Satomi P.O.V.
"Go!"
Idate takes off, taking a sharp left turn instead of heading for the boat like he was supposed to.
After we had met Idate and he ran off again, we decided to just make our way to the destination for our mission. Surprisingly enough, the person we were supposed to escort for this race was Idate himself. The race had just started, and Idate was immediately going the wrong way.
"Hey, Idate! The boat is over here!" Naruto calls out in exasperation. We all chase after him, leaving the harbor behind as Idate scowls at our calls of protest.
"I think he has a plan," I state, keeping pace with my team when all I really wanted to do was catch up to Idate. Naruto growls from next to me, his patience with Idate running thin. He suddenly jumps down beside Idate, leaving Sasuke, Sakura, and I in the trees.
"I'm going to go down with him to make sure they don't get into another argument," I say, jumping down beside the two hot-heads. As I suspected, they were arguing over anything and everything.
"Naruto-kun, calm down. I assume Idate has a plan, right?" I ask, directing my question towards Idate. He smirks, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes.
"At least someone on your team has brains," he grumbles mockingly. I sigh and shake my head as Naruto once again takes his bait. As we run, my eyes travel across the scenery to study where we are, however, I furrow my brows when I notice something peculiar.
The scenery seemed to be repeating itself, meaning we were in a genjutsu. To confirm my suspicions, when I look up at the trees where Sasuke and Sakura should be following, I see nothing at all.
"Naruto-kun, we're tra-"
"Hang on a second, Satomi-chan, I'm about to teach this guy a lesson about manners!" Naruto shrieks angrily, continuing his rant to Idate about how he should learn a thing or two from him. Sighing in annoyance, I grab the backs of Naruto's and Idate's shirts, stopping them in their tracks.
"We're in a genjutsu. Don't make any rash movements until it is dispelled," I instruct, watching as Idate releases the genjutsu around him. I sigh and activate my sharingan, the genjutsu surrounding me instantly fading away.
Although, my eyes narrow when I notice a second genjutsu also dispell, as well as Idate running straight for the edge of the cliff as if he didn't see it.
"Stop, don't go that way!" Sakura calls from the trees, giving me a pleading look when she notices Idate about to run off. I nod at her, grabbing Naruto's arm and releasing the genjutsu around him as we run.
"He's gonna run off! Naruto, dive after him, I'll keep you from falling!" I demand, watching as Idate and Naruto each dive off of the ledge. I had wrapped some wire around Naruto's torso after I released his genjutsu, having seen the imminent danger of Idate falling.
As Naruto grabs Idate's ankle, I pull on the wire, stopping their descent. Had I not focused chakra to the soles of my shoes, I would have fallen after them because of their sheer weight pulling on me.
Sasuke and Sakura soon come to my aid, helping me pull the two out of the ravine as they once again argued.
"You didn't have to save me, I would have been fine!" Idate scoffs, crossing his arms angrily at Naruto who had quite literally just jumped off of a cliff for him.
"Stop giving me attitude! I just saved your life!" Naruto shrieks, eyes blazing with the urge to punch Idate, no doubt. Idate growls, turning on his heel and crossing his arms childishly.
"You wouldn't have saved my life if you weren't paid to do it."
"Idate Morino. You need to stop being immature and start cooperating with us. Yes, we are being paid to escort you, but that doesn't mean you can completely disregard us, especially since we are risking our lives to keep you safe. I don't care if you don't agree with our line of work because if you don't start listening to us, you will die. Am I clear?" I state, having had enough of his incompetence.
Idate glares at me for using his full name, but nods nonetheless. Naruto sticks his tongue out in victory at Idate once his back is turned, causing me to sigh and shake my head.
::
"Hey old man, it's me, Idate. I'm gonna need to borrow that boat," Idate says, knocking on the door of an old shack. An old man opens the door, smiling when he recognizes Idate and directing us to a boat on the shore nearby.
We all board the ship and set off towards Nagi Island, where our first stop would be Modoroki Shrine. All is calm as we sail, no indication of an enemy approaching us. It was... eery.
"We should be getting close," Idate says from the bow of the ship, looking off towards where the island should be appearing. I hum and gaze around, the quietness after we were put in a genjutsu earlier seeming unusual.
Suddenly, an arrow flies through the air, almost hitting Idate. Scoffing, I pull out a kunai and look towards the sky, where a slew of arrows was about to rain down. I dart towards where Idate and Sakura stand, deflecting any incoming arrows from hitting them.
Bodies soon begin to emerge from the floor, a plethora of clones littering the deck. Activating my sharingan, I scan all of the clones only to find there was one true assailant among the ranks.
"Naruto, behind you!" Sasuke calls, having also found the ninja who was about to attack Naruto. Sakura gasps from beside me as the enemy tackles Naruto to the ground, only for a puff of smoke to erupt as Naruto's own shadow clone disappears.
"A clone for a clone!" Naruto shouts gleefully, creating a horde of shadow clones to fend off each of the enemies clones as Sasuke and I begin to cut the ropes that the enemy had previously attached to the hull while we were distracted.
