Mikoto's team walked Tazuna outside of the village gate as he explained the mission. Apparently it was a simple escort mission. He just needed to make it to the Land of Waves safely so he could complete the construction of a large bridge. At least, that's what he told the group.

 

It's pitifully easy to tell that he's lying.

 

Even if you're correct by my standards, it's quite rich of you to say that considering you're a fox that can feel emotions.

 

Even then, he's visibly nervous.

 

Kakashi has already noticed so I'm sure it's fine. Regardless, whatever comes up shouldn't be an issue. However, I want to avoid revealing my own beast chakra, if needed, can I borrow yours?

 

Sure thing. Just don't take too much. I'd rather not shrivel up in here.

 

I'll only take enough to destroy the continent a few times over, sound good?

 

As if! If I didn't know better I would have taken you seriously.

 

Who knows, maybe one day that request will be real.

 

That old bastard, huh? His guard had some interesting ideas. Maybe you should have punished all of them.

 

I won't tolerate disrespect, but I won't trample on others for no good reason either. Even I have standards.

 

Still though. Take it from me, being bound by a seal is its own kind of hell.

 

I know. If push comes to shove, I won't hesitate to flatten then entire village just to prove a point.

 

If it's just the village, feel free. Just watch out for the surrounding creatures.

 

The duo kept conversing while strolling along the road towards the dock where Tazuna's ship was located. In the meantime, Naruto was hitting on Sakura while Sasuke was busy pondering over the information Mikoto gave him. He was even less interested in his surroundings than usual. Kakashi was asking Tazuna about the mission details since the rest of the team didn't seem interested in listening to his geography lesson. The group eventually came by a puddle of water.

 

"Hey, Sensei, do you think it'll rain soon? I feel like the crops must be dying for water at this point." Mikoto addressed Kakashi, causing him to look back at the puddle behind the group.

 

"Hmm, it might. It's currently the dry season so we've been using irrigation techniques to keeps the crops healthy, so we don't need to worry about that." Kakashi turned his eyes forward, seemingly unbothered by the presence of the puddle.

 

Behind the group, two shinobi silently rose from the water and got into a stance. In an instant, they flashed to Kakashi's side and wrapped him in sharp chains. A grimace appeared on his face.

 

"Sensei!" Naruto cried out for Kakashi.

 

"Die!" The two shinobi shouted in unison, tearing Kakashi's body into a gory mess. Flesh and blood rained down in front of the children and Tazuna.

 

"Famous jonin, my ass!" Tazuna shouted in a panic.

 

They immediately charged at Naruto, hoping to pierce his neck with their clawed gauntlets. Before the two arrived, Sasuke was above them, his body parallel to the ground. He swung and crashed against the backs of their heads with his hands and feet. The two shinobi faltered but ultimately were able to stand straight once more. The one with longer hair charged Naruto, hoping to finally finish him off. The other raced towards Tazuna.

 

Sakura did her best to protect Tazuna. She chose to shield him with her body, hoping that it would delay the enemy ninja for just a second longer. Sasuke, seeing his teammate was in danger, did the same and managed to place himself in front of Sakura in time. Unlike Sakura however, he readied two kunai, prepared to fight the ninja off.

 

The ninja that charged Naruto was almost upon him when Naruto summoned two shadow clones to protect himself. One was immediately swatted away, disappearing in a puff of smoke. The other, however, managed to get an attack in on the long-haired ninja. Naruto struck towards the shinobi's vital point, his nether regions. Sensing the danger, the shinobi retreated.

 

"You're brutal, kid. That's why I'm gonna have a great time killing you!" The shinobi let loose his killing intent, causing Naruto to feel a chill run up his spine. The ninja charged once more, intent on reaching Naruto before he could react.

 

On Sasuke's side, he managed to fend the short-haired shinobi off, but he was still being pushed back. Sakura had taken Tazuna further away, allowing Sasuke to move as he saw fit, but this didn't bridge the gap in experience between the two. The ninja's claws were quickly closing in on Sasuke's vitals, chipping away at his defense with every strike.

 

Seeing the situation was growing precarious, Mikoto decided to act.

 

"You owe me, Sensei."

 

Mikoto's figure sunk into the ground. At that instant, a shadow appeared under each enemy shinobi and a long blade pierced upwards. One went directly through the long-haired shinobi's neck while the other cut the short-haired shinobi's arm to ribbons. Mikoto rose from the shadows, holding the blade she had taken from the Anbu guard. Seeing that the long-haired shinobi had lost his head, Mikoto's clone disappeared with a cold gaze.

