Summoner Nin

Page 9: First Kills

Part Two: The Search

Chapter Two

A pirate ship, with a black mast depicting a white skull and crosses, and black flags, was certainly coming towards them - and fast. If they didn't stop, Hinata was beginning to fear being run over, and the waves the ship was creating could not bode well for their tiny boat. Tightening her jaw, Hinata tensed her muscles just like the adults, and had feeling that there would be a battle.

"Kumogakure-nin," Inuzuka-san announced.

Zooming in her eyesight, Hinata recognized the headbands the crew on the ship was wearing. The symbol of the Cloud-nin was permanently engraved on both the opposing headbands and in the back of her head. It was the very symbol that kidnapped her, and killed her uncle. The very symbol that promised peace, only to spit it back in Konoha's face.

"Hinata-chan, behind me," Inuzuka-san commanded.

She looked to Shikaku-sensei for confirmation on the order, but he was too preoccupied with finding out a weak spot on the ship, and Anko-sensei seemed too busy preparing a jutsu. Being a good child, she stepped back from the action, and quickly performed a Bunshin no Jutsu behind her back, creating four clones and sending them under water.

No sooner did Hinata release the hold of her chakra, water clones popped out from the ocean and onto their small boat. Letting the adults deal with the enemy, she directed her clones towards the pirate ship. Ducking down away from the kunai coming towards her, Aburame-san quickly dispelled the clone with his kikaichu bugs.

"We need to get on their ship," Shikaku-sensei said.

"How?" Anko-sensei asked, casting off the last of the enemy clones.

"They'll send more clones," he said. "And we'll let them. Once we draw a lot of them, we set this boat to explode, and then we swim towards them."

"And board their ship?" Inuzuka-san said. "That's insane. There're at least thirty of them."

"Hinata," Shikaku-sensei called.

"Twenty-five," she answered, zooming in again.

"We'll let them create more clones," he said. "Help me rig the explosives."

"Explosives?" Inuzuka-san asked. "Since when did we have them?"

"Since Anko bought some on land," Aburame-san spoke, sunglasses gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Inuzuka-san looked at Anko-sensei incredulously, and she simply shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

"Hinata, stick close to Kuromaru," Shikaku-sensei instructed. "He'll keep you warm."

Hinata nodded as Inuzuka-san's partner lowered himself for her to climb on. Taking his fur in her hands, she held on as the enemy took great pains, and massive chakra amounts, to create more clones to attack them. Hinata surmised that they must have felt certain that they'd win because they were wasting chakra like crazy.

"Go!" Shikaku-sensei shouted.

Hinata held her breath as Kuromaru bounded off the boat and into the icy water. The frigid water hit her full on, her lungs releasing the air at once. Desperately clamping her mouth shut, she felt herself loosing air fast. Wordlessly, she told herself that she should train underwater more often.