The Red String of Fate: New Generation

On Their Trail - Sai / Recovery - Mizuka

"Ino is missing."

Everything after that was babble to Sai. His heart was pounding out of his chest and his mind was a fog. The journey to the Land of Fangs felt like it took an eternity, and he spoke to none of his teammates. He was in shock, but he could also feel the seething anger rising in his chest. How in the fuck could her team give up so quickly and return to Konoha? At least they appeared to have returned quickly to report their teammate missing, but would that be enough? Rescue and recovery missions usually had a fairly low success rate.

He could see the walls of the main village of the Land of Fangs; they were finally here. Shikamaru already had a plan: Sai and Naruto were to try and track the Hokkaido clan to their base. Good. Sai didn't want to talk to villagers anyway.  He and Naruto took off along the western border of the village, looking for anything suspicious. He appreciated Naruto's silence; he was in no mood to talk at all. They made their way through the expansive forest, carefully looking for anything suspicious. After about half an hour, Naruto spoke.

"Hey Sai. Look. Is that a footprint from a giant dog?"

He hurried over. There was a trail of footprints headed down a well worn path. Sai also noticed drag marks along the side of the path, messing up the brush and growth. They glanced at each other quickly and sped down the path, following the trail. Sai stopped dead when something thin and shiny flew across the trail, waving lazily in the breeze. Upon closer inspection, Sai recognized it as strands of Ino's blonde hair, stuck to a thin branch hanging near the trail. Her head must've hit against it as she was being dragged along by the animal. Naruto saw it, too.

"C'mon, we're on the trail for sure!"

Another hundred feet or so led them to a compound of sorts, covered by a thick canopy of trees. The area was full of cabins and shacks.

The drag marks led straight to a cellar door.

"I think that's where we need to look."

***

"C'mon, we saw them head this way!"

Mizuka and Shikamaru took off after Takeshi and Goto, heading deep into the forest. They followed a well worn path, which looked as if it were covered in dog prints.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing here?!"

The group was met by the Hokkaido clan, standing in full force, their attention now turned away from Naruto. Their dogs turned to face the new intruders.

"Z, let's do this!"

Takeshi had already spotted what Mizuka sensed the moment they reached the compound: a lake. They both charged the clan, Mizuka jumping over the surprised member and dogs, while Takeshi slid under the legs of the dogs, both of them landing swiftly on the other side. Dashing to the water, Mizuka jumped in front of the lake, weaving signs as quickly as she could.

"Water Dragon Jutsu!"

As her water beast rose from the chaotic lake, she saw a large figure running out of a cellar entrance, taking off unnoticed past the Hokkaido clan, who were currently dealing with a much bigger problem now. It was Sai carrying a limp Ino. They found her. She then focused all of the chakra she could muster into the dragon as it whipped and snapped around the clan, picking them up in a wave. Takeshi crouched down next to her, throwing his arms out in front of him and shutting his eyes.

"Lightning sphere!"

A ball of light formed quickly in his hands, flying toward her water jutsu, causing a sickening sizzle. She broke her jutsu, watching the dragon fall to the ground in a large splash. She heard Takeshi chuckle.

"Relax, Z. I just shocked them. It sounded way worse than it was."

The clan members that littered the ground began to stir, causing Shikamaru and Naruto to spring into action.

"Who's in charge?!"

A burly man stood, wobbling.

"What do you want? Leave us alone!"

"Why are you harboring a kidnapped Konoha shinobi?"

He gritted his teeth.

"What are you talking about?"

"Our shinobi reported a kidnapping in this area of one of our kunoichi, who also happens to he a Tenchi healer. This doesn't look good for you guys."

"We just found her in one of your cellars."

Naruto stepped forward.

She wasn't hard to find, there were drag marks and strands of her hair next to the trail leading here!"

The clan patriarch turned to the others.

"Speak up! Who did it?"

A young man stepped forward. He was also burly, but was covered in bruises and lacerations. Ones that looked days old.

"It was me. I've been turned down by every girl in the village and I saw a very beautiful one in the forest. I commanded Dashi to grab her and we brought her back here. She's been here for a few days. Naruto lunged toward him, but the patriarch got there first. He tackled the young man, landing on top of him and pummeling him in the face. Naruto backed off. Takeshi turned to Mizuka.

"It looks like this one is going to take care of itself. If they don't kill him, he might wish they had."

They heard a scream come from the woods nearby. Ino.

Mizuka took off toward the sound, finding her in Sai's arms, her body clenched and blood curdling screams coming from her lips. She grabbed Ino by the face, putting face in hers.

"Ino! Ino! You're safe! We've got you!"

The contracting of her body wasn't voluntary, Mizuka realized quickly. She reached into her hip bag, pulling out a small vial of rescue relaxer. As Ino's mouth was open, mid scream, Mizuka bit the stopper off and poured the light purple liquid down her throat. After a moment, her body calmed itself, going back into a half conscious state. Sai was shaking violently. The rest of their group was watching the clan patriarch deal with his own nightmare, so Mizuka put an arm around him comfortingly.

"She's going to be fine, Sai. She was given a paralysis poison, which was reacting violently as her body went into shock. She's okay now. I gave her a relaxer and the paralysis poison will leave her body very quickly. She's safe, Sai. Just keep her close to you until we can get someplace we know is safe."

The rest of their group joined them shortly.

"Is she okay?"

Shikamaru bent over her, looking concerned.

"I think she'll be fine. She doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger. I'll know more once we stop for the night."

"Where are we going to stop for the night? The Land of Fangs isn't the friendliest village. I actually don't think they even have an Inn..."

Takeshi spoke up.

"We're heading to a hot spring just west of here. We're good friends with the owner. Why don't you all come and stay with us? You can get your friend sorted out there and relax."