Mayumi Rescue - Sakamoto Senju, Yumi Hasewaga and Lilia Hon

[Mr Nim]

Mayumi Senju Rescue

Timeskip mission between Sakamoto Senju (Mr Nim), Yumi Hasewaga (Lesli) and Lilia Hon (Little Alice)
9 months into the timeskip

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

Sakamoto Senju, ANBU for Konohagakure, takes another ANBU member, Yumi Hasewaga, and Chuunin Lilia Hon, both good friends and people he helped along the way, on a mission to rescue a very important person to him. His sister, Mayumi Senju.

Land of Wind Border, 2 days since the beginning of the mission

Running on the sand gave Sakamoto a few shivers. Last time he was running on the sands of the Land of Wind, it was with his siblings on the way to fight a portion of the Sunagakure army. This time he was running with two trustworthy friends to find and see if it is possible to rescue his sister from within a tree in a forest created by her. He thought of how strange it sounded in his head, as he arrived and stopped on top of a cliff which overlooked a very strange sight. In the middle of the desert there was a forest, very large and very green. Marking to Yumi and Lilia to stop, he kneeled as he tried to spot something within the forest.

Running behind Sakamoto, Yumi had a serious expression on her face. She had told the man she would accompany the man on this mission, but he hadn't given that much detail regarding the mission. The whole behavior of Sakamoto had been a bit odd, but she wouldn't ask questions. According to him, it would benefit Konoha, something she wouldn't doubt. After all, Sakamoto wouldn't do anything that could harm the Leaf. The annoying part was that they were going through the land of the Wind. Not a very friendly nation towards Konohagakure nin. Other than keeping an eye on Lilia, as Yumi had expressed worries of taking the Jinchuriki with them, Yumi was also worried about any patrol of Sunagakure nin. When the command of Sakamoto was that they should stop, Yumi stopped without a question. While Sakamoto was kneeling to spot something in the forest, Yumi looked around. Last time she had been in this cursed place, it was for war. The short Suna against Konoha and Kumogakure war. The first conflict she had experienced. Not really the best memories came from that time.

Lilia had a stern look on her face. Though she was a bit excited. This was the very first time she was in the Land of the Wind. It was indeed a total different landscape, as the stories were true. An ocean of sand. A place where you saw almost no sign of life. It wasn't a place Lilia wanted to be for long. Somehow, she felt restless here. There were no vegetation or anything she could relate to home. Nothing that she liked. It was in her opinion a sad place. As if the sand was nothing more but the reflection of what would be if people wouldn't respect nature. It caused a shiver down her spine, as she noticed Sakamoto's sign to stop. Instantly, Lilia halted and dropped to a knee. Samehada made no sound. He hadn't made any sound for some time now. Likely to converse some energy, seeing the hot air wasn't much to his liking. Noticing that both Sakamoto as Yumi were keeping the surrounding under watch, Lilia had to restrain to not run to the cover of the trees.

"I found where we needed to go, but it will probably take us more than a day within the forest to reach. Last time I was here it only took a few hours to reach the edge from it, but now it appeares that ten years allowed the forest to grow quite a lot in size and density. We will rest here for a few minutes before we begin heading into the forest, but you must be very wary of each step you take. We will not run within it, nor will we jump on the trees. You two will not touch the trees a single time, or all of us will be in big trouble. Am I understood, Yumi, Lilia?" Sakamoto asked and turned around to look at the two of them. He had already seen a way down the cliff which will avoid touching any trees from the forest, but he knew from the last time he was there that even if they do manage to avoid touching the trees they might still need to fight their way deeper into it.

''Understood.'' Yumi replied. She looked sideways back at Sakamoto. The idea that some Suna patrol could appear was still on her mind. A glance in the forest alone made her wary. A forest within the desert? That was just odd, not to mention scary. How could it grow and stay alive? Water wasn't really around. The idea of chakra was even in this concept strange. It was interesting as strange. But the young woman wouldn't utter another word.

