A Knife to the Back [Plot]

[Admin]

A Knife to the Back - The Return of the Bloody Mist

The Fifth Mizukage was alone in her office. Her face was in her hands and she was concentrating immensely. Naught but a few hours ago she ordered some of her best ninja to creep into the Hidden Leaf Village under the cover of some signature mist. They were tasked to do a most vile thing. These ninja were to kidnap a child from his or her bed and bring them back to the Mist Village. Any Konohagakure ninja who got in the way were to be eliminated.

Normally Mei never doubted herself, but this was a different circumstance. She didn't give this order though it passed through her lips. The Daimyo of the Water Country sent her the order to kidnap the Hyuuga child. She barely understood why, but orders were orders. If this meant great wealth for the Hidden Mist Village then she would welcome it. Still, this couldn't be the correct way to do this. It just couldn't be. She looked wistfully out of a nearby window. At any time the Mist Village ninja would return, Hyuuga child in hand. She was to care for him or her and raise them as a Mist ninja. They were to be manipulated into breeding an army of Hyuuga for Kirigakure to use, but......

"Give me a way out."

[selonianth]

Jun took a deep breath as he raced through the thick forests that occupy most of the Land of Fire. He held a young hyuuga child in his arms. The boy couldn’t be more than 4 years old. Much longer and he would have been sealed as a branch member. Perhaps they could use this, make the child indebted to the mist village for saving his freedom. This could work…

‘Yes… As long as someone doesn’t fuck this up he’ll grow up with loyalty to the Village Hidden in the Mist. Then that douchebag of a hunter-nin won’t be so special compared to a true hyuuga. Ah, I think I see a break in the trees,’ He thought before a kunai thunked into a tree to his right. They had found him. Probably an Inuzuka tracker team. This did not bode well.

“SHIT,” he swore as he accelerated towards the safety of allies. He couldn’t fight the leaf ninja following him off with the child in his arms. Granted, having the child offered SOME protection from jutsu but not much. Spinning so he was bouncing backwards he quickly used Kirikagure No Jutsu to hide himself from the eyes of anyone but a hyuuga and he hoped they didn’t have one with them but they probably did.


‘I will make my Daimyo proud. Yagura failed the village in so many ways and now the Godaime will make the Mist great again. Not as the bloody mist though, we will be reborn from the fires of creation and that child will be the beginning. I hope to be asked to track down Zabuza. It’s likely he doesn’t know that Yagura has been dethroned. Perhaps… perhaps he’d come back,’ He thought as he finally exited the trees and landing on solid ground was able to use chakra to accelerate even further pulling ahead of the following shinobi.

Knowing the leaf team wasn’t far behind him he signaled to the team waiting for him that he was being followed about 30 seconds behind him. Flying past them he moved through the small harbor town towards the boat they had commandeered for this operation stopping he handed off the child to another ANBU onboard and then turned to give aid to the genin he had signaled too.

[Mitsuko Subeki]

"The Hyuuga clan, eh? How very brutal!"The gruff voice of Ogichi rung out in Mitsuko's head. "To think this new Mizukage would be so bold as to kidnap a child from one of Konoha's most prestigious clans, right under their noses! Hoho, when she first came in I thought she was soft, but I was clearly wrong. You can't fail boy, this may be on of the most important missions in Kiri's history! We'll finally even the kekkei genkai field, and a Subeki will be acknowledged as a part of it! Now go on, make your family proud boyo! HAHAHAHA!!!" The recollection of his father's words were vivid to the genin, as they always were. Likewise, his mother's words of caution and care seemed to fade away quickly. But that was what he woke up to that fateful morning.

He had been informed, along with his team, that their sensei would not be able to join them for that particular mission, and instead, they would be assigned to an ANBU. While not thoroughly experienced with ANBU, from what he'd seen of them, they weren't really very fit to lead a team of genin. Though maybe it was just than one asshole. Either way, Hayashi-sensei would definitely be preferred, as she knew both Mitsuko's and the team's abilities better than anyone, and would be the most capable of utilizing said abilities while making up for their weaknesses and at the same time figure out a way to keep them alive when they are outmatched. Clearly, those aren't tasks for some random ANBU. But the situation was unavoidable, and Mitsuko would have to make the best of it.

At any rate, his goal was to do something memorable this time around, as this was a golden opportunity to take his first shot at fame. Even if it was just a minor scratch, the kid needed to start somewhere, and he might as well do it then. As luck would have it, the ANBU they ended up with was the exact same one that had handled Mitsuko after his fight with Rai. What were the odds of that? The two had exchanged glares before the ANBU left to the Leaf. At that point, Mitsuko considered not covering the man once he returned. He was well aware that his contributions might not be all that significant, but it was more concept than literal. Unfortunately, that was not an option, as he had never heard of a ninja attaining glory by not doing things.

As he and his teammates stood in a clearing just past a small forest that led to the ocean, he stared at the trees, anxiously awaiting the form of the ANBU to come darting through, Hyuuga in hand, and a Konoha army in tow. While he maintained his composure on the outside, the boy was quite a wreck on the inside. I've gotta do this, I HAVE to. This is a great chance, but...how can I do this? What if chuunin show up? Jounin? ANBU? What are we supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? How does my dad expect me to handle this? God damn it...

