Chapter 19
HIKARI HYUGA
Asuma Sarutobi was a rather good teacher. The man had the patience of a saint, and his prior experience as a sensei showed itself as he helped each of them progress in their skill set.
It took Shikamaru and Ino a few days to get the hang of water walking, after which he had them spar with him constantly. Hikari himself had learned a few tricks from the man about Katon, but until his issue with his sword was resolved, Hikari had hit a sort of roadblock.
He relied mostly on kenjutsu, and the jounin had happily admitted his lack of expertise in the field, and so he was thinking about taking up his former mentor's offer and call up the kunoichi named Uzuki Yugao, which was cat herself obviously.
A week passed like this, and just as they were about to begin their training for the day, an urgent summons came for their team from the Hokage office, as they all rushed towards the central building.
As they entered the room, a somber-looking Sandaime Hokage leaned forward on his desk and eyed his son.
"I have an urgent mission for you, team ten," and his heart immediately sank at those words, as the old man continued.
"We have just received a message from tea eight requesting urgent aid," and it was Ino who spoke first.
"But that's Sakura and Choji's team," and the Hokage nodded.
"Yes, they were given a C-ranked mission to guard a ship builder from the Country of Waves," and Hikari felt his mind shift as soon as he heard those words, for this was the third time that things had changed now, without his active interference.
"But they were ambushed during the journey by a rather powerful group of men. We do not yet have all the details, but your team is ordered to rush to their aid at once," and it was not only Shikamaru and Ino who worried for their friends.
Asuma Sarutobi's chakra had flickered at the mention of Team Eight as well, and for good reason, for Team Eight was headed by none other than Kurenai Yuhi, which made him wonder if this was the Hokage doing his son a favor, and acting as his wingman.
It was a rather morbid thought, but one that he filed away in the back of his head, as their sensei took the scroll and saluted to the aged shinobi.
"Team ten accepts the mission," and with that, they stepped out of the building, and the jounin turned to them with a serious expression.
"Gather your gear in an hour, and meet me at the gate," and they all nodded in unison.
"Yes, sensei," and Hikari had long gotten used to such missions, and so it took him around half an hour to put together all that he would need. From chakra bombs to sealing scrolls, to sets of kunai and shuriken, and so forth.
With his preparations finished, he came to the gate with fifteen minutes to spare and found their sensei waiting for him there.
The man leaned against the wall, smoking more rapidly than ever, his anxiety hidden from them all except from him.
"You are early," he asked, and Hikari shrugged.
"I was done with my planning," but that was not the full reason.
"And I had a few questions about the mission?" and the jounin smirked.
"I expected as much," as he motioned for him to speak up.
"Ask away," he encouraged.
"Why is a genin team being dispatched for this mission. Why isn't the Hokage sending out ANBU and so forth? Anyway, he thought, this was at least a B-ranked mission, so handing it off to a genin team felt somewhat odd to him.
"Why do you think?" and if he had an answer, he could not have asked him that question.
"Does it have something to do with Wave's location?" he took an educated guess, and the Sarutobi jounin nodded.
"Almost," he answered and took out his cigarette, as both of them stood side by side against the wall, waiting for Ino and Shikamaru.
"Waves' location makes it a rather important area. It can act as a bridge between Konoha and the lands to the west, but the country has long ties with Kirigakure," and he knew well that Kiri was busy in its civil war, which had made it so that Waves no longer had Kiri to rely on.
"The country is in trouble, and would be indebted to whichever nation helps them out through these times," and that would mean discounts and trade alliances, which would benefit Konoha.
"So, we need to do this in the open so that the people of Wave may know exactly who came to their aid in their troubled times," and the jounin nodded.
"Yes, and as for dispatching a simple genin team," the man eyed him sharply.
"We are not exactly a regular genin team now, are we, Sparrow?" and he should have guessed as much, but still, for him to know even his codename. That was a bit of a surprise.
But being the Hokage's son sure had its perks.
"We don't know the details yet, but I will need you to keep an eye on things, Hikari," and he nodded.
"Of course, Asuma-sensei," and just then the final two members of their team appeared, ready to depart. Their worries were apparent on their faces as Asuma Sarutobi addressed them all.
"I would have liked to ease you lot into the life of a shinobi, but this is no longer training. The enemies we face today are ninjas. Deadly, powerful ninjas, do you understand that?" and they all nodded.
"Yes."
"Good, let us go..." and so they jumped forward, and blurred through the forest. They jumped from one tree to another, the movements second nature to all Konoha shinobi, and after running for about six hours, they came upon the lake where Team Eight had been ambushed.
The signs of battle were obvious, for the ground had been torn up, a few trees burnt to a crisp, and scorch marks on the ground. There were a few splatters of blood, and Hikari touched them to see if it was wet or not.
"Dry," he whispered.
"These are not recent," he mentioned, and Asuma Sarutobi nodded as he began to eye the area, looking for a clue.
"If they had retreated, we would have met them on the way back," Asuma reasoned out.
