Eh, so this suddenly came to me out of nowhere and I know you might hate me. Please bear with my nonsense. And between, the Akatsuki is a good bunch here: 3
A Dragon Rose
She had an unhealthy craze for oranges and cinnamon. Tsunade was cagey and she had no qualms placing her in the Black Ops. She was strangely…intriguing. Those three could give her that much.
1: Placed in Rough Care
"Are you sure of your decision? It was a mere suggestion." The young woman spoke.
Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Given your skills, placing you in the hospital would be a waste."
Tsunade looked at the young woman before her. She smiled, "They'll be here."
The girl's voice was laced with no emotion at all, "What of the man who is always late?"
Tsunade laughed, having had the advice the young woman provided her. It really helped with the hangovers. Tsunade'd been surprised that she never thought of it.
"I told him that we were meeting six hours ago." Tsunade replied.
Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha arrived immediately, their respective remnants of black feathers and leaves imminent that they had teleported. Surprisingly, a head of silver poked his head through the window, surprised and inwardly annoyed for being on time.
"Hokage-sama." Itachi and Sasuke greeted their leader.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head before sighing, "Eh, Hokage-sama, you got me this time…"
Tsunade became serious, "Boys, I'd like to inform you of some good news. We've found a good replacement for Shisui on your team. Damn him, he just had to leave ANBU…"
Nobody even noticed the other woman in the office until Tsunade pointed her out, "She is going to be your new teammate."
They turned to see the woman. She was innately like Kakashi, wearing a mask that covered half of her face. Most of her black hair was very short, barely reaching above her shoulders. However, three braided lengths emerged from the right at the nape of her neck; each was decorated with several beads and some black feathers at the end. The braids ended just below her breasts and frankly, that was where Sasuke had been staring since he'd taken notice of her. It was bad enough that she was undeniably beautiful, what made it worse was that she was in full ANBU gear, her mask in her hand.
Her eyes were what piqued their interests the most. The right eye was silver surrounded by a ring of crimson and her left eye was an unnerving sky blue with no pupil at all. She was still…enchanting.
"I hope my eyes will not bring nightmares to you." Her voice carried absolutely no emotion.
Kakashi looked at her up and down. He hadn't seen her and if she was worthy enough to be placed in the ANBU, they must have heard of her name somewhere.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked, armed at the ready.
What Tsunade did next roused their suspicions levels off the charts. Tsunade quickly took out something and smiled, "Here, this is your hidai ate."
The young woman deftly caught it, thanked Tsunade and nimbly tied it around her forehead, fixing her hair around it.
"What's the bloody meaning of this," Sasuke growled before adding, "Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade glared at him before replying, "I see you managed to remember your manners this time."
Tsunade looked at the young woman, "Please introduce yourself to your teammates. We cannot have them attacking you with kunai every second."
The young woman nodded before speaking.
"My name is Aria. Surnames are of no importance. I am twenty years old. My masked name will be Nightingale and yes, I am the assassin you have in mind. I tolerate no formalities."
Kakashi looked at Tsunade, his lone eye wider than a saucer, "When? How? Why?"
Tsunade glared at him, "Be thankful that she has chosen our side of the fight. She will be integrating into Konoha as a full citizen starting now. I have a mission that you will go to in a week. Use this time to get acquainted with your new teammate. You will receive details of the mission two days before the mission, when our spy team will return. So see you on Friday, team Kakashi!"
When they began asking questions, Tsunade only entertained one.
"This is an absolute order. Take her with you to the training grounds immediately. She will need to acquaint herself with your techniques. And Aria, I know how short your fuse is. Don't go around hacking them to death for every comment, they are also human."
Aria bowed to Tsunade before going out the window.
Tsunade looked at the three men and sighed, "She is an ally, boys. We cannot lose her alliance because if we do, only know this. Konoha will burn."
Her tone had death laced with it and the three knew better than to disobey that tone. They nodded, going out to search this new teammate of theirs.