At that point, his focus and confidence began to waiver. His face reflected it, and his hands shook ever so slightly. As time passed, he was getting more nervous, more anxious, more shaky. The ANBU was bound to get back soon. And although Mitsuko knew his teammates had a trap ready, he couldn't help but be fearful. The pressure was gripping, almost tangible. He couldn't stand to look at his teammates. They couldn't see him like that, it would ruin everything. Perhaps the rush of battle would settle his nerves. Or on the other hand, it could render him motionless.

Suddenly, the ANBU's figure darted through the trees and into the clearing. As he ran past them, bringing mist along with him as well as the Hyuuga child, Mitsuko turned his head and called out to his teammates. "Akemi, Kyomu, get ready!" His nerves had turned into a sort of a yell, which was rather inappropriate, he figured. No time for that, though. He set his stepped back a few feet to stay out of his team's way, and set his stance. After the trap sprung, he would need to strike quickly and defeat as many opponents as possible.

Acting as a spotter, he sighed deeply and focused on the trees ahead. If this trap didn't work, they were more than screwed. The whole reason they were in the clearing was to allow space and line of sight for Kyomu's genjutsu and Akemi's weapons, both of which would be less effective through the trees. It was a double edged sword, as it also meant no cover for the group should their little plan fall through. It wasn't Mitsuko's or his father's presence to rely on his team so much, but it had to be done. Acting as a leader would be a good story to tell his father though, and would hopefully alleviate a bit of his anger. Ruffling in the trees ahead was the signal.

"Here they come!" And so the battle begun.

[Kyomu Kagami]

Kyomu was sat by the edge of the clearing, nestled between two large roots with his elbows rested on his raised knees and his head perched almost lazily on his laced fingers. He stared blankly at the ground. The whole situation felt wrong, they weren't right for this to start with, surely there was someone better suited to assist the ANBU in this... kidnapping. That was the other thing which just didn't sit right with him, the entire nature of the mission seemed just wrong, it seemed entirely unreal. Had the order not come from the Mizukage herself then he would have reckoned he was being tested. Then again even if the mission was genuine it could be the case that all their loyalties were being tested, the order had after all come from the Daimyo... or so he had heard, in truth Kyomu hadn't been told too much.

Even then he knew enough to know what they were doing was wrong. They weren't taking part in a mission, this was nothing short of a war crime. To think that Godaime-sama was installed to break Kirigakure away from these instances, it leaves a foul taste in the mouth. Orders from the Daimyo were all well and good, but everyone kept on saying about how this was to secure a better future for Kirigakure... wasn't the Kage supposed to decide what was best for their village? It made no sense to him at all, what future could they ever have if they started up a war right then and there? He ran his fingers through his hair before scrunching them into fists, then dragged his palms down his face as he raised his head. He hadn't spoken a word for hours now... or at least what had felt like hours, waiting on the ANBU to come back made time lose all its meaning to him.

What am I supposed to do? This mission goes against everything I've ever thought of as being right, against everything Dad has ever taught me... but likewise I can't turn on my own... even if they are in the wrong. Ah, I wish I knew what the others were thinking... what's going through your head standing there all cool Mitsuko-san?

Sighing he leaned his head back and looked up to the branches above him and beyond them to the starry skies. 'This isn't right...' he muttered, without consideration for whether or not the other two heard him say it, it was the honest truth. For a ninja village to stoop so low as to kidnap an untrained civilian, a child! It was unbelievable, detestable! Is this what being a real shinobi is about? Why would anyone want to do this? I can't spend my life or... die... doing something as seedy as this...

Mitsuko's call to arms jarred him back to reality, as he stood his eyes immediately snapped towards the approaching mist, he saw the ANBU leap by them and knew that was his cue. He looked to the approaching figures as they broke away from the thick fog brought about by the ANBU, he was already forming hand seals and crouched down as the first of the figures came into proper focus hoping to keep himself out of sight. They were indeed pursuing Konoha ninja and that meant the plan was on. 'Kori Shinchu no Jutsu...' ...if I set this up so they think they're heading towards the village then even if they escape that they'll have a tough time following us.

'Not done yet, he muttered as he began forming more seals, it was time to bait the trap, 'Kasumi Jusha no Jutsu.' At once the copies of Kyomu began to rise from the ground and trees all clad in black and staring dead eyed, they began shuffling towards the pursuers. Their collision went as expected, the pursuers hacked and punched their way through the copies only for them to divide and reform. Within a few second the number of copies had easily doubled, it seemed that none of them had realised yet. The Genin heard one of them yell some question about what kind of Bunshinjutsu it could be, it couldn't be long until they figured it out, their window was closing. Kyomu remained fixed to the spot, his eyes now shut and his last seal still held, hiw face a mask of concentration. Come on... come on... so many of those guys, making me burn up my chakra way too quickly, but just... just a moment longer.

[Akemi Izayoi]

It wasn't cold out. No, it was actually rather humid as this was near the border of the Konoha and Kiri territories. Maybe it was the breeze that sent Akemi into a shiver. But if that was so why didn’t it stop? Why couldn’t she stop shaking even though it was not cold out? She must have caught a bug, surely that was it. It would explain why her skin was a bit clammy and her complexion paler than normal. That made sense, it most certainly wasn’t her nerves doing this. Not at all. She was under complete control. There wasn’t single stray doubt within any bone in her body. Things like doubt, wrecked nerves, and fear pointed to weakness and Akemi was not weak nor would the girl ever admit to being weak in any way. “This was nothing…” she told herself repeatedly, the words bouncing around in her mind over and over again. Yet still she trembled. One had to remember that for a girl that displayed such confidence at every opportunity, it was still a fragile front. She was no more immune to doubt or fear than any other genin her age. Coupled with the fact that she was unable to fool herself by shouting and proclaiming (lest she give away everything and ruin the mission) her fearlessness to others until the point where she actually believed it left her struggling to maintain her composure.

