Kakashi and the others listened intently. Kakashi was initially surprised to hear that Team Jiro, the team Hisayo was on, was the team involved.
“Second, is that up until early this morning, things were going smoothly. Apparently they ran into an intense situation with…an unknown enemy.” Akio knew what enemy Hisayo and her team had encountered.
It was made clear in the message that one of her wolves had delivered to him that morning. As soon as he had read it, he began to fear the worse and had demanded of the Hokage to let him be put in a team to find and assist the group.
“Anything else?” Kurenai asked as they all jumped through the trees.
“Once we find Team Jiro and the caravan, we are to retreat back to our border immediately.” Akio informed.
“How do we find them?” Asuma looked over to Akio and waited for a reply.
“There were coordinates stated in the message. They’re only roughly given though, so I will look from the sky and scout ahead.” Akio bit his thumb and summoned a raven that flew at the pace of everyone else.
“How is that bird going to help? If it’s too far away, we won’t know where to go.” Kurenai doubted the effectiveness of the summoning.
“I wouldn’t doubt Karasu’s abilities if I were you.” Akio gave a small chuckle as the raven gave an angry ’kaa’ in Kurenai’s direction.
“So I’m hard to please.” Kurenai admitted with a shrug.
“How will the raven let us know what’s ahead?” Kakashi asked as he jumped from another branch.
“Karasu is able to lend me his sight while in the air scouting. In other words, I can see everything from a raven’s point of view.” Akio explained as they all continued their fast pace.
“Alright, then get to it and let’s find the caravan.” Asuma urged.
“Karasu, you know what to do.” The raven gave a loud ‘kaa’ in response and rose higher in the air until it was far above the tree line.
Akio formed a hand seal and his eyes slowly changed from green to the dark brown color of Karasu’s eyes. He held the seal as he continued to jump alongside the other three.
“Well?” Kakashi asked after several moments of silence.
“It’s pretty far off in the distance, but there are definitely several clouds of smoke. I’m not exactly sure how far away. Fifteen…maybe twenty miles ahead.” Akio released his hand seal and his eyes returned back to their original color.
“Alright, let’s pick up the pace.” Kakashi pushed forward and increased his gait. Akio, Kurenai, and Asuma quickly did the same.
******
A large pack of black wolves with dark green eyes continued to attack. It hadn’t been the caravan they were after. No, they ignored it and directed their assault on Hisayo. It had been several hours since the first wave of wolves.
After Jiro and the three Genins’ initial shock, they had entered the fight and barely managed to help Hisayo drive them off. Hisayo knew they would be back with more added to their ranks, and she had hoped that she would be able to fend off her old clan until Akio could arrive.
Yes, the group that had attacked had been from the Ookami Clan; the very clan that she and Akio had left so many years ago; the clan that they had wished to one day return to and change for the better; the clan that she had always wished to accept her for what she was.
If they continued to return and Hisayo was forced to fight back with more force, then she would probably lose any chance of the clan willfully letting her back in the clan. Not only that, but her secret, her identity would be exposed to her team, and she and Akio might possibly face a harsh rejection from Konoha. She couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t wish to be unaccepted and hated by another community.
Hisayo glanced down to her cuffs around her wrists. She would do all she could to avoid taking them off. She wouldn’t let her team see that side of her—she refused.
She had sent Myukyu, one of her fastest messenger wolves, to Akio as soon as the first attack had hit. The honey colored wolf had assured Hisayo that he would not fail and would travel faster than he ever had before. She felt only slight relief though. She wouldn‘t be able to breathe easy until Akio arrived. He was the only one who might convince the Ookami Clan to back off.
There was no one else.
“Hisayo-san, what were those wolves, and why did they seem to only go after you?” Jiro questioned.
Ken, Akira, and Suzume had been nursing their injuries when their sensei’s question gathered their attention. They had noticed it too. The wolves seemed to care less about them and the caravan and had been keener on taking down Hisayo. If it hadn’t been for their interference, then Hisayo would have been overrun.
“It‘s true, they are only after me. What is going on now between me and these wolves has nothing to do with you. With that said…you need to leave me behind and finish the mission” Hisayo voice was very stern and calm.
“No way! We can’t leave you behind Hisayo-san!” Ken yelled.
He wouldn’t let her stay here to fight by herself. He couldn’t do that. Despite his initial dislike of her, he had slowly begun to accept her as a member of the team.
