Book 2: Chapter 3: The Second Day Part II

Book 2: Land of Sand

Chapter 3: The Second Day Part II

1

We followed Kabura to a river, where he stopped next to the bank. The river was calm, and the short grass sounded like crinkling paper as we stepped through it. I hadn’t noticed any villages along the way, nor were there any trees nearby for coverage, so I wasn’t exactly sure why Hiruzen would be taken to a river. Then again, we were in the Land of Rivers.

Sui crouched down next to Kabura. “So what you’re saying is the trail stops here?”

Kabura barked with a nod as he laid down in a flattened spot of grass.

“Wow! They really did the old geezer in,” Tayuya said, laughing. “Dropped his body in the river and everything.”

“Or they knew we could track him, so they took him to a river to wash off his scent.”

“What makes you so sure he’s not dead?”

Sui went silent while I pulled the scroll off my back and went to the: Stress and How to Manage It section. Hiruzen really thought I needed something like that to help with my Danzō obsession. Which wasn’t an obsession. In fact, it was the other way around. He was obsessed with me! Though he recommended things like drinking tea to calm your mind or going out on nature walks. Old-time sayings like that. And if I were to assume he took his own advice, then—

“He’s not dead,” I concluded as I put the scroll back on my back. “This is where the old man fell asleep.”

Tayuya stared at me with question marks floating above her head. “What? How would you even know that?”

“Because when you need a breather, what better place than next to a river where you can see the moon clearly.”

“The scroll said he takes nightly walks to open fields after a long day's work, didn’t it?” Sui said, seeing through my BS.

“Not verbatim, but yeah, something like that.”

Sui facepalmed. “This better not be some dumb goose chase.”

“Ok, we got he slept here and whatever, but the trail stops here meaning….” Tayuya paused before falling on her back laughing. “The old man slept rolled into the river! That fucking idiot!”

“Yuki don’t tell me that’s the case,” Sui said, slapping her forehead again.

I chuckled. “Well, when was the last time you think he slept?”

“Yuki…”

“Alright fine, Kabura did you pick up a scent of another person or group of people?”

Kabura stared at me for a moment before yawing and closing his eyes.

“Was I just ignored by a dog?”

Tayuya laughed even harder while Sui chuckled. “I don’t think Kabura likes you very much.”

“Well the feeling is mutual. I’m more of a cat person—”

Kabura sprang forward like a ninja and bit my hand. Have I ever said that I hate dogs? Especially ones with a grudge. The fucking bastard.

“Ow!” I glared at Kabura as he dangled off my hand. “You little piece of shit! Don’t think I won’t toss you in the river.”

Kabura released his jaws of death from my hand and grumbled a hmph while Sui pulled out some kind of salve from her pocket. After twisting the cap open she grabbed my hand and rubbed the white ointment on my cuts. I clicked my tongue as it burned while Sui giggled.

“You’re such a baby.”

“A dog just bit me. He could have rabies for all I know.”

“And now it's all healed, even the nonexistent rabies. You’re welcome.”

I stared at my hand, and the cuts were gone, almost like magic. That settled it Sui was a witch.

“Oh stop with that look. It’s a special Hyūga ointment I packed it just in case of stupid injuries like this, so we didn’t have to waste chakra.”

“Well thank you,” I said with a smile. “I appreciate it.”

Sui turned away from me in her poor effort of hiding the slight blush I gave her. “It was nothing. Just try not to make Kabura mad again ok.”

“Fine, but can you try asking him the same question? Since apparently, you speak dog better than me—”

Kabura leaped forward again, but that time I dodged, laughing with red eyes. Kabura simply grumbled while Sui facepalmed next to Tayuya, who finally calmed down from her laughter.

“Well, well, well. Aren’t you three a lively bunch.”

2

We all got on our guard as a woman with blue-green cyan hair approached us from behind. She wore a long light grey jacket with a furry white tuft around her neck, yet she didn’t have it zipped up. Instead, she showed off her dark red sleeveless dress and the top of her cleavage. And If I looked lower, she had on long black tights paired with a sword at her hip. Not to mention her red lipstick that heavily complimented her light brown eyes. She was definitely a femme fatale. 7/10 missing bandages, but the sword makes up for it.

