บท 18: Chapter 17: Investigating disappearances
-In some strange place-
Drops of blood splattered on the floor, as that woman licked her fingers with lust.
"Delicious..."
Blood trickled down her lips, for a moment her eyes glowed a deep red.
A few seconds passed and a satisfied smile formed on that woman's mouth, but while she was enjoying that feast, a man entered the room.
"Miroku-sama, new visitors have arrived in our village."
The man was blindfolded with a black scarf, in addition to the strange military garb he was wearing.
"Visitors? Wow, I'm still not done with the last ones that arrived" Miroku said as he stood up from the ground, at that moment she was completely naked.
"What should we do with them, Miroku-sama?" The man asked, his voice sounding a little muffled.
"I wonder the same thing..."
With a smile on his mouth, Miroku wrapped his arms around the man and licked one of his cheeks.
"Let them enjoy themselves a little longer, after all they don't have long to live..."
Miroku spoke close to the man's ear in a seductive tone of voice, and once again, his eyes glowed that intense red color.
-Konohagakure-
Closing his eyes, Hiruzen exhaled a small cloud of smoke.
"So, the reason I called you is to assign the next mission to team 11" Hiruzen said while looking Yamato in the eyes.
"But, Hokage-sama, for you in person to assign us a mission, I must assume it's something important" Yamato said, the expression on his face was neutral.
"Ha~ you are correct, this mission is a research assignment" Inhaling a puff of smoke, Hiruzen looked at some documents lying on his desk.
"This is the formation we have gathered so far" Hiruzen said as he handed the document to Yamato.
Taking the sheets of paper in his hands, Yamato began to read, his gaze remained fixed on the paper until seconds later he set the document down on the Hokage's desk.
"This is a B-rank mission. Hokage-sama, are you sure about this?" letting out a sigh, Yamato spoke.
The Hokage looked at Yamato for a few seconds before replying.
"Hm... yes, I'm sure. The truth is that all ANBU investigators that were sent on that mission never came back, that's why I called you, I want you to find out what's going on" Sighing tiredly, Hiruzen closed his eyes.
"But, Hokage-sama wouldn't it be easier to just send me?" Yamato refuted, but Hiruzen opened his eyes and answered.
"Not really, right now all our ninjas are busy in different missions, that's one of the reasons why I'm assigning you this mission. But for your luck, this will only be a research assignment, so you won't have to involve your team in anything dangerous, you'll just have to get the necessary information and return to Konoha" Hiruzen said with a serious tone of voice.
"But, to keep all the ninja in our village busy, Hokage-sama, don't tell me that..."
"That's something I can't tell you yet, but don't worry, you'll know in due time."
A smile formed on Hiruzen's mouth, though he was a bit worried about the news that is reaching him.
After seeing Hiruzen so confident, Yamato only sighed and replied:
"Ha~ I understand, then I will take care of completing this mission to perfection" Closing his eyes, Yamato resigned himself, although the difficulty of the mission was a bit high for his students, he couldn't say anything against the Hokage, after all Hiruzen is a very capable man, not for nothing is he the Hokage.
-At Toru's house-
The sound of metal pieces echoed in the place.
Moving his hands with great skill, Toru assembled the pieces.
(Good, now I have to make sure the air pressure doesn't make the battery explode) Toru thought as he placed the metal wires in that strange device.
After that some minutes passed, Toru was still building the device.
(Yamato-sensei said that the next mission will be out of the country, then I must prepare some things before going to sleep) Getting up from the floor, Toru took care to leave all the pieces of the artifact stored in a box.
"Two... four, they're all there" Toru said as he looked at the six scrolls in front of him.
(I guess I'll take this as well).
Opening a small wooden box, Toru took out a pendant, in it was a shiny golden ring, that ring belonged to Kyoko, it was one of the few things Toru was able to retrieve from her family.
He took a few seconds to look at the ring and remember some things from the past, but it was only a few seconds before Toru put the pendant around his neck.
(I thought it would be uncomfortable to wear it) Toru sighed, his face still holding a poker expression.
After that, the lights in the place went out, Toru sighed as he trimmed himself on the bed.
(I have a bad feeling)
-The next day.
The scarf on his neck, as well as his hair, moved due to the wind. For a few seconds she closed her eyes and let the wind caress her face.
Toru lifted the fruit-filled bread in his hand and brought it to his mouth, taking a few seconds to savor it.
(I think Mr. Shou went a little overboard with the salt) Toru thought as he ate.
"You're early, again" With a slight smile on his mouth, Yamato raised his hand, greeting his student.
"Good morning, Yamato-sensei" Toru said without changing the expression on his face.
After seeing Toru, for a few seconds, Yamato looked at the horizon, he was thinking, normally B-rank missions are assassination assignments, but there were also investigations.
After reading all the information in that document that the Hokage had, Yamato could only imagine what they might possibly have to face.
(All the ninja in our village, huh...) Letting out a sigh, Yamato crossed his arms. He had heard certain rumors that a certain ninja had returned after so many years, but they were rumors, even so, Yamato just stayed to think about it.
