- - - - -

Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Ephesians 5:11

- - - - -

The skies were shrouded in dark blue, and far out in the horizon, the sun had yet to rise.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

Explosions resounded, obscuring the terrain with large clouds of smoke and dust. Numerous lifeless bodies lay sprawled across the terrain, contaminating the air with the stench of blood, and death. Nevertheless, the clanking sound of metals resumed, followed by the sound of flesh being cut, and multiple other explosions.

"STOP HIM!" Yelled a muscular man, seemingly a Chunin commander. He was donned in the standard attire of a Shinobi and bearing the insignia of Iwagakure (Village Hidden In The Stone), pointing at a youth rapidly closing the distance.

The yellow-haired youth mercilessly slashed his enemies with his sword, his maneuver unflinching despite being wrapped from head to toe in the blood of his enemies, and using the trees as a springboard to close the distance with ease.

"Cr-Crap!" The Chunin commander stammered, wielding his sword, but...

*THUD*

A futile effort, as his decapitated head fell into the pool of blood below. Relentless, the yellow-haired youth pressed on. Only short, yellow hair can be seen, as he wore a Kitsune mask concealing his facial features. He was donned in baggy attire of upper blue garment with huge white sleeves, and and dark blue baggy trousers.

"Tch, this mission is a mess. We got the scroll, but how the hell are we gonna get outta here," the youth muttered.

"Hayato," a voice called.

Locating the source, the yellow-haired youth looked below. The figure that called revealed himself to be a youth with long black hair, a weasel mask concealing his facial features, and donned in baggy white fabric and black baggy trousers.

Both masked youths were around the same age.

"Don't go saying my name out loud," the youth with the Kitsune mask, or rather, Hayato, advised.

"No one's around, and everyone's dead," the weasel-masked youth stated.

"Ohh... In that case..." Hayato paused, raising his arms in shock. "Ryohei, thank goodness you're still alive," he sarcastically exclaimed.

"Shut up," the weasel-masked youth, or rather, Ryohei snapped back.

"Haha," Hayato laughed.

"Follow me, now," Ryohei commanded, veins emerging by his eyes as he magnified his vision, scanning the terrain. This was a well known Dojutsu of Konoha, the Byakugan of the revered Hyuga clan.

Hayato followed.

"Sensei and Kaede are in trouble. They've been ambushed," Ryohei surveyed, halting his movement.

"We could go and try to save them, or we can accomplish the mission and go back ourselves," Ryohei continued as he stared into the distance of 2 individuals being pursued by multiple other Shinobi.

Turning to Hayato, he said, "And I know for a fact that you aren't willing to go back without them."

Hayato affirmed, "Spot on. I don't care if the mission fails. We will save Kaede and Aiko sensei."

Both of them stealthily leaped through trees, affirming their resolve.

***

"GET THEM!"

"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

The Iwagakure forces appeared to be chasing after 2 people, one an adult female, and another, a female youth.

The female youth had short black hair, and donned a rabbit mask, black combat vest, and trousers. The headband of Konoha was draped around her head. Her sensei beside her had short spiky orange hair tied in a ponytail, with a dog mask, and donned in standard Jonin attire.

Twisting her torso, the female youth weaved multiple hand signs, and chanted, "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

*BOOM*

Upon releasing her devastating technique, some of the enemy ninjas were burned to a crisp, while the others continued their pursuit.

The Konoha duo descended, and the dog-masked female reached into her pouch, throwing something onto the ground.

Subsequently, a large cloud of smoke emerged, enveloping the terrain in smoke, and obscuring the vision of all.

"CLEAR THE SMOKE!"

One of the Iwagakure pursuers yelled.

"Wind Style: Breakthrough!"

Upon releasing the wind style, the smoke dispersed, but...

Their targets disappeared.

"FIND THEM!"

"THEY CAN'T HAVE GONE FAR!"

However, they were incorrect. The females were standing there, but for some reason, the pursuers were unable to see them. The pursuers ran past, scattering omnidirectionally, but how were they unable to see the female duo?

"You're genjutsu has gotten a lot better Kaede," the dog-masked sensei complimented the rabbit-masked youth.

The rabbit-masked female, or rather, Kaede, was currently performing a tiger seal, her scarlet eyes decorated with 3 tomoe through the eyepiece of her mask. This was a well-known Dojutsu of Konoha, the Sharingan, of the notorious Uchiha clan.

Closing her eyes, she stumbled back, but her sensei caught her.

"Well done," her sensei smiled warmly at the unconscious youth.

"Aiko sensei."

Hearing the whisper, the dog masked sensei, or rather, Aiko, turned her head to her right, successfully locating the source of the whisper, and a smile graced her lips.

"About time boys," she said, eyeing the 2 male youths, who were none other than Hayato and Ryohei.

"We can get out of here fast. I've found a safe route. We can complete the mission," Ryohei asserted, staring into the distance.

