

"And to provide some motivation here, the further down the rankings you are, the more sets of our closing workout will be required before I allow you to leave the classroom. No, Nara-san, you will not be allowed to simply nap through those, either." Seong-sensei said. "Even if I have to bring your father over to encourage you to finish once the school day is officially over, you will complete every set."

"What a drag." Shikahana muttered.

Still, drag or not, she brought up her hands into a ready position. Ry mirrored her.

"If no one has any further questions, then Shiranui Ry's first ladder match can officially begin." Seong-sensei said.

Ry slid forward. He'd never actually witnessed Shikahana spar, but he'd seen her in the katas. She was incredibly smooth with her movements, and there was never a hint of wasted motion. Ry attributed that to both her genius and her sloth.

He knew better than to try beating her out with any sort of mind games. While she wasn't on the level of ridiculousness that Saneko would be once she had her Sharingan, Ry believed Shikahana to at near parity with the observational prowess of dojutsu users. She didn't get the benefits of a dojutsu, but that brain of hers meant she could compensate in other ways.

Her problem in the current moment was that she couldn't stay at range. Taijutsu hampered her strengths.

Ry didn't bother with feinting. His first punch was low, one Shikahana deflected with a grunt. Ry ducked her counter, smashing a palm into the Nara's stomach. Shikahana let out a wheeze, stumbling slightly. Ry used his foot to hook her ankle, ripping her balance away while she tried to regain her breath.

Then he knelt over her, fingers pointed at her throat.

"Round, Shiranui." Seong-sensei said.

"What a drag." Shikahana grumbled, coughing slightly.

Ry got to his feet, offering her a hand. "Is what it is. You're not a taijutsu fan. At least that means you won't have to field many ladder matches in the last few weeks. Maybe that'll net you some extra nap time."

Shikahana nodded slowly, grabbing Ry's hand. He pulled, bringing her to her feet.

"Shiranui-san, take your mark. Akimichi-san, take the other mark." Seong-sensei said.

Ry clapped Shikahana on the shoulder as the Nara left the sparring ring.

Less than twenty seconds later, Ry had Chori in a similar position.

"You'd be a lot scarier with your Clan's jutsu backing you up." Ry said, grunting as he hauled Chori to her feet. "Need to guard your legs more, though."

"Thanks, Shiranui-kun." Chori said, offering a slight smile.

"Move it." Fuyuka scoffed. "I want to kick his ass."

Ry glanced over.

Nimaijita Fuyuka was someone Ry hadn't paid much attention to before the current rotation. He'd noted she was a bluenette, like Seong-sensei, though Fuyuka's hair was more sky blue than Seong-sensei's deep cobalt. She was short, barely over five feet if Ry was forced to guess. Those two traits, the chip on her shoulder about Clan nin, and her penchant for being the talker amongst Saneko's trio, were how Ry had categorized her.

He'd studied a bit more carefully the last two weeks. Taking note of the power in her short frame, compact muscle giving her serious strength. He'd seen her kicks knock training dummies off their brackets before, and the muscle hidden beneath her pants gave her terrifying leg strength while grappling. The matches where she and Junji had faced off were nearly always decided by whether or not she could bring Junji to the ground. Which wasn't often, because Junji had a far more complete taijutsu style, but she put up a fight.

Fuyuka was still nowhere close to touching either Saneko or Rokku, but she was certainly in the top third of students when it came to taijutsu. Which made her relevant to study, given she was in his rotation with him.

Smiling slightly, Ry shook his head, turning back to Chori. "We're still on for meeting up after school?"

Chori nodded, ambling over to sit beside Shikahana. Fuyuka bounced over to her mark, while Ry took his calmly.

"Ready to get beat down, shino-wannabe?" Fuyuka asked, grinning.

Ry took up his preferred stance. It wasn't his favorite, but within Leaf Style, it worked best for him.

He also ignored the way that Fuyuka's hands briefly slipped behind her. It wasn't a bad strategy on her part. Ry had seen similar tactics used against other shinobi students in rotations and whole student body sessions before, with great success. They rarely tried it against Ry, but he attributed a lot of that to his regular matchups against Narisa.

And presumably Tsugumi and Bitai warned their other friends that it won't work on me. Not from fellow students, anyways.