“So Yuki, did you notice her earlier?” Sui whispered next to me.

I gave Sui a halfhearted smile. “I’d look cooler if I said I did, right.”

“Good, because I didn’t notice her either.”

“How is that good?”

“It means I’m not getting sloppy.”

“Who says that?”

“I do—”

The woman appeared in front of us, her sword drawn. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you it’s rude to ignore an adult speaking!”

We all jumped back, dodging the slash, but we couldn’t avoid the gust of wind that blew from her blade as it sent us flying towards the river. Thankfully we all knew how to waterwalk, so landing on our feet was easy. Even the dog could do it.

“Oh right, none of you have parents.” The woman laughed as her one sword split into two identical copies. “Isn’t that right, Yuki, Sui, and Tayuya?”

“How the hell do you know who we are!” I know I was a dead give away I mean, you really only had two options, but Sui and Tayuya they’re not as infamous. Either A, they tortured the information out of Hiruzen, or B, someone sold us out. With A being a pipe dream, it had to be B.

“Oh, we know all about you three.” She said with a cocky grin.

I noticed it first, but Tayuya had to say it. “We?”

“Dragon Eye Fang Release: Dark Sword!”

From beneath the river exploded three slender water dragon heads, each one picking a target. I threw out three wired shuriken having them wrap around Sui, Tayuya, and yes, even Kabura. With quick hand signs, I felt my body tingle. Lightning Style Chakra Mode 25%!

I blitzed out of the river to the other side of the bank with the three of them in tow, evading the dragon strikes, and immediately shut off the Jutsu. I didn’t cough up blood, but damn did it still hurt to use. I think I might have used a bit more than 25%, maybe closer to 30%. Damn it.

“Thanks for the save Yuki.”

“I’m surprised you saved the mutt.”

Kabura barked.

“Yeah, I’m surprised too,” I muttered, taking a quick breather as the river began to bubble. Soon some of the water rose out in the shape of a person. The dragon heads seemed to guard it until a bubbly voice came out:

“Wow, they weren’t kidding. Those eyes really can see the future.” Then the water dropped back into the river, leaving behind a boy who looked to be slightly older than us with green eyes and blue hair. Though in his hand was a purple trident-looking sword that, at the tips of the blades, became the water dragon heads. “Hey boy, can your eyes see that your death is near.”

“And what if I said it did.”

“Oh man, really?”

“Yup, all the time. So don’t think you’re special.” I said with a smirk as I nodded towards Sui, who activated her Byakugan and immediately glanced back before returning the nod.

“Hey brat, don’t get all cocky just because you’re out of the water!” The boy ran across the river and swung his sword from a distance launching the three dragon heads at us. We all jumped back out of the range of the attack, and the boy’s smile widened. “You’re finished!”

While midair, I screamed. “Tayuya give the guy below a performance they won’t forget!”

“Finally.” Tayuya did a couple of hand signs and aimed her head down at the ground. The boy’s grin faded, and soon enough, a large man in armor burst from the ground only to be met with a: “Wind Style: Great Break Through Jutsu!”

Compared to when she first used it, this version of the great breakthrough Jutsu could have been a cannon as the wind slammed the armored man back into the ground. A shockwave rumbled through the dirt as he formed the centerpiece of a massive cracked crater. There we all landed around him except Tayuya, who decided that the man should be the one to soften her landing.

“No way, don’t tell me he died from that?” Tayuya said, stomping the body. “Are surprise attacks all these trashcans good for?”

“You know that’s surprisingly accurate.”

We all looked down at the man who sounded completely fine, and at a closer look, he wasn’t even injured.

“Tayuya get out of there!” I yelled.

“Too late!” The man sprang up to grab Tayuya, yet all he caught was air as I yanked her out of his grasp, creating some distance between us and him. “Damn, and I thought I had her.”

“It’s all right Suiko.” A Tall man with a thick jawline and a long sword on his back appeared beside the armored man. “It’s just as the file said. Yuki is their shield while Sui is their spear.”

“Wait, did that trash just forget about me!”

The tall man chuckled. “Right, the traitor of the group. You, Tayuya, you’re just a broken instrument.”

