Chapter 43 The Nose Knows NSFW

(This chapter contains nudity and other adult themes, though no sex, all charectors are 18)

The fight had been over quickly, and not because we were totally outmatched the other team. It wasn't like they were a bunch of fresh Genin. No, while I can't say if they were Jōnin, I didn't think so.

Maybe the one in the center of their formation had been, but the rest seemed to like Chuunin. In particular, the final one to fall to my palm seemed to be around a high-level warrior, or a Tokubetsu Jōnin.

No, the real reason we dealt with them so easily is because we got the jump on them, a successful ambush could be the difference between life and death.

Which is why Konoha was the most powerful village, not because of the Senju, not because of the Uchiha, but because of the sensor clans, Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame. With those three clans, the village could ensure they didn't suffer from sneak attacks and instead make their own.

Sure, once you reach the peak of power, such as unlocking the Mangekyō Sharingan, many things like this no longer matter. For the truly strong, they need not fear the weak.

Until that level, an ambush by even weaker foes could be deadly, which is why shinobi were all about gathering information.

Something we also did as soon as we made it back to camp.

Before we reached camp again, it had started raining. The Land of Rivers did get a good amount of it, mostly coming in from Rain from the north. That is also where all the water from the rivers comes from.

Honestly, we had been lucky not to have more rain so far. Not that it made it any more pleasant, running through the rain, and not having a warm place to rest.

"Damn rain, this is gonna be a rough night." I couldn't help but curse as we sat down. The Camp had not been made to keep the rain out.

In fact, our so-called little hideout was just some traps set around a naturally advantageous position. No shelter from wind or rain had been built, something we all felt as we sat there on the wet ground.

Haruto pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and leaned against the rock face behind him.

Arata and Koji were just as miserable, and poor Kuro was whimpering as his black fur sagged under the weight of all the water.

"Next time, we dig a trench and throw a roof over it. I'd rather be cold and dry than cold and soaked." Koji complained as he pulled off his vest and wrung water from it, as if it were a soaked towel.

"I agree that shelter would be nice, but this isn't a good spot. Still, Haruto threw up some walls and an earth roof. Arata, how is your fire style? Able to dry the shelter without smoke?" I asked as I too wanted to throw off my clothes and get a fresh dry outfit.

Something that would be utterly pointless unless we had a dry place to be.

Arata gave a slight shrug, water dripping from his bangs. "I can dry it. Might cook us along with the walls, though."

"Low flame," I said firmly. "No smoke. We're still in enemy territory."

"Got it." He moved toward the half-built shelter Haruto was shaping, his hands already forming seals. The earthen dome took shape fast—crude, but enough to block the wind and the worst of the rain. Arata ducked in and let a gentle stream of focused flame wash over the stone interior, the hiss of evaporating water echoing dully.

Kuro slinked in first, shaking himself off violently. The rest of us followed.

Inside wasn't warm, but it was dry. And after two hours in the rain, that was more than enough.

"Alright, gentlemen, I wanna get out of these soaked clothes, and I bet you do too. So shut those eyes closed so I can change."

Koji snorted. "Like I'm gonna peek and get my head caved in."

"I'd cave it in myself," Haruto muttered, already digging through his own pack for something dry.

Arata didn't say anything, but he politely turned to face the wall.

I peeled off my soaked flak vest first, then my undershirt, wringing them out with a practiced motion.

"Woof!" Kuro suddenly started speaking, and I turned to look at him, and then at Koji next to him.

Kuro than continued to say something, and I could only guess that he was telling Koji not to peek, and at that I couldn't help but smirk.

I got it, Koji was my age, and out here alone, he no doubt has needs and desires, so he must be tempted to peek at me, but Kuro was a good boy, and kept him in line.

Well, if that is the case, I might as well have a bit of fun. I gave Kuro a wink as a silent remark for him to ensure Koji didn't peek. And then I left my top bare and slowly started to undress the rest of my body. 

Carefully and deliberately, I shifted my position. With my back turned to Koji, I slowly bent over and slipped by my soaked shorts and underwear off, while my now bare rear was right in his face, and he had no idea at all.

I knew it wasn't proper, but honestly, I was bored as fuck, and my own body was just as much a hormonal mess as his was, so I just couldn't help myself.

And it wasn't like it hurt anyone, he couldn't see, only Kuro could, and he kept telling Koji not to look.

