Chapter 21: Ambush

To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

-------------

The first thing I did was not to find a shadowy corner, but instead to change myself. I turned from a Genin of the Leaf into a beggar.

In most towns, the best choice would be to turn myself into a cute little girl, but this town was a small one, and it would be strange for a little girl no one knows about to appear out of nowhere, especially without parents.

However, beggars had this special ability to be ignored so much more easily than anyone else. Moreover, it wasn't rare for beggars to move to different towns, especially if they were caught stealing in some place and were forced to flee.

So after changing myself into rags, dirtying myself with mud and dust, I lowered my presence to the lowest possible, making myself as small as possible as I began asking for money.

The Land of Tea wasn't an ally of the Land of Fire, and by extension Konoha, but it was still the only major country it was related to, so the appearance of any Suna Shinobi would quickly travel to our village, especially with the presence of Mr Tokike in town.

As such, they definitely wouldn't swagger in as Suna Ninja, but as hidden civilians. So I started looking for any suspicious figure, moving around the area, begging for money.

'On paper, being a ninja was an always exciting life I would sign for any day, but honestly some times it could be boring.'

Wise words from Shisui, ones I agreed to as I went through my first true boring time. Acting as a beggar wasn't the best thing I ever went through, especially for several hours. It was diminishing, tiring, and overall uncomfortable.

To pass time, I prepared for a possible battle, setting a few traps around the area, in places I was sure no would would trigger them. They weren't big ones either, just enough to give me an edge in a battle.

But finally, after more than three hours of begging, and some preparation, not only was I 12 Ryo richer, I finally found my target. A man and a woman, seemingly in their early twenties. They looked like a couple, and did not look out of place in this village, but I could see the difference.

I don't know whether they are Genin or Chunins, but they definitely are lacking in the acting department. They probably were really a couple, but the way they walked showed signs of years of training.

The woman was the better of the two, and I'm not sure I would have noticed her if not for the guy next to her, whom I doubt was even making any effort.

They were also quite tanned, something not that common here in the Land of Tea, so after confirming my guesses I intended to contact my team, but before I could do so I heard Izumi in my ear, "Urgh, that old crone wouldn't let it go despite it being only two damn Ryo."

A somewhat mundane phrase, which meant a lot. There were two identified enemies, probably Genins, and another she wasn't sure about, but if they were indeed an enemy, then they were of a higher rank, so Chunin and possibly Jonin.

Moreover, for Izumi to speak in code like this, it meant she hadn't managed to isolate herself to pass over her information, and in a place like this, the only reason for her to not be able to isolate herself, would be if she was being followed. In other words, while she had discovered the enemy, they did too.

I was about to reply, but once again another voice came. This time, it was Laiko's.

"Three more enemies spotted North, three Chunin… They're not here for Mr Tokike, are they?"

I felt my body stiffen as I heard his voice. Unlike the usual confident and angry Laiko, I heard distress in his voice, and fear. Fear of death.

Next was Amai-Sensei, who sighed, "Two Jonins East… It would indeed seem this was a trap intended for us. I'm sorry for leading you into it. Sukaina?"

I felt the pressure rise, but I did not let my voice waver as I said, "Two enemies on my end, probably Chunins too. Your orders, Sensei?"

Amai-Sensei's voice came again, this time in a sigh, but I could hear the clash of metal on his end as he said, "Flee, if you can. Sukaina, you have the best chances out of us all to go back to the Leaf. Run for your life, and come back to the village. That would be good enough."

I was about to retort, but Izumi's voice came in, panting, "Can you tell my mother I love her?"

I felt like something was stuck in my throat, and sadness was overwhelming me. I was panicking. Finally, the third voice came in. Again, he too was obviously fighting.

"Hey, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but if you could…"

He didn't even get to finish what he wanted to say as his sound was suddenly cut off.

"Laiko? Laiko! Do you copy?"

Amai-Sensei, who usually was reserved and did not show much emotions, was obviously under great emotional burden too.

However, nothing came from Laiko. He then asked for Izumi, but she too failed to answer. I could hear Amai-Sensei's voice was also getting more exhausted, and the chaos was getting worse behind his voice.

Finally, he addressed me once more, "Sukaina, I don't know if you can hear me… I could see you knew this secondary mission wasn't from the Hokage, and those two probably guessed too. When you go back to Konoha, don't bother hiding what I did."

He stopped talking for a while, but he did not cut his radio as I could still hear the chaos behind. Finally, after a moment, he added, "I'm sorry for putting you in danger for something you had nothing to do with. I failed you as your Sensei, so please don't do anything stupid, and go back to the village."

I choked, and wanted to reply, but that's when a voice came from near me, "There you are, you hide well little firefly."

Turning to the origin of the voice, I saw the two targets I had identified, looking at me with vicious smiles. In my panic, I had broken my cover, and now they were on me two.

The situation… was not good, to say the least. I don't fancy my chances very much honestly, even if I managed to take care of those two, who are more than likely Chunin, I would still have two, possibly three Jonins, as well as four other Chunins to deal with to escape from here, since my cover was blown.

So I might as well give Sensei the illusion I had left the town.

Looking at the two Suna Shinobi in front of me, I moved the sword I had hidden in my back onto my side, where I preferred it to be, and said, "Little firefly? That's actually a good one."

The guy grinned at his female partner and said, "And she has a sense of humour? I am going to enjoy this."

The female rolled her eyes and said, "She isn't part of our targets, we can just kill her."

The guy sighed, "What a pity, she would have been fun to interrogate."

The female shrugged, looking at me up and down as she said, "She looks like she's 8 at best. For her to be a Genin at this age, she must be quite the genius. Console yourself by knowing we're killing a genius of the leaf."

The man grinned, followed by the female. However, I myself wasn't horrified by their words, but instead felt hope. Those weren't the same Chunins as the Iwa Nin, those guys hadn't known war, hadn't known true life and death.

They were underestimating me, and the kind of jokes who wouldn't shut up in their fight.

Placing a hand on my sword sheath, I saw the two fake impressed faces as they mocked, "What are you doing with this toy? You think you can take us?"

I ignored their taunt and made a half Ram handsign, before disappearing with the Body Flicker.