Second Chance

Chapter 08

Chapter 08: Uzushiogakure
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As the irate Iwa nin wove his seals, the Konoha team looked on impassively. Through their training with Kakashi and former knowledge of Iwa's jutsu (in the time traveler's case), they knew exactly which jutsu he was doing. This jutsu was best dodged after it was cast. That way it couldn't be re-aimed. As soon as the last seal was woven and the chakra surged the four shinobi jumped away to the side and then swiftly moved into a practiced formation for encounters like these. Hinata swiftly withdrew a handful of Senbon and, after coating them with a fine layer of chakra, sent them at the shinobi. Every last one of them struck their target, multiple tenketsu in the arms and legs. Hachi cursed as he felt the feeling rapidly leaving the affected limbs and glared at the heiress. Last he had known the Hyuga were taijutsu users and their juken was not a ranged ability.

Unfortunately, the man had no time to be spacing as he had no choice but to fall to the side to avoid a kunai strike from Kakashi and moved right onto Sasuke's sword. There had been no epic battle, no showboating. Just pure result oriented combat. Removing his sword from the jonin-wannabe, Sasuke swiftly removed his head and sealed it into a scroll. Cleaning his sword he looked up and shrugged at the jonin.

"What? He ran right onto it!" He defended making all of them laugh.

"I see that you are making impressive progress on your ranged juken attacks, Hinata." Kakashi praised. The girl blushed as they went about moving the bandit corpses to a pile and one Katon jutsu later they were burning to ash. Almost as if they were one the group turned and headed into the tent where the girls were being kept hostage. Overall they looked alright but even Naruto could tell that something was wrong.

"Genjutsu maybe?" He suggested kneeling next to one of them. Nodding Kakashi used the release and almost had a heart attack as the startled girl threw herself away from him shrieking in fear.

"Woah! It's alright we are not going to hurt you." Sasuke quickly stated trying to keep his voice even. With all of the attacks that the time traveler had been through the sudden movement had momentarily put his instincts on high alert. The girl looked up at them and then spun to look at the other two just as Hinata released their genjutsu as well.

"We are Konoha ninja and we were sent to deal with the bandits and safely return you home. Will you trust us enough to lead you back to the village?" Kakashi asked the three girls in a low but even voice. After looking at each other they slowly nodded and Hinata helped them to their feet. She knew that they probably would not trust any of the boys at the moment considering what they had probably been through already. The group made a silent trip back to the village as Naruto left some clones behind to raid what the bandits had. He was secretly hoping that the bandits had some jutsu scrolls or weapons that they could use to build a decent armory with.

As soon as they came in view of the gates the girls ran ahead hoping to get back to a setting that they were familiar with, their home. As Kakashi reported the success of the mission the three genin stood by the gate waiting. For the most part, Sasuke and Naruto were waiting for Hinata's breakdown as the knowledge that she had ended someone's life hit her. They knew that it would be emotionally draining for the gentle girl but also knew that she was better getting the experience sooner rather than later. It was just as the silver-haired jonin was heading back to the group that Hinata darted off into the bushes and began to vomit. Naruto shrugged at Sasuke and left to console his future wife.

"It just hit her," Sasuke said plainly at the jonin's inquisitive gaze. It took nearly ten minutes of consoling before Naruto and Hinata rejoined the group. Hinata was looking rather pale and rattled while Naruto merely looked sympathetic. He had definitely had his share of comforting the girl when she was ill (having a pregnant wife with severe morning sickness would give someone a lot of experience wouldn't it?). After Kakashi confirmed that the three were ready to leave they headed off for their next mission.