Chapter 6: The Rejects' Gambit
Nobody expected them to amount to anything.
Daimaru had known this since the moment Yura handed him that assignment scroll.
Three rejects. A temporary jonin. And a dream too big for any of them.
He looked across the campfire at Chiyo and Yome.
They don't even believe in themselves.
How am I supposed to carry them to the Chunin Exams?
---
The Gobi Desert stretched in all directions.
Weathered rock. Sparse scrub. The occasional skeleton of an animal that hadn't been lucky enough to find shade.
The cave they'd stopped in was shallow—barely deep enough to block the wind.
Good enough for a rest stop.
Bad enough to remind us how little Suna cares about its own.
Oto Kaze sat apart from the group, chewing on dried meat and watching the horizon.
Twenty-six years old. First time leading a genin squad. Already looking like he regretted it.
He's not here because he wants to be.
He's here because someone told him to be.
Just like the rest of us.
---
"So," Oto Kaze said, breaking the silence. "You're the one who confessed to Temari."
Here we go.
Daimaru didn't flinch. "That's me."
"The whole village is talking about it."
Of course they are.
"What else do they have to do? It's not like Suna's got entertainment."
Oto Kaze laughed—a short, surprised sound. "Fair point."
Chiyo snorted. "He's not embarrassed at all. It's disturbing."
"Why should I be embarrassed?" Daimaru shrugged. "I like her. I said it. She said no. Life goes on."
Life goes on.
Straight into the next disaster.
Yome spoke quietly: "But she's the Kazekage's daughter. And you're..."
And I'm what?
Poor? Unconnected? A nobody?
"Say it," Daimaru said.
Yome looked away.
Coward.
Oto Kaze leaned forward. "You know, back in the day, Temari's mother—Karura—she had plenty of suitors too. Good ones. Strong ones."
I know where this is going.
"In the end, the Fourth Kazekage won her."
Because he was the Kazekage.
Because he had power.
Because he wasn't a genin with empty pockets and a death wish.
"You're telling me I don't have a chance."
"I'm telling you the odds are bad."
Odds.
I've beaten worse odds.
I've survived missions that should have killed me.
I've crawled out of quicksand with a medal and a stupid nickname.
Odds don't scare me.
---
"One cannot choose their background," Daimaru said, his voice steady. "But I have no intention of accepting my fate."
Oto Kaze's eyes narrowed.
Good. He's listening.
"Let me say something. To Chiyo. To Yome. To you, Captain."
This is the part where they think I'm crazy.
Let them.
"I'm going to participate in this year's Chunin Exams."
Silence.
Chiyo blinked. "You're dreaming. Chunin? Now? You?"
The doubt in her voice.
Like I'd already failed.
"I'm not joking."
Yome shook her head. "The exams are months away. We're not ready. You're not ready."
She doesn't believe in me.
None of them do.
That's fine.
I'll believe in myself enough for all of us.
Daimaru looked at his two teammates—really looked at them.
Chiyo. Genjutsu specialist. Sharp mind. Fragile body. One good punch and she's done.
Yome. Sensory type. Medical skills. Perception range that would make a jonin jealous. Zero offensive capability.
They're not strong.
But they don't need to be.
They just need to survive.
"I hope you two will also aim for the Chunin Exams," Daimaru said quietly. "Otherwise, I'm in trouble."
Because a team needs three.
Because I can't do this alone.
Because if you two give up, I'm back to being a solo genin with no future.
Chiyo's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"You're serious."
"Dead serious."
---
Oto Kaze set down his dried meat.
He looked at Daimaru the way a hunter looks at prey—assessing. Measuring. Deciding if it was worth the bullet.
"I still underestimated you."
Most people do.
"The Chunin Exams." The jonin rolled the words around like he was tasting them. "Seems like I'm getting dragged into this too."
Yes. You are.
"If I get the captain's recommendation—"
"What if I don't recommend you?"
The question hung in the air.
What if.
What if he says no.
What if the whole plan falls apart before it starts.
Daimaru met his eyes. "I don't know."
Honest answer.
"I'll figure something out."
Oto Kaze stared at him for a long moment.
Then he laughed—not mocking, but genuine. The laugh of a man who'd just realized he'd been wrong about someone.
"If even I, after spending months with you, can't approve you... who else can you find?"
He's right.
If I can't convince him, I can't convince anyone.
Oto Kaze stood up. Brushed the dust from his pants.
"The Third Kazekage went missing years ago. Since then, this village hasn't had many interesting young people."
Interesting.
