Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters or anything ELSE related to it... Kuran no Kiri roughly translates into 'Mist of the Nine Orchids'

This is a sequel to my story Past and Present... this is a three year timeskip from the end of the story...

Kuran no Kiri Chapter 1

The Hunt

Three years ago, she had left him for dead in the Land of Snow... now as she stood, fully cloaked, in the Land of Rain, she wondered how well he was fairing. The stab wound was inches from his heart and even though she had healed it, she wondered exactly how bad the internal damage was...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of static. She pressed the button on the leather strap wrapped around her neck.

"What is it now?" She sighed, green eyes glinting.

"They're on the move..." Some static... "Heading toward your location... do not fail..."

"Oh, shuddup..." She hissed back. "I'm doing this of my own accord... you know better than to order me around..."

There was no response. She shook her head and back flipped off the top of the tree she stood on. Landing in a clearing, she opened her now moonlit colored eyes. Three chakra signatures were charging toward her. From her cloak she pulled out a purple katana. The figures stopped in front of her. She spotted the one she was targeting... chestnut hair, blue-gray eyes... Seiten Harasu.

"Lookie what we found, boys." The man chided. "A kunoichi! Wanna help use escape some people, then join us for dinner... maybe more?"

"You shouldn't flaunt yourself so much... I'm not as naïve as I look."

Senbon shot toward one man, striking him in clusters of nerves around the body. The man collapsed on the ground, paralyzed. The man to the right charged toward her. Her purple katana lashed out and struck him in the throat. Tossing her katana to the side, she charged for the last one. She tackled him to the ground, kunai at the neck.

"Ronin Seiten Harasu... Missing-Nin of Kumo..."

"Nice about looking up my info..." He smiled up at her. "Did my report say that I was good in bed?" The kunai was pressed closer to his neck, a thin line of blood trickling to the grass.

"I'm not here to make jokes, Harasu-san... If you wish to continue living, I suggest joining me. If I don't kill you, the hunter-nin will..."

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes narrow in concentration. "Oh! Are you Kagemara Kai-Linn?!" He blurted out. "Uchiha Itachi was looking for you about three years back. My friend and I ran into him in the Land of Snow and he asked if we had seen you..."

Kai-Linn froze. 'Itachi... was looking for me...' Harasu cocked his head to the side. He took the advantage, took her kunai and attacked her. Her figure transformed into her cloak.

Harasu looked at her standing at the other side of the clearing. Kai-Linn's dark auburn hair was about shoulder length. She wore a dark crimson colored, knee-high kimono dress with fishnet around the stomach and shoulders. Her eyes were now her normal emerald color.

"With the cloak off, you are quite the pretty sight..." He smirked, taking off his own cloak.

Kai-Linn didn't reply. The boy started to do a string of handsigns. In her mind, she did a string of her own handsigns. Harasu stopped, planting his hand on the ground.

"Doton: Retsudotensho!!(1)" He cried out.

Fissures appeared at Kai-Linn's feet. She jumped away from a few and when she landed more shot toward her. She cursed, throwing kunai at Harasu. He removed his hand from the ground and threw shuriken at the kunai, deflecting them. She picked up her sword and held it horizontally.

"Raiton: Ryuuga no Hana...(2)" She smiled.

Chakra surged into the sword, surrounding the purple blade in a blue glow. It snaked toward Harasu, looking somewhat like a dragon. It struck him in the stomach. With a cry of pain, he collapsed on the ground. Kai-Linn walked over to him. Blood was seeping from his fingers, pained cries echoing in the woods.

"Don't worry, it only feels fatal..." she stated. "If you come with me, I'll heal you... if you don't..." She placed her sword by his throat. "I'll kill you where you lay..."

Harasu looked up at her. Her eyes were cold looking. He looked at his stomach then back up at her. He gave a small smirk.

"Tempting... but I'm gonna have to say n-" He never finished.

Kai-Linn cleaned the blood off her sword, sheathed it and walked away from the scene toward a nearby village, where the person who hired her to kill Harasu awaited.

Upon reaching the village, she walked into a bar and over to a corner where a man sat. He looked up at her and gave a slimy grin.

"Did ya kill dat boy?" He slurred.

"Yes... I killed him and his friends..." her eyes narrowed at the man. "Where is my money?"

"How 'bout I give you some other payment?" He asked with a sick grin.

He flinched as Kai-Linn's blade touched his cheek. He fumbled a bit before taking out a pack of money and placing on the table with a small 'Klink'. She snatched up the bag and walked out, towards a small store for supplies.

Two figures stood amongst the hell that Kai-Linn had wreaked hours before. One kicked Harasu's corpse with his foot and sneered.

"This one is definitely is dead... oh well..." He sighed in a gravely voice.

"Hn..." The second shook his head.

"I wonder who the hell did this..." The man spotted one moving slightly. He walked over and planted his foot on the boy's back. "Tell me, who did this?"

"I... It was a Kunoichi..." The boy whispered in fear. "With silver yellow eyes, like moonlight, and a purple snake-like katana! I never got her name!"

The second figure tensed. The first brought foot down harder, snapping the boy's spine. He turned to his teammate with a confused look.

"What is it, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked.

"Kai-Linn... she did this..." he stated quietly. He looked around with his blood red eyes. Remains of her chakra are headed west... "Kisame, head back... I'll catch up." Itachi ordered.

The Sharkman didn't argue. He shrugged and jumped away from the clearing. Itachi ran toward the west, searching out Kai-Linn's chakra.

Jutsus used in chapter:

(1) Doton: Retsudotensho (lit. Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm): A basic technique of the Iwagakure Ninja. Chakra is concentrated in the palm of the hand and used to open up fissures in the earth.

(2) Raiton: Ryuuga no Hana (lit. Lighting Release: Flower of the Dragon Fang): A technique only Kai-Linn can do. Concentrating a large amount of chakra to her sword, the chakra becomes visible and the sword uncurls and snakes toward the enemy. The chakra takes the form of a lighting dragon.

\/Author Note/\

i was going to do a sequel for Past and Present but thought that it would be ignored... when i got a request for it, i decided to give it a shot!! R&R people I'll get more chapters up as soon as possible.

DemonVampire13