I ended up spending a bit longer changing than I had planned, just to have a bit of fun at the clueless Inuzuka's expense. "Alright, you guys can look again," I finally said as I sealed my wet clothes inside a scroll and tucked it away in my pack.

Then it was my turn to turn around and close my eyes while they also took the chance to get changed. Though I did cheat a little and used my Byakugan to look around, making sure we were still safe, but I was mindful not to look at them changing.

It wasn't easy, though. Kuro let out something that almost sounded like a laugh, and it tempted me to check out what they were doing back there, but I kept myself in check.

-----

Koji was feeling absolutely miserable; he was cold and soaked, even if his body was burning hot, his face so red that one could barely see where his tattoos ended and started.

And the reason for his miserable state was laughing his bloody ass of right next to him. Kuro was having a damned blast.

"Damn, what a show she put on, damn I wish you could have seen it." He laughed, and Koji fumed.

He wasn't to respond, but couldn't find any words, after all, he knew what Kuro said was true.

He had taken the chance while the rest of them had their eyes closed to describe what Yuki was doing, commenting on her bare skin and smooth back.

That had gotten her attention, because while the others couldn't understand what Kuro was saying, that didn't mean they couldn't tell when he was speaking. And that, had Yuki turn around.

Kuro, that dirty dog, had then taken great pleasure in telling him all bout Yuki's breasts, and for some reason, Yuki seemed to have misunderstood something.

Whatever it was, she then did something he would never have expected.

She had purposely made her bare body visible to him, even though he couldn't see it. She had positioned her body just right so that if he were to open his eyes, her body would have been completely exposed.

And then Kuro, the absolute traitor, had started to tell him exactly what she was doing, and Koji had barely managed to keep his eyes closed.

Normally, he would have never believed a word of what Kuro said; he had been talking about it for days, saying all kinds of wild, crazy things. but this time, he couldn't just dismiss it.

Because his sharp Inuzuka nose had confirmed every word.

The smell of a woman, and not just any woman, Yuki herself, the girl that had stolen his heart, that filled his thoughts every damn minute of the day, and now here she was, had bare ass right in his face, and he couldn't look, couldn't do anything that might give away that he knew!

And it had him all hot and bothered, his pants growing tighter, and the damned traitor just wouldn't stop, telling him how Yuki was bending and stretching, her muscles flexing.

It was the worst, and best, thing he had ever experienced.

Finally, after a few minutes, Yuki had apparently finished, and the boys could change.

He still faced a problem, however, having breathed in Yuki's scent while having Kuro whisper sweet poison in his ear, had left him hard as never before.

And Kuro laughed at the problem he had caused, while even Haruto and Arata seemed to take notice of his not so little problem, fuck, he wanted to just die on the spot, his only saving grace was the fact Yuki couldn't see.

If she could, she would probably kill him for getting a hard on while she had been changing.

Never had he been so thankful for the lessons of his clan; he had been mortified when he had to go through that particular lecture. But it was useful, with a small application of chakra, his hard-on calmed down and he was able to fully change and act like nothing had happened.

"Why that look?" Kuro asked, a smirk in his voice.

Oh, how he wanted to speak, but if he did, the others would hear, so he could only glare at his partner.

-----

Once everyone was at least marginally dry and changed, we began the process of going through the loot. Not directly, of course—none of us were about to touch enemy gear without caution, not when it came from Suna.

While the shadow clone was expensive on the chakra front, it was also the best for this, without a doubt. And with low chances of encountering another enemy right away, we all decided to use them.

So while we sat inside, we sent the clones out into the rain to look over our loot.

The gear we'd pulled off the corpses had been sealed into tagged scrolls earlier, isolated from any chakra feedback. Now, we unsealed them one by one.

"Let's start with this," Haruto's clone said, unrolling the first scroll.

Inside was what er expected, some supplies, weapons, nothing special, mostly just standard things.

Scroll by scroll and pouch by pouch, we went through everything.

A few kunai with slight curvature—weighted for trick throws. Standard. A ration pack wrapped in waxed cloth—stale and barely edible. One bottle of water. One vial of a thick black paste—possibly a poison base or binding agent. Arata's clone marked it with a tag, sealing it in a containment pouch.

"This one had a reinforced wire spool," Koji's clone reported, flicking the latch open with a kunai. "Trap wire. Strong, chakra-conductive."

"Trap team, like we thought," Haruto said. "Probably left more behind than we'll ever find."

Next scroll, next pouch. More of the same—shuriken, smoke bombs, ration pills. It was starting to blur together when one of Arata's clones held something up.