"Alright then, let's go," Aiko affirmed. With Ryohei navigating the terrain at front, all 4 individuals, with the unconscious Kaede cradled in the arms of Aiko, leaped from branch to branch, their maneuver both stealthy and efficient.

"Enemies," Ryohei whispered.

Aiko and Hayato were immediately alerted, and the squad dashed into a nearby cave for cover.

"They'll probably find us here," Hayato whispered.

"Yeah, but I can sense around 30 Shinobi... And 5 Jonins. The Jonins are stationed at the exit of the Kannabi bridge, we're at a disadvantage," Ryohei examined.

"Damn it," Hayato cursed.

Aiko bit her nails, and deduced, "We're too late. The higher-ups have been informed, so they're sending powerful personnel."

Ryohei added, "This isn't good. We must send the scroll back to Konoha no matter what, or else it will spark huge bloodshed.

"Yeah," Aiko supported, removing the scroll from her flak jacket. It was a brown scroll with the sigil of the Land Of Rock.

"Ahh, now I understand why nii-san spent his entire time honing that technique," Hayato expressed his frustration, plucking his hair.

"Don't be whining now. Both of you have your unique perks, and unique style of fighting. Don't look down on yourself," Aiko patted

Hayato on the head.

"Yes, sensei," Hayato groaned.

Aiko smiled at her student's attitude.

Turning to the boys, she continued nonchalantly, "Well, there's no plan here, so are you boys willing to die?"

The atmosphere in the cave suddenly turned somber, the silence, palpable. For the boys, it was as though time was at a standstill, as they absorbed their sensei's word.

In the Shinobi world, death was a commonality. It was something every Shinobi understood, and should they cease to exist, they would do so while proudly carrying the emblem of their cherished homes.

A cacophonous howl echoed across the terrain, as though expressing the fear etched in the hearts of the trio.

Death, as much as they were willing to embrace it for the sake of their loved ones and home, is still scary.

However, the boys remained stoic, returning a "Yes, sensei."

...

Some time passed, and the squad had already changed locations, examining the terrain at the fleet of Iwagakure forces.

"Tsk, they're everywhere," Hayato smacked his lips as he peeked by a cased opening.

Hayato had his mask removed, situated at the side of his head, revealing his deep, sapphire eyes, fair-brown skin tone, and yellow hair.

"Yeah. But Hayato..." Ryohei spoke.

He too, had his mask removed, situated at the side of his head, revealing his hidden feature; pupil-less eyes, which signifed the trait of the Hyuga, and a pale complexion.

Hayato turned to face the serious expression of Ryohei.

"Today, we may very well die," Ryohei voiced.

Hayato replied, "Appears that way, but let's do our best."

Raising a fist to his comrade, he continued; "If it's with you, I don't mind dying. We can go out in style."

Ryohei returned his fist, and declared, "Let's win."

"Yeah. We'll all get the hell outta here," Hayato supported with a grin.

"Yeah," Ryohei added.

...

Once again, some time passed, and the unconscious female of their team had awoken, bearing a dismayed expression with eyes widened and lips parted. Her ANBU mask was situated at the side of her head, revealing her obsidian black eyes, and fair complexion.

"Guys no way," Kaede expressed her shock.

"Kaede, it's what we've chosen. It's probably the only thing we can do," Hayato spoke.

"No, there's no way," Kaede shook her head in denial, her voice cracking as she looked at the ground bearing deep sadness.

"Kaede, the village is at stake. We need to hand this scroll, you understand, right?" Aiko placed a reassuring hand on Kaede's shoulder. Her mask was situated by her side, revealing her fair complexion, and brown eyes. A warm smile played her lips, her cheeks wrinkled.

"You've drained yourself already with the Sharingan too much. You'll..."

She paused, as though unable to speak.

"You'll hold us back," Ryohei completed in his usual indifference.

Gritting her teeth, tears flowed down Kaede's face. Aiko grasped her head, pulling Kaede into her embrace.

"Just do this for us, okay Kaede," Aiko asked.

Removing Kaede from her embrace, Kaede wiped her tears.

"Even if I go back, there's no one waiting for me. I don't understand why I have to be the one to do this..." Kaede said.

Hayato placed a reassuring hand on Kaede's shoulder, "But you have your younger brother, right? Shinji will be waiting for you."

The image of a male youth resurfaced in her mind; slightly spiky black hair, black eyes, fair complexion, and an ecstatic grin on his face.

Remembering the smile, her eyes regained vitality, and she wiped away her tears, affirming to the squad, "Fine, I'll do it."

The team fell into a tight embrace, all hugging each other, before removing themselves with newfound determination.

"Alrighty then ya punks," Aiko stated, staring into the distance. Cracking her knuckles, she declared with a sinister grin, "We're about to execute this mission!"

The 3 youths saluted, "Aye, sensei."