“They're entering through the forest now, commander,” a solemn voice said, coming from the center of a small room covered in darkness. “There are about eight of them. Moving rapidly, more or less confirming them as shinobi. There are... five adults, two teenagers. One of the adults is carrying a small child.” The man that was speaking had a mask covering his eyes on as he held on to the tiger seal, allowing him to
“Alright. False alarm then,” the man in the doorway said, his figure blocking out the light that was attempting to creep in to the room now that the door had been opened. “Carry on.” The commander was about to turn around and leave, beginning to close the door, when he was halted by the man inside speaking up again.
“Wait. They are being followed by four new people. They are catching up to the first eight. They're... they're using ninjutsu to target them now. I can see it in the chakra.”
“Can you confirm they are attacking?”
“.. it seems that way, yes.”
“Alright. I'll prepare a welcoming team - when will those damn foreigners learn not to trespass on Amegakure's territory.” The door slammed shut behind him, and the sound of his voice rambling on echoed out slowly as he moved further away from the door. Inside the room, the man continued his work, observing calmly what was happening so that he could relay the information if needed.
The commander would find himself sending a message to the only two jonin that were currently available on such short notice - sadly for them, calling them out of a day off - by summoning a set of two small birds. After a carefully, but quickly scrabbled note that instructed them to his office, he attached the note to the birds legs and instructed them on where to go. One flew off to the western district, the other to the east - but both were headed for housing areas.
Jonin,
With the utmost urgency I request your presence in my office as soon as possible. Facing the threat of foreign agents infiltrating Amegakure no Sato's borders, it seems prerogative that the available forces are scrambled to provide a wall for them, so that they may be stopped. The available forces would be you. You will receive further information when you arrive with your respective teams.
Signed,
Jonin commander Yousho Nazami
Jonin commander Yousho Nazami
The respective two jonin, Sakana Uragiri and Souma Uzuki, would gather their respective teams. Although it was the first time meeting his team for Sakana, it seemed that introductions would have to wait. Living in Amegakure, that was not a rare thing - the low amount of shinobi available comparatively to other villages meant that the forces could be scrambled at any time, which happened occasionally for reasons related to show of force mostly. Once their teams had gathered, the two jonin would naturally move their teams to the office of the jonin commander, Yousho Nazami. Upon arrival, they would receive their mission statement - to hastily investigate the refugees, and more over, decide on what to do with the situation.
“Thank you both for arriving on such short notice,” the commander began, looking at Sakana and Souma, before looking over their teams. “And you all, too. I know today was a day off for both of you, but when duty calls... you best answer.” Without realizing it, Sakana found himself nodding along to this statement. “Our sensory team discovered a fast moving team of about eight individuals moving across the border at a rapid pace, a pace that only shinobi could hold for the time they held it. Nothing to be concerned about, as we've seen a trickling stream of refugees coming from Konohagakure. More interestingly, they were followed by a team of four shinobi that were using ninjutsu to attack them,” the commander said as he pointed at a map hanging on the wall. Besides showing the lay of the land and the existing borders, there were some markers that were drawn on that mostly indicated positions that Kirigakure and Konohagakure currently held in the ongoing war deep in the Land of Fire.
“If you look here,” he said, while pointing at the border between Konoha- and Amegakure, “you'll see that this is where they entered from. Since arriving, it is estimated that they have advanced about halfway to the village itself. But the shinobi behind them are catching up. Occasionally one of the eight refugees breaks off to engage the pursuant shinobi, then returns to their group. But we know that this won't last.”
He lowered his hand from the map and stepped to his desk, moving his hand over some folders shoving them aside. If one were to pay close attention, they would be able to tell that the folders had been marked:
Uragiri Sakana,
Mizushima Sachi
Murakami Yayoi,
Susube Motoke.
Mizushima Sachi
Murakami Yayoi,
Susube Motoke.
As the commander glanced over them, he suddenly nodded, reaffirming his own thoughts to himself before looking up at the two teams that had gathered in the room.
“Normally I would give the new jonin his folders and send them out on a introductory mission. Today that is impossible. Therefore I am also issuing the order that the jonin act with extreme discretion. You are allowed to decide, over life and death, for yourself today, Sakana, Souma. But as the genin have had some years of experience now... do not forgo their opinions on the matter. The truth is we are not aware of what the situation is out there - and so we will rely on these two teams to decide on the matter. That will be all.”
With no time for introductions, the two teams had no choice to move out rapidly. Sakana and Souma would be at the front, with the team falling behind rapidly, lest they wished to anger Sakana, who was well known throughout the village - both as a genius and as a man with little tolerance for failure. The same could be said of Souma, at least in his renown, though he seemed like someone that would not get annoyed or angry unless it brought him in immediate trouble. But given that he'd spent more time with his team already, they were probably well aware of that already.
“So, for our approach, I reckon taking control of the refugees first is the first priority. We need to ascertain who they are and why they are here first, before we can decide on what to do with the shinobi following them.” Sakana was clearly talking primarily to Souma, but he made sure to talk loud enough so that the two teams of genin behind him could hear too - and they could interrupt, if they so desired. But it wasn't like he was saying anything controversial so far. “Depending on who they are and why they are being chased, it might be better to hand them over. If they turn out to be missing nin and not refugees, it might be wise to hand them over and remind the foreigners not to trespass. We wouldn't want to impede on justice,” he then added, seemingly uncaring that Souma had effectively been a wandering vagrant and missing nin for some time of his life. Not that Souma seemed the type to get offended...