The young kunoichi spared a quick glance to each of her silent teammates to make sure they weren’t watching. Luckily, they were not. A few feet in front of her Mitsuko still stared intently into the trees across from them and at her back Kyomu held his head in his hands while he stared intently at the ground. Both of them were probably deep in thought themselves. Chances are they were preparing themselves for the upcoming conflict, unlike her who was drowning in her own doubt. The last thing she needed was them thinking she wasn’t up for the situation. Even though she wasn’t to sure herself. While they weren’t given a ton of detail, they had gotten an explanation. Not that it eased her mind. Stealing a child? Did this really have to be done? Ninjas killed on the battlefield and ninjas assassinated individuals sure, but that was because they were enemies and badguys. What did this kid do to deserve being kidnapped? The child certainly had family that would miss him. A mother in tears and father enraged, perhaps even brothers and sisters. Akemi knew this wasn’t the time to be having second thoughts, but she also knew that if anyone stole her siblings, even the bookworm brother of hers, she…she just wouldn’t know what to do. What justified this? Pride? Money?

Akemi suddenly realized that she was hugging herself in addition to shivering now. Quickly she made a show of acting as if she were checking herself to cover it. It would not seem odd considering there were wires over her arms. Each one held a hidden trap at the end. This was all apart of the plan. The three of them would never be able to clash against trackers without ever possible advantage at their disposal. Even then the chances of them actually defeating them was slim even to Akemi. She was enthusiastic and optimistic, but not stupid. Their main objective was to stall anyway. These traps would hopefully take out one of them or at least injure a few, but it would have to slow them down even if for a moment. Even a ninja could be hurt by a volley of weapons. A few of them could be blocked or dodged, but an entire volley would prove difficult even for them…she hoped. Besides the traps, she also scattered a few weapons around her. She’d need to press the advantage when it came and the time it took to unseal them would cost her too much. Did they even stand a chance anyway?

Planning. Surprise. Following though. All of those were good, but would they still be able to get out alive? No! She couldn’t think like that. If she did…they would surely fail. She could do this, no, she ‘would’ do this. She was Akemi of the mist! Future weapon master and swordswoman for crying out loud. She couldn’t let this intimidate her. Much to her dismay, even if she didn’t understand or agree she still had orders and if she didn’t follow them worse could happen. Who knows if they wouldn’t just ‘dispose’ of the child if the mission was a bust. She couldn’t let something like that happen. Akemi refused to have an innocent’s blood stain her hands…not now. She didn’t even want blood on her hands at all and dreaded the fact that this may mark her first kill. Her hand moved to the hilt of her sword and she took comfort in the feel of the soft cloth that wrapped around it.

Then suddenly, Akemi was broken from her daze by Mitsuko’s voice. With a gasp she returned to reality. It was time! How much time had passed while she delved into her thoughts!? A mixed sense of panic, fear, and excitement gripped her mind. No, she couldn’t give in to the pressure. Unconsciously, she took a step back before catching herself. “I’m not running…I won’t run,” she thought as she planted her feet. Her heart was pounding against her chest so hard it felt as if her ribs would break, pumping her blood full of adrenaline. Her sharp eyes widened and pierced into the path across from them, catching sight of both a jounin and his pursuers. It was unnerving how fast they were. Even her eyes, trained as they were, could barely follow them. Her grip on the wires tighten so much she cut herself accidentally, but her mind and body had become numb from to such a minor pain.

One chance. Her volley had one chance to take them by surprise. Akemi had to make it count. Unlike most, instead of her breath being baited it was hard to keep. She was breathing as if she just got finished running, though she kept it silent and under control as much as possible her breaths still sounded ragged and quick. Would she give them away with it? No, it was her imagination. No one could breath so loud. Time slowed to a crawl before her eyes. Even the jounin became clearer and oddly enough it was as if she could see the smallest of details. Still, she had to focus. Where was the signal? She couldn’t miss it. Surely it could not have passed while time was moving so slow. Was this a genjutsu? “No, focus Akemi, focus!”

Then she saw it. The army of clones that signified Kyomu’s signal. Now was her chance, why couldn’t she move!? Just a jerk of her arms. That was all she needed to let go of the wires that held the traps at bay. One simple move. Come on…Come on…MOVE! A silent scream erupted from the depths of her soul,. One that only she could hear. It was as if Akemi was trying to throw off the overwhelming weight of the situation. It worked. The world around her became tolerable again and she whipped her arms, sending a strong enough force down them to trigger the trap and release a massive volley of metal straight into the ones that pursued the ANBU. The jerk made the fragile twigs that held the branches at bay down the line. The trees groaned as they whipped back into their normal positions, their branches flinging sharpened metal with force and speed Akemi would be pressed to perform more than once.

“Now!” She cried to Mitsuko and Kyomu. It told Kyomu to cease his current jutsu since the distraction had held its purpose and Mitsuko to follow her hail of metal and hit the enemy while they struggled to recover from the attack . Akemi herself had to take a moment to undo the wires that went from becoming triggers to bindings. Kneeling on one knee, she pulled at the one wire that held them while her eyes never strayed from the surprise attack.