A soft grunt, a whisper, from Samehada was heard. Lilia raised her eyebrows as she glanced at the trees. Slowly the bandaged sword began to shiver. The behavior seemed to worry Lilia as the sound became worse. Patting the blade, Lilia glanced at Sakamoto. ''Mister Sakamoto-san... What is feeding those trees?'' She asked on a serious tone. Though Samehada's grunting had became less, it was still nervous. Somehow it seemed eager to head into the forest as staying out of it. ''What is there?''

He turned to face the forest again and pointed at the center of it, at a tree which was at least 2 meters higher than the rest "See the tree there? That is where our target is, and that is where we are going. Our target is also the one feeding the forest with chakra, which could explain why Samehada is acting the way it is." He said before standing up and looking at the far edge of the forest. He could see there used to be a camp there, but it was torn apart by something a few months ago with only pieces of it remaining, now half buried in the sand. Sighing to himself, He turned to look at the two young shinobi that accomponied him "This is, as you probably figured out by yourself, the act of Kinjutsu." He said before taking a few steps away from the edge of the cliff above the forest.

Yumi heard Lilia's words and didn't want to believe them. Chakra? So many trees were tapping off a chakra reserve? The first thought that the young ANBU had wasn't pleasing. Her thought was that it could be a Bijuu. But if that was true, Sakamoto wasn't really planning on just letting them two tag along. Yumi then got a worried thought. Lilia was a Jinchuriki. In other words : She had a Bijuu. And Yumi had seen in a spar that the girl was growing in control of using it's powers. ''Kinjutsu..'' Yumi repeated. The word alone made her wary and disgusted. Following Sakamoto, Yumi glanced one more time worried in Lilia's direction.

Hearing Sakamoto's words, Lilia said nothing. Samehada had calmed down a bit, but she was on her edge. The words of Sakamoto were similiar to what Samehada had told Lilia. Which meant that it was true. Biting on her lower lip, Lilia wondered about what they would find. Like Yumi, she was wondering about what they would find. But she didn't expected a Bijuu. If that was the case, she would expect Matatabi to stir. After all, Samehada would react worse on Bijuu chakra. Even though it was strange or at least new, Lilia was certain it wasn't Bijuu chakra. Following the other two, Lilia noticed Yumi's worried glance. Flashing a smile before she put up the facemask, to cover the lower part of her face, Lilia waited for the next order of Sakamoto.

Thinking for a few moments, Sakamoto closed his eyes. He figured the quicker they deal with the forest, the better, but he didn't want to make Yumi or Lilia exhausted in the face of something both of them weren't familiar with "Think you two are ready to go in now, or would you rather rest here for a bit before we enter the forest, and maybe take a bit longer to go back?" He asked, but sounded a bit distant, as if his thoughts were with someone else at the time.

''I am fine to go in now. The sooner we've dealt with this the better. Think we don't want to run into a Suna patrol.'' Yumi said with a serious voice. The fact that Sakamoto sounded a bit distant made Yumi wonder why. But again, she was keeping herself focused on the mission. If something would go wrong, then they had nobody to count on. Something she didn't like for one bit.

Lilia thought about it. ''I will go with what you both think is best. After all, I am the Chuunin here.'' Lilia said, with a joking tone. She hoped to lighten the mood a bit, though she was serious. She had enough energy left to continue for quite some time. Besides, she wasn't sure if she would like to get into a fight with foreign shinobi that weren't friendly towards Konohagakure shinobi. ''Maybe if I send a shadow clone to scout ahead of us? I can spare the chakra.'' She suggested.

Sakamoto shook his head on Lilia's suggestion "That won't work. We need to go in on our own, and any use of chakra could be just as deadly as touching a tree in there. I am sure you will see why." He said without further explaining and begin walking towards a way to circle around the cliff and reach the forest without needing to dive into it. He saw in his mind the moments when he grabbed his brother and made a run towards the way out, and now he hoped he won't need to do the same with the person they were coming to get. Back then the forest masacared the Suna forces with ease and managed to push them out, while it was on a much smaller scale, making him wonder if they will find any of their remainings in there "Lets go then, and once we reach the edge of the forest, we communicate by handsigns only. No talking or chakra use." He said as he kept walking further away from the cliff.

