3 Shadows swiftly moved through the trees of the back hills. They were searching everywhere their teammate had come in contact with inside the forest.
"We need to find those documents quickly." The one leading, urged to the other two.
"Itachi Uchiha killing the Uchiha clan has left the village severely weakened. Otherwise we wouldn't have made it this far. Our village superiors know this. It's why we were given this task. We need to complete it before the leaf gets back on its feet." The person led the three person squad and was thoroughly searching the forest.
As they were searching the area suddenly they heard some voices.
"Shh!... Hear that?!" The three quietly went to investigate and found two children searching for something as well.
—-
Daichi and Naruto were looking through the woods. As they looked through the area they came across a field littered with shuriken, kunai and a couple of swords. There were burn mark on the woods indicating the use of fire jutsu and the two could see some trees that were destroyed by what was most likely an explosive paper bomb.
"This must be the battlefield… So whatever is hidden has to be near here." Naruto exclaimed.
Daichi looked at the area and nodded. He was keeping an eye on his surroundings as they searched. Getting caught unaware could be deadly. Daichi had learned this lesson in the dungeon on multiple occasions.
As Naruto and Daichi looked around the place he suddenly sensed 3 chakras slowly coming near them. Daichi didn't make any outward indication that he sensed their presence.
Daichi used the chakra sense skill and tried to gauge his enemy discreetly. He also enhanced his sense of hearing and smell. To the world Daichi was simply looking through the bushes, rocks and trees but he was secretly analyzing his soon to be opponents.
'3 chakra signatures moving from the east. I don't sense any other enemy signatures here and I don't hear or smell anyone else other than the three and Naruto and Iruka in the forest. So this team is most probably the same as that in the story. And based on their chakra level they won't be that much to handle. That's good.'
"Hey Daichi, pick up the pace you slow poke. We got a lot of places to search." Naruto yelled from above the tree branches. He jumped and resumed his search elsewhere.
"Yes, boss!" Daichi saluted in a mock style and calmly looked through the place. He wanted to make sure these three let their guard down around him.
'I already found the nest and saw the top of the kunai. If things happened the way they did then the kunai containing the documents must be there. But I can't just walk up to the nest and retrieve it. It has to be Naruto…. And also I need to test something.'
Since Daichi was openly helping with finding the documents, he wanted to minimize the risks. 'The Hokage wouldn't think twice about how we found the secret documents but still… The cautious approach is the best one. Having Naruto retrieve the documents reduces the chances of any suspicion to zero. And not only that, if I have to engage the enemy ninjas in a fight I can't let Naruto get involved. So he should be the one to hold on to the information.'
Daichi was making plans as to how to best neutralize the threats.
Naruto was eagerly searching the place but after 20 minutes had passed he was starting to get tired. He searched for a few more minutes before sitting down on the ground tiredly.
"Ohh man! There's nothing here. What a waste of time." Naruto said dejectedly.
"Sorry Naruto. Maybe on our next adventure." Daichi said with a small smile. 'Come on… Look at the nest… Should I use mana manipulation on him?'
At that moment Naruto's stomach grumbled.
Daichi was happy inside as he heard the kids' tummy rumble. 'Yes! Saved by hunger.'
"Man, I'm so hungry!" As Naruto looked around he saw a nest on the tree branch. "Well, we may not have treasure but at least we'll get some fresh eggs!"
Naruto quickly climbed the tree and reached the nest. It was at that moment something shiny caught his eyes. "Yes!" He shouted with excitement.
Daichi held in his smirk and quickly went near his friend. "Look at that. You found it. Well done!"
"Yeah. I was about to give up there for a minute." Naruto exclaimed as he looked at the weapon. He took and looked at it from different angles.
"What a weird looking kunai. And it looks like there's something tied to it. Whatever it is, I bet it's important." Naruto was excited to share his findings with Daichi.
As Daichi looked at the kunai he also kept a close eye on the three chakra signatures. He could hear them speaking and could hear someone ordering the other two to move. Daichi's eyes narrowed.
'They're coming.'
"You got that right kid. And they are more important than you know. So hand it over and you can live to see tomorrow."
Three masked ninjas quickly appeared and the one in the middle spoke to Naruto. Their faces and head band was covered concealing their origin.
"No way. If it's important then I'm definitely not giving it to you." Naruto was stubborn and looked unafraid.
The one who spoke then looked at Daichi and spoke. "Hey you! You look like a smart kid. Do you really want to die because of your friend's stubbornness? Either take it and give it to us or run away. Do that and we'll let you live." Daichi frowned at the arrogant tone in which it was said.
He quietly looked at the three of them.
'Observe'
[LV.43] [Hina]
Age: 26
HP: 4875 CP: 4035
[A chunin kunoichi affiliated with the Village hidden in the Waterfalls. Hina is assigned as the team's healer for this mission. Primarily uses fire nature attacks. Capable in shuriken jutsu and some simple medical jutsu. Knowledgeable in herbs.]
[LV.45] [Ichiko]
Age: 25
HP: 4733 CP: 4187
[A chunin kunoichi affiliated with the Village hidden in the Waterfalls. Ichiko is assigned as the team captain for this mission. Primarily uses fire nature attacks. Capable in shuriken jutsu and swordsmanship. Has some experience infiltrating enemy lines.]
[LV.44] [Akari]
Age: 25
HP: 4902 CP: 4200
[A chunin kunoichi affiliated with the Village hidden in the Waterfalls. Assigned as additional strength to the team. Primarily uses fire nature attacks. And capable in shuriken jutsu and swordsmanship.]
