Side Story: Big Trouble in Toy Town - Complete

AtlannianSpy

AtlannianSpy

Alarmed and Strangerous
A village of artisans known as the Toymakers have requested Leaf shinobi to drive off some bandits. This mysterious group have long produced some of the finest toys in the country, treasured by the children of nobles and wealthy nobles as well as eccentric collectors. Up until now the location of the village has been hidden but a criminal group known as the Red Hilts have discovered the location of the village and have been extorting the profits from their toy sales.

The isolation that previously kept the village safe is now working against it, preventing the villagers from seeking aid however a single member of the village has managed to sneak out and make their way here.

Nagisa Kanazawa
Hideki Ukita
Tsukiashi Inuzuka
Yuuki Uchiha
Aiko Uchiha

Escort the villager back to their home and then drive off the Red Hilts. There will be no jonin taking part in the mission so Nagisa will be in charge for the duration.

"What a thing to spring on somebody," Nagisa muttered to herself, folding the mission orders back up and sealing them away before turning her attention back to the coffee she had picked up on the way. It was a surprisingly crisp morning for and the steam wafting up from the paper cup was rather pleasant.

Nagisa didn't really know how these things were set up, in the end she had just copied out the mission orders and sent them out to the other four chunin with the terse addition of a time and meeting place. Although the meeting place was just a random street corner. Aside from Yuuki Nagisa didn't recognize any of the names on her 'team' although they would have been present for the exam and this Aiko person was obviously a relative of his.

On top of that we have a civilian tagging along.. At least the pay's decent.

Nagisa checked her watch. It was 6:57 so if these people were reliable they'd be turning up in about three minutes...

Orikanyo Orikanyo
Hanarei Hanarei
KageYuuki KageYuuki
InsaneAsylum InsaneAsylum
 
Hideki Ukita
Over worked, underpaid, underage.

​
The young man reviewed the document of the squad in question. He would be with Aiko again, thats was fine enough, she was always an trustworthy individual. Though the other two? He had no clue. The team leader was a... Guy named Nagisa, looked like a guy anyways. And Ashi? She was a Inuzuka, so she'd likely bring her dog with her right? he'll admit to being excited to meet the dog, can't say he's ever met one before... But he loved dogs about as much as he did cats, so likely he'd be able to get SOME pets in.

He had only just started to win points with Hikari, so why not get another animal pal?

....

"...I want a pet to..." he spoke softly to himself as he continued walking along to the meeting point, his day feeling that little bit gloomier, heck Hotaru had her moths, why shouldn't he have his own? What pet would he get though? Maybe a parrot! A dog? Ooh! A cat! Pig? ...Would Takara allow a pig? Not likely...

Bear?

Could he even train a bear?

Honey Badger?

Wouldn't give enough fucks about him to keep it.

...A bunny?

The young man blushed lightly at the thought of hugging a plush soft and warm little white bunny, with it's soft ears and wiggly nose and its fluffy tail... he was so absorbed in the thought that he barely realized he had reached his destination. His absent mind stopping just nearby nagisa as he was brought back down to earth again from his fluffy bunny filled heaven.

"...Eh? Oh... Uhh..." he scrambled for his words again, looking back up to the fellow chuunin, whom he was certain was a boy. "Hey, Your the team leader right? Hideki Ukita." he tried to get back some of that professionalism he lost to the earlier thoughts of bunnies and softness...
 
Ashi_InuzukaBanner.jpg​

A small figure approached the meeting location rather quickly, keeping rather low to the ground. Using both her arms and feet like she was a dog, the fiesty Ashi came darting in. She landed a small distance away from Nagisa and Hideki. It wasn't hard to tell right away she wasn't all that happy noticably seeming to be pouting. She slowly propped herself up onto two legs, crossing her arms. A look of defiance was on her face looking more then ready to spring on someone should they say something she wasn't fond of.

"Hmmph! Alright what is this dumb mission about and who is the jerk who is suppose to be in charge?" She spoke out as her words seemed extra fierce to the latter bit. It wouldn't be likely very hard to tell Tsukiashi's problem was fixated much more on the fact she wasn't in charge and someone else was. Her overly defensive nature couldn't help but take not being given the spot as team leader being some attack against her. She wasn't the type that needed to be leading, but not being given such a spot felt as if it was in some way judging her as not being good enough. She always felt the need to prove herself and not be looked down upon.

Her eyes focused back at Nagisa and Hideki, looking at the with a brief pause after her initial feisty remark. She lifted her hand up, pointing her thumb to herself putting up a strong front despite her brief tantrum before them. It was almost as if she had completely forgot what she had said seconds ago.

"My names Tsukiashi Inuzuka, one of the best Shinobi around of all time! Don't worry i'll get this mission done before any of you even have to blink and eye! You can count on me to kick butt and get stuff done!" She spoke out in what was effectively her way of beating her chest before them. A wide confident grin rested on her face as she attempted to keep up a rather strong front not wanting to be looked down upon and stand on her own. Truhtfully, she hadn't the slightest clue what the mission was. She had barely managed to figure out where they were suppose to meet up after the anger she had suffered to find out she wasn't leading the mission and getting it in her mind they were trying to say she was weak.
 
Yuuki Uchiha
Yuuki stifled a yawn as he worked his way to the meeting spot. It turned out to be a rather cold morning, at least cold enough to be annoying. Maybe it'll get better once the sun's a little higher up. He mentally went over the mission description once again: escort the villager back home and wipe out the bandits. It was straightforward enough on paper... and likely much easier than his last escort mission.

The fact Sachiko still breathed was a miracle in and of itself.

Coming up on Nagisa and Hideki, he offered a slight wave. "Morning." The Uchiha barely got a chance to say much more when Ashi approached. It only took a few sentences from her for Yuuki to realize that this was indeed going to be a long mission...

Assuming Nagisa didn't kill her first. She was more on the no nonsense side of the spectrum.

He scoffed at her introduction, "Don't you mean, 'Tsukiashi Inuzuka, one of the three jackasses that destroyed the proctor's desk in the Chuunin exams'? Who'd we piss off to get stuck with you?" Shaking his head, Yuuki turned to Nagisa, "Anyway, we have any kind of count on the number of bandits we need to take care of?"
 
Aiko Uchiha​

Aiko let out a sharp breath of air as she approached the desiganted meeting place. Once again, she’d have to work with Hideki, but even worse was one of the others she took notice of. It was the Inuzuka girl from the chuunin exams who had hurt herself trying to be an idiot like Mai. Just the thought of dealing with her for an entire mission gave her a headache. Not that she didn’t already have one.

She knew Yuuki. He wouldn’t be annoying. The only person Aiko didn’t recognize well was Nagisa. She couldnt get a good read on the mission leader, however, but she looked capable from a quick observation.

“Sorry if I’m late. I’m Aiko.”

She made an effort not to say too much. It felt a little tense. Aiko herself wasn’t too pleased. She was hoping to concentrate on some hardcore training like she had seen her squadmates doing from time to time.

But if her village needed her, then it was her duty to help. Maybe she’d get a mission that was actually important next time though. Who really cared about some dumb toys anyway?
 
Meet and Greet...​


Nagisa eyed Tsukiashi warily. Is she… for real? Do people that dumb actually exist? Do I really have to be in charge of them?

“I’m the jerk in charge.” Nagisa said finally, in a low, dangerous voice. “And you would know what the mission is about if you had read the letter you got!”

It wasn’t as if Nagisa especially wanted to be in charge, but now that she was she wasn’t about to back down to some half assed idiot who rocked up without even having read the briefing. Nagisa exhaled sharply and answered Yuuki’s question in a more normal tone.

“I don’t have anything really concrete but this civilian we’re escorting might. She spent the night in the hospital recovering so she hasn’t really been questioned in detail yet. She should be here soon so in the meantime why don’t we go over introductions and specialties? I don’t really know anyone here except Yuuki,”

Hideki… Wasn’t fully sure how to take Aiko’s coldness… Or the fact the other girl who called herself Tsukiashi… But she was the Inuzuka that was mentioned. There was of course Yuuki, who was grumpier than usual. “Well, I have skills in kenjutsu but I have a good deal of ninjutsu at my disposal, I make usage of my earth elemental affinity more than anything. If you need something big swallowed up by the ground, I’m your man.

...Plus I can pretty much sneak into anywhere if it’s connected to the ground..” he added, kicking a bit of dust off the ground with a small shuffle of a foot. “Your Yuuki’s squad mate yea? Hopefully the guy hasn’t talked shit about me to yea.” he chuckled, good naturedly of course.

“Oh don’t worry, she knows all about you.” Yuuki leaned back against a pole, the beginnings of a smirk tugging at his lips. “For our hairbrained friend over there, I specialize in seals and shurikenjutsu. Though I can also use kenjutsu and Fire Release.”

“Heh, maybe you can give Aiko some pointers while were out in about. She can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a shuriken.” Hideki chuckled.

Ashi seemed to keep a rather harsh glare primarily directed at Nagisa. Her little comment back at the Inuzuka girl naturally only helped to keep her riled up. She showed her teeth a little bit, looking as if she might start to growl in response before speaking up when she got the chance. “I can move really fast on all fours, and I can use my nose to find stuff, better than you can.” She spoke directing her words towards Nagisa as if to somehow get back at her.

She turned to look at Yuuki growling a bit at him. “...and I’ll have you know dumb cats are the hairbrained ones, and… and…” She spoke pointing her finger at him as she seemed to lose a bit of steam fumbling to find words. “Don’t be surprised if you fall behind! Hmmph!” She spoke falling quite flat on her attempt to act tough simply looking away defiantly from Yuuki this time. I’ll show him… She thought to herself a bit more calmly quieting herself down for now. Her head turned up a bit, glancing quietly to the others out attempting to subtly peek at them to keep up her little defiant act.

“Ugh…” Aiko was already losing confidence in the mission. “Anyway… I use Ice Style Jutsu. I freeze people and stab people. Now, can we get going?” Aiko was ready to get going. The faster she could get this mission over with the faster she could get back to protecting something that was actually important.

“Were you not listening either?” Nagisa snapped, rapidly losing patience in her ragtag team. “I said we’re waiting on-”

“Sorry!

Sorry!

Sorry!

Sorry!

SORRY!


SOR- Wearaggh!?”

Nagisa turned towards the rapidly approaching voice in time to see a mostly brown figure trip on a loose cobblestone and catapult herself through the air towards the group. Nagisa herself had just enough time to put down her coffee and duck, letting the flying girl continue on her trajectory, sailing directly towards Hideki.

Having been watching Ashi’s, kinda funny, attempts at trying to dispute the leader’s being… The leader… He didn’t quite have a lot of time to prepare for the girl who was currently hurtling towards him. In the mere seconds he had, he braced and tried to hold out his arms to catch her…

Only to have her forehead collide with his face and sending them both to the ground in a crumpled heap. The young man moaned in pain, his nose only slightly bleeding at least…

“Ohmigosh are you okay? I’m sorry! I’m sorry I’m late and um I’m sorry I landed on you! Oh gosh! Are you okay? ” shining, chocolate colored eyes, a tangled birds nest of hair and a smattering of freckles peered down anxiously at Hideki.

The young man blinked, and despite the blood rolling down his face he smiled “Much better with you here cutie.” he tried to sound cool.. Though… He was still covered in blood..

“Huh? Oh uhh-” The girl stuttered and her freckles did nothing to hide a sudden and noticeable reddening of her cheeks.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Said Nagisa, rolling her eyes hard and hauling the girl to her feet by the back of her dress.

“Oh right sorry!” The girl found managed to get her feet under her and hastily bowed to the assembled chunin. “My name’s Yumi Nomokori from the village of toymakers and I’ll be under your care. Please take care of me!”

Behind the earnest girl Nagisa finished her coffee and shot the empty cup neatly into a nearby trash can. “Now. We can go.” Yuuki shot his teammate a look as they started for the village gate, this was already looking to be a long mission.
 
On The Road Again​


Once introductions were complete the motley group departed for the Village of toymakers despite any misgivings some of the members may have privately held. The village was relatively remote but for most of the way their route would take the team along a major trade road so their progress was smooth and unhindered. The sun was steadily burning away the early morning chill and the team had plenty of time to talk among themselves or dwell on their own thoughts.

“I’d like two people to scout ahead a little?” asked Nagisa, breaking the silence as they walked. “I don’t think it’s likely we’ll be ambushed but I don’t think it’s impossible either, the rest of us will stick close to Miss Nomokori. Inuzuka, you said you were… good at smelling? That’ll help, any other volunteers?”

“I’m typically on defense, scouting isn’t quite my specialty.” Hideki commented, resting both his hands on the back of his head as he walked along, keeping pace with the group and their charge. “Was gonna ask, where's your dog there Tsukiashi? Don’t Inuzuka usually have one?”

Ashi looked over towards Nagisa, having settled down from before somewhat. She gave a slight nod trying to continue the tough act. It was Hideki’s comment that managed to throw her off. She stared at him for a moment, a deep flush creeping onto her face. Snapping out of it, she shot him a fierce glare, lips curling back into a snarl.

“I can scout just fine. I don’t need a dog to do that!” She answered Nagisa, still glaring at Hideki. With a huff, she stormed a few paces ahead, allowing her gaze to fall back onto the ground.

Yuuki rolled his eyes, “I’ll go on ahead.” He shot Nagisa a quick glance, “Unless you need me elsewhere?”

“No that’s good,” Nagisa said, waving him off. “Keep an eye out for trouble,” she added, her eyes flicking to Tsukiashi’s back meaningfully. He nodded in understanding, already starting to become numerous sheets of paper. A few of which clung to the Inuzuka while the rest scattered to the trees.

Tsukiashi quickly dropped onto all fours, her gaze refusing to return to the group behind her. Tearing forward, she tried to focus on her work and let her heightened senses keep watch for any threats.

“I’d rather not scout,” Aiko stated, watching Ashi and Yuuki take off. The paper took her by surprise, causing her to let out of quiet “woah”. She kept her hand near her katana as she walked, taking Nagisa’s warning seriously.




The terrain either side of the road was the kind of open forest common all over the Land of Fire and one could see surprisingly far between the trees. The sounds of birds and small forest creatures could be heard in the distance, likely especially well by Tsukiashi and overall there was nothing to suggest any particular danger. Not yet at least.

Yuuki worked his way up until he was floating along over the treetops. With the trees as spaced out as they were, the bird’s eye view would work well enough for the time being. The Uchiha really didn’t expect much to happen so close to the village… Though there were the rumors about the increased bandit activity as of late. The Hidden Leaf hadn’t been the only place affected by the war, even if it currently wasn’t much of a war.

Ashi’s keen nose couldn’t pick up a thing as she darting forward across the tree branches, careful in each step keeping alert. As riled up as she could be, she did her best to try and focus on her job of scouting for the group keeping up her quick pace allowing her sense of smell to do most of the work for her.




“Why don’t you tell us a bit more about the situation in your village?” Nagisa suggested to Yumi, who was staring bug eyed and open mouthed in the direction Yuuki had gone.

“H-He just turned into paper!” She squeaked in amazement. “Can you all do that?” she asked, turning to the three shinobi who were escorting her. “I can’t believe it, we seem to be the same age but you’re all so amazing! I’ve never met any ninja before!”

Hideki laughed. “Yea, Yuuki is pretty good at that by now. Not many can pull off that paper trick of his. While I can’t do that, I can kinda swim through the ground like it’s water. If that makes sense.” he took his time to boost abit… Couldn’t help but feel pretty cool about being a ninja at this moment.

“Yea yea, digging in the dirt like a disgusting worm is really impressive Hideki,” Aiko cut in with a smirk.

“There’s people with all kinds of abilities out there,” Nagisa said, shrugging. “Which is why I was hoping to get as much intel as we ca-”

“I think it’s impressive!” Yumi said firmly to Hideki, apparently having heard Aiko’s jab but missed Nagisa’s attempt to steer the conversation to practical matters. “I mean all I can do is make toys so… I bet digging underground is really useful!”

The young man beamed an almost cat-like smile towards Aiko, the smugness in him reaching near critical mass. “It definitely is, though I’ll admit, there's quite a bit of skill in making toys yea know, Nothing wrong with making things that make people happy.” he figured he should share the praise, she was too plain cute not to return the favor.

Aiko rolled her eyes.

Hideki's gaze however turned to Nagisa. “So, what can you do? From the profile it said your a… Puppet user?” he asked, still looking happy from the moment before, he wondered if he should show off the hood thing too… Everybody likes cats right?

“Something like that,” shrugged Nagisa, putting her hands in her pockets. “It’s not as interesting as turning into paper or anything,” She was trying to sound neutral but there was terse note in her voice.

“Ninjas have a wide variety of tools to use, I’ll admit, I’ve never seen a ninja puppet before, I heard they can do all sorts of stuff,” the young man began thinking about the rumors he's heard. “Like spewing poison, shooting out kunai, even shooting out fire…. Man… makes me jealous just thinking about it.” the young man sighed.

Nagisa sighed and then brought her hands out of her pockets, tugging at the bandages wrapped tightly around one arm to loosen them and let them fall, revealing wood and metal instead of skin.

“Well whatever, if we’re going to work together you’ll see it eventually,” Nagisa said, cycling rapidly through the weapons in her arm, showing off in succession the blade in her forearm, the crossbow and the claws that extended out from her fingers.

Hideki watched in outright amazement at what he was seeing. Her whole arm was the puppet, and holy crap it was… “That… That is WICKED cool. They all just come out so easily, and switch without issue too! Is there anymore weapons? Is the ammunition for the crossbow internally fed or do you arm it yourself? How do you control it?” The young man was…. Needless to say, amazed.

Nagisa looked a little taken aback at Hideki’s reaction. “It’s… there’s an internal feed but I can access it to switch ammunition if I need to, there’s a chain but that’s more of a utility thing. It’s… I mean it’s just a weapon, a good weapon but it doesn’t mean more than that,” Nagisa began rewrapping her arm with practiced, fluid motions. “I wish people wouldn’t make such a big deal about it,” she muttered under her breath.

“Right, a weapon being cool and having all these things only goes so far. Needs a cool and cute head likes your to really know how to use it.” the young man sighed, a little bit embarrassed by his reactions.

Wait…

Hold up brain…

Cute…? Why? What? But he was…. A dude… Can’t be cute… Maybe? But he was… Kinda had that coolness of Aiko but less anger… Why was he still thinking about this? Just a dude thinking another dude is kinda cute that's all, nothing big right? Right? Yes, definitely. Nothing going on here of course, just him being himself and totally… Ah crap…

Ah crap he called a dude cute...

“Cu- what the fuck are you talking about!” Nagisa snapped, her cheeks flushing red as she finally processed what had been said. “We’re in the middle of a mission! Do you do this to literally every girl you breath the same air as?” The bandaged wrapping that had previously been fluid suddenly became hasty and forceful.

Is literally every chunin outside of our squad a moron or something? Nagisa wondered, biting her lip as she worked. The hell is he thinking, -cute-, idiot!

Hideki stepped abit back from the young GIRL who was currently giving him a ear ringing bout of scorn. Girl, yes, he could see that now, most definitely a girl… Who was currently furious at him… He most definitely knew, that she was, indeed, a girl. He coughed lightly to clear his throat, now.. Well.. embarrassed as hell as well.

