Bellicism Arc: That Day
It was hard trying to find a teacher to teach her the koto. Yes, Yuina's schedule was quite full, but it wasn't like she wasn't flexible with her schedule.
She took one last look of several children taken lessons. They were giving it their all. She would only spoil their efforts. The pace of learning wouldn't be anywhere near the same. It wouldn't be a good idea to place a beginner with intermediate students anyhow. There had to be someone though. Someone both willing and capable of teaching.
She looked up at the sun. She would have to try again another day.
Yuina walked down the familiar paths. She'd walked down it so many times she could walk there blindly if needed.
She pushed open the door. It was nice to get back into her old routine with Orochimaru. Training, missions, lab. It didn't matter what. It was more comfortable then being on missions with the other. Though, she was glad it was a scheduled lab day. She was still sore from their last training session.
"Morning, Orochimaru-sensei."
Her stomach dropped as he held out a mission scroll. A mission wasn't bad, per se, but she was really looking forward to being able to sit a good chunk of the day.
"Where to?"
"Sanbutsu." The north west corridor. It was a popular enough market town. Pretty average but considered grand when the surrounding area included a very small villages of farming and mining.
"And the mission?" She leaned back against the wall.
"There seems to be some thieves taking advantage of the upcoming harvest festival."
Right, it was getting to that time of year. It wasn't too bad in the land of fire. The temperature would drop, but frost and snow were rare occurrences. Great for farming and the economy but horrible for bugs and disease. As much as she didn't miss long winters, having bugs fly into her face while running on missions was horrid.
"Understood." She was reminded of Sakumo's story. She wondered how much of a problem the thieves caused that they were willing to pay for their services, or maybe it was to ensure festivities wouldn't be hindered by them. There were only so many celebrations a year and it was something people looked forward to.
"Hm."
Yuina was pushing open the door when she heard him. "What?"
"You're more relaxed lately." He approached.
She clicked her tongue. He always saw through her so who cared, but why did that have to be a point of interest? It wasn't like she was running amok. "The horror." Sarcasm laced her words. Maybe he could afford it more because of his strength or because of his connection with the Hokage, but Orochimaru usually had an air of ease about him. Even with his ambitions and focus everything always seemed at his own pace by his own will.
"You really are backwards." Before she had a chance to begin to process what that meant he continued. "Most people learn to build up defenses as they age." The 'not tear them down' went unsaid but they both understood. Nor was it the first sign of her backwardness. He didn't typically voice it out loud though which still left the question of why this time.
If she was a puzzle to him so be it. It wasn't like there weren't parts of him she was still trying to piece together. Pestering the other for a few more answers faster wasn't worth potentially destroying the partnership they've made.
They made their way to Sanbutsu. Orochimaru quizzing her along the way on biology. She thought it would wear her down sooner or later when he introduced her to more and more concepts, but it was funny how things could suddenly become more interesting when there were more imminent applications.
They reach the town and sure enough people are wandering about. A mixture of people shopping, setting up stations, or preparing for the festival. "The usual?"
Investigate. Reconvene. Action as needed.
"Keep an eye out. There's likely more than one," he said as he eyed the people going about their day.
She figured as much. It would be hard for one person to pull off all they did. The questions were how many and how hostile? She nodded her head then they split in opposite directions down the long main street.
It took a while but there were subtle movements. The ease of the man casually taking things from those distracted as he flowed between people, adding it to a wagon someone guarded further away. Someone identical came and took the wagon while the one who had been standing guard walks her way and passed by.
Yuina needed to reconvene with Orochimaru, but first she needed to know where their gathering place was. It'd be great if she could find out what they were doing with all that food.
She raised her hand and kept them close to her core as she signed the seals needed for the Shadow Clone Jutsu and transformation jutsu. The civilian looking clone followed the person walking inbound under the impression that if something were to happen, their ingrained headquarters would be more problematic.
She could feel the drain on her reserves.
A tingle signaled down her back. She looked around. Looked between any spaces between buildings. Peaked at rooftops. Checked above, behind, and below as she cautiously continued onward.