[kaibutsu]

A small bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, nearly falling into one of his eyes. He didn't move, and he didn't blink. He merely kept his eyes trained forward. Towards the spot that a battle would surely begin. He kept his breathing steady, no matter how much he wanted to breathe harder. Now was the time. The time he had been training for. The time to finally use the skills taught to him by his mother. The skills of assassination.

Even though his body was one of perfect calm, Kaibutsu Gakidou's mind was racing. Thoughts of how...wrong...this mission was dominated his mind. Now because of how morally wrong kidnapping a child was. Oh no, he saw no problem with that. It could help the village become stronger. And that was good in his mind. No, it was how wrong sending a bunch of genin, GENIN, as backup was. What could they do!? Most of them were fresh outta the academy, with very little experience in the field. This made no sense! Was the Mizukage out of her fucking mind?! And how this mission even started. The Daimyo suddenly decides he wants a Hyuuga? Whats up with that? This mission screamed wrong to him. And no matter what he did, he couldn't stop the feeling that there was something really not right about this mission. But he steeled it, knowing nothing he said would make a difference. He would just do his job, and hope he survived.

Kaibutsu didn't know who his fellow's were. No, his 'mission' was completely different from theirs, so he hadn't seen the need to allow them to know of his presence, since Kaibutsu was to stay in the dark, and kill one whenever they strayed too far from the battle. Simple enough. Except that there could possibly be a jounin or two. While Kaibutsu was confident in his skills, he knew there was no way he could take on a jounin, stealth skills or no.

Kaibutsu looked to his right, the direction the other 'diversions' were in. He couldn't really see them through the foliage, but he knew they were there. He wondered, were they thinking the same as him? That this mission didn't make sense? Or were they playing the ever naive genin, blindly following orders without a thought? Maybe if, no, WHEN, he survived this mission he could ask them. But for now, the mission came first.

He saw the mist rolling through the trees, and knew it was about to begin. With a flick of his wrist, a tanto now rested in his right hand. With his left, he placed his mask over his face. The void mask would hopefully complete it's objective and intimidate any enemy he happened upon. Less than likely, but he could hope. And hope was about all Kaibutsu had at the moment. Hope that this mission would go as planned, and hope that he would lived to see it's completion.

He jumped to the ground from his perch in a tree, hitting the ground without a sound. Sticking his blade in the ground, he started some hand-seals. Landing on the last one, he spoke in a whisper, "Earth Release: Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu." He slammed his fist into the ground, causing it to turn into fine sand. Kaibutsu plucked his blade from its place in the ground, and started digging with his free hand. He was quickly hidden away under the earth, in what he believed to be the best place for an enemy to flank his unknowing teammates. Soon, he was able to feel the vibrations of battle, and knew, very soon, the blood of a human being would on his hands.

[Admin]

The Konoha Jounin quickly destroyed Kyomu's clones. They were no match for elite ninja from an elite village. As they did, however, they triggered a trap most disadvantageous to them. One or two of the Jounin had been struck with many ninja weapons. Nothing fatal, luckily, however it was enough for the ninja to stop holding back.

"What did the Sandaime say? Hold back 'til they look at you funny?"

Some of the Jounin actually laughed at this ninja's joke. They knew what the Sandaime had said, but they also knew he wouldn't care if a few Mist Genin died. One of them formed some quick handseals and cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Katon - Gokkekyou no Jutsu"

His fireball was headed for Mitsuko. One his left side, an ANBU landed.

"Sorry I'm late. I'll handle their ANBU."

Wood Release: Four Pillars Prison Technique

Quickly a wood-barred prison formed around the shinobi. It was massive, but the Jounin were smiling larger than ever. They were happy to see Yamato-san, because he was a sign that everything would be over soon. Yamato's face could not be seen through his ANBU mask, but he was not grinning. His face was contorted into a concentrating position. He was very conflicted. He could tell that his team wanted the ninja dead, but most of them were just children. Whatever, ANBU were not to have feelings.

Wood Release: Great Forest Technique

Yamato's arm transformed into many wood spears, rapidly approaching Jun. He reached his other arm out which began forming spears approaching Kyomu. As Yamato's attacked proceeded, another Yamato came over his head and landed on the spear heading towards Jun.

Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique

This Yamato's arm turned into flat wood pillars, each one curved and attempting to wrap themselves around Jun. It was a wood onslaught.

[selonianth]

As soon as Tenzo, as he was known outside Konoha, summoned the Four Pillars Jun knew he was fucked. Painfully, without lube, from behind, no reach-around just plain fucked. Still, he summoned his will to live and spurred himself into motion. Backflipping so the spears hit the earth in front of him he vanished into the forest and called up a mist so thick only those born and raised in Kirikagure or had trained/fought in these conditions before could ever fight in it without hampering their abilities. Still, he knew this battle was far from even.

Using a chakra trick he amplified his voice so it was uncertain where the sound came from and announced “Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu.” He managed to use the mist surrounding them to create several large water balls which launched towards where he knew the ANBU was located when he began moving. He then began moving and summoned his wakizashi just in case.

Thinking about it he moved his hands and thought rather than spoke “Water Clone Jutsu” and had them scatter around the battle both as diversions and just in case he had to substitute, the clone would be a much better switch than a log.

