—Somewhere Strange—
Drops of blood splattered onto the floor as the woman licked her fingers with desire.
"Delicious..."
The blood slid down her lips, a satisfied smile forming on her face. As she enjoyed her feast, a man entered the room, interrupting her.
"Miroku-sama, new visitors have arrived in our village," he said calmly. His eyes were covered with a black cloth, and he was dressed like a shinobi soldier.
"Visitors? Well... I haven't finished with the last ones who arrived yet," Miroku replied.
From the shadows, she stood up, revealing that she was completely naked.
"What should we do with them, Miroku-sama?"
"I wonder the same thing..."
With that sinister smile, Miroku looked toward the door and said:
"Let them enjoy themselves a little longer. They don't have much time left, after all."
—Konohagakure—
Closing his eyes, Hiruzen exhaled a small cloud of smoke.
"The reason I called you here is to assign the next mission to Team 11," Hiruzen said.
"But Hokage-sama, for you to personally assign us a mission... I have to assume it's something important," Yamato said. He was somewhat concerned.
"You're right. This mission is an investigation assignment. Here is the information we've gathered so far," the old man said, placing several sheets of paper on his desk.
Yamato began reading, his eyes fixed on the documents.
"Hokage-sama, are you sure about this? This is a Rank B mission."
"Yes, I'm sure. The truth is, none of the ANBU investigators who were sent on that mission returned. That's why I called you. I want you to find out what's going on."
"Wouldn't it be easier to send me alone?" Yamato argued, but Hiruzen opened his eyes and replied.
"No. Right now, all of our ninja are occupied with different missions. That's one of the reasons I'm assigning this mission to you. This will only be an investigation assignment, so you won't have to involve your team in anything dangerous. Gather the necessary information and return to the village."
"If all of our village's ninja are occupied, that means..."
"It's something I can't tell you yet, but you'll know when the time comes."
A smile formed on Hiruzen's lips, although underneath it, he was somewhat worried about the reports that had been reaching him.
After seeing how confident Hiruzen was, Yamato replied:
"Understood. I'll make sure this mission is completed perfectly."
Yamato resigned himself to it. Although the mission's difficulty was a little too high for his students, he couldn't argue against the Hokage.
—At Toru's House—
Moving his hands with great skill, Toru assembled several metal pieces scattered around him. He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by various tools.
'I need to make sure the chakra pressure doesn't cause the battery to explode.'
He finished putting a few pieces together and took a break.
'Yamato-sensei said our next mission will take us outside the country. I need to prepare a few things before going to sleep.'
Getting up from the floor, he stored all the pieces of the device inside a wooden box beneath his bed. From the same place, he took out another box containing several scrolls.
'I'll take a few of these.'
From another, smaller box, he took out a pendant made of thread and a golden ring, a memento from his mother.
He stared silently at the pendant, his expression darkening, but then he sighed and put it around his neck.
'I thought it would feel uncomfortable to wear.'
With everything ready, it was time to rest. Tomorrow was patiently waiting.
—The Next Day—
Toru raised the fruit-filled bread in his hand and brought it to his mouth. He took a few seconds to savor it.
'Disgusting... Way too sweet,' Toru thought, making a face.
Meanwhile, Yamato appeared silently as always.
"You arrived early again. Good morning, Toru."
"Good morning, Yamato-sensei."
After looking at Toru for a few seconds, Yamato turned his attention toward the horizon. He knew that Rank B missions were usually assassination assignments, but investigations were also among them.
After reading all the information contained in the document the Hokage had given him, Yamato could only imagine what they might have to face.
'All of our village's ninja, huh...'
Letting out a sigh, Yamato crossed his arms. He had heard certain rumors that a certain ninja had returned after so many years, but they were only rumors. Even so, Yamato couldn't help but think about it.
"Good morning, Yamato-sensei, Toru-kun," said Hinata, who had just arrived.
"Good morning. You're early too," Yamato added.
"I couldn't sleep last night, but I promise I won't be a burden to the team."
She turned her attention toward Toru.
'Toru-kun...'
"Here she comes," Toru said, making everyone look toward the road.
"I made it on time," Ino said as she collapsed, catching her breath. "Sorry I'm late, sensei."
"Don't worry about it. Now that we're all here, I have something to tell you before we leave."
Everyone turned their attention toward their sensei.
"This is a Rank B mission, so we need to be cautious."
"We're still Genin. Why are they sending us on a high-ranking mission?" Toru asked.
"It's a mission assigned to us personally by the Hokage. We couldn't refuse even if we wanted to."
"The Hokage?" Ino was confused.
"Don't worry. As a Jounin, I'll make sure we complete this mission successfully. Besides, we'll make a lot of money."
With a faint smile on his lips, Yamato looked at his students. Even he wasn't sure whether taking a team of rookie Genin on a Rank B mission was a good idea, and even if it was only an investigation assignment, he had a bad feeling about it.
'If we complete a Rank B mission, I'll be able to brag to Sasuke, and Sakura will be green with envy,' Ino thought.
"Sensei, we still don't know what the mission is about," Hinata said timidly.
"This mission is an investigation assignment. We need to gather information, and to do that, we'll have to visit the villages between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls. As far as I understand, dozens of people have gone missing between those two lands, so we'll begin our investigation when we reach the first village," Yamato replied.
Adjusting his scarf, Toru thought that investigations were one of the things he was best at, so he was confident he could find relevant information that might be useful to the Hokage.
While Toru was thinking, Ino had already shut herself away in her own little world.
'If it's an investigation assignment, it shouldn't be that difficult. Haha. I can already see Sakura's face when she finds out I completed a Rank B mission.'
"Now that I've given you the basic information about this mission, it's time to leave." Yamato turned around and began walking.
"Yes, sensei," they said in unison.
—Two Hours Later—
"If you somehow manage to ruin this mission, I'll make you suffer, Toru. Understand?" Ino growled.
The two had fallen a little behind, and because of this, Ino took advantage of the situation to warn Toru.
'And I thought she was unusually peaceful this morning,' Toru thought. 'It doesn't bother me much because I don't care, but it's getting worse every time. At some point, I'll have to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, she'll just keep bothering me.'
"I hope you understood. You can't ruin my chance with Sasuke."
After saying that, Ino released Toru's scarf and continued walking.
'What a pain.'
"Toru-kun, don't fall behind," Hinata said.
Toru quickened his pace.
"Sensei, how much longer until we reach the first village?" Ino asked.
"Seven hours. There's no need to worry, since we'll take breaks every so often," their sensei replied.
Ino looked toward the horizon.
'Ah! I'm tired! I don't want to walk anymore...'
As his students walked behind him, Yamato sighed. He was still thinking about what might happen during the mission. According to the documents Hiruzen had given him, one survivor had mentioned a strange creature with spider-like legs.
Anyone might think that description was a joke, but the person who provided that piece of information died from blood loss shortly after arriving in Konohagakure.
'I'm still not sure whether what's in those documents is true. Maybe that creature was nothing more than a hallucination, but... No, I shouldn't think about it too much. I'll gather the information and return with my students.'