Seth stood there listening to Akio as he relayed the mission to him and the others. He quickly grabbed his right arm when Orochimaru’s name was mentioned. He had heard all the stories of what Orochimaru was capable of and all the ninja he liked to keep around him. His grip tightened as he felt his right hand shack. He put on a fake smile as he said, “Damn I just as excited as you are Arashi.” Damn it, now's not the time to get scared. No matter what: we need to push back the fear and finish the mission. Seth thought. He took a deep breath and controlled his shaky hand.

“Go after Orochimaru, but more importantly make sure everyone gets back safe,” Seth said before added, “No matter what.”
---
Outside the Ryūchi Cave, a ninja stood with a Cheshire cat grin on his face. Along with him was another ninja who seemed to be bored by all the events that had happened. Zack sighed before he said, “Why are we even waiting? Couldn’t this Orochimaru guy just resurrect some ninja to fight for him?”

“As I recall you stated you were in this for the money and nothing else. Since you’re getting paid by the kill, I’d suggest you just do as you’re told,” Mark said.

“Yeah, yeah, but why are you here? Some loyalty to Orochimaru?’ Zack asked Mark turned to him and his smile only grew before he started laughing. He suddenly began to laugh into the air as his tongue curled in his mouth. The laughter lasted a few seconds before Mark suddenly stopped and bit one of his metal claws.

“You could say that, but I’m itching to tear some ninja apart! The only way I can feel alive is to tear apart my enemies. To watch them bleed out as I carve away at their skin. That’s why I’m here,” Mark said before a sadistic crooked smile formed on his face.

Hiro stood silently as he thought over the message Orochimaru... Well I'm a Jonin... we will do fine right? he thought as he stared straight ahead Who am I kidding, I got to babysit these kids... he thought as his hands reached for his sword hilt and started tapping the pummel, a small quirk he had since he was young, he slowly drummed a quick paced beat sure they have some skill, but a squad of Jonin would have a tough just getting away from that freak. he thought he had a semi decent idea Well we have a Hitomi so as long as they are not critically injured i can trust her to keep everyone else alive...lets see two Uchiha, one Hyuga, a Korumoto and two Goto....hopefully we don't need to worry about genjutus thanks to the Uchiha, the Hyuga can watch for ambushes and hidden enemy. the Korumoto...he can...um...well I'm sure he has a use he thought as he pulled out a kuni and drew up a plan. Alright so the Hyuga will support us, using her eyes she will cover us and make sure we get an accurate number on the enemy and the location of that Orochimaru, she and Hitomi will hang back with Korumoto for back up, Im sure the two will need it, they will be the "Weak link" if they take them out, we will unable to see and any treat The Uchiha will follow me in, using their eyes they will see through any genjutsu and support me in fighting.I will use my self a target. that at worst, they help keep me alive until i can deal with a threat, at best they can get some notches on their belt...we are going to die... he thought grimly with a sigh, slowly he called the squad together to take a tally on equipment and what skills the others had



Hitomi watched her brother silently. while he was a jonin he was never asked to lead inexperienced shinobi into battle, hell he has never been a leader, at least on the tactical or strategic level. He had been second in command to several squad before, he was good at enforcing orders, and fighting, but he knew nothing of the shinobi around him. He couldn't gauge their skill, nor could he be sure how well they worked with each other. she knew he felt that he had been sent on a suicide mission. Even if an experienced shinobi who could take on Orochimaru, she knew this group may not survive long enough for help to arrive. she worried about him while they may not get along often, he was still her brother, and he had protected her, often at the price of his own standing in the village, from backslashes from her "un shinobi" like behavior. most likely he would place far back, out of immediately danger. with a slight smile she watched her brother as he called for the others. No way I will let you put me in the back. I may be a medical shinobi, but I sure as hell can fight just as well...I may not be as skilled in close combat, but I got jutsu

Seth walked over to Hiro and watched as he drew up the plan. It was a great plan and Seth could see why Akio and Itachi made hin leader and he could respect that however, he didn’t like how he treated the rest of the squad. Being harsh was one thing, but Hiro seemed too harsh and Seth felt he could ease up and relax. This idea quickly left his mind when he realized their position. They were in a war and any mistake could cost them their lives.