Daichi stayed silent and quickly read the information. To everyone else he was looking at the three as if he had no cares in the world. Because of his sunglasses they couldn't see his eyes and his silence made the scene awkward for a few seconds.
"Hey kid. You deaf or an idiot?" One of the three couldn't help but ask.
"He's probably petrified in fear facing real ninjas. You leaf kids. So pathetic." The three laughed looking at the silent Daichi.
"Hey! You take that back. You don't know us." Naruto was angry after hearing their remarks. He was about to say more but Daichi raised his hand and stopped him.
He looked at the three and only uttered a few words.
"Bunch of fools."
Although it was said in a soft tone, in the quiet forest everyone heard it clearly.
The three ninjas quickly quickly became angry hearing him.
"What did you say you brat?"
"Let's just get rid of these two and get the documents."
"Yes. I agree."
The three spies were getting ready to attack the 2 students.
Daichi quickly looked at Naruto and said "Zeus formation." Naruto heard Daichi and smirked. He nodded and both of them immediately took off into the forest.
The three enemies quickly chased after them and started hurling shurikens at the two. Both of them nimbly dodged the sharp throwing stars aimed their way. They lured the three into the trap-filled portion of the jungle.
Naruto and Daichi had been through the back hills several times. So they were aware of the different traps that were hidden in the forest. Naruto smirked as he remembered the day his friend taught him a few code words in case of any troubles.
Flashback.
Daichi brought Naruto to an empty room in the academy and told the kid he was going to teach him some code words. In case they were ever in trouble.
"Now I need you to pay attention, Naruto."
"Do I really need to remember this?"
"Yes.! So pay attention. Now the first one. If we are ever in trouble and the enemy is about to attack us then the code for that is 'Zeus formation', got it?"
"Yes. So if we hear 'Zeus formation', then we attack the enemies before they attack us?" Naruto asked in excitement.
"No. We run away. This code is there if the enemy outnumber us or is stronger than us."
"But… I don't want to run." Naruto said with a pout.
"It's called a tactical retreat. We can try to lure them into a trap or just run to safety as fast as we can. Depending on the situation." "Now for the next one…."
"How many are there…?"
"Just a couple. I'll tell you the rest later. Don't want to fry that small brain of yours…" Daichi said with a smirk.
"Hey!"
Flashback End.
Both of them set off the hidden traps in the forest hindering the three enemies. Naruto and Daichi quickly gained distance and while they were running, Daichi created a shadow clone.
"Is that a solid clone?" Naruto asked with amazement.
"Yep. He'll be a distraction when the time comes." Daichi replied.
"So I never got the chance to ask… Who is Zeus?" Naruto asked Daichi.
"Hmm. I read in an old story book that says Zeus was the god of the sky and ruler of thunder and lightning. The reason I gave that name to this code is… To remember to run like lightning." Daichi replied.
"Thats a dumb reasoning... you know it's kinda lame giving the name of a god to a running away tactic." Naruto said with a small laugh.
An invisible arrow hit Daichi's heart as he heard that. 'I can't believe I just got called dumb by Naruto of all people.' "Maybe I was just too bored to think up another cool name." Daichi replied with a sad smile.
As both of them were jumping through the trees Daichi sensed Iruka's chakra signature closing in on them. Within a few seconds the teacher appeared in their view. He body flickered in front of them and all of them came to a stop.
"You two… I found you at last." Iruka said with relief.
"We need to get going sensei. We have enemy ninjas after us." Daichi quickly said.
"What?" Iruka's eyes widened.
Daichi sensed the three catching up to them. "Too late."
The three ninjas quickly jumped down a few meters away from them. Iruka looked at the three ninjas. Most of their face was covered by a black cloth. But he knew the gear they used was not ones used by the leaf ninjas.
"You three… you're not from the leaf village. What's your purpose for entering the village without permission?" Iruka asked them.
"Like we'd tell our goals that easily."
"Hand over that blond kid and walk away."
As the three got ready and stood in a fighting stance Daichi and his clone looked at each other and nodded.
One of the Daichi's looked at Iruka and Naruto and spoke in a low voice. "Iruka sensei. You can't fight all three of them while protecting us. So we need to retreat. When I drop the smoke bomb, I'll use my clone as a distraction and we run as fast as we can."
Iruka looked at the two Daichis and was impressed. 'He's right. I can't fight the three and protect both of them. It's best to leave here. Still… To think he can make shadow clones. He must be planning on using the clone to fight them and buy time while we escape. Not a bad plan. If we rush out of here, we can leave the forest and get some backup.'
Both of them nodded to the plan. Daichi immediately dropped a black ball and covered the area in black smoke. Daichi, Naruto and Iruka ran out through the forest while another Daichi stayed behind.
The three spies jumped out of the smoke and stood on a tall branch. They looked at the lone student standing in their way.
"You think a mere clone will stop us. How stupid. You will pay for delaying us… You two go after them. We can't let them out of this forest with those secrets."
"Understood!" The other two ninjas were about to leave when several shuriken were coming towards all of them with precision.
"Evade!" The team leader shouted.
All three of them jumped and barely dodged the projectiles aimed at their vitals.
"We'll deal with this clone swiftly and then chase after them." One of them said.
"You're mistaken." The voice of Daichi suddenly interrupted them.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not a clone. I'm the real deal… It's true that I did create a clone. But it's to distract them. They wouldn't have left if they knew I would stay behind to fight. So… I used the clone as a distraction. A distraction for them that is…" Daichi said with a smirk.
"You brat. If that's true then you're a bigger fool than I thought. Just because you joined the ninja academy, do you think you can take on real ninjas? How dumb. You will pay for your overconfidence."
All three of them took out their swords and pointed them at Daichi.