Chapter 136: Track him Down

Disclaimer:

Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 136: Track him Down

"Does anyone have a spare?… I can't believe you said that in front of the Hokage," Ino huffed as they walked out of the village gates.

"Well, I don't always carry it around when I go out," Naruto said, scratching his head.

"You should," Hinata said, adjusting her headband around her neck. "I always keep mine in my bag."

"I don't think it serves much purpose if you wear it on your neck, though…" Naruto pointed out.

Hinata looked confused. "Why not? I think it looks nice…"

"It totally does!" Ino chimed in. "I always wear mine around my waist, see?" She gestured at hers proudly.

"Ah…" Naruto trailed off, unsure of what to say to that. How was this worse than forgetting about his headband?.

"Can we focus for a moment?" Shikamaru cut in. "I'm trying to explain the general plan."

"Right, we should listen to what Shika says. He's the team leader," Choji agreed.

"Feels weird having to listen to him… we're the same age," Kiba muttered.

"He has the highest rank, so of course we listen to him. Age is irrelevant," Neji stated firmly. He was, after all, a year older than most of them, but had no issues with this.

Shikamaru pulled out a small map of the area. "This is a capture mission involving an unknown number of hostile ninjas. The report says at least four, but there could be more."

He pointed to an area south of the village. "This is where the lookout tower is located. They were last seen moving southwest past here. Our first objective is to reach this tower as fast as possible."

"And then what? Keep going in that direction and hope to get lucky?" Ino asked.

"Of course not…" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "We have a tracker with us."

He glanced at Kiba, then pulled something from his bag.

"The Hokage had the foresight to send this."

Kiba peeked into the bag. "Clothes? …Oh, I see." Akamaru poked his head out and gave the bag a sniff.

"It's Sasuke's," Shikamaru said. "I trust Akamaru can use this to at least get a direction once we reach the tower."

Kiba gave a thumbs-up. "Definitely! You can count on us." He said with exitement.

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Shikamaru then looked at Neji and Hinata. "We also have two Byakugan users, so we won't be moving blindly. What's your maximum range?"

"One mile," Neji answered.

"Around half a mile," Hinata said.

Shikamaru nodded. "That's more than enough. We'll move in single-line formation. Neji, you take the rear and watch for any ambushes. Kiba and Hinata, lead us in the right direction and keep an eye out for enemies ahead. Naruto, you're in the center. If anyone is attacked, you go and assist them."

"What if our target becomes hostile?" Shino asked. It was rare to hear him saying anying. Be felt like he had to ask where their limits were.

"Right...our priority is to take Sasuke back to the village alive. However...if that is not an option, we cannot let him fall onto Orochimaru's hands." Shikamaru said with a grave voice.

"You aren't seriously considering that, right?." Ino asked. If Sakura were to be here, she would be throwing a fit right now.

Shikamaru glanced at her. "I don't like it either, but that is our mission." He then looked over the rest of the group. "If we want to prevent that scenario, then we just have to make sure we don't fail to capture him then."

"Right!. Is not like we are going to fail. No way!" Kiba shouted.

Once he confirmed everyone understood, Shikamaru gave the signal. "Let's go. We don't stop until we find either Sasuke or one of the enemy ninjas."

As they departed, two figures approached the village gates.

"I wish I could have gone too…" Rock Lee said, leaning on his cane. He had only just learned of Sasuke's departure when Sakura arrived at the hospital.

Still too weak to walk without support, he wasn't in any condition for a mission this dangerous. Naruto had helped keep him from going stir-crazy by leaving him with a technique to train from his hospital bed. The meditation exercises were hard to get used to, but he could tell he was getting stronger, little by little.

"They'll bring him back, right?" Sakura asked. Despite everything, she hoped that Sasuke would return and things would go back to how they were when they first became Genin.

Lee looked at her, saying nothing at first. Based on what he knew of Sasuke, it seemed clear that Sasuke had left of his own will, not as a captive. Unless they could physically restrain him, Sasuke likely wouldn't come back.

"I'm sure it'll all go fine," he finally said, offering her a smile.

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The sun was beginning to peek through the trees when Kiba suddenly shouted.

"Wait! His scent has disappeared!"

"You lost track of Sasuke?" Ino frowned, concerned.

"But I can still smell the others. I can sense their scent all over this area," Kiba replied.

"Wait!" Hinata called out.

"Stop!" Neji added.

The group halted immediately, perching on thick tree branches.

"There's a scroll stuck on that tree ahead," Hinata pointed.

"There are scrolls all over the area," Neji added. "I recognize some as explosive tags, but I don't know what the others do. They could be alarms."

"Why would they put so many traps here? We haven't seen any until now," Ino said.

"Because they must have stopped…" Shikamaru mused.

"They're resting?" Choji asked.

"I doubt they're just resting. It's been six hours since they left the village," Naruto replied. "We're still in the Konoha forest. There's no way they'd stop to rest now… unless they were forced to."

"Whatever the case, we can't waste this chance to catch up with them," Shikamaru decided. "We'll move with extreme caution. Kiba, Neji, and Hinata, we're relying on you three to locate them."

"Right! Leave it to me; I'll find those guys in no time," Kiba said confidently, flashing a grin.

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