“Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura called out to her former teacher.
With a slow tilt of his head, the jounin glanced over at the female member of the team, never once halting in his leisurely pace. The Haruno quickened her stroll to walk beside her team leader, glancing behind at the group of shinobi following. Naruto was far beyond his comrades, running ahead to get to their destination sooner, yet always having to slow down to wait for the others to keep up with his eagerness. Sai was strolling behind Kakashi and Sakura, seemingly uncaring and nonchalant about the entire thing, though the medic did notice a slight confusion in his eyes as he observed his orange-loving teammate bouncing around in the distance, beckoning them all to hurry up. Behind Team Kakashi were the rest of the ninja that were partaking in the escort-and-protect mission: the other teams of what was the Rookie Nine.
“What’s up, Sakura?” Kakashi asked as he peeked over at her out of the corner of his unshielded eye. He watched her stir out of her thoughts as she looked back to him from staring at their teammates. “Something troubling you?”
The girl bit her lip nervously as she lightly scratched her pink head. “I was just thinking… We’re going up against an entire crew of pirates. Are we going to be enough to stop them if they attack us?”
The masked man shoved his hands in his pockets as he continued to walk. “You’re doubting yourself and your teammates before we even get there? That’s not very encouraging.”
Emerald eyes widened in a panic as Sakura suddenly started frantically waving her hands in disagreement. “No no, it’s not that. It’s just…” After a moment of calming her nerves and chewing on her bottom lip again, she continued with, “This Suiheisen… They’ve never been caught before so… How are we supposed to do that?”
“Our mission isn’t to capture them,” a lazy voice drawled from behind. Kakashi and Sakura turned to see Shikamaru walking idly up to stride beside them. “We’re supposed to protect the Wave Country’s daimyo, and that’s it.”
“There will still be pirates to deal with,” Sakura countered. “We’re going to have to engage them in battle, that’s pretty inevitable.”
Shikamaru huffed at this before he sighed and slumped his head back in an attempt to look at the clouds through the dense forestation. “Yeah… that’ll be a drag.”
“You mean awesome!” Kiba barked as he dashed up to run ahead of them. Seated atop his large mangy hound, the wolf-like boy turned back to look at the shinobi in their serious conversation. “Taking on a whole pack of pirates, this mission is gonna be sick!”
Sakura’s lips pulled into a frown as she watched the overly exuberant Inuzuka. His excitement was comparable to her whiskered teammate at most times. “Kiba, this isn’t a game. Take this mission seriously.”
“Bah, you’re such a stick in the mud, Sakura,” the tattooed boy laughed loudly as Akamaru galloped a little further away. “Fighting some worthy opponents, this is the kind of stuff I’ve been waiting for! They’re not gonna stand a chance against us.”
Kakashi shook his head at this. “You shouldn’t be so enthusiastic, Kiba. You don’t know what you’re going up against. These pirates are infamous for-”
“OI! SLOWPOKES!” Naruto’s obnoxious voice interrupted from in the distance. His arms were waving frantically back and forth over his head to gain the attention of his comrades. “Hurry up! We need to get this daimyo so we can get Inari back! Let’s go!”
Shikamaru sighed as he watched the brightly-colored figure ahead of them. “Pirates… Hostages… Daimyos…” he uttered as he and the rest of the large group picked up the pace to carry on with their assignment and reach their destination, “this mission is too troublesome.”
**********************************************************
A light knock on his door made Juro look up from the paperwork on his desk. With an absentminded “Enter,” he watched as his assistant strolled into his office, a slightly nervous expression etched into her delicate features. “What is it, Miu?”
“The Leaf shinobi have arrived, milord,” she murmured as she looked up at him through her downward-tilted face. Her green eyes were hooded by her bangs, and even though her posture was formal, her head was pointed to the ground as she watched him.
The daimyo nodded and stood from his seat, brushing out his elegant robes so that he was presentable for his guests. He could feel his katana tucked snugly against his side beneath his flowing silk robes; he wanted to be sure the fact he had a weapon went unnoticed.
As he strode toward the door, he noticed that Miu was still standing to the side looking downward, her hands fidgeting anxiously in front of her. Juro frowned at this as he turned to the young girl. “What’s wrong, Miu? You look like you still have something to say.”
The fair-skinned woman whimpered slightly at this. “It’s just… I wonder if asking Konohagakure for assistance was the best choice…”
Juro cocked an eyebrow at this. “Do you question my judgment, Miu?”
