Chapter 1: Sobatoge Supplies (Hatake Sakumo)

(Author: This episode has nothing to do with Tobias' growth, hence that is why I did not place his age on the chapter's title.)

FLASHBACK:

Konoha Year 56, second month

(Third Person PoV)

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Sakumo entered the Hokage's office and respectfully greeted the Sandaime, "Hokage-sama,"

"Ahh, Sakumo-kun, now that we're here i can discuss the mission I'm about to sign the four of you in," Hiruzen paused, "As you all know, our supplies that directly came from the Daimyō has been stolen in the middle of the transportation. We have recieve information from a reliable source that the ones who stole the supplies were Rogue-Shinobi's,"

The Sandaime paused for a moment, checking to see if anyway were to question him. But when he found that no one opened their mouth, he continued, "The Rogue-Shinobi's location has been tracked and they are currently residing in an unnamed village. They built multiple warehouses to All the information consisting of this mission, the Rogue-Shinobi's, the village boarders, and et cetera et cetera."

A Shinobi raised his hand, a silent gesture of asking permission to speak.

"Speak, Suzuki-san."

Omojori Suzuki, if his memory served him right, was adept at genjutsu. Some people would even say he could rival the Uchihas' natural prowess. Sakumo had served alongside the man more than once and he could confirm that Suzuki's talent was indeed as great as the rumors say. Though, he don't know much if it is indeed true that he could rival an Uchihas' natural prowess.

"What would you like us to do with the warehouses, Sandaime-sama?"

"I order you all to destroy it."

"What? But, isn't it the supplies that the Daimyō gave us?" This time, it wasn't Suzuki who spoke.

Sakumo recognized the man, who spoke this time, from numerous encounters during the war — they had saved each other's lives more times than he could count. It was Nakamura Tetsu. The man was proficient at the art of bukijutsu.

"I agree with Nakamura-san's statement." A woman with a heart-shaped face and brown eyes met his gaze. The kunoichi raked a hand through her dark brown hair. He recognized her as Soyokaze Suki. Contrary to the gentle meaning of her name, the woman excelled at making things explode only using a kunai with an exploading tag tied into it. She had some medical expertise but nothing too major. She also had the ability to sense chakra over a certain radius.

"The Elders and I have already negotiated with the Daimyō and agreed that it'd be wise to destroy the supplies before they'd begin an another war," Hiruzen answered, "Under no circumstances should you fail this mission. Understood?"

"Hai!"

"You shall depart at dawn."

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Sakumo and his team leaped from tree to tree. They were already near towards the Rogue-Shinobi's hide out and decided to slow down their pace and observed the boarders.

Sakumo assumed his role as the leader of the operation and explained the mission.

Just as Sakumo thought, sneaking past the enemy was easy as hitting a target, especially with the help of their fellow Konoha Shinobi who had been placed there by the Hokage, who did a great job distracting their opponents. They skillfully kept out of sight and avoided any close encounters with the Rogue-Shinobi's, sometimes there were bandits as members of this unnamed faction.

It took them hours to see the first tower of three looming over the horizon. The tower stretched high into the sky and it had walls on its right and left sides so that it would be impossible to cross further into their territory without entering through the watch tower first. It was more a defensive structure than a tower, really.

"Everyone be prepared," he whispered once they stopped. Although they couldn't strategize at the given insufficient information they currently have, they could still try to gather information in order to come up with a possible plan.

"Hatake-san," the only female on the team whispered back, "I can't sense any form of human chakra from the inside," she said as she opened her eyes. The four shared quizzical looks.

'How could the watch tower be deserted?' Was the thought that wandered on their minds.

"We'll scout the place… Exercise caution," Sakumo ordered, "Omojori-san, Soyokaze-san, take the outer area of the area… Nakamura-san, we'll search inside,"

The three nodded in acceptance and the duos set off to their assigned tasks. Sakumo and Tetsu readed carefully as they closed in on the gates. Sakumo fingered a kunai in each hand, his tantō tied securely on the strap on his back.

Meanwhile, The weapons master settled for a sword he gripped with both hands. At Sakumo's nod, the other braced himself. The silver-haired man tried pushing the door slowly at first. He wanted to keep their presence a secret from anyone who was in there… if there was someone inside, that is. He was surprised only to find that the door opened easily.

