A village in the Land of the Sun had been taken by force by violent deserters from a small neighboring country. In exchange for the lives of the few villagers unable to escape, they demanded a ransom from the Lord of the land. The latter had demanded that Chief Haruo Sato settle the situation as quickly and smoothly as possible.

  The Ro squad was sent to retrieve the hostages and neutralize the thugs, without causing a stir around them. Y?ji and Tsukinoko, who were the best at concealing their presence and skilled at tracking, were sent on reconnaissance by their commander

  As Y?ji's insects scanned the countryside, one of them had returned to mention a barn further up the hill. Tsukinoko followed her colleague closely as they infiltrated the building.

  Crawling under the cobwebbed and dusty roofs, Tsukinoko gritted her teeth in disgust. Five men were holding the villagers hostage, armed to the teeth.

  Y?ji and Tsukinoko returned to their posts after taking in the sights, he being quicker because he wasn't bothered by the arachnids. A few steps from the exit, Tsukinoko stuck her head in a gigantic web. Screaming silently, she gesticulated in all directions to remove the threads stuck in her hair. As she opened her eyes again, one of the five deserters was standing in the seated dog and he pushed her back inside with a violent kick.

  He rushed into the attic with her, but before she could react the floor collapsed beneath her. Full of dust, at the feet of the deserters and under the terrified eyes of the hostages, she rises to her feet on guard

  Certain that he was Hanamaru's secret agent, the deserters understood that the Lord had no intention of paying the ransom. Without delay, they grabbed two of the hostages to apply pressure and threatened to slit their throats.

  Tsukinoko didn't blink behind her mask. As one of them was about to slaughter them, she sliced off his arm before stepping in with a concise movement. Keeping her distance, she protected the dozen or so huddled hostages as best she could.

  - You've relieved me, you cowards!" she suddenly snaps.

  They seem surprised, as do the hostages, that she suddenly speaks up. She takes advantage of this lapse of time to stab one of them, then a second, before returning to the hostages. The two men fell to the ground in front of the children, who were whimpering in terror.

  The remaining three had withdrawn. As far as they were concerned, it didn't matter about the hostages any more, they had to get rid of this agent who was thwarting their plan. Without missing a beat, Tsukinoko fled up the hill, with the three of them in hot pursuit. She then summons Yukihyō to keep ahead of her. Crouching on her back, the feline leaps up to the valley without question.

  With her bow and just one arrow, Tsukinoko could have impaled all three of them with a single shot, waiting for the moment when they were lined up. In this case, she was unable to attack and didn't want to risk wasting her strength.

  His nets of chakra could not enable him to annihilate the three under these conditions, balancing on Yukihyō, but only to immobilize them. He needed a maneuver, one that would reach them at a distance to neutralize them. Lightning swords and nets, all at once.

  The ground suddenly collapses beneath the panther's paws, provoked by the deserters, who were using their talents to try and get him.

  Meanwhile, Y?ji had joined the rest of the squad to report on the situation, but Kakashi exclaimed.

  - And Tsukinoko?

  He turns to check behind him and scans the surroundings before shrugging hesitantly. Kakashi raises his eyes to the sky, but as they set off to rescue the hostages with the plan they had in mind, wisps of electricity appear in the darkness at the bottom of the valley.

  Tsukinoko, standing on Yukihyō's back, had unloaded a long chain from her saber that bound the deserters. Lightning burst from the ends of the chain, petrifying the thugs.

  K? feared the worst with only three of them left, so he and Y?ji raced towards the barn. Dragged along the ground behind Yukihyō while being electrocuted, the poor three meet the gaze of Kakashi, who was arriving to the rescue.

  Unable to continue any further, she released her grip but the effort threw her off balance and she fell behind Yukihyō, rolling into the grass. Kakashi rushes past her as one of the deserters gets to his feet.

  With an iron fist, he executes the last of them and Tsukinoko finally breathes, hiding her concern behind her mask. Y?ji and K? join them with the hostages, safe and sound.

  Although the mission result had been achieved, the plan had not gone according to plan.

  - We're fine, your agent looked after us until you arrived," explains one of the hostages to Kakashi.

  - What do you mean?

  - She had left a clone," K? explains. I don't know what happened, but we had a plan. Did you think you could go it alone?! he shouted at Tsukinoko. What did you think?

