[Naruto] Raiders of large dogs

Because she relaxed and was able to vent her tears, Kinako seemed to have gradually stabilized her emotions. She felt that the wet snow on her shoulders was patting the weeping girl's shoulders soothingly, and she didn't know how to comfort her.

How bad it is to feel stupid for the first time.Xue regretted that her emotional intelligence was almost zero except for performing tasks.

"Thank you, Xue, I feel much better." Taking the handkerchief from Xue and wiping her messy face, Kinako returned to her usual bright smile.

"Are the places in the Land of Fire as beautiful as Konoha?" Kinako tried to change the subject, "If so, I will like it. Maybe the other party is a good person like Yuki, and there are still a few years to get along with each other. Maybe I can slowly fall in love with him, thinking about it, it seems that getting married is not such an uncomfortable thing."

"Marriage...is something that can only be done with the person you like?" Xue asked blankly.

"Pfft, normally it must be like this." Kinako, who was defeated by Xue's ignorance, laughed, and then remembered the question she asked before, her eyes flashed with gossip, "Speaking of which, just now you said that you like Xue who is it?"

Looking at her with probing eyes, Yuki felt awkward, and quickly straightened Kinako's body, which was pressed against her, and stood up abruptly. "It's getting late, we have to hurry up and get ready to leave."

"Eh? I won't delay things for a while." Kinako complained and wanted to hold Xue who was blushing, but she saw that the other party had already run away with the clothes that the maid left outside the door.

After changing into the maid's clothes, Yuki stood beside Kinakko, because she had no sense of presence in the first place, which was quite suitable.When Kai and Genma saw Yuki taking off the mask, their jaws almost hit the ground.

"Kakashi, you big liar!" Xuanma held up Senbon in his mouth to prevent his mouth from falling too much, "You obviously raised a wild leopard."

"Your little girl is already Anbe! Damn it! As expected of Kakashi, my disciple will not lose!" Kai pointed at Kakashi and shouted.

Kakashi ignored the groundless accusations from his teammates, and confessed to Yuki: "In the meantime, act as Yuki Gushan first."

"learn."

"We just re-discussed the route. We decided to take a small path through the country of stones and enter the country of wind first, and let Sand Hidden Village assist in returning from the country of rivers to the country of fire." Kujo conveyed the content of the discussion to Xue, " Once something goes wrong during the escort, it will become an issue of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and this is something that the other party likes to see. Prepare for the worst, and the enemy may intercept us in the Kingdom of Stone."

"I will protect the target."

On the side, Kinako looked at Xue's usual indifferent expression when she was performing tasks. She always seemed quite unkind on weekdays, but at critical moments, she was extremely reassuring.

"It's not too late. Let's set off immediately and try our best to get to the Land of Wind before the people from the Land of Earth arrive. Is there anything else that needs to be explained, Your Royal Highness?"

"No, I've made up my mind." Answering Kakashi, Kinako already revealed the aura of a princess.

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On both sides of the narrow stone road are undulating rock walls, only the strong shrubs growing on the thin soil in the gaps add a bit of greenness to the monotonous gray.

"I'm sorry Your Royal Highness, because the route has been changed, we can only walk here." Kakashi looked at the gravel road with no end in sight, and said to Kinako who was walking behind him.

"I have no problem, please don't worry about it."

Seeing Kinako, who was not used to walking for a long time, trying to be brave, Yuki stretched out her hand in front of her: "Help me."

"Okay." Kinako didn't refuse, she smiled and took Xue's arm.Yuki turned a deaf ear to the startled exhalation of her colleague hiding in the dark behind her, and quickly followed behind Kakashi with Kinako supporting her.

They will soon enter the border of Stone Country, and everyone's nerves are tense. This time, they are fighting away. Konoha Ninja, who is not familiar with the surrounding situation, is likely to be at a disadvantage.

The final guard plan was Kinoshita and Akiyama to explore the way in front, Kanna and Tsuruta to break in the rear, and Kujo followed the formation of the large army moving in the middle.

No matter how brave she was, Kinakko was still defeated by the continuous mountain walk due to lack of exercise. In order not to delay the trip, she had to let Xue run with the team on her back.

