Chapter 35-Ambush!

Chapter 25

IZUNA UCHIHA

"You are being deployed again!" their mother asked, and Izuna nodded as he once more prepared all his gear for the new assignment.

"Where?" she asked.

"Along the Kiri border," and immediately he could see her concern, for the border area along Kiri was still a hotbed for fighting and conflict, and it was a rather dangerous place for deployment.

"But you have been back for just a week?" she asked, and it was true.

"It is what it is," he added as he zipped up the bag.

"But I am not being deployed alone. I am being deployed with Minato-san's team, with Kakashi and Rin-san. We will be going there as a backup for one heavily hit unit," he replied, and she shook her head.

"I had thought that you would be home from now on," she finished as she rubbed his head, her worry and concern visible.

"Now that this wretched war was finally over," he could understand her concerns.

"Me too," he answered, and he was not thrilled either. But this was what it meant to be a ninja, and he would not back away from this.

"Come join me for tea," it was getting a bit late, but he had not really had the opportunity to sit down with her, and soon enough, they were both sitting on the porch with tea in their piping hot tea in their hands.

It had been quite some time since he had sat there with her like this. In his academy days and before, he would often sit here, on the porch, with her just gazing at the stars for leisure.

"How are Kakashi and Rin?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"They are very distraught at the loss of their teammate, but they are trying to get by," as had he, when he had lost Shisui.

Obito's presumed death was something that he had hoped to change. It was why he had helped them as much as he had. But, even then, he had been cautious, and for while Obito Uchiha did not really scare him, the man behind him.

The one who had plans for him did.

Powerful as he may be, Izuna knew that he was no match for Madara. He might never be given the legendary shinobi's prowess, and so he had to be very careful in dealing with his threat.

And now. Kiri. He had an inkling about the man's plans, yet he wondered just what he could do about them. If he could do anything about them.

Most importantly, should he do something about them?

But more importantly, he had his own revenge to fulfill. Danzo Shimura, the man, was rather well-connected, and Izuna was still working on a way to bring the man down.

"It is hard losing a teammate," she added, and he nodded.

"Yes, it is," and he sipped his tea.

"Why did the Hokage-sama choose you all as a team?" she asked, and he had given it some thought.

"Probably because of our shared history and our iryo ninjutsu," he finished making her frown.

"Iryo ninjutsu?" she asked, and it was the only thing that made sense.

"I think he is trying to lower the casualties along the Kiri front, and Rin-san and I are amongst the most capable combat medics available to the village," and that was no brag, especially in his case.

"Being a prodigy has its own troubles," she teased, and he raised a brow as he looked at her.

"As if you have any right to say that," he scoffed as she looked away.

"I don't know what you are talking about," but in truth she did have an idea.

Mikoto Uchiha was not a simple kunoichi; she was a jounin herself, one of the younger ones with a very dangerous reputation.

"But please be careful out there, Izuna-kun," and he nodded.

"I always am," and he was.

"Speaking of that, how is Itachi?" he asked.

"Much like you," she groaned.

"He is way too ahead of his classmates. His teachers don't know what to do with him. I fear they might force him to graduate even earlier than you," and that was something that should not happen.

"You shouldn't let them do that. Mine were times of war, and even then, the harm such a thing did is rather obvious, isn't it," and he was ashamed of his own part in it all.

But someone had to muzzle those elders, and even if Itachi was ahead of his peers, Izuna had no plans to let him graduate before he was eight years old, at the minimum.

"These are peacetimes. There is no need for Itachi to graduate so early. Let him stay there, and enjoy his life for some time," and she seemed a bit taken aback.

"I was not expecting that from you." their mother seemed a bit surprised by his words, and he shrugged.

"Well, you should intervene. Let the elders wag their tongues but remain firm. Because the decision ultimately lies with father, and the only person who can convince him is you," and he finished the tea as he stood up and began to leave for his room before he glanced towards her swollen belly.

"I will intervene if necessary. And let us hope that I come back before he arrives," he said, pointing at her belly, and she smiled.

"Indeed, though I do wonder how you know that it's a he?" she asked, standing up herself with the empty cups in her hand.

"Just call it a hunch...."

0000

KAKASHI HATAKE

Kakashi was not blind to the Hokage's intentions. This mission was about him, more than anything, to get him out of Konoha, especially with the bulk of Uchiha forces returning back with a truce with Kumo now in effect. The Uchiha clan would surely cause trouble for him because of the eye that now rested in his left eye.

Even now, there were grumblings and concerns about the issue, yet the people were still too elated about the ending of the conflict to focus on him and politics. Though that all would change soon.

And now, Rin was again dragged into conflict because of him. And it was not just her.

As he glanced back, he saw the boy who was Obito's replacement, as if such a thing was ever possible.

But Izuna Uchiha was much more than Obito, and at least Kakashi knew that the boy was competent.

Most of all, he understood their loss, as Kakashi now understood some of his, remembering how the boy had lost his own whole team on their first mission.

The boy had taken a break for half a year then, and Kakashi had not understood it at the time, thinking it a waste of time and opportunity.

But now he did. Now he understood it all, for if it was up to him, he would take a break himself or drown himself in so much work that he never ever had enough time to think about his teammate.

"We are approaching the encampment, be ready," Kakashi added, and the two behind him nodded.

"Of course, captain," and what a failure of a captain he was. Losing his own teammate on his first mission.

But no more. Not anymore. Not with Obito's legacy with him. He would not fail again. Never again would he let a teammate fail as he had before. He would protect Rin. He would keep his promise to Obito.

"We are here," and he gave the whistle, hoping that the commander would be alerted to their arrival, and yet no response came.

His teammates were all concerned as well, as they landed in the middle of the camp. An empty camp, as they all got into a quick three-cell formation, alert and ready for battle.

