"Who do we recruit?" Naruto asked as soon as they left the tower.
"It's not like we know many chunin," she sighed. "We should count on Shikamaru and our friends. Even if they're genin, we know how to work with them and what kind of abilities they have. Send a couple of clones to find Shino and Kiba. We'll go for Shikamaru and Chouji. I imagine one of them will want to come."
She used a spell to locate Shikamaru and realized he was heading toward the hospital. They ran there and saw him talking with Lee and Neji. As soon as they saw their serious faces, they stopped greeting.
"What's happening?"
"Sasuke has been kidnapped. Tsunade-sama has ordered us to rescue him. We need to recruit a team of 5 people," she said concisely. "Are you in? Where's Chouji?"
"Chouji has an indigestion," Shikamaru snickered. "I was visiting him."
"Are you coming or what?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah. What a drag..." Shikamaru sighed.
"I also want to participate," Neji said, joining the conversation.
Seina and Naruto exchanged looks.
"Alright. The Byakugan will be useful."
"We're missing one person," Shikamaru commented. "Who else are you thinking of asking for help?"
"Our clones are looking for Shino or Kiba."
At that moment, Lee turned around with his crutches and started walking back to the hospital. They watched him leave with a sad and desolate expression. If it weren't so urgent, she would try to console him, but now wasn't the right time. Neji watched him disappear with a slightly worried look. Then Seina remembered that today was Lee's operation day if his previous tests were correct. Damn, she was going to miss it.
"Yatta!" Naruto exclaimed. "Kiba is in. Shino is on a mission with his father."
"Perfect. We're five."
"He's waiting for us at the north gate."
"Do you need to get anything from your house?" Seina asked them.
"I don't think so. I imagine this rescue won't take long."
"They haven't gone far," she said, not caring if they wondered how she knew. "We can find Sasuke within a couple of hours at most."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her words.
"I always thought you had more than one ace up your sleeve," the genius acknowledged aloud. "Looks like I'm finally going to figure you out."
"In your dreams, Shikamaru. Let's go. We're wasting time."
She had her pouch with all her things, so she wasn't worried about having to extend the mission if necessary. They ran to the north gate and saw Kiba waiting by the entry and exit control desk. Seina approached, nodding in his direction, and handed the scroll Tsunade-sama had given her to the ninja. He examined it for a few seconds and then looked at them. He pocketed the scroll and let them register their departure.
"Good luck and good hunting," he bid them farewell.
They nodded and left the village.
"One moment, who's the leader?" Neji asked, looking alternately at Shikamaru and her.
They exchanged glances, and Shikamaru nodded in her direction. Seina, seeing that he had no intention of mutiny, shrugged.
"Apparently, I am."
"And what's our plan?" Kiba asked.
"Right now, Sasuke has one of my seals, so I know where he is," she informed them, starting to walk in that direction. "We'll get to him with one of my summons. Once we get close, we'll scout how many enemies we have ahead and plan accordingly with Shikamaru's help."
"Sounds good."
"Can you summon toads like Naruto?" Kiba asked.
"Let's go. You'll see soon enough."
She was almost excited to have an excuse to use her Hungarian Horntail. That thought brought a smile to Naruto's face for the first time in hours. Neji, Kiba, and Shikamaru followed them to a secluded clearing.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
The enormous dragon, over 20 meters long, appeared, flapping its huge wings. It was a perfect replica of the dragon that attacked her when she was only 14: big, furious, full of horns and spikes, with its yellowish eyes staring at them with malice. She heard the collective gasp of her teammates, except for Naruto, and jumped, sitting on the giant creature's back.
"Come on. What are you waiting for?" she rolled her eyes with a smile.
"A dragon?!" Shikamaru asked, stunned. "B-but, what? How is this possible?!"
"Ask her on the way," Neji said, jumping behind her and quickly regaining his composure.
Naruto pushed Kiba and Shikamaru, then jumped behind them. Seina took off in the direction of Sasuke. Judging by what she could sense, the ninjas holding Sasuke hadn't slowed down since capturing him at the hospital. However, at the speed her dragon was flying, they would reach them quickly. What she wanted to avoid at all costs was them crossing the country's border, although she knew it would take quite some time to reach that point. Besides, this way, her team avoided getting tired along the way, which was always an advantage.
