Naruto: Tango with Death

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Kushina unfurled a long scroll before me, and placed ink next to us. Looking at the blank paper, I heard her say, "You must have learned the Sealing Alphabet in your sealing classes, right?"

I nodded, and Kushina said, "The Uzumaki devised variations of the normal alphabet, so you will have to learn these, and how to write them properly. Here, a demonstration."

Learning sealing techniques was a gruelling process most of the time, but I liked research, so I did not mind it.

As for our training schedule, we couldn't really formulate one as both of us were active ninjas and would get missions, especially her since she was a Jonin and would get long missions some times.

To compensate for that, she gave me tons of homework, so I would mostly be learning all the theoretical knowledge on my own, and experiment during our lessons.

And that was just fine for me as it perfectly suited my training schedule. Although not as often as in the last month, I still decided to go to Fukuro Temple every night, and spend said night meditating. That night, I spent half of my time researching my body's tenketsu points, and half on seals. This made for a great training.

From there, I once again entered a kind of routine for the next two weeks, doing D Rank Missions, and training of all kinds.

This was broken after only two weeks by our new C Rank Mission. Honestly, I was quite surprised we were already given another C Rank Mission, but then I was remembered by my team that while I was training, they were basically idling away.

I still thought it was a little too soon for them, but I wasn't a mind doctor so I didn't really have a say.

Our mission this time was more on the dangerous side, that is if our mission hadn't had a sudden change that is, as we had to find and capture inmates.

A nearby prison had been busted open, probably by enemy spies, and the regular forces of the Land of Fire struggled to cope with the escaped inmates, so we were asked for help.

It wasn't as dangerous as it sounded though, it was a C Rank mission after all. None of the inmates were Shinobi, and we weren't the only team who would be hunting.

And on the off chance we crossed the spies who had set free the inmates, several Anbu teams were spread out in the area, and we could call them at any time in case we did spot the spies.

So all in all, it was a more dangerous mission on paper, but we should be fine. The inmates would hardly be dangerous, as although a few probably knew how to use chakra to fight, the prison specialized in handling low leveled outlaws.

We walked about two hours out of Konoha until we arrived at the prison.

Today's weather was bad, the sky was covered in dark clouds, so as we reached our destination, we couldn't help but stop for a moment.

In the distance, on top of a big mountain, sat an enormous stone square. In its center rose a giant octagonal tower, and like the rest of the prison was made of dark rock.

Coupled with the dark sky, it looked very ominous. However, we were quickly distracted by a large explosion some distance away from us.

Amai-Sensei commented, "Nothing to worry about."

Laiko snorted, "Probably that brute Inaki."

I looked at him with a questioning gaze, but he looked away, and Izumi said, "Someone from our promotion. An idiot with big chakra reserves."

I nodded reservedly, and Amai-Sensei said, "What do you reckon we should do now?"

All three of us looked at each other, and Laiko was first to answer as he said with some hesitation, "Best tactic would be to split up and spread out, to cover as large of an area as possible."

Amai-Sensei showed no response, so Izumi followed, "But since there are other teams with us, it might be safer to stay grouped."

Again, Amai-Sensei showed no response, while Laiko snorted. After a moment, I said, "I think we should go with Laiko's proposition. The inmates can hardly match up to us, even if they go several on one. Besides, we probably always be near someone else, since there are other teams and they will more likely than not use the same tactic."

Now, we all looked at Amai-Sensei, who finally nodded and revealed, "That is more or less what we will do. We will spread out, but we are to always remain within a range of a hundred meters of each other."

We all nodded, but then he added, "Sukaina, you aren't included."

I rose an eyebrow and teased, "You are hurting my feelings Sensei."

Amai-Sensei remained unresponsive emotionally as he dryly said, "It isn't a secret you are training for Anbu now, so you have a slightly different mission. A bunch of death row inmates have gathered together, and most of them know how to use their Chakra."

Laiko looked a little upset about the change in mission, he may not say it but he grew to care about me, and he didn't like to have his teammates in danger. As for Izumi, she was more familiar with my strength, so she wasn't as worried and instead asked, "Are Anbu missions always about killing?"

I sent a look at Amai-Sensei, who shrugged, "Not really, and that's why her mission isn't only to kill them."

I hummed slightly, "I need to interrogate them and find who set them free, and possibly where they are?"

Amai-Sensei nodded, and gave additional info, "They are a group of approximately twenty, and they seem to be headed North."

"Iwa?"

"It looks like it. Better be sure though."

I nodded silently, before slightly biting my finger and using the Summoning Jutsu. It seemed Yuki and I had a strong bond to each other as she was summoned almost everytime, so we were quite familiar with each other.

Then, I took out a tag, and gave it to each of them as I said, "This is a position tag. With this, Yuki will be able to find you quickly. Also, if anything goes wrong on your side and you are forced to split up, I'll know."

Laiko snorted, "Don't get haughty because you helped us once. Next time, we'll be the ones saving you."

This made me smile as I winked at him and replied, "Then I'm waiting for you."

Laiko blushed lightly as he snorted and looked away, while Izumi patted my arm and said, "Be careful, will you?"

I rolled my eyes at her and replied, "I'll be alright, it's a simple mission."

Izumi shook her head silently, and I disappeared with the Body Flicker. I moved quickly North, which kept the giant prison into my sight for quite a while.

It truly was impressive to look at, and quite disturbing too. With its size, I couldn't help but wonder how all the prisoners could have escaped.

Anyway, before long I managed to find the tracks of a large group, they had done nothing to hide them, so there definitely wasn't any ninja among them, which was good.

A Shinobi wasn't necessarily stronger than a Samurai or any other kind of warrior wielding chakra, but they were much more deadly because they could, and would, use deception and rarely attack from the front.

For example, I had been able to kill several Chunins, whom I wouldn't have had a chance against in a frontal fight, thanks to deception. Since there were any of them on the other side, then it made things easier.

I followed their tracks inside the nearby forest, and it didn't take me long to find my targets.