"Hey, Yuki, being carried by you like this reminds me of the time when I went to Konoha, and you were the one who carried me up the mountain." Leaning on Yuki's not-so-broad back, Kinako wrapped her arms around the Anbe girl and she was thin shoulders, the wind from running messed up the hair around his ears.

"I'm leaving, my hometown. Fortunately, Xue saw it, so I won't break my promise." The scenery around her receded quickly, Kinako buried her face on Xue's back, her hair brushed Neck, let the girl feel a little itchy.

Keeping the forward speed, the words from Xue's mouth were carried into Kinazi's ears along with the wind: "Kinako's hometown is very beautiful, I like it very much."

"...Thank you, Yuki." Kinako's voice was a little choked up.

Hurrying slowly, the team finally arrived at the scheduled location within the time limit.After a period of trekking, Xue gradually became exhausted, and her breathing became rapid.Akiyama, who was exploring the way ahead, just reported back, so Kakashi ordered the team to rest temporarily.

The night wind passed through the gap in the rock wall, making it even more shady, and everyone sat around the planned temporary rest point - a small cave.The orange flames brought some warmth, and Kinako, who was asleep by the rock wall due to fatigue, was covered with the thin quilt brought by the regular team, and Yuki planned to go out to see the teammates in charge of security.

"You've been tired all day, don't you want to take a rest?" Kakashi, who was taking a nap, opened his unmotivated dead fish eyes and asked.

"I was also supposed to be in charge of vigilance, just to take a look."

"It's still so serious." Kakashi sighed helplessly, and then smiled, "But it wouldn't be you if you didn't. You get along well with your teammates."

"Everybody is fine."

"That's good." Kakashi smiled and closed his eyes again, "Go and come back quickly, we still have to hurry at dawn."

Nodding her head, Yuki walked out of the cave, but she didn't hear Genma behind her teasing Kakashi who was pretending to sleep: "You are overprotective, you are a full-fledged member of Anbe no matter what."

The silver-haired Jōnin just smiled and didn't respond, and the cave was quiet again, except for the sound of flames devouring firewood.

Finding Kujo who was hiding on the rock wall, Xue jumped into the unnoticed shadow and handed over the warm water bottle.

"Squad leader, hot water."

Kujo unceremoniously took the water bottle and moistened his throat: "In the first half of the night, Tsuruta and I will watch over it. In the second half of the night, Kinoshita, Akiyama, and Kanna will be there. Nothing will go wrong. You can go to rest first."

"Can't sleep." Ever since Xue entered the Kingdom of Stone, the uneasiness in her heart has grown, making her unable to rest at ease, and she only wants to return to the Kingdom of Fire as soon as possible.

"Don't worry, our team is very strong." Kujo looked at the Anbu girl who rarely showed her weak side. This was the first time she showed weakness in front of her teammates.

Kutiao, the oldest in the team, is always calm and tolerant, and he doesn't speak often but can always be subconsciously convincing. "You have to trust your teammates."

"Squad leader, how many people do you think the enemy will send?" Xue asked without responding to Jiutiao's words.

"It's okay if it's just an escort mission, but we can't say for sure about the mission in hand." Kujo simply took off the mask on his face and drank water.

Xue recalled the route map and said: "The terrain of the Kingdom of Stone is very suitable for a surprise attack. If I were the opponent, I would choose to attack before approaching the desert terrain of the Kingdom of Wind."

"We changed the route in advance this time. If the other party wants to find out and rush over, there will be some time gap. During this period, we can only hurry as soon as possible, and it will be relatively safe to reach the land of the wind."

"..." Xue was silent for a while, then asked slowly, "Squad leader... aren't you worried that I will leak information?"

Putting the empty water bottle aside, Jiujo laughed and said, "Why do you ask that?"

"The reason for the information leak of this mission must have occurred to all of you, team leader. Under this premise, I think it is very unwise to explain the revised route to me in detail." Xue's eyes were very serious, as if to say Not myself.

Kutiao smiled and handed the empty water bottle to Xue. He didn't put the mask on his face for a long time. He just sighed and said, "Oh, Huoyue, as I said, you should trust your teammates more."