[Mitsuko Subeki]

Mitsuko watched his opponents intently as Kyomu dutifully chanted the words to his genjutsu. This would be the first time he actually got to see the illusory specialist at work, so he would definitely be paying attention. The Kagami were notoriously skillful in those ninja arts, but even then, he wasn't aware they were capable of casting mass genjutsu. The fact that his teammate was even attempting to use his techniques as a trap against multiple enemies was just as impressive as it was concerning. Mitsuko didn't think it was possible for him to underestimate the boy, but he was wrong. One could argue that his teammate had more natural talent than the young Subeki. The Mist Servant technique required a lot of chakra, and the amount he produced was insane. Clearly, he had earned the title of genius. At least for now, his skills were useful as opposed to a hurdle, and would help keep the group alive facing enemies who surely outclassed them.

Likewise, the supposed "failure" of that year's graduating class, the girl who was worse than Rai in grades and talent, had managed to set up an efficient trap. In conjunction with Kyomu's stalling, she had produced a rain of steel that was at the very least impressive looking. The two seemed to work together quite nicely, and perhaps it was a sign of things to come. Additionally, how the enemies handled their deadly combo move would allow Mitsuko to gauge their abilities and more accurately assess what already seemed to be a bleak situation. If anything, the majority of the pressure on him was to act as a leader and carry a large offensive load for the team. It was too much for anyone, especially a young boy.

As the Leaf ninja struck at and easily disposed of Kyomu's Mist Servants, Mitsuko scowled, lowered his stance, and tried his best to stop his shaking. Not good. They're not genin, they're far too old, and way too skilled. Shit. They look like jounin and...an ANBU?! Damn it. How can we compete with this? Are we gonna get back up? Shit... The kunai dug into a few of the jounin, and they withstood it and managed to avoid taking a lethal hit. Not only that, the ANBU behind them, that asshole from before, didn't seem to be taking command or action. The situation was definitely pressing, to say the least.

Mitsuko's scowl intensified as the opposing jounin began to tell jokes. Were they really so confident that they could simply laugh in the face of their adversaries? Perhaps they had the advantage, but as a Subeki, he would not stand to be laughed at. Maybe they weren't expected to win, but they needed to stall. And he couldn't fail, he couldn't die. His father would likely kill him for failing anyway. So the only option then, was to succeed despite the odds. Mitusko's eyes snapped to the man spraying the fireball at him, and he prepared to counter. Leaping into the air and far back, he avoided the relatively slow and short range jutsu.

Avoiding the fireball wasn't the issue, though. Kyomu had several wood spears rushing towards him, and knowing the boy's lack of athleticism, it would likely be a fatal blow. As much as the boy was an obstacle in his "quest", allowing him to die would be unbearable. And on the side, it might up his cool to have saved one of his teammates. But mostly, it was the morality of the thing. In midair, he turned towards Kyomu. "Suiton: Mizurappa!" Putting his hand to the side of his mouth in order to aim, he fired a tight jet of water at Kyomu, which would knock him out of the way of the wood spears. Unless the boy moved before then, that is.

Landing a few feet away from his original position, he panted for a bit before setting himself once more. Reaching into a kunai pouch on his hip, he threw three kunai at the jounin who fired the attack at him. While he was aware that they would not likely hit the man, he needed to gather himself for a bit. "Akemi, Kyomu, stay on guard, cover each other!" It seemed that the life and death situation had brought out a bit more compassion from the boy than was usually apparent. Sighing deeply, he jumped into the air once more and fired one more Violent Water Wave at the fireball jounin. "Mizurappa!" The wave this time had more width and rocketed towards the man. If he could keep this one busy, he will have done his job. Things were getting wild, and he had tor try to be composed for the sake of his team.

[Kyomu Kagami]

Kyomu saw the attack coming, saw it, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He knew if that attack hit then he was dead, still his muscles didn't respond. He stared down the oncoming rain of spears with his eyes wide in terror, then suddenly he was flying sideways, he felt one of the outermost spears graze his upper left arm before he landed on his side, skidding along from the force of whatever had knocked him down he rolled and tumbled limply a couple of times before coming to a halt. It was only when he raised himself to a crouch that he realised he was also soaking wet. That was Mitsuko-san's Mizurappa, so he even managed to save me while defending himself? What a guy... I can barely defend myself as it is... why do I have to fight someone so strong? That weird technique... what did he call it? Mo... Mokuton... was that it? Well in any case with the ANBU's mist back up there's no way for me to use a Genjutsu effectively.

He felt something warm trickle down his arm, he put and hand to it and held it up to see his own blood, a sight he was not particularly used to and which made him feel quite sick. Definately more than just a scrape... only shallow... I can still move it sort of okay, but still, if he can find me to use that jutsu again I'm as good as dead. Mitsuko-san must be busy with that guy who tried to get the jump on him earlier... that means there are still two Jounin hanging back there somewhere. So what are we supposed to do about that? No way... there's no way that we can beat these guys... even the ANBU guy must be on the back foot with that weird technique... we're all going to die out here for sure... doing this dirty job.

”Kyomu... how long do you intend to live? What is it that you're striving towards every day?”

His father made a habit of asking him such cryptic questions, they mostly came in the form of moral dilemma, but this stood out to him at that moment as being one of the most peculiar and most pertinent. At the time he did not have an answer, to be truthful he still didn't, in all probability he would just keep on living as most people did. He didn't think he had the skill to dream of grand designs far in the future, as it stood he would be lucky to see the next day, but now he had some idea of what he might want. At the time I thought he was being weird asking that kind of thing to his own son, but its helped me understand what I wanted a little better. It wasn't this, I didn't want this duty, this disgusting debasement of my morals, myself, my Clan! Anyone who knows the bond of a Clansman ought to know better... if I survive this it wont ever happen again.