The poor girl instantly went into a panic at this, waving her once uneasy hands in front of her frantically. “No no, of course not, milord!” At her leader’s expectant gaze, she calmed herself, her voice returning to its quiet tone. “It’s just that… I don’t think the Hokage sent enough teams to protect you against the Suiheisen.”
This only made Juro frown again. However, not wanting to send his young assistant into another nervous frenzy, he gave her a reassuring smile. “Even if there are not enough shinobi to accompany me, do not underestimate my own ability.” He clamped a wrinkled yet strong hand on her shoulder and winked at her. “This geezer ain’t that old yet.”
Miu blinked at first at his comforting behavior before she gave him a small smile in return. “As you say, Lord Juro.” With a bit more reassurance now, the assistant left the room and led her employer down the hall. The daimyo followed her until she stopped in front of a large sliding screen door. The beige transparent screen was intricately designed with the shapes of waves washing up on the shore and the vast ocean melding with the horizon. Juro nodded to the female, sending her away, before he pulled back the screen himself and stepped into the throne room.
On the left side of the room rested the daimyo’s seat, a simple wooden yet overly cushioned throne elevated by a large mahogany platform that stretched from wall to wall. Laid out before the wood stage were several tatami mats, each providing a seat for one of the Leaf shinobi Juro had hired. Each ninja immediately bowed forward in respect, touching their chins to the ground. As the daimyo proceeded up the steps to his throne, he kept his eyes trained on the squads that had come to Wave Country. He was starting to realize why Miu might have worried so much. Three teams of four, only three of those twelve being adults; hopefully those older ninja were jounin. But the remaining makeup of the teams were all teenagers. Juro wasn’t exactly sure how much faith he was willing to put into a bunch of kids.
The Blue Tiger of the Mist must be this same age though, he thought in an attempt to reassure himself. But then again… she was a prodigy in some ways…
Swallowing his disdain at the selected shinobi, the man seated himself in his chair and looked out to his audience. He set aside some hope that the Hokage had picked at least some formidable ninja for him on this mission.
“Welcome to the Land of Waves, Leaf shinobi,” he said politely, sweeping a calloused hand in a formal and friendly gesture.
“We’re honored to have the opportunity to assist you, Lord Daimyo,” Kurenai said with a bow.
Juro nodded. “As I’m sure you all know, I have hired you to escort me into our main port village while I convene with the Blue Tiger of the Mist of the Suiheisen.”
“We were also told our job was to protect you should it be evident that the pirates wish to harm you,” Asuma commented.
At this, the lord frowned, rubbing his stubbly chin as he slowly shook his head. “You may strike the Suiheisen if that is what it comes to. But you all are not to touch the captain.”
The latter statement seemed to shock the ninja, as most of them gawked and uttered words of surprise, questioning his reasoning and wondering about his logic. A few of them loudly voiced their astonishment by yelling at him, asking what it was exactly that he was thinking.
With a sigh, Juro held up his hand, quietly demanding silence, and instantly, the ninja fell hushed out of respect. “I am to meet with the Blue Tiger, but I wish to be alone when I do so. And I want any attempt of an attack on the captain to be by my own doing.”
“Lord Juro, as your hired escort team, we cannot allow for you to be alone with such a dangerous criminal,” Kakashi said with a shake of his head.
The daimyo stood from his throne, his back braced and shoulders strongly set as he stared down at the shinobi from his higher position on the platform. “I hired you shinobi, and therefore, you are to follow my orders. I appreciate your dedication to helping, however, I am demanding that you all stay away from the Blue Tiger.”
The Leaf ninja glanced about uncertainly amongst one another, trying to decipher the situation and whether this was a good idea. The jounin shared pointed looks between each other, having a silent conversation with only eye contact. After a few quiet moments of the squad captains attempting to arrive at a decision, they turned back to their client.
“Alright, Lord Juro,” Asuma said, “we’ll do as you say. We won’t touch the Suiheisen’s captain.”
“Are you sure you won’t at least have us with you when you meet with the Blue Tiger of the Mist?” Kurenai asked with a bit of concern.
The old man answered almost immediately with, “Yes, I want this meeting to be just between the captain and me.”
Even after his decision had been made final, Juro noticed that some of the ninja still looked a bit weary at his words. As foolish as it may be on his part to take on an S-class criminal on his own, he would be damned if he let these strangers, no matter how much faith he was putting in them to protect him against the Suiheisen, near his old acquaintance without him having his piece with her first.
“Well then,” the masked jounin began lazily as he stood up, “shall we begin our departure? I’m sure the Blue Tiger of the Mist is already waiting on our arrival.”
