Ambush

Obara Taisho

A rogue ninja that specialised in espionage, stealth and the transport of goods. When his bad deeds were exposed, he went rogue only to start his own network of the transport of anything illegal, from weapons to children to organs etc.

The team sent to investigate only came as a series of disappearance started occurring when they encountered Taisho, and after chasing him into these ruins the latter seemed to trigger a formation that transported him here, to Mukuro's era. The group followed straight after but the seemed to have arrived a few days later.

"So temporary peace?"

After listening to the details of the criminal, Hashirama proposed,

"It would seem so."

Mukuro replied as they got ready to leave.

"The last sighting of him is a day run from here. I've sent word to Madara, he will meet us halfway. Me and Hashirama will take the lead, with those four in the middle while the rest of you will take up the side and rear. Is that clear?"

The shinobis just nodded when Mukuro turned back as if remembering something,

"Oh right, I didn't get your names, don't need to know your surnames, just your given ones will do."

Kakashi is the one to speak,

"Kakashi, the blonde one is Naruto, the pink one is Sakura and the one that healed you is Hinata."

"Fine then, let's leave."

With that they left the hall as silence descended onto the lone corpse that just laid there.

Outside, the sun had reached it zenith and bathed the land with its light. The trees in the forest had grown to unprecedented heights as the sound of wind accompanied by the blowing of leaves filled the forest. Two shadows followed by another six and another six brought up the rear.

As they were rushing through, Mukuro sensed something and looked towards a certain direction. Tobirama seemed to sense it as well with Hashirama following and the rest a moment later. It was the smell of blood that piqued his senses and the group diverted towards their direction.

What they came across was an emptied caravan and corpses surrounding it. Mukuro was the first to chance upon the scene as he landed next to the corpses and started inspecting them. The rest of the group did the same while the three teenagers had pale faces.

"They're normal civilians…"

The others seemed to confirm his suspicions before they started inspecting the wounds. The caravan consisted of around 8 people with 4 of them being guards, 2 caravan drivers and a couple. As they inspected the place, Izuna's voice was heard,

"Mukuro nii-san!"

Mukuro hurried to Izuna's location as the others followed. What he found was a drawing of a family, 2 parents and 2 children. Picking it up, it was rather obvious that the kids seemed to be missing.

"Hashirama-dono!"

A Senju clansmen found a headband as he threw it over, catching it Hashirama looked at the logo before passing it to Mukuro,

"Homura…It seems they were either the attackers or the protectors given that kid from before. My bet is on the former."

"They have no reason for such an act…"

"We are shinobi, older brother, don't forget. Our loyalty is always towards the highest payer."

Tobirama reminded Hashirama as the group started moving again.

It hadn't even been a few more minutes when another sight attracted the groups attention. A body lay on their path, face down, whereas the clothes depicted an Uchiha clansmen. A frown appeared on Mukuro's face as he rushed down and landed some distance from the body. However, someone was even faster as Naruto ran up to the body to inspect it.

Mukuro's instincts were warning him to not go near the body but the yellow knucklehead was already trying to lift the body. His sharingan caught a layer of explosive tags attached to the body,

"Idiot."

Mukuro barely left his voice as he was already next to Naruto kicking him out of the way. However, it was too late, the tags went off and a large explosion engulfed Mukuro.

"Mukuro nii-san!"

Izuna���s voice rang out but a row of kunai appeared in front of him stopping his advancement. There was one person that was closest and appeared right next to Mukuro trying to heal him. Mukuro got up with the support of his naginata only to cough out more blood. However, he still got on to his own two legs and thanked Hinata who was behind him.

His attention was brought onto the numerous presences that had surrounded them. The shinobi wore the standard shinobi attire consisting of a top and trousers which were white. The edge of there sleeves and trousers had a flame design while their clan logo consisted of a single flame.

"Homura clan."

The shinobi surrounded them while Mukuro immediately started giving out hand signals. The three Uchiha got it as the started moving slightly.

"Hassssssshirama…"

A snake appeared on Hashirama's shoulder as it started whispering in his ear. Hashirama's face went pale at the thought of the snake but gradually calmed down when the snake repeated Mukuro's words.