“Well… There's no harm in being honest with what I see…” he walked at a slightly faster pace. “But, as you wish, I’ll stay focused on the mission and nothing else henceforth. You have my word!” he’ll admit, this was more out of reflex of trying to get the hell out of the situation he had unknowingly made.

“Very. Reassuring,” Nagisa said through gritted teeth, her eyes staring with laser like intensity as Hideki accelerated away. Nagisa was content to walk alone and analyse the burning sensation in her stomach while she finished covering her prosthetic arm.

focus! If nobody else is taking this mission seriously you at least need to! Come on! Nagisa took a deep breath and exhaled after holding it for a few seconds, feeling her composure return slowly.

That’s right, the mission is all that matters, get paid and get the hell out of here. Then make sure none of these clowns are on the next one you take




While Nagisa was distracted her pace naturally slowed and Hideki lagged behind with her, leaving Aiko and Yumi to walk as a pair.

“So what’s it like? Being a ninja, going on missions and stuff?” Nomi asked, apparently uncomfortable with prolonged silence.

“Well, it’s not as fun as you might think it is,” Aiko responded. “Being a ninja isn’t just about having cool weapons and jutsu and going out to save people. Each mission could easily be our last…” Aiko trailed off, a bit taken aback by herself. “It can also be fun every now and then though… you get to see lots of new places, and help people who really need it. Like you and your village.”

“O-Oh I guess that was kind of insensitive then,” Yumi looked down at her shoes. “But then knowing that you might not come back you still do it. When the Red Hilts came to my village it took all the courage I had just to run for help,” Yumi laughed nervously.

“Well, if you hadn’t done that then we wouldn’t be on our way to save your village right now, so you did plenty. You would’ve been stupid for staying.” Aiko rubbed her head with her free hand. “So what’s your village like? All I know is that you make toys and stay hidden.”

Yumi smiled warmly. “I think it’s an amazing place, even though none of us are shinobi or anything. The village was founded by craftsmen who fled from a war a few generations ago, they weren’t able to bring their families with them so when they wanted to hand down their techniques they adopted orphans off the street from nearby cities and towns. That practice continues to this day, after completing their training toymakers decide if they want to leave and have children or stay, become a master toymaker and adopt an apprentice from off the streets. This way the village population remains stable and we can stay more easily hidden.” Yumi’s smile faltered. “But because we’re all craftsmen none of us really know how to fight, well except for Gramps, but he was injured in the first attack and he was already getting old…”

Aiko was silent for a few moments, trying to imagine a life without ninja involved in some way or another. “Well it sounds like a nice village to live in…” Aiko felt a bit bad about thinking this mission would be a waste of time. More people face trouble than those from the Leaf. “Once we get there, no one else is getting hurt, got it? Not you, your grandpa, or anyone.” Aiko said as reassuringly as possible, despite the doubt clouding her own mind.




And then, all of a sudden, the two scouts leading the way would become aware of something.

It would be hard to say whether they were spotted before they were smelled, the scent of tobacco hung about the pack of men as they walked down the road on a collision course with the party of shinobi. There was seven of them, at least seven visible right now, two adult males and five smaller figures that looked teenage, all of them clad in slightly ragged civilian clothes and all of them carrying a katana with a red rag tied to the hilt. The seven bandits seemed alert enough, especially the two adults who lead their loose formation with hands resting easily on the swords at their sides.

Shit, a lone piece of paper folded into a thin, paper airplane and dove back for Nagisa. A message of warning hastily scrawled across it. Reforming into a more proper body, Yuuki seemed to remain stationary in the air. He could only maintain this a couple seconds, but long enough to weave a few handseals.

Fire Release: Flame Mortar

The small fireball was decently fast, the explosion on impact should be enough to scatter the group. The Uchiha let himself dissolve back into paper.

The smell had managed to find its way into Ashi’s nostrils as she darted forward making complete use of the trees as both a way to maneuver as well as to keep hidden back. She jumped onto the branch looking on just in time to witness the flaming ball of fire being shot off by who she could only assume was the jerk from earlier. She watched the men scatter, her eyes fixating on at them, leaning back ready to spring into action.

No no… I should wait… grah… but they are right there… She bit her lip in frustration. She could only assume Yuuki had sent a message back to warn the others. She glanced about, not noticing the other Chuunin making any moves. She suppressed her urge to attack, instead keeping quiet observing them using the trees as cover. She waited to find the best opportunity to pounce once her allies were close or should Yuuki attempt another attack.

A cloud of smoke erupted from the impact point of the Yuuki’s jutsu, obscuring the section of forest and road the bandits had been occupying.

The smoke hung in the air for a moment and then was suddenly pierced as two crescent shaped blades of light shot out of it, one aimed in the direction the fireball had come from, the other fired off more or less randomly into forest.

“Well I guess that settles it,” The voice was a gravelly drawl and when as the smoke cleared it became apparent the owner was one of the adult bandits, a wiry man with long silvery hair partially hidden by a ratty beanie. “The brat got help after all,”

“Seems like it,” the second man was bulkier, more heavily muscled, with a ginger goatee and round sunglasses. Suddenly he turn around to snap at the younger bandits, most of whom were scattered around the area on their hands and knees. “Get off yer asses! Useless brats, fan out and flush ‘em out!” The man turned again and gestured in a wide arc at the forest in front of them. “Goddamn shinobi HOW BOUT YOU GET OUT HERE AND GIVE US A REAL FIGHT HUH!?”

As he blustered his younger subordinates hastily got to their feet and began to search the forest in a spread out line, their swords drawn warily.

A hand clapped over Ashi’s mouth as another gripped the back of her shirt. “It’s me,” Yuuki’s voice was a harsh whisper, blood red eyes watching the scene unfold below them. “That jutsu of theirs is a problem… you’re faster than me, go back to Nagisa and tell her about it. I’ll see what I can do to slow them down.”

Ashi had shifted a bit on the branch as her nose quickly caught a whiff of Yuuki before a hand was cupped over hers as if in a preemptive measure to keep her from speaking up. She looked on growling a little though keeping quiet. If it had been any other situation she probably would have bit Yuuki’s hand but it was clear whoever their enemies were, they weren’t just some simple bandits. She kept a stern gaze, nodding lightly in response before she pulled back, springing off without a word using all four limbs to propel herself quickly through the forest heading back swiftly towards the group.

“W-Who’s there!?” Demanded one of the younger bandits, hearing the rustle of leaves as Ashi fell back. Before anyone could answer however the goateed bandit growled from behind him.

“Brat, duck.”

With an alarmed gasp the younger bandit hit the forest floor as another crescent of light shot over his head, spreading as it reached Yuuki’s position.

The Uchiha kicked back off the tree he was perched on, landing on a lower branch a little further back. Grabbing stacks of tags from the pouches on his belt, he tossed them in the air and wove a few seals.

Paper Shuriken

Dozens upon dozens of shuriken launched themselves from the trees at the bandits. Even if they didn’t hit the tags they were made from would serve as a decent trap. Jutsu launched, he body flickered away to a different position. The shuriken ripped through the line of younger bandits, they would gamely parry one or two and then the third or fourth would cut across their arms or bodies, one fell to his knees clutching his stomach while the others received mostly superficial cuts.

One made it to the silver haired adult who slashed it contemptuously out of the air and then frowned as he watched the crimson pieces flutter down to the ground. “SHIT! THESE ARE TAGS! MOVE FORWARDS! GET AHEAD OF THEM” He snarled at the younger bandits, he and his older partner leaping easily up to the tree tops to distance themselves from the danger.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” Yuuki called from his current hiding spot. As if on cue, one of the tags detonated in a small blast. The trail was now thoroughly covered in the explosive tags. He fell back into a stream of papers once more, the older two were going to be an issue at this rate. The others had better hurry.

“You’re a scrawny brat to be giving us this much trouble,” sneered the goateed bandit. “How about you just hand over the girl and go home? You’re not going to be able to hold us off forever,” Something in the man’s speech must have been a subtle signal for without hesitation the silver haired bandit fired off another crescent of chakra at Yuuki’s position, covering his partner who dashed forward, drawing his katana and slashing with a smooth, rapid motion. Below them the younger bandits were forced to scatter and dive for whatever part of the ground seemed less full of tags.




Meanwhile Nagisa was studying the letter with a dangerous scowl.

“We’re under attack,” She barked sharply, letting the paper fall from her hands. “One of you take Nomokori and fall back, the other’s with me, we’ll back up Yuuki and the Inuzuka girl,”

Aiko nodded, and turned to Nomi. “Sounds like they were waiting for us. Come with me and we’ll let the other two handle them.” Aiko grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her back the way they came in a light jog. “I’ll keep Nomokori safe!” She said over her shoulder.

“Gotchya, stay safe Aiko. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” the young man waved slightly to the two then turned to Nagisa. “Likely Yuuki has already tried roasting them, but keep watch for friendly fire… Well, i guess you’d know about him already.” the young man grasped the shield on his back and kept it upon his arm. “Lets go.”

“Right,” Nagisa nodded curtly and, gathering chakra in her feet, flickered forwards. It wasn’t usually her style to favor speed over stealth but she wanted to bring her team back together as quickly as possible. Nagisa reappeared atop a tree branch and was about to flicker forwards again when she spotted a figure moving towards them. In fact Nagisa nearly fired her crossbow at the person until she recognised it as Tsukiashi. Another body flicker covered the remaining distance between the two kunoichi.

“What’s the situation up there?” Nagisa asked curtly. “Did you get a headcount? Oh and also-” Nagisa tapped a seal on her artificial arm and it disappeared, only to be replaced by a similar one made entirely of black metal. “What’s Yuuki’s position? be as precise as possible,” she asked as her arm split apart to form what looked like a sophisticated longbow.

Ashi looked to Nagisa staring at her with a serious expression on her face. “Seven… I think… at least I could see. Two older guys who seem to know some Ninjutsu with a bunch of younger ones. That’s as precise as I can be, Yuuki was trying to distract em straight up from where I came from. No time to wait, gotta hurry and save the jerk-bag!” She spoke out only half paying attention to what it was he was doing a she turned around to take off having given the message ready to dart back to Yuuki’s aid.

“Wait we need a pla-arggh!” Nagisa snapped after Ashi’s retreating form. Suddenly she heard a small bang up ahead she recognized as an explosive tag. It wasn’t as much as she would have like to go on but it would have to do. “Fine, fuck it, catch,” Nagia tossed a kunai hilt first at Ashi and gave one to Hideki as well, though they were suppressed and hard to detect there were chakra threads attached to both. “When you feel a tug on that close your damn eyes and launch your attack AFTER. We’ll hit ‘em from all sides,” Nagisa called after her, summoning a handful of long arrows studded with holes and testing her bow string. “You do the same, just pick a different angle,” she said to Hideki. “Maybe do that underground thing? I dunno, I’ll cover you from here,”

“Right, I’ll position myself accordingly.” the young man stated as he kept the kunai in his other hand, keeping in mind there might be more hostiles still hidden… “Here’s hoping they’re grouped up, heading out now.” the boy rushed ahead some distance before heading underground. He was used to somebody fucking up and charging when they shouldn’t… Maybe this time they will actually have a chance?

Ashi turned back to catch the kunai in her hand. She placed it in her mouth only vaguely catching onto what Nagisa said. What did she mean by closing eyes and then attacking? She shrugged it off as she darted forward, using her quick speed to rush ahead attempting to quickly get back to Yuuki, attempting to approach the scene more from the side in order to hit the other ‘angle’ not quite sure just what the heck it was supposed to be.

Nagisa inhaled, then exhaled, calmly drawing her bow to its fullest extent and angling it to target the explosion she had heard before. When she had the angle right Nagisa fired her first shot and then immediately reloaded, cycling through five arrows in less than a second. The arrows soared over head and then landed, spread across the section of forest Yuuki and the bandits occupied. Nagisa yanked hard on her two chakra strings and then an instant later the arrows erupted with deafening bangs and blinding flashes.

A large advantage to Yuuki’s current form was losing a few sheets to a sword slash wasn’t debilitating. Had he not returned to being scattered papers and tags, that iai strike could have easily been a problem. Catching sight of Nagisa’s arrows just a split second before they detonated, he made his move and several tags shot towards the red head.

Seal: Crippling Touch

Yuuki waited to reform until after the blinding flash dissipated.

Hideki had done his part, waiting for what he assumed beforehand was going to be a bright flash, which turned out right, he then threw his kunai at one of the targets, one of the two less experienced looking bandits who were beside one another.

He then pulled out one of his own tricks, focusing his chakra and centered the jutsu on the group.

Earth release: Tearing Earth, turning palm.

After which, the earth beneath their feet began to twist and writhe, rending root and underbrush from the forest surrounding in it’s violent coiling.

Ashi had fortunately taken the advice closing her eyes avoiding the blinding light looking to see one of the bandits left to his own devices. She leaped forward, taking off in a spinning motion.

Fang Rotating Fang

What looked to be a buzzsaw rushed along the ground towards the singled out man. Ashi collided with the man, striking directly at him several times before kicking off from his body to break the technique. She pushed off from the now rather beat up bandit flipping herself over creating some distance and landing on all fours with the kunai from earlier still in her mouth.

Stunned and disoriented from the sudden flash of light, the bandits never had a chance. the younger bandits were annihilated by the combination of Hideki's earth churning jutsu and the remaining explosive tags while Tsukiashi's mark was sent flying into a tree with tremendous force, leaving behind a sizeable crater and sliding down into an awkward heap at its base.

The final bandit, who had slashed at Yuuki was caught in Yuuki's seal and crashed into the ground on his side, where he struggled fruitlessy until Nagisa arrived on the scene, crouched next to him and calmly slammed the hilt of a kunai into his temple, causing the bandit to go limp.

"Well we're all still here and we even managed to take one of 'em alive," Nagisa said, standing up and surveying the now rather war torn forest. "I'd call that pretty good. You two-" Nagisa waved at Hideki and Tsukiashi "Go check on Aiko and the civvie, Yuuki give me a hand with this guy. We're gonna see if he's feeling talkative,"




“I… right, of course,” Yumi said, allowing herself to be lead away by the hand. “I’m sorry everyone’s fighting already, I didn’t think they’d follow me this far, do you think they’ll be okay?” she asked anxiously.

Before Aiko could answer the sound of nearby voices penetrated the forest and shortly after two teenage boys stumbled out onto the road.

“Dude we’re pretty far from the others, are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”

“Relax Shuhei said to scout ahead didn’t he? He’ll just chew us out again if go back,” The two boys were plainly distracted, their baggy pants and sandals seemed unsuited to the forest, nevertheless they caught sight of Aiko and Yumi and gaped open mouthed at them.

“Shit dude it’s her!” said the the first one, fumbling for the red hilted katana at his side. “Get her!”

“R-Right!” Replied his buddy, drawing his own sword as the pair charged the two girls.

“Geez, I wonder how they let two fools like this get past them,” Aiko muttered, before she released a wave of Yin chakra at the two bandits and stepped between them and Yumi.

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique

Aiko was confident that the bandits wouldn’t be able to escape the genjutsu, so she calmly uncapped the canteen in her hip, and let the water start pouring out. It wouldn’t show signs of stopping for a long time.

The two bandits froze in their tracks and suddenly turned, putting their backs together as if surrounded.

“S-stay back you freaks!” shouted one slashing at the air with his katana.

“Shit dude there’s too many! What are we gonna do?” Whatever kind of hallucinations the two bandits were seeing were obviously distracting them, they seemed to have forgotten entirely about Aiko and Yumi.

Aiko glanced at Yumi, before gathering the the water that was pooling beside her, the water flowing from the canteen only adding the the floating glob of water. She let the glob grow for a few more moments, before it shot forward as a long tendril and coiled around the two hallucinating bandits. The water tendril grew to be about as thick as Aiko’s thigh, before it suddenly froze into ice, encasing them in a makeshift ice prison.

“That should hold them for awhile. You’re not hurt are ya?” Aiko asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I-I'm okay," said Yumi, nevertheless looking downcast. "But that boy, the one on the left? I think I know him,"
 
Which one of us is the good cop again?

​
“Alright uhh, how exactly do you wanna do this?” Nagisa asked. She was standing over the defeated bandit who now had his arms tied together behind a tree in addition to the seals restricting his movements. Despite the casual attitude she had taken in front of the others Nagisa had never actually interrogated someone before. It wasn’t that she was opposed to the idea necessarily, it just hadn’t come up before.

Yuuki shrugged, pulling a scroll from the larger pouch on his belt. Nagisa would recognize it as the one he stored various weapons in. “You should probably ask the questions, you’re the leader after all. I wouldn’t know what you want from him.”

“Right, I mean we basically just want an idea of their overall strength right? And if they’re planning anything big. It’s not so much the questions as what we do when he doesn’t- oh he’s waking up-” Nagisa broke off her thought as the bandit groaned and then wriggled feebly against his bonds. “How you doing buddy?” She asked in a falsely sweet voice, squatting down next to him. “You wanna tell us about your friends?”

“Fuck you brat!” spat the bandit, launching another bout of thrashing as he tried to break free.

“Alright cool, I was worried you were going to make this boring,” Nagisa said, rolling her eyes and nodding at Yuuki.

“It’d be easier on everyone if you just cooperate, you know.” The Uchiha said flatly, stepping behind the bandit and kneeling on the dry ground. “Not like we’re pressed for time…” While sparse like all of his other lessons, Nobushige still made the point plenty clear on the matter of interrogations.

"Make them sure it’ll eventually end... but not til they give you what they know."

“Hell I could use the break,” Nagisa said, suddenly lashing out with her foot at the bandit’s exposed ribs, eliciting a pained cough. “For some reason I’ve built up a looot of stress this mission,’

“You’re gonna pay for that!” hissed the bandit. “When my buddies figure out you brats are messing up our plans they’ll fucken tear you to pieces!”

“It sort of sounds like you want us to slit your throat and dump your body where your ‘friends’ never find it, assuming they even bother to look,” Nagisa shrugged and looked at Yuuki. “What do you think?”

“Kind of does,” Yuuki mused, having sat down. His sharingan still watching the man despite sitting behind him. “But his buddies did try to attack us and our client… Only fair if he pays up.”

“I guess, maybe if we get some usable intel it on top of whatever bounty we’d get for bringing him in alive we might be able to call it even. I dunno, seems like a lot of work.” Nagisa walked over and stepped on the bandit’s knee, steadily increasing the pressure. “You’re going to have to convince me it’s worth the trouble,”

“You little shits honestly think I’m afraid of you?” The bandit spat at Nagisa’s face. “Fuck off with the empty threats.”

Yuuki rolled his eyes, shoving a senbon under one of the man’s nails. “They aren’t empty.”

“GRARGH!” The bandit yelled and tried to wriggle his hand away but Nagisa moved her foot and stomped down hard on it, pinning the appendage in place.

“Try that again pleease,” Nagisa said with a nasty smile, wiping her face with a very deliberate motion. “I’ve seen a hundred gangs like yours. I’m guessing there’s a small core of adults like you and then the rest of your members are hungry street kids you rounded up with empty promises of easy money.”

