Ice Art: Yuno Clan

five

"Kyoko, watch out!" Hayate yelled as a kunai flew straight at her. Kyoko managed to jump out of harm's way, but the weapon landed exactly where she'd been standing. She looked up in the direction it came from and saw in the trees, three men standing on separate branches.

Hiyori-Sensei protectively leapt in front of them.

"Darn, and we almost got the little girl," the one with the spikey black hair spoke up. "Don't fret, we didn't come here to kill."

"I thought you said there wouldn't be any ninja trying to attack us," Kyoko said.

"There wasn't," Hiyori-Sensei said, "these guys aren't here because of our mission, they're probably bandits."

"Listen here, give us all the money you have, and nothing will happen. Failure to give us what we want..." the one who seemed to be the leader said, "well, you don't want to see what happens."

Kyoko observed the three. Judging from their headbands, they come from the village hidden in the mist. The one covered in scars seemed to also be slouched as if he was hurting already since he winced every now and then.

"What do you say, guys, do we give them what they want or give them a fight?" Hiyori-Sensei asked.

"Fight, there's no way we're gonna let them control us like this!" Kyoko's eyebrows furrowed.

"Hahaha, foolish children. Thinking they can take us three on. Pathetic," the third bandit covered in scars spoke up.

"Asabu, you go after the one in the middle, Kyoko and Hayate, take the one with the black hair. I'll get rid of their little ringleader," Hiyori-Sensei cracked her knuckles.

The bandits jumped down from above, accepting the challenge. The spikey-haired bandit charged at them first and Kyoko took out her kunai knife while Hayate used taijutsu. Kyoko ran at him and their kunai clashed at once. Kyoko struck again but was blocked by the enemy's knife. Just then, Hayate came up behind him and swung a punch to his face, but the bandit turned around quickly and uppercut Hayate under the jaw.

"Hayate!" Kyoko looked back at an unconscious Hayate but focused back on the fight and quickly threw three shurikens at the bandit. Using only his kunai knife, he blocked every one of them and they fell to the ground uselessly.

"Two amateurs like you can't beat a ninja like me," he threw his head back in amusement. "I'd be surprised if you even land a scratch on me."

The bandit taunting Kyoko made her even more determined to defeat him. He was underestimating their ability and she hated that.

"We'll see who's laughing when we defeat a lowlife like you," Kyoko said.

"Who are you calling a lowlife, little girl!" the bandit charged at her again, kunai in hand, "I'll just have to finish you off so you can learn."

The spikey-haired bandit stabbed Kyoko right in the chest and laughed as he did so. Time seemed to move in slow motion when Kyoko's clone evaporated into gas.

"A clone!" the bandit's eyes widened as he quickly searched for the real Kyoko. She was diving straight for him with her kunai in her hand and plunged it right for him.

"If you think you can beat with a simple clone Jutsu, you're wrong!" the bandit yelled and swung his kunai at Kyoko.

"Well, if not the clone jutsu, maybe the clone-transformation jutsu!" Kyoko said as Hayate came up behind the bandit and threw a bunch of punches at his face. Kyoko attacked him from various angles as well eventually, the bandit hit the ground with a hard thud.

"I don't get it, the boy was unconscious," the bandit whimpered.

"You see, as you turned around to uppercut Hayate, I quickly combined a transformation and clone Jutsu to look identical to him and stepped in front of your attack. When the clone hit the ground, it looked as if Hayate himself was unconscious."

Hayate walked beside Kyoko and they high fived, "Quick thinking, Kyoko."

"Thanks!" Kyoko smiled but when they both looked over to Asabu, he seemed to be having trouble with the bandit covered with scars. The two sprinted to aid Asabu who was knocked to the ground with the large baton the scarred bandit was carrying with two hands.

"Asabu. What's up with him?" Kyoko gestured to the enemy.

"His baton. Try not to get hit by it. Its hollowness makes your bones tingle and gives out on you," Asabu explained.

"Gotcha!" Kyoko said and was about to attack when suddenly, Hiyori-Sensei came up from behind the bandit and elbowed him hard across his temple. Kyoko was shocked at how fast she defeated the ringleader and now this bandit.

"This guy doesn't have any ninja skills, his baton does all the work for him," Hiyori-Sensei said. "Let's get going."

The three were still astonished by what they had just witnessed. They knew their sensei was a powerful jounin, but they didn't know she could knock someone cold with one movement. Kyoko and Hayate helped Asabu get up and the three walked back to the village, this time with no interruptions.

It was evening by the time group eleven got back to the comfort of their own town. Kyoko was happy to see the familiar streets again, even though it had only been a day. After they gave the herbal medicine to the Hokage's office, Hiyori-Sensei took them out for lunch at a restaurant called "Oishi Oishi."

"So how did you knock that guy out with one hit?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool back there, sensei," Asabu agreed.

"Well, I focused my chakra to my elbow which gives a powerful blow and I aimed for one of the most delicate parts of the head. His temple. It helped that he wasn't much of a skilled ninja too. I'm sure if I trained you, you could all do it as well. It takes a lot of chakra concentration."

"It would be very handy to maintain chakra levels," Hayate said.

"This is your next part of training. After lunch, you will learn to walk on water. Other than looking cool, this will help concentrate your chakra."