Game On! 4.0

Chapter 11: Moon And Ice

"Has something happened, Hinata-sama? Your whole team seems unusually down." Neji asked as the multiple shinobi usual from the weekend usual gatherings in the Inuzuka Compound were taking a break
"Neji-san's right," Kiba mused "I managed to land twice as many hits as usual in our spar!"
"It's..." Tenten frowned, confusion and anger warring as she spoke before the white-eyed girl "Kurenai-sensei abandoned us!"
"What?! What do you mean?"
"Just that!" the girl answered heatedly "She just gathered us at the end of the usual training yesterday evening and told us not to bother showering up Monday morning because she's resigned as our sensei! Without any explanation!"

"Well, if Kurenai-sensei doesn't want to answer..." Kiba mused "Then we just have to ask higher!"
"How? We can't just barge on the hokage like that to demand answers." Chouji pointed out, looking hopeful nevertheless
"Us, no." Sakura agreed "But Ren-sensei could!"
That stopped the three students protests to a stop – it was well-known that the Nara spent quite a bit of time in the hokage's office, and had been one of his unofficial advisor for years. They didn't know yet how it would be with the new Godaime – but all the shinobi knew that the Sandaime was still helping out their new leader...

Having heard his name, the jounin frowned, just as surprised as his students about Kurenai's strange actions, and easily agreed to investigate a bit.
As such, he found himself within the familiar office a while later.
"She tried to cut her ties completely, eh." the old hokage mused with a frown "Does she expects to die to fulfill her mission?" he wondered worriedly
"Is it something you can tell me about?"
"While all of it isn't classified, it's more Kurenai-san's story to tell." the hokage pointed out – before Sakura barged in urgently, messenger bird in hands "A priority message, hokage-sama!"

Tsunade took it – and frowned "It's from Satomi Hill's manor. They're under attack."
"That's no good," the Sandaime frowned "I believe Kurenai-san intended to head there this morning."
"Jounin Nara, your task is to rescue the manor's resident, Kurama Yakumo. She lives there with a protective team consisting of two medic-in and one Anbu on a rotation." she explained "And Jounin Yuuhi is potentially there too."

[Secondary Quest! The Hidden Darkness...
The Kurama Clan hides something
Reward: +5XP per goal, +1 Skill Book upon completion]

"The enemy?" Ren asked, eyeing the new quest at the same time
"Konoha shinobi. Suspected to be from the Kurama Clan."
"Then... Isn't Clan Law at play?"
"It's not. Despite being a civilian, Yakumo-san has never formally left her apprenticeship under Kurenai-san." the sandaime was the one to answer

Ren nodded, realizing that it meant that the clan and the village were at odds regarding that girl – and importantly at odds at that, as it wasn't everyday they used those loopholes. Clan Laws were important, and while they could be outmaneuvered from time to time, it was better to avoid it as much as possible, less the clan felt too oppressed by the village and decide to leave it.
"Be advised that all Kurama Clan members are skilled in genjutsu, even if few nowadays are well-rounded enough to become more than genin, and take your pick of the shinobi in town for a rescue mission."

¤.¤.¤

Ren had dropped by the compound, Sakura in tow since she had already been in the tower – and had a rather natural protection against mental attack which he hoped would help against the genjutsu specialist. He grabbed Ino, whose mental shields should help too against a genjutsu user and finally a rather surprised Iruka – he did know rather well the chuunin abilities after all, given that he was seen more and more often in the Inuzuka Compound...
Something that may be linked to Hana's insistence on dragging him for meals in the Inuzuka Prime Alpha house – the girl loudly proclaiming that nobody should eat alone.
Ren didn't disagree with the affirmation – but like everyone he knew that it was only a pretext on the girl's side. And well – Iruka's protests had been dwindling down with each meal, so the young jounin may well have been right in her conviction that her way to the chuunin's heart would be through his stomach...