Nagisa backed off a few paces, raised her arm and used her crossbow to fire a bolt into the bandit’s leg, spearing the fleshy part of his thigh and pinning it to the ground. “Shitheels like you really piss me off. Empty threats? You should be more worried about whether or not the promise I made that you can get out of this alive was empty.” Nagisa was breathing hard and her heart was hammering the inside of her chest.

Do we really need intel from this loser? We can scout things out when we get there. It’d be so much easier to put a bolt through his throat and be done with it…

“Really our questions aren’t all that involved,” Yuuki’s voice was unusually level and calm. “Let’s start with how many of you there are.”

“GAH! FUCK!”

“I’m loading up another one,” Nagisa said dispassionately as the bandit writhed and spat in pain. “The next one can go right through your balls how does that sound?”

“SEVEN! THERE ARE SEVEN OF US!” Hissed the bandit through gritted teeth. “Six now,” he said, staring hatefully at them.

“Okay now we’re getting somewhere. Seven adults and how many kids?”

“About fifty,”

Nagisa kept her expression carefully neutral.

How the hell are we going to deal with fifty of these jokers?

“And all of you are based in the same location?” Yuuki asked, the senbon twirling between his fingers gleamed in the late morning sun. “Where is it?”

“We have a camp at the entrance to the valley the village is hidden in. It’s the only way in or out, the girl got past while we were distracted fighting that crazy old geezer,”

Nagisa frowned at that, but let it pass.

No way, couldn’t be..

“So what,” she said impatiently “You were gonna starve them out or something?”

“The boss wanted to, she figured if the village was in tact we could set up a more permanent arrangement,”

“The term you’re looking for is extortion racket but keep going,”

“But the rest of the crew is starting to get antsy, especially now that the girl got out and brought shinobi into the mix, they’ll be wanting to storm the place, take everything that isn’t nailed down and move on pretty soon. Look I'm giving you everything I know, I dunno what else you want from me!”

Yuuki scowled before looking to Nagisa in a silent question, ‘anything else you want?’ If she looked closely, the kunoichi would likely notice the chains around his sword were gone. The sooner they were done with this trash, the better.

“Nothing at all,” Nagisa replied, signaling to Yuuki behind the man’s back. The Uchiha drove his sword through the man’s back, twisting it and slashing to the side as he pulled it back out. Far from a clean kill, but there were downsides to the bandit being so much taller...

KageYuuki KageYuuki
 
It Takes a Village​


The rest of the party’s journey was mercifully short and they reached the Village of Toymakers just as the sun was beginning to set, which actually made the next part easier. The Village was located at the bottom of a small valley and the bandits had set up their camp at the mouth of it, boxing the villagers in. Fortunately for shinobi detouring around the camp was a simple matter. The team walked through the village gate disheveled and probably tired but entirely intact.

For its supposed wealth the village was surprisingly humble. Most of the buildings were simple but sturdy wood buildings, although it seemed everyone could afford a few extra flourishes such as flower beds or outdoor furniture. Further back, rising over the smaller cottages was a stout two storey building that was likely a mayoral office or some equivalent, but there wasn’t even much of a wall, just a simple wooden fence that was more decorative than defensive.

“I think you’ll be staying in the Mayor’s house, it’s the only place with enough rooms for all of you,” said Yumi cheerfully. Her pace had quickened ever since the village came into view so she was speaking to the group over her shoulder as she set the pace.

A small crowd gathered by the village entrance as the team approached, wary at first then jubilant as they recognized Yumi and realized who the people with her must be, there was even a smattering of applause for the arriving ninja, lead by a rail thin, middle aged man in a baggy sweater.

“Yumi, child, you’ve returned to use safely! Thank the Gods,”

“Oh!” Yumi turned back to the group. “Everyone this is Mayor Kunoshita! He more or less runs the village and it was his idea to send someone to go hire you,’

“I’m sure introductions can wait until everyone is fed and rested,” Kunoshita said warmly. He had a lined, but pleasant face, with square, black framed glasses that gave him a scholarly air. “You all look exhausted,”

“Food sounds kind of nice,” Yuuki mused. He really hadn’t eaten anything since the whole encounter with the bandits that morning. He glanced over at Nagisa, “Want me to do anything before we head in?”

“That sounds absolutely wonderful, we’ll definitely need some food in our stomachs before we get to the work.” Hideki was all but happy to finally reach the place.

A smile was on Ashi’s lips with the warm greeting the village seemed to give them. Her expression changed quickly as if worried someone might of seen her reaction crossing her arms. “Y… yeah, food would be good.”

“I agree,” said Nagisa, glancing back in the direction they had come. “The Red Hilts will probably want to wait for the rest of their group to come back before they launch an attack, I doubt they’ll realize that’s not happening tonight and we need to plan, might as well eat while we do it,”

“Wonderful,” said Kunoshita, placing his hands together. “My house is just this way, not too far at all,”




The trip to Kunoshita’s house proved to be as short as he promised them and the mayor was soon ushering the young ninja into a surprisingly spacious dining room.

“I didn’t have anything prepared,” said Kunoshita, encouraging them to sit down. “But I’m sure I can throw something together, it won’t be very fancy I’m afraid,’ surprisingly with that Kunoshita himself disappeared into the kitchen and the sounds of clanging pots started echoed out, shortly followed by the sound and smell of frying meat and vegetables.

“Okay let’s go over what we know,’ said Nagisa, trying to remain business like despite the tempting aromas coming from the kitchen. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that most of the red hilts are actually street kids, like the ones we fought back there. They might be armed and have some basic training but nothing we can’t handle easily. The bad news is that there’s like fifty of them, on top of five leaders who might actually pose a problem."

"If we can take out the leaders the rest of them will probably crumple, but there’s enough of them that if we move forward to take them out some might get past us and into the village where things could get messy. It’s a pain but I think to be safe we’ll have to fortify the village to some extent. Any ideas?”

“Well, I could not some obvious defensive issues the moment we came in. there's several easy ways to get in the village, Simply adding a fence could work, the town is filled with buildings, even if they only build toys their deft hands that shouldn’t be ignored. Simply having the walls up will provide choke points for entry. Granted, they will likely made of wood, so they won’t hold long, but they will hold, that’s what matters.” Hideki brought up his idea quickly, giving them some support rather than just saying it plainly.

“Setting up a barricade could also help, anything to slow progress is key. We should also keep in mind areas enemies could sneak through. Perhaps use the mayor’s upper floor as a watch tower from the windows, or the roof if possible.

Before the battle we should recommend people bar their doors and windows regardless, we should also make a singular signal to give them all the all clear, like a flare or such, easily visible or heard.. But should be significantly different than our typical tactics… So no confusion is had.

Digging pitfalls could be worthwhile, but I doubt we have that much time.”

“Don’t have any earth release jutsu to help speed that along?” Yuuki interjected, earth was far from his realm of expertise.

“Might, but I don’t quite have jutsu that make holes, just churns the ground like a blender.”

“Loosened dirt would be easier to move…”

“And I can’t really recommend too much stonework, but if we move boulders to be in the way we could close off some defensive weaknesses…” He’ll admit, he kinda wished Mai was here, she IS kinda part of Konoha’s premier builders.

“If you could make sort of a ditch.. You could probably round up some villagers to help with the fence itself,” Nagisa said thoughtfully

“I know some people that can help!” said Yumi, who had tagged along to eat something. “I’m sure everyone will help out, it’s our village after all,”

Aiko finally spoke up. “I have a few ice jutsu that I use to trap people. I can place them anywhere y’all would want them and I can put down a lot too.” She paused for a moment. “If I can get a vantage point, I could attack from a good distance if need be.”

“Good idea,” Nagisa said, nodding. “Maybe we can set up some kind of platform on a roof nearby the village entrance.”

“Hmmph… guess I could go scouting and stuff.” Ashi tossed in, her words brief as her stomach growled hungrily.

“I’ve seen a few things made by this village,” Yuuki leaned forward on the table. “Bet someone here could make something to launch senbon out of. Rig them with trip wires or chakra threads even. I can always place some tags around certain points too.”

"Hehe we might have someone like that in this village,"

The voice was low and gravelly, but jovial and came from right behind Yuuki, a space that had been empty just a moment before.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Nagisa had turned at the sound of her voice and then abruptly stood up, an expression of shock and recognition.

"GA HAHA I should the be asking the same thing!" The speaker boomed. He was a very round man, with a bald, cannonball of a head, tiny round glasses and a bristly orange beard that was developing streaks of grey and white. Perhaps most striking were the man's legs. One was heavily bandaged and ended in a stump just above the knee while the other was obviously false, constructed of wood and metal. "I told Yumi to get ninjas and she brought back a bratty street urchin! Nagisa! Have you gotten stronger?"

"I'm doing better than you!" Nagisa shot back, her face was red but her expression was hard to read. "I guess you're the crazy old geezer the bandits were talking about, I can't believe you lost your last leg to losers like them,"

"Bah! I'm old, what do I need limbs for? All I do is sleep and complain," replied the man, sitting down heavily in an empty seat.

"That's what you used to do! Sounds like you should have retired ten years ago!" snapped Nagisa.

There was a brief, tense silence and then the man let out a hearty guffaw. "You haven't changed a bit I see! That forehead protector suits you though," With that the man turned to Yuuki with a mischievous look. "Brat I'll need you and Nagisa to give me a hand. But I can get you some toys to play with don't you worry,"

Yuuki blinked a few times, glancing between the man and Nagisa, “Yeah, sure. That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“...Umm… Perhaps some introductions first? Not everyone has connections here yea know.” Hideki smirked, raising an eyebrow to the two.

“Yeah Nagisa aren’t you gonna introduce me?” asked the old man gleefully, elbowing her gently and receiving a vicious scowl in response.

“Everyone this is the weird old man who taught me ninjutsu,” Nagisa said, rolling her eyes.

“Apparently I never hammered any manners into her though,” cackled the man. “Who are your friends then? which one are you dating?

“I’m not dating anyone!” Nagisa hissed through her teeth, snapping off a quick punch into the man’s side as he roared with laughter at his own joke. “That’s Yuuki Uchiha, his cousin Aiko, Hideki Ukita and Tsukiashi Inuzuka, Yuuki’s my squadmate but the rest are just helping out for this mission.”

“Ho ho, I recognise two of those last names at least, interesting company you’re keeping these days. Everyone around here calls me gramps but you kids can call me Tsuchinoko,”

“Nice to meetchyea Gramps.” Hideki tried not to laugh at his and Nagisa’s banter, he was on a short leash after the last… Incident… But seems the clans get recognition once more, such is the life of a low born such as he… Not for long though… Everyone will know his name soon.

All in due time....

“So you said you had “toys” to bring out?”

“GAHAH you can call me gramps if that’s easier, It’s as good a name as any I’ve ever had,” Tsuchinoko said, turning his attention back to Yuuki. “Oh yes I’ve got some relics from my younger days, some of it will require a bit of assembly but I’m sure you’ll be able to put it to good use,”

The Uchiha nodded, “Sounds good.” it was probably for the best that he and Nagisa handled whatever these items were. Yuuki was still surprised by the fact that this Tsuchinoko had been who Nagisa learned the basics of ninjutsu from. But she never was one to talk about that kind of thing. He probably uses puppets of some kind too.

“...So then… Guess we should have supper first.” Hideki shrugged, wondering if anybody else was as hungry as he was. Ruining friendships before they happen tends to make one hungrier than normal… Did he at least prove he wasn’t some idiot yet? Maybe not.

Likely will never.

At least Nagisa was a girl in the end, he almost went into odd territory. Last thing he needed was to start thinking Yuuki was cute…

…

Nope, not going there.

“Yes! I think that’s quite right,” Kunoshita had returned, wearing an apron and fluffy looking oven mitts and bearing an immense platter of grilled meat and vegetable that he put down on the table between them. “Now don’t be shy, I won’t have anybody defending our village on an empty stomach!”




The dining room fell silent except for the sounds of chewing and scraping plates as everyone tucked in. In fact it was almost a full thirty minutes before anyone bothered to speak.

“Umm, when you guys have had enough food, there’s a small hotspring at the back of the village you’re welcome to use, I’d be happy to show you,” Yumi said, she seemed to have less of an appetite than the others and had already finished with her plate.


Without missing a beat, Hideki nearly swallowed the potato he had in his mouth whole to get an answer out. With a brief cough, he flashed a smile her way. “That sounds lovely, I’m ready to go when you are.” he needed a damn bath, he felt horrible from that mountain hike. Hated the things, never a good pathway up them.

Plus, baths were always scenes of interesting types of trouble.

Yuuki rolled his eyes, Hideki attempts at flirting had definitely become more obvious as of late. Not… that they were good attempts. “Maybe later tonight, but thank you.”

“A hotspring you say? That sounds wonderful right now,” Aiko replied. She hadn’t worn herself out as much as the others had but she never turned down a hotspring. A hotspring was almost as relaxing as an ice bath!

Ashi glanced up, some food left stuck in her mouth looking rather disheveled. To say she was a messy eater was a understatement in part due to her usual unwillingness to use utensils. She swallowed down the last piece. “Sure… guess it would be fun...” She spoke, too satisfied with having finally had something to eat to think of being a bit combative with her tone, licking at her fingers to get any leftover juices on her.

“I think we could all use a bath,” said Nagisa firmly, rolling her eyes at Ashi’s behaviour.

“Wonderful umm, the thing is there aren’t separate bathing areas sooo,” Yumi trailed off, her cheeks going red.

“So the girls will go first,” Nagisa said firmly, eying Hideki suspiciously. “And you two can go afterwards,”

“GWahaha! Perfect!” Tsuchinoko laughed, clapping his hands. “In the meantime we’ll do some manly bonding! KUNOSHITA! GET THE SAKE!”

“I don’t think sake is appropriate, for minors OR the injured,” Kunoshita replied delicately as Yumi lead the girls away to the hotspring. “But I do have some rather lovely tea I’ve been saving from our last caravan,”
 
Landing in Hot Tea
​
Kunoshita once again disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the tea, this time there was only the soft whistle of a kettle and then the rich, complex aroma of tea to hint at the joy to come.

Meanwhile Tsuchinoko leaned back in his chair, the furniture squeaking in protest under his bulk. “Almost got in there didn’t ya lad!” The old man said to Hideki, grinning and picking his teeth with a toothpick he had produced from… somewhere? “So who were you hoping to sneak a peek at? They’re all pretty cute GWAHAHA! Just warning you if you pick Yumi, Kunoshita will hunt you down with one of his cleavers! He might not look it but he’s a real mama bear when it comes to the village kids!”

“What rot are you filling their heads with?” Kunoshita asked, reappearing with a tray laden with cups, a pot of tea and what looked like traditional desserts to go with them. Kunoshita set down the tray and poured for all of them, taking his own cup and sipping happily. “I wouldn’t pay him too much mind at this hour,” the mayor said to Yuuki and Hideki. “He should be in bed anyway with his injuries,”

Yuuki just chuckled quietly, taking a couple pieces of mochi and cup of tea.

‘Well.” hideki leaned back, giving it some actual thought. “I know Aiko well enough, last time we were in a hot spring she had one of those nice one pieces on so it didn’t quite hide much… Even if it was covering it. Yumi is cute, but I wouldn’t do that to her, a god might strike me down before Kunashita would, she’s far too sweet to pull that on. Though if I fool around too much Nagisa might actually try and kill me this time… But If I’m sneaky… I am a tad curious about Nagisa and that Inuzuka… Though like you say, they’re all cute. Yuuki would agree but he's to busy being a grumpy stick in the mud.” he patted his friend’s back with a devilish smirk.

“Though, if I know him I’d take a wager he may have somebody in mind.” the grin only grew as he threw Yuuki under the bus.

Yuuki shot him a dark look from over the rim of his teacup.

“Gwahaha! Not one to play favorites ay lad?” Tsuchinoko roared with laughter, somehow managing not to spill a drop of tea as he gesticulated wildly. “Still that kind of approach is gonna cause more trouble in the long run. Some girl is eventually gonna decide she doesn’t like you being so diplomatic to anyone but her and that’ll be it! There’s nothing scarier than an angry kunoichi, take it from an old man who knows from experience!”

“True enough, can’t say it’s without merit. I prefer to scout as much as I can before walking into the battlefield you know.” Hideki smirked.

“As you flirt with the heiress to one of the most dangerous clans in the village…” Yuuki muttered.

The old man nudged Yuuki in the ribs “Safer to only chase one of ‘em. That way at least when you mess up it’s a one on one fight! So who’s the lucky girl Eh? Eh?”

Yuuki sighed, setting his teacup down, “No one,” he said bluntly.

“Better sneaking a shot at the gorgeous heiress than being with two cuties and coming out with nothing0.” Hideki shot back, taking a sip of his own tea. “But that’s my two cents.”

“Gwahahah an heiress eh? not sure how much I believe either of you!” said Tsuchinoko, snagging another piece of mochi for himself. “Maybe you’ve been snared and just haven’t admitted it to yourself!” he said to Yuuki.

“There’s no need to rush these things,” Said Kunoshita, sipping placidly from his mug with two hands. “You’re all so young, love is a flower that needs a patient hand to tend,”

“I still can’t believe they didn’t send a jonin with you,” snorted Tsuchinoko. “Things must be heating up eh? I’m so damn out of the loop these days…”

“Well, with the war with the hidden Mist every hand is needed. We may be Chuunin but we’re more than enough. Between us we have a good deal of combat experience, if these samurai imagine us to be taken care of easily they will find us more than a match." Hideki replied

"I expect them to try and come at us using some sneaky trick… We just have to look at this in their point of view and figure out what their plan is… We’ve taken out some of their number on the way, but we still don’t quite know how many there are. If anything, we’ve bought ourselves time with that skirmish. We can thank a group effort for the win back there, Nagisa did prove to be capable in tactical planning.” Hideki floated back into his tactical thinking again, weaving in and out of it.

“Nagisa is more than capable when it comes to planning,” Yuuki added.

“Likely she has some good ones in mind for the morning. Though I’ll admit turning palm could weaken the earth for digging, forgot to say something back then.” he noted Yuuki’s previous suggestion with a motion of the hand in his direction.

“Heh, that so?” Tsuchinoko stroked his bristly beard. “Look at me going soft. Yumi and the other kids in this village are good kids but they are still kids. You brats are different,”

The mochi was gone and everyone’s cups were mostly empty so Kunoshita started puttering around, tidying them away.

“If you say you can handle it then I’ll trust your words as shinobi,” said Tsuchinoko slowly. “But the fusspot isn’t wrong, you’re all young, with a lot ahead of you. So get some sleep and don’t take any risks you don’t have to,”

The rotund man pushed himself up from the table. “But before any of that make sure you use the hotspring! You both stink GWAHAHAHA!” With that he lumbered off towards the stairs, cackling to himself.

“Hmph, stink huh…?” hideki smirked. “Better than being a smelly old man. Whatd’yea say Yuuki? Get clean before we get working on defending these folks?”

“Yeah sure. Be nice after that long walk anyway.”