That's what he called me.
Interesting.
"It's time to go. Let me see your resolve, Daimaru."
---
They moved out within the hour.
The border between Wind and Grass was still a day's travel. The bandit stronghold was somewhere ahead—a crumbling fortification filled with desperate men who'd chosen crime over starvation.
Easy targets.
If nothing goes wrong.
When has nothing ever gone wrong?
Daimaru took the rear position again—watching their backs, scanning the horizon, counting the seconds until the next disaster.
Chiyo walked ahead of him, her steps light, her hands never far from her fan.
Yome stayed in the middle, her strange eyes flickering left and right, tracking everything within her massive perception range.
Tens of kilometers.
She can see further than any of us can run.
If she's paying attention.
"Yome," Daimaru said quietly.
"What?"
"Keep your eyes open. If you see anything moving toward us—anything at all—you shout. Understood?"
She frowned. "I know my job."
Do you?
Your last team dumped you because you couldn't keep up.
Prove them wrong.
"Just making sure."
---
The sun climbed higher.
Heat shimmered off the sand. The air tasted like dust and old blood.
Not literally.
Not yet.
Daimaru's mind drifted back to the conversation.
The Chunin Exams.
In his past life—his other life—he'd watched them play out. Knew the players. Knew the outcomes.
Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura.
The Sound genin.
Orochimaru's attack.
The invasion.
All of it.
*And he was stuck in Suna, on a team of rejects, with a temporary jonin who might or might not recommend him.
If he couldn't even qualify for the exams...
If he couldn't get to Konoha...
Everything he knew would be useless.
He'd be useless.
Just another genin in a village full of them, waiting to die in a war that wasn't his.
---
"Daimaru."
Yome's voice. Tight.
Here it comes.
"I see something."
"How many?"
"Three. Maybe four. Moving fast."
Ninja.
Bandits don't move fast.
Bandits don't have formation.
Bandits aren't coming toward us with murder in their hearts.
Oto Kaze held up a fist. The squad stopped.
"How far?" the jonin asked.
"Two klicks. Closing."
Two kilometers.
Ten minutes if they're sprinting.
Five if they're elite.
"Can you identify them?"
Yome's eyes narrowed—focusing, straining.
"Headbands."
Shinobi.
"Whose?"
A pause.
Then Yome's face went pale.
"Iwa."
Iwagakure.
Stone ninja.
On the border between Wind and Grass.
Why?
Oto Kaze's hand drifted to his weapon.
He's thinking the same thing I am.
This isn't random.
This is a border incursion.
And we're the only squad in range.
"Orders, Captain?" Daimaru asked.
The jonin's jaw tightened.
He's weighing the options.
Fight. Flee. Call for backup.
Backup is hours away.
Fleeing means abandoning the mission.
Fighting means four against four—maybe four against five—with two support types and one genin brawler.
Odds are bad.
Odds are always bad.
Oto Kaze looked at Daimaru.
At Chiyo.
At Yome.
He's measuring them.
Deciding if they're worth the risk.
"Change of plans," the jonin said quietly. "We're not hunting bandits today."
Then what are we doing?
"We're finding out why Stone ninja are in our territory."
Oh.
That's worse.
Much worse.
Daimaru's hand tightened on his kunai.
The Chunin Exams are months away.
But the war might start today.
"Captain," Chiyo whispered. "We're not equipped for—"
"I know."
Oto Kaze turned to face them.
"Here's how this works. I engage first. Draw their attention. Daimaru, you flank—hit them from the side while they're focused on me."
Me.
Alone.
Against Stone ninja.
"Chiyo, you stay back. Genjutsu only. Don't let them get close."
"I—"
"Yome, you're our eyes. If more are coming, I need to know before they arrive."
The small girl nodded, her face pale but determined.
She's scared.
We're all scared.
But we're doing it anyway.
Oto Kaze looked at Daimaru one last time.
"You wanted to prove yourself. Here's your chance."
Here's my chance.
To die.
To live.
To become something more than a reject on a throwaway team.
"Let's move."
---
The Stone ninja didn't see them coming.
They were good—professional, disciplined, moving in formation through the scrubland.
Four of them. Chunin, maybe. Hard faces. Harder eyes.
They're not here for bandits.
They're here for something else.
Something that matters.
Oto Kaze struck first.
Wind Release screamed through the air—a blade of compressed air that bisected the trailing Stone ninja before anyone could react.
One down.
Three to go.
Then Daimaru moved.
Fast. Silent. Deadly.
