Tender Sea

Chapter 20

"Are you the ninja team we hired from Konoha?" A nondescript guard asked, barring them entry from the small village, "I swear we paid enough for a B-rank but..." He trailed off, glancing at the group. They were all kids, one was in a weird jumpsuit, and there was a tiny blonde girl with them.

"You did and we have treated it as such," The oldest of the team responded, chewing on a senbon, "We have three chuunin and a jounin on this team." He answered handing over the mission scroll.

"I see," The civilian didn't seem very convinced but let them in regardless, "The inn is on the left of the street, please make yourselves welcome."

"Thank you very much!" Gai all but shouted, striding straight through the gates.

"Ah, Gai, wait up!" Genma rushed after him, aware that his teammate wasn't exactly normal. Miyu sighed and trailed after them, Iruka following behind. The two had at least waited at the inn, most likely unsure of how their sleeping arrangements should go.

"A single room will do." Miyu stated, as she walked up to the blushing receptionists that kept shooting their bandana wearing teammate bashful looks.

"A-are, you sure?" she stuttered out, obviously flustered.

"Yeah." Miyu dropped a few ryo on the counter and collected the room key, leading the three males up to their room.

"She is truly enjoying her spring of youth," Gai noted sounding wise, "Another woman attracted by your flames of youth Genma."

"I'm telling you it has nothing to do with being 'youthful'," Genma replied as he surveyed their room, "You sure you'll be okay with rooming with us Miyu-chan?"

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't be?" She asked raising a brow.

"I guess not." He answered with a grin that made Iruka bristle beside her. She shrugged and walked to the window, opening it and allowing a red fox entry to their room.

"Ah, Kurama! I was wondering where your companion had gone!" the taijutsu expert gave the creature a firm pat as it passed him. Miyu knelt by her partner allowing him easier access to his favourite perch.

"Kurama's located the targets' base so if we're lucky we'll be back home before the week is over." Miyu announced as the fox draped itself around her shoulders.

"That was fast." Genma gave a low whistle of appreciation, "I was expecting to be scouting around for the day."

"You can still do that it you want," The blonde pulled out the mission scroll and checked over the details, "Apparently there weren't as many ninja at the base then we expected, which means their either hanging around the area or hiding out somewhere else.''

"What would you like us to do then?" Iruka asked, setting down his knapsack. The other two shinobi turned to show they were also listening to her words.

"You'll take Kurama and secure the base. There's only," the fox shifted on her shoulders, "Three chuunin stationed on guard and a handful of hostages. Gai, Genma, we'll be scouting the village, the leader is probably out with his cronies getting drunk in some bar. Iruka did you bring those seals?"

"Yeah," The scarred chuunin brought out four slips of marked paper, handing one to each of his teammates and keeping one to himself.

"What's this for?" Genma asked, scrutinizing the inky patterns. It was completely unfamiliar to him, regardless of how many seals he had used on the field.

"Oh, it's a communication seal," Iruka explained, "Well kind of. Each of us needs to push a small amount of chakra into each seal and later when you're in trouble you can reactivate your tag. Basically it works as a signal flare, one that won't be noticed by anyone but us."