Capítulo 16: Rogue Ninjas
The next morning I stood at the opening to one of the canyons that left Sunagakure. I had gotten there plenty early in order not to be late. Baki had of course beaten me here but that was to be expected of him. We were still waiting on Kankuro and Temari who should be here in the next few minutes. Temari had been healed and released from the infirmary late last night. She had been cleared to go to the chunin exams which was lucky. The genin that Rasho had burned was still in critical condition and might not even be able to compete in the chunin exams. Hirosano's team might not even compete, something that made me feel bad. Hirosano wouldn't get to showcase his talents and he certainly wasn't a pushover. There was still a possibility that the kid would be better but as of now, it wasn't looking good.
"Isn't it a bad idea to have the representative free for all right before the chunin exams? What if someone gets too injured to compete like that kid on Hirosano's team," I asked Baki. It wasn't like we didn't have time to burn and I was curious what the reason was. Surely there was a better method for deciding on the representative. At the very least they could do it sooner so that no one would be forced to not attend the exams due to injuries.
"It's tradition to do it right before the chunin exams Lord Gaara. It is this way because it makes you genin show your true abilities. Only the strongest among you will triumph."
"What do you mean true abilities? Wouldn't you see our powers even if we did it sooner, why does time matter?" Baki's explanation wasn't giving much clarity to the confusing planning of the free for all.
"We spring it on you at the last moment right before the chunin exams for a specific reason. If we told you about it long before the free for all happened then you each research each other's weaknesses. We don't want to see how well you discover and exploit weaknesses. We want to see how you perform when given little to no information about your enemies. Whoever is the strongest or has the best strategy will win," said Baki. Thinking over what he had said, I noticed one flaw in this system.
"You still gave us a couple of days before the fight Baki-sensei. Wouldn't that still be enough time for people to scope out the competition?" Baki smiled at this like it was some big inside joke. I was annoyed with how he was acting, why couldn't he give me a straight answer?
"As I said before the main reason isn't to see how well you can discover and use weaknesses against your opponents. That doesn't mean we don't want to see who thought of doing such a thing in such a short amount of time. Your fellow genin Hirosano and Kohara were the only ones that watched everyone train. I was surprised you didn't Lord Gaara but then again you don't really have to with your power," Baki said with a chuckle. It hadn't even crossed my mind to spy on the other genin to see what their abilities could be. It was actually a pretty big blunder on my part not to do so. If I had scouted out Kohara and Temari I might have learned of their team-up or their paper bomb plot. I sighed at my error, I really needed to put more thought into some stuff.
"That's a pretty complex test Baki-sensei," I said. What seemed like just a little battle for the representative spot was actually its own mini-exam. I was impressed with all the things they looked at when genin fought in the free for all. I had won in the end but I definitely hadn't put in as much work like everyone else. Hirosano had scouted his competition along with Kohara who even became allies with Temari for her strategy. I on the other hand had gone in with blind confidence in my powers which was the method of a fool. People like Rasho chose that route, I needed to be better than him.
"What are you two rambling on about," asked a familiar female voice. Turning to look at Sunagakure, I saw Kankuro and Temari walking side by side towards me. Temari still had a few bandages on her face and arms but they were supposed to heal by the time we got to the Hidden Leaf. Kankuro had his Crow puppet wrapped up around his back. He would probably switch places with it before the second or third part of the exam. It was quite an unnerving first entrance for his abilities in the anime. I was looking forward to seeing it in person, same with Temari taking down Tenten.
"Just saying how late you two are," I said with a smirk. My comment had its desired effect and Temari twitched her face a little in annoyance. She didn't like her fault being pointed out in front of Baki.
"Maybe if you hadn't injured me so badly, then I wouldn't be late," grumbled Temari which caused Kankuro to chuckle. It also made Baki and I smile as well which further frustrated Temari.
"It's time for us to leave for the Hidden Artisan Village," said Baki as he gestured for us to start walking. Right as we all started going through the canyon, there was a sound of running behind us. All of us turned to see who was coming up behind us. A chunin from the looks of him came into view, who was breathing hard. He ran all the way up to me before falling to his knees in exhaustion.
"What is it," demanded Baki as he strode to stand next to me. I also looked the chunin over to see what he could need to run all this way.
"Lord Gaara, Lady Temari, Lord Kankuro, Lord Kazekage has sent you each a scroll for your departure," said the gasping chunin. He pulled out three scrolls from his bag and handed one to each of us. My scroll was blood red and had a small slip of paper tied to it with my name. We each unrolled our scrolls and began reading.