Used to such things, Yumi had no trouble with that. She followed Sakamoto as she tried to divide her attention to both him and their surroundings. Knowing that the trees were feed with chakra, she got a bad feeling about them. She would try to keep herself as far as possible away from them. Holding her right hand at the hilt of her tanto, Yumi would keep following Sakamoto.

Lilia nodded, but noticed both Sakamoto as Yumi were on the move. She was a bit affraid that Samehada wouldn't however listen to the orders of Sakamoto. She patted him, but kept her mouth shut. Following the two others, she kept wondering about the forest. Would there be any animals or other signs of the life? It looked better than the desert, that she disliked. The empty plains of sand were less fine than a dark forest in her opinion. The warning that touching a tree was deadly, Lilia had a feeling why. If they would be feed by chakra and humans were filled with chakra.... Lilia swallowed as she then was more nervous as she realized that she wasn't just having only her own chakra. But that of a Tailed Beast as well. ''Mister Sakamoto-san...'' Lilia whispered through the earphone communicator.

Not hearing Lilia's whisper due to the fact he has left his earphone comm back at Konoha, Sakamoto kept walking forward, and made sure Yumi and Lilia kept up with his pace until they arrived at the edge of the forest. Looking around, he has a couple of skeletons that were a few meters away from a couple of trees, and appeared to have had their necks snapped. Looking at their headbands, he saw one was Suna shinobi and the other was Kiri shinobi. He wondered for a second what would make Kiri go so far before deciding it was most likely a trap for the poor shinobi, leaving the skeletons alone and marking to Yumi and Lilia that it was time to enter the forest.

Yumi heard Lilia's whisper, but found it odd that Sakamoto didn't react to Lilia. Frowning, she then detected that he wasn't wearing an earphone communicator. A bit disturbed by that, Yumi wondered why he wasn't carrying one. It was made a standard of the Konohagakure nin equipment. Walking without one wouldn't be really appreciated. But it wasn't the time nor the place to make a fuss about it. Though she wanted to alarm Sakamoto, she noticed some skeletons as Sakamoto signaled to them. A clear message that the forest wasn't that harmless.

Wondering why Sakamoto didn't react, Lilia decided she would need to be careful. Though she had been training in controlling the Bijuu chakra, it didn't take away the fact she was having a lot of chakra. And she didn't know how to surpress it completely. Even Samehada seemed to be silent after the whisper of Lilia. Seeing the skeletons, Lilia wasn't fazed by them. It did confirmed that the forest was a threat however.

Slowing down before the trees that stood in front of the three of them, Sakamoto sighed, stopped and turned to look at the two young girls that were with him "Alright, Lilia, that was a very silent whisper through the communicator, but we can't even use that. In this scenario, the saying "ears everywhere" would be a very good one, and we must keep quiet, so take out your communicators. Only, and only if we get seperated then either of you should use it, but only in very silent whispers." He said, revealing to the two that he did in fact had his ear communicator, but he simply coloured it to match his skin colour so it would give him further advantage over enemies.

[Lesli]

Yumi almost sighed out of relieve. At least they could keep up communication if they would get seperate. Placing a hand on the hilt of her chakra blade, Yumi placed her ANBU mask in front of her face. Her eyes shot around, keeping the surrounding under watch. If the scenario was that there were ears everywhere, she was worried about the sentient blade of Lilia. Then again, she was also worried about a ton of things that could go wrong. Yumi now regretted that Sakamoto had just decided to take one ANBU and one Chuunin with him. Fair enough, Yumi didn't really saw Lilia as a Chuunin. In her own ability and skill, the girl was already jounin material. Maybe even ANBU. It distracted Yumi a bit as she wondered what the girl would grow up to, if she would continue to grow like this.