"How is this possible?" Shikamaru asked behind her. "Dragons don't exist!"
"They do now," she said simply.
"Why does that sound like you created it?"
"Because I did," she replied. "Fuinjutsu is very useful, don't you think?"
"What? This is a fuinjutsu construction? Ugh, I knew my head would hurt accepting this mission."
"Hey! Watch what you say about my sister!" Naruto defended her, realizing why he said that.
A tense silence followed. Shikamaru was almost smoking from his ears, thinking rapidly, while Neji, Kiba, and Naruto were eager to enter combat. She just wanted everything to end and for Orochimaru to rot in Otogakure knowing he hadn't been able to get Sasuke.
"We're getting close to Sasuke," she informed them, sensing the closer presence of her locator spell. "I'm going to fly higher so we won't be detected. Neji, what's the range of your Byakugan?"
"We're too high," Neji frowned. "My Byakugan specializes in close details, unlike Hinata's."
"Alright, I'll send another summon to scout from closer," she said without any problem.
She summoned a native bird and sent it ahead.
"We should land just in front," Shikamaru suggested, speaking in her ear. "That way, we won't fall into any possible traps."
Seina used a couple of enchantments to keep them from being detected and then landed behind a hill. She looked at her team, seeing they were fine, and indicated for them to wait while she gathered the necessary information. She used a few more summons to lighten the work and soon saw them.
"There are four people. They have Otogakure headbands. It looks like they have Sasuke in a white chest."
"Anyone recognizable?" Shikamaru asked.
"No. They all seem like mid-rank ninjas. They don't outnumber us. Still, Naruto and I will use clones to level the fight if necessary, but I'd try using the element of surprise and catching them in a trap. I'd also use earplugs. From what I know of my opponent's abilities in the chunin exams, they use sound to attack. Shikamaru, anything to add?"
"It's problematic," he sighed. "We don't know anything certain about their abilities. I agree with you on catching them off guard. How much time do we have until they reach our point?"
"Maybe 10 minutes, so let's get to work. Here. Earplugs," she handed out the conjured earplugs just in case.
They left Neji hidden in a tree to be their lookout while the others prepared the area. Seina used her father's kunai for the first time, setting up the clearing in strategic points, and stationed several of her smaller summons to give her vision from all possible angles. Shikamaru modified the terrain with Kiba's help to create the shadows he wanted, while Naruto hid a bunch of clones in the trees, surrounding the perimeter.
They saw Neji signaling that they were approaching. She would retrieve her teammate while the others fought the ninjas if necessary. As soon as they were on top of them, she gave a signal, and Shikamaru trapped them with his shadows. The chest with Sasuke inside fell to the ground. Just as she was about to grab the chest by jumping to it with the hiraishin, someone attacked them from behind, appearing out of nowhere. It was an unknown person with a sickly appearance. He wore white, had white hair, and skin as pale as snow. Honestly, he looked like he was about to drop dead. However, appearances can be deceiving.
"Watch out!"
Seina created an earth barrier between them, protecting her team from the stranger's weapons.
"Are those bones?!"
"Focus on Sasuke!" she called their attention.
"Too late," said a voice on the other side of the barrier.
The boy soared through the air, dodging all their traps, heading towards Sasuke. Seina used the hiraishin to arrive first and then swapped one of her clones for the chest just as the stranger landed on top of it.
"We can't hold them back anymore!" Shikamaru shouted, his voice exhausted and nervous.
"You damn brats! Do you think we're just like any other ninja?" yelled a grey-haired guy dressed in lilac.
Seina returned to her team carrying Sasuke.
"Cover me," she ordered.
She noticed the chest was sealed with fuinjutsu. Damn it. She felt Naruto and Shikamaru's gaze on her head while Kiba and Neji faced the strangers.
"Can you open it?"
"It's sealed with fuinjutsu. It'll take me a while to get it open."
"Is he in there for sure?"
"Affirmative," said Neji.
She could feel the tracking rune inside and knew they couldn't have taken Sasuke's pendant, so logically, Sasuke was inside.
"Incoming attack!"
"Fall back!" she shouted. They obeyed, jumping to her side, and she raised another barrier.
