A strange new life [Naruto fanfiction]

From atop the tree, I looked at the band of miscreants down in the clearing. The roughshod tents, the burnt campfire. It hadn't been hard to find. Following the trail led me straight to the camp.

Even if the trail failed, I needed only to follow my nose. The camp reeked; piss and shit and old sweat.

I pressed a finger over my neck, activating the communicator. "This is Black. I have eyes on the target."

There was a brief static. "This is Red. Roger that, moving," Red-chan answered.

Static filled the line, then came White's voice. "Are we really doing this again?"

Another burst of clickety noises and Yellow's voice filled the channel. "And why does the color of our hair name us?"

"Your hair, maybe," White said over the line. "My hair isn't white."

"This is Black," I said again, a bit of exasperation creeping in my voice. "Can we leave the infosec discussion for later and follow protocol? There's a damsel to rescue."

"Ok, ok Hinata-chan, don't need to get grumpy," Yellow said.

"Right, moving in," White said.

"This is Red," Red said. "I'm in position, over."

I wasn't going to lie. Red was my favorite goon to work with. She never complained and always obeyed protocol, even if those protocols were strange. I cast my chakra perception about. No signature.

"This is Black," I said again over comms, a grin spreading on my face imagining yellow rolling her eyes, exasperated. "Red, can you sweep the area? Over."

"This is Red," dutiful Red said. "Sweep got nothing. Over."

Clickety noises came over the comms again. "You shouldn't enable her, Karin-chan," Yellow complained.

I ignored the breach of protocol. We were ready. "This is Black. Operation is a go. Move, move, move."

Our team had surrounded the bandit's camp. Karin had confirmed that there was no shinobi nearby, which meant we were dealing with normal people. From my position at the tree, four clones popped out. They dashed toward the camp, stealthy as can be.

Around, I felt the other's chakra moving.

Yellow, I mean, Ino's chakra moved and bubbled and roiled. The familiar movements that always precluded her family's techniques. One of my clones, already ready for that, had moved to her and held her body after she slumped over. The bandit she controlled turned around and slugged the other guard in the face, before her puppet walked inside the tent where the payload was.

Karin stood behind a tree, ready to intercept anyone trying to flee.

Meanwhile, three of my other clones and Tenten dashed inside, taking down enemies before they even knew what happened.

It was over before it even started. Some of the bandits tried to fight back, but we were faster, stronger, and better trained.

Not a minute later, I dashed inside the camp, tying the unconscious bandits.

Ino's puppet walked from inside the tent, carrying the unconscious young child in her arms. She gave him to me. I picked the boy, turned, moved away from the bandits' camp and toward our campsite.

One of my clones was ready. From the corner of my eye, I saw her punching the bandit in the face and knocking him out as soon as Ino released the jutsu.

Overall, it wasn't hard. This wasn't the first C-Rank mission we were completing. Those were mostly the norm now. Our days of D-ranks were long past. I didn't want to see any walls in need of painting for a lifetime.

With the child in my arms, a small boy of five according to the info we received, I reached the camp and placed him gently on the ground. His breaths were shallow, and the boy looked too pale. My hand hovered over his chest. Then a soft green light spread from there.

I hadn't fully mastered the Mystic Palm yet, but in this situation, it was better than nothing.

It took a while, but his breathing evened, and color returned to his face. When I finished the emergency treatment, the other three members of my team were already near me.

"How is he, Hinata-chan?" Ino asked, looking over my shoulder.

"He's fine. Probably will need a real doctor, but I don't think he's in any danger."

Karin knelt close to me, looking at the boy, then at her arm. "Should I?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, better not."

It might sound selfish, but I didn't want Karin abusing her ability for no reason. The boy didn't seem to be at any risk. Nothing that a good warm bed, and some hugs and a bath wouldn't solve it. But if someone attacked us, Karin was our last resort. Selfish as it was.

Tenten leaned against the staff she often used in these kinds of missions. "What do we do about the bandits?"