"Got something." The clone rolled a thinner scroll open with tongs, revealing a series of small diagrams. Puppet parts. Modular finger joints, interchangeable chakra reservoirs, nozzle configurations.

Soon enough, we had also found entire puppets, nothing too special, nothing unusual, and never seen before. Just started puppets. And all form one person, so one puppet user in the group.

"Good job, Koji, Kuro, you guys got the first puppet user." I congratulated them as the puppets came from the belongings of one of their kills.

Koji leaned back against the wall with a tired grunt. "Knew it. The guy stank of lacquer and glue."

Kuro gave a soft chuff of pride, tail twitching once.

"I'm sealing these up," Arata's clone said, rolling the puppet schematics into a separate containment scroll. "No chakra strings left on the parts. If they were rigged, they've gone dormant."

"Good, let's seal them up, and bring them back as proof later, better show we are working hard out here, can't have the command think we are just enjoying a sunny vacation out here." I said sarcastically.

Koji let out a short laugh, tired but real. "Yeah. Sunny skies, gourmet meals, and murder in the morning. Real paradise."

Haruto snorted. "You forgot the mud baths and free acupuncture by kunai."

Arata's clone didn't look up as he finished the seal. "Don't worry. I'll log the puppets and schematics with mission tags. They'll know it wasn't wasted effort."

I nodded. "Good. Let's keep moving."

Koji's clone had already moved on to the next pouch and paused. "Found a field journal—tight script, Suna shorthand. Gonna need a codebreaker or someone familiar."

"Hand it here." My clone activated its Byakugan, scanning the cover. No chakra ink, no traps. "Looks clean. Seal it."

Haruto's clone held up a small leather roll next. "This one's interesting. Compact tools—trapsmith kit. Mostly wirework, powdered caps, even some chakra nails."

"Matches what we saw," I said. "Wire specialist, definitely part of the team's perimeter defense."

Koji stretched. "Which probably means we avoided walking into a few nasty surprises."

"No doubt," Haruto muttered.

We finished the last scroll without incident. Mostly redundancies—rations, medical tags, two half-broken chakra batteries, and a half-formed explosive clay figurine.

That one got double-sealed.

"I don't like that," Arata muttered, frowning at the clay.

"Neither do I," I said. "Let's mark it, tag it for higher clearance back home. Might be nothing. Might be Iwagakure influence."

The room fell quiet again. Rain still pattered against the dome roof.

I leaned back and sighed. "Given the amount of supplies, they clearly aren't out in the field all day, so they must have a resupply point at least within a day's travel from here."

Haruto nodded, tapping the ground with the butt of his kunai. "Makes sense. This much will barely last a day, so they must get their food from somewhere else, likely a major camp."

Arata's clone finished packing the scrolls and sealed the final tag. "Then they're either rotating through patrols or operating from a semi-permanent forward base."

Koji tilted his head back, eyes closed. "If they've got a base nearby, we'll find more traps. More scent trails. More chakra residue."

"I've already marked the direction they came from," I patted the map lightly. "We'll start with a wide sweep tomorrow, try our luck, and see if we can find them."

Kuro let out a low chuff, tail flicking once.

"Kuro says we don't need luck, not with him around." Koji translated for us.

"True enough, with this team, it shouldn't be hard to find them if they are near, and they shouldn't be able to find us, but we better be careful tonight if they are that close to our position. I don't want any accidents," I said in a serious tone.

Haruto straightened at that, his expression hardening. "Understood. I'll add a second layer to the perimeter traps. No chakra triggers—just wire and pressure plates. They won't spot them in the rain."

"I'll check scent trails again once the weather clears," Koji offered. "Even if they shift patrol paths, something's gotta stick."

Arata glanced toward the dome's entrance, then toward his clone. "I'll keep the early watch. If they try to follow their team's trail back, I want to catch the first flicker of chakra before they do."

I nodded, satisfied. "Good. Then that's the plan. Everyone stays inside tonight. No roaming, we sue the clones, then dispels them before sleep."

Kuro gave another soft growl of agreement and settled beside Koji with his head on his paws, eyes half-lidded but alert.

Using clones for night watch was tempting but also highly dangerous. It was advised against and only done when there were no other options.

(End of chapter)

There we are, another chapter, and this one with Yuki being real mean. And Kuro have a ton of fun as poor Koji suffers, poor guy, just can't catch a break.