Black Clouds
"Are they back yet?" Shizune asked, eager to find out the results.
"No." Tsunade replied curtly. She knew Shizune was dying to find out. So was she. But for now, she settled for holding it in. For now, she settled for trying to stay calm. Please, don't let it happen. Please, oh please don't let it happen. She couldn't imagine what would occur if it took place. She didn't know what she would do. What she would tell Konoha to do, if the time ever came.
In the corner of her eye, she could see Shinzune biting her lower lip. Her trusty pet boar, Ton-ton was squealing in her arms. Its eyes showed the same worry and depression Shizune's eyes showed.
Tsunade sighed. Please let it be alright…
Please…
Don't let it happen…
A loud knock interrupted her thoughts.
Tsunade tilted her head up as she lost her thoughts. "Come in," she managed to choke out. Please. Please let the results be good.
The door opened with a loud creak. A tall, thin ANBU member walked into the dimly lit room. His mask unrevealing his true identity.
"So… do you have… results?" Tsunade asked, trying to keep her voice still. She could see Shizune feeling small shivers, her eyes locked on the floor in deep thought.
"We're afraid that…" the ANBU member didn't look into Hokage-sama's eyes.
"So, it's true?" Tsunade asked, feeling beads of sweat form on her forehead. No. No! This isn't happening! She thought disbelieving what she would be told. A large knot tightened in her throat. It was hard to swallow.
"Yes," the man said, almost in a whisper. "Yes, it's true," he said, louder this time, his voice half-cracking.
Shizune looked up in shock. Ton-ton gave a nauseous squeal.
Tsunade felt a wave of nausea wash over her. It can't be. But it is… It is…. "So then, it's final." She couldn't believe what she was saying. Stop. Stop yourself! "All the Akatsuki members are dead."
It was a bright shiny day. In the village of Konoha, rushed workers and townsfolk walked among the land, minding their own business. A young, blonde boy ran past the crowded stores. He ran past the fish market, past the flower shop, and past the barbecue place. He stopped at the small ramen stand, and walked inside with a smile.
"Good morning, Naruto," the Ichiraku ramen owner said, pouring a new batch of hot water into the cooker.
"Good morning, ojii-san!" Naruto replied cheerfully. He gave the old man his order of ramen, and waited.
"You seem happy today," the old man said, stirring a pot full of noodles.
Naruto snickered. "Yeah, I guess I do. So what are you up to?"
'Nothing much, just the usual. You?"
"Nothing new, really. Just morning training after breakfast, then back here for lunch." Naruto gave his retort with a laugh of humor. The old man didn't laugh. Tough crowd, he said silently in his thoughts.
"You really going to do that much training?" he asked, still stirring the pot of ramen. The steamy, flavorful smell of noodles floated among the small stand like an enveloping mist. It only drove Naruto's crave even more.
"Yeah, I have to work hard to get what I want, you know?" Naruto said with confidence. He pounded his chest with a fist as a sign of devotion.
"Oi! Naruto!" a familiar voice called.
At the sound of his name, the blonde turned around to see who was calling him. "Eh?!? Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"
Shikamaru let out a groan. "Eh…it would be too troublesome to explain it to you now. Just come! Hokage-sama is expecting you."
"Me?" Naruto let out a loud screech. Uh-oh. Am I in trouble? What have I done for the past week? Hmm…
"Don't get all worked up, just come. She's calling a bunch of us there and she told us to hurry up. Don't make me get in trouble because of you." Shikamaru replied curtly.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to get all testy." Naruto replied with a low grunt. "Damn that Shikamaru, taking me away from my ramen," he mumbled under his breath as he followed him out of the stand. "I'll be back soon!" he called to the owner.
Sakura looked around the room. She couldn't believe so many people were called to come to Hokage-sama's office. "Wow..." she whispered under her breath. What could we all have been called here for? What could be the big announcement? Glistening sunlight spilled from the large window behind Hokage-sama's desk, forcing Sakura to squint. The sunlight stung her eyes. Papers were flown and scattered everywhere throughout the small room. I wonder why this place is so small for a room that belongs to the Hokage, she thought.
She looked around the room, staring at the faces of people. Familiar faces. Faces of people who she knew so well, that were called to this crammed up office the same way she was. By waking up to a cawing bird holding a ragged, small note in its grasp.
"I can't take this anymore! Why did you call us here if you're not going to say the least bit of a sentence?" Kiba demanded, eyes flaring with anger. His pet dog, Akamaru yelped in agreement.
The sudden outburst caused Sakura to back away, jumping up in surprise.
