SHINOBI
By: Ruko
CHAPTER 1
Blood. He could feel the trickling of his blood across his greying cheek. Flowing without a stop and dripping to the tiled floor. He once considered himself the most powerful and thought that not a drip of his blood will flow from him again after he defeated the Sandaime. That was before but now here he was kneeling and waiting for his death. The infamous Snake Sannin, the mention of his name bring shivers to anybody who will hear it, claiming to be immortal yet now at a boy's mercy.
Unable to suppress it he laughed so hard that tears flowed and mixed with his blood. The humour of the situation is so obvious, him the immortal Orochimaru kneeling infront of a teenager! Looking up his laughter died, his eyes stared directly to the blood red eyes that glimmered with anger. 'So this is what it feels like when you have no choice but to die'
He never imagined himself in this kind of situation, where he has to plead for mercy to avoid dying, but he won't do it, he won't plead for mercy!
A groan escaped from his lips as he met his death. Until his very last breath he never said a word of plea.
o 0 o
Unable to stop herself, she wiped beads of sweat that kept forming on her forehead. It had been a long day and here they are standing in the middle of a room like ridiculed ants.
Godaime Tsunade sat behind her desk, looking foreboding at the three chuunins. Gulping can't be helped if the Hokage is in this kind of mood. As much as they want to run away from her they still can't. Having a superior like her they will need a good mental endurance.
They had just finished their mission and it was a success but why the heck is she in a bad mood. Ino, Sakura and Hinata gulped once again. Sakura became the Godaime's subordinate but the older woman's attitude today is unlike the other times. Ino and Hinata were taught medical ninjutsu by Godaime herself.
Nowadays, Tsunade-sama is constantly having mood swings. It's like having a period since the past months.
Shizune sweatdropped. The Chuunins' attention averted to her. Heaving a long breath, she started "Gomen. Tsunade-sama is just tense." The girls gave a glance at Tsunade who was deep in thought and the paid attention to Shizune once again. "You see, an important visitor is about to come in a week's time and she's just too excited."
"Now listen well for the instructions." Her face turned serious. "Your mission is to get a rare kind of bamboo grass. Its leaves are green but the stem is red. Quite unique really. The probability of encountering an attack is zero. And its location is already marked in this map." As she said that she handed them a copy of the map which Sakura took.
Ino gave a questioning stare at Shizune. "A visitor?"
Shizune sighed and gave them an apologizing look. "It's classified."
"Shizune," Tsunade called to the girl. It seems that she's back to normal. "I want you to prepare an apartment for him. You know him, anywhere is fine." Tsunade instructed then averted her gaze at them, "I want that bamboo grass in four days after your departure and I'm giving you to until tomorrow to pack. Dismissed." She said it in one breath. Talk about trash. A minute ago she looked like she would denigrate them and now they were dismissed like some sort of slaves. With a good example, a Hokage like her, women's rights could be prioritized. She'll make a crybaby out of Bin Ladin.
The three exited the room silently and went on their respective houses to pack.
o 0 o
Hinata sighed. She's bothered by the strange missions lately. Usually, their missions are either complicated or tough. Recently, the missions became so easy a genin could accomplish it in no time.
Tomorrow they will leave half an hour before six. Eight more hours to go before their departure.
Hinata, Ino and Sakura are currently inside a Ramen store having their dinner. They are escorted by Shikamaru and Chouji. Sasuke, Shino and Kiba are on a mission so they were not present. And Neji's team escorted an ambassador to another country.
"Why the sigh, Hinata?" Sakura asked. This made Hinata jolt. "Eh!" she was genuinely startled. "G-gomen, it's nothing." Then she paused. It's better to share her thoughts to everyone. "Our recent missions are bothering me. It seemed so easy lately."
"I also noticed." Sakura nodded in agreement, followed by Ino.
"I haven't noticed at all." Chouji said aloud earning a scowl from Ino. "How can you notice if you ate all the way through the missions." Her brows furrowed.
Shikamaru put down his drink, already a jounin at his young age Shikamaru deals with such conversations professionally, and clasped his hand together he rested his chin on it. The boy's seriousness would put an old man to shame. "Rumours has it that those high-class missions are done by only one ninja." This perked up everyone's interest. Chouji stopped from gorging his food and the rest simply ceased eating. They listened attentively at Shikamaru. "Some shinobi were 'lucky', or so they say, because they were honoured by his presence in the battlefield. Although, it was only a coincidence that he was there."