"Good morning, Yamato-sensei, Toru-kun" Said Hinata, who at that moment had just arrived.
"Hinata, you're early too" Yamato said, though the expression on his face was completely neutral.
"Well, I couldn't sleep last night, so I'm still a little tired, but I promise I won't be a burden to the team" Hinata said loudly, her look was full of determination, something that made Yamato smile unconsciously.
(Toru-kun...)
Hinata looked at Toru, he had just stared at the place where Ino usually comes from.
(Although I was easily defeated, I wonder if Toru-kun held back...) Hinata thought.
"Here she comes" Toru said, making everyone look at the golden-haired girl.
"Ha~ I made it in time" Ino spoke while catching her breath, she had stayed up too late last night, so she couldn't wake up early.
After watching Ino apologize for a few seconds, Yamato sighed and looked at his students.
"Well, now that we are all here, I must tell you something before we leave" Yamato said with a serious expression on his face, this made Toru narrow his eyes.
"This mission is B-rank" Yamato said, causing Hinata and Ino to look at him with a confused expression.
"We're still Genin, why would they send us on a high-ranking mission?" Closing his eyes and crossing his arms, Toru spoke.
"Ha~ this is a mission that we were tasked by the Hokage himself in person."
"The Hokage?" Ino asked, she was still confused, after all she didn't know whether to be happy or scared about being assigned to a B-ranked mission.
"Don't worry, as a Jounin that I am, I will see to it that this mission is completed successfully" Yamato said, there was still a serious expression on his face.
"Besides, we will earn a lot of money" With a slight smile on his mouth, Yamato looked at his students, even he wasn't sure if it was okay to go on a same B-ranked one with a team of rookie Genin, and even if it was a research assignment, he had a bad feeling about it.
(Then, if we complete a B-ranked mission I can brag to Sasuke, and Sakura will die of envy) Looking up at the sky, Ino imagined herself at Sasuke's side.
"Sensei... we still don't know what the mission is about" Hinata said, she was still a little nervous.
"Uh... yes, this mission is a research assignment, we have been tasked to gather information, we will have to visit the villages that are located between the land of fire and the land of waterfall" Yamato said, for a few seconds he closed his eyes before continuing to speak.
"From what I understand, there have been dozens of people missing, so we'll have to start the investigation when we get to the first village."
Toru arranged his scarf and sighed, research was one of the things he was best at, so he was sure he could find relevant information that could be of use to the Hokage.
While Toru was thinking, Ino had locked herself in her own world.
(If it's a research assignment it shouldn't be that hard. Haha, I can already see Sakura's face when she finds out I completed a B-ranked mission) Ino thought as she chuckled.
"Well, now that I've given you the basic information for this mission, it's time to go" Yamato turned around and started walking.
"Yes, sensei" They said in unison.
-Two hours later-
The sound of their footsteps echoed with the dirt on the ground. It hadn't been long since Team 11 had left Konoha.
"If for some reason you even think of ruining the mission, I'll see to it that you suffer, got it?" Ino said as she held Toru's scarf.
The two had fallen a little behind, because of this, Ino took advantage of the situation to give Toru a warning.
(Ha~ it's getting worse every day...) Toru thought. He was aware that Ino's personality was too irritating, but he still decided to keep quiet until the right time to respond.
"I hope you understood, you must not ruin my chance with Sasuke" Ino looked at Toru with a superior expression on her face.
After that, Ino let go of Toru's scarf and continued walking.
(She's too self-centered...) Toru wiped the founded a little and sighed.
"Toru-kun, don't lag behind" Hinata said.
Hearing the white-eyed girl, Toru closed his eyes for a second, then kept walking.
"Sensei, how long until we reach the first village?" Ino said, the expression on her face hiding her thoughts very well.
"It's still seven hours away, but there's no need to worry, we'll take a break every so often" Without taking his eyes off the road, Yamato spoke.
Ino just looked at the horizon with a tired expression.
(Ah! I'm tired! I don't want to walk anymore...) Ino thought, yet no one could hear her.
As his students walked behind him, Yamato sighed, the whole time he had been thinking about what would happen during the mission, according to the documents Hiruzen gave him, there was a strange creature with spidery legs sticking out of its back.
Anyone would think that description was a joke, but the one who provided that bit of information died of exsanguination right after arriving in Konoha.
(I'm still not sure if what was in those documents is true, possibly that creature was just a hallucination, but.... No, I shouldn't think too much about that, I'll gather the information and return to Konoha together with my students).
Yamato sighed once more and put his hands in his pockets.
-Somewhere-
Blood spilled from the weapon that man held in his hands.
*Wind sound*
The man shook the spear to remove the blood from it, for a few seconds his face could be seen.
He had a white bandage covering one of his eyes, he was also wearing a military uniform.
"Miroku-sama..."
The man sighed as he looked at the corpse in front of him, remembering that woman.
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