"So, we move forward," and so they continued their journey and rushed towards Wave, and as they neared the desolate town, he immediately heard the bark of a familiar dog as Ino and Shikamaru frowned.
"That's..."
"...Akamaru," he whispered, and soon enough, two boys ran towards them from the tree, pale and worried with blood still caked on their clothes.
"You are here," Kiba spoke in relief.
"Ino! Shikamaru!" Choji called out with relief, as Asuma-san smiled.
"You must be Kurenai's pupils. Where is she?" he asked, and saw their expressions shift as Ino.
"And where is Sakura?" Ino questioned.
"You have to come with us...."
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ASUMA SARUTOBI
The situation was worse than he could have ever hoped. Kurenai lay there in bed, with bandages wrapped all over her body, her pale skin had become even paler because of blood loss.
They had expected their opponents to be shinobi, but even Asuma had been surprised upon hearing the name of the Demon of the Mist. Zabuza Momochi was not a regular shinobi.
He was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which put him amongst the strongest in Kiri, and the even worse part was that he was not even acting alone.
"Three accomplices," he whispered, and Kurenai nodded as Hikari healed her injuries using his iryo-ninjutsu. The town people and the shipbuilders' family had done well to bandage and treat her, but nothing could compare to the expertise of an iryo-nin, even if they were amateurs.
"Yes," Kurenai eeked out, her voice a whisper as her team all stood there, wallowing in despair and shame.
"Initially, we thought that there were only two other people with him, and I took them out quickly," Kurenai retold him the tale of her confrontation.
"I knew that Zabuza was trouble and decided early on that we had to retreat, so I distracted him using genjutsu and then took out his two accomplices within seconds and asked my team to retreat with Tazuna-san," and the ship builder was here as well, and Asuma would have words with him and the chief of this town for how they had tried to scam their village.
He sympathised with their plight, but their actions had put Kurenai's life in danger, and that angered him a lot.
"But Zabuza was able to break free from the genjutsu and cornered us again. I engaged him, hoping to buy time for my genin, and it was looking hopeful, until he appeared," and she bit her lip at that, her fists balling up.
"He had a mask on his face," Choji began, and he moved so fast that we couldn't do anything.
"We tried to fight the bastard, but none of our attacks did anything, and then Sakura..." and the reason for the sour mood was the absence of the pink haired girl, which drove everyone in the room to the for though Team Eight had been able to save Tazuna-san from the entire ordeal, the endeavour had ended up costing them one of their own.
The pink-haired girl had tried to follow in Kurenai's footsteps and had tried to buy time for her teammates, but unlike Zabuza, her opponent had a far sounder mind and body. This masked shinobi had rebuffed her genjutsu and had then taken her away, and with Kurenai injured severely, her team had no choice but to mount an escape.
"Is she still alive?" he asked, and saw Ino perk up at his words, the blonde's face filled with grief and worry.
"Yes," and it was the shipbuilder who answered.
"Yes," he said and gave him a piece of paper detailing the offer of an exchange.
"This was nailed to the town's entrance yesterday," and it was a simple offer, asking them to hand over Tazuna for the return of Sakura.
"And I intend to accept the exchange," the old man declared to the surprise of everyone in the room.
"Father!" his daughter, Tsunami, called out as the man raised his hand and looked him in the eye.
"This is all my fault. If I had been forthright with your village, then that pink-haired girl would have been safe," and there was genuine remorse on his face.
"I am ready to atone for my sins with my life," and then he put his head to the floor.
"But please, protect this town. Protect my family," and the decision was strange.
"Please help us. My father and that bridge are our only hope," the shipbuilder's daughter came in and pleaded as Asuma found himself in a bind.
He could not abandon one of their own, but rescuing the girl while completing the mission would be very difficult. He had read a bit about Gato and how he worked.
The man could not be trusted to keep a bargain, but that was not everything.
Kurenai was barely alive, and she had admitted to him that Zabuza Momochi was definitely in a better condition than she, and that the only way they had managed to escape had been through a kinjutsu of hers.
The man had nearly killed her, and Asuma was not one to let it go, both for this mission and for revenge.
"As angry as I am at you for trying to deceive our village, I am also sympathetic to your plight," Asuma declared as he inhaled a deep puff of smoke. He looked at the team and made a plan in his mind.
"We will help you save your town, but from now on, you must do exactly as you are told. Do you understand?" he asked, looking the old man in the eye, as he nodded.
"Yes, thank you," he added with some relief as his daughter began to cry and thank him profusely, and as the two left the room, Ino spoke up, in a whisper.
"She is going to be fine, right, sensei?" she asked desperately, and he hated the fact that he could not nod and reassure her with full confidence.
"Sakura," and her two teammates all looked down in embarrassment as Asuma looked at the setting Sun and told them of his plan.
"We are going to break up into two teams...."
.
.
.
Miles away in an abandoned building, a masked shinobi stood beside an angry and frustrated Zabuza Momochi, as she voiced out.
"Zabuza-sama," the masked nin whispered, as the Demon of the Mist snarled in rage.
"We have a problem...."
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