"Before we can consider any rescue missions, Naruto's security comes first."
"What're you talking about? Trap or no trap, have you even seen him fight? He can take care of himself! Right, Naruto?"
With another jolt, Naruto realized that Rai had turned to him for backup.
...
Rationally speaking, it was a no-brainer. Assuming that Jiraya's intel was accurate and Akatsuki was a true threat, it would be senseless for Naruto to stay in Wave country. He had not forgotten the results of his previous confrontation with Kakuzu. Despite Rai's confidence in him, he had been powerless then, and though he hated to admit it, he would be powerless now. The best option would be to return to Konoha with the rest of his team, alert the Hokage, and if possible, send out an elite rescue force.
Although of course by then, it could be too late.
Everyone else had fallen silent, waiting for his response. Rai's ferocious expression was starting to become undone, with the beginnings of fear taking its place.
Naruto knew what was being asked of him. It had been a long time coming—ever since the day he and his teammates sat around a campfire in a dark crystal cave.
The situation was almost comical. How had a simple bodyguard mission turned out this way? The Hokage had said it was a mission to help him gain experience and if he did well, he would be considered for a position as a jōnin. A jōnin was a ninja who had the ability to make tough, split-second decisions in the face of conflict. The question was, which did he choose? The continued security of the rest of his team and the village? That was the smart, jōnin bet. Or would he gamble it all away for an unnecessarily high-risk rescue mission?
He wondered what Kakashi would have done...and shook his head. It really was a no-brainer.
Naruto cleared his throat. "We're not leaving without them."
It looked like he wouldn't be getting that promotion any time soon.
Leaving behind Shirakumo's genin team to guard the safe house, they immediately left the settlement. Luckily for the group, Jiraiya's earlier session with Zabuza's henchwomen had yielded several answers that were starting to prove more and more useful—mainly, the location of Gatō's main hideout. It was situated in the middle of the marshlands, hidden from any uninformed eyes by dense mist.
As they made their way through the forest, deftly hiding the sounds of their progress, the going was tense. The group's feelings were mixed on the matter, that much was obvious.
While Shirakumo hadn't seemed too happy about the decision, he had bent his knee once Jiraiya showed his support. His face lined with apprehension, the jōnin accompanied them now in grudging silence.
A chūnin who the others had called Sai wore a smile on his face like a mask. Jiraiya mentally marked him as one to watch.
The other chūnin with the similar sounding name—Rai, was it? Though he was the most ordinary of the lot, he seemed equally the most driven in this rescue mission. Whether his enthusiasm would serve to be a hindrance or not remained to be seen.
And finally... Naruto. Going by the reports Jiraiya had heard over the past several years, he wouldn't have expected such brashness from the boy. It seemed there was more of his mother in him than he'd thought.
Jiraiya wasn't a fool. At a minimum, what awaited them were three S-level missing-nin. While he had confidence in his own abilities, even with a jōnin of Shirakumo's caliber and three skilled chūnin by his side, he had no doubt it would turn out to be a very close fight.
However—though he would never admit this to the others—he was never one to pass up an opportunity to save a damsel in distress. Moreover, Naruto's decision on the matter intrigued him, and Jiraiya was willing to see where it took them.
"Have you tried to control the Nine-tails' chakra yet?" he asked.
Naruto's expression didn't change. "Once."
He left it at that.
The boy didn't trust Jiraiya. He couldn't blame him—in all his years of absence, he was a complete stranger to Naruto. Of course, Jiraiya had his reasons: He'd been away under the Third's orders, tracking down and gathering information regarding Akatsuki. Nonetheless, it was an undeniable truth that he had neglected his duty as godfather.
Perhaps, Jiraiya thought to himself, after all this was done and settled with, it was time that he trained the boy.
...
The journey by ship had taken the better part of three days, but running at top speed across the water surface, Kakashi covered the same distance in a matter of hours. As soon as the mist began to fade and the coastline appeared in the horizon, he began his retrieval strategy:
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"
A black seal appeared momentarily on the water's surface, and in a cloud of smoke, his ninken pack appeared by his side. Kakashi held out the only thing he had been able to find on the ship—a cloak that Naruto's shadow clone had presumably been wearing.
"I'll need you guys to get to work right away."
Once his hounds had the scent, they ran off ahead of Kakashi towards the main island.
Reaching the shore, he immediately noticed the difference since he had last left it several days before. In the place of the once crowded, worn-down settlement, there was now a muted emptiness. Buildings appeared to have been smashed to pieces. What had been destitute before had been replaced by complete and utter abandonment. The only sign of activity was smoke, rising in the distance from the forest.
Had there been an attack in the city? Where had everyone gone?
Kakashi picked his way through the settlement, noting several strewn bodies in the rubble. Thankfully, none of them wore the Leaf hitai-ate.
At the edges of the settlement, one of his hounds returned to him.
"Did you get anything?" asked Kakashi.
"There's a fresh trail that leads from the city and through the forest," said Pakkun. "But I also found someone wandering around, with whiffs of the scent."
Pakkun led him deeper into the forest, and soon, Kakashi spotted an older bespectacled man leaning against a tree trunk for support. After a moment, he recognized him as Tazuna, the man Naruto and the rest of his team had been staying with.
"I'm not your enemy," Kakashi said, stopping before him.
Letting out a surprised yelp, Tazuna fell backwards and began scrabbling on the ground. "Who are you?! Are you here to finish me off?!"
"I'm a ninja from Konoha, and I'm looking for Naruto and his team. Can you tell me what's happened and where they are?"
The older man hesitated, his eyes squinting suspiciously at Kakashi's masked face. "They...let me go, but they kept the girl. They told me to tell Naruto and the others. I have to find them now..."
Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. "'They'? Could you tell me where they are?"
...
It was more difficult than Mayu had expected, getting through the marshlands. The joy she had felt when she had first left the cave had since dissipated into a rising sense of trepidation as the elements took a turn for the worse. The fog grew thick and heavy, and the air turned freezing.
Continuing onwards, Mayu carried herself on thoughts of how her teammates would react when she reached the safe house. Rai would be the first to react; he'd be grinning widely, punching her on the shoulder for making him worry. Naruto would be standing to the side, not saying much as usual, but with a relieved look in his eyes and one less burden weighing him down.
Once they were back in Konoha, she thought, she would have to buy them bowls of ramen to make up for it. Kakashi-sensei would be there too, and Rai would be complaining about Sai. Naruto would be...would be...
The mist was thick. Too thick.
Mayu's heart began pounding.
She remembered this fog; it was not natural. It was a ninjutsu. It had been how her captors had first gotten away...
It all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, she was alone in the fog with her thoughts. The next, she was flanked on both sides. An unnatural gust of wind blew away some of the nearby mist, revealing two dark figures, one tall and one short.
Mayu felt hot bile rising in her throat, but she pushed it back. In a flash, she made the appropriate signs with her hands and an instant later, her bluebirds were unfurling themselves from her hair.
Naruto. Rai. Please find them.
Drawing back in a defensive position, Mayu took in a deep breath. She wasn't completely defenseless; though she didn't have any of her weapons, she still had her genjutsu. She could buy some time with that.
Her birds would dissipate the moment she died, but if it was the last thing she did, she would warn her team.
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