“So, what am I doing?” Seth asked before he added, “Hold up, you’re not thinking of just leaving me behind? Hell no! You may be the leader, but damn it I’m not sitting back and letting my family run into danger!” he wasn’t about to let anyone in the squad run into danger without him. it didn’t matter if Hiro thought of him as nothing more than a meat shield. He’d gladly protect his family. No matter what the cost.

Rin watched as Hiro drew up the plan. I hope he does realize I can pack a punch too, Rin thought as Hiro explained what her position was. She also noticed that Seth was left out at the moment. Besides all that she already figured out quite a few ways to improve the plan and she hoped to prove Hiro she wasn't the typical push-over chunin. Before she could step forward Seth already interjected and Rin noticed his eagerness to protect them and her mind flashed back to the time they trained together one last time before the mission started. Seth had told them they were all his family.
That worried her. If Seth will think like that in battle he won't be able to keep his cool as usual. Fortunately I know how to deal with that as well, Rin thought as she stepped forward and prepared to explain her variation of the same plan.

"If I may. I think there are a number of ways to improve our formation." She said as she kneeled next to where Hiro had carved out the plan. "For one, as Seth stated he hasn't been asigned a position yet and I would recommend he take the place of Arashi at the front. One Sharingan user is enough to deal with any genjutsu attempts from the front but the back is vulnerable to it so I'd say Arashi should watch our backs." Looking at it from an objective view point it made sense for the younger Uchiha with less experience to take point at the back where an attack was less likely but still possible, and it would cover their genjutsu vulnerability at the back. She also believed that having Seth at the front focusing on doing the damage would keep him preoccupied with doing the damage instead of worrying about his teammates. "Izu will prioritize protecting Hitomi near the back and I could take a position in the middle. This puts me in the center of the group meaning equally far from all of you." Rin looked up at everyone else as if trying to read their thoughts of the plan so far from their expressions. Her head then flicked back down and she outlined her position again with her finger. "This would allow me to intercept attacks or projectiles from all directions to which anyone else might not have time to react." Rin stood up and eagerly looked at Hiro waiting for his reaction. If he was as prideful as Rin thought she doubted he'd give the plan much praise but he would at least approve of it hopefully. Of course it could go down the other path too and he could dismiss it altogether.
He has too see that it's a good plan, right? I mean, he's a Jonin after all, Rin told herself.

Izu didn't really like Hiro's idea, it had him staying back with Rin and Hitomi for backup. That's not how he wanted to face Orochimaru, they both had odd jutsu that would make for a weird fight. He then heard Seth go on his rant about not getting anything assigned to him and he looked rather pissed. Normally Izu would have been stern with Seth, but he too didn't agree with the order of who would go in and face the rogue ninja. Rin then gave her suggestions on changing the order in how they would go into battle. It still had Izu hanging back to cover them, that was not his style so he decided to speak up.

"I will also voice my disagreement with this plan. I would like to take the front alongside Hayashi, let's keep Seth in the back with Hitomi for cover. My fighting style would work against Orochimaru since I can keep him at a distance and my Savage Slime techniques could help keep him off of us. Fighting him at close-range is extremely dangerous and not having a descent defense will be deadly" he spoke to them calmly. Izu then turned to Seth.

"You need to get this family nonsense out of your head if you're going to be a part of this mission. Acting like that will either get you or one of us killed. The mission should be your only concern and if one of us dies then do not lose focus otherwise we could all parish, do you understand?" he said to the leaf ninja sternly. It was harsh, but Izu had to do it otherwise Seth's rash and emotional behavior could endanger the whole mission and with so much at stake they couldn't afford to take chances like this.