Nodding to Mukuro, they all got ready and Mukuro took something out of his pocket. Noticing this movement, the Homura clan shinobi didn't tarry and immediately attacked.

"Stay close to me."

"Uhun."

Whispering to Hinata, Mukuro took out a few smoke bombs and threw it in front of them. The rest did the same and before the Homura clan shinobi knew it, the whole clearing was filled with smoke. Endless amounts of shuriken and kunais left the smoke attacking in every single direction forcing them to block. A few of the shinobi started doing hand signs and used wind jutsu to move the smoke, but all that entered their eyes was nothing.

Their sensory shinobi got to work and were able to pick up a trace. Smiling viciously, they all left in that direction.

A little bit away from the clearing, the three Uchiha alongside Sakura and Kakashi met up with the Senju and an unconscious Naruto. Izuna was about to move in to kill Naruto when the other two Uchiha stopped him while shaking their heads.

Kakashi couldn't help bit sigh, Naruto's character was truly unfit for the current era. Izuna put his hand away from his tanto as he moved himself away. Tobirama frowned slightly as he spoke out,

"They've gone to a different direction, away from us…"

As Tobirama said that the Uchiha didn't say anything but Izuna spoke out,

"Mukuro nii-san is distracting them."

Worry was laced in his voice as Hashirama suddenly looked back,

"Wait what? How come he didn't tell us that?"

"Knowing your character, you wouldn't have agreed to it."

Tobirama answered Hashirama's question as Sakura talked to herself,

"Why would he do that?"

Her quiet voice was heard be everyone as Tobirama also answered her question,

"Hope."

Everyone turned to Tobirama as he continued,

"We may not show it, but you four represent hope, hope for a world with peace… a world where a child isn't sent to his or her death… where they can grow up with a smile…"

These words brought the two into some deep thought, as Sakura quickly asked,

"What about Hinata?"

"Don't worry…"

This time it was Izuna who answered,

"My brother is strong, why do you think they didn't fight even when they outnumbered us, as for the Hyuuga girl, what better scout than a Hyuuga plus she has medical abilities."

Back with Mukuro, Hinata had her Byakugan on as she felt the closing Homura clan shinobi. She worriedly looked at the back of Mukuro who turned his head slightly,

"Do you trust me?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Hinata collected herself as she nodded. Seeing that, Mukuro gave a smile as he suddenly slowed down and allowed Hinata to get in front,

"Don't slow down."

Leaving those words, Hinata "saw" various kunais and shuriken being thrown at their location, with Mukuro suddenly disappearing. The next thing she saw was the projectiles being deflected and bodies falling down. As the Homura clansmen caught up to them, Hinata saw a couple shinobi surrounding them when a shadow flashed by and they were decapitated.

Mukuro appeared on a nearby tree trunk in front of Hinata where he pushed himself off and disappeared again, into the opposite direction.

Hinata could hear grunts and screams but when she looked, she could only see people falling, their life disappearing. As more and more shinobi came, she felt heat behind her, prompting her to look back once again. She saw Mukuro breathing a large ball of flame that covered a few shadows followed by screams.

Mukuro also felt the increasing number of shinobi as he appeared next to Hinata. Without her expecting it, he grabbed Hinata and picked her up in a princess carry as he pushed himself, increasing their speed. Slowly, the distance between the two groups increased with the Homura clan ceasing their pursuit after losing them.

Hinata looked up only to see Mukuro looking forward while carrying her. Blood trickled down his mouth as she tried to cast healing jutsu on Mukuro. Mukuro didn't pay any heed, as he found a nearby cave to rest at. Mukuro dropped Hinata who was focussed on healing him and quickly grabbed the wall for support as his other hand was brought to his mouth. He started violently coughing as more blood came out and he immediately sat down cross legged.

Using senjutsu to increase his recovery speed, he felt the toll on his body disappearing ever so slightly. Hinata was already behind him trying to help stabilise his situation. The two stayed there for a while.

After the short break, Mukuro got up with Hinata's support and the two left the cave, moving in the direction of their destination.