They found her on Training Ground 3, meditating calmly in the middle of the field.
They made only the slightest rustle over the grass, only to barely dodge a rain of poisoned senbon that came their way.
Aria's voice was frozen as she stood up, "I am an assassin and I am always on the hunt. Forgive my transgressions…old habits die hard."
Itachi stepped forward, "I propose a trade."
Aria's eyes, surprisingly, unnerved Itachi, "That depends on what the trade is."
Sasuke looked at the woman in awe; he'd never felt Itachi's chakra falter like that before.
"You will tell us more of your purpose here, assassin." Kakashi spoke, trying his level best not to get weirded out by her eyes. Damn those, they were creepy!
Aria replied, "What do I receive in return?"
Kakashi spoke, "We will tell you what we will."
Aria extended a hand, "Accepted then, I still do not know your names."
Kakashi shook it first, "Hatake Kakashi, sole survivor and head of the Hatake bloodline, tutored under the late Fourth Hokage, thirty-one years old, captain of this team."
Aria nodded before moving to Itachi who spoke, "Itachi Uchiha, head of the Uchiha bloodline, ex-captain of a previous ANBU team, and I am twenty-seven years old."
Before Sasuke could even extend his hand, he was greeted by a sharp, resounding slap, courtesy from the back of Aria's left hand.
Sasuke spat out some blood and asked, "What the fuck was that for, bitch?"
Aria's voice seemed to have frozen the atmosphere around her, "Be glad that I have not stabbed you. If you wish to live near me, you will not keep looking at my breasts, chicken ass."
Sasuke swore he heard a snicker from both of the other men, which were quickly forgotten when Itachi spoke, "I apologize for his…unsavory behavior. He is my younger brother, Sasuke, second in line to the Uchiha, previously mentored by Kakashi, twenty-five years old."
Aria nodded and spoke, "I believe it is my turn to reveal intelligence. However, if you will not mind, could any of you tell me where I can find a fruit stall around here?"
All three men gawked at her. Her tone made it all the more hilarious, because it was one of ice.
Kakashi struggled with his laughter before speaking, "Yes, there is one very nearby. I trust you can talk while we lead you there?"
Aria nodded and Kakashi swore he could have seen a smile under that infernal mask of hers. Oh wait, who was he to judge?
As all four of them walked down the streets of Konoha, people began to stare at the team's newest female member. One, they had never seen her before. Two, she was hot. Three, most were men.
"You three are well known amongst your people." Aria spoke, her vision still facing forward, unaffected by the men at the sidelines who kept sending her glances.
"In actuality, they are looking at you, Aria." Itachi spoke as-a-matter-of-factly.
As they walked, Kakashi asked, "Why are you here?"
"I can only tell you what the Hokage has allowed me. I am the Nightingale. I trained under many renowned assassins around the world. I have a debt to the Hokage that I believe I will not be able to complete even under death, so to honor me, she has asked me to become a citizen here."
"And you blatantly agreed? Lies!" Sasuke hissed.
Itachi and Kakashi both hit him on the back of his head when Aria turned around, her eyes emanating killer intent. The intent faded and Aria spoke, "I told you that I am under her debt. I cannot disclose anything against orders."
"Why do you have eyes like that and why do you wear a mask?" Kakashi asked while Itachi berated Sasuke for being a dimwit.
"Why did you agree to take Itachi's cousin's Sharingan and why do you wear yours, Hatake-san?" Aria's voice was cutting edge and each word got deeper than Kakashi expected them to.
"Who told you?" Kakashi's voice was dangerous. Aria's voice rivaled it, "The Hokage gave me in-depth knowledge about all my teammates so that I will be able to meld into this…arrangement."
Itachi's voice too became low, "So why does she tell you everything about us and nothing about you? For all we know, you could have placed the Hokage under a genjutsu and-"
"Itachi." Her voice was powerful, "I could have easily killed her too. However, as I said, I am in Tsunade-sama's debt and I was willing to become a part of her village and protect it."