"Gaara, make the Hidden Sand Village proud at the chunin exams. I have also given you another technique inside this scroll. Handle your mission with the Hidden Artisan with care as well."
I was obviously from Rasa but I wondered what technique he could have enclosed inside. Why hadn't he put it with all the other scrolls and books in my room? I glanced up before reading the technique to find both Kankuro and Temari were still reading their scrolls. I took a brief look and found that Kankuro's was several paragraphs long. Of course, Rasa still didn't care enough about me to give a message that didn't sound like a business transaction. I considered not reading the rest of the scroll to spite him but I decided to just accept it. Rejecting his gift could mean not learning a Jutsu that would help me win the churning exams. Forget who it came from and just read it. I read the rest of the scroll and was just a little underwhelmed by its contents. The Jutsu wasn't nearly as cool as Sand Particle Conversion or as powerful Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral. I could see its use's though, several already popping into my head. This would surely help me in my fights against Rock Lee and Sasuke if they still turned out that way. Imagine if I had to fight one of the other Uchiha, the mere idea sending chills of excitement down my spine.
"You may go back now," I said as I shooed the chunin to leave. He looked relieved that I hadn't told him to do anything else and began walking back to Sunagakure.
"Something wrong Gaara," asked Kankuro with a puzzled look. He must've noticed my distaste for the scroll. I tried my best to wipe the moodiness off my face before responding.
"Everything is fine, let's get going." I turned and began walking without them. I didn't care if they wanted to know what was wrong with me I wasn't in the mood to discuss it. Everyone followed me silently and we began our journey to the Hidden Artisan Village. I was interested to see what this supposed diplomatic mission held for us. I sensed that it wasn't just some important paperwork we were supposed to take care of. They would have sent a messenger for that kind of work, not a team of skilled genin on their way to the chunin exams. Something told me there were going to be setbacks on this trip.
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The first leg of the journey went without a hitch. We traveled through several small villages on our way to the Land of Rivers. Baki checked with all of the village heads to see if there was anything they needed shinobi for. Most of them informed us that there had been a band of rogue ninjas raiding the villages. They apparently were headed toward the Land of Rivers just like we were. Judging from Baki's expression and response to getting the information we would be taking care of the rogue ninja.
"Aren't rogue ninja exiled without a village? Why would they band together with other ninjas that are complete strangers to them? Wouldn't they still hold grudges," asked Temari. We had just left the final village we would be visiting in the Land of Wind. The Land of Rivers was just a stone's throw away from our location. The rogue ninjas had also been spotted in this village just days ago, robbing several people and killing another. They were becoming a little too big to ignore as Hidden Sand shinobi. Usually, you would need a mission request from someone to gain any direct action against the rogue ninja. Rogue ninjas were difficult to take down since they moved around so much. They never stuck around in a single place for too long, movement was the key to their survival. This was why most requests for them to be eliminated turned into a waste of time. The trail almost always went cold at the borders of other lands. This band of rogue ninjas seemed to be a little sloppier than most though, they were leaving behind a trail of destruction wherever they went. As shinobi of any land, it was our duty to either capture the rogue ninja or kill it. A majority of them were fugitives on the run from their land anyways, they would have bounties in the Bingo Book. So it wasn't out of the ordinary for us to go a little off track to take care of this nuisance.
"Everyone stop for a moment," shouted Baki. We had been sprinting towards the Land of Rivers but now came to a halt. All of us gathered around Baki to hear what he wanted to tell us. It was probably his decision about whether to deviate from our mission or not to take care of the rogue ninjas.
"I've decided that we need to take care of this band of rogue ninjas. They've caused too much damage and bloodshed to get away with it. If we let them got it will tarnish the Hidden Sand." Baki held very fair points, we all nodded in agreement. With our skill set, it shouldn't put us behind schedule by too much.
"Where do we start? I understand we have a rough direction of where they are headed but do we have any idea where they might hit next," asked Kankuro. I eyed him with admiration, a novice tracker might follow the trail blindly without thinking of the actual destination of the target. Kankuro was thinking instead of blindly following. Once again, I found myself proud of my siblings as shinobi. They definitely weren't followers or weaklings, they were leaders and thinkers. Baki pulled a map from his pack and set it down on the ground. We all crouched around it and squinted to see in the harsh sun.
"We are positioned right here," said Baki as he pointed right at the border. The small village we had just come from was a dot on the map, proving Baki's statement.
"The closest village in the Land of Rivers is this small one right here," said Baki pointing at a dot that was just across the border. The village didn't seem very significant. It was probably just a small farming village judging from the geography shown on the map.
