A Lethal Weapon - ALW Saga Book 1 [REWRITE]

Chapter 12

The next morning, four ninjas met at the village gates to prepare themselves for their leave. "Are you ready, kid?" Yusuke asked his daughter.

"Yes, Father," she answered excited and with a grin plastered on her face.

"Is it the first time that you go out of the village, kiddo?" Another of the ninjas asked the little girl.

"Yes," she replied harshly to being called 'kiddo'.

"I see... You'll have fun..." said the last, walking over to Yusuke. "What's the plan, Captain?"

"If we leave now, we'll arrive in the evening to the village where we'll find the missing scroll. We'll look for a place where we can take refuge without being detected and, at midnight, we'll infiltrate to recover the scroll." Everyone nodded and looked at the little girl. "We will not rest until we get there, if you get tired let me know and one of us will carry you."

"Don't worry about me, Father. I'll be fine," the girl assured him. "After all, I'm a ninja, like you," she said pointing to the headband with the symbol of the Konoha village on her forehead. The others just smiled to the confidence of the girl and departed for the border between Kusagakure and Iwagakure, the setting where their mission would take place.

After several hours of travelling, as expected, Hanako got tired and had to be carried by one of the shinobi from Yusuke's team.

"You shouldn't have brought your daughter with you, Yusuke-san," the one carrying Hanako, who at this point was sound asleep, said. "Where we are going is a place where Konoha is considered an enemy; and the Third War has barely ended. Most likely, they'll wait until we want to recover what was lost, and they'll be waiting for us Yusuke. It's possible that the mission happens to be of a higher rank."

"The Hokage gave me the necessary authorization." Yusuke frowned thinking of the possibility of an ambush.

"That's a lie. Hiruzen would never put at risk the life of a little girl." There was a pause. "You didn't say anything, did you? Why did you bring her, Yusuke?" the ninja inquired.

"So Danzo wouldn't lay a finger on her in my absence," he said calmly. Trust me Yoshito, if there were another option I would have taken it, he thought.

"I don't know what the elders have against your daughter, but I can assure you that she would have been safer back in the village." The ninja narrowed his eyes as Yusuke just remained calm looking forward, without even taking glances at him.

"You would be surprised," he finally muttered. "Hanako needs experience, she needs her instincts to naturally develop. And that can only be achieved if she's thrown into real life."

"Is that what you want?" The ninja widened his eyes. "You are going to destroy her childhood, Yusuke."

"If that makes her strong," Yusuke said with sadness in his eyes which was noticed by the other ninja. "Then let it be."

"I can't believe you." The ninja sighed as he watched Yusuke intently. "I seriously can't."

"That's because you don't understand." Yusuke slightly frowned. "Her chakra is special and if she becomes a shinobi, it is most likely she won't have a peaceful life. She is the goal of many others seeking her power. Like Danzo... I just don't want that to happen, Yoshito. She needs to learn to defend herself."

"Back in the village there are a lot of people who can protect her. Fugaku-san, Akira-san, even her own sister," Yoshito said to his companion. "Here, it's only us against an army of Kusagakure and Iwagakure Jounin. You're making a big mistake, Yusuke. Some of us will probably die in this mission." The Uchiha only continued forward without saying anything. Yoshito sighed.