Hideki let himself sink into the waters, while completely relaxed and letting the whole world’s problems slip off his shoulders for a minute, he was sadly disappointed they didn’t come in time to see the ladies on their way out… At least crossing paths, so he could see them all relaxed and happy. You always look your best after a nice dip in a hotspring, positively glowing he might say.

“Yuuki, lets set up a defensive position in the hot spring, defend this place and… stay on watch…” Hideki joked, looking like a very comfortable cat, lazily letting the faitn waves flow over his form from his position near the fountainhead, it was where the heat came from, he he liked his baths particularly hot…

“Heh, now only if one of us could actually use water release…” Yuuki mused with a slight chuckle. The water honestly felt nice, he wasn’t in any hurry to leave.

“Man… I’d kill for water release… Hotspring dragon bullet anybody? Bring the hotspring right to your room.” Hideki chuckled and sunk a little deeper.

“I feel like the hotel staff wouldn’t appreciate the damages. Good surprise in a fight I guess...”

“Pfft, who cares. Should thank me for dealing with… whatever is happening during this imaginary battle thing.” he sneaked a little closer to the source of heat, he fully coming into a cat-like smile in the heat.

Yuuki snorted, “Just don’t bring the building down on our heads. Or hit us with that sword of yours.”

“Ugh don’t remind me of that thing. I got two damn things to deal with now. Fucking rabbits…”

Yuuki raised an eyebrow, “Rabbits?”

“Don’t ask, summoning jutsu backfired, moon is watching me henceforth.”

The Uchiha blinked, studying him for a long moment. “Uh… okay?”

“So Yuuki, Do you actually got a girl in mind?”

“No. The whole war thing’s been kind of a higher priority.”

“Love blooms on the battlefield my man, if you don’t work at it, your gonna be left behind. And that's one battlefield I see yea lacking in.”

“Or you could end up dead.” Yuuki turned to face him, “There a reason Nagisa will hardly look at you?”

“Minor setback, gonna be honest with yea. Thought she was a dude at first, kinda was all “Dude you arm is so cool” and accidentally called her cute, thought I was getting into some weird territory, turns out my subconscious knew what I didn’t.” he admitted to it quickly, like ripping off a bandage.

Yuuki laughed at that, perhaps a little louder than he should have. “And her voice didn’t give it away this morning? How?”

“Man, I’m a dumbass sometimes alright? Regardless, I think I sorta hit a big red button, she kinda blew up in my face. Gotta remember to apologize later. That said, we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you.” he sat up.

“So,straight up, you gotta at least, sometime, be ready to try and get some skill in flirting if you want any chance with the ladies. So let’s start at the bottom, if you like a girl, what do you do? How should you go about letting her know your feelings?”

“Being honest about it would probably be a good start.”

“I guess, but you gotta ready the playing field first, going in full bore will just overwhelm the poor girl. Time it right, you’re a ninja, you know that half the battle is won when you control the field. It’s a long game, but this is where flirting comes in, subtle but not too much, compliments can get you pretty far with some. Others you gotta tread lightly, unlike me with Nagisa apparently.” he sighed lightly before adding.

“This also tests the waters, god forbid it happens to yea, but maybe she doesn’t share the same feelings.”

“Why even make a game out of it?” Yuuki muttered, sinking further into the water. “Sounds like you’re just asking for a headache.”

“Not much of a game really, it’s all about finesse, like in battle, sometimes you face an opponent who is extremely good on defense, pushing people away. By then, you gotta somehow open the guard and strike accordingly. Or whittle the opponent down over time. When they say love is a battlefield, they weren’t kidding yea know.” the boy shrugged.

“But this is the time we gotta be training for this stuff, and my friend, if you were to see my skills faltering, would you let me drift away and forget all I’ve learned?’

“What skills? You haven’t even gone out with anyone!”

“That’s besides the point. We’re ninja, we’ve got our minds on the prize and the prize being getting stronger. It’s much harder to get anywhere with a kunoichi, hell they’re drilled on subterfuge and that shit in the academy man. What I’m saying is, come time, they can play you like a fiddle if you don’t whet your tongue as you do your sword.” he motioned a hand towards the young man.

“Sometimes you gotta lay on the charm to get the fastest route to getting info, too. Hell, it got me more friends than enemies I’ll tell yea.

So Yuuki, do you think you got what it takes in this battlefield?”

“I don’t know,” the Uchiha grumbled. It was hard to tell if his face was red from the hot water or embarrassment.

“Alright, then let's try it like this… Give me your best shot.” Hideki nodded to Yuuki. “Imagine me as a girl - or guy, I don’t judge - of your dreams, I want you to do your best to try and win her over to going out to dinner with you.”

“What? No way!” Nope, definitely wasn’t the hot water that left him so red.

“Come on man, it’s just us here and one of these days you’re gonna have to try and ATLEAST ask her to dinner without shitting the bed. So come on, try me.”

With a groan, Yuuki rolled his eyes, “Fine, if it’ll get you to shut up.” Was a quiet bath to unwind really so much to ask for? “You wanna go grab dinner or something later?”

Hideki closed his eyes and held in a soft breath… Letting the moment draw out. “He let out the small sigh. “...3/10.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Man, I’ve seen dogs do better… Actually they might be the greatest pick up artists in the world really. People come to them more than most humans…” Hideki grumbled, shaking his head. His comment was rewarded with a splash.

“I deserved it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna return the favor.” he thrusted a hand forwards and splashed Yuuki back.

“You’re so lucky I can’t use water release yet,” was all the Uchiha said before attempting to tackle and drag Hideki under.

“Wait shit Yuuki we’re nak-” and before he could complete his words he was under water… getting memories of the other time this happened, and quickly getting away like a cat suddenly dunked in a cold water filled bathtub.

“Still deserved it,” Yuuki glared after him, pinching the bloody nose he’d earned in the short scuffle.

“Whatever. Just work on your technique, maybe give it a bit more feeling or an actual good location you know they may like.”

“Whatever you say, oh great master,” Yuuki muttered, climbing out of the water to dry off.
 
Landing in Hot Water​

The Hotspring’s source came from one of the valley walls, so it was located on the edge of the village. A bamboo fence had been built around the spring itself and a simple wooden shack obviously meant for changing had been added as well but the soft spire of steam rising up from behind the fence was completely natural.

Yumi handed out some towels she had borrowed from Kunoshita’s house and then wasted no time changing and leading the charge into the heated pool, sliding in with an exaggerated sigh of relief. She hadn’t fought like the others but Yumi was less used to hard travel than the shinobi and the journey had obviously taken its toll on her.

Nagisa meanwhile had slid in silently, some distance from the others. Her prosthetic arm was unwrapped but her current position shielded it from view as she looked up at the night sky above them.

A light splash could be heard as Ashi’s approach to getting into the hot spring was far from relaxed. The Inuzuka girl splashed about a little bit before finally sighing a little bit and relaxing with a wide grin on her face. It might not be a nice large body of water, but the warmth of the water was quite soothing. “Why couldn’t the water be deeper…. Guess its nice still.” She spoke pouting a bit though her tone overall was much more relaxed then it had been before.

Aiko found herself to be the last one entering the hotsprings, and wasn’t all too surprised. The other two kunoichi had done much more fighting than she had. Aiko slowly inched her way in, taking a little extra time to adjust to the heat before finally sliding the rest of the way in with a sigh of relief. She moved closer to Yumi, since she’d actually spoken to her before.

After a slightly awkward silence, Aiko spoke up. “So, Yumi, what was it like growing up here?” Aiko asked, curious about the village.

Yumi smiled, hugging her knees up to her chest. “I love it here, we have to make as much as we can ourselves on top of learning how to make toys so it’s lots of work. But everyone helps each other out, we’re like one big family... “ Yumi trailed off, looking troubled. “But I actually didn’t grow up here, all the way at least. Remember how I was telling you the Village finds apprentices from the streets? Well I was one of them up until I was about eight.

I never knew my parents and spent most of my time with other street kids stealing food. We used to tell each other this story about fairies that would whisk away talented children so we’d make toys and stuff out of junk and leave it out to impress them. One day someone for the village came for me, so the story was true after all… But one of the boys who attacked us? I remember him from before I came to the village… I guess there weren’t enough fairies for all of us,”

“Hmmph… if they wanted to they could’a found their own way. If yah just wait something might never come and then you got nothing! Things aren’t fair so you gotta do stuff yourself and show em what for if no one will take you!” Ashi spoke up with her head tilted back, her eyes glancing up as she looked up. Her tone made it sound almost to some extent personal.

“Fairy thingy or not, your not always gunna get someone to be your partner and accept you, so you just got to stand up on your own two feet and show that faerie who didn’t take you that your good enough without it! They are dumb for not trying to do it on there own… hmmmph...” She spoke out raising her fist in the air before swiftly lowering it, her words seeming almost personal simply switching out something else for the word Faeries as her voice faded to become much softer near the end of what she was saying.

Aiko nodded in agreement as Ashi spoke. The Uchiha was joyfully surprised to see Ashi talk some sense for once.

“Yea, I think a lot of us ninja always have something to prove. I know I always wanted to prove to my clan that I could function just fine without any of their fire-style, and even without their special eyes, but…”

Aiko trailed off, and glanced at Yumi, then at Nagisa, who was further away from everyone else.

“You got anything to prove Nagisa? I don’t mean to pry or anything,” Aiko asked.

“Huh? Oh…” Nagisa frowned, as soon as she’d closed her eyes that slimebag bandit from the forest had appeared in her mind. What was the point of thinking about someone who was already dead?

“Everyone has something to prove, whether they realize it or not,” Nagisa said after thinking about it for a moment. “People won’t even acknowledge your existence except to put you in some convenient box unless you force them to. If you can’t even manage that much what’s the point of being alive?”

Nagisa let the rest of her body rise until she was floating on the surface of the water. “Those idiots we’re gonna fight are probably trying to prove something to the world as well. But if they chose this way to do it they can’t complain about the outcome”

“Try all they want, but they are going to get beat into the ground and learn just what a dumb choice they made!” The feisty Ashi spoke up with much more spunk to her then a few moments ago. She suddenly punching in the air, her body already partly submerged causing a splash of water to fly up in response as ripples of water cascaded across the water from Ashi’s sudden movement.

Aiko nodded. “Right, they chose to join that gang, just like we chose to be ninja. So we’ll kick their asses like Ashi said and see maybe try and help some of them too.” Aiko didn’t want to have to hold back when fighting these bandits, but she also didn’t want to kill anyone Yumi may have known.

“Well before we worry too much about kicking ass we could all use some sleep,” said Nagisa, stifling a yawn as she straightened up and lifted herself out of the pool. “Big day tomorrow.
 
The Next Day...​

When the young shinobi awoke it was to the smell of cooking breakfast. Kunoshita had gotten up early to prepare a homely spread of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, eggs, vegetables and pickles. The smell lured down even those who might have preferred to sleep in, so after taking her first, precious sip of coffee Nagisa was able to address the whole group as they ate.

“You should all remember what you’re doing but I want to go over it one more time so that we’re absolutely clear.” Nagisa said, looking sternly around the table.

“Hideki, you’re going to be working with Yumi and the other villagers to set up defences. We want a ditch, some kind of palisade and a raised platform to shoot from if possible.”

“Aiko, focus on setting up those ice traps you talked about. Start further out and work your way back to the village, we want to slow their advance as much as possible. If Tsukiashi gets into trouble it’ll be up to you and your traps to cover her retreat,”

“Tsukiashi-” Nagisa hesitated, already regretting what she was about to say. “You have maybe the most important job of all. Keep an eye on the bandit camp and if they move out fall back and warn us. DO NOT engage them alone, you need to give us as much warning as possible so once you’re sure they’re attacking get back here as quickly as you can,”

“And you and the Uchiha brat are with me!” Boomed a voice from behind Nagisa as she rolled her eyes.

“Right, how could I forget?” Nagisa sighed. “Anyway, you all know what to do so finish eating and let’s get started. We can’t afford to waste any time,”
 
It Needs a little Workshopping...​


“This stuff better not just be junk you want to get rid of anyway,” grumbled Nagisa as Tsuchinoko lead her and Yuuki away from Kunoshita’s house to a small and rather poorly maintained looking shed.

“GWAHAH! Even junk can be useful if you show it a little love,” Tsuchinoko replied, throwing open the the shed door to reveal a dust covered workshop piled high with obscure machinery and devices.

“Well this stuff is definitely junk,” Nagisa said dismissively, walking forward and picking up what looked like a wooden stake with a strange device attached to one end. “I’m pretty sure you still had these the last time we met, you’ve never told me what they are though,”

“I call ‘em Little Watchtowers!” Said Tsuchinoko, grinning madly. “Stick them into the ground and then control them with chakra strings! They fire half a dozen senbon a second, not a lot of range or accuracy but they’re nasty up close,”

“Hmm with a bit of modification I could fire these with my bow,” Nagisa said, a carefully disguised hint of eagerness coloring her voice.

“Not a bad idea!” Said Tsuchinoko, stroking his beard like a mad genius as he turned to a stack of small, metal boxes. “As for you Uchiha boy! Nagisa tells me you know your way around seals? These boxes are full of senbon and the backplates are lined with explosive tags. When the tags are detonated they propel the senbon out in a deadly wave! Anyway these ones are pretty old so I need you to check the seals in them for any degradation. If you’re careful you won’t blow us all up! GWAHAHAH!”

Yuuki lightly picked up one of the boxes, brushing a layer of dust from it. “Alright then,” he studied it for a moment. “But why senbon? As light as they are, most would just be sent spinning from the blast. Regular shuriken or even caltrops at least have a better chance of the sharpened end hitting.”

“Simply a matter of volume, my boy!” said Tsuchinoko enthusiastically. “With senbon they can be packed in tighter than anything else, these are basically airtight so there’s no room for them to deviate until they’re outside of lethal range anyways.”

The Uchiha gave a quiet hum, nodding. His reasoning made sense, and it was still a rather nasty weapon regardless. He started carefully pulling the backplate off to get a better look at the seal. “Hey Nagisa, the senbon in the watchtower, maybe we could coat them in that poison of yours? Make up for the low ammo supply?”

“It’s not a bad idea, but I don’t carry that much of the stuff,’ said Nagisa, pulling apart the mechanism on one of the watchtowers. “Poison’s not my main area of expertise so I try to only take as much as I’ll need for the one weapon,”

“And who do you think taught you how to make the stuff?” snorted Tsuchinoko as he wrestled with what looked like a life size mannequin. “I have a stockpile back up in my room at the house, Nagisa go get it, it’ll take me too long and the Uchiha boy doesn’t know what to look for,”

“Shouldn’t you keep that kind of thing in here anyway,” Nagisa asked grumpily. “Does Kunoshita know you keep poison in his house?”

“I’m old,” said Tsuchinoko, rolling his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “I can’t be expected to keep track of every little poison stockpile I own,”

“Ughh whatever, don’t do anything weird while I’m gone,” Nagisa sighed as she left the workshop. As soon as she was out of earshot Tsuchinoko gave Yuuki a sly grin.

“Well that takes care of her for a while,”

Suppressing a sigh, Yuuki glanced back at him with a quirked eyebrow. “And why do you need her gone?” They didn’t exactly have a ton of time to be wasting with the bandits looking to attack soon.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to take care of everything we need to,” Tsuchinoko chuckled lightly. “I just need to ask you a few questions. You’ve probably noticed by now but Nagisa isn’t always the most forthcoming person around. An old man can’t help but be curious about how his former student is doing though,”

“She’s very skilled,” the Uchiha turned back to the device in front of him, “we all made Chuunin in less than a year.”

“Hehe, that doesn’t surprise me. She’s hungry, you keep it well hidden but I think you’re hungry as well. I don’t think it was an accident that you ended up on the same team…”

Tsuchinko worked silently on the mannequin in front of him, tightening a loose screw with smooth, precise motions. “When I ran into her I didn’t have anything to give her except my skills and I could tell she’d be able to make use of them, even at that age she was burning with determination. But some time after I sent her to the Leaf I discovered this place. I was… running from my past you might say and they offered me a place to stay and recover. I guess they got attached to me or some damn thing because they asked me to stick around,”

Tsuchinoko gave a barking laugh at that thought. “Once I figured out what this place was exactly I realized how well Nagisa could have done here. She was always good with machines and her hands and the children here are like her, she would have fit in.

But I didn’t know that at the time and I sent her down a different path, one of violence and strife. I guess what I really want to ask is whether you think she’s happy with her life?”

Yuuki was quiet for a long moment, “I don’t know,” He said, finally, “Like you said, she isn’t exactly the most willing to talk about herself.”

“No she’d never come right out and say something like that,” sighed Tsuchinoko. “But you spend a lot of time around her, what kind of impression does she give you? Tell me those fancy red eyes your Daddy gave you are good for something boy,”

“Almost like she’s looking for something,” Yuuki carefully disarmed and removed the seal, pulling a replacement tag from his pouch and applying it. “She’s built up so many walls, it’s hard to even try and get a read on her.”

“Hmm now you’re getting somewhere,” said the old man, humming as he slid an alarming blade out of its hiding place in the mannequin's mouth, inspecting it for wear and tear. “So the question is whether she can find what she’s looking for in that village of yours?”

“I couldn’t say, can’t quite figure out what it even is.” The Chuunin finished reassembling the box, moving onto the next.

“Well that’s fair enough, I knew her for three years and didn’t figure it out either. But if you do realize what it is then I hope you’ll help her find it. She might not want any help but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need it sometimes.”

Yuuki nodded, quiet for another moment. “You’re from the Hidden Sand, aren’t you? No one else really… specializes in puppets like you have lying around.”


“I’m from the Village of Toymakers these days,” Tsuchinoko said placidly, rifling through a nearby toolbox for a screwdriver. “I’ve been from other places in the past though,”

The Uchiha gave a noncommittal hum, moving on to yet another box. The reply had more than answered the question. He clicked his tongue, noting the rust covering many of the senbon. Would they even survive the blast?

“They’re ragged on the outside but I suspect they have a little more fight left in ‘em,” said the old man with a rumbling chuckle, noticing Yuuki’s expression. “Lemme ask you something else, I think you’re searching for something as well. Have you figured out what that is yet?”

“Have I…?” He frowned, “There’s nothing I’m searching for,” Yuuki said dismissively.

Tsuchinoko laughed. “That’d be a no then. S’alright, I was an old man by the time I figured it out. Sometimes there’s nothing to do but stumble over it without meaning to anyway. Maybe while you’re helping Nagisa find what she’s looking for she’ll help you find what you’re looking for?”

Tsuchinoko laughed again, wiping his hands on a nearby rag. “Or maybe I’m just a crazy old man? Who knows?”




Nagisa returned shortly after with a large bottle of oily liquid and a long suffering expression. Dipping the senbon into the poison was more work but Tsuchinoko’s prediction proved to be correct anyway, he soon finished tinkering with his mannequin and moved over to help with the watchtowers. He and Nagisa worked well together, passing tools between them wordlessly and the work flew by quicker than it had any right to.

“Well that’s all of them,” said Nagisa, borrowing Tsuchinoko’s rag to wipe her hands, looking more relaxed than she had since the mission had started. “Good thing those bandits didn’t take your arm instead or you really would be useless,”

“Ungrateful runt,” grumbled Tsuchinoko affectionately. “That’s more work than I’ve done in a month and this is the thanks I get?”