But she managed to focus as she thought she heard something. Her senses were sharp on picking the small things, trying to use her experience and training with Silent Killing. Glancing at Sakamoto, she hoped that they would be able to save the person he wished to save as soon as possible. The longer they would stay in this forest, the bigger the chance they would end up like those skeletons. Something that wasn't appealing in Yumi's opinion.

[Little Alice]

The fact that Sakamoto could hear her, made her relax a bit. But the fact he said they weren't allowed to talk as there were ears every where, didn't help at all. The nervous feeling became just worse. For some reason she didn't want to be her. Like something inside her tried to convince her to not enter the forest. It made her nervous as she kept looking around, but saying nothing at all. All she did was to keep her right hand ready, at the hilt of Samehada.

[Mr Nim]

Slowly beginning to take the first steps into the forest, Sakamoto made his breath be as slow and calm as he could. He heards the branches and leaves of the tree sway in the wind, or at least thats what it seemed. He made sure he had a steady pace, but not one which would be fast. He wanted to reach the heart of the forest in one piece, but at the same time, he also wanted to reach it as quickly as possible. He raised his arm and marked to Yumi to follow him, but to stay closer to Lilia than him. He figured that if the threat will go against anyone, then it would be Lilia first, due to the last quantities of chakra she possessed within her.

Looking around after he passed the first couple of trees, he noticed a skull from hanging from a branch, and wondered for a second where the body was before finding it on a much higher branch, indicating the person most likely had his head torn off. Shaking his head, he resumed walking forward slowly while making sure Yumi and Lilia are both and close and safe.

[Lesli]

Yumi noticed the signal and simply nodded. She understood what Sakamoto meant and already had thought of staying closer to Lilia. Something was making her nervous and Yumi couldn't help it, but felt becoming nervous as well. Not because of the forest, but by the fact Lilia was nervous. Lilia was one of the strongest people in the Leaf, even as an experienced chuunin. That she was getting nervous was in the eyes of Yumi a big warning. One she didn't was liking at all. Wait, what was that?

The eyes of Yumi shot towards her right. The forest was silent and there wasn't a sign of life. But she could swear she had seen a branch moving. Her heart started to pound faster as she took out her chakra blade. This forest was getting on her nerves already or was it because of the fact Lilia was getting nervous? Yumi tried to think of what would be the odds and advantages if a battle would happen. Her Crystal Release was able to overwhelm the wood. And with Lilia's Fire techniques, hopefully they could keep defending themselves. Else they could rely on Sakamoto's experience. Though, she realized something.

They were vastly outnumbered by a huge amount of trees, that formed the forest.

[Little Alice]

It seemed the forest had a big number of grim, cruel and other kind of work in display. Displaying loud and clear what became of those who wandered around in the shadows of its trees. Not that it scared it. Lilia was used to situations and looks that were more cruel and grim. She hadn't forgotten about the fields in front of the Hon Estate. Where they had fought every day to keep the soldiers out, killing every day a big number of them. Following the others, she still felt something against these trees. Unlike those forests in the Fire union, this forest was bothering her. It was like she was feeling it wants something.

[Mr Nim]

Walking carefully, Sakamoto kept watching the trees, as if he was waiting for something happen. A moment later, his eyes widened and he turned to look back "Start running. We are under attack." He said and took out a kunai and threw it against a tree, seemingly hitting a branch. If Yumi and Lilia were quick enough, they could notice the branch falling a bit down, moving in a very unnatural way for trees.

A moment later, several branches and roots begun making their way towards the trees, and Sakamoto quickly did a few seals for his lightning arm, and managed to break a few branches that came towards him before beginning to move forward with a much faster pace, motioning to Lilia and Yumi to do the same. He understood that until they reached a clearing, they wouldn't be safe, and he wondered if a forest clearing even existed here.