PUBLISHED DATE: 16/10/2016
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Bleach or Fairy Tail.
WHERE EVERYTHING CHANGED
-CHAPTER ONE-
What's happening?
"You're late."
Tsunade raised her brows at the Copy-Nin, who in return waved in greeting. "Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way here."
She grumbled under her breath, "Why do I even bother…"
"Hatake Kakashi," her voice echoed around the Hokage's office, and Kakashi instinctively straightened his back, ready to hear his leader's orders.
"You are assigned an A-ranked diplomatic mission to Suna, the mission details are in here," she tossed him a scroll in which he caught with ease, opening it instantly. "Your team consists of Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru. You leave tomorrow at dawn."
Kakashi hummed in return, his eyes scanning the mission content. "Why were these people in particular picked?" he asked, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"Sakura is my apprentice, sending her there shows that I trust Suna to send one of my pupils there, and Shikamaru is engaged to the Kazekage's sister, having him on this mission would be the right thing to do."
"And Naruto?"
"Well, I certainly don't plan to sit behind this desk forever. Naruto should learn some diplomacy before he takes over." Tsunade said with a smile.
Kakashi smiled back. "Understood, Tsunade-sama."
Kakashi didn't know when he started to think of his students as his partners during missions, but the feeling was nice, being able to trust and depend on them with his life.
"Sakura-chan! That hurts!" Naruto whined while clutching his bruised cheek from the monstrous slap he just received.
Well, maybe not too dependable, Kakashi thought as he continued reading the orange book in his hand, tuning out their childish arguments. He was finally getting to the most interesting part!
The pink-haired girl glared at her knucklehead of a teammate, a tick appearing at her forehead. Naruto swore he could see steam coming out from her ears. "Maybe you should have used that brain of yours before doing anything, or is it just for decoration purposes only?!"
Naruto whimpered slightly, while Shikamaru sighed for the umpteenth time, muttering 'how troublesome' at their antics. "B-But it was just a prank!"
Sakura grabbed his collar and shook him vigorously, "Breaking into my apartment in the middle of the night to ambush me when I wake up with paintballs is not funny, Naruto baka! I still have some orange paint in my hair! SEE?!"
She grabbed a fistful of her now shoulder-length hair, orange paint visible in the roots, and she gave him a pointed glare. Naruto laughed nervously, "S-Sorry Sakura-chan…" he gave her the look, and Sakura cringed, knowing that she would forgive him in the end. Who could resist those clear baby blue eyes of his?
"Fine, I forgive you. But don't you dare–"
"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He grinned happily like a child who just got a present. Somehow, Sakura felt like she was just duped. She smiled nonetheless, happy to have some peace after the war that took place about a month ago.
It's been two day since their departure from Konoha, another day left to reach Suna. They weren't in any rush so they travelled at a leisurely pace.
"Something's coming, and fast." Kakashi suddenly announced, his eyes set on the tiny figure from afar, hanging off one of the taller trees upside down. They tensed in anticipation, kunais ready and books put away.
Suddenly, the figure vanished. "What the–" Before Naruto could finish his sentence, the man –he assumed it was a man from the tall and bulky appearance, but he wasn't sure from the hooded cloak it wore– appeared behind him and gave him a kick to his guts.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted as her best friend flew across the forest, his back hitting a tree. She rushed forward, fist pumped with the needed chakra and aimed at the man's head. But just before contact was made, he disappeared again.
"Damn it, why can't I sense him? It's like he doesn't even exist!" she hissed.
Kakashi had his headband up by now, the Sharingan flaring in all its glory. Left! He blocked the punch coming from his left, eyeing the hooded man from close proximity. His face was covered with a black mask with two tiny slits for the eyes, he could see some similarities with the standard Anbu mask and he wondered if this man had connections to the black-ops. The hood was pulled across his head so he couldn't even tell what his hair colour was, and he wore gloves, making it almost impossible to identify who this man was.
"Shikamaru!" Kakashi yelled, the said man nodded in understanding. "Kagemane no Jutsu!" Kakashi instantly wrapped his arm around the man's neck, preventing him from escaping the Nara's signature technique.
But just as the jutsu came, the man vanished like before.
"Kakashi-sensei! Shikamaru!" They turned towards Sakura running towards them, Naruto in tow. "Where is he?" Sakura asked, while Naruto had an annoyed expression as he came, "I can't believe I allowed him to hit me! How am I supposed to be Hokage if I can't stop a single guy?!"
"Gone," Shikamaru replied, ignoring Naruto's rant. "How troublesome, this is why Team 7 is taboo when it comes to missions."
The 3 remaining members of the said team turned towards him, faces blank. "Eh?"
The Nara merely shook his head, "Almost every mission Team 7 is assigned to is a mission gone wrong."
"That's not–"
"Don't even try to deny it, you know it's true." He shot back at them. They dropped the subject almost immediately.
"Hey guys, is it just me or is the world spinning?" Naruto asked, his eyes had a dazed look to it. Their senses immediately heightened, searching for the culprit.
"Genjutsu?" Sakura whispered, holding Naruto who fell unconscious almost immediately. "Damn it, Naruto!"
Kakashi shook his head, "I don't detect anything with the Shar–" he stopped talking and stumbled as well, causing Shikamaru and Sakura to look at him in alarm. "Sensei!"