She noticed the attack of what seemed to be a bunch of arrows was just a distraction. Naruto grabbed Neji and the chest upon sensing her orders, and she grabbed Shikamaru and Kiba. She saw her brother jump in the air, avoiding the attack from the right side, while she landed on the other side of the clearing using the hiraishin with two passengers. Unfortunately for Naruto, the new and fifth member was waiting for exactly that. She saw them disappear into the forest, pursued also by the ninja who had shot the arrows. She cursed mentally realizing they were being separated.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu," she summoned 20 clones to stay with Kiba and Shikamaru.
"Go after them!" Shikamaru instructed when he understood her intentions.
"Oh, no! You're not going anywhere!" said a ninja who was four heads taller and wider than her.
He lunged at her with a raised closed fist, ready to knock her aside with one blow. Seina didn't use the teleportation jutsu but let him approach her, and when he was about to hit her fist, she used the killing curse point-blank. The ninja didn't even have time to open his eyes in panic before falling dead to the ground, to the astonishment of everyone present. She dodged his fist using the hiraishin before it hit her face, just inches away.
"Jirobo!" a female voice shouted. "DAMN YOU!"
"Hey. You two will fight with us," Shikamaru called to them.
She left them behind, running at full speed after Neji and Naruto. She followed her brother's train of thought and saw how Neji had been separated from Naruto along the way. She summoned a few clones to help Neji and continued northward. Luckily, she could see Shikamaru's fight through her summons, so she sent a couple of birds in Neji's direction in case he needed more help.
"...sengan!" she heard with her own ears. She knew her brother was close.
Seina appeared in another clearing, this one much larger. She saw the sickly boy using his bones as weapons with amazement. The chest with Sasuke was set aside, waiting to be picked up by the winner. Naruto saw her appear and intervened when the stranger lunged at her. They let them fight while she approached the chest. She examined the fuinjutsu as best she could, but despite being an expert in runes, she didn't have much knowledge of ninja seals. She cursed again in her mind. She used the conjured X-ray glasses to at least ensure her teammate was safe inside.
She saw him unconscious, lying inside the box. His breathing was somewhat irregular, and he seemed to be sweating profusely, but other than that, he seemed fine. They must have drugged him to keep him from waking up too soon. She racked her brain trying to figure out how to get him out without undoing the fuinjutsu. It was clear she couldn't use chakra without knowing the consequences it would have on Sasuke, so she opted for her magic. She thought about summoning Sasuke using his pendant in reverse and connecting it to her. Then she thought about protecting him while destroying the chest and disregarding the consequences until she perceived Naruto's thought of whether she could open the chest with her magic.
"Well, of course... I'm an idiot," she whispered and used the alohomora to open the chest.
She saw the fuinjutsu trying to resist her spell but finally dissipating before the power of her magic. The chest opened. She hurriedly took out Sasuke and destroyed the container just in case. She knew it must have been a simple fuinjutsu to close the chest; otherwise, she didn't feel confident about it.
"Watch out, Seina!" Naruto shouted. He appeared in the distance with Sasuke in his arms just as the tree under his feet exploded. "Teme!"
"You take care of this one, Naruto. I'm going to check on Sasuke and then help Neji."
"Got it."
She activated Sasuke's and her bracelets and then ventured into the forest. She climbed a tree and laid her teammate down. She used a diagnostic spell to see what was wrong with him and found out he was heavily drugged. Fortunately, it didn't seem like it would affect him negatively. He just needed the effects of the sleeping drug to wear off. She healed the few wounds he had, realizing he was practically unscathed. The minor defensive wounds showed that he had tried to defend himself, but obviously, he had been caught off guard in the hospital when he didn't have his weapons on him. He didn't even have his holster. It had been a great plan, no denying that.
She took out her shrunken briefcase and left him inside with a couple of clones. One to take care of him and another one with the orders to explode if Sasuke experienced any complications. She went in search of Neji and found him badly injured but still standing. He had the Byakugan activated and seemed to be fighting a half-spider guy. Ninjas were crazy... One of her clones vanished, reporting information. She raised an eyebrow realizing he was using the cobweb that was all over the place to move around, so she grabbed the nearest thread and used a fire spell to destroy them.
"How are you?" Seina asked, appearing by his side. Neji didn't even look at her.
"Have you destroyed all his cobwebs?" he asked her.
"Yes," she put a hand on his back and began to heal him.
"Thanks. He's hiding somewhere. He's using my blind spot," he informed her.