  She moves forward shamefully, arms crossed as she hides behind her mask.

  - I'm sorry, I... I... I got a spider's web in my head on the way out," she confesses. They spotted me but I tried to-

  - Unaware!" he snaps. They could have killed them all because of you!

  - I took care of the hostages! I was alone with them and I did what I could! she defends herself.

  - What if something had gone wrong? You're not on a stupid mission with your little team of soldiers, this is serious business!

  She said nothing, sheepish. Kakashi sighed at her stupidity, equally relieved at the result but perplexed that she'd used so much energy with a clone to boot, and curious about this new technique that hadn't been able to bear fruit

  The children had gathered around Yukihyō, fascinated by this giant stuffed toy, and he had agreed to let himself be stroked because he could sense their moods after this ordeal

  Y?ji led the way with Yukihyō carrying the sleeping children to the nearby village that had agreed to help the hostages. But Tsukinoko felt something tickling her arm, which seemed to persist despite her attempts to remove it.

  She stops and starts fidgeting to get rid of it, and her colleagues wait for her with an annoyed look on their faces. She catches up with them, gesticulating, but Kakashi suddenly makes big eyes and she braces herself in front of his head.

  - What's wrong with you, you pervert?" she says haughtily.

  - Don't move," he said firmly, advancing towards her.

  - What?

  - It's on your mask," exclaims K? with an air of innocence. The one that screwed up your mission.

  - Don't tell him-

  - The spider," he chuckles, cutting Kakashi off.

  Tsukinoko's shrill cry of terror startles the hostages in front. She violently removed her mask and threw it to the ground, terrified of the little beast. K? giggles idiotically, a look of superiority on his face as he watches her panic.

  - Where is she?! she screams, stamping her feet on the ground. She-

  A hairy paw protruding from the mask's eyepiece cuts her off. The little beast emerged from its hiding place, revealing itself to be as big as a fist. Screaming her head off, Tsukinoko ran in circles around the two agents, desperately trying to escape the monster that had chased her. She finally took refuge behind Kakashi, swinging him like a shield in front of her.

  - Ugh! Kill her! Kill her! Fucking kill her! Go! Go!

  The spider charged at them, and with a brave instinct, Tsukinoko perched on Kakashi's shoulders, clinging to his mane as he staggered under her gesture. He backed away from the spider, trying to calm it down as K? cried with laughter at his cinema.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She then decided to get rid of her opponent herself. Crouching on the shoulders of the squad commander, she quickly signs, but her burning breath is cut off by Kakashi. He finally crushes the spider, which explodes in a cloud of smoke beneath his foot, and Tsukinoko immediately freezes, pale with incomprehension and her mouth full of fire. They both turn to K? with a slow, shared gesture, who was wiping his tears after his bidding.

  - You- Oh, you should have seen your face," he laughs.

  Tsukinoko takes great offence at his bad joke. Stung in her self-esteem and still full of adrenaline, she abruptly disengages her hands from Kakashi to blow straight at him. The blaze made him jump back, but amused him even more, proud of his successful joke. Kakashi remained sheepish in the face of their foolishness, wondering whether he was really the leader of a perilous squad or a kindergarten nursemaid.

  After thinking she was going to burn his head off, he blew out a breath and crouched down to lower Tsukinoko. Clinging to him, she scanned frantically around her, traumatized. Her mask picked up, she hurried to catch up with the group, furious.

  - Are you proud of yourself?! she shouts to K?. This isn't the playground, you say!

  The group set off again. K? was right, but she couldn't help it, she was really scared. As she walked along, she pondered this bad patch, until he joined her to walk beside her, seemingly out of the blue.

  - The hostages are tired," he says suddenly.

  - Fuck off, you're annoying me," she replies curtly, hitting him with her mask.

  He sighs and takes her under his arm as he continues to walk, to make her forget the joke, but he finds himself tackled to the ground. Tsukinoko continues on her way, sulking. He readjusted his eagle mask and was about to turn back, but the hostages were judging him with their eyes. With a dramatic sigh, he takes it in his stride and tries again.

  - I know I screwed up," she sulks, "but you might understand.