 

The short-haired shinobi was kneeling on the ground, holding the bleeding wound where his arm had once been. Mikoto looked down on him.

 

"What a fitting pose for a dog as weak as yourself. You should remain kneeling for the rest of your pitiful life. I would kill you, but I think my teacher has some questions for you."

 

Mikoto's voice chilled the surroundings. Her presence practically dimmed the light of the sun. The surroundings felt as though they were drowned in darkness, that day had turned to a cold and unforgiving night. The enemy shinobi's eyes began spinning. Before the situation could devolve any further, Kakashi appeared next to Mikoto.

 

"Good job." He patted her shoulder. "For noticing the water puddle and for protecting your teammates. Frankly speaking, I doubt we'll get anything out of this guy. He's probably trained to kill himself before revealing secrets."

 

"That's right, little girl. Don't think you'll get anything out of me!" The man mocked Mikoto, seemingly unafraid of the death that was coming to him.

 

"Oh? In that case, we may as well dispose of him, right?" Mikoto grinned at the man. Although he was prepared to die, his heart still trembled when Mikoto's eyes met his.

 

"Be my guest. I don't have any questions that can't be answered by Tazuna anyways." Kakashi consented to Mikoto's actions and a disturbingly large smile appeared on her face.

 

A shadow appeared under the armless shinobi, immediately dropping him into the void. A number of loud and disturbing sounds could be heard, from crunching to tearing.

 

"Please! No! I'll talk, just please make it stop! I'm sorr-"

 

Snap. The shinobi no longer spoke, his life had been cut off by whatever was within that shadow. The entire group was pale while Mikoto had contented expression on her face.

 

"It's been so long since I was able to let loose a little. Especially after what happened during the mission briefing, it's all just been piling up. I can finally breathe again." Mikoto sighed in relief and let the shadow dissipate.

 

Sasuke walked over to Naruto slowly and whispered in his ear.

 

"Are you really friends with her? She seems insane."

 

"Mikoto is really scary sometimes, but I know she wouldn't do that to her friends. Just make sure you don't get on her bad side or wake her up early." Naruto whispered back, albeit not very sneakily.

 

"I can hear you two, you know." The two jumped. "Naruto is right, though. I only treat enemies like this. However, that won't stop me from setting an example." Mikoto smiled at Kakashi.

 

"Sensei, are you sure this little girl is the same age as the others in your group?" Tazuna cautiously asked Kakashi.

 

"The Hokage vouched for her strength for a reason. He knows far more than I do, but I can at least confirm that she's the same age as the others." Kakashi sighed. "Anyways, you do know that a mission that involves the presence of enemy shinobi cannot be rated below B-rank, right? Why did you lie?"

 

"Our country is being targeted by the mogul, Gatou. He's been using his money to take over cities and countries. Recently, he's had his eyes on the Land of Waves. He's managed to build a monopoly over all of our business deals. Nothing gets in or out of the country without his say so. The only threat to him is the bridge I'm building. If we can't finish the bridge, the entire country will be treated like his own personal playground. We'll be used as slaves!" Tazuna's face showed resentment and unwillingness.

 

"Well, you still lied about the mission ranking. We have no obligation to continue with it and protect you."

 

"Wait! I want to help this old geezer." Naruto jumped between the two. "If we can't complete this, the Hokage will probably stick us on D-rank missions until I go insane!"

 

"Naruto, you can't just decide everything on your own." Kakashi chastised Naruto.

 

"I want to finish this as well," Sasuke chimed in. "I don't care about the Land of Waves, but this sounds like a perfect chance to get stronger."

 

"I agree! We can't leave Tazuna to die!" Sakura made her voice heard as well.

 

"What about you, Mikoto?" Kakashi asked, bringing everyone's attention to the girl.

 

"Naturally I want to go as well, it sounds like there could be something interesting there. If there's something actually interesting, though, I want to handle it."

 

"Sure. As long as you don't get anybody important killed, I won't say much." Kakashi nodded. "Well, Tazuna, there you have it. You've gotten lucky that we're all willing to finish this mission. Let's go to the docks and start crossing."

 

The group started off once more, leaving only a headless corpse in their wake.