Kakashi did not sit well with the fact that the girl before him knew so much. In order to stop the glaring war between Aria and Itachi, he broke the ice, "We're at the fruit stall as per your request."
The fruit vendor present was a young woman who immediately swooned at the presence of three ANBU operatives, "Hello, what can I get for you?"
Aria's voice was cutting edge, "Where can I get ten kilograms of ripe, firm mandarins and a kilogram of cinnamon around here?"
The fruit vendor looked baffled, "Ma'am…um…"
Aria's voice became icier, "It was a simple question, woman."
Kakashi intervened, "Aria, it will not bode well for you to emanate that aura in front of civilians."
The fruit vendor quickly retreated, when an older man came to greet them.
"I asked the woman for ten kilograms of mandarins and a kilogram of cinnamon. Is it that difficult for her to speak when she is on an estrogen drive?"
The trio as well as the fruit vendor looked at her incredulously after which, the fruit vendor quickly spoke, "Yes, we do, Ma'am. Right this way."
Kakashi and Itachi exchanged a glance.
"Does she lack that much subtlety?" Sasuke asked, his jaw hanging rather wide open.
Aria quickly got out with what she wanted, lifted them over her back and paid the man. Her voice changed completely, "Thank you! I loved the riper ones!"
When she returned, her voice was once again completely icy, "I apologize for time wasted. I request to be excused from you for a minute; I must go keep these at my home."
"It would be easier if we came along, it will be necessary for us to know where you live."
Aria nodded, "Agreed, Hatake-san."
Itachi looked at her in the eye, still trying to get used to her unique trait, "I thought you did not tolerate formalities at all."
Aria shrugged, giving them the first human gesture since they met, "That is only for my own name."
"If that's the case, you should call us by our names too. It'd be hypocrisy." Kakashi suggested.
Aria looked at Kakashi and nodded, "I will attempt to do so in the future, Hatake-san."
She continued, "However, right now, I must place this at home."
Her house wasn't half-bad. It was the top floor of one of Konoha's best apartments and hers was a friggin' penthouse. She quickly went into the kitchen, which could house the Hokage's office within it. She opened one fridge and neatly arranged the mandarins inside it within a surprising ten minutes.
She called out, still in her icy voice, "Feel free to look around, the genjutsu traps I set will obviously not harm the likes of you three."
Kakashi leant the doorframe of the kitchen, curiously watching this 'assassin' get involved in domestic chores. Aria looked up at him as she placed the cinnamon neatly into several jars. Everything was in tip-top order.
Kakashi's mouth spoke before he could stop it, "You have OCD."
Aria stood up, fixing everything into place before nodding, "You observe well. However, it is under control and I need no medications. It is a request I ask of you to keep this from those two."
Kakashi looked at her incredulously, "They are also your teammates."
Aria added, "You are the captain. I sanction only you to knowing one of my weaknesses. Mandarin?"
Kakashi gratefully accepted it and asked, "There's more?"
Aria was already finished with three and he hadn't even once seen her face, "We all are human."
Kakashi carefully tried to eye her as she scarfed down another mandarin. He failed to see her face. He sighed inwardly; looks like someone had beaten him at his own game.
The Uchiha brothers came towards the kitchen, "What's taking you so long?"
Aria held out several more of the infernally orange fruit, "A mandarin?"
Itachi accepted one while Sasuke declined as normally as possible; he hated anything that was sweet.
The color orange reminded Kakashi of his former student Naruto once again. He smirked as an idea popped into his head.
"Say, Aria…do you by any chance know anyone else in this village?" Kakashi asked, nudging Itachi to play along with him.
"No I do not. I hope you would care to squander a moment at my expense for that purpose."
Itachi tried to bring out an emotion in her by speaking, "So, let's go."