  - No, there's no room for error here," he says seriously. Even if dozens of insects are crawling all over you, you can't panic like that. And frankly, it's just a little spider. I thought you were more reckless than that," he sneers. Come on, no hard feelings?

  With his fist in the air awaiting a reciprocal sign of peace, he grimaced at the seconds ticking away.

  Finally, after promising vengeance, she signs the armistice.

  - And don't sulk, or I'll get my ass kicked by the boss. I understand you're his little recruit," he laughs. You're not such a pain in the ass after all, but you're a real airhead," he chuckles.

  - A head of what?!

  - Forget it," he scorned.

  - So get lost, you're breathing my air.

  Amused by his attitude, K? gives him space. Yukihyō overtakes him, not failing to show his fangs as he passes after hearing everything, then catches up with Tsukinoko

  She confesses to the feline that she dreaded her leader reporting her exploits to the Chief. Yukihyō, busy growling at K? from afar, finishes reassuring her afterwards.

  A few minutes from Hanamaru's doors, Tsukinoko was testing the temperature with Kakashi. After an awkward apology dreading being fired from Special Services, he curiously asked her what technique she'd used on Yukihyō's back.

  Tsukinoko realized that she had just perfected it, and decided to name it Uchitaoshi Kusari . Relieved, they finally reached Hanamaru, but she held his arm to whisper in his ear. Despite a sigh of hesitation, he thought for a moment before closing his book to better observe K?, then replied

  Tsukinoko flashes a Machiavellian smile, then discreetly materializes a clone that metamorphoses into a huge, slimy snake.

  The fake reptile disappeared into the bushes, and she rubbed her hands together as she waited for the next step

  The snake crosses the road right in front of K?, before hissing menacingly in his direction. The latter turned pale before screaming in fear and running for his life. Believing it to be a nightmare, he tried to escape the snake hissing behind him.

  - Run!" he screams in terror at the agents. Flee!

  With a snap of her fingers as K? finally came to take refuge behind them, Tsukinoko scattered the snake in a cloud. Trembling with fear, her colleague whispered mischievously in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

  - It's just a little beast, isn't it?

  Over the following months, Tsukinoko was occasionally called upon by the Chief to carry out administrative tasks, in addition to those assigned to the squad on an as-needed basis.

  Kakashi was more relaxed with her, less on her back, and despite K?'s teasing, Y?ji's silence and Kimaru's modesty, the squad had strengthened its skills, welded together to endure their tough job.

  In early summer, a crowd blocked Tsukinoko's path along the main avenue. Following the crowd's gaze, her eyes went up to the faces of the Chiefs on the monument in the mountain, covered in graffiti. Insults, crude caricatures, everyone had had their fill.

  A laugh escaped her even though the degradation outraged her. By the time she put on her armband, she looked down at the mountain, falling right where a figure seemed to be fleeing down the stairs.

  With a well-started can of blue paint in hand, the thug was taking on the appearance of a little boy as she adjusted her view. It was only when she felt his energy that Tsukinoko recognized Midareta, striding up the stairs four at a time.

  Surprised, she wondered what was wrong with him and why he would do such a foolish thing. She bursts in on him angrily, arms crossed and hair in her eyes. He stopped short and stared at her, not expecting to see her barge in like that, and the look on her face terrified him.

  - But... he panics. So everyone knows who the next Chef is! he shouts.

  - What?

  - I'm Udon Midareta, the future Chief! I painted all the faces like you taught me, the others suck! I'll be the fucking strongest

  - Idiot! Come back here!

  He left after slipping between her legs as she tried to catch him. The little blonde tuft fled across the rooftops, giggling and shouting at the top of her lungs about her future career to anyone who would listen. To slow down Tsukinoko, on her heels, Midareta throws her paint can into the air. She nimbly avoids him as the passers-by in the street are painted from head to toe. He chuckles even more and continues to shout her name all over Hanamaru, her little footsteps treading the tiles on the balconies.

  Three lightning clones of the young Adjutant set off in pursuit of Midareta, closely followed by Tsukinoko. Enraged, the three finally catch her. The four of them tumbled into the middle of the pavement, and passers-by suddenly jumped out of the way at the commotion. Each clone held a leg or arm of the struggling little rascal.

  - See what you've done?! You'd better clean it up! she growls at him.

  - Never!