**********************************************************
“I’m not sure the daimyo is as smart as he’s made out to be,” Naruto complained loudly as he threw his hands behind his head. “I mean seriously, what’s he thinking, wanting to talk to this pirate captain alone?”
His short-tempered teammate knocked him in the head with a gloved fist, glowering at him. “Hush up, idiot! He can probably hear you!” Sakura hissed at him as she pointed toward the horse-drawn carriage in front of them.
Rubbing his golden head, the boy pouted as he stared at his long-time crush. “You didn’t need to hit me so hard, Sakura. I’m just wondering why he’d hire us if he doesn’t want us to attack the captain.”
Her annoyed expression slowly loosened into a small frown as she stared at the back of the wagon. “It is a little strange I suppose…”
“We should not question the person who hires us,” Sai said from the other side of Naruto. “It’s his decision, and we must follow his demands as he gives them.”
“Feh, he’s just some old geezer,” the orange-loving boy scoffed. “Don’t know why he’d want to risk being around a pirate without help.”
“Oi,” a voice barked from ahead of them, and Team Kakashi looked up to see Kiba staring back at them as he walked beside his own squad. Team Kurenai was traveling along the left side of the carriage while Team Asuma took the right, leaving the old Team 7 to bring up the rear. “I don’t know why you’re complaining so much, Naruto. It’s not like having you in there during the meeting would be much of a benefit to the daimyo.”
Naruto’s face contorted into a rage-filled expression as he wielded his fist at the dog ninja threateningly. “You better shut your yap, Kiba! I could totally take on any of those pirates, including this flashy Blue Tiger person!”
“Heh, that’ll be the day,” the Inuzuka chuckled as he turned around to face forward again.
With a loud, irritated grumble, Ino shook her head in exasperation. “You all need to be quiet,” she whined as she turned to glare at Naruto and send a fierce look at Kiba through the stagecoach. “Your bickering is so annoying.”
“You’re one to talk…” Shikamaru murmured quietly, earning a sympathetic glance from Chouji yet an annoyed look from his female teammate.
With a scratch to the back of his silvery head, Kakashi eyed the loud conversation going on between the younger ninja. “You realize you all aren’t being very professional, right?” This earned smiles from his fellow jounin as they chuckled at the antics of their students. Even after years of training, they still bickered as they did when they were rookies.
“Thankfully, we’re almost at the rendezvous town, so-”
Kurenai was cut off mid-sentence by a sudden flying arrow launched her way. Eyes widening, she jumped back and threw her arms out to block her team from moving further. Only too late did she notice the explosive tag attached to the tail of the arrow. With only a split second’s worth of time, she shrieked, “Duck!” just as the bomb went off. The explosion shook the entire area, rocking the ground and creating a huge crater in the dirt path where the shinobi had just been traveling. Smoke flooded the area in large clouds, filling everyone’s lungs with dusty air.
When the fog finally cleared, the Konoha shinobi were pulling themselves together, picking themselves up from the ground after being thrown from the impact of the explosion. The daimyo’s carriage had fallen onto its side, the horses whinnying in pain at being tossed and burned from the bomb and then weighed down by their harnesses, unable to stand up. With much effort, Juro threw the door of his wagon open, struggling to gather his bearings after having been just flung about inside his cart. The Wave Country’s daimyo coughed the filthy air from his lungs, and his eyes widened when he took in his surroundings. As the Leaf ninja finally became aware of their situation and fell into battle stances, their enemies were already surrounding them.
“I didn’t even sense them…” Kurenai mumbled as she glanced around, appalled at herself for not seeing the explosive tag coming her way sooner.
A young woman stepped forward, clutching her bow tightly while her free hand hovered close to the quiver at her back. “Well well… look at what we have here,” she smirked as she grabbed an arrow and loaded her elegant bow. “We’ve been awaiting your arrival, Lord Juro.” Her lavender eyes were trained on the daimyo, but she aimed her arrow at the closest shinobi to her, which happened to be Hinata, who was still too stunned to react quickly even as she reflexively fell into her Hyuuga posture.
“You’re members of the Suiheisen?” Naruto inquired viciously, eyeing up the group of eight that had now formed an entrapping circle around the shinobi.
“Got that right,” a tall lean man replied as he held is katana up at the orange ninja. “And we have more of us on the way, so you’ll be wanting to take the easy way out now and just surrender.”
“We’re under orders to dispose of any ninja,” a younger girl said, gripping her tanto blade. Flipping her brown hair over her shoulder, she pointed toward Juro, who was now fully pulling himself out of the wreckage of the carriage. “We only need the old man.”
“Well that’s just not going to happen!” the whiskered boy shouted as he drew a kunai.