"But……"

"We are not despicable enough to doubt our teammates." Kutiao looked at Xue who was still rationally analyzing the gains and losses of right and wrong, and smiled helplessly, "It is true that Huo Yue's reason is very important for the completion of the task." It is very important, but as a team manager, you must also learn to understand each teammate and coordinate the relationship between the team."

"Every member of my team is carefully checked by me. Everyone has their own characteristics. Although they also have shortcomings of one kind or another, the whole team is a complete whole when combined. I respect every member. Have [-] percent confidence."

"Me too?" Listening to Jiutiao's calm words, Xue asked in a little surprise.

"Of course, you are an important member of our team that I personally selected you." Xue couldn't see Kujo's expression clearly in the dark night, but the low tone seemed to have a convincing magic power.

"...I still don't quite understand..." Trusting such ambiguous words made Xue's brain a little short-circuited, and she lowered her head while holding the kettle in her arms and began to think carefully about Jiu Tiao's words.

Seeing the distressed look of the girl, Jiujo couldn't help laughing: "I don't feel relieved to hand over the team to you if you are like this. It seems that there is still a long way to go."

"I?"

"Master Tsunade discussed with me before that you should be trained as the captain of the reserve team to take over my squad. Everyone has high expectations for you." Putting on the eagle face mask, Kujo stretched out his hand to touch it. Snow's short hair.It feels good, like stroking the soft fur of a kitten, no wonder Kakashi likes this action so much.

"Don't be too stressed, I don't plan to retire too early."

Nodding her head half-understood, Xue, who was originally worried about what her teammates would think, finally felt relieved after talking with Kujo, thanked Kujo and returned to the cave with the water bottle in her arms.No silver-haired Jōnin was found in the cave, and the others were still taking time to rest. Yuki also leaned against the stone wall next to Kinako, and fell asleep lightly while pondering Kujo's words.

Outside the cave, Shinobu with silver hair put his hands in his pockets, and walked out of a blind corner seemingly casually.

"Excuse me." Kakashi said towards the place where Kujo was lurking.

"That's my family's subordinates, which round will I thank you and me." Jiu Tiao's ridicule came from the darkness.

"That's right, I always like to worry about things when I'm old."

"Don't talk nonsense, you're getting old, but I'm still young."

"Yes, yes, you are right."

Waving his hand to the back, the unmotivated silver-haired Jōnin turned around and walked towards the cave, and the place where Anbu was lurking returned to tranquility, blending into the moonless night.

Nothing happened all night, and the group cleaned up the traces in the cave early before dawn.Snow carefully inspected Kinako's swollen soles, then simply applied the ointment and continued to join the team with her on her back.

"Try to go through the Stone Country today. We have already contacted Hidden Sand Village, and Maji will meet you at the border of the Wind Country." Kakashi made a gesture to signal for departure after finishing speaking.

Stepping on gravel, the team marched on the narrow mountain road, with Yuki following behind Kakashi to keep vigilant.According to my own speculation, this section of the road will be the best place for the enemy to attack.

Just as he was thinking, the sound of metal collisions suddenly came from the direction of the road exploration ahead. The small sound echoed very clearly between the rock walls, like a signal, and the Konoha ninjas stopped and took postures to prepare for battle.

As soon as Xuexue put Kinazi down, several people suddenly sprang out from the rock walls on both sides and attacked the ninjas below.A few Kunai tied the detonating talisman and shot towards the road, Xueyan swiftly protected Kinako and fell to the side, the explosions behind him stirred up thick dust and smoke, and countless gravels shot towards the surroundings.

The sound of fighting continued to be heard in the thick smoke, but the dust and mist interfered with the sight, Xue turned over but couldn't see the situation of his teammates.Holding the trembling Kinakko firmly behind her, Xue lowered her body, her two cat eyes keenly observed her surroundings, and comforted her in a non-fluctuating tone: "Don't be afraid."

As soon as the words fell, a ninja suddenly sprang out of the smoke, and in the blink of an eye, two girls of the same age were identified as the target of the mission. The Kunai in his hand was flashing with cold light, but he ignored the non-threatening snow in front of him. Attack Kinako.