Heh. Kina wasn't wrong. It'd be far more effective if Seong-sensei was the one to attempt it.

"Begin." Seong-sensei said.

Fuyuka bounced forwards, hands up in a loose guard. Her lower assets bounced, equally loose after she'd undone her bra. Ry could read the easy smirk on her face.

He let his eyes dip for just a moment. They were already back on her by the time she'd moved for a takedown.

Stepping diagonally, Ry used the back of his wrist to redirect Fuyuka's outstretched arm. She twisted as he sidestepped, but she'd overcommitted. Worse, she'd given Ry her side.

Ry's shin flashed out, catching Fuyuka's own as she tried to pivot. He heard her growl in pain as she staggered. Her closer arm flailed, attempting to ward off his blow.

It didn't matter. Ry's own twist, using his retracting leg as a counterbalance, easily powered his fist past her frantic defense. Fuyuka's head snapped sideways as she fell. She rode the momentum, rolling away and back onto her feet.

Ry's first kick was blocked, but forced Fuyuka off center. Her own counter was weak, an attempted grab for a leg Ry had already retracted. He smacked her grabbing arm further wide, entering her guard. His other fist found her solar plexus.

Ry grinned as he heard Fuyuka's groan. She'd tensed herself, but without chakra infusion, there was only so much that could be done to mitigate a breath stealing strike.

In the brief moment where her body went slack, Ry's fist hammered her side. Fuyuka let out a choked gasp as Ry grabbed her while she tried to fold over. His follow up elbow was to her back, the point of the elbow finding her kidney.

"Round, Shiranui." Seong-sensei said.

Ry read the castigation in her eyes. He was still technically using Leaf Style, but it had come very close to segueing into Sandstorm Style.

Glancing down, Ry held out his hand to Fuyuka. "Good match. That bouncing trick really won't work on anyone actually looking to hurt you, though."

Fuyuka snarled, slapping his hand away.

"Lucky." Fuyuka said as she got to her feet. "I'll kick your ass next time."

You will try.

"Kadowa, take your mark." Seong-sensei said.

Yeah, here's the actual challenge.

Ry had no illusions about being able to beat Saneko. There'd been a massive gap in skill the first time he'd seen her go up against Junji. In the interim, Ry had spent several months training with two jonin who had to be among the best in the village when Ry didn't take into account Gentle Fist or Strong Fist. He didn't; the Hyuga's eyes just made it a broken taijutsu style the moment they were allowed to utilize chakra and Gaya was maniacal about training a manner Ry couldn't match while focusing on other nin disciplines.

Outside of the Byakugan or Gaya herself, Ry wasn't aware of anyone in the village who could regularly take on either of his instructors in pure taijutsu.

Saneko, as far as Ry was aware, had only herself and her family's library to facilitate her training. He should've closed the gap by a large margin.

He hadn't. It was smaller, but not nearly to the degree Ry might've hoped for. Not even close to the margin he'd expected.

There was a very good reason that Saneko's only pure taijutsu peer within their age group was Rokku. Both of them were geniuses, in their own way, when it came to taijutsu. Ry doubted anyone was aware of Rokku's particular brand of genius outside of Gaya and Kazune, but she was unbelievably skilled and dedicated.

Saneko was likely still better; they'd never faced off that Ry had seen and he didn't trust his memories of the show given the differences he'd seen already.

In comparison, Ry was merely talented, and he knew it would show through in any sparring match. Saneko was going to take him apart if they faced off in a pure taijutsu matchup. Leaf Style or Sandstorm Style, it wouldn't matter. He might get away with surprising her with Strangler Style.

Once. Maybe.

The shinobi in training standing opposite of him, however, was a different story.

Kadowa Junji was the leading candidate for Shinobi of the Year, next year. The only students to ever beat him, in any of the main nin disciplines, were kunoichi.

Granted, Hizashi could almost certainly win, if he was willing to hurt his peers more.

Something to work on, when the opportunity presents itself.

Unlike Saneko, Junji wasn't a genius. He was good, very good.

Ry had been training with multiple jonin, all of whom clearly got enjoyment from making sure he never got within arms length of 'winning' a spar. They might handicap themselves to a large degree, but Ry had never come close to touching any of them, not unless they allowed him to.

