The night of our seventh day in the field was the kind of cold that sank into your bones no matter how close you sat to the fire. We huddled around the flames anyway, grateful for the warmth after another long day spent combing the borderlands.
Kurenai sat off to one side with her hawk perched on her arm, carefully feeding it strips of dried meat. The bird had taken to her quickly, its fierce eyes softening whenever it snapped the food from her fingers.
Asuma grumbled loudly as he shifted closer to the fire, pulling his cloak tight around his shoulders. "These conditions are unbearable. Hot enough to boil your brain during the day, freezing enough to kill you at night. No wonder the Sand are all lunatics."
Guy puffed up his chest, his grin bright even with soot smudging his cheeks. "Nonsense! This is perfect training! The trials of the desert forge our character and strengthen the flames of youth!"
I smirked into my ration tin. "You're just mad because you ran out of cigarettes."
Asuma's head whipped toward me, eyes narrowing. "Wait... how do you know..."
Before he could finish, Duy's face lit with righteous fury. "Smoking? Asuma, my boy! Do you understand the poison you are dragging into your lungs? Every drag shortens your life, blackens your lungs, weakens your body! Do you think you can master the Eight Gates when you willingly cut away your own breath? Youth cannot flourish when smothered by smoke!"
Asuma groaned, sinking lower into his cloak as Guy cheered his father's speech like it was divine revelation. I chuckled and let their voices blur into the background. I had learned long ago that once Duy began an impassioned tirade, there was no stopping him until he ran out of air. Instead of listening, I pulled out my notebook and began preparing my report.
Seven days in the field and the results spoke for themselves. We had intercepted a supply convoy with Duy holding off the jonin escort with nothing but the Second Gate, while the rest of the team dismantled the genin support quickly. Two scouting teams had also been eliminated without much trouble. But beyond the victories, each of them had grown.
Asuma was finally beginning to understand the principles of my elemental-infused fighting style and using them in his own way. His movements were not clean yet, but he was regularly weaving Fire and Wind chakra into his strikes in a way that reminded me of my own first experiments. It was not compatible with the Eight Gates, but whether that restriction was due to his lack of mastery or a true incompatibility between the two techniques was something only time could tell.
Guy's taijutsu had sharpened to the point he could keep two or three chunin busy at once. His raw speed and strength honed into something less wild and more dangerous, showing the polish of experience. His spirit burned bright, but his skill was finally catching up to his passion.
Duy… Duy was terrifying in the way only someone utterly honest could be. With the Second Gate alone, he could hold a jonin at bay indefinitely. If he opened further, if he truly unleashed himself, he would be a nightmare on the battlefield. It was easy to understand why he had made a legend in the original timeline, and even with my clones, I was scared of his raw potential if I was to face him in a life-or-death fight.
And Kurenai… her genjutsu had blossomed into something subtle and devastating, binding opponents before they even realized they had been caught. But more than that, she had shown me something rare: leadership. She could coordinate the others with as much clarity and precision as I did. Watching her take charge in the middle of a fight, slipping into the role as if born to it, was enough to make me think she could lead the team on her own.
I closed the notebook softly, the firelight flickering over its cover. They had all come so far; more than I had expected in so short a time. It was good to see their progress, and I could not help but wonder how much stronger they were compared to their canon selves at this point.
Morning light stretched pale across the dunes as we packed up camp. Duy stamped out the last embers of the fire while Asuma muttered about needing stronger tea, and Kurenai coaxed her hawk onto her arm before the day's march. I was tightening my pouch straps when the sand stirred at the edge of our camp, drawing my attention.
A long, sinuous body slid into view, scales glistening faintly with chakra. My eyes narrowed as it approached, but I knew exactly who had sent this snake. Orochimaru.
Guy, however, saw only a snake. "Akari-sensei!" he shouted, already airborne, his leg cutting through the air in a blazing arc.
"Wait...!" I called out but it was too late.
I snapped my hand out, chakra swirling into a burst of wind that caught him mid-flight and shoved him sideways. He stumbled out of control, tumbling through the sand before popping back up, dazed but still grinning like he had meant to do it. The snake ignored the commotion, its jaw unhinging to spit a sealed scroll onto the ground before it turned and slithered back into the dunes without a sound.
I bent down, picked up the scroll, and glanced over my shoulder. "In the future, Guy, attacking a commanding officer's summoning beast can get you in a lot of trouble."
His grin vanished in an instant, panic widening his eyes. "Wait, what?! I... no one told me...! Is Orochimaru-sama going to..."
I chuckled, shaking my head as I turned back to the scroll. "Relax. I'm messing with you. But next time, don't kick the mailman."
He slumped in relief, though he still gave the sand a wary look.
The scroll bore a layered seal, intricate lines of script wrapped around the edges, a lock of fuinjutsu meant to keep wandering eyes away. I traced the pattern with my fingertip, drawing a thread of chakra into the correct nodes until the script unraveled like water running downhill. The parchment softened, and the ink shifting into legible words.