"Why would they attack there? That village is small and most likely doesn't have anything extremely valuable in it," said Temari with doubt. I had to admit I had the same question in mind.
"Look at all the targets they've picked before this," Baki said. He moved his finger and pointed at the half dozen villages that had been raided previously.
"What about them," I asked with puzzlement. I didn't understand the importance of villages that had already been attacked. Why did they matter when the rogue ninjas had already moved on? Or was there something I was missing?
"They all are small and insignificant. None of them are major settlements, they make a living off the small amount of gold dust they get from their mines. Perfect targets for rogue ninjas that don't want to gather much attention" said Baki. Looking over the map I could see that he was right. None of the prior targets had been very large so why should the next one be?
"Then why go to this small farming village? It doesn't have any gold dust like the others," said Kankuro. He was correct since the Land of Rivers was mainly agricultural due to its fertile soil.
"None of these villages would have too much food due to their size. So they most likely running low on food and other supplies. This would be a perfect low-risk target for them," said Baki with confidence. I wondered just how lost we would be without him right now. Experience does outrank power in situations like this one.
"So what's the plan to take them down? Capture them or kill," I asked while observing the map. Baki paused for a moment and seemingly considered which path to take.
"We will decide when we meet them. How many of them and their skill will decide that Lord Gaara," said Baki as he folded the map. We all stood up and restarted our journey with a new objective. I was a little anxious yet excited to face rogue ninjas. I didn't know anything about them which put me at a disadvantage but the same went for them. They wouldn't know anything about my abilities so I could use that to my advantage. Using Sand Tsunami as a surprise attack might lead to a quick victory but I didn't have much sand. I brought several of the iron sand and chakra-infused sand scrolls but not enough to make a large Sand Tsunami. That meant I'd need to make more sand by grinding up the earth which was a lengthy process. We probably would be spotted before I created enough sand. I kept thinking about strategy as we closed in on the small village. We followed the main road that would lead into the village for a while since it was the most direct route. Baki motioned for us to stop.
"We will be getting off the road and traveling through the trees for the rest of the way in. The main road is too open and obvious of a route, they will be watching it," Baki said as we began to head into the trees. A quiet groan made us all freeze in place. Temari went for her iron fan and I went for my katana. I made sand from my gourd come out and float above me. I was ready to protect everyone from attack if the rogue ninja had crept upon us. The groan sounded again and this time it sounded more in distress. I eased my grip on the katana a little. Whoever was making this noise seemed to be injured or upset. Baki slowly walked forward in the general direction of the noise. It was coming from further down the main path. After a couple of dozen yards, the noise was direct to the right of us. We all slowly walked towards the side of the road and looked around. The source was soon found, a woman who looked to have several serious wounds laying on the ground. Baki quickly rushed over to her and began to survey her injuries. I observed the surrounding area and found a scene of horror. At least a dozen other bodies were scattered on the side of the road, with the charred remains of a cart. There were also several objects lying about that's were from the victims.
"What the hell happened here," said Kankuro shakily. He had picked up a burned trinket that seemed to be a child's toy. I didn't dare look around the scene to see if there was a child among the bodies. A sick feeling settled in my gut. Why had they done this? They could have spared the poor travelers and their caravan. Instead, the rogue ninja had brutally massacred them and then thrown them to the side of the road. Baki stood up from his position by the woman and shook his head. She was gone. The look in his eyes said everything about what we were going to do. We all silently walked back into the main road. Looking at everyone's faces, we alerted all feeling the same emotions. Rage glinted in Baki's eyes while Kankuro and Temari had a look of sickness in theirs. I assumed my eyes were a combination of both anger and sadness. We wouldn't let the rogue ninjas getaway now. It was obvious they were getting bolder with each attack. Who knows what bloodshed and carnage they would bring if not stopped soon. Our plan to go through the trees was abandoned by our anger. The road was the quickest way to the village and we couldn't wait. Right as we started to come up to the clearing that held the village I smelled smoke. Several plumes of it rose above the village. Distant shouts and screams could be heard which caused my blood to boil.
"Everyone stop," commanded Baki. We all halted from our sprints to look at him with glares. We all had adrenaline pumping through our veins. The rage we felt was unparalleled, we wanted to rip the rogue ninjas to pieces.
"What's the holdup? Let's go take them down," Kankuro said as he unslung Crow. I agreed with Kankuro, why wait? It was time to get payback on these murderers.
"We need to go into this with a calm head. We can't rush in and just attack them. These are rogue ninjas, they could be jonin level for all we know," said Baki. He had a point but I didn't want to waste any more time. The villagers were under attack right now. Action needed to be taken now rather than later.