The said man went unconscious, Shikamaru supporting his weight with his own. The remaining conscious members looked at each other in silence, not expecting such an outcome. "What…" Sakura started. "What's happening?"
"I don't know, but I think we're about to find out." Shikamaru nodded his head behind her, Sakura turning around almost immediately, spotting the hooded man not far from them.
"Who are you?" He questioned.
They were met with silence, the only sound was the rustling leaves from the trees. Sakura glanced at her teammate, giving him a sign that they came up with before they left the village.
We need to get out of here, we can't fight him with two men down.
He nodded slightly, tightening his grip on Kakashi. A smoke bomb was thrown and just as they were about to leave the scene, a hit to their necks was all they needed to know that they were officially screwed before losing consciousness.
"Natsu, Erza, Laxus, Levy," the master's voice called out to the four Fairy Tail mages. Everyone looked towards them, wondering why Master Makarov had asked for them.
"Yes, Master?" Erza asked as they gather in front of the bar, where Makarov was sitting on top of the counter. "What's up, Master?" Natsu said with a cheeky grin.
Makarov looked at the four of them, and after a while of staring, finally nodded. "I'm sending the four of you on an S-class mission."
"Eh?" Erza and Laxus both said at the same time.
Levy looked shocked while Natsu, who finally became an S-class mage not long ago, was jumping. "An S-class mission! Finally! Happy, did you hear that?!"
"Master, I understand why the three of them are going, but I'm not an S-class mage." Levy voiced out, worried of her own abilities.
Makarov handed her the mission paper, in which Levy took it and started reading it. "What does it say? What does it say? Do we have to kill some S-class monster? Oh! Or maybe we need to defeat some dark guilds!" Natsu exclaimed as he snatched the paper from her hands before she could finish reading it.
"…solving an ancient rune…" He mumbled as his eyes skimmed through the paper before landing on the price. "12,000,000 jewels?!"
Both Natsu and Levy's jaw dropped, while Erza and Laxus nodded. "It's to be expected, the price is actually moderate for an S-class mission." They reasoned. The dragon slayer held the mission paper in his hands as if it was gold, trembling from excitement.
"We'll be rich! The amount of food I could eat with this money! Just imagine it!" Natsu hollered, while Erza and Laxus shook their head.
Amidst all that, Levy went to Makarov, "Master, I don't think I'm the right choice for this. Maybe you should have Freed on this mission."
"Freed may be stronger in terms of power, but his knowledge is limited, while you've been studying and researching on ancient languages and runes since you were younger," Makarov explained, "Have faith in yourself, my child. I didn't pick you to be a candidate for the S-class trials if I didn't think you had what it takes to be an S-class mage."
He smiled at her as she blushed, a light pink tint on her cheeks. "Okay, Master. I won't disappoint you!"
And so, not more than two hours later, the group found themselves on the road towards the village that sent this request. "So the village is on an island?" Levy inquired.
"Yes, it'll take us a day at most to reach the nearest port, and then we'll sit a boat to cross the sea." Erza explained, lugging her excessive amount of suitcases with her. Levy nodded in understanding.
"Oi, Natsu," Laxus began, "Stop sulking."
Natsu ignored him and had his head low, upset that Happy couldn't join them due to a sudden food poisoning just an hour ago. "Leave me alone." He muttered sulkily.
Laxus only rolled his eyes.
Just then, a hooded man appeared in front of them, startling the four mages. Levy gasped in surprise as he suddenly came forward, his hand outstretched towards her. But before he could touch her, Laxus got in between them, pushing the girl behind him while the hooded man had stopped in his track.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Laxus demanded. Erza had her sword out while Natsu had snapped out of his depression mode, all eyes focused on the man.
The man raised his gloved hand in front of them, whispering, "…Neru." They all fell unconscious and slumped to the ground.
Back in Soul Society, in one of the many labs in the 12th Division, one particular machine was beeping continuously. "Captain! A strong reiatsu was detected in Sabitsura!" Akon, one of the many subordinates of Kurotsuchi Mayuri, yelled out in panic.
"…It disappeared!" They were all confused by this, one moment it was there and the next it was like it never happened.
"Akon!" Kurotsuchi Mayuri had arrived, and he was not a happy man. "What do you mean it disappeared? That was the highest level of reiatsu ever detected outside of Soul Society and you're telling me it's gone?"
"It could have been a rare specimen!" He hissed in annoyance while Akon laughly weakly at his Captain's words.
Another loud beeping had everyone stare at the machine once again. "Another high reiatsu was detected! This time in Hokutan!"
Mayuri smiled as he glanced at the screen, already thinking of the many different ways to experiment on whatever it was out there. "Nemu!"
"Yes, Mayuri-sama." The girl appeared, startling a few others of her sudden appearance.
"Inform the Head-Captain of this and have those buffoons from the 11th Division find out what it is out there," he said, his eyes still glued to the screen, "I don't have to remind you that I want them back alive, now do I?"
Nemu dipped her head forward, her body bending into a low bow. "As you wish, Mayuri-sama."
Author's Note:
Kagemane no Jutsu - Shadow Possession Jutsu
Neru - literally means 'go to sleep' in Japanese