Orochimaru's handwriting was neat and deliberate:
The southern base has been abandoned. Scouts tracked the movement north, where the garrison merged with reinforcements , approximately three to four hundred shinobi in total. Their course is clear: toward the northern front, most likely Rain Country. They are to be stopped, slowed, or at minimum, weakened before they can reinforce the other front.
I closed the scroll, my hand tightening slightly around it.
The Rain.
I knew Tsunade could handle herself; she was stronger, sharper, more experienced than nearly anyone alive. But the thought of three or four hundred Sand shinobi crashing down on her front made something knot in my chest. She was my teacher. More than that, she was family... and now Orochimaru was ordering me to stop that tide before it reached her. I would do it, of course, but the question was whether to involve my team or not; they deserved a chance to go on a significant mission.
I called my team over with a sharp gesture, and they gathered quickly. They had all seen the snake, and all knew by now that a scroll meant orders. None of them spoke as I unrolled it again, but the anticipation in their eyes was obvious.
I held the parchment for a moment, then passed it into Kurenai's hands. "Read it," I said, beginning to explain as she scanned the neat lines of Orochimaru's script. "The scouts report the Sand's southern front has been abandoned. Their forces joined with reinforcements, three to four hundred shinobi, and they're pushing north, toward the Rain, avoiding the River front entirely. Orochimaru wants them stopped, slowed, or at the very least weakened."
Asuma's head snapped up, eyes bright. "So we're hitting them? Us? Finally something that matters."
Guy clenched his fists, practically trembling with excitement. "A force of youth standing against hundreds! Akari-senpai, this is our moment!"
Kurenai's voice cut through them like steel. "Don't be idiots. We'd have no chance against four hundred shinobi. None. Even Akari couldn't take that many alone."
I nodded, letting her words settle in. "She's right. I would have little chance against that large of a force, as would most Kage... aside from the Third Raikage, but he's built different."
That silenced them for a moment. Asuma frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "Then why give us the mission? If it's that dangerous, why risk it at all?"
Before I could answer, Kurenai looked at him, her gaze calm but firm. "Because Akari's Flying Thunder God lets her escape things we can't. She can strike and vanish before the enemy reacts. That's why she can survive missions like this." She turned back toward me, her eyes narrowing slightly. "The real question is why she would offer to bring us with her."
I smirked, leaning back on my heels, approving. "Exactly. That's the important question." My eyes swept over the three of them, lingering on Kurenai's steady expression, Asuma's hungry glare, and Guy's boundless fire. "I asked because I have a plan. One that doesn't involve fighting hundreds head-on."
The fire crackled between us, the wind stirring sand at our feet, but none of them moved. They were waiting for me to tell them more.
"Fuinjutsu has been a hobby of mine for years, lining my pockets as well. I have enough explosive tags to cripple a force three times the size, but they will need to be laid properly along their path. We'll need to track the Sand force, plot their route towards the northern camp, and plan the ambush properly. I can teach you all how to chain the tags together, but we will need to stay close, which is where the real danger comes in. If the Sand abandons their wounded, they could chase us all the way back to the base camp and we won't have anyone to support us. My last mission from Orochimaru was dangerous in a sense, but I used my clones to deal the damage and then had jonin support for my retreat; we won't have that option if you follow me on this mission. You three remember my weeklong survival training? That's what was preparing you for a mission like this, but this time it will real enemies wanting to claim our lives. I believe that we can succeed as a team, but there is a very good chance that we'll be in danger, and I might not be able to protect you all."
No one spoke right away. They understood that this was not some reckless charge or a chance to show off their strength. This was a mission with real life or death consequences, and it would not be easy.
Asuma's fingers tapped against his knee, the restless energy still flickering in his eyes, though dulled now by caution. Guy's fists were clenched tight at his side, his smile tempered but not extinguished, the flame of his eagerness banked by the reality I had laid out. They both looked to me, then almost at the same moment, their gazes shifted to Kurenai. She was the anchor among them, and they knew it.
Kurenai's expression was calm, her eyes lowered slightly as though she was weighing the possibilities. She let the silence stretch until even Asuma stopped fidgeting and Guy's grin faded into something steadier. Only then did she lift her gaze to mine.
"We'll go," she said quietly, though there was steel beneath the softness. "There is danger, but with your plan, we have a good chance of success."
A faint smirk tugged at my lips, approval warming my chest. She had given the answer I had hoped for, not because it was what I wanted to hear, but because she had weighed the danger and chosen anyway.
Asuma exhaled sharply, grinning despite himself. "Guess that settles it then. About time we had a real mission."
Guy pumped his fist toward the stars, his grin returning, though steadier now. "Yosh! We will rise to this trial together!"
I shook my head, though I couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out. "Then it's settled. We'll deal a strong blow to the Sand reinforcements, and we make sure we live to tell the tale."