The ANBU HQ was definitely something Aria had not expected. It had facilities that she had never expected to see there.
"Oi boys who the hell is that sexy goddess you dressed up in ANBU gear?" Genma barely managed to dodge the kunai that came his way, although it did make its way onto a table, where three more masked ANBU sat and were sharing a conversation.
Itachi almost laughed at that point while Kakashi smirked, "He's had it coming."
"This worthless annoyance is worthy to be among your elite?" Aria's voice nearly let out irritation.
That caught the ears of every ANBU in the vicinity.
"What gives you the right to speak like that, Freaky eyes?" An ANBU with a rather young voice and the mask of a Cat spoke, only to have freezing cold metal against her neck.
Most of them did an uptake; they hadn't even seen the woman drag out her sword.
"Comments like that are infernally useless in our line of duty, little kitten." Aria seemed to add the last two words just rile the woman she threatened up.
A voice immediately tore the place apart, "You freaky woman, get your hands off of Sakura-chan right now, or else…"
Aria shrugged, "Or else you will kill me, maim me, and cause me fatal harm? What else is likely, boy?"
Naruto felt his demon chakra begin to take control of himself. Itachi quickly forced Aria to let go of the Cat ANBU and spoke, "You lack subtlety to a fault, Aria. Keep this up and there will be more enemies in store for you here than allies."
Naruto was calmed by Sasuke when Sasuke sighed, "Aria put the sword back in its sheath."
Aria did as she was told and she looked at Kakashi for the first time with confusion in her eyes.
Kakashi realized and spoke, "Oh guys, this is a new recruit. Tsunade was being shady and she didn't tell us much about this one. Her name's Aria and she'll be in our team."
Genma snarled, "Like hell she will when I'm done with her, she thinks she's boss, she was throwing kunai around like some assassin!"
The hand that Kakashi had on Aria's shoulder gripped it more firmly, even more so when he felt the familiar jolt of killing intent pulsate through her body.
"Do you wish to talk big words or prove your worth, boy?" Aria spoke. Kakashi concealed his chuckle behind his mask; Genma was his age and far from a 'boy'. Genma's ego was on the line here.
"The fight is on, bitch!"
It had been going on for two hours, where Aria was simply dodging his moves with killer grace and heck, she found the time to look at her nails while she was at it. Kakashi sighed, "Knock him out, Aria. This has been dragged out long enough."
Aria and Kakashi's eyes met at that moment when she spoke, "You know what I am. If I begin, I will not stop until the lights go out."
Some of the other ANBU exclaimed, "Kakashi, what the hell did that woman just mean by that?"
Kakashi observed the young woman with a hint of pride. It would be intriguing to fight by her side. She possessed grace that in it brought forth calls of the underworld. However, trying to stop her from killing anything and anyone that roused her short fuse would be annoying. She reminded him of his former student, Sakura. However, she was just much more frozen and deadly. Kakashi was interrupted from his thoughts by a scream. He did not like it.
However, the scream was heard from one of the ANBU who, for crying out loud, FAINTED.
Kakashi looked at them and felt a loud scream build inside himself.
Before all of them, lay the tattered, bloodstained, mutilated corpse of their friend Genma Shiranui.
Kakashi's mind could only draw a blank.
So, please don't kill me Genma fans. I'm sure you'll be relieved in the next chapter.
SPOILER ALERT BEGIN
"What the hell did she do?" Kakashi asked his old friend.
"Man, she's got skill. I didn't wake up until I heard you people beating the shit out of her. Dude that was one heck of a genjutsu! Didn't you see through it, Itachi?"
SPOILER ALERT END
So I won't beg for reviews or something. I'm just hoping to run a poll.
Whom do you want our little Ice Princess Aria to get together with? Winning character will get an ending with her, though I'm still not sure whether it will be a happy or a sad one. So choose.
Hatake Kakashi
Itachi Uchiha
Uchiha Sasuke
Other (please specify)
Ciao for now then!