Sakana himself would glance back at his team over his shoulder once he'd gone over his ideas on the plan, his dark black and yellow eyes scanning them. His eyes lingered briefly on each of them, and merely passingly glanced over the other team, observing the differences between the two keenly. “We'll make shinobi out of these genin yet,” he mumbled to himself, before looking front again. “Lest they die right here right now.”
Once they were close to the team, they slowed down a lot and landed in a large clearing full of tall grass. The day had been rainy so far but, whether it was a sign or not, the rain started to calm down once they arrived, stooping to little more than a faint dribble. Sakana's shoes touched down in the mud, catching himself on one hand before he raised up above the grass again, that reached to about his knees. “They will pass through here,” he blankly stated, looking into the distance. Beyond an old burned down remnant of a farmstead, there was little in the field beyond more grass - this extended all the way to the far end of the field, where trees once again popped up. They would be coming from there, soon.
The team had about five minutes to prepare - though, Sakana himself didn't order any explicit orders, expecting the genin to just stand by and do their thing. Once that time was up, the set of seven shinobi plus the child that was being carried burst through the foliage of the trees, taking with them a few of the leaves. They landed in the field with no trouble, though it was clear right from the start that at least two of them were wounded. One of the shinobi was gripping their side, which was dripping of blood, while the other one that was wounded could barely hold on to their weapon, their grip slipping whether it was from a lack of power or the blood causing them to fumble their weapon.
It seemed like the shinobi were unsure what to make of their welcoming partner - the numbers were equal, but the two wounded made it hard to judge the power balance well enough to make a call for them. On the other hand, turning around and running from the Amegakure nin was hardly an option.
The group ahead of them consisted of three men and two women. One of the men, and one of the women, had snowy white eyes - byakugan, for anyone that was versed enough in the clans of Konohagakure. The only thing setting them apart beyond their sex was the seal placed on the man's forehead, a swastika of which the purpose was unknown to Sakana. The female Hyuga was holding on to a child, no older than 7, who had similar eyes, though she hid them as she pushed her face into the womans shoulder.
The rest of the group seemed to be regular shinobi - the two teens among them seemed to be genin, while the older ones were apparently chunin or jonin. It seemed to matter little as Sakana stepped forward, looking over the group when they came to a halt, standing still in the middle of the field. Before he could speak, the four shinobi that were after these refugees also jumped out from the foliage, landing at the edge of the forest and immediately taking note of the Amegakure nin that were ahead of them.
These pursuants were dressed in hunter-nin garb, with masks covering their face, though the forehead protectors that were meant to indicate their allegiance had been removed and were not visible anywhere - not on their wrists, body or belt loops. It seems they were performing spec ops, or were trying to hide it for a reason.
“You're trespassing...” Sakana said, looking at the hunternin as well as the Konoha refugees. “All of you. Turn back,” he then added, very loudly. Though his words were threatening, his posture was calm, relaxed, everything about him seemed confident. Yet, from behind, his team and the other team could probably tell the tension in his arms - he was ready. They should be ready too.
When Sakana spoke, the two teenagers among the Konoha refugees took up position in front of the group, taking out their kunai and getting ready to defend against the Amegakure nin, while the chunin and jonin among them took position at the back, guarding against the hunter nin. The Hyuga woman carrying the child merely stood there, looking at both Sakana and Souma, not interested in the Amegakure genin. “We are merely looking for refuge in Amegakure,” she spoke, her voice calm and soothing, though her group seemed slightly less calm. “We want to ask the Amekage to take us in, as refugees, to avoid the bloodshed currently happening in Konohagakure.”
“It's useless,” the Hyuga man said to her afterwards, perhaps loud enough to hear for the two teams. “They're from Amegakure. They have specialized borderguard teams to stop intruders. I told you we were being followed by people other than the hunters, I told you before we left Konoha.”
“Shut up..” the woman whispered. “They may not like us, but they like the hunter-nin even less.”
If there was a moment of doubt in Sakana's eyes, the hunter nin saw it, as they quickly spoke up from across the field, shouting loud enough for all to hear. “These are deserters from Konohagakure,” it sounded, “they were not given permission to leave Konohagakure. There are only two among them that are not active-duty shinobi, and those are free to pass into Amegakure. The Hyuga child and woman. We are here to incapacitate the rest and return them to Konohagakure to resume their duties.”
The Hyuga woman gritted her teeth as she adjusted the child on her arm, who began to cry now, softly, but audible. “They're not from Konoha. Not all of them. They won't be returning anyone to Konohagakure. We've already deserted and proven that we are unwilling to fight their war, why would they bring us back? They're here to kill us.”
Sakana seemed unimpressed with the stories, from both sides, and looked back at his comrades. He had been instructed by the commander to exercise extreme discretion, but also to take into account not only Souma's take on the story, as equals, but also that of the genin. “Like it or not, they're deserters. Amegakure can take them in - but when we enter a war, they will just do the same. Run and forsake their duty to their country. They have a right to take the deserters - and kill them, if they want to. Imagine if it was you fighting in the trenches, and your comrades decide to abandon you, fleeing because they are too cowardly to fulfill the duty to the Amekage and the village... we can hand them over and take the woman and girl.” His eyes were serious, and it was clear he wasn't fooling around. It was clear that Sakana knew what being a shinobi entailed, and to him, that meant taking choices that weren't always popular - but that were the right choices.
