Tsume exhaled sharply, frustration still buzzing under her skin. But she didn't argue further. She didn't have the strength left for it.
"Fine," she growled. "Let's go."
Riku moved to her side, still shaken, still angry, but determined.
Hanami stepped forward, joining us
Sayuri signaled the route.
We turned as one, battered but alive, and started running back toward camp, the forest swallowing the battlefield behind us
We ran until our lungs burned.
My legs felt heavy, with the constant cycling of chakra through them, the blood on my arm had long turned sticky and uncomfortable.
I leapt from branch to branch along with the team, we dropped down from the trees as we neared the camp and continued to run on the ground, as tall trees gave way to an open clearing.
By the time the outskirts of camp appeared in my vision, the sky had gone from gray to pale morning blue. I could feel the edge of exhaustion nipping at the back of my skull, I could feel the difference in my movements, it felt sluggish like I was wading through water
Chakra exhaustion.
The others weren't faring better. Even Tsume-san's was breathing heavier, she hid it well, though.
As we crossed the last of the trees as the camp came fully into view, and it was overflowing with activity.
There were far more shinobi than before.
New rows of tents were pitched up with shinobi moving around the camp, There was a thick and tense chill in the air that hadn't been there when we'd left.
Something had escalated.
Tsume-san and her team peeled away immediately, heading for the medical tents. Kuromaru limped beside them, leaving a faint smear of blood behind.
Tsume stopped, and jerked her chin at Riku.
"Find me in my tent later," she ordered, voice rough. "We're talking."
Riku smiled weakly and nodded. "Y-yeah."
Then they were gone.
Hanami-san gently shifted the unconscious girl in her arms. Sayuri-san stepped forward and took the burden without a word. Her expression softened, just a little, as she looked down at the girl's slack face.
"Let's finish this," she said quietly and started walking.
We followed her toward the command tent.
Sayuri-san paused at the entrance and signaled us to stay back as she lifted the tent flap. Inside, voices murmured.
She entered alone, carrying the girl in her arms.
I watched the exchange through the narrow opening. A shinobi approached immediately and lifted the girl from Sayuri-san's grip. Behind him, the Nara commander raised his head toward her.
Sayuri bowed her head and began her report Even from a distance, I saw his eyes flick to us standing outside.
I felt his gaze linger on me, assessing me in a way I didn't like. I felt myself being dissected
Sayuri finished her report and stepped out a moment later, her expression settling back into calm professionalism.
"It's done," she said softly.
Hanami nodded. I did too.
We walked a few steps before the team naturally drifted apart.
Hanami headed toward her tent.
Riku lingered beside me for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'll… probably stay with Tsume-nee tonight," he muttered. "There's no way we're finding an empty tent with this crowd anyway."
I gave him a small nod. "Makes sense."
He managed a tired grin before jogging off.
I turned toward Sayuri.
"Sayuri-san… the girl." I hesitated for a second. "What's going to happen to her?"
She turned to face me fully, as her hair swaying with the motion and really looked at me,
Her eyes were dark yet gentle, but with an edge of pragmatic sharpness..
"She'll be placed under medical coma," she said gently. "They'll keep her until the time we return her to her family. It's kinder this way. And safer."
It made sense, In a cruel way.
I nodded slowly.
Sayuri shifted, placing her hand on her hi,p and said
"You did well today, Basara-san. Better than expected."
A small, tired smile tugged at my mouth. "Thank you."
She gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and turned away.
"I need to change and report again. Get some rest, and get that arm looked at."
"Right."
We parted there.
I made my way toward the medical tents, rubbing at the shallow cuts on my forearm. They weren't deep, but they stung. The bigger worry was the sting itself
Not poison… probably. If it were, I'd already be dead.
Still, the thought lingered.
The medical tent was crowded,with low murmurs, and the faint smell of antiseptic herbs. I slipped inside.
And immediately spotted her, the same Hyūga medic from before.
She noticed me at once. "You again," she said, a hint of amusement, stepping closer. "Still getting hurt, I see."
I managed a tired smile. "Seems to be a habit."
She straightened, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Hyūga Aiko," she said properly this time.
I bowed lightly. "Basara."
"Well then, Basara," she said, gesturing to one of the empty cots, "sit."
I obeyed. Her fingers glowed with soft green chakra as she examined my arm.
The warmth soaked into my skin, numbing the sting, sealing shallow cuts. She frowned lightly. "These are clean cuts. There's no poison."
Relief eased the tension in my shoulders.
As she worked, another voice chimed in.
"Sensei," a younger girl said from the next cot over, "we're almost done here. Supplies are restocked."
She looked younger than me with the same pale eyes as Aiko's, her hair in a short ponytail.
Aiko nodded. "Good. Our shift is over."
She finished patching the last cut and stood, stretching her back. I pushed off the cot.
"Thank you," I said.
"Of course. It's my job." Her tone softened.
We left the tent together, the three of us stepping into the sun.
I looked around.
Every tent I saw was full. Overflowing with Shinobi, Some had three people already squeezed inside.
Aiko followed my gaze, then glanced back at me. "You won't find a free tent tonight," she said quietly. "Even most Jōnin are sharing."
She hesitated for half a second.
"If you don't mind, there's a spare cot in ours.It's only me and Rei." nodding at the young girl who smiled
I blinked.
"That's… generous."
She shrugged. "You're a fellow shinobi who needs rest. Come."
I hesitated only a moment, then nodded. "Thank you."
We made our way through the rows of tents until we reached theirs, a medium-sized canvas with a faint herbal scent inside. She pushed the flap open.