Ry was eager to see how a very good shinobi in training and favored pupil amongst The Academy's instructors stacked up against another shinobi in training who'd spent months being 'beaten into shape' by rather merciless jonin.

"Begin." Seong-sensei said.

Ry advanced a few steps. Junji flicked out a jab. Ry shunted it, stepping inwards. Junji's kick brought his advance up short, forcing Ry to block rather than take a heel to his knee. He caught Junji's second punch by the wrist, guiding it away as well.

Rather than move to get close again, Ry lashed out from a distance. Junji deflected and Ry used his forearm to chop down on a jab to his stomach. He feinted with a jab of his own. Junji bit on the feint, but Ry used it to make some distance rather than punish the mistake.

Junji's eyes were hidden by a pair of wraparound, black glasses.

Ry could still read his intent. Much the same as Ry's own; they were feeling their opponent out. Gauging the strength behind strikes, speed of shift from offense to defense and vice versa, and reactions to feints.

The process was familiar to Ry. They weren't enemy nin trying to kill or maim each other. This wasn't for a mission, or the safety of the village. Restricted to taijutsu like they were, neither of them had a deep pool of jutsu and other training to further escalate the fight. A sparring match like this was to hone their skills; of great importance amongst those skills was learning to read their opponent in real time.

Junji got the first hit in. Ry twitched enough to mitigate it, but Junji's knife hand still left a stinging welt on Ry's upper right arm.

Ry accepted it, then again when Junji exploited the same mistake.

It wasn't a mistake the second time around. Ry shifted, slamming his fist into Junji's ribs as a counter.

Junji let out a grunting cough. Then he immediately took advantage of Ry's eagerness to follow up.

Ry stumbled back, spitting pink as he shook his head.

Don't get baited right after you baited him. Stupid. Pretty sure there was a bit of chakra infusion there as well.

Both of them slid back a few paces, circling.

"Hey, Shiranui-kun is actually keeping up with Junji-kun." Chori's voice floated in from behind Ry.

Ry pushed forward. Junji met him, attacking before Ry. He turned away Junji's fist, Junji shifting his stance to take Ry's kick on his shin. Ry didn't pursue when Junji set his leg down gingerly.

Probably another bait. He didn't react with much pain when I got him cleanly in the ribs.

Junji proved the truth of that statement a moment later when he stomped at Ry's foot. Ry avoided the instep strike as he bobbed low, punching down at Junji's forward thigh. Junji brought his knee up and Ry opened his fist, grabbing instead. Junji threw another punch and Ry could only shove his opponent's knee a bit as he swayed away.

As they continued, Ry knew he was going to lose. There were openings, ones he could've taken.

All of them would've involved either of his other Styles or aiming to maim or kill. Ry didn't take the openings.

The match ended with Junji driving a strike past Ry's guard, knocking him clean off his feet. Ry saw stars as he sat up, holding out his hands in surrender.

Bastard definitely used a bit of infusion there.

"Winner, Kadowa Junji." Seong-sensei said. "Stand up and bow."

Ry got to his feet, blinking and shaking his head. He found Junji standing opposite of him. The kid's face was emotionless, his bow wooden.

Ry bowed back. They moved into katas for the remainder of class.

"Shiranui." Seong-sensei said as Ry went to leave. "Hold a moment."

Ry stopped, letting Shikahana and Chori by. Chori waved slightly, both of them clearly eager to leave the class.

"Shut the door, please." Seong-sensei said.

Ry did as he was instructed.

"There was something I'd planned to talk about before, but first: why throw that match?" Seong-sensei asked.

"Because I'm not trying to kill my classmates, Seong-sensei." Ry replied.

"Others fighting them will." Seong-sensei replied.

"And they'll be expecting it, out in the field." Ry replied. "Here? In a friendly against a fellow Konoha nin? They won't."

"Acceptable, for the moment." Seong-sensei said, her expression inscrutable. "But I may need to drop by your lessons with Kazune-senpai."

"More importantly, I need you and your aunt to sign this." Seong-sensei said.

Ry took the paper. It was folded in half. He opened, skimming the contents.

Then he read it for a second, and a third time.