"It's not time yet… to explain," Tsunade replied, no expression showing on her face. The Hokage gave little detail.
What is she waiting for? Sakura pondered in thought. In the corner of her eye, she could see Kiba start to relax and calm down. As did Akamaru. A loud slamming sound made her jump again. Sakura turned. She saw Shikamaru walk in with a low grunt, followed by a hyperactive looking Naruto.
"Ne! Tsunade-no-ba-chan! Why did you call us here?!? You took me away from my breakfast!" Naruto yelled out in an even bigger demand than Kiba.
"Urusendaiyo, Naruto!" Tsunade yelled out with pure anger and annoyance. The comeback made Naruto slump back down and swallow his defiance against Tsunade.
"Why did you really call use here, Tsunade-no-ba-chan?" Naruto said in a
whisper this time, with a little more respect.
"I have a mission for you," she mumbled out.
"For all of us?" Sakura asked, surprised. She had never been on a mission with most of the village genin before. This was to be an exciting experience.
"Yes. I can't give you the full details, but you are to travel from here to the Hidden Waterfall. It is believed that that is where the Akatsuki Hideout is located." She replied, still unmoving from her desk.
Kakashi's only revealed eye widened in surprise. "Akatsuki?!" Naruto asked, mouth wide open in disbelief.
Sakura gasped. She couldn't believe what she was being told. Her? She was being sent on a mission as important like this? No way. Impossible. She looked to the other team members. They all had their eyes wide open either in shock, or in confidence. Naruto's eyes glared with a mixture of the two. I should be confident, too, Sakura thought. Yes. I will succeed in this mission. And I won't let anyone down.
"What's our objective?" Ino asked in confidence. She had her arms gripped on her hips, her hair covering one eye.
"To collect any information you can about Akatsuki. You have to find out their objective, and what their plan is. We have been informed that…" her voice trailed off for a moment. Her voice seemed to be caught in her throat. "Informed that they have a new plan, and we don't know if it is of any danger to us or the other 4 main countries. They have requested Konoha to send a wide selection of ninja there, and I've chosen each one of you to be part of this mission. Of course, some of the ninja in this country, like most of the jounin and other genin are on other missions involving this as well. So all of us are a part of this. During this mission you are to act seriously, and fight with all your will and do what you think is best. Don't let anything slow you down, and if you sense that a fight is imminent, send one of the team to handle it while the rest move on. This will be your job, Kakashi. You will be this team's leader. Any questions?"
"Why do we only get one leader? With so many genin, isn't it best to have more than one leader to control us all and lead us all? What if we get lost along the way?" Chouji asked in a concerned voice.
"That would be a good idea, yes, but as I said, all the other jounin in this village are sent on more important tasks, backup information missions, you might call it. Kakashi is the only one left over. Your team will be made up of: Hatake Kakashi, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanako Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Ten-Ten, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee" Tsunade replied, still in her comfy desk.
"Thanks for the flatter," Kakashi replied sarcastically. For once his face wasn't covered in that book of his.
"Okay, you have one hour to prepare yourselves and leave. Go!" Tsunade yelled across the room.
With that, all the ones concerned rushed out of the room in blurs, leaving Shizune and Tsunade alone.
"You think they'll be alright?" Shizune asked, appearing from behind Tsunade's chair.
Tsunade sighed. She tilted her head up, and said, "I trust they will do fine. They won't let us down. Because they are the ninja of Konoha."
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Kakashi-sensei asked, sounding serious. Everyone nodded. "On this mission, you are to be serious. No fooling around. Just as Hokage-sama informed you earlier. This mission is important to all ninja, even the townsfolk, so you have to do your best. Follow my instruction carefully and only my instruction. If you have any second thoughts, well, don't. Even if Tsunade-sama told you to act on your own, even the smartest people in the world make mistakes. Got it?" Everyone nodded again. "Good, then let's get going."
As they walked through the gates of Konoha, Naruto looked around. So all the genin are here. On one mission. One mission only. The result of the futre depends on the result of the outcome. I'll definitely figure out what Akatsuki is up to for sure! He thought with confidence.
As they got farther and farther away from Konoha, his thoughts of bravery were swept away by a sudden chill. It sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. Why the sudden cold? He thought. All around him he could sense the surprised expressions on the other teammate's faces. They were all thinking the same thing: What was going on?
Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. "Everyone stop! Don't move!"
"What? What's going on?" Ino asked, her eyes showing great concern. Looks like she wanted to do good on this mission, too. Startled cries flew in the air when the clouds started twisting. Twisting and turning in agony. The glazed blue of the sky turned to black. The steady-paced clouds were moving at top speed. They turned red. Red, then a light pink. Pink, then gray. Gray, then yellow. Yellow, and then finally green.