Naruto's clones wipe out most of the enemies before they suddenly shift from regular clones into water clones as the enemy changes strategies. I growl as I slash through yet another clone, a peculiar rain beginning to fall from the sky.
"Black rain? Is this... oil?" Sakura questions, feeling the substance between her fingers. I click my tongue in annoyance, throwing a kunai through the head of a clone that was about to attack Idate.
"Sasuke and I can't use our fire jutsus unless we want to set the boat on fire," I say to Sakura, who was watching Sasuke across the deck.
"Sasuke, stop! You can't use fire!" she calls out, stopping my brother mere moments before he created a fireball to wipe out the enemy. As our luck would have it, the enemy was already prepared and fired an arrow that was covered in flames, instantly lighting the whole boat on fire.
"We need to swim to shore!" Sasuke coughs out, fending off a few more clones while Sakura and I got Idate off of the boat.
"Idate, you can swim right?" Sakura asks, to which Idate nods, "Then I need you to jump off of the side. Satomi-chan and I will come right after you."
"No way! You ninja just want to use me as a decoy while you escape!" Idate accuses, eyeing the flames warily. I scoff at Idate, body flickering behind him and picking him up.
"Too bad, we don't have time! I'll take him to shore, Sakura-chan, hold these guys off! I'll meet you guys on the island!" I call out, hopping overboard with Idate in my arms. Idate shrieks in a blind panic as we fall, soon being met by the salty ocean water.
Keeping a tight hold on Idate, I force the two of us to the surface of the water, beginning to paddle towards the island which was just coming into sight.
"What the hell was that for?!" he shouts, struggling to stay afloat as we battle the waves, the boat finally beginning to burn down to the water line.
"Did you want to die?! I just saved your life, so start swimming or else we will drown!" I shout back, finally beginning to snap at the arrogant brat. He huffs, but begins to paddle alongside me, leaving my team behind.
I couldn't help but worry about them and their well-being, having to face the enemy alone. All I could do was have faith in them.
::
Sputtering weakly, I drag Idate and myself up onto the rocks. After swimming for so long, I was pretty exhausted, especially since Idate was practically no help in the matter.
"Now we wait for the others. I'm sure they'll be here soon..." I mutter out, catching my breath as I stumble to my feet. Idate doesn't respond, merely catching his breath on the ground beside me.
"Idate, what have I told you about trusting others? All they do is lie to you," a voice hisses behind us. I gasp and pull out a kunai, whipping around to face the unknown person. He was a ninja, if his headband was anything to go by, but he had a dangerous aura around him.
"A-Aoi..." Idate murmurs out, seemingly scared by the man. Aoi chuckles in amusement of Idate's feat, twirling the umbrella in his hands mockingly.
"It's a surprise this girl is still here. All you do is run away, after all," he sneers, throwing his umbrella into the air. I activate my sharingan, eyes widening in horror as a horde of poisoned senbon needles begins to rain down on us.
"Fuuton: Reppushou!" I say, blowing away the senbon before they could hit Idate and I. Aoi catches his umbrella as it falls down, closing it and holstering it to his back. He was getting serious.
"You work for the Wagarashi Family, I presume," I state, twirling a kunai on my finger as I analyze Aoi. He smirks nastily at me, senbon needles gleaming in his hands.
"Indeed I do," he states, "As much as I'd like to battle it out, I have a job to take Idate out, and I will complete my mission."
Scowling, I glare at Aoi threateningly, although he doesn't seem fazed by my aggressiveness.
"I have a mission as well, so don't take it personally when my team and I beat you," I say, preparing my sharingan for a genjutsu. Aoi charges at me, senbon at the ready as he swipes towards me furiously.
I dodge his strikes, being able to predict his movements with my sharingan easily. His eyes seemed to never meet my own, much to my dismay. He knew not to look into my sharingan.
But I had more than one trick up my sleeve.
Sliding between his legs as he pulls back, I slam my elbow into his neck, although he doesn't crumple to the ground as I expect. Using my attack as a boost, he charges towards Idate, who was still laying on the ground.
"Idate! Move out of the way!" I shout, helplessly chasing after the Ame ninja. Idate only stares in horror as Aoi approaches him, not being able to move away in time. Scowling to myself, I body flicker in front of Idate right as Aoi strikes, his senbon slashing across my cheek and poisoning me.
While I still have the opportunity, I cast my genjutsu on him while he was vulnerable, his body dropping limply to the ground. Idate stares up at me in shock, not having expected me to protect him like that.
Groaning, I pull Idate over my shoulder, taking off away from where Aoi was laying as fast as I could while both injured and carrying a whole other person with me. We reach the woods, and after a few more minutes of running, I stop and put Idate down to catch my breath.
"W-We need to keep running! He'll catch up to us!" Idate panics, trying to pull me along. I grunt and fall to one knee, panting wildly as the effects of the poison begin to travel through my body.
"I can't keep going in this condition... we should be fine, he's under my genjutsu," I explain, trying to think of a way to extract the poison from my blood.
"Thought you could keep me down, eh?" The voice of Aoi echoes, seemingly right behind us. Eyes widening in horror, I whip my head around in time to see Aoi preparing to strike at Idate's back mercilessly.
"Watch out!"
::