His hand shaking slightly he removed his scroll from his cargo pocket and stared at it a brief second, placing it between his hands he performed a few quick seals. 'Kirigakure no Jutsu' Jun's mist could serve as his basic cover, but he needed to ensure he wouldn't be seen by anyone at all, like this he could raise his own small mist and focus it around himself to conceal himself almost totally. With that done he unfurled the scroll and placed his hand on the mark within. 'Unseal.' With a brief burst of smoke he felt the familiar weight of his treasured sword in his right hand, from there he quickly tugged at the hilt wrap and unfurled it enough to wrap his injured arm. As he tugged the knot tight with his teeth and free hand he severed the end from the handle and adjusted his grip to compensate for the lost wrapping. There. He was ready.

Quickly and quietly as he could he moved through the mist, he was no Zabuza, but he had after all been raised in mist and had known the jutsu for a good while now, on top of that after his training with Hanako-sensei he had become more and more accustomed to moving through the mist. With his sword balanced over one shoulder he moved along, heading for where he'd last seen Mitsuko and the Jounin, he knew he was close, even if he'd had to go the long way around to avoid the wood user. Mitsuko needed his help, whether he would admit to it later or not, that was worth the risk, he would not, could not allow any of them to die in such a way.

His heart began to pump faster as he saw a silhouette in the mist, his grip tightened, he loosened it up deliberately, didn't want to ruin his swing. He dropped his stance, bending his knees in preparation to strike. As he sprung into action both his hands found his sword hilt, whizzing through the air he swung down, aiming to cripple the enemy with one great blow.

{Sonic: I'll let you decide whether its the Jounin or Yamato... please don't make it Yamato.}

[Akemi Izayoi]

Her trap’s was about as effective as Akemi’s grim expectations. They took in in stride. If not for seeing a few of the ninja get hit with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed that they could just shrug off her weapons with that much ease. It was only slightly more effective than Kyomu’s distraction in the fact that it had actually hurt a few of them. Still, it was a plus. Perhaps those injured would take the time to lick their wounds instead of helping the untouched ones decimate them team’s efforts and crush them where they stood. Akemi was content with that, or she would have been if a certain sound hadn’t drifted on the wind to her ears. It took her a moment to decipher the sound. Then it had to register within her mind and even then she wasn’t sure if of her ears. However, her senses weren’t playing tricks on her. The sound was real and unmistakable.

Laughter…

They were…laughing at her attack? Her fingers froze, the wire finally untangling itself from her arms and falling to the ground. She was shocked. They were laughing. She had put a lot of work into that attack and they were laughing at it? Shock quickly turned to anger. She could feel her face heat up as the realization that they were mocking and scorning her efforts enraged her. “Those *** **** mother****ing…” her mind reeled with profanities a girl her age should not have even known. It was just so insulting. The sound dug into her and crept under her skin. Red faced and with a scowl marring her features, she thought to herself venomously. “I’ll show them…No one. NO ONE. Laughs at me!” It was a wonder her teeth weren’t grinding together, but considering her jaw was clenched so tightly it might not have been possible.

Akemi wasted little time in grabbing one of the weapons around her. They weren’t much, but they’d have to do. Most of the ammo from her scrolls had went into the trap and even if she did have some left in the scrolls it waste to much time to get them. She had to work with what was already out. That meant the few Fûma Shuriken around her, what was in her holsters, and the metal wires left over. There was also the scattered remains of her trap if she could get to those. However, those were scattered all the way on the other side of the clearing relative to her position and with jounin among them no less. So she couldn’t be bothered with trying to retrieve and use any of them. So with haste she busied herself with tying some of the metallic string around the shuriken’s center before moving on to another one then tying the other ends to kunai. She tried to split her attention between the battle that was quickly growing in intensity with the new arrival, but gave up and focused on getting things done.

Though jarred out of her anger and slightly frightened by the massive explosion caused by a fireball hitting the ground, Akemi managed to finish her preparation relatively unscathed. Never had she been so glad to be ignored in her life. Keeping her position since the enemy had yet to attack her, she surveyed the battleground. Her eyes came to settle on a new arrival, only for her jaw to almost drop when he exerted his control over techniques she’d never seen before. Wood? That was possible?! What a cheater! She never heard of anyone being able to use wood. Well, she did, but she wasn’t paying that much attention in class that day so details on the subject escaped her. This was bad. Whatever he was doing, it was quickly making their efforts useless. Those ninjutsu looked so impressive. Just how strong was he?

The girl quickly shook herself back to reality upon noticing the quickly developing mist coming from the ANBU. She needed a target fast before she was potentially crippled by it. As much as the mist was suppose to serve as a trump card to help them, its development terrified her. A sole comfort of being able to ‘see’ the vastly superior opponents was about to be taken away. Not only that, the mist hindered her sight and her greatest asset in attacking with long ranged weapons. The most effective way for her to pinpoint a target and their movement was about to be stolen. She could judge a target by sound, but they were jounin. Their skill in stealth towered above anything she was used to. Akemi felt as if she would soon turn into a sitting duck. Sure she could still operate in the mist, but she’d be forced in melee combat as well as stealth battle. Her skills with weapons were good for a genin, but that was just about it “for a genin”. And what decent jounin would allow a genin with little experience to sneak up on them. As much as she tried to shake the fear, the situation was becoming too much for her to cope with.