“Go take a nap then old man,” Nagisa replied, storing the watchtowers inside her lightning flash seal. “Not like we need you to lay these out anyway,” She turned to Yuuki. “Let’s go,”


[division][/division]


The terrain in the valley around the Village was lightly wooded. Unlike most villages there was no need to convert the surrounding region into farmland, so it had been allowed to remain overgrown, the better to hide the village from prying eyes.

Here and there were signs of light wood harvesting where the villagers had procured lumber for their craft but for the most part the area was tranquil and undisturbed, birds and small creatures rustled through the foliage and there were plenty of nooks and crannys to hide unpleasant surprises for the unwary bandit.

“We don’t want to plant these too far from the village,” Nagisa said, surveying the area around them. “If they can defuse or go around them while they’re still out of range they won’t do much except buy us a few minutes,”

Yuuki nodded, “The watchtowers should probably be closer to the village than these,” he held up a tag with one of the traps sealed inside. “Don’t think anyone wants their house peppered with senbon.”

“I’m actually going to keep most of the watchtowers with me and launch them with my bow,” said Nagisa, crouching down by a tree stump. “Easier to attach the threads that way, but I’ll plant a few now just to keep them guessing,” Nagisa unsealed one of the watchtowers and planted it in the soil, unlocking the tripod to secure it firmly in the ground. “What were you two talking about by the way?” She asked, her tone deliberately casual. “I hope you didn’t pay him too much mind,”

“Just asked how you were doing in the village,” kunai in hand, Yuuki worked to dig into the soft earth a little ways away from the watchtower.

“And that’s all?” Nagisa sighed. “I felt for sure he was trying to get you alone to pump you for information on some weird thing,” she snickered suddenly. “Like maybe he was trying to figure out if we were dating or something dumb like that,”

“No, that was last night.” Yuuki muttered flatly, “Got Hideki in on it too…”

“Wha- that idiot, the hell do you see in him anyway? He was acting weird on the the way here too,” Nagisa said, carefully keeping her back to Yuuki.

“I ask myself that sometimes… Guess there’s merit in being the first to see me and not some Uchiha or the Hokage’s kid.” Shaking his head, he gave a slight chuckle. “Yeah, about that… Turns out he thought you were a guy and was really confused.”

“...Oh? Did he?” Nagisa’s voice was artificially high and sweet, almost singsong, but there was a dangerous and brittle undertone. “Well easy mistake to make right?”

“No? He’s just kind of a dumbass sometimes.” Unsealing one of the traps, he worked to hide any traces of it in the ground.

“He seems pretty interested in girls though,” Nagisa stood up and there was a strange stiffness in her gait as she moved to the next position. “It’s weird that he wouldn’t be able to recognize one right in front of him isn’t it? Don’t you find that weird?”

“Yeah, definitely. But like I said, kind of a dumbass.” Yuuki struggled to find the words he wanted, he was on thin enough ice as it was. “He’s probably also used to girls that dress like Mai or that Hyuuga heir, not one that actually dresses practically.”

“Oh cause I don’t have half my chest hanging out I’m unrecognizable as a girl?” Nagisa asked frostily, stamping over to her next spot and thrusting the next watchtower into the Earth with the ferocity she usually reserved for plunging a kunai into someone’s chest. “Can’t have been that obvious to begin with then, maybe I should wear a big fucking sign around my neck, something like ‘hey I know it’s hard to tell but i’m actually female? Crazy right?'”

Yep, totally fucked that one up… Nice going, Yuuki…

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, ignoring the smear of dirt left behind. “No, it’s better you dress like a ninja and not some fashion show contestant. It’s respectable… I like it…” He all but mumbled the last part, scolding himself for even letting it slip out in the first place. Trying to cover it up, he continued, “I mean, have you seen Mai? She’s all but stuck a goddamned target on herself and her team.”

Wait..what’d he just say? He likes my clothes? What does that-

“W-Well that’s the point!” Said Nagisa quickly. She was still wound up but some of the fire had left her voice and she sounded uncertain. “Like I’m just trying to do my job! If I wanted to I could… wear whatever I wanted.. It’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone or anything!”

Nagisa fumbled with the turret she had in her hand and nearly dropped it, she was glad she was still turned around and her face was still hidden, especially her cheeks. “H-How many of those do you have left anyway?” she asked hurriedly.

Trying to encourage the conversation to continue its direction away from the last topic, Yuuki quickly counted the tags in his hand. “Uh… plenty, but I think that’s enough for this area. Would rather not blow up the watchtowers.”

“Right!” Nagisa stood up, looking relieved. “Let’s keep moving then! I wanna finish up quickly and check on the others, make sure nobody’s screwing around,”

“And given what we’ve seen of Ashi…”
 
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Earth release: Tearing Earth, Turning Palm

the workmen watched for the third time today the young man made the very earth rip and tear itself apart. Multiple usages was easy enough to muster, he could quickly regain his spent chakra with abit of meditation, plus breakfast was fueling him rather well, he made certain to have his fair share when he could.

The body was a simple machine, put energy in, action is put out.

Breath in, breath out.

Food in, waste… out…

Okay, didn’t need to go there brain, but it was still an acceptable enough thought for his meditation.

Ever during a fight this motion of energy is observed, you punch, coiling energy inwards and then out, hitting an opponent, pushing energy in, and the reaction from the force being released.

Really simple, yet exceedingly complex.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, while we do not fully try to observe it, the act of not giving that reaction is off putting to the natural rhythm. Solid ground technique is a good showing of this, through usage of the technique, you force the energy to exhaust itself in a different way, instead of an attack pushing you back, you stay in place, rooted as it were.

He began to wonder, would chakra control allow a person to stay on the ceiling? Were he falling down a cliff on a rock and he used Solid ground with the rock hitting the ground, would he still be perched upon it? Could he effectively use solid ground to travel attop of anything that could support his weight for some time as it flew through the air?

As the workers gave him the signal as they cleared out he stood up once more, aiming for the new patch he used his jutsu again, letting it run it’s course and ended it as he has done many times before.

“Man, these ninja really do speed up work.” one of the contractor stated to his buddy. “Yea, kinda scary how they can do that stuff yea know, I heard ninja from konoha could breath fire of all things.” his buddy began chatting away.

“No shit? Man, I wish I could do that. Hey Hideki can you breath fire?”

Hideki rose up his head and shook. “Nope, my friend can, he has fire affinity while I have earth.” Hideki noted and the guy looked abit disappointed.

“Shame, guess moving earth isn’t that bad though.” he continued to shovel.

Hideki slipped back into his thoughts for a moment, but couldn’t center himself at the time, figuring he was done trying to force more chakra out of his system for now he stood up and started stretching.

He thought about jobs in the past, he liked his groups, though he had to say working with Hotaru and Yukari was fun. Kinda missed that little entomophile, she helped out make some much needed improvements to his casual wear, not to mention she was… Really Cute… Yukari was on a different scale.

But what was better? Cuteness? Or beauty? They are one and the same in a way, but in differing categories. He could classify Yumi as cute, endearing in her mannerism, but what would he label Takara? True, she was… well...gorgeous, but there was a line of respect in there as well.

For being his sensei and a idol in a way.

Nagisa… Mostly respect, but her being flustered was… Well it was… Bloody adorable really. He might’ve opened up a big can of worms, but looking back it might’ve mostly been exasperation… She didn’t look like the most out going person, so.. Maybe he was a first?

Yuuki, he thought about their conversation last night. Guy is gonna take some work, but he only hoped he took something from his words, love, hell friendship, was a battlefield. You had to be creative to get anywhere in it.

…

Where is Yumi? He hasn’t heard from her in abit.

Suddenly something icy cold pressed into the back of Hideki’s neck, causing the young man to yelp and shoot up and turn to his sudden chilly aggressor. “Aiko what’reyea doing?”

“You looked hot,” said a familiar voice, as Yumi circled around to stand in front of Hideki, smiling impishly and handing him the chilled canteen she had startled him with. “I didn’t think I’d be able to sneak up on a ninja but you were kind of lost in your own thoughts. I guess you were thinking about tactics and stuff for the fight?”

Hideki sighed, girl was a sneaky on it seems. “Well, your most certainly right. Have to keep my chakra flowing if we’re going to keep up this pace.” he chuckled. “Though I WAS just thinking about you when you came along, how you’d be a sight for sore eyes.”

“Jeez,” Yumi puffed out her cheeks and turned away before her blushing became too obvious. “I don’t know how you can be so relaxed when this place is going to be a battlefield soon…” her expression trained. “It still doesn’t feel real to me, maybe because I’m just going to hide in a cellar...This wall… it’ll help right?”

“It’ll help, anything to keep an extra layer between you all and the enemy. We’ve got a set plan for this, it’d be a bad move for them to try and break past us as we’re engaging them… But if their particularly dumb, we’re building things to slow them down as best we can.” Hideki thought about it for a moment.

“We have others keeping watch and laying down what they could find for traps. Plus i got a few ideas that will help us keep them far from the village… But most plans never really survive contact with the enemy. Same goes for whatever their planning, we just gotta keep up trying to think about what they’re thinking.”

“Ho ho, wise words, such fragile, delicate things plans,” The voice, now recognisable to the Hideki, was Tsuchinoko’s, rising as he hobbled over to the teenagers.

“Gramps!” Yumi looked surprised for a moment then took on a lecturing tone “You’re supposed to be in bed!”

“Bah, how am I supposed to sleep with all this racket?” snorted Tsuchinoko gesturing to the construction work around them. “Figured I’d come see how you were doing instead. It’s an interesting partner you’ve found here young Yumi,” Tsuchinoko tugged at his bristly beard. “By far the one I know the least about,”

Hideki turned to look at the new face around the construction area. “Sorry for keeping yea up, gotta get this trench and wall dug in well.” the young man added, though looked the man over again.

“What exactly do you mean about that?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow and getting a feeling he wasn’t getting it… Didn’t know him? And he knew the others? Wait… he did talk about that last night.

“You mean.. My name right?’

“Well I’ve heard of Uchiha’s, Inuzuka’s and at least one Kanazawa,” Tsuchinko chuckled. “Maybe I’ve even tussled with a few? Who knows? I’ve never heard of any Ukita’s though, which is hardly a disadvantage for a ninja mind you,”

Hideki sighed. “...Yes I am a lower caste family, what of it? The last other one is gone, missing in action during the siege of Konoha.” Hideki crossed his arms, putting up his walls. He didn’t look very happy being reminded of his father again…

“Ah I’m sorry to hear that,” sighed Tsuchinoko, shifting his weight over to look out at the wall being erected. “Well I won’t feed you any empty platitudes on that subject. Think we’re both too old for that.

What I will is say is this. If it bothers you when old geezers like me don’t know your name then keep your wits about you. Things are on the verge of being shook up something fierce, even an old hermit like me can tell. When the old order gets shaken up it leave all kinds of cracks you can use to haul yourself up by if you’re sharp enough,”

Hideki shifted weight from foot to foot. “..I suppose… It's hard to become known when the world is ruled by clans and their special blood…” he sighed shaking his head. “I have friends whom are from those clans, So I guess I’m not truly justified in hating the higher classes, But you never know just how large of a gap there is until you’ve seen the look that says “How dare they stand in my presence.”

But this will change, as you say i will climb, it was my plan for the longest time. If they will not treat me as human, they will continue to sneer as I use their faces at footfalls.

...Starting to sound like Mai… Hope she doesn’t mind me stealing abit of her nindo.” he chuckled abit, glancing an eye to the raising wall. “A world where even those without a kekkei genkai can stand up and look them in the eye. Thats what I’m gonna make.”

“Hehe, that would be worth seeing,” chuckled Tsuchinoko. “Don’t dawdle too much in the making or I’ll be dead before it happens. Anyway! Enough prattle, tell me about this wall of yours!”

Hideki changed stances to one of sealing away feelings to that shows some confidence. “Well, it’s not Konoha’s walls but it’ll be enough.” he walked over to a finished section. “We’re using the natural hardwood trees around the area for the wall, utilizing the sturdy wood for the barrier should give it some life, and keeping it spaced enough away from the houses so that if it catches fire it won’t spread as easily to the village.

Plus the fact the wood is still green means fire has a harder time burning it or taking.

The wooden stakes making up the wall are mostly buried beneath the ground and reinforced with dirt, stones, anything to keep them in place.

And with the nature of the materials we’re using it is relatively simple to uproot them should the wall need to be torn down and the wood can be used if still acceptable.

We’re leaving a trench around the wall as well to increase the height they stand upon in relative to somebody standing in front of it, the hardwood and the fact their still green make for a tough barrier. I don’t know about you, but swords aren’t quite the greatest at chopping lumber. Unless they have some technique, some of their rookies will be dissuaded.”

The young man patted the lower part of the wall and continued.

“Now, the other part is how we have to stop them if they get close enough to try and climb. Well, the climbing part is, sadly, relatively simple, even if the wood doesn’t fully have a flat face it is a sheer surface, so unless they have some chakra control it won't be an easy climb. Even then, we have look outs watching so the time they take will be useful for them to spot any trying to sneak in.

We could use senbon to spike the top, but that depends if we have time and the materials for it… The quality of the senbon don’t matter to much, pointy and sharp is all we need.” he ended as a voice came from the working crew saying for another earth turning.

“Hmm not bad!” Tsuchinoko nodded appreciatively walking forward and giving the fortifications a firm whack with his walking sticks. “Too many ninja these days don’t appreciate the value of good fortifications! Oh it’s hard work! Oh they’ll just destroy them with jutsu! Lemme tell you! Would you rather they be destroying your wall or your face with that Jutsu! But this is good work! I feel at ease,” The old man turned on his heels to head back towards Mayor Kunoshita’s house, tapping Yumi on the head as he passed her.

“You’ve a good eye young lady! This one’s worth keeping around!” Cackling to himself Tsuchinoko left, leaving the young people to their devices
 
Ashi_InuzukaBanner.jpg​

The young Inuzuka girl as she remained perched in a tree keeping some distance away from the bandit camp. Sheer impatience filled the girl as her fingers tapped along the tree, her body swaying a little bit on the branch she balanced upon. An occasional sniff of her nose was used in order to sniff out the air just in case as she kept her body locked in place remaining observant... at least the best she could. To say she was growing a bit bored and impatient was an understatement.

Tsukashi I have an important job for you she says... most important she says.... hmmph the most boring! They haven't done nothing at all in the last hour just shuffle about and keeping in the camp! They probably are just hanging about... doing stuff... that dumb bandit people do... while everyone gets all the fun jobs and stuff building traps and doing crazy wall building stuff and all! Probably having like tasty meat or something while I just gotta sit and wait here with dumb rations at most if I wanna eat something!

Ashi frowned as she rocked back and forth a bit more quite antsy. She had been far to accepting of the job in the first place how Nagisa painted as some important task. In truth watching the bandits was quite important though for Ashi it was about having some fun and doing something that mattered most. It was hard for her to think much of her job when it was such a boring task to do. Not to mention she couldn't even try and take a little nap either!

A light yawn suddenly escaped from Ashi's lips as she stretched a bit. She shifted on the tree branch to get a bit more comfortable. Attempting to shoo away the desire to take a nap that had suddenly overcame her. She growled clutching at the tree sniffing the air as she focused forward towards the bandit camp. Hopefully they would finish their set up soon enough and the bandits would do something of note to allow her to do something, at least sometime before she might succumb to boredom.
 
Aiko cursed herself silently, as she plodded along the tree line, occasionally bending down to create a small frozen patch of ice. Her ice traps didn’t cost much chakra, but having to bend over or crouch down time after time was getting tiresome. There had to be a better way of setting these traps, Aiko continued thinking to herself. After another ten minutes of grumbling Aiko decided to figure out a sinpler technique. When she had first learned the ice trap technique, she would make a handsign while placing her hand on the ground. Did she really have to use her hsnd though?

Aiko kicked off her sandals, bow standing with her bare feet on the grass. She formed to singlehanded handisign, and placed her right foot forwards. She let her chakra flow out in a similsr way as she did through her hands, and a patch of ice appeared where she stepped.

Aiko smiled, happy with her creativity, and then continued on, making an ice trap every few steps or so. She also made an effort to hide some farther back in the trees as well. After she finally worked her way around the whole village she decided to take a nice water break before continuing.

After her break, Aiko made an rffort to lay down some ice traps around the wall that was being made. Hopefully none of the villagers would step on one. Aiko giggled as she pictured Hideki stepping on one of her special traps, and having his foot impaled.
 
The camp of the Red Hilts was a ramshackle setup. The road into the valley ran right through the middle and either side was occupied by large, dirty white canopies that offered some scant protection from the elements to the bedrolls underneath them whole further back was a small circle of personal, teepee style tents in slightly better condition.

The center of the camp was taken up by a big firepit, the ashes still smoking slightly from last night and some logs arranged around it to function as benches.

Most of the camp's occupants were teenage boys, either lounging underneath the two canopies or working at some camp task like chopping firewood, a few were roaming the forest in desultory patrols but they weren’t up to the task of detecting Ashi as long as she was careful.

Around the ashes of the fire sat five adults, wearing swords and carrying on a heated conversation that carried easily to Ashi’s sharp ears.

“Well, I think it’s pretty clear they ain’t coming back,” The speaker was a heavily muscled man with spiky brown hair and black shorts but no shirt. “It seems likely they ran into trouble, I doubt we can safely assume they took care of the girl either,”

“Maybe they just had the brains to split?” said a short, pale man with a shark like grin. “Maybe we should split too hmm,”

“Don’t get cute, Nuruwaki” snapped the only woman, a solidly built redhead with an eye patch “I know none of you blockheads can ignore your greed long enough to leave behind easy profit,”

“It’s safe to say your plan is no longer viable though Kaede,” said a Blond man with a ponytail and tired eyes, unlike the others, he was smoking a thin cigarette. “With the girl out running around it’ll only be a matter of time before there’s shinobi breathing down our necks.”

“Fine! We’ll vote on it! All in favor of launching an assault,” The woman snapped and then scowled when the four men raised their hands. “Whatever, if we’re doing this then we’re doing this, no fucking around with prisoners, burn it all to the ground and carry off anything valuable. Get the brats up and in order, we move at sunset,”

Ashi shook her head snapping back to attention after half dozing off from boredom. Her eyes focused down towards the camp observing the ones who seemed to be in charge hearing what they said. She kept quiet doing her best to be silent, something that was a lot more difficult for Ashi then what it might be for most people. At the mentioning of an assault, she knew it was her queue to jump into action... To warn the others.

The Inuzuka girl quickly jumped off from the branch she was in, darting swiftly through the woods heading back towards her fellow shinobi. As boring as her job ended up being, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement in finally having something to relay back to the group. Hopefully, she would get the chance to deck one of those jerk bandits in the face soon enough.

Tsukiashi jumped out from the woods, glancing about on all fours like some wild animal before spotting Nagisa. She approached, standing up straight taking a second to speak up.

“Nag…. nageese… leader person!” She spoke fumbling with the girl's name, somewhat forgetting it in her little mental fit of jealousy over her being in charge instead of her.