After his initial yuwaku demonstration with Seong-sensei, there hadn't been anymore. At first, Ry had attributed that to making sure that Rei wasn't causing issues. When it hadn't resumed after two weeks, he'd suspected there was something more afoot.

He hadn't expected this.

Looking up, he found Seong-sensei still wearing an inscrutable face. "Sensei, what the hell is this?"

"Exactly what you read." Seong-sensei said.

"What I'm reading doesn't make sense." Ry said. "How does this help Tebori-san and Yamanaka-san?"

Seong-sensei sighed. Her inscrutable mien cracked as she crossed her arms.

"Did you read the syllabus I gave them?" Seong-sensei asked.

"I skimmed it." Ry said. "What did I miss?"

"I offered practical demonstrations." Seong-sensei said. "And Yamanaka is a mind walker, with a jutsu that will allow her to bring Tebori along. It's this, or you consenting to them being in the room and watching, live."

"So…this is to create a memory for them to observe?" Ry asked dubiously, choosing to ignore the last thing Seong-sensei mentioned.

"In a manner of speaking." Seong-sensei said.

"I'm…surprised, and a little concerned." Ry said. "Surely you have other memories they could delve into."

Seong-sensei shook her head. "I asked. Fresh ones work better. And I've had a bit of a dry spell recently."

Ry blinked a few times.

Most of the kunoichi Ry encountered six days a week were, at the very least, good looking. Seven out of ten, at minimum, if he were to be crude. Ry attributed it to chakra, and a very active lifestyle. Even those who didn't give their all, like Tsugumi or Bitai, were still developing into beautiful young women.

More than a few times Ry had given his lizard brain some very stern lectures. His mind tended to wander when he was dealing with the effects of extensive chakra usage. Ensuring that his imagination didn't start including those he'd consider ethically wrong was challenging.

Ry didn't have that problem when it came to his taijutsu and yuwaku instructor. She'd starred in his relief sessions a number of times. Kina wasn't wrong that of the kunoichi he interacted with regularly, Seong-sensei was far and away the one that held the most appeal.

Ethically and interest wise, he had no problems with what was being proposed. His other sensei were also interesting, but didn't quite ring the same bell. Ry attributed it to the way they constantly beat him black and blue.

Ry just couldn't believe the beautiful instructor was single and willing to do what was described in the waiver.

Though, maybe it makes sense. She'd likely be less clinical about seducing her significant other. This is a mission, essentially.

Man, that's a bit of a let down though.

"How am I supposed to go about this?" Ry asked. "It just says casual seduction. Hard to be casual or have normal reactions when I know how it's going to end."

That drew a smile out of the cobalt haired instructor. "Don't assume, Shiranui. Kunoichi specializing in seduction know a hundred ways to make a man's dreams come true without ever removing their clothes, or the man's."

"Fair." Ry said. "But still, it's not like I have much of a social life to casually bump into each other. Not to mention I'd rather not catch the flak associated with being hit on by one of the instructors. Somehow I can see Satoshi or Ikuhito finding out, and that'll make my life miserable here."

Those two were the ringleaders of the shinobi in training, even those older than them. Worse, they commanded a substantial following amongst the kunoichi in training. Ry had no interest in earning their ire. He enjoyed the relative peace he'd gotten once they'd realized he wasn't interested in Saneko.

Either of them would lose their cool if they thought a competitor for Shinobi of the Year was gaining an unfair advantage, like what was described in the paper Ry had been handed.

"I'm sure you'd live." Seong-sensei chuckled. "But, it's not a problem. You have an apartment to yourself. I can make that work."

"If you're sure, sensei." Ry said.

"I'm sure." Seong-sensei said. "Just get your aunt to sign, or Kazune-senpai, if your aunt is out on a mission."

They're going to give me so much shit for this. I know it.

Ry was right. Kazune's single visible eye leaked tears of laughter as she read the paper.

Move.

The hand signal was simple, one Cassidy had seen Terumi Masa perform dozens of times.

Cassidy moved, as did the five other nin following Masa.

It was the maximum number she could conceal, at least while Masa was along. His chakra signature towered over all of theirs. Even with Masa actively suppressing his chakra, Cassidy could barely maintain her concealment for more than a handful of hours. In this case, significantly less, given the cover she'd had to provide while drawing closer to the base.

