The White Flash

Close Call

"How in the hell did you manage that?" Ayumi exclaimed snatching the cloth from his grasp. His grin never wavered; chest puffed out in pride.

"I was walking around asking people about Hisaya-sensei then I remembered she said that she liked sweets. So, I went into a sweet shop hoping to find some bait and I saw her there!" Hiro spread his arms wide, "I chased her around the shop at least ten times before she threw an entire four-kilogram bag of flour on me! While I was trying to get out of the smoke, I saw her figure bump into the doorframe and that was on a nail that was sticking out."

"You lucky idiot," Kohei snickered throwing his arm over Hiro's shoulders and pulling him into a headlock. Ayumi stepped away from the boys, eyelids closing in focus. A white flame. The vision she used to control her output of chakra, feeding it more energy and watching as it grew and flickered. Ayumi formed the hand signs: boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram. She gathered chakra in her hand and slammed it on the ground with a chant.

"Summoning jutsu!" Black symbols sprouted from her palm and vanished with a cloud of smoke. Green eyes opened, meeting the dark gaze of her personal favorite ninken; with tan-colored fur, brown highlights, long ears, dark circles around his eyes, and the kanji for "shinobi" in the middle of his forehead.

"Awesome," Hiro cheered. He kneeled beside Ayumi, hand held towards Bisuke with his index wiggling playfully, "he's so cute!" Bisuke was not impressed, eyes dull as he looked at the boy's condescending motion. Ayumi remained quiet, a smirk playing across half of her face as she watched him move his hand closer to elicit a response. He would get one but it wouldn't be what he wants. She knew from personal experience. Within a blink of an eye, Bisuke lurched forward and nipped Hiro's fingertip.

"Watch who you're calling cute, boy," he warned irritably.

"Ha ha," Ayumi mocked pointing at the frightened genin, "you got bit~!"

"Ayumi." She jumped at her name, back straightening like a stick and hand swinging to meet her forehead in a salute. A silent yessir. "Why did you summon me?"

"Right," Ayumi relaxed, revealing Hisaya's torn clothing. "I need you to track someone." Bisuke stepped closer, sniffing the material.

"Adonana Hisaya."

"You know her?"

"I do." He said nothing else, busying himself with searching the surrounding area for a trail to follow. Ayumi dismissed her growing suspicion. She turned to her teammates.

"Bisuke will fine her scent then I'll chase her." She looked at Kohei, "you're good at planting traps right?"

"I don't like to toot my own horn but..." Kohei swept his bangs into the air, a useless motion as they settled back against his forehead. "I am pretty good at them."

"There's a field not too far from here," Ayumi motioned northeast, "you and Miyuki-kun go to the field and set some traps so we can immobilize her. Then we can each mark her with paint."

"Sounds good," Kohei agreed, "let me see some of your kunai." Ayumi fished through the kunai pouch on her leg and emptied it of the rubber weapons, placing them in Kohei's waiting hands. "I'll figure out something and have Hiro meet you a few yards from the field to prevent you from stepping on the trigger."

"Ayumi," Bisuke called. She turned to where his head peered at them over the staircase leading back down the mountain. He had her. She looked back to the boys, giving one last confirming nod before following the ninken towards the village. All too quickly the stairs changed to tile as they opted for the rooftops, staying near the edge so Bisuke wouldn't lose the scent. She eyed the henohenomoheji displayed on the blue jacket he wore.