“The bandits, they are getting ready to attack. There were four… err wait... Five old people around the fire that seemed to be in charge, four guys and a one eyed girl. They said something about a couple jerks not showing back up and a girl running about and how they would attack and burn it all down.” She relayed the information… perhaps not giving the most intrinsic detail about it though giving a rundown of everything.

Hideki perked up at hearing Ashi’s return, joining the two as he gazed at the forest line. “So you found them, and they’re on the way…” the young man looked to their leader. “Sticking with the plan? Any changes?”

Nagisa nodded curtly. “Fan out along the wall!” she called to the rest of the team. “We want as much coverage as possible but don’t spread out so far that you can’t support each other and stay hidden until they’re in range, we want to take as many by surprise as possible.

“Hideki, Tsukiashi, you’ll cover the center left and right respectively, Yuuki and Aiko I want you to watch our flanks. Our number one priority is to keep any of these jokers from entering the village so don’t be afraid to use the traps we set up aggressively. If we can break their morale we win. Now somebody sound the alarm and make sure everyone’s inside,”

“Yuuki, think you can get that bell tolling?” Hideki smirked. “Great! Thanks, bud.” he spat out quickly before he set off running to his position.

Yuuki rolled his eyes before leaving for the bell near the village’s heart. It wasn’t long before its loud alarm rang out.

Hideki didn’t quite have any traps, but he could deny the enemy area, that’s for certain. He didn’t waste time and got to his position, scanning the horizon for signs. He wasn’t very great at long range strikes at the moment, but he did have ONE thing he could do.

Summoning Technique

And now before him, sat 5 wondrously fluffy rabbits, all happy hopping about and wiggling their adorable little noses. “Right, not sure how much you guys know about combat but, gonna need you to wait out in the field for these jackasses incoming and… Do what you can to slow them down.” he spoke to the rabbits, not fully certain that they truly understood... Considering they seemed more…

Well, more like normal rabbits than anything ninja-like.

Did he get a shit deal on contracts?

He sighed, but the rabbits seemed to wander off towards the woods, nibbling on stray things on their way. “...Man... I’m outta my element here.”

Ashi balled her one hand into a fist, striking her open palm at the mentioning of protecting the center right. “Imma smack em as they come!” She spoke with a nod. Her eyes couldn’t help but drift over to the rabbits, looking at them as her tough demeanor seemed to fade a little bit as if she seemed twitchy. She couldn’t help but feel a desire to chase after the rabbits though she shook it off and put back on the tough look she tried to exhibit back on her face.

Aiko could only shake her head as she watched Hideki talk to some rabbits before they ran off like the useless little creatures they were.

“I’ll get going then,” she said briefly, before dashing off to her position. Aiko decided that a long range approach would be appropriate for this battle. Having ice sword rain down on you and your friends would probably help deter any charge they might try to make. If the battle dragged out, then she’d need to conserve her chakra too. The Sharingan would only be for emergencies.

The village air seemed unnaturally still as the young shinobi lay in wait. Time might have seemed to slow to a crawl for them but it was only a few minutes after they were all in position that the mob of bandits crested the small rise between the town and their camp, becoming visible.

As seemed to be their usual method, the bandits moved in an untidy heap, although today they seemed to be slightly separated into five smaller packs of teenage boys, each lead by a single adult. Upon coming into view the bandits seemed to pause and the adult members converged to discuss something. It was hard to say what exactly they were saying but it was probable they were discussing the wall.

Although the humble palisade Hideki had helped the villagers put together wasn’t the mightiest of barriers it was doubtlessly more resistance than the bandits had been expecting. However, it wasn’t enough to drive them off, after reorganizing the bandits broke into a slow jog that soon became a full-on sprint.

Nagisa watched tensely as the bandits, waiting until the last possible moment before she triggered the first trap, one of Tsuchinoko’s senbon launching explosives. The trap went off with a blast of smoke and fire, signaling the start of the battle.

Several more explosions rocked the battlefield as more of the hidden mines were triggered. Yuuki watched from his place on the wall, a scroll of sealed weapons sat open in front of him. With any luck they’d be able to break up the bandits’ formation before they even reached the wall, making them much easier to pick off.

Aiko had crept atop a building that was not only near the wall, but peered over it just enough to give Aiko a good vantage point of the whole scene. She watched with glee as some the bandits stopped in their tracks with twisted ankles after one of her ice traps grabbed them. She then began firing off one ice sword after another, aiming at the bandits not clumped together in groups.

Well, this was what Hideki expected, but they were perturbed, so at least the wall had some sort of effect. And it seems, the wandering rabbits were more effective than initially thought. As a couple samurai attempted to pass by one, the small creature, at first seemingly helpless and just a nuisance, rushed forwards and leapt up at one of the samurai.

And like a vicious monster, the razor sharp fangs of the rabbit bit deep into the jugular of the samurai, releasing an immense spray of blood staining the pure white fur of the rabbit with a speckled marking of deep crimson. And it seemed that smell of blood reached the other rodents, as they converged upon the others in the group who flailed with their blades.

“...Well fuck.” the young man stated, looking just about as surprised as the dying samurai.

“Hideki, what the fuck did you summon!?” Yuuki could be heard calling out.

“Rabbits! Just rabbits I swear!”

Ashi looked on blinking as she looked puzzled seeing the rather savage bunny attack, deterring her natural desire to want to want to go chasing any of the bunnies anymore. She shook her head shifting her stance getting onto all fours standing ready like an attack dog, fighting the urge to charge forward awaiting for them to approach closer.

The string of ambushes tore chunks out of the bandits’ formation and it recoiled like a living thing that had been struck as the younger bandits milled about uncertainty. A few of even turned to flee until the pale, short samurai grabbed one of the boy’s by his collar and drove a katana into his stomach.

“Don’t run!” he yelled at the others, giggling madly. “If you can’t even act as cannon fodder then I’ll just eat ya and get use out of you useless dolts that way!” This display seemed to do the trick and the few bandits that had been looking to leave turned back around.

“Don’t group together!” Snapped the female leader, like the rest of the adult bandits she appeared mostly unharmed. “Split into squads and probe along the defenses. We’ll find the weak link and push through there!”

At the leader's words, the bandits split into five groups, each targeting a section of the wall guarded by a different shinobi.

The short, pale samurai with the sharpened teeth peeled off to target Aiko’s flank.

The muscular man in the shorts mirrored him, taking the opposite direction and going after Yuuki.

The man with the blond ponytail took the center left path to target Ashi.

A thin man whose face was wrapped in bandages took the center right against Hideki

And the red headed leader took her troops straight towards the gate where Nagisa stood.
 
Yuuki scoffed, watching one of that bandits ‘motivate’ the others. Disgusting lot; he might actually enjoy killing the bastards now. He heard another mine go off as he pressed his hands to the scroll in front of him. A split second later, a storm of kunai began raining down on the ones approaching him.

“Tchh what a pain” The bare chested man drew the katana at his side as the flurry of shurikens flew towards him and his underlings. Suddenly the sword was engulfed in a sheath of blue chakra that expanded out from the boundaries of the weapon, forming a comically oversized broadsword made of chakra. Of course, since it was made of chakra the man had no trouble swinging it despite its size and the increased striking range allowed him to knock away most of the shuriken with a single swipe, although two of his underlings took hits to the leg and arm respectively.

“Guess I’d better do something about that barricade,” muttered the man, taking one hand off his hilt to scratch his nose lightly.

Great Rupture

With his other hand, he raised his sword above his head and then brought it down in a mighty, overhead slash than unleashed a broad wave of chakra easily the height of the barricade itself towards Yuuki’s position.

“Ah… shit.” Without any way to really block the incoming attack, Yuuki was forced to leap off the wall with his scroll. That sword was going to be an issue, but he needed to clear out the man’s backup before dealing with it.

With a handsign he bodyflickered away, circling around behind them to throw a small barrage of shuriken. The moment they left his hand he flickered away again, appearing at their right flank and letting a fuuma shuriken fly.

The wave of chakra Yuuki avoided crashed into the barricade, tearing a large rupture in it, but more pressing for the bandits was the multi-directional hail of weapons targeting them. The leader lashed out with his massive chakra sword in the direction of the shuriken, the air pressure alone from his blade enough to disturb the course of the shuriken that he didn’t directly slap out of the air.

As Yuuki changed position and threw his fuuma shuriken the man turned and tried to knock that out of the air as well but he was hampered by the younger bandits, who instinctively had begun to draw close to him and the protection his blade offered and he was only able to push it slightly off course with the tip, also missing the hidden, second shuriken underneath the first and both thudded solidly with two of the young bandits, knocking them to the ground that rapidly began to stain red with their blood underneath them.

“Form a ring around me!” snarled the older bandit, his voice thick with rage. “Face out and by the Gods stay CROUCHED if you don’t wanna lose yer empty heads!” Spurred into action, the younger bandits formed a tight, ring formation around him, facing outwards and crouching down so that their leader in the center still had room to swing his blade over their heads. This slightly unconventional formation began making its way towards the breach the man’s first attack had made in the barricade.

“I ain’t sure how shinobi do it,” the man called! His eyes roving warily for another attack. “But in the Land of Iron, we have a custom of introducing ourselves to our opponent. I go by Takao, the Mountain Cutter,”

Yuuki took a second to catch his breath from his new perch in the treetops. He wasn’t sure how Mai was able to bodyflicker all over the damn place without so much as getting winded. In his hand and beside him was a new weapon from an earlier mission: a short bow and quiver of arrows.

If I was as good of a shot as Nagisa, I could just arc the shots straight down into them… But he didn’t need a direct hit, nice as it would be. Just close enough for the tags wrapped around the arrows’ shafts to leap off and do their thing. With a slow breath, he drew and fired five arrows in rapid succession.

Takao, as he identified himself, reacted as he had previously, swinging his blade to intercept the arrows, the simple length of it allowing him to swat them before they hit any of his underlings.

The hits sent the arrows spinning, falling harmlessly to the ground. But it was all Yuuki needed as he formed a handsign, the tags uncoiling from the arrows and snaking along the ground towards Takao. The word restrain was written on them.

As the tags started move, Yuuki flickered towards their flank once more and let loose another volley of shuriken. Thin wires held fast to them, promising a nasty surprise when they were deflected.

Takao caught sight of the tags and rather than react with his sword he simply grabbed the closed bandit and slammed him into the ground to trap the seals, hoping they would affix to the first target they encountered. With his free hand, Takao once again raised his massive chakra sword and slammed it down, unleashing another powerful wave of chakra clearly meant to obliterate the shuriken and continue on to target Yuuki himself.

Yuuki was thankful for the perception the sharingan granted him. He was able to catch Takao using one of the bandits as a shield before turning towards the shuriken. Not that it required the sharingan to see where the next arc was headed, those attacks were beyond telegraphed to the Uchiha. Those arcs had to consume a lot of chakra.

A deft flick of his fingers guided four shuriken around the arc, the rest being knocked from the air. Jumping away from the arc, Yuuki threw two kunai, colliding then in mid air to send the first straight down into the group.

Takao snarled as the shuriken thudded into his raised forearm and as the kunai flew towards his group his counter came a fraction of a second too late, allowing the knife to cut deeply into one of the young bandits.

“Gah! Fuck this!” the man hissed, his breathing slightly irregular. “TIME TO TAKE THE OFFENSIVE BRATS, FAN OUT AND FLUSH THE BASTARD OUT!” Takao roared, booting forwards one of the bandits moving too slowly for his tastes. As the bandits started to spread out, looking for Yuuki, Takao grimly raised his sword, preparing to launch another wave as soon as Yuuki made his moved, even if he took out an ally or two in the strike.

Yuuki couldn’t help but smirk from his new perch in the trees. Then spreading out like this was more than he could have asked for. Throwing shuriken to the branches of various trees, he started pulling on the attached wires. It’d look like he was bounding from one tree to the next before settling into a spot.

“FUCK! WHERE IS HE? FUCK!” Roared Takao, his eyes darting from tree to tree in a vain attempt to locate the shinobi. “Fuck it,” he muttered under his breath “Fuck it, I’ll just take it all out.”

MOUNTAIN CUTTING GREAT RUPTURE

One last time Takao raised his sword and brought it plunging down, sending all of his remaining chakra arcing out in an even larger wave of energy that engulfed a whole swathe of the forest around them. The effort left the bandit panting and swaying on his feet, his subordinates dead around him.

Yuuki wove a few handsigns before his foothold gave away. The tags that had been lying still before formed shuriken before striking the bandit. The tags did their job and quickly paralyzed him.

Sealing: Crippling Touch

Takao hit the ground like a sack of wriggling bricks, cursing and muttering under his breath as he struggled vainly against his bonds. “Useless damn brats, can’t do anything except get themselves killed, fucken shinobi skulking around in the trees. Kill ‘em all, I’m fucken Takao the Mountain Cutter!..”

“And all the titles in the world can’t help you,” Yuuki muttered as he stopped beside Takao with his blade drawn. “Frankly,” he raised his sword, “you brought this on yourself.” Yuuki’s sword cleanly cut through the bandit’s neck, taking his head.
 
The young man continued to watch as the rabbits gnawed the meat right off the bones of those they killed, truly terrifying creatures… He was right to fear the moon… Maybe he should try and play nice next time incase it tries to send those at HIM!

Looking up, he began to notice the odd looking man, covered in bandages, it kinda reminded him of the jonin Yuuki talked about, dude looked like a mummy.

“Hey! Not a step closer there bud! Can’t let you past.” he called out as the rabbits began to sniff the air once more, smelling more fresh red meat in the air.

The man with the bandages raised a hand, bringing his subordinates to a halt, the bandages hid most of his expression, but even from a distance the way he seemed squint up at Hideki hinted at confusion.

“I feel like… maybe we should have had this conversation earlier? Like, before the traps and the flying knives and the...killer rabbits. Was that you by the way? That’s… that’s a new one.”

As the man was speaking, without warning the ground behind the barricade near Hideki erupted, revealing a small shaft from which the younger bandits poured out like ants. From the center of the pack, the bandaged man leapt up onto the barricade, unsheathing his katana and slashing at Hideki’s back in the fluid motion of Iaido.

Meanwhile, the bandaged man and his underlings outside of the barricade flickered and faded, revealing themselves as illusions.

“Shit!” Hideki moved along the direction of the strike, only catching the end of the slice with his gambeson. Lucky, this time, and luckier still he had to deal with this shit when he sparred Yuuki. There were inside the damn barricade already, using the ground! Damn it, why didn’t he think of… wait…

A tunnel…

He immediately set to work on his new position, punching the earth to utilize Pluming Earth Technique to push a larger portion of the swarming group back into the tunnel, stones and bodies colliding with one another the send them back into the mouth.

By this time, the rabbits began rushing back like the quick little bunnies they were, leaping full over the wall to strike at the sword wielding man, Hideki hoping to gain more time to get the rest back in that tunnel.

The tunnel collapsed in on itself, trapping most of the bandits beneath the earth with a chorus of muffled screams, although three managed to scramble out of the way in time to stand up unsteadily and draw their blades

Meanwhile, on the barricade the bandaged man turned as rabbits began hopping over the barricade, their bloody maws open to tear into his flesh. The man rolled his head and the bandages wrapped around his head unfurled and rushed the rabbits, tangling up several pulling them together to be dispatched with a single clean slash.

A second slash caught another two rabbits and then before another wave of the bloodthirsty creatures could make their way over the barrier he tensed and body flickered towards Hideki to unleash another slash.

“Those creatures are not right" sighed the man as soon as there was a moment to speak., His now loose bandages revealing a pale, heavily scarred face with buzzed hair. “I’m Hyoki the snaremaker by the way, I guess that’s kind of appropriate huh?”

Hideki veered around, his shield now raised up to clash against the blade coming at him, clashing against the sword and holding as the man finally spoke up. “You're telling me? This is the first time I’ve summoned them to battle… I’m still getting chills..” he pushed more force behind the clash and used solid ground to keep his place.

“My name is Hideki Ukita… Not particularly known for much.” he made a familiar(To the audience at least) motion with his hands, pointing towards the tunnel area and twist the clawed hand.

Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm

The ground began to turn and coil, pulling those already caught deeper, and two of the three who got out back into the hole with a sickly sound of snapping, of bone the crunch of stone upon flesh and steel.

“Save being rather lethal.”

Hyoki winced visibly as his young subordinates were torn to shreds by the earth itself, leaving naught but a patch of stained and jumbled earth.

“Kid, have you maybe considered that like attracts like? Ahh not that it matters much,” and so saying Hyoki once again had his bandages lunge forwards, this time attempting to wrap around Hideki’s face and obscure his vision while the man himself aimed a downwards slash at his opponent’s legs, trying to quickly end the fight before the rabbits could catch up to the new position.

Hideki flinched at the sudden wrapping of his eyes, but he didn’t waste time turning on his Earth Release: Earth Spear, causing the sword to rip through his pants but heavily spark off of his blackened skin. The jutsu grew across his body as he grasped the bandages, pulling the man closer to him and with the other hand grabbing the man’s shoulder.

“Let bleeding hearts bleed… In this world, you have to be lethal or be left behind… so many bloodlines lording it over a common man… Each one as lethal as the next, all fighting for supremacy.

It’s the common man that falls behind…

And I shall be anything BUT Common!” the blackened hand tightened on the man’s shoulder, the boy was blinded but stable…

Rather than holding him fast, the bandages simply uncoiled from around the man’s face to wrap themselves fully around Hideki’s face, allowing Hyoki wriggle out from Hideki’s grip by planting his hand on the bottom of Hideki’s wrist and pushing up.

Before Hideki could shed the bandages that were now coiled around his head but no longer controlled by chakra, Hyoki body flickered over to a nearby house, slashing open the door with a crescent of chakra and ducked in.

“Never underestimate the survival instincts of the common man young Hideki,” Hyoki said, emerging from the house holding the struggling, familiar figure of Yumi Nomokori, his blade pressed up against her throat.

Hideki ripped off the bandages, now knowing the situation before him… Oh shit… He began to walk out into the open area drawing out Eijuu Aikata and gazed upon the two, his skin still dark as stone, his eyes intent upon the man…. And watching the young lady.

“A Coward’s tactic, this is what lesser men do…” he growled, looking to Hyoki. “What's your plan? Negotiating your life for her’s? My friends are well on their way with dealing with your other groups.” he faced the man and Yumi. “Should they finish... They may come up behind you…” he held the sword thinking about what to say as he forced the blade to act to his will… Just a few moments and he will have him…

The small trail of blood coming from Hideki’s boots came from a puddle or two forming atop the surface from where the jutsu took place, the lines were slightly connected, the sword drawing a line to the larger pool to exact the plan Hideki was plotting…

“Being alive and lesser is superior to being great and dead,” said Hyoki mildly, edging away at the same rate as Hideki approached. “Something I’m sure my new friend here can appreciate I’m sure. Gonna need you to drop whatever that is in your hands and hold them in the air. Then I’ll be on my way and out of your hair, course this young lady will be tagging along for a while to make sure nobody follows me…”

At just that moment Yumi decided to communicate her opinion of the situation by biting down fiercely on the Hyoki’s forearm.

