Disclaimer: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are the property of Masashi Kishimoto, TV Tokyo, and related owners. This is fanfiction is meant in no way to create a profit and is meant solely for entertainment purposes.
It had been less than a month since Otogakure had invaded Konohagakure and the reconstruction of the latter was nearly finished. A fifth Hokage had been appointed and life was returning to normal for the inhabitants of the ninja village.
Unless you were a shinobi. Missions were being accepted twice as much as before to compensate for those that had died in the invasion and so that the village would appear as powerful as any of the other ninja villages.
"Excessive work breeds sloppiness. Excessive sloppiness breeds cracks. Cracks are a shinobi's bane," a man muttered to himself, recalling a motto he had heard a lazy but correct proctor had say at his Jounin Exams. The man sat amidst the branches of a tree near the edge of Konoha's walls. His body was shrouded by large wisps of solid colors, all part of a passive genjutsu he had designed himself. It would make identification difficult, and considering he had once belonged to Konohagakure that would be necessary. The man made a quick glance at the ANBU officers going about their now daily patrols.
"They're too sloppy."
The guards had already passed his position a myriad of times throughout the last week and he had gone unnoticed. Killing them as an example would have pleased the man, but it would blow his cover. That would not do. Instead of continuing his waiting game, the man decided to go with his plan.
As the ANBU went past, the man made a curt smile. "Wind Style: Transparency Jutsu," the man said. This enhanced version of his sensei's technique instantly deactivated his passive genjutsu and his body became invisible as wind passed through his form effortlessly, creating a perfect disguise. Without a sound, he leapt from his tree and into the village; the guard ninja were blissfully unaware of anything going on.
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba Inuzuka yelled as he and Akamaru began their signature taijutsu. Kurenai snapped her attention toward Kiba as he slammed into her with his technique; Akamaru following only slightly behind.
Using a substitution jutsu, Kurenai reappeared closer to Hinata Hyuuga. Hinata gasped and raised her hands in a fighting stance; however Kurenai placed a kunai to the girl's neck.
"Dead," Kurenai pronounced. Hinata sighed and retreated from the practice spar as Shino Aburame ordered swarms of his bugs to converge at Kurenai's position.
Caught by surprise, Kurenai jumped over the swarms only to be hit by Kiba's taijutsu. Kiba and Akamaru stopped their jutsu mid-swing and Shino body flickered into the middle of his swarm.
Team 8's sensei hit the ground with a loud thud. "Dead," Shino said and Kurenai nodded.
Brushing herself off, she looked at her team with some approval. "Great work. But Kiba, you presented several openings that could have been exploited. If it weren't for Shino's insects you would have been defeated rather quickly." Kiba nodded.
"Shino, you did fine. However your taijutsu you displayed earlier in the spar needs more work." The Aburame made no noticeable response yet Kurenai knew he had heard every word.
"Hinata, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. That is the most important thing in a combat situation." The Hyuuga nodded silently, ashamed of her failure.
The hidden shinobi continued his silent vigil of Team 8 from a nearby tree. It had taken the man several hours to even come close to locating one of his two targets, but here she was.
He could still see her tell-tale white eyes and those lovely veins protruding from them. She possessed the Byakugan and she didn't have the Hyuuga branch family seal either. He had suspected that she would have a group of branch family guardsmen, but there were none. Her only defense was an Inuzuka, an Aburame, and a weak Jounin whose only claim to fame was her genjutsu skills. Truly the universe was shining on him today.
Jumping from his tree, the shinobi ended his advanced form of the Transparency Jutsu and preformed the hand signs for a different technique. His passive genjutsu reactivated without even a thought. "Blades of Wind!" Spears of spinning air coated the ninja's hands. Catching all of the practicing ninja by surprise, the man punched the bug user multiple times. The Aburame flew backwards into a tree but dissolved into a swarm of bugs as the real one appeared next to the Inuzuka.
The man canceled his jutsu and went into another set of hand signs. "Sensei?" the parka-wearing ninja yelled. The woman nodded as she unsheathed a handful of shuriken. "Oh yeah! Akamaru, let's go!" The boy ran forward with his dog beside him.
"Fire Style: Fire Wall!" The assailant sent his hand into ground, sending a wall of fire flaring up between them, preventing the boy from getting any closer. The ninja and his dog back flipped away from the flames and watched the fire intently.
"Hinata, is he still behind the wall?" Kurenai asked.
Hinata stared at the fire with her Byakugan. "He's st-still there. The fire completely suh-suh-surrounds him…"
Kurenai nodded. "Kiba, go back to the village and get help."
"Sensei…"
"No buts Kiba! You're the fastest here!" Kiba frowned but nodded several seconds later.
"You'd better be right about this sensei." Then Kiba and Akamaru bolted towards the exit of the training field.
Hinata gasped suddenly. "Kurenai-sensei… he's making hand signs…"
Without warning, the man jumped through his Fire Wall and made several more hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino darted away from the jutsu as it appeared before them.
Quickly regaining her composure, Kurenai focused her chakra in preparation for a genjutsu. A shift in the air behind her was her only indication of a follow up attack. A quick shove knocked the woman to the ground, breaking her concentration. "Lightning Style: Four Pillar Bind." Behind her, the air shifted again as the assailant dodged the four stone pillars he summoned. A second later, blue bolts of electricity crackled from the pillars and bound Kurenai in place. She shrieked as the unsuspecting lightning attack hit her.
"Crimpling overspecialization at its worst," the ninja thought as he faced his remaining two opponents.
"It was unwise to come attack us," Shino said.
"Really? It would appear I have the upper hand. Your sensei has been trapped with no way to free herself and you have lost your best taijutsu user."
"That may be so, but I haven't started yet." Shino lifted his arms parallel to the ground and a swarm of insects flew from his sleeves toward the man. The enemy shinobi ran towards the swarm, making hand signs as he went.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
The bugs fell in a smoldering heap. One punch was all that was needed to knock out the shocked Aburame.
Hinata composed herself into a juuken stance, waiting for the inevitable attack. "Drop the stance girl. I've seen you spar. You're pathetic. A real Hyuuga would have gone and attacked by now. It'll give me great pleasure to take your eyes."
"B-but…what…"
"I want your Byakugan. Now you can come with me quietly or I could proceed with knocking you out and carrying your unconscious body around."
The words slammed into her like a storm of paper bombs. A mix of fear and horror washed over her. The only other time she had ever felt a feeling such as this was when she prepared to fight Neji in the Chunin Exams. The only difference was that she couldn't borrow any of Naruto's confidence here.
"Hinata… run," Kurenai whimpered from the confines of the Pillar Bind.
"Demonic Illusion: Dark Slumber!" the man yelled as his hands finished forming a set of hand signs.
Hinata's eyes grew hazy and the man's genjutsu-covered body seemed to melt into the training field and soon the training field melted into the sky and soon the sky into darkness.
Author's Note: Hey guys. Name's CrazyShyness and I'm the new kid on the block. I've been writing fiction for a while now but this is my first foray into Naruto fanfiction.
This is a really short chapter and most of the chapters are also going to be sort of short, but doing this lets me add on more chapters quicker without having to change the pace that I write at. There will be long chapters too, so don't worry too much about that. I'm also going to be using the English names of the jutsus from the dubbed anime and translated manga whenever possible. I started watching Naruto dubbed and it feels more natural this way. Yet I will be using the Japanese names for the hidden villages. Yes, I am a strange person with double standards, why do you ask?
Also enjoy. That's kinda important I guess.