“Ken’s right. You can’t be left behind.” Suzume began to sniffle.
“Yeah! We won’t let you get left behind!” Akira agreed with Ken and Suzume. As much as he didn’t like her from the start either, he had quickly grown fond of her company in the group too. There was no way that he and the others would leave her.
Jiro crossed his arms in front of him and agreed with his Genin. Though he was the only one that hadn’t had negative feelings of her in the group, he still felt that he had grown fond of her in the short period of time too.
“You wouldn’t leave me behind?” All four nodded. Hisayo gave a small ‘hn’ before turning to face them all. “You wouldn’t leave me behind even if…I were a beast?”
All four gave near inaudible gasps. Was she being serious, they all thought. She had to be. She had never been less than serious with them, even in the most comical of situations.
Jiro gave a small gulp before he spoke. “You are a member of our team Hisayo-san. A team must work together in order to survive and complete their mission. Beast or not, you are part of this team. You are needed just as much as we are needed by you. No one is to be left behind.”
Hisayo’s eyes flinched slightly. Was he really being honest about that? She could smell the slight fear he had, but it didn’t outweigh the faith and confidence he seemed to have in her. She looked to the three Genin for their response to his statement. They had hardened faces and nodded in agreement. Even the ever timid Suzume held a confident and determined look.
Hisayo closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh. She just hoped that what she was about to say would not come back to bite her later.
“If you feel the need to be by my side, then…I will be…by yours. Beast or not…I will be there too.” All four gave relieved and happy smiles.
“Alright then! Let’s get ready for the next rush. Ken, Akira, Suzume…” The three stood to attention “You three will stay behind me and Hisayo to protect the caravan and move it away from the fighting. Though they are only after Hisayo, I want you all to stay on your guard and take out any that may get past the two of us.” Jiro ordered.
“Right!” They all yelled in unison.
“Hisayo since they are after you, you will stay in the front and draw their attention. I’ll cover you from your blind sides.” Jiro pulled out a kunai and began to get into position.
“Don’t let the caravan move until all the wolves have their attention on me.” Hisayo directed to the Genin who nodded before taking up their positions.
“How long until another team arrives as back up?” Jiro asked as he armed a few of his kunai with explosive tags.
“Hopefully within the next few hours. Myukyu is very fast, so he should have arrived at the village an hour or so ago.” Hisayo also began tying explosive tags to a few of her kunai as well.
“Alright, then we’ll just have to hope they get here before we run out of steam.” Hisayo nodded and made her way to the front of the line to wait.
It wasn’t long before clan members in the form of wolves appeared from the forest again. Hisayo tightened her grip on her explosive kunai and threw them out to the first line that charged forward. Smoke and debris filled the air.
Hisayo unsheathed both of her kodachi and took down the enemies that emerged from the smoke.
Jiro threw his kunai far out in front of Hisayo and more explosions sounded. Snarling and growling filled the battle field as the wolves leapt out to take down the two shinobi.
Ken and the others began moving the caravan as instructed once the fighting began. They moved it away from the danger as quickly as possible. It was difficult to get some of the horses and oxen to move. Some were paralyzed by fear while others jumped around in their harnesses to try to escape the noise and danger.
As Hisayo dodged the many claws and canines directed towards her, Jiro took out the ones that snuck up behind her. She was doing alright until a wolf shifted into a human mid-jump and grabbed her across the face with a hand, slamming her to the ground and sending her blades flying off to the sides away from her.
She thought she could feel her brain slam against her skull from the sudden impact. She painfully lifted herself from the ground after the hand removed itself and shakily looked around. Blood trickled down the side of her face and over her right eye as she took in the sight.
‘Crap.’
Many of the wolves had shifted back to their original human forms. Several human figures all dressed in similar clothing with ranging lengths of black hair and green eyes surrounded her and Jiro. Hisayo gritted her teeth and quickly formed hand seals to create her Lightning Wolves jutsu. As the lighting shot out into the form of wolves, many of the clan members jumped away to avoid the attack, giving her and Jiro room to move.
The wolves made of lightning spread out and attacked the nearest enemies. Jiro jumped into the air while forming his own jutsu and shot water out of his mouth onto the field to aid Hisayo‘s lightning jutsu. Those that were being attacked by Hisayo’s lightning jutsu became incapacitated as their feet came into contact with the water jutsu.