Well, Hideki didn’t expect that, she was such a cutie he expected her to start crying… Not take a bite outta the man who's trying to use her. But that was JUST what he needed!

With a quick swing of his Eijuu Aikata the blood that had been seized rose up and rushed forwards like a snake snapping towards its prey the crimson blade rushed forward and pierced the man through the flank of his stomach, coiled around once exiting the body the other side and went up the shoulder to remove the ar and fling him back towards the barricade he had passed over none to long ago.

With the long blade still within the man it pulsed like a hungry leech, even as Hideki rushed forwards towards his new friend. “Are you alright Yumi?” he asked, skin turning back to normal. “Did he cut you?”

“I-I’m okay,” Yumi said shakily, her small hands gripping fiercely onto Hideki’s arms although she seemed to be unaware of it. “Wh-What did you do to him?” she asked, her brown eyes wide as plates as she stared down at the dead bandit and the unnatural blade lodged in his flesh.

Hideki looked down for a moment before he brought a hand up to her face turning her away from the scene… Eijuu Aikata wasn’t done with him.. And that wasn’t something he would want her to see. “He's gone… But you were very brave Yumi, not anybody could have done what you did right there, and I definitely could not have saved you so easily without your help... “ he smiled warmly down to the young woman as he led her back to the building, out of sight of the corpse… but the line of blood still followed.

“I need to go help the others, will you be okay?” he asked his hands almost feeling her heartbeat in fear… Each pulse of crimson circulating through her body… he… needed to go. “Everything will go back to normal soon… Just be safe and stay inside…”

Yumi took in a deep, rattling breath and forced herself to nod. “There are some others in that house, I’ll take them to another house that’s still secure. Good… Good luck out there?”

His smile never faded. “You too Yumi, you are very brave, help the others as you can.” and with that he started back towards Hyoki’s body, using subterranean voyage to dispose of him with his allies and went off to join the others.

“...How very brave…. An uncommon young woman…”
 
The small pack of bandits headed towards Ashi’s position stopped short of the barricade as the blonde, ponytailed man called them to a halt.

“Mmmm that’s a problem,” the man mused thoughtfully, rubbing his chin and even going so far as to stop and light a cigarette that he placed between his lips. “Barricade huh? Fwuuuhhh, how would you get over a barricade?...Oh! Um!..” the man snapped his fingers, trying to recall something. “Shozo? Shozi? C’mere”

“It’s Shoji,” replied one of young bandits, nevertheless drawing closer to his leader, until the man suddenly grabbed him by the collar and with a burst of impressive strength hurled him into the air to soar, flailing over the barricade to land in with a thud and a groan in the soft earth of a freshly manured vegetable patch belonging to one of the nearby houses.

“Alright! Phew, lucky you kids are so skinny huh?” said the man, cheerfully, seizing another two bandits by their collars even as his subordinates tried to flee. “C’mon don’t be wusses! There’s tonnes of soft stuff on the other side!” he said with mock sternness, hurling those two as well to land next to their dazed compatriot in the vege patch

This procedure was interrupted rather forcefully as a powerful wave of chakra originating from the bandit’s battling Yuuki washed over the group of bandits dealing with Ashi. The Ponytailed man hopped backwards in time to avoid the danger but two of his subordinates were caught in the wave and eviscerated.

“Ah jeez, HEY TAKAO! WATCH WHERE YOU POINT THAT THING! C’MON” the man hollered, looking mildly put out rather than horrified.

Ashi didn’t waste anytime as she jumped down from the barricade inside to quickly deal with the ones who were tossed inside. She took off in a quick passing fang, striking into two of the bandits without any hassle at all. She spun around making a quick stop, sweeping the other off his feet. Ashi took hold of the man, growling a bit as she began to flip around, using her momentum to hold onto the man as she began to rotate around in what looked to be a throw.

“I can… throw people too… yah idiot bandit jerk!” She shouted out loudly over the barricade , fumbling with her word choice for her insult as she finally released the man tossing him towards what seemed to be the man in charge of the group before her. It was far from the most graceful throw but considering how haphazard of a move it was by Ashi it turned out quite well.

“Yeah no I see that,” said the pony tailed man, having jumped onto the barricade while Ashi was occupied with his underlings, side stepping and offering an appreciative nod as her victim sailed back the way he had come in the first place. “Good arm. Well I’m Yuuhei, sometimes called Smokespitter Yuuhei, s’poooose we should do the whole...fight...thing,”

Ashi looked up seeing the man who had tossed the guy over. She glared at him, pointing her finger towards him in an attempt to act tough. “Darn right! I’mma show you what happens when you mess with a village Ashi Inuzuka is protecting!!” She shouted out towards him as she dashed forward. She took off into the air, this time spinning rotating in a forward spin.

Rotating Fang

She came twirling towards the man as he sat up on the barricade threatens to rip through him like a saw blade. The upward angle wasn’t the most ideal way to aim the attack but given the range between them it was close enough it shouldn’t matter so much and her attack should be able to deliver a good bit of its power hopefully right into the bandit.

Although his eyes widened a little at the girl’s speed, Yuuhei still had time to throw himself to the ground at the last moment and just as Ashi was passing overhead he blew out a puff of silvery grey powder from the corner of his mouth not taken up by his cigarette. As the powder came into contact with the burning tip of the cigarette it caught fire, erupting into a sudden, but small, gout of flame.

Ashi watched as he was quick to evade her attack. Her eyes caught sight of his counter attack, looking on as she was quick to kick off from the barricade propelling herself off flipping around to land on the ground on two legs. She suddenly fanned at her behind, worried something caught on fire though fortunately being spared from such a thing. She growled dropping two all fours as her hand slipped down grabbing two shuriken from her leg suddenly tossing them towards the man. While her aim still wasn’t perfect it was clear her training had helped a good deal in honing in her throwing.

Passing Fang

Ashi pushed off quickly from the ground following up her throwing attack aiming to catch him off guard using her high mobility to her advantage. She took off in a spin moving straight for him hoping her shuriken would serve as enough of a distraction to keep him busy so he might not be able to react in time as she came flying towards him.

“Hey C’mon, you’re gonna have to do a little better than that,” sighed Yuuhei, drawing his sword and knocking the shuriken out of the air, the effort was so slight he still had time to hop easily out of the way, digging in his pocket to produce a handful of small bombs that started hissing dangerously as Yuuhei tossed them after Ashi, aiming for her projected landing point.

Ashi flew right past him as he ducked out of the way. She caught sight of the bombs, suddenly shifting a bit as she attempted to change her coarse as much as she could. She found her footing, kicking off just as it exploded in front of her sending her rolling backwards on the ground. She skid the last bit across the dirt, her legs above her body as she looked a bit scuffed up from the explosion not having fully escaped it. She jumped up, shaking her head out.

“Th… that was no fair! Cheater!” She shouted out at him rather feisty despite having no real reason to even make such accusations. It wasn’t as if there had been any rules set up before they started the fight. She pulled out a kunai, placing it in her mouth as she got back on all fours. She charged forward again with what looked to be a passing fang, although the rotation itself was slower.

She reached up close to him, stopping her spin preemptively suddenly balancing herself on the ground. She did a spinning Leaf Gale, attempting to trip him up. Her body spun around quickly shifting her stance in an attempt to follow up with her attack using her spinning saw kick to strike him down from above with a kick careful to not get herself cut in the process.

Yuuhei countered the first attack by simply slamming his sword down into the wood, in front of his legs so that Ashi’s kick slammed into the metal blade instead. As a result Yuuhei wasn’t free to dodge the follow attack, only managing to jerk his head to the side so that Ashi’s kick slammed into his shoulder rather than his head with a dull crack. At the same time Yuuhei blew out another cloud of silvery dust, igniting as Ashi was finishing up her kick and inflicting damage in return. The cloud of fire afforded him the opportunity to gain some distance and he did, taking the time to relocate his shoulder with an unpleasant, wet, popping noise.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Yuuhei said, grimacing as he rolled his shoulder. “Listen kid war is like a fire. If ya wanna burn someone with it ya gotta be willing to get burned yerself. What else ya got?”

Down at ground level, the younger bandits Yuuhei had failed to throw over the barricade milled about uneasily, watching his fight with Tsukiashi.

“Heeeeeey doesn’t it kinda seem like he’s having trouble,” said one hesitantly. “Should we maybe try to… help him oooor?”

“Yeah I mean, I guess? We should probably get up there,” said another, equally uncertain. “Get up there and like… do some stabbing? With our swords?”

None of them made the first move.

Yuuki appeared before the group in a burst of papers, burning crimson daring them to try anything. His thumb unlocked his blade, “I’ll give you five seconds to drop your weapons and surrender before I cut you down.”

Ashi had managed to jump back, her clothing quite singed and her skin a bit singed where it was left exposed. She continued to bite on the kunai in her mouth looking on. No matter what she seemed to do he seemed to be able to react to it. The dust seemed to be his best tool when dealing with close range fighting. She fell down getting back onto all fours looking at him.

“If you got to get burned… then I’ll just make sure to take you out quickly!” She spoke out as best she could with the kunai still in her mouth. She had a dumb idea, but she wasn’t about to give in no matter how much she ached from the scraps and burns. She sat ready, giving a brief pause taking in a deep breath seeming to focus.

The wind around her howled as she pushed off from the ground at even greater speeds then her earlier attacks. The wind across her cascaded out tearing at her surroundings. Her speed seemed greater then normal as a gust of wind rushed back where she had been. She sped forward in a spinning motion like her passing fang though a whirl of wind was quickly flowing from her as she moved much faster than normal almost wild in her rotation.

Violent Passing Fang

“Heh, not bad,” Yuuhei grinned and exhaled another cloud of the silvery dust onto his sword, where it seemed to cling. Just before Ashi’s attack reached him he ignited the dust, wreathing his sword in hot flames and then swung it forwards to meet her assault.

A gout of flame erupted where steel clashed with flesh and the flames were caught and spurred on by the wind, engulfing both combatants in a fiery whirlwind that seared with far greater intensity than the previous fires had, inflicting horrible burns on both fighters.

But despite the intensity of the flames they did nothing to counteract simple, kinetic force and a split second later Yuuhei was thrown out of the inferno, slamming into the ground and skidding several metres where he eventually slid to a halt, burnt and unconscious, not far from his remaining underlings.

Seeing this, the younger bandits who had tensely been awaiting Yuuki’s countdown immediately dropped their weapons and shakily raised their hands above their heads.
 
Aiko frowned, watching as the bandits formed into groups. One of the groups was coming directly at her. At least one of those bandits must have half a brain. But now, the others would be distracted with the other groups. She’d have to handle this group on her own somehow.

Aiko closed her eyes for a moment, and when they opened back up, she was looking at a group of chakra infused bandits charging forward.

Now with much more precision, Aiko began letting loose a constant barrage of ice swords at the group. Two ice swords would fly at each bandit as Aiko focused her gaze on each them.

As the swords flew toward the group of bandits the leader, the pale man with the sharp teeth drew his sword and in an instant, it seemed to extend, flex and curve as it revealed itself to be many sections of blade, joined by innumerable, flexible metal cords. The serpentine blade surprisingly lurched downwards, wrapping around the ankle of one of the young bandits and dragging him into the air. The flexible blade swayed in complex patterns, dragging the young bandit back and forth through the air to block the incoming attacks, sword after sword impaling the boy as he became increasingly limp in its grip.

“Kekekeke, I try my best to raise these yung’uns right but all they gave me was useless meatshields,” giggled the pale man, raising his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “We’ve not had the pleasure of a formal introduction yet have we girlie? They call me Nuruwaki, Steel Tongue."

“W-what the hell is wrong with that guy?” Aiko grumbled, halting her barrage of ice swords. There wouldn’t be many more of her ice traps at this point until they reach the wall, but there was still a large group of them approaching, and with an insane man leading them, she was sure the wall wouldn’t mean much. Her only choice would be to go down and stop them herself.

Forming a different hand sign, several water clones appeared around Aiko, before they all leaped forwards off the building and over the barricade. The water clones sprinted forward, in weaving patterns, in an attempt to confuse them. Within this mass of water clones was Aiko, who was targeting the sharp toothed man in particular.

“Oh my a feisty one eh?” said Nuruwaki, giggling again as his flexible, whip-like blade dropped the dead bandit and began lashing the approaching clones with wide, sweeping attacks meant to confound their evasive maneuvers.

Although most would miss it, someone with a sharingan might have noticed that the wound around the leg of the dead bandit, where the sword had grabbed him, was turning an ugly and unnatural black.

Aiko had little time to glance at the nasty dark wound on the poor skewered kid’s leg. She leapt over one of the wide slashes of the creep’s extending blade. One of her clones was caught in the slash, splattering into water. Despite being in mid-air, Aiko was within range of the toothy man to hit him with a genjutsu. Her sharingan flashed.

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique

Suddenly Nuruwaki turned and slashed with his whip-like sword at the empty space behind him.

“Ehh? Ohhh a tricksy one I see,” he frowned in confusion for a moment and then performed a genjutsu release, dispelling the illusion and turning back to face Aiko. However, the distraction created an opening of a few seconds to exploit.

Without hesitation, Aiko made use of her brief opportunity. She weaved another few handsigns, and formed two more clones, ice clones. In unison, they all formed an ice sword in their right hand before sprinting straight at Nuruwaki. Three pairs of sharingan stared right into his eyes.

Nuruwaki had little time to react to the three-pronged assault, but his move was simply to spin on the spot, so that his whip-like sword began spinning around him like a metal tornado, slashing wildly at the air around him as the clones entered into range.

It was just as Aiko predicted. With her free hand, she formed a single hand sign just before the wild blade struck her. Nuruwaki’s blade would only strike a block of ice, followed by two Aiko-shaped ice sculptures that were once her ice clones. The real Aiko was directly above Nuruwaki, dropping downwards at an alarming speed.

Dragon Hammer Flash

With her ice sword grasped tightly in both of her hands, she brought it above her head as she fell, and swung downwards, delivering a powerful strike supplemented by her fall aimed for Nuruwaki’s sword arm.

“Kyaarrgh!” Nuruwaki screamed as Aiko’s sword sliced neatly through his arm. The limb and his whip-like sword fell to the ground limply. Blood gushed from the open wound but Nuruwaki had enough presence of mind to rummage through his sleeve with his remaining arm, drawing a small dagger coated in dark oil.

“You little BRAT!” seethed Nuruwaki, lunging for Aiko’s stomach “You’ll PAY FOR THAT!”

The bandit was sturdier than Aiko had thought, as she swiftly turned and swung her blade sideways through Nuruwaki’s remaining hand. She then proceeded to thrust the blade towards Nuruwaki’s torso, doing to him what he had planned to do to her.

“Nrrrgh! But I...I’m too beautiful to die here,” muttered Nuruwaki weakly, falling to his knees clutching the wound in his chest as he slid off of Aiko’s sword. “Underlings! Save me! Strike her down!” Nuruwaki glanced around with his little remaining strength but the younger bandits that had been following him had all fled as soon as the battle began to turn.

“It’s your own fault you're about to die. Anyone who exploits the weak ain’t worth shit. Now hurry up and die,” Aiko growled.

Aiko released her ice sword, allowing it to disperse in a puff of frost. She picked up the extending sword Nuruwaki had used before his arm was taken, and looked it over briefly.

“Not a bad weapon though… Maybe I can start a collection like Mai’s.”
 
In almost the exact center of the barricade, Nagisa stood, surveying the field as the battle raged. It was hard to tell how well things were going overall and in any case her attention was soon focused in on the group making a beeline for her position. Reasoning the others would be able to look after themselves for a while, Nagisa raised Mizuchi, as she had taken to calling her second, more long range arm, and began peppering the group with arrows, all of which had explosive tags attached to them which detonated once in range.

In the air, all the arrows suddenly split in two and fell to the ground, short of their objective. Amidst the explosions a lone woman walked forward, giving a deep sigh as she pressed her fingers to her eyepatch as if she had a headache.

“A siege should not be this difficult. I guess I’ll take care of this myself. Rest of you louts circle around back, I’ll manage this.”

She didn’t seem to have a weapon visible on her, unlike every samurai about. She did, however, reach into her coat atop her armor, and produced a sword hilt, with a broken blade on top of it. She looked Nagisa dead in the eye with her good eye, and raised her broken sword pointing directly at Nagisa. Nothing seemed to change, then the air between them began to hiss violently.

Nagisa frowned and squinted, trying to figure out what had happened to her arrows. When the bandit leader raised what Nagisa could barely make out as a sword hilt it put her on edge so when she heard a visible hiss her instincts told her to move.

Nagisa dropped down beneath the barricade and strafed to the left several feet. Peering through a gap between two logs in the barricade she picked up her target and launched another volley of arrows, arcing them much more sharply so that if they were destroyed at the same range they would be over the woman and shrapnel and tags would rain down on her position.

Behind Nagisa, a banner that flew over the barricade suddenly had a hole poked through it. The banner stopped waving in the wind, as if held in place by a solid object. As Nagisa disappeared, the woman watched the barricade carefully. She let go of her posture, and the flag started to wave again. She walked forward calmly, and flicked her sword upwards, holding it over her head this time like it was a frying pan. The arrows weren't cut, but seemed to slam into something solid. They exploded with a great force, smoke filling the entire area. Within a few seconds, the figure continued to walk out of the explosion. The smoke seemed to illuminate something within the smoke beyond just a female figure, however. It looked like a bramble bush pattern, stemming from the hilt. It suddenly seemed to writhe, retreating back into the hilt, forming the shape of a simple katana. As she walked through the smoke, the blade became invisible again.

“Flea, tell me your name. I might remember to mark your grave with it. Not often people manage to dodge me. Then again, it could be luck, or I could forget about you in the next 30 seconds. I suppose it’s only fair for me to give mine, something for you to curse at in the next life. I am Kaede, the Broken Bladed.”

Kaede struck forward with a slash with the hilt. Nothing appeared, but again, the air hissed again. A slash would cut deeply across the barricade, though it couldn’t get Nagisa behind it.

The only response to Kaede’s demand was another volley of arrows, although this one was noticeably less accurate as it didn’t come from Nagisa herself, she’d simply detached her longbow arm, propped it up against a block of wood and fired it remotely while she moved further to the left as stealthily as she could manage in the heat of battle. She’d also planted one of Tsuchinoko’s senbon launching mines aimed at the spot where her arm was but Nagisa wasn’t optimistic about such an obvious trap concluding the fight.

Nagisa summoned her regular arm and pressed herself into the barricade, hiding behind one of the supports. How to fight a shapeshifting, invisible weapon? Maybe it wouldn’t be able to shift precisely enough to block attacks? Nagisa loaded a flashbolt into her crossbow and peaked out from her hiding spot.

Kaede shook her head and made a ‘tut’ sound with her tongue. Suddenly her slow walk quickened, and she jumped high into the air. She thrust her hilt towards the source of the arrows.

An invisible blade would strike the arm. Then after a second, the tip exploded outwards with additional blades, splintering the arm into pieces, and piercing several beams nearby. Kaede held onto the blade, and seemed to be pulled by it towards the barricades, the tip very well anchored by the dozens of blades that had exploded from the tip. Landing curtly, she walked forward, seeing the senbon a bit too late.