I considered that. The mission was to rescue the boy. Nothing there said anything about what to do with the bandits. For a fleeting moment, some dark thoughts percolated inside my head, but I pushed them away.

"Leave them tied up, we'll inform the village head, he can decide what to do."

In this world, that was almost the same as condemning those poor sods to a death sentence.

"Do we really?" Ino asked, her voice sounded reluctant.

I picked the boy up. "Let's pack and leave." That got me reluctant nods.

Hidden amidst the trees, Four clones watched the group leave. From those, they were confident only Karin knew they were still here. The redhead glances in their direction telling as much. It was okay, they were sure Original-chan would explain things later.

Four clones looked at each other. Each picked up a kunai. They turned around and walked toward the bandit camp, steps heavy and with purpose.

They worked together to gather all the bandits near the burnt campfire.

With one last look, they got to work. It was hard, thankless work, but it had to be done.

Clone one stepped closer, slapped one bandit awake.

Before he could move, she slapped him again, then pressed the Kunai to his neck. The man's eyes bugged out, and he stilled.

Clone one glowered her best glower. "Now, it's time we have a chat."

The words sounded enraged, even if the clone could feel the others behind. One wanted to snicker, the others wanted to, well, just be weird, like all clones were.

Of course they weren't going to kill these poor sods, nor leave them behind, tied up and waiting to be killed when the village came to collect them. Original-chan was even sympathetic to their cause. This war business wasn't good for anyone. From the information provided by the Konoha's Intelligence Department, these people just wanted to work in peace.

The landlord must have been a horrible man to push them this far.

So, it was time to scare the shit out of them and make sure they settled somewhere else. Even if it still left a sour taste in the clone's mouth.

I walked inside the walled manor carrying the boy and deposited him in the arms of a crying mother. She took him, hugging and kissing and blubbering.

We didn't have time to appreciate the scene. Sour-looking servants ushered us into talking with the client.

The man was a tall beanpole, with receding hair and a perpetual frown. 

"Is it done?" He asked as soon as we entered.

"Hello," I said with a slight bow. "Yes, we rescued your son."

The man waved, impatient. "Yes, yes, I can hear it. What about the bandits?"

I shrugged. "We left them tied up, and told the village head about the location."

The man pointed a finger at me. "You were supposed to get rid of them."

I tilted my head. "That wasn't my mission," I said.

"That's what I paid you for."

I took the mission scroll from my pouch, re-read the details. "Hostage rescue," I said, showing him the thing. "I don't see assassination here anywhere."

"Those good-for-nothing will come back," the man said, pulling a few of his already receding hairs.

It was pretty, awesome Ino who spoke next. Bless that cute girl. "Then how about you treat your workers better? They wouldn't have to resort to violence if you let them work in peace, instead of trying to squeeze them dry."

The man scoffed.

I looked at my team, who all looked miffed, then I turned to the client.

"The mission is complete," I said, voice flat. "I'd recommend you start thinking of better ways of treating people if you don't want something like this happening again."

I didn't give the man time to answer. I turned around and left. No post-mission-pastries to this one. He didn't deserve it. On my way out, I gave the pastries to the still crying mom. She would need those.

This was a bad situation all around. I knew these "bandits" were just desperate people trying to survive, but what could I do? Kill the client? That would only make things worse.

At least with this, maybe the man would do better, and maybe those poor sods in the forest would settle somewhere else.

"I don't like this," Tenten said, after we left the residence.

I nodded. Me neither. But if everything went according to plan, at least my clones would leave a few days' worth of food for the "bandits" after scaring them to death; a terrible solution, but a solution anyway.

"Let's go back home," I said with one hand at my hips. Legs spread apart. The other hand pointed straight toward where I imagined Konoha was.

"Let's," Karin said, joining me in my pose.

Ino also stopped by my side. "To Konoha," she declared.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Really? Do you have to do this every mission?" 

That sourpuss didn't join in. Shame, she didn't know what she was missing out on.