"A dying man doesn't need to know much Kakashi. You..." Shinzo was saying when he noticed Yami was listening to the whole conversation. He recognized Yami as one of the bandits and said "Hey you idiot, what are you doing there listening to us talking? Where are the others who were with you?"
Yami quickly regained his composure and said "Some are dead while the others are fighting."
"Oh, so Kakashi you do have some more people with you." Shinzo said and then he looked at the 2 guys on his left and said "We three can handle things here you two go and take care of things outside." The two guys on the left nodded and headed toward Yami.
"Follow me." Yami said and ran toward the other side of the valley. Yami didn't use any chakra and ran like a normal bandit would. The two people were running behind him.
"Can't you go faster?" One of the cloaked men asked in an irritated voice. Yami was currently leading them toward Temari, Kankuro and the sand Jonin. He knew that Baki and Gaara will be killing their way in while Temari and Kankuro may take some time and the sand jonin will be more focused on their wellbeing rather than killing the enemies.
Yami made a silly face and a smile and said "I am not much of a strong bandit. How can I compare with people like you who use chakra."
"How many people are there?" the other man asked. His voice was calm but heavy.
Yami without turning back said "It's 2 kids and a man. They all use chakra which is why we are having problems dealing with them."
"These useless people. I don't know why Shinzo keeps them around." the first cloaked man said.
After a few seconds, Yami was able to sense a few people fighting and the wind in that area was also chaotic which meant Temari was using her fan.
'If they see my ribbon they may react and give away my identity unknowingly.' Yami thought and he covered the ribbon with his black sleeve. He was confident enough to take care of these two people singlehandedly but no matter how much he practices his experience is still low so it wasn't a risk worth taking.
As Yami with the other 2 reached closer, the cloaked men accelerated toward the fight.
'Seems like they sensed the fight now and want to get rid of them with a sneak attack. That could be a problem.' Yami panicked a little. Because even though the sand shinobis aren't friends of his, they are allies with mutual interests so Yami will have to make a move now.
The first cloaked man was impatient and wanted to get rid of the three sand shinobis quickly. The second cloaked man was moving at a steady pace. According to Yami, he will take care of the sand jonin.
Kankuro was using a puppet to keep a bandit with two clubs in his hand busy while Temari was fighting a bandit with a broadsword. Temari was sending continuous blasts of air toward the bandit with the broadsword but the man was only getting some scratches on his body. Temari was also using the closed fan to tackle the sword. Kankuro on the other hand was using a puppet with 6 hands and the bandit in front of him was getting his attacks deflected continuously which was stopping the bandit was getting close to Kankuro. The sand jonin was standing near Kankuro to ensure his safety. According to the plan they weren't supposed to move much further until they regroup with Baki and Gaara.
'The leaf shinobis must have reached closer to the core of the valley. If Gaara and Baki come soon, we can also go in the core and make a sizeable contribution in taking them down. The Kazakage hopes that we can find the stolen merchandise.' the sand jonin was thinking when he suddenly noticed something moving very fast toward Temari.
"Temari watch out." he screamed alerting Temari who quickly waved the closed fan on her right side. The big black fan blocked the kunai and the cloaked man holding it just in time. Seeing that the attack had failed the cloaked man jumped back. The sand jonin also quickly ran and stood beside Temari.
The cloaked man looked at the kunai in his hand and thought 'How could that jonin detect me so early. He doesn't look like a sensor shinobi.'
The second cloaked man jumped beside him and said "Hiraku how could you make such a stupid mistake?"
The cloaked man named Hiraku whose attack had just failed looked at his partner and said "Senior Akio what are you talking about? I did a perfect sneak attack. That jonin must be a sensor or something or else how could a lowly sand shinobi fail my attack?"
The sand jonin seeing Temari alright signaled Kankuro to regroup with them. Kankuro used an attack and pushed the burly bandit with all 6 palms. Seeing the bandit back off, Kankuro called back the puppet and regrouped with Temari and the sand jonin.
Both the bandits who were just fighting Temari and Kankuro saw this and then looked at Yami. They nodded at each other and came close to Yami.
"Fujio, how are you on this side of the valley? and who are these two cloaked men?" the one with the broadsword asked.
Before Yami could reply the burly one said "Doesn't matter who is who. I call dibs on that girl. I want her tonight." Listening to this the other bandit hissed and said "In your dreams Gaizo, I will be the one to deflower her." he said while licking his lips.
Yami had a deadpan expression listening to these two idiots lusting over Temari who was just 12-13 years old. Listening to the banter of the bandits angered Hiraku as he had already received a scolding from his senior but the next sentence from his senior made him lower his head in embarrassment.
"Hiraku you idiot, you released a small burst of chakra before you accelerated from the branch. This will alarm even a chunin. Bringing you guys here is turning out to be a mistake. 2 of your teammates died trying to fight alone with the copy ninja already and now you do this." Akio said with a frown on his face.
Hiraku had a wronged expression on his face because even he knew not to make such a basic mistake but the only 3rd person with them was a useless bandit who didn't even radiate a shred of chakra from his body the whole way.
Little did Akio and Haraku know that the one who released the burst of chakra was Yami himself. He did it to alert the sand jonin and possibly even Temari of their arrival. This was the least he could do without blowing his cover.
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