Hisayo pulled out two kunai to cut through a few assaulting wolves after casting another lighting wolves jutsu. She was beginning to tire from chakra drain and from her own head injury. Her head slowly began to swirl the images before her, causing her to miss her targets.
An enemy took advantage of the moment and slashed her deeply across the stomach with a dagger he produced from behind his back. Hisayo gave a painful cry as she was then kicked across the fresh wound and sent to the ground.
…
Suzume, Akira, and Ken had safely moved and hid the caravan from sight of the battle field. They could still hear the sound of the fight despite the distance they had put between them and the battle.
“What do we do now? Hisayo and Jiro are still fighting.” Suzume asked the two boys who continued to stare in the direction of the fight.
“We have to protect the caravan still. We should lay traps around the area in case an enemy decides to come after us.” Akira answered.
Ken nodded and began taking out several lengths of wire from his pouch. “Hey who has more explosive tags? I gave mine to Jiro-sensei.”
Suzume produced the tags from her pouch and handed them over to Ken.
“Good. Now we’ll lay these around a perimeter that I’ll make with this wire. Akira will come with me while Suzume, you stay with the caravan and make sure everyone stays calm and quiet. Got it?” Ken led with confidence despite how shaky and afraid he had felt.
The other two were probably feeling the same since this was all their first time in real combat, but he had to stay strong. He didn’t want Akira to tease him about this later, and he didn’t want Suzume to break down if she saw him or Akira afraid. He had to keep face around the two of his teammates.
Akira and Suzume nodded in understanding and began their assigned duty.
…
“Hisayo!”
In his attempt to make it to Hisayo‘s side, Jiro didn’t see the large wolf that had jumped after him to his right. Jiro slammed to the ground in a heap of mud, water, and blood. He yelled out in pain as the wolf took a firm hold of his right shoulder with its jaws. He could feel the teeth rip into muscle, tissue, and bone. He further yelled out in pain as the wolf gave a quick jerk of its head to the side.
Everything was going in slow motion for Hisayo as she looked around on the ground where she had fallen after being slashed and kicked. Jiro was struggling to get a wolf that was larger than he was off of him. The man who had wounded her brought his weapon up and was about to bring it down on her. She looked down to the silver cuffs fastened around her wrists.
She swallowed hard. She would have to do it. If she didn’t then she would be killed. Jiro would be killed and the clan might go after the caravan and the Genin.
She had no choice.
Everything still went in slow motion as she took the two cuffs off. If she wanted to finish this fast, then she would have to take both of them off. She just hoped that Akio would show up in time to stop her if she became too out of control.
She felt her blood pulse as soon as the cuffs were completely removed. Red marking in the form of swirls, dots and lightning bolts surrounded her eyes and sides of her cheeks. Her eyes began to dilate as she felt her blood boil and continue to pulse. White wolf ears appeared on her head and her human ears faded into her body. A white tail shot out from behind her and her canines began to grow longer into the fangs of a wolf.
The Ookami clan stopped completely and looked on in fear of the transformation. A growl slowly grew deeper and deeper as Hisayo slowly rose from the ground.
The wolf that had taken hold of Jiro suddenly released its grip and backed away in fear. Jiro looked over to Hisayo and his eyes widened. What stood before him was no longer the Hisayo he knew.
“You wouldn’t leave me behind even if…I were a beast?”
Hisayo’s words finally sunk in. She was truly serious when she spoke those words to him and the others. She had tried to warn them before. It had been her way of telling them what she was and giving them the chance to leave her behind for good.
The human-like monster in front of him threw its head back and gave an eerie howl. Screaming and vicious snarling quickly filled the air soon after.
*****
The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and a faint noise sounded in the distance. The chirping of birds came to a sudden stop and a chill hung in the air. The four jumping through the trees stopped to listen.
“What was that?” Kurenai asked as soon as the noise ceased.
“Big trouble. We must move faster, or we won’t make it in time.” Akio warned before leaping ahead.
He knew that sound.
With his ears, he had picked up on it far better than the other three’s had. The sound was clearer and seemed closer to him than it actually was. He would only ever hear that chilling sound when Hisayo was pushed to the edge—only when she had no other choice.
Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai exchanged glances before moving to keep up with Akio. They knew something was up. It was evident in the way he spoke and moved. He knew something and he was keeping it from them. What that something was, they would all soon find out.