"This...." he gasped out, trying to make sense of it all, when suddenly a kunai was thrown towards them from a tree.

"It's a trap!" and he parried the kunai, as a thick cover of mist began to cover their surroundings.

"Shit!" Kakashi immediately tried to see through it using his new Sharingan, and yet was surprised when it failed to see through it.

"I cannot see through it," and soon enough, they were getting bombarded with kunai and shuriken. They had just walked into a trap because of his mistake.

Yet. How, he did not know. He had seen movement in the camp, movement from Konoha nin.

And then suddenly he felt a massive build up of chakra, from one direction, and looked to the side and watched a massive tidal wave headed their way.

"Brace for Imp..."

But before he could finish the order, another voice was cut in.

"Cover me!" and he saw Izuna Uchiha rush forward as Kakashi and Rin jumped forward to block the barrage of kunai from reaching him.

"Katon:..." he heard the boy whisper as he finished quickly with a rather lengthy sequence of seals.

"..Majestic Destroyer Flame!" and he watched as Izuna Uchiha inhaled and spat out a massive storm of fire, and even by the side Kakshi could feel his skin burn as the storm of fire collided with the massive wall of water, tearing through it, when suddenly he heard Rin scream.

"AHHHHH!" He looked to the side and saw that it was one of Konoha nin rushing towards her, much to their surprise.

"Get down!" he jumped in and parried the kunai strike, not missing out on the abnormal movements of the nin during the process and the shinobi wire bound around him.

"They are being controlled!" he shouted as he realized just what was going on, and he wondered how long it would have taken him to figure out without Obito's gift.

"It seems the boy has figured out your trick already," and the voice came from above, and he looked up and found himself staring at the face of kunoichi he quickly recognised.

"Ameyuri Ringo..." but he was far more concerned about the shinobi who stood beside her, his face covered by a mask, and in his hands were two blades, thin and shaped like needles as the discrepancy from before made sense.

Those blades, much like the ones in Ameyuri Ringos's hands, were Kiri's treasured weapons, held by their strongest shinobi.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

"Noitt ha tit matters much..." she whispered and suddenly, he noticed, the Konoha nin's body expand as he realised what was going on.

"GET AWAY!"

BOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

And he jumped back as the force of the blast sent him tumbling through the forest, and he could feel the burns on his hand and arms as he was thrown back, praying in his heart that Rin and Izuna were fine.

And then in the blink of an eye, Ameyrui Ringo was infront of him, with a dozen electric balls behind her.

"Surprise," she taunted as she waved her sword.

"Raiton: Lightning Balls!" and Kakashi could do nothing as he quickly circled through his own set of handseals.

"Doton: Mud Wall!" He slapped his hands on the ground and could feel the skin tear up on them as a dozen walls of earth sprouted up ahead of him, but not in time as he was thrown back once more.

"AH!" he grunted in pain as his body rolled on the ground, a few of his ribs breaking in the process, as he landed on his two feet once more and saw the Kiri-nin stand there, smiling down at him from atop the tree.

This was bad. Kakashi's chest and arm bled as he carefully watched the Kiri shinobi smiling down at him.

He had to regroup with Rin and Izuna. He had to. 

It was obvious that Kiri had been messing with the reports of these camps, for according to the reports the skirmishes were minimal, but this was not minimal.

"You are thinking that you should regroup with your friends," she taunted, reading his mind as Kakashi took out a kunai from his pocket.

"I am afraid that will not be happening. The other two gremlins must have been caught in the games of Kushimaru," and she laughed at those words as Kakashi felt his whole body still.

Kushimaru. Kushimaru Kuriarare, so that was him. Her companion, and while all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the mist were dangerous, Kushimaru Kurirare was someone who took great pride in killing and mutilating his enemies.

"They would be lucky ones if they were dead by now," she taunted before bringing together her blades.

"And soon you will be joining them... " she said, jumping down at him. Kakashi took out a second kunai from his pocket and faced the Kiri-nin, knowing that he had no way of getting away.

CLANK!

Their blades met, and he felt the world move slower for him than it ever had. The Sharingan aided him in his fight as he was able to parry even the rather speedy strikes of the Kiri-nin.

And he was taken aback, by the power of the Sharingan.

And after repeated attempts, Ameyuri Ringo finally jumped back; her mood had soured at her failure to decapitate him as she frowned.

"Let's see you handle this...."

"Raiton: Lightning Balls!" and a dozen blue balls of Lightning emerged behind her, and rushed towards him as Kakashi jumped to avoid them, and as he jumped back much to his surprise, she was there.

Behind him, grinning as she swung her blade at his neck.

"Raiton: Heavenly Step...."

And Kakashi tried to bring up his kunai, yet her blade was faster than his expectation.

Unlike the rest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Ameyuri Ringo was known to not overtly rely on the Hidden Mist Jutsu. No, her rise to power was through her inhuman reflexes and very mighty Lightning-style ninjutsu.

Kakashi and her had been fighting for quite some time now, and despite his injuries, he had been able to keep her at bay.

But no more, and as her blade slid closer to his neck, Kakashi tried to jump back, but he could not.

For behind him was a lightning Ball.

He could see her grinning as his heart raced, and yet, despite seeing it all happen in slow motion, his body could not act against it.

And yet, suddenly, he heard a massive explosion from behind him.

BOOOM!

The blade slipped past him, and he felt a strong arm grab him by the scruff of his neck before his body was thrown into the forest. He looked up and found himself staring at the bloodied form of one Izuna Uchiha, looking on in worry.

"We need to get out of here," and he nodded quickly as they both ran away.

"Where is Rin?" he asked and saw the Uchiha's lips thin as he replied.

"She was...."

00000

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