I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 19 | Follow The Leader

Naruto sensed the moment the two sides met. He knew the team was closing in on the exact spot the two Iwa-nin were waiting. He rushed through the forest to try to catch up, burning through his first round of Sage Mode in order to close the distance. He knew the team could handle themselves, but it was his job to help them avoid trouble in the first place.

He was concentrating so hard, he could see and hear the scene. The first Iwa-nin went after them from behind, but was quickly countered by Jiraiya. The second one ran off the moment he realized it was a hopeless fight.

Then the team split up. Kakashi left. Obito turned to go but faltered in his step. He looked back and said, "Don't let that guy go! Protect Rin!"

Obito went one way, pursuing the fleeing Iwa-nin. Kakashi went another way, moving straight ahead from where they were. Rin and Jiraiya were still in the same spot, fighting against the second Iwa-nin.

Naruto stopped, hand on a bamboo stalk, catching his breath. He could still track everyone using Sage Mode, but that also meant he couldn't make extra clones to follow them. Which way should he go?

Obito would probably tell him to look after Rin, no matter what the circumstances were.

But Jiraiya and Rin would be fine. With one Sannin and a medic, no ordinary shinobi stood a chance. Kakashi didn't seem to be fighting anybody, so Naruto decided to follow Obito. At least it would be easier to help someone who already knew he was there.

Naruto changed his course and veered onto a path to intercept Obito. They weren't running anymore. He could half-see, half sense what was going on.

Obito had caught up. His Sharingan was activated—he wasn't hiding his abilities now. The Iwa-nin's strikes met nothing but empty space. His energy fluctuated and boiled, probably furious at being bested by a kid. Instead of fleeing to protect his precious information, he chose to fight. The earth split with a bright flash of energy that lit up like a beacon to Naruto's senses.

Both sides completely forgot their greater missions. They were aiming to kill.

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It did not take Jiraiya long to subdue the Iwa-nin that had tried to sneak up on them. The man had used a tricky Earth-style jutsu for temporary invisibility, but now he was laying on the ground, fully visible, and unconscious.

"Jiraiya-sama?" Rin's muffled voice came from the spiky mass of hair she was enveloped in.

"Oh, sorry." Jiraiya undid the jutsu and Rin emerged cautiously. "I don't know if you heard, but the group split up. Kakashi's gone to the bridge, and Obito went after the other enemy."

"We have to help." Rin looked down at the Iwa-nin. "What did you—he doesn't even look injured."

"Right." Jiraiya tied his long hair back into place. "What's important for this mission is that no one find out where we're going. If everything goes well today, they'll have no choice but to surrender. This guy can sleep through the end of the war."

His explanation was only partially true. More importantly, he was leery of messing with the past. It wasn't his past, not really, but killing some random guy in another timeline was just asking for trouble. Inadvertently-destroying-the-entire-world kind of trouble.

Perhaps it bordered on superstitious, but his imagination was more than happy to come up with the wildest of doomsday scenarios.

"So we need to keep them from getting information back, without pointlessly wasting any more lives," Rin said. Her eyes were alight with something approaching awe.