  The clones dissipated, unleashing their lightning on Midareta. Tense from head to toe for a few seconds, Tsukinoko took advantage of the situation to give him a chokehold and immobilize him. He made big eyes then struggled again, but she didn't move an inch, waiting for him to promise to clean everything up. She tightened her grip and he began screaming for his life as passers-by began gossiping. Midareta starts to gasp for breath, then finally capitulates, terrified but unhurt, even if he can't free himself. He stopped fidgeting and she slowly released him.

  - Well?!

  - Yes, I'm fucking cleaning!" he yells.

  She pinched his nose and he immediately fell silent, before gesticulating in pain. Two policemen come running up and inform her that they had been assigned to watch the perpetrator while he repaired the damage, thanking her for catching him.

  Nestled in her tree, Tsukinoko took advantage of the last light of the day to paint. She had a direct view of Midareta, who was busy shampooing the sculptures with a large brush, and was immediately inspired. The monument to the Chiefs had a fourth face on the canvas, that of the little one. The sun disappeared behind the horizon, and Midareta finished cleaning up. Tsukinoko nodded to the policemen to leave and crouched beside him on the gondola as he wiped his hands on his shirt. She gently pinches his nose with a big Machiavellian smile, unsettling the little boy. He grimaced but said nothing. Instead of standing up, she presents him with her back. He hesitates, then climbs on after her invitation, and clings affectionately to Teuchi.

  Now that autumn was here, Tsukinoko had gone shopping on her day off to take advantage of the last of the seasonal produce. She was wearing her pink skirt stained with paint from the little Midareta, a white blouse and had braided her hair to one side. Her shopping bag, filled to the brim, held a box of white bean, ginger and fruit tarts. With her arms full, she paced up and down the main avenue, but the crowd resigned her to passing through the smaller, quieter adjacent street. Barking in the park along the sidewalk became insistent, and then Sunifa came running towards her.

  - Yo! Did you come to see us?" he asks.

  - Who's we? I was shopping.

  - Too bad. It's the master's birthday too, I thought.

  - What was that? Kakashi?" she wondered.

  A pack of dogs was playing and lounging at the foot of one of the park's trees, next to Kakashi, who was reading in his adjutant's uniform. It was finally a chance to meet the dogs, a request Kakashi had never given in to

  Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, ?hei and Guruko were introduced in turn by Sunifa. Each came to sniff her, and above all they spoke, which amazed Tsukinoko. Behind them, Kakashi stared at their introductions, taken aback.

  - Hey," exclaimed Bisuke, "are you that insufferable girl Kakashi can't stop talking about?

  Tsukinoko winced, vexed, but Kakashi pretended not to, continuing to read even though they hadn't yet greeted each other.

  - Tsuki, play with us!" cries Guruko.

  They all bark in response, and she throws one of the balls far out into the park. In a flash, they bring her back to the starting point. She starts again with several balls at the same time. Puzzled by their speed, she threw with all her might. Eventually, she found herself at the top of the tree. The bullets, enveloped in her chakra, were propelled at full speed like missiles. She lost sight of the bullets in the sky, while the dogs charged like rockets, before descending to Kakashi, who was watching his dogs leave with a worried expression.

  - Happy birthday," she smiles.

  - Thank you," he said, looking away.

  - What are you planning for your birthday? Aren't you going out with the others for the occasion? But Hina and Asuma often talk about you!

  He shrugs again and she pouts, sorry for him but bereft of his casual attitude. With a friendly gesture, she hands him the pastries. But the dogs come rushing back, pounding the ground before leaping at her in unison.

  Kakashi barely caught the box as they tackled her to the ground in their rush. The dogs laughed at her as she was by Bull, who had sat on her belly. Bisuke and Guruko set the drool-filled balls down beside her as ?hei nibbled her hand to caress it, all at the same time.

  She thought she heard Kakashi snigger after her fall and looked up, but he had his nose in his book. She had fun with them and launched a salvo of missiles. Kakashi, the box still in his hand, intended to give it back to her, but she refused

  Even if he found her unbearable, she wanted to make his day. Secretly moved by her gesture, he nonetheless set the box down beside him with an indolent air and greeted her. She abandoned him, but consoled herself by having played with the eight dogs.

  Stunning channels

  The names belong to Masashi Kishimoto