The Lost Princess (Kiba Love Story)

Chapter 59

Ayumi's P. O. V:

Setsuna's hooves thunder across the forest floor and her neck coats with sweat as well as her sides and flanks as she gallops. Kiba tightens his arms around my waist especially as we leap over obstacles.

Akamaru gives a small bark, gaining Kiba's attention.

"Ayumi!" He says warningly. I jerk my head to the right slightly and tug the reins to my left, causing Setsuna to dodge the kunai that flies straight for us.

"Shit! It must be Shinji's men," I say as Setsuna continues galloping. "One of them must be after us while the other chases Yuki."

"Can we lose him?" Kiba asks, gazing around. Before I could answer, a fireball comes shooting for us. "Fireball!!"

"Hang on!" I shout. I drop the reins and let Setsuna keep running as I do hand signs. I focus chakra to the back of my mouth before I exhale. "Water Style: Raging Waves Jutsu!" Water bursts from my mouth and expands until it douses the flames. I see a bunch of kunai come flying straight for us. "Take the reins!"

"Wha—?!" Kiba gasps before I create my own Diamond Kunai. He grips the reins on either side of me as I deflect the incoming kunai with both of my own. One of them grazes my left upper arm, however, and I hiss in pain. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Just a little scratch." I look back ahead just in time to see a low hanging branch. "Duck!" Kiba and I duck our heads and just narrowly avoid being knocked off the mare.

"Get back here, Kongoseki!" The Ketsueki guard calls. "Fire Style: Running Fire!" I gasp as a wal of fire spreads before us. Setsuna rears up as she whinnies shrilly, hooves scraping the sky. Setsuna lands and I disperse my weapons to try and calm the startled horse.

The Ketsueki guard leaps down from the trees, a triumph grin on his face.

"Let us through!" I command, glaring.

"Shinji-sama has ordered that we capture one of you Kongoseki to find the location of the Divine Water. Then we'll kill you afterwards," He tells us.

"Go to hell!" I hiss as Setsuna fidgets and tosses her head wildly. "Do you realise who you're talking to?! I'm a fully trained assassin! I could kill you in the blink of an eye. Now, step aside!"

"Heh. No can do, Princess," The man says. He does hand signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

As mini fireballs fly for us, I do my own hand signs. "Water Style: Water Barrier." It's a Kongoseki clan technique. Water manifests from my bottle and forms a curving barrier around us. There's a violent hiss as the fireballs meet it. "Diamond Style: Scarlet Needle."

Needles of diamond protrude from all over the guard, spraying blood. He drops to the ground like a stone and the fire soon dies down too.

I stroke Setsuna's neck and try to get her to be calm. "Easy girl. It's ok. Ssshhh." She snorts and starts to settle, but her eyes are showing white, meaning she's scared out of her wits. I take the reins back from Kiba as I say, "We need to get back to the others."

"Right," Kiba utters before I kick Setsuna into another gallop for my mansion.

                      🗡🗡🗡

We make it back to the back of the mansion, the sounds of my palomino mare whinnying and her thundering hooves causing our teammates to rush out of the mansion, the Jounin's eyes wide with worry.

"Ayumi! Where were you? What happened?" Kakashi asks worriedly. Setsuna comes to a sharp halt and rears up in fright before coming back down again. She does this a couple more times while I gently shush her, calming her down eventually.

Kakashi calmly approaches the startled mare as she fidgets on her hooves and Kiba and I dismount. I grip the reins as Kakashi gently rests his gloved hands on Setsuna's sweaty neck, seeing her white eyes.

"Long story, but she got spooked when we were attacked in our way back," I say, stroking Setsuna's neck soothingly.

"You were attacked?" Kurenai asks worriedly. Kiba and I nod our heads.

I say, "Remember that girl we encountered yesterday? It turns out she's my childhood friend, Yuki Kongoseki!"

Everyone gasps at this.

"Ayumi, do you mean to say there are more Kongoseki members out there?" Sakura inquires. I nod again.

"Yeah! A few of them somehow managed to survive the clan massacre, and they've been hiding out in the temple all this time. I'm going to—" A knock on the front door gains our attention.

"Wonder who that could be?" Asuma mutters.

"We'll go check it out," Kakashi says.

"I'll put Setsuna away then meet you inside," I tell them. Kakashi nods his head and I lead the flighty horse to her stall to rub her down, while my comrades go to answer the door.

In the barn, I untack the palomino and rub her down before giving her fresh water. I stay with Setsuna for a couple of minutes to make sure she was all settled, before I exit the barn and head inside.

In the main hallway, I'm greeted by the sight of Shinji and his men. A scowl twists my features when the redhead notices me, causing the others to turn.

I step up beside Kiba as Shinji says, "As I have been saying, two of my men didn't come back from patrol this morning. I was wondering if you'd heard anything?"

I say with a sickeningly sweet smile that makes Kiba, Naruto, Sakura and Ino sweat drop before shrinking back from me, "No. Kiba and I haven't heard anything while we were out. So sorry."

Kakashi gives me a warning look as Shinji frowns at my left upper arm. "How did you get that injury?"

I say as I clutch my wound, "We were attacked on our way back."

"By the bandits?" Shinji queries.

"...... Something like that," I say after a long pause.

Shinji and I frown at one another for a few heartbeats, until the amber eyed man speaks up. "Well, I'll leave you Leaf ninja to it. Please let me know if you see my men."

Kakashi says as he nods his head, "Yes, Shinji-sama."

Shinji is about to leave but I stop him, the man halting just outside the front door. "Actually, Shinii-sama, I do know who killed your men this morning."

He looks at me in surprise as he asks eagerly, "Who?"

"The people who live on this island and the people who own this island," I say bitterly as I stalk towards him with purposeful steps. The guards tense but I ignore them. "After everything you've done to them, it's no wonder they want you dead. Hell, I want you dead, too! You've made a big mistake in hiring me, because I'm a fully trained assassin. I could kill you if I wished."

"... Is that a threat, young lady?" Shinji asks with furrowed brows.

My sickeningly sweet smile turns dark. "It's a warning. Good day, Sir!!" With that said, I slam the front door in Shinji's face so hard, that the walls and windows of my mansion rattle from the impact and my teammate's flinch, staring at me with widened eyes.

I turn back to my teammates, fists clenching and unclenching as I breathe heavily from my outburst of anger, teeth clenched. Most of the Genin look at me wearily.

After a couple of heartbeats of silence, Shikamaru decides to say, "Uuuhhh, you do realise that's going to come back and bite us in the butt later, right, Yumi-chan?"

"I don't care," I seethe out, before I begin to heal my arm. "I'm just so mad at Shinji right now! What he's doing to my clan..."

Ino says in confusion, "Yeah, but why would he be after you and your clan? It doesn't make sense because he's the one who hired us in the first place."

Sasuke adds, "Yeah. And he's well aware of who you are, too."

I meet Kakashi's eyes before I take a deep breath and speak up, finishing healing my arm. "We're going to meet up with my clan, all of us. At the Diamond Temple—tonight. Hopefully we'll get the full story from them."

Everyone nods their heads in agreement.