Now she was stalling! The mist was nearly on her and she was too distracted to focus! Things like those stray spears of wood could have skewered her…wait…Stray!? They weren't aimed toward her, the attack was headed toward Kyo! Akemi turned, struggling for something - anything - that she could do, but came up short. The girl couldn’t even scream a warning. “Move Kyomu!” she shouted in her mind. Much to her relief, a jet stream of water pushed him out of the way in time. Mitsuko’s cry spurred her to act. To hell with fear, they needed to survive! She let loose her weapons, two fuma shuriken at the wood user, one hidden in the other’s shadow with her quick application of the Kage Shuriken no Jutsu then she followed it up by throwing the kunai. It would have seemed like two separate and fairly useless throws. The fuma shuriken were so obviously off in their mark towards the ANBU most wouldn’t even bother with noticing. However, since they were attached by the almost unnoticeable string, which to Akemi’s delight was made even harder to see by the mist, the kunai that lodged into the wooden trap would serve as a anchoring point to pull the shuriken back. And when they did slingshot back, the ANBU captain and his clone would be in the path and the string might even serve to tangle him if he wasn’t careful. The changes of any of what she planned were unlikely, but at least it could distract him and help out their own ANBU fighter.

No waiting to see what would happen, Akemi moved to help Kyomu only to run straight into a mist as he too decided to create one. There was no avoiding it now, melee was her only chance. She could do this. Keep the eyes and ears sharp, be wary of shadows, move silently. While the mist was think, Akemi had seen Kyomu before the mist was created so she was able to pick out his shadow in it. Who was he going after? Trying to remain as quiet as possible she stayed slightly to the side and followed him. Glancing back from his shadow to the area in front of him, she soon caught sight of his target. The other jounin? Was this the one that shot the fireball from before? The wood users was a bit further off right? Akemi held her breath for fear of whoever it was hearing her. She’d wait for Kyomu, then follow up. Slowly, she pulled a single kunai from her leg holster. “Wait for it…" She told herself. No need to rush. They had to make this count or she did at least. NOW!” Just as Kyomu attacked, Akemi launched her kunai at the back of the targets leg, or more specifically the calf. Akemi didn't know if she had what it took to aim for a killing blow so she didn't want to try lest it cause her to hesitate at the last moment. She'd instead do her best to cripple the man. Maybe she'd keep Kyomu from having to kill him as well if she got luckly. This mission didn't seem like it was worth the death of anyone.

[kaibutsu]

Kaibutsu has his ear to ground above him, listening to the vibrations. He couldn't see due to the darkness of the tunnels he had dug, so he had to relay on the vibrations from above as an indicator of where to move. It was getting a little disorientating due the number of vibrations flowing through the earth. Apparently the battle had started above, meaning he would have to hurry this plan along to even out the playing field. So far he could tell there was at least four enemies. Two of them seemed to be staying still since they had arrived. Those two were his targets.

He managed to make his way under the two, though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure they were still there. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some explosive notes. Two dozen, in fact. He set them all up on the top of tunnel, meaning the blast would force its way off the bottom and more of the force would go upwards, meaning more damage. He placed the tags in an array, with a master tag in the middle. This master tag would set off all the others once it exploded.

Kaibutsu forced a little bit of his chakra into the master tag, just enough for a thirty second delay, before turning and making his way down the tunnel he had come from. This would be one hell of an explosion. And Kaibutsu couldn't help but get giddy to see what damage his sudden plan had done. He made it his original position, making it out of the ground just as the tags went off. The blast was nearly deafening, even from this distance.

"Holy shit..." Were the only two words out of Kaibutsu's mouth as he moved to a tree branch to better see the damage, a small on his hidden face.

[Admin]

The fire using Jounin moved swiftly, almost as if walking on air. He caught the shuriken heading towards the Yamatos and felt a quick tug. The Genin, though weak, was smart. They'd attached strings to their attacks. The Jounin hadn't seen the 3rd weapon, however, and was struck in the chest. He lost grip of the shuriken and they fell to the ground.

"Damn."

The Jounin began to laugh louder and louder as the mist thickened. He began making rapid handseals and his Jounin partner moved away.

Wind_Release:_Vacuum_Wave

A large wave of wind proceeded in front of him. It was sharp and a few bars of Yamato's wood prison was destroyed. The ANBU among the Leaf turned to his companions. He jerked a head towards the newly formed exit as his arms returned to normal. As the Jounin turned to leave the fire user felt a presence at his back. As the sword approached him, he replaced himself with one of the fallen bars of wood. A feeble attack from a feeble Genin.

The Jounin took off and as they cleared the area Yamato began making furious handseals as did the Yamato next to him.

Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique

At least fifteen Yamato were present at the battlefield. The Jounin went up over the top of the prison and over the shinobi's head. They were off in pursuit of the team carrying the Hyuuga child. There was still time to make it. The Yamato clones began making more handseals.

Six Yamato jumped into the air and pointed both of their arms towards a Genin each.