He came out of the rocks like a ghost, kunai aimed at the second ninja's throat—
And hit sand.
Substitution.
Shit.
The real enemy appeared behind him, fist already swinging.
Too fast.
Can't dodge.
Brace—
The punch connected.
Daimaru flew.
Not dead.
Not dead yet.
He hit the ground rolling, came up with a handful of shuriken, and threw them without aiming.
Just buy time.
Just survive.
Just—
Yome's voice screamed in his head.
Telepathy.
Her ability.
"Two more incoming. East. Three hundred meters."
More.
There are more.
Daimaru's blood ran cold.
This isn't a border incursion.
This is a strike team.
And we walked right into them.
---
Oto Kaze was holding his own—barely.
Two Stone ninja pressed him hard, their attacks coordinated, relentless.
The third circled toward Chiyo.
No.
Not her.
She can't fight up close.
She'll die.
Daimaru launched himself between them, taking a kunai to the shoulder instead of Chiyo's chest.
Pain.
Good.
Pain means I'm alive.
"Run!" he shouted.
Chiyo's eyes were wide. "But—"
"RUN!"
She ran.
The Stone ninja smirked. "Brave. Stupid, but brave."
I've heard that before.
Daimaru ripped the kunai from his shoulder and threw it back.
The ninja dodged.
Expected.
Didn't matter.
The real attack came from the ground—sand, shaped into a blade, rising from beneath the enemy's feet.
Earth Release.
Crude. Weak. But unexpected.
The Stone ninja stumbled.
Daimaru closed the distance.
One punch.
Two.
Three.
Not enough.
Never enough.
The enemy caught his fourth punch and twisted.
Bones cracking.
His bones.
Doesn't matter.
He headbutted the Stone ninja—felt the man's nose break—and shoved a second kunai into his gut.
That one found flesh.
The Stone ninja fell.
Two down.
But more coming.
And Daimaru was running out of blood.
---
"FALL BACK!"
Oto Kaze's voice cut through the chaos.
Fall back.
Retreat.
Run.
Daimaru grabbed Chiyo's arm and pulled her toward the rocks.
Yome was already moving—her short legs pumping, her breath coming in gasps.
The two reinforcements.
Three hundred meters.
Now two hundred.
Now—
They exploded out of the brush.
Chunin. Both.
Fresh. Unwounded.
And angry.
Oto Kaze put himself between them and his squad.
"GO!"
He's buying time.
With his life.
Daimaru ran.
Not because he was a coward.
Because if he died here, everything he knew died with him.
The invasion. The attack. The future.
He had to survive.
He had to.
---
They didn't stop running until the sun set.
Chiyo collapsed against a rock, gasping.
Yome curled into a ball, shaking.
Daimaru stood watch, his shoulder soaked in blood, his eyes fixed on the horizon.
Oto Kaze.
Did he make it?
Or did we just lose our captain?
On our first real mission?
He didn't know.
He couldn't know.
Not until morning.
If we survive the night.
Chiyo looked up at him. "What now?"
What now?
Good question.
What now?
Daimaru stared into the darkness.
The Stone ninja.
The border.
The Chunin Exams.
Temari.
Gaara.
All of it.
Coming apart before it even began.
"We wait," he said.
"For what?"
For a miracle.
For backup.
For a sign that we haven't already lost.
He didn't say any of that.
He just watched the darkness.
And waited.
---
Three hours later, a figure stumbled out of the night.
Oto Kaze.
Bleeding. Limping. But alive.
He looked at his three genin—beaten, exhausted, terrified—and managed a weak smile.
"Good job today."
Good job.
We survived.
That's all that matters.
"We need to move," the jonin said. "More are coming."
More.
Always more.
Daimaru helped Chiyo to her feet.
The bandit mission was a trap.
Or a distraction.
Or just bad luck.
Doesn't matter.
What matters is getting home.
And getting ready.
Because the Chunin Exams were still coming.
And now, so was something else.
Something worse.
Something Daimaru had known about since the beginning.
The invasion.
It was closer than anyone thought.
And he was the only one who knew.
He looked at the stars—the same stars that hung over Konoha, over Suna, over all of them.
I need to get stronger.
Faster.
Smarter.
Because when the exams start...
When Orochimaru makes his move...
When the Sand and Sound attack...
I need to be ready.
Or everyone I care about dies.
Again.
"Let's go home," Daimaru said.
They walked through the night, four wounded shadows clinging to the edge of the desert.
Home.
If they made it.
If the Stone ninja didn't find them.
If.
Always if.