Still, concealing five jonin and Masa will be more than enough.

The base they were approaching was well guarded. Their last scouting report put three pairs of hunter nin regularly rotating through, along with the regular guard complement which had three sensor nin among them.

It was a base the Mizukage clearly did not want found, and if found, not caught without warning. Cassidy didn't know what the base contained, but she knew it had to be critical. And easily portable by one of the hunter nin pairs.

One of the hunter nin pairs had departed the day before, leaving the total guards at twelve. Those were the best odds they'd get.

Masa signaled again.

The blonde haired jonin nodded. He departed without a word. Cassidy felt the drain on her chakra increase as Rimura drew further away, toward the watch tower a pair of guards were stationed in.

More signals dispersed the remaining jonin. When Masa looked her way, Cassidy nodded. She needed to stay close to Masa for as long as possible.

As the other jonin moved off, or in Hotokaido's case, remained in position while Masa and Cassidy crept closer, the strain increased. She was grateful for the hitai-ate holding her hair back; she didn't need any distractions and having her hair billowing from their movements would certainly count.

Like most of the bases Cassidy had helped raid, this one had a moat around it. The more water, the easier it was to create mist, and Kiri nin loved operating in the mist.

Of course, when both sides of the conflict were Kiri nin, the advantage was neutralized.

In this case, there was no mist. Cassidy knew that was her fault. The enemy had learned they needed their physical senses. Cassidy's abilities had burned them too many times already.

Still, they could use pre-existing defenses to their advantage. This particular moat was formed by splitting a small stream in two.

Disabling the underwater traps was why they brought Hotokaido along. He wasn't one for much combat, but his pre made seals had done a masterful job. Concealing his work was why Cassidy was already well below half her chakra reserves, but their undetected approach was well worth it.

Cassidy had her suspicions about why Hotokaido was so amazing at fuinjutsu. Suspicions related to why Masa referred to Hotokaido as a cousin, why both had red hair, and why both possessed absurd chakra reserves. She knew better than to voice them.

Rimura's decisive moment was immediately apparent to Cassidy. Her chakra absorption cloak broke as Rimura stopped suppressing himself. Cassidy felt the faint ripples through the water as Rimura's kekkei genkai latched onto the water around them.

Then the water went from six inches above her head to touching the top.

Cassidy threw herself backwards.

Her role in the raid had just been accomplished. All she needed to do now was survive, and maintain her cloaks over the other four jonin until they decided to discard them. Which meant she didn't need to stick around as Rimura utilized hundreds of gallons of water to obliterate the guard tower and the nin within. Or be anywhere in Masa's vicinity. In fact, she needed to be as far away from Masa as she could get, as soon as possible.

Even as she desperately swam away from Masa, the water began heating up rapidly. Cassidy made a beeline for the deepest part of the moat, nearly fifteen feet down.

Through the water, she could feel as Rimura continued his assault. His chakra moved in large, sinuous waves through the water. It undulated and crashed, destroying the shoreline and slamming into the signatures of the Kiri nin trying to confront the unexpected threats.

Once she got to the deepest part of the moat, Cassidy moved with the current. Her goal was the shoreline, well past where the moat converged back into the stream.

Then Masa erupted. A wave of heat rushed over Cassidy's body and she suppressed a groan.

Man it's a good thing he forced me to practice being near him. That's too freaking hot!

A chunk of scalding earth landed in the moat behind Cassidy. The chakra inside it seethed, creating even more mist.

Immediately, Cassidy sensed the two pairs of hunter nin take off. Both headed away from Masa and Rimura. In the pair furthest away from Masa, one of the nin had a large bundle on their back. That would've been almost impossible for Cassidy to tell normally, but the bundle had a chakra network. A chakra network that blazed brighter than almost everyone in the area.

Jet and Rukio shredded their concealment cloaks. Jet moved so quickly Cassidy's senses hurt trying to keep up with her, while Rukio sank her chakra deep into the earth. The entire affected area erupted upwards.

Both pairs of hunter nin abruptly reversed direction. The ones running from Rukio were able to; the ones running from Jet didn't make it five steps.

Cassidy's attention shifted to her immediate surroundings as someone dove into the water in front of her. She didn't recognize the chakra signature.

