Team Yumi re-entered the Hidden Leaf Village as the sun began to set over the Hokage Monument. They had just finished a mission, and were on their way to report their success to the Hokage. Despite the time of day, various villagers were running, talking, playing, and laughing through the streets. A few ninja discussed their most recent mission, while vendors tried to sell goods to annoyed customers.

 

"Heh... I really missed being in the village!" Koukon grinned, happy to be back home.

 

"Yeah. We can finally rest." Hikari wasn't as enthusiastic as her friend, but still smiled. "I can't wait to go eat some ramen." She rubbed her stomach, having missed her favorite food.

 

"Of course, that's the first thing you think of. It's always ramen with you." Koukon teased Hikari. "I guess that going to Ichiraku wouldn't hurt, though..." He looked over at his teacher. "Yumi sensei, is it fine if we head off?"

 

"Yeah, I'll go check in with Lord Hokage. You three can go off and get something to eat." The woman smiled back at her students.

 

"Alright!" Koukon shouted, and looked over to his teammates. "Let's go, Hikari! Are you going to come with, Kiniku?" He asked his best friend, hoping that the three of them could go together.

 

"It's been a while since the three of us got to go to Ichiraku together, hasn't it?" Hikari asked. "You should come with us, Kiniku."

"Y-yeah, even I wouldn't be able to handle him." Hikari was glad that it was dark, hoping that would hide the fact that her face was bright red.

 

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Koukon whined, unhappy that he was being teased again. He thought that he'd be getting more praise for his amazing ghost story, not that it would lead to his friends making fun of him even more.

"All kidding aside, that was a pretty good story Koukon. I wish as I was as good as telling stories like that. I'm no good at stuff like that. I'm better at telling stories that involve, like, training and jutsu and, uh, like, wrestling animals in the forest." Kiniku awkwardly confessed, putting his hands behind his head and laying back, deciding to relax a little.

"Really? It wasn't that bad?" Koukon grinned, happy someone appreciated it.

 

"It was stupid if you asked me..." Hikari muttered, clearly still angry at Koukon for his trick.

 

"You're just mad that I got you with it!" Koukon laughed.

 

As her students joked around, Yumi quickly drew a kunai. "We've got company, you three. Get ready." She ordered her team.

 

"Just as things were starting to get good." Koukon sighed, and formed a handseal to prepare for an attack. "We've got this, Yumi sensei."

 

"Yeah." Hikari created a shadow clone in preparation. "We won't let them through."

 

As the team prepared, a figure approached the group. They appeared to be wearing a black coat, with a decorative mask covering their face. They stood silently, holding a katana at their side.

Kiniku's eyes lit up when he saw the cloaked person draw near. "Oh ho, boy," he said to himself. Hearing Yumi's orders and seeing Koukon and Hikari get prepared, Kiniku was ready for a fight.

 

Kip-upping and getting in closer to his team, he settled in his clan's tradition taijutsu stance. "Allow us to introduce ourselves: we're the welcoming committee." Kiniku taunted. "And if you want the treasure, you're gonna have to go through us."

Edited September 7, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

The figure stood silently, while Hikari sighed. Great, there's Kiniku's cheesy taunt... "He seems more like the silent type." She said calmly.

 

"Well, we'll just have to make him talk!" Koukon shouted. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He shot multiple small fireballs towards the opponent, and each one slowly homed in on him.

 

The figure dodged each fireball, except for the last, which was a direct hit to his arm. 

"Heh, nice shot, String Bean. Now its my turn!" Kiniku cried, blazing through hand signs and gathering wind chakra into his fist. "Wind Style: Aero Strike!" He cried, dashing towards the cloaked man while he was distracted with his arm and delivering a massive uppercut with the chakra-encased fist.

The cloaked man grunted in pain as Kiniku attacked him.

 

"I'll finish it!" Hikari shouted, while her clone focused chakra into her hand. "Rasengan!" She shouted, and hit the man in the stomach. He flew back, and landed on the ground. "Heh, that was too easy." Hikari grinned. However, the man suddenly disappeared, and a log appeared in his place. He reappeared behind Hikari, and swung his sword at the girl. She tried to dodge, but her arm was hit by the attack. She cried in pain, and jumped back.

 

"Are you okay?!" Koukon shouted to his teammate, worried about her safety.

 

"I will be..." She muttered. "Focus on him for now!"

 

"Right!" Koukon shouted. "Time to try out my Swift Style..." He disappeared, and instantly appeared behind the cloaked man. "Surprise." He thrust a kunai into the man's back.

"Nice ones, gang! Now hold 'em there, String Bean!" Kiniku cried, flashing through more hand signs. "Earth Style: Bedrock Barrier!" He added, and instead of slamming his hands on the ground to finish the jutsu, he raised up his leg and slammed his foot on the ground, his arms locked in his clan's taijutsu posed as the impact layered with his chakra sent the ground below to curl up and wrap around the cloaked man, trapping him in place.

 

Kiniku then casually walked up to the trapped man. "Alright then, mister. Let's see who you really are!" He bolstered, pulling off the man's mask.

The man had long black hair, which obscured part of his face. He also had a long scar running down his face, from his forehead to his nose. He smirked, keeping his eyes focused on the mask, which was now hissing.

 

"Paper bomb!" Yumi shouted. Koukon grabbed Hikari and dashed to the side.

"Ugh. That's a face only a mother could love," Kiniku said in disgust. He then changed his tune when he found out the mask was a Paper Bomb.