"I know," she said, her enchanted vision allowing her to see his aura perfectly. "I can sense his presence. He's at your 5 o'clock."
Neji turned with his palm charged with chakra just as she used the first water jutsu she learned to uproot the tree on which his enemy was perched.
"Come out. You can't hide from us," she said calmly.
"We'll see about that..." she heard the whisper of the trees.
"At your 6 o'clock!"
Neji deflected the arrow that tried to hit his blind spot, and Seina disappeared behind the ninja. She watched as he turned around upon sensing her on his back, but it was too late. With a kick, she sent him flying towards Neji, who awaited him with a malicious smile on his lips and the juken in his hands ready to fight on his turf. She watched as Neji jumped in his direction, deactivating a few tenketsus on his right arm.
"ARGH!" he tried to jump back, but she jumped back to meet him again, sending him back to Neji. "AAH! Damn brat!"
"You're not so strong now that you're in my range, are you?" Neji asked him, closing more pressure points on his torso.
Suddenly, the Oto ninja pulled an arrow from his left hand, the only one he could move, and tried to stab Neji in his right side. Nevertheless, Neji's vision was enough to alert him to what was about to happen, and the ninja was sent flying by a kaiten. Seina, bored, pushed him back into Neji's technique with her clones. Her summons vanished upon hitting the kaiten, but not before ensuring that her enemy's face slammed into her ally's chakra. She watched as Neji took advantage, upon leaving the technique, to finish him off with a couple of fingers to the forehead. The enemy ninja twitched a couple of times and then fell backward, bleeding from the nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. Ugh.
"Situation?" Neji asked, catching his breath and jumping to her side.
"I have Sasuke. Naruto is fighting with the white-haired one. Shikamaru and Kiba were with the girl and the guy in purple. The other one is dead..." she blinked, gathering the information she had just received. "Let's go. My clones just informed me that the girl is dead, but Kiba needs medical help. Let me just collect this corpse."
"And Naruto?"
"He can handle himself," she said, knowing Naruto had a portkey anchored to her if he needed to escape. "Take my hand."
Neji obeyed without hesitation. They appeared shortly afterward in the previous clearing using the hiraishin. She saw Shikamaru fighting with the last opponent while Kiba seemed to be catching his breath. Akamaru was on the ground, unconscious or dead.
"Seina! Can you heal Akamaru!?" Kiba pleaded upon seeing them arrive.
"Neji, help Shikamaru. I'll take care of Kiba and Akamaru," she ordered, kneeling beside the little dog.
She used a couple of diagnostic spells to see who needed more help. She saw that Kiba had a couple of broken ribs, but Akamaru seemed to be in worse condition, so she let a clone take care of her friend she took care of the dog. It took a few minutes to put his displaced bones back in place and heal his broken bones with iryo ninjutsu. She also stopped a slight internal hemorrhage and closed the cut on one of his ears. She noticed he had ingested some substance, so she didn't dare give him anything for the possible side effects. She used her magic to give the little dog energy but let him rest.
"He'll be fine," she informed Kiba, and he choked back a sob. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better. Thanks. What happened to the others?"
"We got Sasuke back. Naruto is fighting with another one of them. Only this one is alive," she nodded her head toward the ninja split in two. She shook her head at the sight. "Let's collect the bodies. Maybe it will be useful for the village."
"Understood."
They took the girl and the mountain guy she had killed and put them in the dead scroll. Suddenly, she looked up realizing Naruto wasn't alone. He was with Gaara! She suppressed a smile at the sight of the change in the redhead. Then her summons caught Temari and Kankurou in the forest, heading in their direction. What a coincidence.
"We're not alone..." she smiled.
"Eh?"
Just as Kiba opened his mouth to ask what she meant, a strong gust of wind carried away the halves of the enemy. She heard the sound of puppets pouncing on one half. Neji and Shikamaru covered their faces, shielding themselves from the blades and dirt, jumping away as soon as they could.
"What a surprise!" exclaimed a female voice. "I didn't expect to see you so soon, Nara."
"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.
"Fortunately, we were arriving in Konoha today, so your Hokage asked for our help," Kankurou replied, although I don't think you needed it much..."
Seina took advantage of the conversation to decapitate the last half, which was getting up, appearing by its side with the help of her father's kunai and wielding the sharp wakizashi with her magic capable of cutting even a tree in two. She felt some eyes on her neck as she stored the corpses in her scroll.