Flashing through the hand seals, Cassidy ripped off one of the first jutsu she'd learned.

Grasping Waters caught the enemy nin. Cassidy saw their chakra flash and a stone replaced the nin. She repeated her jutsu, momentarily stopping the nin in place again.

She wouldn't be able to beat them. She was okay, at best, at kenjutsu and taijutsu. Her strengths lay in ninjutsu, but other than Grasping Waters, she knew only one other water based jutsu.

Creating mist wouldn't help her underwater.

Cassidy didn't need to beat the enemy nin. They were clearly intent on escaping. All she needed to do was slow them down.

Tadori's chakra cloak ruptured as three more chakra signatures appeared between the enemy and freedom.

Unlike both Cassidy and the enemy nin, the three salamander summons moved with ease through the water. They closed in on the enemy nin, who released a lightning jutsu of some kind. It was clearly a desperation move; lightning jutsu underwater, at best, were exceedingly painful for the one using them.

As Tadori had demonstrated in their training for this particular raid, her salamanders made it far from a best case scenario.

Cassidy moved back to monitoring the battle. She only had to keep moving, and maintain the chakra cloak on Hotokaido. The enemy nin had started off with seven of them facing Masa, including the two jonin likely in charge of the base.

There was one jonin and three chakra signatures that were likely chunin left. Masa's chakra signature still roared like a bonfire in their midst.

Rimura hadn't dispatched the three facing him yet, including one of the guards that had survived his assault on the tower, but he'd herded them closer and closer to where Masa fought. If he kept going, his enemies would be endangered simply by proximity; simply using enough of his Yoton and Futton jutsu created a difficult environment for anyone but Masa to survive in.

Jet appeared to be using Hotokaido's creations to her advantage; one of the hunter nin pair was flailing around blindly while Jet used her blistering speed on the other. The hunter nin was using kawarimi relentlessly, which was minimizing the damage Jet could do.

As in, Jet had only managed to lop off one arm with her wakizashi.

On the other hand, there were nearly two dozen earth clones of Rukio hounding the pair of hunter nin. Both the hunter nin were having trouble standing; Rukio stood further back, sending rippling waves through the earth that alternated between liquifying and solidifying it. One wrong move by either hunter nin would leave them trapped with a dozen clones bearing down on them.

Cassidy swam by Tadori's position. The woman was seated cross legged on the bottom of the stream. Unlike the rest of them, she wasn't wearing a rebreather. Cassidy didn't know her story either, but she'd bet her left arm that Tadori was related to a certain shark-sword missing nin.

Which held all sorts of interesting possibilities.

By the time she reached the shoreline, the raid was over. Only one of the enemy remained, solidly entombed within Rukio's earthen prison. Jet was hauling the bundle of chakra towards Rukio. Cassidy could see and feel the others converging as well. She ran over to join them.

"Hotokaido, keep her sealed up." Masa pointed at the kunoichi that Rukio had trapped.

Hotokaido nodded, unscrewing a scroll case as Rukio modified her jutsu with a seal. Cassidy watched in fascination as Hotokaido undid the Kiri kunoichi's hitai-ate, wrapping the thin scroll in its place. The kunoichi shivered violently, then slumped. Rukio released her jutsu and the kunoichi made no attempt to escape the inert earth.

"Tadori, have your salamanders wash away the evidence." Masa said. "Rukio, Hotokaido, take the prisoner. Jet, the asset. We'll head north, rendezvous point three for the night. Cassidy, stay with me, let me know when you're running low."

Cassidy nodded, grimacing in anticipation of future chakra depletion. Masa didn't want her pushing to full exhaustion, but Cassidy's cloak would prevent any sensor nin in nearby patrols from knowing their direction of travel. Which would then prevent Cassidy's fellow Bound from tracking them until after their signatures had faded.

At least it's only Masa and basic infusion.

Running blurred Cassidy's world as she followed behind Masa. Her senses were turned to passive, rather than actively pinging the area around her. The sun continued to rise above them, then began its descent. It was near twilight before they came to a halt, Cassidy almost tumbling over from physical exhaustion.

"You did well, Cassidy." Masa said, his voice soft. "Get some rest. I'll wake you when the others arrive."

The others arriving didn't happen until well after dark.

