𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

heat ~ Age 13

Asao had sealed the dead man's body into a scroll, before he healed most of Kusanagi's injuries, so that the man wouldn't slow them down as they headed towards the hideout.

Only an hour ago the blackness was absolute, but now the mist was visible, silvery. The early dawn was cool—but warm enough as to not draw out shivers from them. A light breeze ruffled the summer leaves around them, producing a light, shuffling sound.

All of them were silent as they raced through the forest. It was to be expected—they were heading towards a dangerous place, a place they knew nothing about. They didn't know if Kusanagi was telling the truth or if he was just buying time for his group to make their escape.

They didn't know, but his words were all they had.

_

"We're here," Kusanagi had revealed, "They're beyond that clearing, in a small hut, just as I've said." He somewhat shakily raised his hand and pointed in said direction.

Asao glanced back at Aizen and Hikaru, before he focused on the latter, "Can you check?"

Hikaru immediately nodded as the veins around his eyes bulged. He stepped forward and slowly looked over the forest, "He was telling the truth. I can see ten people over there and they're all inside the hut."

In a moment's time, Asao spun around and slammed Kusanagi into a nearby tree, eliciting a small groan from him, "It's time for you to describe what the Jounin in your group look like."

"Damn it...!" The man bit out, gritting his teeth, but he did as told, "There are two of them. They were equivalent to what you call ANBU in Konoha, but they left the organisation and settled on being Jounin. One of them is on the shorter side, but he's fast, very fast. He's a redhead. The other is a tall, skinny man with dark blond hair and dark eyes. They're hard to miss." He explained, looking as if it pained him to do so.

Asao pulled him away from the tree, "Thank you for your cooperation." With a light smile, he spun around and slammed his hand into the back of Kusanagi's neck. The man crumbled, and would have slammed his head against the ground if Asao didn't catch him, "I'm going to tie him up, and after we finish things here, we'll take him back to Konoha for questioning. He looks like he knows more than he's telling us." He told them his plan as he pulled out rope from his backpack. After a few moments of securing the rope around him, Asao stood up and turned back to Aizen and Hikaru, "The two of you stick together. I'm not doubting your skills, but we can't be too careful with things like this. I'll try and flush out the two Jounin members and lure them away."

That... "Alright." Aizen reluctantly agreed, although he didn't like the sound of that.

They will be separating...?

Asao dropped his backpack and Aizen and Hikaru did the same, "Let's go."

Following their leader, the two boys tried to calm their drumming hearts.

_

"Two of them are on the move, they're leaving the hut!" Hikaru announced, lightly picking up speed, "They're heading west!"

Asao nodded, "I'll quickly take care of them. You two wait here." Not waiting for an answer, Asao took off.

Aizen breathed in and leaned on a tree. If Asao takes down those two shinobi, then they're left with six more. He and Hikaru would be up against four of them and Asao would have two. That's only a possibility, because there's no telling what rank the two shinobi who left were.

"What's on your mind?" Quietly, Hikaru asked.

Aizen peered to the side, only to be met with pale eyes. What was on his mind? He didn't even know... What was on his mind? The concern Hikaru held was obvious—too obvious, "The mission."