"Make yourself comfortable."
Aiko unbuckled her medic apron with quiet, practiced movements. Then her fingers slipped to the straps of her flak vest.
One tug, then another, and the vest slid off her shoulders in a smooth whisper of fabric.
Under the lantern glow, the curve of her figure caught the light, her skin flushed slightly from the heat and sweat.
Her apprentice did the same, shrugging out of her vest and folding it neatly.
I kept my eyes respectful and removed my own vest and shirt as sweat stuck to my back. I wiped myself down with a damp cloth from a basin, the cool water was a relief.
"Good night, Basara," Aiko said simply, settling into her cot.
"Good night."
I lay down on the spare one. My eyes closed almost instantly.
I dreamt that night.
When I woke again, everything was silent.
I turned my head. The lantern was dim. The tent was quiet. My whole body felt heavy but rested, the kind of heaviness that comes from real sleep.
How long…?
I sat up. When I pushed the flap open slightly, the sky outside was still dark.
Early morning. I'd slept through an entire day.
A voice stirred behind me.
"Good morning."
Aiko sat up on her cot, tying her hair. She looked graceful, even after just waking. Rei still slept curled on her side.
"Morning," I murmured back.
Aiko reached for a cloth, dipped it into the basin, and wiped her face and neck.
"What will you do today?" she asked, not looking up.
I squeezed out another cloth and cleaned the dried sweat from my chest and arms. "Train," I answered. "As much as I can."
She smiled slightly. "A good choice. I might not be a combat medic, but we must always keep ourselves sharp."
Then, thinking a bit, she nudged her apprentice's foot gently. "Up. We're joining him."
The girl blinked awake. "Training…?"
"Yes. Before the camp gets loud."
Aiko stood, donning her jacket with practiced efficiency.
"Come, Basara," she said softly. "Let's find a good spot."
I exhaled once, steadying myself, and stepped out into the dark.
Dew clung to the grass, the ground cold beneath my feet, breath misting faintly in the dim pre-dawn air. The camp was still silent, just the distant rustle of leaves and the slap of our sandals against packed dirt.
Aiko-san didn't hold back.
Her Byakugan flared with a soft light, pale eyes glowing in the half-dark, veins raised around her temples as her gaze cut through, around and past me. She moved with that Hyūga grace.
Every strike she threw came fast, precise, and meant to shut down a tenketsu or take my footing out in one movement. Any one of them could've been decisive in a real fight.
And she almost had me twice.
The first, a sweeping palm that skimmed my ribs, sending a jolt of numbness through my side. The second, a fingertip strike I barely twisted away from, as I felt the rush of air brush my cheek.
Her expression never changed. Watching everything I did with a focus only someone with a Doujutsu could.
I ducked under a third strike and backed up.
She shifted again, light on her toes, hands open, center lowered.
My ribs ached from the earlier hit she'd landed. She glided forward silently, her steps barely bending the grass.
She's fast… harder to fight up close than anyone I've faced yet.
Her stance lowered more…
She flickered in.
I ducked the first palm, blocked the second, but her third strike grazed my side and sent another tingle through my flank.
"Tch…"
I shoved off the ground and gained distance, hands already forming seals.
Water swelled in my chakra pathways, cool and smooth, gathering in my throat as I shaped it with intent.
Then I exhaled.
Suiton: Teppōdama.
A sphere of water blasted out, twice the size of a large basketball, compressed water laced with chakra, left my mouth with a sharp crack. The projectile tore across the training ground, kicking up dirt in its wake.
Aiko-san twisted her body and let it pass within inches of her shoulder. The orb slammed into a tree behind her and split the bark with a wet explosion.
She didn't even flinch.
I drew the tanto I'd taken from the Iwa kunoichi; the blade hummed faintly as I channeled chakra through it.
Chakra metal.
It was pure luck that I nicked it in the battle.
Aiko's eyes flicked to the blade, then back to me.
She dashed in again, hands blurring.
I met her halfway, steel against open palms as she redirected my strikes, She flowed around me like water, spinning lightly, aiming for a strike to my shoulder…
I pivoted, brought the tanto up, redirected her palm, and pushed forward.
For a heartbeat, we were locked in motion.
Then her foot pressed against the dirt, her spine straightened..
And I knew what was coming.
Chakra erupted around her in a circular burst.
Hakkeshō Kaiten - Heavenly Rotation.
She spun, palms extended, a perfect sphere of rotating chakra blasting outward.
Grass flattened in a wide radius, dust spiraled upward in a thin column, the pressure pushing me back even from several steps away.
I braced myself, lowering the tanto.
There was no way to break through that.
I wasn't strong enough… Yet
When the rotation slowed and the chakra storm died down, she lowered her hands and took a steady breath.
I raised mine.
"Shall we call it in?"
Aiko blinked once, then nodded with a soft, knowing smile. The intensity eased from her eyes; the Byakugan faded.
"You're pretty strong Basara-san," she said, voice warmer than before. "And faster than most shinobi I've sparred with."
We walked together across the clearing.
Rei her young apprentice lay sprawled in the grass nearby, arms stretched out, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead.
Aiko placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "You did well, Rei-chan. Rest a little longer."
Rei grumbled into the dirt. "I am resting, Sensei…"
I let out a tired breath, rolling my sore shoulder.
I can use ninjutsu in a real fight now not just in practice but in actual battles with ease.
It mattered more than I wanted to admit.
Then the shouting started. I turned just in time to see the crowd around the tents surge into motion.
What now?