Strength From Within (A Naruto Neglect Book)

33

Usually it would have been Neji and Motoshi that complained about their position on a mission, wanting to be in the spotlight and take the centre stage. Even the strongest of beasts has a survival instinct, and the two of them knew that if they got an easier mission, despite the desperation to prove themselves to be strong ninja and jounin worthy, staying alive was most important. "Stay here and protect Tazuna-san along with his family, I understand," Neji said blandly, frowning slightly as he looked over at his cousin. Hinata had put on an almost emotionless face, determination and focus the only visible signs of feelings she was showing. Never had Neji seen her like this, but never once had the stakes been so high.

Their eyes met for a moment, and he looked away. This was not the time for reconciliation, this was not the time for emotional conversation; Neji wasn't going to waste time for such trivial matters in the face of their next mission. This was going to be a success, surely it would. There was no way that it wouldn't, not with so many strong ninja on their side. The enemy might have been strong, but their forces were elite, and if Hinata was injured then it was her own fault for being weak.

For a few minutes, none of their thoughts were verbalised, the room filled with a tense silence for as long as they could afford, until Kakashi spoke up once more and they continued to discuss their plan.

x-X-x

In the center of the camp, a pile of bodies was smouldering, the results of the slaughter that had occurred the previous night. Daidai looked at it in distaste, the stench putrid and lingering in the air. It wasn't often he was faced with reminders of his kills; usually he could keep the memories of his missions locked away and forget about them once he completed them. Not today.

His thoughts didn't usually cloud like this, but as he saw the dead, he knew he had been the one to bring their demise. They deserved it, for what they had done and were planning to do to wave and all the innocent people that called it home, but that didn't make it any less revolting to look upon — killing was not something he enjoyed or wanted to do if he could avoid it. To say he regretted it would be a lie, but to say he felt satisfied and proud of what he'd done would be one as well.

Hebi and Itachi were approaching from a different direction, as were Sasuke and Gai. Kakashi was nearby Daidai and Hinata, the kunoichi making an effort not to avert her gaze from the bodies despite appearing to feel equally as disgusted by the sight. Around the area, guards were posted, but judging by their chakra capacity and clothing it was likely they were just bandits or common thieves that the enemy had snagged earlier that morning to compensate for the losses in their ranks. It wasn't completely unexpected that the enemy was prepared for them when they arrived, but it was somewhat less of a defence than they'd assumed it would be, considering the level of some of the ninja — the ones they'd let live to prevent starting a fight during the night and without all their members present.

Glancing over, Daidai made breif eye contact with Kakashi, giving him a few signals. After seeing the response, he silently pulled out a few of the poison tipped senbon he kept in a pouch—these ones laced with a fast acting paralysis poison. It was the safest approach; if it landed, the guard would soon fall limp and their approach would continue as planned. If not—in the case the guard had enough ability to react or defend against it—then they could alert the others to the fact that they needed to take the other guards extremely seriously. On a mission like this, all precautions were necessary; being lax would only result in unnecessary situations.

A shot like this was difficult, and with a few deep breaths Daidai closed his eyes and attempted to slip into a state of calm and awareness, naturally sensing for chakra sources in the area to ensure it was safe to take time with this shot. Overhead, a bird was circling, its chakra barely noticeable and weak; no different than any other of its kind. In the middle of the camp, multiple chakra sources could be felt, a few hidden underground. Some were weak, but with a little bit more time he was able to distinguish the telltale signs of attempting to hide their chakra. They were good, but with years of practice sensing chakra on missions, Daidai was better.

On the outskirts of the camp were the rest of their team, and he noted that a few of the guards emitted the signature of one who had been trained in the ninja arts. Around their group, there was nobody, nobody but the guard, who seemed to be drowsy and struggling to deal with the harshness of the light from the sun.

Opening his eyes, he prepared himself to take the shot, aligning it at the perfect angle, and gathering a small amount of wind chakra to ensure it would be fast enough to hit its mark before the guard could react. It was missions like this that often caused that drowning feeling of tension to arise, suffocating in nature, and deadly like venom. The stench of death remained prevalent in his senses, and with one final slight adjustment he sent the senbon flying. It hit slightly off its mark; he would have preferred to hit a certain pressure point on his neck that would further ensure the security of the mission by inducing him into a death-like state, as well as the effect of the paralysis poison. Still, within moments the man fell limp on the ground. It wasn't his best work, but it was nothing he couldn't live with.

Kakashi nodded slightly in response, and then directed his attention to the other guards that had yet to notice their fallen accomplice. Pushing away the tenseness (trapping it in a section of his mind where he would not let it escape, because Daidai would not let his emotions take over this mission, he wouldn't), he pulled out another couple of senbon laced with the same paralysis poison. These two took less time than the first had, the first landing precisely on its mark, and another guard falling limp.

By all appearances the third of the guards was the weakest, the chakra average, and one of his arms missing. The senbon was moving at the perfect trajectory, almost replicating the second shot, and flying faster through the air than most people's eyes had the ability to see. Daidai's crimson eyes were trained on the weapon as it moved to complete its journey, and then they narrowed. Rather than implant into the skin, the senbon bounced off. Either the guard had some sort of protection to attacks like that, ones that were invisible to the naked eye, or he mustn't have noticed everything there was to notice. The bird screeched loudly, swooping down and perching on the man's shoulder.

Beside him, Hinata's breath hitched, and Daidai had to refrain from unleashing a stream of curses as he watched the bird melt into a thick, pale substance. The goo that trailed down the guard's shoulder gathered at the base of the stump of his arm, bubbling and beginning to extend into the form of a second arm. It wasn't the most unnatural thing Daidai had seen, but if this was only a fraction of the man was capable of, it spelt trouble for all of them.

With a fluid movement, skin and muscle still seeming to reform from the goo, the enemy raised his arm, sending out a burst of chakra that instantly alerted the other members. The battle had yet to truly begin, and as the man's gaze trailed over to meet Daidai's, even through the trees, he knew that this battle would end up considerably more difficult than he could have imagined.