The pirates seemed instantly enthused at his words. “Always nice to have some fun,” the katana-wielding man grinned excitedly.
“Hold it,” the Wave Country’s leader yelled out over the crowd of ninja and pirates. His deep voice attracted the attention of each fighter, all eyes suddenly training on him. “If your captain wishes to meet with me, then you will not touch my shinobi. We are to all be allowed into town and onto your ship together.”
“Sorry, your highness,” the archer sneered as she gripped her weapon, “but that’s just not going to happen. Any ninja in our way need to be dealt with.”
Each member of the Suiheisen readied themselves, crouching into battle-ready stances and preparing to lunge at their prey. Just as the pirates appeared ready to attack and the ninja ready to counter, the metal shink of a blade being swiftly drawn from the center of the battle ring caught everyone’s attention. Instantly, everyone turned to see Juro holding his sword in a tight grip, the point positioned at his stomach.
“The Blue Tiger of the Mist wants to meet with me,” the daimyo huffed out as he clutched his katana at his gut. “Well, if your captain insists on seeing me alive, then the shinobi come as well.”
“He won’t do it!” the blond pirate shouted, swinging his own sword in a challenge. “He’s bluffing!”
“Am I?” Juro taunted as he pointed his blade a little closer to his stomach. “The Blue Tiger of the Mist needs me alive if she wants to make a trading base in this land. If I die before giving consent, and the Suiheisen have stationed themselves here, it only puts more of a bounty on your heads. Your gang will have all the countries coming for you no matter where you make port.”
The woman holding the bow and arrow eyed the lord cautiously before she lowered her weapons, yelling, “Stand down,” to her crewmates.
The other pirates slowly and grudgingly loosened from the intensity of the upcoming fight, glaring harshly at the ninja and the feudal lord. The male pirate seemed especially angered at this command as he spat, “The captain will have our heads for allowing these Leaf brats onto the Thief.”
“Shut it, Hayashi,” the archer hissed. “We need the old man alive. And besides,” she jeered as her pale purple eyes swept over the shinobi, “we can take care of these ninja when the captain gives the order.”
“If we go with you, you are to not threaten my shinobi or me until the Blue Tiger and I have settled an arrangement,” Juro ordered.
“Well that’s up to our captain to decide,” the woman said as she placed her weapon to its holster on her back.
The daimyo considered this as he warily sheathed his katana in his robes. Turning to the jounin of his ninja escort team, he mumbled, “Do not engage in battle until I give the order or they strike first.” The higher-ranked shinobi seemed wary of this command but nodded nonetheless. Juro looked back to the pirates, and with a sigh, said, “Alright, let’s go then.”
**********************************************************
“Right this way, your highness,” Hayashi smirked as he motioned toward the captain’s cabin upon the pirate ship. Juro kept a straight face as he glanced back at his escort squad, who were standing together uncomfortably amongst the many pirates. The Suiheisen stared at the ninja hungrily, waiting for their chance to pounce and destroy them. Meanwhile, the shinobi huddled together uneasily, giving the pirates cautious yet threatening glares.
With a deep breath, the daimyo walked inside the dimly lit cabin. The door shut behind him, seemingly sealing him inside his own jail cell. Once his eyes adjusted to the candlelit room, he saw his company seated behind a wooden table facing him. With her arms crossed over her chest, her coal eyes staring him down, her face an emotionless mask of power, Juro couldn’t feel the aura of the kind girl he once knew. A sudden sensation of guilt and disappointment swept over him.
“Juro,” the Blue Tiger greeted as she gestured to the seat on the other side of the table.
The feudal lord sat himself opposite the pirate, looking her up and down, taking in her appearance. She looked almost as she did the last time he saw her, albeit older and more mature, but the feeling radiating off her was not what it had been. This hostile and unemotional atmosphere she gave off was not something he could say he had ever experienced nor ever expected to experience with this girl.
“Kasumi,” Juro said formally as he looked into her impassive gaze. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” she replied simply. “Sensei.”
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Chapter notes: I'M BACK~
So... I've actually had this chapter for at least a month... >_> I'm sorry! I just kinda forgot to upload it.... Or laziness, that actually sounds more like me XP
Anyway, thanks for 280+ views and 21 reviews! I really appreciate it you guys, hopefully there's still someone somewhere out there still willing to read this long overdue chapter :D
I do not own the Narutoverse... I wonder how much it costs to claim ownership though... hmm...
Read on and enjoy!
Chapter end notes: Done! Whoo! It kinda feels good to update, even though I'm still nervous about whether this turned out well. I just hope y'all enjoyed this!
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