Hiro cracked a slight smile at Seth's outburst such youth...he has more years to go before he learns the horror of combat. regardless of village he knew the pain of losing a comrade, but that kind of thinking would get everyone killed "I understand your situation, but I will not have your hot hotheadedness getting us all killed." he said looking at the boy. he could be a wild card...someone who could be lost in his emotions. before he could say anything else Rin explained her idea. "very good...Rin was it? perhaps your peers could learn something from you..." he said with a sincere smile. He liked the young Hyuga, not only was she smart, but she was his sister's friend. Good enough reason to be nice to her, besides she seemed like she knew alot about the others. "Rin you know these lot well enough, lets go with your plan., make sure that the others are ready" he said as he looked over at his sister. "Don't forget...we don't know the enemy strength keep on your toes...I really don't want to drag your dead body all the way back to the village, and explain that you were being stupid" he said in a near monotone voice.



As she listened to the the group talk she couldn't help but smile slightly at Seth's comment well at least he cares about the others...you know he could be worse she thought as she looked at her brother as he thought over Rin's suggestionWell at least he knows a good idea when he sees one. as her brother agreed with Rin. As Hiro reminded everyone of how serious the situation was, she frowned as her brother walked about the possiblity of them dying. "Hiro enough this is not the sand, don't treat them like back home we know all that... you don't need to tell us " she said I'm sure they know what they are getting into

“Now that’s more like it you can count on me to keep everyone behind me safe. I like Rin’s plan, but why keep Izu in the back? Remember who we’re dealing with. I’m sure he’ll have a bunch of weird ninjas with him,” Seth said. He liked the fact that he would be in the front, but he also knew the dangers. First in, first to get hit. However, I know like the rest of use war sometimes results in death so if it comes to that. Seth thought until he heard Izu give his voice on a plan. It kept him in the back which he didn’t like.

“To be honest Izu, we can combine both your plan and Rins: I’m in the front, and then Arashi and then Izu. In the middle will be Rin. Her 360 sight will greatly help us while Hayashi follows in the rear. This will leave Hiro and his sister to hang back a bit and here is the reason why: Hitomi can use her Healing jutus should anything happen, Hiro will be more protectice since it’s his sister and plus. I’m sure Hiro has more experience in war then any of us so he’ll be the ace in the hole,” Seth explained. He sighed because he knew this next part wouldn’t be pretty, but he added, “The first in will be able to trip the traps letting the others get in and find Orochimaru. We all know this tricky bastard will have plenty of those around the cave.”

Hayashi listened as the others spoke of the mission. The plan that Hiro offered seemed rather flawed and didn't include a member, Seth, into it. Luckily, Rin and Izu offered reasonable plans which Hayashi could agree with. Hiro then agreed with Rin's plan and Hayashi smiled a little, liking how this mission was looking to carry out. That all ended when Seth spoke, it's not that what he said was wrong, just that he had put Hayashi in the back, which Hayashi didn't agree with whatsoever.

"I personally believe your plan is fine Rin and we can mix it in with Izu's, but Seth, it'd be better if Izu and I take the front since the Sharingan is more useful against things like genjutsu and Izu has defensive abilities that'll protect him from any traps" Hayashi said in response to Seth mostly. There was a secret reason which Hayashi didn't want to mention and it was strength. Seth had a low chakra pool and couldn't hold his own against Rin at all so Hayashi worried about how he'd do leading the group into Orochimaru's lair. He sighed, knowing that Seth probably wouldn't agree with him.

"I also have another plan, we have Rin and Hayashi be in front with me right behind them; their ocular powers would be able to spot any traps and give me a heads up if anything dangerous happened. My Savage Slime can try to pin Orochimaru down while the rest of you can go in for crippling psychical attacks. Those of us who can't put up a good defense should try to attack from a distance while we try to keep Orochimaru focused on us. Speed and precision would be the best course of action so that we don't give any openings for the shinobi. Also we have to consider the posibility that he may not be alone, which would complicate things even more" Izu said to the others.

This mission was going to be dangerous and he was already nervous about doing such a deadly task like taking down Orochimaru with an emotional teammate like Seth.

"The best we can do is keep a cool head and don't get too attached to each other because some of us might die. No family nonsense" he said to the others, but he was speaking more to Seth than anyone else. Who would have thought that my first high ranked mission would be with a bunch of leaf and sand shinobi, he thought to himself.