It had been very difficult to covertly sneak a peek at the inventory of the caravan that they were escorting, which in and of itself was throwing up warning signs. It was one thing for a group of civilians to be wary about shinobi poking around their things, given some of the stories that spread and warped with time, but it was another one entirely when a group of civilians kept a tight but casual watch rotation in place to successfully deter said poking.

Action had to be taken, which was why Ami had quietly volunteered to help break the pattern and create an opportunity the previous evening, once they had determined the normal pattern of their clients' rotation. A small amount of diuretic slipped into a single bowl had Ami trooping out into the woods with the unfortunate caravan member in the middle of the night. She dragged her feet as much as possible, trying to extend the window of time her temporary team had to work with.

Eventually, however, she noticed something amiss, and that the civilian had vanished.

She managed to dispel the genjutsu and get one long blade free before her attacker descended, but the scuffle was as intense as it was short-lived. At the end of it, there was only a familiar, if slightly tattered ribbon left crushed, half-hidden, at the foot of a scruffy bush.