It took the teenagers a day to reach the border area. Chatting allowed them to pass the time. Sora talked about her little brothers, her parents, and her sensei who was an Aburame. Daiki told them funny anecdotes about the missions he had accomplished. Ise even relaxed a bit and talked about his promotion to chunin. He didn’t take the exam to obtain it. It happened last year on a mission.

Jun wanted to ask him if he knew Madoka Hyuga or Neji, but he held back. Ise wore his headband around his neck, proudly exposing his bare forehead. He was a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan. Jun didn’t think of him as an enemy. He was rather nice under his frigid and brittle exterior. However, he remained a member of the dominant faction of his clan. The one Madoka served, the one Hizashi had died to protect, the one that would instill a shadow of fear over Neji’s childhood.

Perhaps Ise disagreed with his clan’s traditions. But it was more likely he had been living in it for so long that he didn’t even think about it. It was probably normal for him. People in positions of power rarely thought about changing things, especially if it decreased their power. Ise seemed like a straight and fair person, but he was also inflexible, focused on duty and missions more than any idealism.

As a result, Jun kept his remarks and questions about the Hyuga clan to himself. Sora was talkative, exuberant, bawling, and even bossy at times. She had a similar character to Anko, except that she wasn’t reluctant to talk about herself, her family, or her passions. Sora wasn’t bragging or wanting to show off, she just wanted to share what pleased her.

On the other hand, Daiki was more reserved, not talking about his family or hobbies. He was an orphan. He vaguely mentioned a sensei belonging to the Inuzuka clan but didn’t dwell on it. Not a single word about his genins teammates either.

Jun preferred to follow Sora’s example and talked happily about his team. He mentioned Susumu who was going to become a medic-nin. He talked about Natsumi and her shuriken techniques and Shiba-sensei and his mastery of Kenjutsu. He mentioned his interest in explosive tags and Fuinjutsu in general. Daiki argued that explosions lacked subtlety. Jun ignored his comment. He didn’t want to hear that from someone using Doton to destroy things.

Sora facetiously proposed to turn the destruction of their target into a contest. Jun thought it was a good idea. Ise tried to be the voice of reason, but he must have felt it was a losing battle. The closer they got to their destination, the more the vegetation became sparse, giving way to bare earth and gray rocks.

The decor weighed down the atmosphere. The silence was oppressive. It was starting to get cold and damp. They stopped when they reached the border area where their target was. It was a desolate, misty coast, dotted with sharp-edged rocks and withered shrubbery. It was getting dark, adding to the gloominess. They could hear the ebb and flow of the waves breaking on the pebbles.

“Stay together,” Ise ordered dryly.

He didn’t have to tell them twice. The group had instinctively moved closer, unwilling to lose sight of each. Ise briefly looked at a map, then took the lead and led them north. He activated his Byakugan on a regular basis to check the surroundings. Sora had stopped joking and was quietly sniffing around. Jun strained his senses, trying to detect an enemy's presence, but he sensed nothing. It was a strange feeling. It was as if his perception was blurry.

“It’s not a normal mist. I’m having trouble smelling scents.” Sora said in a low voice.

“It’s probably the Hiding in Mist Jutsu. We have to assume the enemy is in the area. Given the density of the fog, they are not preparing to attack. They either spotted us or are fleeing, using the mist to conceal their retreat.” Ise said, without slowing down.

The technique was affecting his perception as well. Jun hesitated, but Daiki hesitantly asked what they were all thinking about.

“Should we continue? We don’t know how many they are…”

Ise didn’t stop. Jun knew their captain’s response before the Hyuga answered.

“We continue. We still have to destroy the base, whether they found it or not.”

The hideout in question was well hidden. They had used the surrounding rocks to camouflage it. The entrance was almost invisible, a simple hole between two large stones. It was a narrow tunnel than descended steeply, almost like a well, to a large room with no openings. Jun went down there to plant his explosives tags. The place was empty, but there were recent traces in the dust. He placed his tags as quickly as possible before coming up.

“The base was used not long ago.” He said to his teammates.

Ise nodded stiffly.

“The fog has thickened. My Byakugan range is greatly reduced. Let’s do it quickly and get out of here. We don’t know their intention.”

It wasn’t reassuring. Jun placed another set of explosive tags at the entrance to launch the chain reaction that would detonate the ones inside. Meanwhile, Daiki moved away a bit to prepare his Doton.

“Five people! They’re coming straight at us. Daiki, Jun, now!” Ise suddenly snapped.

“How did they arrive so quickly?” Sora cursed in a high-pitched voice.

“Doton, Earth Split.” Daiki cast.

The ground shook. Jun triggered his tags. There was a big explosion as if a big shell had fallen to the ground. The whole ground started to crumble in on itself. It was a real earthquake. Jun had to anchor himself to the ground with chakra to not lose his balance. Smoke and dust filled the air, making them cough and masking their visibility. If the enemy didn’t know where they were, they did now. There was no way they could miss the noise and the brownish cloud in the air.

Ise suddenly let out an alarmed cry. Jun looked up just in time to see a shard of steel, and Daiki collapsed. For a brief second, time seemed to slow down. Daiki’s eyes widened in shock. The spray of blood gushed out from his neck. Jun saw the flickering light on the enemy blade that had appeared behind his teammate. He sensed the genin’s chakra fading away.

Sora let out a rageful cry. Time resumed its course for Jun. He felt the other four enemy chakras approaching rapidly to corner them from behind. Ise dashed toward the man with the blade. The young Hyuga was not a prodigy for nothing. The ensuing exchange of blows was almost too fast to follow.

Ise’s palm hit the blade and shattered it. Then, he struck a fatal blow as the swordsman planted his broken blade in the Hyuga’s side. They both collapsed at the same time.

“Ise!” Jun horrified, rushed towards him.

Sora arrived before the young Uchiha and started to curse.

“Dammit, Ise! What the hell happened to you?”

The Hyuga was slowing getting back up, grimacing in pain. Sora put one of his arms around her shoulders to help him up.

“They are coming…” Ise said with difficulty.

Sora hesitated, her gaze falling on Daiki’s body. She couldn’t smell the enemy in that haze. Jun forced himself to remain alert. He could sense the ninjas coming. They were very close. Daiki was dead; Ise was injured. Everything was falling apart.

“Go ahead. I will seal his body and join you.” Jun ordered, kneeling down before Daiki’s corpse.

Sora nodded then jumped up, disappearing into the mist. Her dog was following her. Jun took one of his sealing scrolls out of his pocket. He hadn’t thought to bring the ones he specially designed to store a body. He hadn’t even thought about the possibility of casualties during this mission. He realized how foolish he had been. He sealed the body in the scroll in a few seconds, then dashed in the same direction as his teammates.