“Shit!”

She drew her blade in front of her, but thousands of senbon shot outward across the area, embedding deep in the beams. And into her arms and legs. She’d managed to protect her vitals, but was bleeding profusely from the bomb.

“Tch. You think a cheap trap like that’ll do me in? I can still hear you breathing around here! I don’t lead these men for no reason!”

Kaede held her blade angrily, now with both hands.

“Well let’s do something about that then,” Nagisa muttered darkly, stepping out to fire a flashbolt towards Kaede that would detonate in a blinding flash of light and a loud bang whether it hit its mark or was slashed along the way.

With her free hand, Nagisa summoned and threw a handful of her firewheel shurikens, as soon as the flash went off, the gunpowder in them would ignite, speeding them up and altering their trajectory to target Kaede more precisely. Nagisa followed up the shurikens with another flashbolt, tossed upwards instead of fired so that it would land and go off just as the effects of the first blast were wearing off to cover her retreat.

At the muttering, Kaede turned facing directly at the direction of Nagisa, and at the sound of the crossbow firing, she stabbed forward at it, her blade extending at the same speed. The bolt would meet in the middle before going off halfway between. Kaede’s blade would keep going, however, aimed straight at Nagisa’s artificial arm, down through the firing mechanism. The blinding light and bang would cover its path though.

Kaede, however, groaned at the light, unable to see, or much hear.

“DAMNIT! I’VE ONLY GOT ONE GOOD ONE!”

She was blinded enough that she would have a hard time defending against Nagisa. If Nagisa dared take the shot.

Nagisa hissed as she felt something sharp rush past her, stabbing right through her arm, a lance of cold fear stabbing through it as a mirror image. Too close, far too close but at least now she had an opening, her opponent was blind and deaf for a few precious moments, to capitalise she needed to do something unexpected.

Nagisa allowed her crippled body flickered forwards, timing her approach so that she arrived just as the second flashbolt landed, her eyes already closed to mitigate the damage to herself. When she arrived she tapped her lightning flash blade creation seal, producing the last of Tsuchiniko’s mines and planted it, rolling backwards and setting it off to launch another deadly hail of senbon, this one at point blank range.

Kaede couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, but she could feel. And she felt the edge of her blade get lighter as Nagisa must have detached her arm to either approach or flee. Either way Kaede was having none of it.

Leaping high into the air and away from the barricades, towards the town, she turned, her blade for the first time turning visible as chakra amassed inside of it, building up to a huge level. It shook, sounding like a chainsaw above. Kaede slashed forward once, sending an arc straight into the barricade, slashing through the remaining pillars like they were tissue. The entire structure would start to collapse on top of Nagisa.

“I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, but I have the oddest feeling that will do.”

Kaede was panting heavily now, and had little more chakra than to land in town and scamper off.

“Ugh, problem with my sword style is its so damn draining. I’m sure my boys can handle the rest.”

Then, without warning a spear sized bolt impaled her.

“THAT’S FOR TAKING MY LEG YA ARROGANT BITCH!” yelled a familiar voice.

From the second storey of Mayor Kunoshita’s house Tsuchinoko crowed with a gleeful expression, a bulky, ballista like siege device poking out of the window next to him. From the odd lean to his posture it was evident he hadn’t even gotten out of his bed to fire the device.

“LET THAT BE A WARNING TO THE REST OF YA!” The old man shouted from his window. “DON’T FUCK WITH TOYMAKERS!”

From her position on the ground Nagisa groaned, partly with embarrassment but mostly with pain as she gently extracted her leg from the debris it had been pinned under and probed it gently. Definitely broken, but not in need of amputation thank the Gods.

The old man would never let her live that down.
 
“Ow.”

Nagisa hissed sharply as she finally managed to clear the rest of the rubble way and look down at her leg.

Deeeefinitely not supposed to bend that way Nagisa mused, propping herself up with her remaining arm and looking around. The younger bandits Kaede had been leading had got away from her which meant she needed to get back into the fight before they pulled anything.

Nagisa still had the bandages around her arm, if she could find something stiff nearby she could fashion a makeshift splint to keep her leg immobile. She spotted a nearby plank that would do for that but it was just out of reach so Nagisa leaned back and stretched for it…

And something in her leg shifted, sending a hot bolt of pain running up her body.

“Ah fuck! Ow! Fuck! Fuck! OWWW!”

Hideki, being the diligent young man, found himself cleaning up riffraff that were currently within the walls he so painstakingly made other put up. He withdrew the blade from a samurai’s neck, thinking a bit on how the others must be doing if a good few were inside…

He could only imagine what they would do if their leader got…. Huh…. that woman looked important… Rather large spike going through her at that…. Wait a second… What was that noise… it sounds like a familiar pitch of yelling?

…

“Oh hey Nagisa how did- Holy fucking great balls of fire what the hell happened to your leg?” Hideki yelped out when he finally noticed the young woman.

“Some psycho with an invisible, shapeshifting sword, that’s what,” Nagisa muttered darkly, through painfully gritted teeth. “Still if you think this looks bad you should see what happened to her. Now if you’re done gawking can you hand me that plank so I can splint this and get moving? Some of those idiots she had tagging along are still skulking around somewhere,”

“Been killing them as I found em, I dealt with my side and decided to roam to help others… My rabbits are guarding that side any-” he paused and listened, swung the sword and cut into a samurai waiting around the corner, the blade extending and shaping itself unnaturally to reach. “Alright, let's see to that leg.” he sheathed the blade, not wanting to draw any of Nagisa’s blood despite the blade’s urges and began to help her splint her leg.

He’ll admit, his only true medical experience was with this type of thing, fighting Mai tended to… Cause such things, though she never truly went too far, it was likely on somebody else that he was practicing. At least until Mai’s mom came to help.

“Alright… This is gonna hurt... Gotta set the bone..” He lined up the splint and looked up at Nagisa for a second… and then quickly set it before any second thoughts came up, he bit his lip, feeling the pain empathetically.

“Nnrgh!” Nagisa suddenly stiffened where she was lying bit down on her lip hard enough to draw a thin trickle of blood. “Gah, dammit that...stings,” Nagisa exhaled forcefully and then looked away, holding her hand up to Hideki, “I think I saw a pack of them trying to head around to the back of the village, so gimme a hand up and let’s get moving,”

“I don’t think you can run on that leg…” Hideki looked down as he helped her up, looking in the direction the pack was moving. “Damn.. a good 4 of em… Gonna need to move quick…” he had a plan, he was gonna suffer for it, but it was a plan.

“Alright, you handle long range, I’ll handle those who get close.” he put his other hand behind her back and slipped his hand away from her grip to carefully lift her up just underneath her thighs, a full-on princess carry.

And oh boy he would enjoy this if it wasn’t a life or death situation.

“Alright let's go!” Hideki didn’t wait for an answer before trotting off with her in his arms.

“W-what the hell are you doing!? Hideki!?” Nagisa said, her voice suddenly an octave higher than normal. “You idiot put me down! I swear to the Gods I’m gonna jam a kunai so far up-” Nagisa broke off her tirade as a bandit rounded the corner, gaping at the unusual pair until Nagisa summoned a kunai to her hand and launched it through his throat.

“Urggh fine, I give up,” Nagisa muttered, slumping into Hideki’s arms instead of struggling. If she’d been on her own she would have struggled to make that throw while propping herself up. This way at least this ridiculous mission would be over sooner.

“If you let the Old Man see this I really will kill you though,” she added, as an afterthought.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Hideki hid his laughter, god she was cute… And still deadly even with only one arm working.

Best kind of lady really, but Tsuchinoko couldn’t see them from where he was right? ...Was… that laughter he heard just then?

Spotting a samurai coming up on the young man leapt up and dealt a kick right into the samurai’s nose, breaking it. “Sorry, had to jump, two more coming!" he nodded in a direction of two men with raised swords rushing forwards.

“Just try to not bounce me around so much!” Nagisa snapped, summoning a fan of shuriken that ignited into spinning wheels of fire a moment after she threw them, thudding into the bandits with surprising force.

“There’s one coming up behind you,” she warned as the sound of footsteps crept up on them behind Hideki’s back.

At the warning the young man curled his arms closer, bringing Nagisa in so she didn’t get hit the movement was rough, he barely thought of it at the time as he brought his head low, his face a bit dangerously close to his injured friend’s, and kicked the man directly in the hip sending him back.

Abit dangerously close indeed, for he may have accidentally planted a light peck on her forehead… But certainly, she didn’t notice, right?

Danger was around, it wasn’t even a full kiss…

Nagisa made a strange, squeaking noise and jerked in Hideki’s arms, her forehead colliding with his chin inadvertently

“The hell are you trying to pull Ukita!” she demanded, her voice still high as she reached over Hideki’s shoulder to finish off the bandit he had kicked by summoning one of Tsuchinko’s senbon firing turrets and firing it at the bandit while it was still in her hands. “Was this your plan all along? You... You perv! Arrrgh!”

“I had to pull you close so you wouldn’t be hit!" the young man tongued his teeth, finding them all in place… is now a tiny bit bloody, he didn’t want to get his teeth back in a second's time, Mai was bad enough the first time…

“It was an accident, that's all!" he spotted movement and delivered a kick towards another samurai’s neck, bringing them both rather low to the ground for a moment as he angled his strike. “Honest to god! How many of these idiots are there!” he looked around spotting at least three left… though... He could feel an odd feeling that he was being glared at from the shadows in one of the houses…

Well... They both were at least.

“I’m so over this,” Nagisa sighed, producing an explosive tag that she stuck to a kunai and hurled at the trio, engulfing all three in a deadly explosion.

As the smoke cleared it revealed a single, panic stricken bandit surveying the carnage with a pale face.

“You wanna go too? Huh??" Nagisa snarled at him. “Try it, I’ll freaking strangle you with my one hand,”

Slowly the young bandit dropped his katana and raised his empty hands above his head.

Hideki let out a long sigh, shaking his head… “Well… at least we’ve cleared all the others…” he brought Nagisa to a nearby wall to lean on so he could deal with the last bandit and the - rather shitty now that he looked at it - sword he had around. Grabbing some rope that was conveniently placed nearby he tied up the hands and feet of the man and tossed him into the more centralized part of town. “Alright, What’s the plan now? Think you can walk a bit?”

”Stupid boys..always trying to carry people…” mumbled Nagisa incoherently, she was slumping against the wall where Hideki had left her with her eyes closed, plainly finally out of energy and asleep.
 
Farewells & Finales
​
The battle wound to a close, though not unscathed, the shinobi and their charges were all still alive and after the grim business of burying the dead bandits was concluded the mood quickly turned jubilant and a hasty celebration was planned.

There was nowhere large enough to fit all the villagers so everyone carried their tables out and set them together in the village square, every house was turned to the cooking of generous, hearty village fair, Kunoshita oversaw all of the preperations, strutting about like a kindly shogun. Tsuchinoko sat around, laughing and getting drunk and waylaying anyone who strayed too close to his table to tell them about how he had personally slain the leader of the bandits to save his young apprentice, the story becoming ever more extravagant and dramatic each time he told it.

In a few short hours the village square was transformed into a massive outdoor party, with torches assembled from the wreckage of the damaged palisade providing warm, flickering light as the sun began to set.

"If I could have everybody's attention for a moment!" Called Kunoshita, tapping on his glass with a spoon to dim the crowd's goodnatured chatter. "I'd like to propose a toast in honor of our guests of honor and heroes! The Shinobi of the Leaf!"

A cheer went up as people raised their glasses and then followed up with a round of enthusiastic applause.

"Alright everybody dig in!" Kunoshita said, adding with mock sternness. "I don't want anybody going home hungry, especially you five! In fact you're more than welcome to stay as long as you like, Nagisa at least will be staying a few days,"

"W-wait, what!?" Nagisa looked startled. One of the villagers had proven to be a deft hand with medicinal herbs and her injured leg was safely ensconsed in a medicinal cast that helped to numb the pain and propped up on an extra chair so that she could join in the festivities safely.

"Surely you weren't thinking of walking home on that?" Kunoshita asked primly.

"Well- I-"

"Absolutely not! Not after everything you've done for us! you'll stay at least until you're healed up, I'm sure you're superiors will understand, I authorised the mission in the first place so I'll write an explanation to be attached to my payment."

"Of course I need to fix that arm of yours, no sense you going to the trouble while you're injured!" Tsuchinoko chimed in with a malicious grin. "Of course I'm getting so old these days it might take me a while, but in the meantime we can reminisce! So many fun stories from childhood we can share!"

"And of course you're all welcome to stay as well," Kunoshita said to the others, at some point someone had refilled his cup with more sake and he was starting to get rather red cheeked. The more the merrier!"

Nagisa looked panicstricken, not entirely sure whether she wanted not to be left alone with her Teacher or whether she wanted them to leave before he could embarrass her any more.
 
Hideki Ukita & Yumi Nomokori

Thinking of the Future...​


Hideki was thrilled to bits with the feast prepared for them, hell it was what he needed after such a great work out. Plus, he was drained of chakra, so this was just what his body needed. And it also gets his mind off the fact he made two blunders with their team leader in this mission.

But all will be well, everything will be fine.

As long as he doesn't choke on this steak first.

He was gnawing on the t bone for a second when he spotted somebody familiar at the kid’s table nearby, Yumi, seems like she got along alright after that small problem… well it was a rather big issue considering being taken hostage often scars some people for life, but hey, she performed pretty well under pressure.

He eyed his plate once more, seeing that it is bare once more. “Damn… wonder what's left?”

“You got’s to eat more vegetables!” the earnest, slightly lispy voice came from below Hideki’s field of view. One of the children had wandered off from the table set aside for them and was regarding Hideki with a serious expression that looked comical on her young features. “Yumi says we gots to eat our vegetables or no dessert!”

“Whaa! Maki you can’t wonder off like that,” out of nowhere Yumi appeared, her voice rather breathless as she had run over. “I’m sorry,” she said to Hideki “She wasn’t bothering you too much was she?”

Hideki was holding in a bout of laughter, aww crap she was so cute! Well, the kid was too, all pouty and stuff, but seems Yumi is keeping an eye on the kids.

“Nah nah it’s alright, can’t say shes wrong though, need to get more veggies in me.” he smirked, cracking his neck, sore from having been slouching over food. He’ll admit, he was more bubbly than usual, granted he also may have taken… Some liberties in terms of what he should and should not have drank during this feast.

It was just a sip or seven, no big deal… Sure he felt kinda… Weird…But he felt great!

“Watching over the kids eh? You seem pretty good with em.” Hideki made small talk, he just wanted to go give a congrats to all his friends, spread all this fluffy feelings he had up inside himself.

“Oh ehh, hehe, well I just like to help out where I can and looking after them is normally pretty easy,” Yumi said, her cheeks turning pink.

“Are you two gonna get married?” asked Maki poefaced, eliciting a short gasp from Yumi. “M-Maki! That’s enough out of you!” she said, trying and failing to take a stern tone. “Go back to the table and get some dessert! Go on! Shoo!”

Hideki let out a loud trail of snickering. “God..” he could barely hold it in. “Jeeze, save the princess once and the kingdom thinks I’m gonna marry her.” he smirked. “Though she certainly saved herself more than I did. Got quite a bite on yea eh?”

“Sh! Shh!” Yumi looked around frantically and then sighed. “I’m always telling the little ones off for biting people, if this gets out I’ll never here the end of it. Besides, it’s not like I had some kind of genius plan, if you weren’t there it would have just made things worse,”

“Ooh, maybe I should tell somebody about it eh?” he teased. “Hmm, old man Tsuchinoko would love to hear the story about the princess’s iron jaws.” he waved it off. “Well, had I been more proactive you definitely wouldn’t had been taken… Real sorry about that Yumi…” he put a hand on her shoulder.

“Should’ve have had to see any of that.”

“Jeez you’re so mean!” Yumi pouted and punched Hideki lightly in the bicep before turning more serious. “It’s really okay though… it’s given me a lot to think about,” Yumi hesitated a moment before continuing. “Is learning ninjutsu and stuff hard? I mean, I know it’s not easy, but is it something that’s impossible for most people?

“Learning ninjutsu…?” he paused for a moment. “Well, if we’re talking actual ninjutsu, that's what I’m best at. I’ve trained long and hard to get to the level I’m at, and I had to go to the academy to learn the basics. I never imagined I’d go so heavily into ninjutsu… But here I am…

Or.. do you mean doing what ninja do? Cause that's a whole conversation on it’s own.” the young man began rattling off what he knew. “That said… With the right training and dedication anybody can do it, I’d imagine you could even get the basics down by just book reading and trying it out..”

“I’ve been thinking of asking Tsuchinoko to teach me,” Yumi said quietly. “Yesterday I felt… so scared but I was also angry. Angry that I couldn’t do anything, that I had to rely on on other people to protect my home. If I can possibly do something about it, I don’t want to feel like that again,”

The young man sized up Yumi, blinking a few times and nodded. “...The world needs more people like you. And I think you have what it takes to be a ninja. But you have to provide the effort, to hold onto that drive to learn how to fight. There… Are many people out there who think they are better than us, who can take those we love and rule simply because they have some damn bloodline… But people like you and me, we show them just how wrong it is to think only people with such things are worthy of standing tall.

If you ask me, I think you should walk the path. But only you can choose that path…” Hideki trailed off before scratching at his head.

“...Man… Way to kill the mood Hideki.” he sighed, chastising himself. Hell he even voiced the damn bloodline shit. Crap, what was in that punch?

“I think the world needs more people like you too,” Yumi said, touching his arm gently before looking away suddenly.

“See! I told you, they’re totally gonna get married!” Maki had reappeared, with a gaggle of bright eyed hanger-ons, the children were looking up curiously at the two teenagers from underneath one of the nearby tables. To her credit, it seemed the child had followed Yumi’s instructions, she was clutching a slowly melting bowl of ice cream she must have picked up from somewhere before doubling back to do more spying.

“Argh you little monsters!” wailed Yumi, making a playful run at the pack of children, which caused them to scatter, squealing with delight and mock terror as they fled in different directions. When the children were gone Yumi and Hideki were left standing some distance apart, facing each other.

“Alright I’ve made my mind up,” Yumi said, smiling at him, her eyes were shining, reflecting the warm, flickering light of a nearby torch. “I’m gonna get stronger! The next time you come back to the Village of Toymakers I’ll show you what I can do!” Then her smile flickered slightly. “You are coming back, right? You’ll visit us?”

Hideki couldn’t help but blush with all the kid’s teasing. Married huh? Kids just being kids…. He.. wasn’t far off in truth… he was barely into his teens… He felt so old already thought… He took a moment to gaze at the big shining eyes staring at him, expecting an answer. She wanted to become stronger, she had the potential, hell the guts to do it as well.

“Alright, I promise that I’ll come back. I’m gonna be pretty busy moving forwards, but I’ll definitely find time to come back alright? Try and stop by if you come to Konoha, my door will always be open.” why not after all? She may prove a valuable ally in the future, plus it never hurt to see such a cutie again right?

Orikanyo Orikanyo
 
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