Attacked!

Ichigo looked around curiously as the group walked down the worn, sandy path leading out of the Leaf Village. They had only been walking for about thirty minutes now, but it was still farther than Ichigo had ever been, and so she was absorbing as much as she could. They were still surrounded by thick forest, and Ichigo smiled slightly as she listened to the wind fluttering through the leaves and the birds singing in the branches. She then turned as Sakura addressed the bridgebuilder.

“So, Mr. Tazuna, you come from the Land of Waves, right?” she asked politely. Tazuna found this to be a stupid question and merely replied with, “Yeah, what about it?” Sakura looked a little disheartened that the man was being so grumpy, and so she turned to Kakashi to finish with her questions. “Do they have ninjas in that country too?”

“No, not in the Wave Country,” Kakashi answered simply. “They do in most other countries, though. Despite cultural differences, they still have hidden villages, and therefore have ninjas.” He then went into a long explanation of the five great nations and their respective villages and Kage, especially how powerful they were. Ichigo found her mind wandering to the night that the Leaf Village was attacked by her mother, and found herself doubtful. It seems her three teammates were having similar thoughts, for they all cringed when Kakashi remarked, “You all just doubted the Hokage, didn’t you?” He then laughed and reached out to pat Sakura on the head. “Don’t worry. It’s only a C-rank mission, so there won’t be any ninja combat for you.”

Both Naruto and Ichigo let out a disappointed groan. I wanted to show off my new summoning jutsu… None of them have seen it, she thought with a sigh, looking down at the scroll strapped to her back. In doing so, she caught Tazuna in her peripheral vision, and noticed that he looked extremely uncomfortable with Kakashi-sensei’s words. Why does he look so worried? she thought, and glanced down with a cry as she stepped in a puddle. She pulled her foot away covered in mud, and whined in disgust.

“It’s just mud, Ichigo,” Sasuke sighed from in front of her, and before she could argue the water puddle in front of her shot upward, transforming into two men joined by a chain attached to a gauntlet on each hand. She stepped back in shock, expecting to receive a killing blow then and there, but instead they shot forward and wrapped Kakashi-sensei in the chains. Before the four young children could even move, the two men pulled the chain tight and ripped through their mentor’s body like it was sand.

“One down,” they cackled, then disappeared as they moved with incredible speed. Ichigo drew her sword, expecting the men to come for her next, but instead they appeared behind Naruto. With their kunai held to his neck, they laughed, “Two down.”

“Naruto! Look out!” she yelled, dashing toward him as the two ninja reared back to take him out; however, Sasuke was faster, and as he leaped into the air he threw a kunai knife and pinned the chain to a nearby tree. He then landed on the men’s shoulders, taking them by the arms and forcibly ripping the chain from the gauntlets on the hands. However, as it detached the men recovered quickly, and one of them went running dashing for Naruto while the other ran for Sakura. The girl braced herself, protecting Tazuna, but Sasuke jumped in front of her; Naruto was frozen on the spot, and so Ichigo threw herself in front of him with her blade raised, her eyes narrowed in determination. However, in an instant, the charge ceased, for Kakashi had grabbed both of them by the neck and was now holding their limp bodies.

“Kakashi-sensei! You’re alive!” Naruto gasped.

“He used the Substitution Justu,” Ichigo remarked as she spotted the cluster of cut logs that had been sliced by the mystery ninja. They all breathed a sigh of relief, and Kakashi glanced over at Naruto apologetically.

“Sorry for not helping right away, Naruto. It’s my fault that you’re injured… I didn’t think that you would freeze up like that,” he sighed. Ichigo glanced down at Naruto to find that his hand had been sliced open by one of the ninja’s claws, and she felt a pang of guilt for not being fast enough. Naruto helped me when my mother attacked, but I really wasn’t able to help him, was I? she thought, but Kakashi walked over to pat her on the head. “Don’t put yourself down too much. You did well. As did you, Sasuke,” he called over to the other boy, and he merely shrugged it off and began walking again. As Naruto gazed glumly after him, Sasuke paused.

“Are you okay… Mr. Scaredy Cat? Not only did I have to save you, you let a girl jump in front of you to save you too?” he mused with a smirk, and Naruto’s face contorted in rage. Ichigo remained silent, not sure whether to take the comment as a compliment or an insult. I’m not even sure if I could have done anything… she realized miserably. I was just as scared as Naruto was… Why was it so different than facing my mother? Was it because Naruto was scared too? Did he make me brave…? There were too many questions racing around in her head, and Ichigo had no answers.

“That’s enough. Right now, we need to take care of Naruto’s wound. Their claws are poisoned,” Kakashi interrupted before the two boys could break out into an argument. “Naruto, try not to move too much, or the poison will spread more,” he instructed as he tied the two unconscious ninja to a tree. “Now… Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk.”