His eyes narrowed as he studied the interior of the tower. Other than a few upturned chairs, the place was barren. He tried to release genjutsu — assuming he was under one — but he wasn't under one. Tetsu was studying the footprints on the ground when Sakumo approached him.

"This seems like a major evacuation," he commented, "There were signs of human track here yesterday or the day before,"

Sakumo had a dangerous conclusion on his head but shook it off and instead wondered out loud, "Could they have known that we were coming?" To which Tetsu only answered with a shrug before their teammates appeared.

"All clear," Omojori reported, "Here too?" Tetsu nodded, but Sakumo was deep in thought. What should he do?

"Shall we move on?" The kunoichi asked, already heading to the other side of the building and into the enemy's territory again. The three males followed her, and soon they were at top speed again heading to the next structure. Just like the one before it, the second tower was abandoned.

Sakumo's orders did not change, however, and they swept the area once more. Sakumo's suspicions towards the — suppose — Hokage's reliable source grew as Sakumo ordered a stop on their movements.

"We might have gotten information from an undependable source, as I'm sure you've figured out by now," he started, "It is impossible that they did not put any defenses to protect this village, unless…. anyways, I'm guessing the forces that were supposed to be here were resituated at the last tower,"

"We're completing the mission, though," Omojori said, "You heard what the Hokage said; we absolutely cannot fail this mission!"

"It would be suicide," Tetsu remarked, "We're only four and they're probably over a hundred, no maybe even thousands, you saw those bandits earlier!" He hissed.

"We're four of the best though!" The kunoichi exclaimed, Sakumo brainstormed his mind to work up productive ideas… but he only came up with a blank space. The logical call of action would be to return back to the village.

He reviewed what happened with them during the mission up till now.

They easily sneaked past the enemy's front lines. They got to the tower, only to find out it was empty. They reached the next one, yet it was vacant as well.

Sakumo's eyes widened as it finally dawned on him. They were being played… right from the very beginning. The reason why they were able to slip past the Rogue-Shinobi's boarders was because they were letting them. They were drawing them in!

The question was why. Why would they want a couple of Konoha Shinobi?

It wasn't like the Konoha would be hopeless for the sake of four people. Not even when one of those four was the Legendary White Fang. He thought about it some more. The Rogue-Shinobi's stoke and sabatoged the supplies meant for konoha, the higher-ups suspicions was that they were planning a war.

And if they are planning a war, getting rid of the White Fang and a few other Jonins, the death, success and damage rate would most likely drop by at least ten percent.

While the percentage may seem little, it is quite significant in a war, especially when only one of them was the cause of almost five percent of their deaths. In war, anything matters, anything goes. So this might tip the scales in Iwa's favor, even if it was by a small margin.

Going back to the village was out of the question. He was almost positive that the Rogue-Shinobi's mens had already surrounded them. The only possible plan of action was going forwards.

He looked at his teammates, he knew they realized the enemy's intention as well judging from the look on their faces.

Thus, forwards and onwards they went. They tried to come up with a plan as they headed to the site, and they did come up with a somewhat decent strategy. First, Omojori will mask their presence under genjutsu. Then, Suki would explode the tower from above, causing large chunks of stone to fall, and thus will the it kill many rogue-nin as many as it could. Next, Tetsu would aim at the close survivals with his weapons. Finally, all four will go in and kill any remaining enemies. It wasn't a foolproof plan; on the contrary, it had too many holes, but it was the best their nervous brains could come up with at the moment.

As they neared the area, Sakumo ordered a final halt for preparation. He checked his weapons again, his soldier pills and chakra pills, wire… everything that was suppose to be there as he had thought is in there.

For this plan to work, Omojori would have to cast his genjutsu at precisely the right moment and at the exact level that would make it almost unnoticeable, Suki would have to sneak silently, for Omojori's genjutsu would mask their very presence but would shatter at the first loud sound they emit, and place her bombs before setting them off, Tetsu would have to be extra careful so that his weapons would hit their target, and Sakumo would have to be good enough to kill the remaining soldiers. Hopefully, they'll be able to pull it off.

Sakumo touched the hilt of his tanto boldly before the he signalled the team to dispatched.

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