"Is it one of ours?" Sakura probed. The idea of one ninja doing all those hard tasks is quite impossible. If it is true then he/she would have to be pretty strong.
"The ninj-" Shikamaru's reply was interrupted by a huge commotion from the other side of the street.
It seems like somebody disturbed the bathhouse. "Get out of here you old geezer!" the owner of the public bathhouse kicked out an almost unconscious man. He was obviously drunk. Pails and buckets of water were thrown, hurled, flung at him, which he tried very hard to dodge. Such ruckus could only be made if someone peeking at the women through the wall. And it's true. Caught in action, so to speak. He has long, spiky, white hair and a weird looking forehead protector." The man was obviously a shinobi.
"That guy is a disgrace to our reputation." Ino commented. Clearly thinking of abused skills just to be a pervert. False, a wise shinobi would have stayed hidden even in front of the naked woman with the use of the simplest technique.
Shikamaru cleared his throat and began their conversation "Anyways, the shinobi being one of Konoha's is unknown. But I'm guessing that instructions are only given to him through trained animals." This statement was granted questioning stares.
Shikamaru breathed out before starting to explain again. "If he comes here for missions then we should have noticed him being called by the Hokage more frequently." The group nodded in understanding. "And if another nin was ordered to deliver the messages then we could easily be alerted about a ninja coming in and out of the village." Shikamaru gestured his hand to make a point.
"Well, we shouldn't really be bothered by this." Sakura said. "We don't know if those shinobis who met him are telling the truth and even if it is true he's trusted by Tsunade-sama and that makes him an ally."
They all fell into silence. Their dinners were left alone leaving Chouji for the cleanup. [If you know what I mean] Knowing that someone is out there doing miraculous things is quite bothersome. They went home with things on their minds about their conversation a while ago. Although the tale was bothersome they still can't probe deeper for answers. The Godaime hid this fact from them so they had to respect it.
o 0 o
Meanwhile...
"Sasuke!" a deep growl came from the animalistic shinobi. The young Uchiha dodged the incoming attack from a very terrible looking fishman.
"What?" he asked his ally. As an answer, Kiba eyed a silhouette figure almost covered by the darkness, a few meters from the fishman's back. Shino, who had been tasked for the defence, automatically enhanced his chakra for the insect shield.
They were on their way back to their village after their mission's success when they encountered Kisame. Without even thinking they launched into battle. And here, an addition to their problem. Uchiha Itachi.
Kisame retreated a few yards from them and cracked a smile. He straightened his back and stood proudly. More confident with the presence of his partner, he stances for another attack. Sasuke's heartbeat quickened. He bowed his head a bit, his eyes shadowed from the moonlight. His sharingan activated almost immediately.
"Itachi!" he roared. Anger and resent showed on his face. Running directly towards the older Uchiha, he forgot about Kisame in between them.
Kiba and Shino dropped their positions to fight against Kisame. The fishman all too well settled fighting them. It was such an easy fight. In seconds, Shino and Kiba were already laying on the ground, unconscious, Akamaru disposed meters behind them. Itachi had warned Kisame to leave his brother to him. Kisame happily obliged since the boy would just waste his time and thought he wasn't worth his energy, so he sat beneath a tree, watching the two unconscious bodies warily. While Sasuke gasped heavily for air. He swayed a bit trying to hold his position.
It was under Itachi's order that they keep him alive, which was a pity. Kisame scoffed and laughed whenever Sasuke gets hit by Itachi.
His chakra was almost drained yet his foe didn't even drop a sweat. Weakened, he dropped to his knees yet he still glared at Itachi with fury.
Itachi looked down at the weakened Sasuke coldly. "You're weak. Sparing your life was a mistake after all." Said Itachi which earned an enraged glare from Sasuke.
"You can never defeat me. Your hunger for revenge is not enough." He continued. Sasuke forced himself to stand. Kunai drawn, he aimed it towards Itachi's heart. The weapon flew towards the enemy yet blocked easily like a fly.
Kisame laughed menacingly. "And here I thought you guys would give a good fight." he said aloud as Kiba and Shino regained consciousness, struggling to get up.
"A-akamaru?" Kiba grunted through pain. The overlarge dog whimpered softly.
When Shino regained his stand he was kicked in the gut instantly, leaving him lying on the ground again. "Aargh!" The defeated trio waited for their end.
The wind blew, swaying the trees. Their shadows eagerly moved. And as the clouds hid the moon, everything went dark. Nevertheless, the moon emerged. And in the midst of the battlefield a stranger stood.
A/N: Chapter 1 ends here. I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews please...