"Thanks for the help," she said, even though they had only served as a distraction. "I'm glad to see you in better condition."
Temari and Kankurou nodded, with a serious but cordial expression.
"We're very sorry about what happened."
"That's water under the bridge," she waved it off. "After all, I arrested you and handed you over to the interrogation department."
Kankurou, Shikamaru, and Kiba laughed when they heard that. Temari smiled. She looked in Naruto's direction, seeing how they had just defeated the last enemy.
"Gaara must be with your brother."
She nodded. She picked up all the kunais, except one.
"We better collect all the traps," she said. "I'm going to get the others. Stay here. We'll be back soon."
In passing, she would take the opportunity to get Sasuke out of her suitcase. She appeared in the other clearing. She contemplated with a raised eyebrow how everything was full of sand and how the enemy was dead on the ground. Naruto seemed almost guilty to see him lifeless.
"He was sick, nee-chan," he spoke without even turning to see her. "How could Orochimaru send him? He was on the brink of death!"
"I don't think Orochimaru cares much about his people," she sighed. She watched as Gaara looked at her as he walked to her side, tilting his head in her direction. "Hello Gaara. I'm glad to see you again."
"Seina... I wanted to see you and your brother to thank you. Helping you is the least I could do."
"You don't have to thank us," she smiled. "That's what friends do, right?"
"…Yes," Gaara smiled slightly.
The three of them looked at the lifeless body of their enemy. Another child used in the hands of an unscrupulous and remorseless adult. She placed him carefully inside the scroll. She almost didn't want to hand him over to Konoha, knowing what they were going to do to him, but she also didn't want to leave him there alone as if he were worth nothing. In the end, she decided to take him since, despite being young, he had wanted to kill her brother and he was still their enemy.
"Where's Sasuke?" Gaara asked.
"He's in that tree. He's sleeping. The drug will wear off soon."
Even though they had been able to recover him, she knew Orochimaru wouldn't rest until he got him. Just for that, she wanted to leave there as soon as possible. Naruto, feeling her concern, straightened up.
"Let's go. We must return to the others and go back to the village."
"What are you going to do?" Seina asked Gaara.
"Our orders were to support you in combat," he shrugged. "I suppose we should return to Suna."
"Why don't you come with us to Konoha?" she offered. "Surely Tsunade-sama would prefer to speak with you in person, and you could rest."
"If you don't mind, I think we'll accept the offer."
"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. "Let's get the teme and get out of here."
Naruto put Sasuke over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then grabbed her by one arm. Gaara accepted her other hand with some surprise, as if it were the first time in a long time that he initiated physical contact voluntarily, and she used the hiraishinagain. They appeared next to Shikamaru and the others, who jumped at the sight of them. Seina picked up the last kunai.
"Gaara has agreed to come back with us to Konoha," she informed everyone. "Let me heal your wounds, and then we'll leave."
"Are we going to fly back again?" Kiba asked with an excited smile on his lips as he watched her check on the others.
"Fly?"
"Too long to explain. Kuchiyose no jutsu."
She summoned her dragon again. Shikamaru ignored Temari and Kankurou's fearful and incredulous screams and climbed up behind her, followed by his team and Naruto carrying Sasuke in his arms. Gaara just blinked a couple of times and jumped up next to her. She took a last look at the clearing, making sure everything had returned to normal, and took off. They arrived in Konoha in no time. Luckily, no one was dead or badly injured, so she let them regain their strength in silence while the Suna team tried to understand that they were flying on a dragon that supposedly shouldn't exist.
She stopped near the village and returned her summon to the scroll.
"Nee-chan, I think he's waking up!" Naruto informed her.
Everyone turned to watch as Sasuke began to stir in his brother's arms, who carefully put him on the ground. Seina touched his forehead with a medical jutsu, but she found that he was just waking up. She relieved his headache before he could open his eyes.
"Sasuke? Can you hear me?"
"Ugh... What the hell happened?" the man in question asked with a groggy voice.
"You were kidnapped, but you're safe now," she assured him. "We're near the village."
He sat up as best he could, with Naruto's help, and accepted the water flask she handed him. He coughed a bit and handed her back the bottle. She helped him up, and between Naruto and her, they helped him walk until the effects of the drug completely wore off.