"What's the plan then," questioned Temari. She was just as eager as Kankuro and I from the looks of it.
"Lord Gaara will be our main attack. He will charge in and create some chaos with his sand. I want you two to pick off any rogue ninja distracted by Lord Gaara. If they start ganging up on you then group up and retreat for a moment. No unnecessary risks, your all still genin," said Baki sternly. His plan made some sense and I liked it because I would get to be the main attacker. No holding back while waiting for an opening for me.
"You want us to sit back and leave Gaara out in the open? He's strong but you said it yourself, we don't know what we are up against," argued Temari. She wasn't happy about me going in alone, that was clear.
"Which is why I will be backing him up, there is no need to worry Lady Temari," said Baki reassuringly. With Baki working alongside me there shouldn't be a problem. I forced all my sand out of the gourd including the iron sand I had put at the bottom. I had filled the bottom of the gourd with iron sand so I would have some readily available. It was much better on defense than my normal sand. It wasn't as fast as the other sand since I didn't have as much control over it. Shukaku had helped me get a basic sense of control over it but I still had a long way to go before I mastered iron sand. I summoned all the iron sand and normal sand I had stored in the scrolls on my person. There wasn't enough here for a Sand Tsunami but maybe enough to test out my new Jutsu. It might be risky to experiment during a real battle so I decided to leave it as the last resort.
"Are you ready Lord Gaara," asked Baki. Kankuro and Temari looked at me to see if I was prepared to lead the charge. They both had an eager glint in their eyes. The time had come to deal justice to these rogue ninjas.
"I'm ready," I said as I took off. My sand immediately followed me at my feet. I ran through the destroyed village while seeing my team in the corners of my vision. A scream drew my attention to a young girl flying through the air. In a flash, my sand caught the girl and gently set her down. Tears were streaming down her face and there was a little bit of blood on her clothes. I looked closer and was relieved to see that it didn't seem to be her blood. The little girl ran up to me and hugged my leg. She continued bawling her eyes out and clinging to me. Such a sad and depressing sight to see a little girl reduced to tears.
"Who are you kid?" I spun back in the direction that the girl had come from. Standing there was a horribly disfigured man, his face was a terrifying mess of scars. On his forehead was a tattered and scratched headband of the Hidden Sand.
"I'm Gaara of the Desert," I told him coldly. I sent my sand flying towards him as fast as it could go. The man jumped into the air and daggers flew from his cloak directed at me. My iron sand easily blocked the daggers and they clanged to the ground. Poison pooled on the ground, seeping out of the daggers. They reminded me a lot of the poison daggers and needles Crow shot out of him.
"Gaara of the Desert? Your the Kazekage's son, a real monster I hear," chuckled the man. He brought his hands out from beneath his cloak to reveal one of them was mechanical. His arm was just like a puppet, most likely where the poison daggers had come from. This meant he was without a doubt a puppet user but there was a problem with that theory. Where was his puppet? His cloak didn't seem big enough to hold a puppet unless it was very small. It seemed unlikely his only weapon was a mechanical arm with how much swagger he had written on his face.
"You may have heard of me, I'm Sumaru Yakira. If it helps to remember me I apprenticed under Sasori of the Red Sands for a brief time. I say apprenticed but it was more like watching him work, he hated me," chuckled Sumaru wickedly. Worry crept into my body upon hearing that he had apprenticed under Sasori. I had no idea that anybody had ever been a student of the legendary puppetmaster.
"Never heard of you before, why bring that up anyway? I don't care if you apprenticed under the Third Kazekage I'll defeat you regardless," I said cooly. If only he knew how much I was panicking under the surface. Sumaru's face suddenly darkened and he dropped his cloak to the ground. I took a step back as I looked in horror at what was beneath it. His whole body from his chest down was mechanical, just like a puppet. He had four arms in total, his right arm being the only one made of flesh.
"You asked why I told you I apprenticed under Sasori? This right here is the reason, people tend to wonder how such a freak of nature like me is alive. I was one of his first human puppet experiments, something I take great pride in," said Sumaru darkly. He seemed insulted that I didn't care who he apprenticed under. He was strangely respective to Sasori, even though he was a monster who turned people into human puppets.
"So your body is half puppet and half-human. I'll still crush you for doing all those awful things to the villagers," I told him. With that, I unleashed a volley of Sand Shuriken directly at him. Sumaru smirked and one of his puppet arms raised and split open. Chakra poured out of it and rotated to create a chakra shield which stopped all of my Sand Shuriken.
This guy might be a little harder to defeat than I thought.
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