Masa hadn't picked a special spot for the rendezvous. It was one of a hundred isles located amidst the swamps, bogs, and deltas of the rivers near the western edge of the main island of the Land of Water. Cassidy had no idea how they'd found it; Masa had ensured she was taught survival skills, but she lacked the years of experience necessary to navigate the western half of the island. The eastern side, with a few mountains, some hills, and actual landmarks, she was much better with.

Cassidy came to in front of a smokeless fire. The group and the fire were surrounded by earthen walls. Glancing up, Cassidy saw that there was a roof as well. Rimura wordlessly held out a rice ball. Cassidy began eating eagerly, her body demanding she replenish its exhausted reserves.

"We'll interrogate that one later." Masa nodded his head towards the hunter nin in the corner. "Jet, are you okay?"

Cassidy glanced at Jet, her eyes widening. Jet's hair was half burnt, and there were scorch marks along her right cheek. Glancing down at the bag near Jet's feet, Cassidy saw the chakra network inside hadn't changed, other than perhaps being a little dimmer than before.

"Had to figure out the seals they were using on the fly." Jet grumbled. "Sorry, took me a bit. The good news, they made the bag here flameproof. Just not heatproof."

"Did you need to open it?" Masa asked.

"No." Jet scowled, glaring at the bag. "She came right out, all on her own. Raving, screaming, crying. Lighting the ground on fire, lighting the trees on fire, lighting herself on fire. Throwing fire everywhere. No seals or anything. Even once I got her back in the bag, she didn't quit heating up until I tossed her into a stream."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I doubled the length of my loop so that the rest of you could get some sleep." Jet said. "So, while the big girls chat, I'm going to nap."

She did just that, curling up on the ground. Tadori held out a small sleeping roll, and Jet snatched it. The woman shoved it under her head, and looked sound asleep a moment later.

"Terumi-sama, do you recognize a kekkei genkai that sounds like that?" Tadori asked. "I have seen nothing like it in my grandfather's writings."

"No." Masa shook his head, then glanced at Hotokaido.

"I do not recognize it either, cousin." Hotokaido said, the streaks of grey in his hair blending in while the light shifted and flickered. "Perhaps my father might have. I was no librarian, compared to him."

"I mean, really, let's eliminate the obvious, if we can." Rimura said, glancing over at Cassidy. "Knock this girl out with a genjutsu, see if Cassidy recognizes her."

Cassidy's breath hissed outwards. "I…you think this might be…"

"In all likelihood." Masa nodded. "Which makes sense, upon reflection. I had wondered why the Yotani maintained a base out here. They had a Bound of their own to experiment on."

Cassidy's mind whirled.

Ever since coming to after going to sleep in her hotel bed, looking up at the ridiculously hot man holding her in his arms, skin steaming in the middle of a crater, Cassidy had lingering questions.

Some of them had been answered relatively quickly. She knew she was far from the only Bound. According to Masa, sensor nin had picked up on at least thirty of them, across the Elemental Nations. Masa himself had sensed her arrival nearly ten miles from him, despite being no more gifted in sensing than the average shinobi. She was one of eight Bound to fall within or near the Land of Water.

A question she'd had since the beginning was if she might recognize any of the other Bound. If any of the others were from her world.

Seeing Jack through a kill slit at one of the hideouts had answered that.

Then he'd tried to kill her, pointing her out despite the wall of solid rock and the chakra cloak she'd had over herself and Masa at the time. The aftermath of that fiasco had answered some questions and generated more.

The one that burned at Cassidy at the moment was if she'd recognize this potential Bound too.

"-ould have wanted a weapon to use against Yagura." Masa's voice cut through Cassidy's welter of curiosity, dread, and more curiosity. "Yotani Seiji was a schemer and a backstabber even in my mother's day. I do not know what they were doing to her, but I have little doubt the nin stationed there were ordered to learn more about her. The specifics of those orders will have to wait until we can question our prisoner."

"For now." Masa turned his green eyes on Cassidy. "Cassidy, are you ready?"

Cassidy's breath hitched. Masa had a way of doing that to her. She desperately wanted to avoid another incident where she stared into those soulful green eyes like a blithering idiot, so she nodded again.

"Tadori." Masa gestured.