Wood Release: Great Forest Technique

Six of those remaining on the ground slapped their hands to the ground.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart

As they began their jutsu, however, a chain of explosions erupted under them. A few of the obvious clones were engulfed in flames, instantly destroyed. Only 3 remained that weren't already airborne and they were lifted into the sky by the large mountain. Yamato did a quick count and realized that he had left the ANBU and a new attacker to their own devices. Since the attack was underground his Doton had surely thrown them for a loop. If nothing else they would be unable to attack him for a few precious seconds. Yamato smirked for the first time in years under his mask. Kirigakure's plan was to keep the Leaf busy, but he was reversing it on them. The ANBU. His power was immeasurable for the time being, but Yamato was sure he was in no trouble. None could match the power of Konohagakure.

Wood Release: Great Forest Technique

The remaining Yamato crew (3) all pointed their arms at Jun. Their attacks came from multiple directions, branches and wood jutting out at awkward angles. Yamato was left wide open as he had not another Yamato atop these wooden paths, but he was sure the squad had enough on their plates.

"Die."

[selonianth]

Jun swore when the Jounin escaped the prison. Knowing he had to go after them he deepened the mist back to its former consistency and channeled chakra into his wakizashi and sliced through the prison. He felt rather than saw one of his clones get torn apart by wood jutsu and created more clones to keep the enemy ANBU occupied with orders to place proximity explosive notes everywhere they could reach that would not put the genin in direct risk. Meanwhile he tore after the Jounin who’d escaped. He could not fail. The ANBU had acted with extreme prejudice in his case but seemed to only send spare attacks in the direction of the genin team. Hopefully he wouldn’t kill them outright making Jun regret his escape for the sake of the mission.

Summoning even more mist he quickly gained on the Jounin. They were injured and not moving at full speed. Letting out his enhanced laugh he loosed a couple clones to help and they began the task of stalking the Jounin. He was almost tempted to let them get closer to the sea so he could call his full might. Almost, getting close enough to strike to one he got in super close and wrapped his arms around the Jounin intending to take him out via-sleeper hold while his clone copied him on the injured jounin.

[Mitsuko Subeki]

Mitsuko had kept his eyes on Kyomu even while he was using his second water wave. Despite his apparent dislike for the boy and the very real fact that he was and would prove to be an obstacle for the young Subeki himself, something within himself couldn't allow him to leave the Kagami for dead. It was that same deep sense of...something or other that compelled him to remain focused until the boy was safely out of harm's way. And luckily, the jet of water struck him quickly and powerfully enough to knock him away from his impending doom, and for a brief moment, the young genin's eyes showed relief mixed in with fear, and then snapped away. If Kyomu had seen it, he surely would have picked up on it. But wavering confidence was surely contagious, and they needed everything they could have on their side. No need to linger when he could be killed at any moment by his very skilled opponents.

Fortunately, the skilled opponent that he was faced with at the moment seemed to prefer fire style ninjutsu, giving him a slight edge, if such a thing was possible when genin were facing jounin. It had served him well in avoiding the fireball beforehand, and he had no reason to assume it wouldn't continue being useful. Truth be told, if he had to select an opponent from the array in front of him, he would have chosen this one, especially over the ANBU that had joined the battle using wood style ninjutsu. What the hell? It's not even earth release...this is unheard of. I was told Konoha was powerful, but to think they have ninja like this? We really don't stand a chance.

As he stood in a basic stand off with the jounin in front of him, he felt the familiar chill of mist rolling in. Whose mist it was didn't matter too much, as it was more than likely an ally's technique. This is getting old. I'm tired of losing my fucking vision every couple minutes. But as he was taught and had learned from experience, his other senses had to compensate in such situations, and his ears locked onto the sound of steps beside him. The shadow was much too tall to be Akemi, and so it had to be Kyomu, because it seemed the ANBU did not feel like assisting the three of them. The form seemed to strike at the fire jounin in front of him, while a second form also appeared next to Mitsuko.

And suddenly, two large explosions happened near the two jounin, and that was even more puzzling than the mist and the figures surrounding him. The explosion did clear the mist though, revealing that it had destroyed several clones and that the mysterious figures beside him were in fact, his teammates. His newfound sight also revealed that the jounin had disappeared, leaving simply the wood ANBU versus Team Hanako and Asshole-ninja, plus whoever triggered those underground explosions. Although the jounin were escaping, there were Kirinin on the other side to protect the ninja.

Despite this, Asshole-ninja decided to dart out of the opening in the wood cage and leave the genin alone with a ninja whose abilities were off the charts and unheard of. "Where the hell is he going?" Mitsuko growled, a bit of fear slipping into his voice. He figured ninja of his level wouldn't just leave children to die. Unless that was what being a ninja was; putting the mission above all else, even morality and human life. Now they had to focus though, as they were clearly outmatched.

Looking up, he noticed the three clones sending wood spears down towards the group. "Heads up!" He yelled as quickly as possible, hoping to alert his team. It was all he had time to say, as he used a body flicker to quickly move out of the way of the fatal spears. "Shit..." He cursed, as a glance at his chest revealed that one spear at cut him slightly down the chest. He had narrowly avoided being skewered. Now he turned his focus to a counterattack. "Water Clone Jutsu!" And with a few hand signals, another Mitsuko appeared.

"Akemi!" He yelled, trying to coordinate an attack. Dead men had no use for pride. "I'm gonna take that clone, cover me. Kyomu, go after the real one!" He pointed to one clone specifically, and both he and his water clone leaped into the air, kunai in hand, to strike down the wood clone. He was leaving himself open, hoping, no, trusting that Akemi and Kyomu could handle their end. Both Mitsukos struck forward with the kunai, hoping for the best.