 

"Uh oh. Hit the dirt!" Kiniku called as he joined with the others in getting away from the blast.

The paper bomb exploded near the captured man, creating a large cloud of dust. Fragments from Kiniku's barrier shot through the air, some small pieces hitting Koukon as he shielded his wounded teammate from the attack. Eventually, the cloud dissipated. "Is everyone okay...?" Koukon groaned.

 

"Y-yeah... Thanks." Hikari muttered.

 

"I'm fine." Yumi nodded.

 

The man had disappeared after the blast, with no trace of where he went.

Kiniku covered himself after the blast hit, also getting hit by some tiny earth fragments from his own jutsu.

 

"I'm okay too," Kiniku confirmed. "Whoever that guy was, he sure was crafty. And I bet he's going after the treasure too. We gotta stop him."

 

(Btw, who is this guy anyway... a fusion of Xaldin and Iruka? )

(Well, I didn't think I'd have to show a face already... Blegh. I guess we can go with that)

 

"Right" Koukon nodded, and stood up. He helped Hikari up, as well.

 

"Let's head inside." Yumi opened the door to the shrine, and stepped in. It was a small room, with what appeared to be an altar in the center. However the altar was empty. "It looks like we were too late..." Yumi sighed.

Edited September 7, 201411 yr by Yellow Flash

"Aw, damn,: Kiniku cursed. "So much for doing our job... ah, but we should still be able to track the guy and find him before the treasure is gone for good, right?"

"We can try. For all we know, he could be far away by now." Yumi sighed. "Hikari, are you feeling okay?"

 

"Y-yeah... She muttered. "Byakugan!" She activated her Byakugan, but cried in pain.

 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Koukon asked.

 

"I'll... Be fine... She scanned the area, trying to find the man. H-he's... Northeast from here. Hiding in the forest." She deactivated her Byakugan, and collapsed to the ground.

"Shoot. Looks like she's out. Hey String Bean, Yumi Sensei, you go on ahead," he said to his team. "I'll use my Matsuyo Clan medical techniques to bring her back to full strength."

Edited September 9, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

"Got it." Koukon nodded.

 

"It seems like there might have been some poison on that man's sword... That would explain why she's injured like this." Yumi muttered. "Good luck, Kiniku." Yumi and Koukon both left the shrine, and took off for the forest.

Kiniku then looked at Hikari and took a breath. "Okay. Lets do this." Kiniku then kneeled down by Hikari's body and took of her jacket. He inspected her arm, making sure to know where to poke and prod. He then went to work to extract the poison from Hikari's body using a smaller version of a jutsu used by Sakura Haruno. He then formed some hand signs.

 

"Ninja Art: Muscle Reconstruction." With that, he closed the gash made in Hikari's skin as well as realigned her tissue. Then he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around the area where she was hit, so that it could stop the bleeding.

 

Kiniku then picked up and held Hikari by her shoulders, resting her head on his arm. "Hey... hey Hyugamaki. You alright? We gotta go," He said, trying to wake her up.

Hikari

 

Hikari woke up, still looking slightly fazed. "H-huh...?" She looked around. "Yeah... I'm fine." She stood up, and left the shrine. "Let's go, Kiniku." She said, and began to run off towards Koukon and Yumi.

 

Koukon

 

Koukon and Yumi made it to the forest outside the village, and weaved through the trees. "There's no way we'll find him here... We need Hikari's Byakugan." Yumi said, looking back to the village. Hurry up, you two...

"Right. Glad to see you at one hundred percent. You can thank me later." Kiniku said as she followed Hikari. "Oh yeah, and here's your jacket," Kiniku said to Hikari, throwing it to her as they ran off together.

Hikari blushed, not even realizing that her jacket was missing. "Th-thanks." She quickly put it on, hiding her white undershirt. She ran as fast as she could, hoping to catch up to the others as soon as possible.

 

Eventually, Hikari and Kiniku caught up to Koukon and Yumi. "Heh, we needed you two. Are you feeling better, Hikari?" Koukon asked his friend, glad to see she was safe.

 

"My arm's still kind of sore... Aside from that, I'm ready to fight." Hikari smiled. "Now then..." She activated her Byakugan. "Follow me, I'll get us to him." She ran ahead of Koukon and Yumi.

"Lead the way Hyugamaki!" Kiniku shouted as he too followed with his team.

Eventually Hikari found the man. She leaped in front of him, keeping her Byakugan activated. "Gentle Fist!" She began to hit the man's chakra points. However, he quickly turned, and swung his sword at Hikari. She barely dodged it. "That's not going to happen again." She muttered. Maybe I should try... No, I haven't mastered it yet. I need to keep that secret for now...

 

Looks like this could be a long ranged fight!" Koukon smirked. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He shot a massive fireball towards the man, who was caught in the attack. He was singed from the fire, but still stood.

"Long range, huh? Might as well crank this out then!" Kiniku said. "Earth Style: Stone Shot!" Kiniku said, raising up a mass of earth from the ground and punching the mass, with three pieces splitting off and aiming for the mysterious man.

The man dodged two of Kiniku's stones, but one hit him straight in the chest.

 

"Nice shot Kiniku!" Koukon complimented his friend.

 

"Yeah." Hikari agreed.

 

"I guess I'll go and take a turn now..." Yumi muttered. "Wind Style: Air Scythe Jutsu!" A compressed blast of air was sent towards him, once again hitting its mark. "That should be enough." Yumi smirked. The man collapsed.