Tadori bit her finger, then pressed it to the ground. In a puff of smoke, a small, bipedal salamander appeared. It had blue skin and its eyes were milky white. In an odd display of human fashion, it wore a top hat. From what Cassidy remembered, the salamander that Hanzo summoned hadn't affected any such mannerisms, so she could only wonder. Asking Tadori hadn't helped either; the woman had simply shrugged and explained that the older salamanders were all a bit insane. Shoodai was fairly tame, as far as the salamanders went. Tadori refused to speak about some of the others she'd met while reverse summoned.

"You always bring us to the nicest places, Tadpole." Shoodai said, his sightless eyes landing on each of them in turn.

"Shoodai-san, we need you to place a genjutsu on the woman in the bag." Tadori said. "We believe she is like Cassidy-chan, but we need to be sure. She erupts in fire when the bag is removed, according to Jet-san."

The salamander bobbed his head, his three fingered hand reaching up to grab his top hat. "Ah, I see. Another with strings tied between our world and theirs. Fascinating, fascinating."

With appreciable flair, the salamander flipped the top hat, letting it roll down his arm. When he flipped it back up, he let out an odd hissing sound. Cassidy felt it grate on her ears for a moment. Masa's hand gripped her arm, and Cassidy felt the hissing disappear as his chakra cleansed her system.

It's too bad so few of the elder salamanders are willing to fight. Tadori would be terrifying if she had Shoodai to use that in the middle of fights.

"Rimura." Masa nodded towards the bag.

Rimura grunted, bending down to loosen the drawstring. When he stepped back, the bag opened. Cassidy was as tense as everyone else inside the earthen abode, but no flames came out. After a few seconds of waiting, Rimura bent down again. He jostled the bag around a few times, eventually revealing a young woman's face. Her pale features had a gray pallor to them, like she was on the verge of being extremely ill.

Stacy Yamato.

Ugh. Seriously? Why'd it have to be Stacy Yamato?

"I recognize her." Cassidy said after Rimura had shut Stacy back in the bag and sealed it again. "Yamato Stacy. She uh, competed against me. Back…before."

"She has features similar to the people of Iwa." Hotokaido said, stroking his beard. "But again, no pattern. Outside of Brown-san recognizing her, much as she recognized the Tracker and the Spider."

Cassidy shivered. As bad as it had been recognizing Jack and the ensuing chaos, seeing her sponsor was worse. Mrs. Callahan didn't have the frightened, haunted look in her eyes that Jack did. She just looked like she had no soul, and her jerky movements were far too reminiscent of a puppet for Cassidy's comfort.

Especially knowing what she did about who was really in charge in Kirigakure at the moment.

"We will have to see what her mental state is like, once we have her in a safer space." Masa said. "For the time being, we will separate. Tadori, transport Jet and Yamato on your salamanders. The two of you will rendezvous with one of our scout teams in three weeks. Hotokaido, Rukio, Rimura, take the prisoner to the north. Again, three weeks. Extract everything. I don't expect much we won't already know on Kiri itself, but Hotokaido, I want as many answers as you can wring out of her about precisely what was being done in that facility."

"Hai." Hotokaido said, bowing his head. "It will be done, cousin. Do you wish for the prisoner to be kept for further interrogation afterwards?"

Masa frowned, glancing at Rimura.

The blonde smirked. "She'd fetch good crowds in the Corral Coliseum. I would certainly consider her payment for at least the next three months of service. Six months if she's allowed to be more than a combatant."

Ugh. Hate that.

Spending a year amongst the rebels, learning that most nin held no concept of honor, was an experience filled with harsh lessons. Cassidy was pretty sure she wouldn't have survived if she hadn't been found by Masa. At the very least, she didn't think she'd still be sane.

"There we have it." Masa said, his face neutral. "Payment for three months of service."

Rimura's smirk grew. The blonde dipped his chin, glancing at Cassidy for a moment. She kept her face neutral, but Rimura winked.

"Good job, Cassidy-chan." Tadori said once Rimura, Rukio, and Hotokaido had departed.

"Thank you." Cassidy blushed slightly.

Tadori was arguably the third most powerful figure in the rebellion. She was more of a kunoichi with her little finger than Cassidy was at the moment. The compliment sent Cassidy's brain into a minor effusive spiral.