“The fuck did you say to me! You fucking worm, I’ll—”

“You’ll kill me? Go ahead, traitor. I’d like to see you try. But I’d have to warn you without your curse mark. You have no chance against me, let alone the four of us.”

Behind the tall man stood the boy with the dragon sword, the woman with the dual swords, and the armored man who wielded a large chain mace.

“Ah finally, all four Celestials in attendance.”

“Celestials?” I looked at Sui, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“To think you’ve never heard of us when our village crafts the tools you use.”

“Ah right, we are in the Land of Rivers, so you must be from the Village of Artisans. Um… Hōki, Ryūgan, Kujaku, and Suiko.” I said, pointing out who each of the ninja were.

It was a funny story how I knew these guys because they would appear from time to time in ninja tool catalogs. I always wanted to have a sword but never really had the time nor the teacher to mentor me. Not when I had other priorities like trying to date Ino, hanging out with Sui, and making sure Sasuke didn’t get into trouble. Not to mention having to deal with Danzō’s plots every so often. Regardless we might be screwed.

Hōki, the tall man, had the Fire Sword, which obviously shot out fire. Ryūgan, the boy, had the Garian Sword, which transformed into water dragon heads. Kujaku, the beautiful woman, had the Weaknessless Soaring Shortswords—I’m not calling them that—the twin blades that controlled wind, and finally Suiko, the armored man, wore some weird armor that I had never seen before. It had a wolf’s head as its chest plate, and its eyes glowed red, yet after taking a direct hit from Tayuya’s Jutsu, there wasn’t even a scratch. It was tough.

“Ah, so you have heard of us,” Hōki said, nodding with an air of joy around him.

“Well yeah, it’s thanks to you guys I even had a clue that you could imbue chakra into weapons. It’s come in handy.” I said, dipping my hands into my pocket. I grabbed two water-tagged kunai this time.

“A fellow lover of ninja tools. You see, I always knew the Uchiha would be the one with the most class.”

Sui facepalmed. “Please don’t stroke his ego.”

“So guys, maybe they’re not too bad,” I said, trying to reason with my team, only to be met with a bark from Kabura.

“They kidnapped the Hokage!”

“And made fun of me!”

Everyone gave Tayuya a blank stare, enemies, allies, and yes, even the dog stared at Tayuya.

“What! Listen, back home if I was insulted. They were dead. Plain and simple. You’re the weirdos for letting people disrespect you all the time.”

“Ignoring her, what’s with this?” I asked. “I thought the Village of Artisans had contracts with all of the great nations in exchange for protection.”

“We do, and we just so happen to have a contract to kill a group of ninja escorting the Third Hokage. In specific, you three.” Hoki said, pulling out a scroll and reading it.

“What about the other ninja?” I said, eyeing that scroll in his hands as he looked it over.

“Oh, you mean that dog’s master and the like.” Hoki smiled before putting away the scroll. “Nope, they’re not on the list. It looks like someone doesn’t like you three very much.”

Sui and Tayuya both looked at me while Kabura… did he run off?

“And there we have it. The one to blame, but that just about does it for the introductions. So how about we start round 2.”

“Wait, just one more thing.” I stared at the four of them, feeling the chills of my Sharingan as I started to focus. “Did you actually kidnap the Third Hokage?”

They all chuckled before Hōki responded. “How about you come and find out? Joke of the Uchiha.”

“That’s all I needed to hear, Team 9! Let’s show these Celestials why we’re the second coming of the Legendary Sannin!”

“Is that what we are?” Sui thought for a moment. “Hmmm, you know what? I like it. I call dibs on being Tsunade!”

Tayuya licked her lips as if she were a snake. “Then I guess I’ll take Orochimaru.”

“Wait, you can’t leave me with Jiraiya. He’s literally the least coolest of them all. Not to mention a pervert.” I said, stomping my foot.

“Didn’t you grope me when we first met?” Tayuya pointed out.

“That was by accident—”

“You think this is a game!” Ryūgan appeared next to us, swinging his Garian Sword. “Dragon Eye Fang Release: Dark Sword” The three-blade edges became water dragon heads splitting up to strike us, but this time we all smiled, saying:

“Checkmate.”