She discreetly followed to the edge of town and put more distance between them as he pushed the wagon into a small woodland area.
This was enough for Yuina. They net up with another two people. This was a coordinated heist as Orochimaru and her suspected. She was about to leave to tell Orochimaru when one man changed. Literally changed. He was an adolescent boy now.
Transformation Jutsu.
This was above her pay grade or skills. This was B-Ranked.
A girl stabbed towards Yuina's neck. "You idiots almost got us caught—" She gurgled before dying as her mission partners watched as Yuina sliced their partner's neck off.
Yuina was ever grateful to have sensed the girl in time to use the Body Replacement Technique. She threw three shuriken at the other three immediately after which they deflected.
She was trapped.
She couldn't show her back to them. Her eyes drawn to their forehead protectors now that they weren't transformed. Iwa.
What were they doing here?
Adrenaline pumped through her as she was acutely aware of everything around her more than normal. Even with one down there were three more. This wasn't like dealing with bandits or some lowly criminal organization. They were highly trained. Timing and surprise was the only reason she succeeded in killing the girl. To make it worse, frontal assaults weren't her forte.
She'd been distancing herself. Disillusioned that her idea of a ninja was wrong, or at least that it wasn't its entirety. That she didn't have to join that side of the business. Recurring missions that sided on aggressive pseudo law enforcement than the espionage, infiltration, deception, irregular warfare, and such. Ninja and shinobi. Two terms she separated in her mind to adjust and adapt, but those were only lies she told herself. In the end, it was all the same. It was only a matter if only she used those skills or if they were mutually employ it.
The only boon she had was that they were unused to fighting someone nearly half a meter shorter than them, but even that didn't cause them much difficulty.
Yuina clenched her jaw as she a kunai dug into her arm. Her arm pulsated and the control of the nerves weakened.
Two may have given a chance to defend herself but three is too much.
She threw shuriken and ran forward anticipating the weapons would miss. If she was going down someone else was going down with her.
A slab of earth raised from the ground and Yuina twisted her body when one foot touched the ground. One nin attacking from either side. She deflected a few weapons coming from the right and continued turning counter clockwise to try and do something about the person on the right. He was faster though as he kicked her into the earth slab and followed up with a kunai. She tried to deflect with her tanto but he overpowered her. The tanto was knocked out of her hand, but the initial resistance she gave cause him to miss his intended target. Instead the kunai pierced into her stomach.
Yuina reached out to grab his forearm. Her chakra swirled in it's natural affinity. It was a higher voltage than a taser gun. His body convulsed above her as he dug the weapon deeper in her before letting go, grabbing another weapon to hit her with.
The man fainted. There was a small chance he was dead but it was unlikely.
Yuina's esophagus burned. Was that vomit? Was it blood? Something flowed upward.
She fought through the pain to reach the fainted man. She may not be able to make an instant barrier like them, but she could use his body as a shield.
For whatever reason the one liked to keep distant. Poor taijutsu? The other had a cool head and took a more supportive role that hindered her attacks or augmented the moves of the others.
The one who kept his distance shouted something. Whether it was at her or his teammate she didn't know. All sounds warped into a drowned-out sound as the pulsating of her ears took the forefront.
The support one approached with a head-on attack.
She knew this life wouldn't be a long one, but she wished she could have had more time. She still wanted to learn the koto. She hadn't finished her experiments. She wanted more time with her family.
Sorry Kakashi.
Sorry Sakumo.
Would they grieve her?
In a final moment of glory a man stood between her and the Iwa-nin.
Orochimaru-sensei?
In less than a minute he killed the other two.
She looked up at him. It was handled with such ease. The only way to stay untouched was to be stronger than everyone else. He looked back down on her. His eyes sharp yet void.
Even if she could be saved they were far away from any doctor. There were several things she could say. Last messages for her family. Her mission report. Cries of pain.
"I don't want to die," she wheezed.
Even if this world was horrid she wanted to live. Tears slipped down her face.
"But it's not your fault."
She coughed and choked.
She could no longer see. She could feel the faint feeling of the ground. A soft warming feeling entered her core as she lost consciousness.