Then a loud pinning sound was heard. What is that noise? Naruto demanded silently in his mind. Everyone was covering their ears, trying to shut out the sharp, winding sound in the air.
Large vines emerged from the ground, flew back their heads in anger, rising just to fall back down again. Longer, but thinner vines emerged as well, they raced to the team and held a tight grip on each of the genin. Ugh! Naruto thought as he was being constricted tighter and tighter by the strange vines. Just what is going on here?
"Everybody, don't panic! It's a genjutsu!" Kakashi yelled for control over the team. He made a few but quick hand signs, and called the genjutsu off. "Kai!" he demanded.
The clouds slowly turned backwards, as if going back in time. They slowly turned gray. Then they turned pink, and then red, then back to white. The sky slowly painted itself blue again, and the vines seemed to be dissolving.
The forest was in sight again, and everyone stopped panicking. "What was that just now?" Kiba asked, looking around.
"It was a genjutsu cast by someone inside the forest. Whoever did it is still probably around." Kakashi peered from one side to the other.
"Very perceptive," a voice called out from a distance. Everyone turned their heads forward to see who was calling out to them. A figure slowly emerged in the growing evening mist. A bright glare shone from the tip of the dark silhouette. As the figure walked closer, it got bigger.
"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, pulling up his headband, revealing his sharingan.
"No need to get all testy, Kakashi-sempai," the figure called out. Naruto gasped. How did this person know Kakashi-sensei's name? Just who was he?
The figure slowly came into focus. One by one, Naruto started to tell the characteristics of the character. A black cloak-like robe, large hints of red on it, short, white hair, a face with green eyes half-covered by the robes he was wearing. A glimmering, white cloth headband. What was that sign from? Naruto could only make it out that it was circular. Where was this person from? Konoha? The Earth Country? Then he realized it. A member of the Akatsuki.
The figure was perfectly into view now. Gasps were heard from certain parts of the group. Hard stares were sensed from various points. The person let out a small chuckle. "You guys seemed so shocked to see me, even if I haven't met you before."
"What do you want? Who are you?" Kakashi let out in an angry voice.
The person scoffed. "Your journey ends here, team of Konoha," he replied, as if not hearing Kakashi's questions. He shifted.
Kakashi's sharingan spun wildly like a windmill. His eyes locked onto this strange character, he gave everyone sudden instructions. "Everyone, jump back!" Everyone obeyed and jumped back right in time to see thick and large wood-like vines impulse from the ground. Kakashi blocked his head with his arms in defense. He was too late. Or so he thought.
Kakashi waited for the pain. The cold, searing pain of the vines stab through his entire body, inching their way through every aspect they could find. But he never received it. Slowly, he opened his eyes. In front of him, a large swarm of black defended against the large whipping wood.
"Nani?" he choked out, surprised.
"Ninpou, Konchuu Shouheki no Jutsu (Ninja Arts, Insect Barrier Technique)" Shino commanded clearly. Through his thick shades could have been seen small, leering eyes at the Akatsuki member. The large swarm of bugs ate away at the wood, decaying it, destroying it.
"Shino!" Kakashi cried, almost in a thankful tone.
'It's okay," Shino said. "Remember what Godaime told us? She told us that if we thought a fight was imminent, one of us should take the fight and let the rest move on. This is an important mission after all, and I won't let you guys down."
"But- Shino-kun!" Hinata protested in that small, shrill voice she had.
"No. He's right. We have to take this chance and move on." Kakashi explained. He lowered his headband to close his sharingan. "I trust you won't let us down, Shino." Shino nodded in reply. "Let's go!" he called to the rest of the team. They began to race away, many members wishing Shino good luck.
"Not so fast!" the person shouted. He called up another wave of stretching vines to bind the team together.
"No." Shino demanded in a silent tone. Bugs swarmed over the vines, and started to eat away the vines, leaving a clear escape route for the team.
"Bastard, you're going to pay for that." The teenage boy said through gritted teeth.
"Only idiots speak foolishly." Shino retorted in reply.
The boy scoffed. "Let's finish this quick," he said, separating his arms, pointing them toward Shino. "Ninpou, Sugoi Kusamura Misairu (Ninja Art, Amazing Jungle Missiles)" Shino's eyes widened as long, thin vines fired from the sleeves of the user's robe and the ground. They flew at lightning-fast speed, and cut right through the barrier of bugs, and headed straight for Shino.