Shikamaru stood frozen, his mouth agape as he watched the life leave his sensei, his second father, his friend. Falling to his knees, the Jonin gripped his head, asking himself how this could happen. Asuma was nothing but a good man. Why was it that the villains got to kill him? Ino tried her best to heal him, but the damage caused by that pale man was far too much. As Shikamaru lit him a cigarette, a single tear rolled down his cheek. 'Asuma-sensei, I will avenge you. That man and his family are going to die.' as the final breath left his sensei's lips, Ino let out a cry of anguish. The young jonin wrapped his strong arms around his blonde teammate and let his tears flow freely. Hidan of the Akatsuki would pay.
Miles away, the leader of the infamous group Akatsuki was standing before two girls, one nineteen years of age and the other twenty-two. The elder of the two had chestnut hair flowing to her knees and a hard look upon her pale features. Her shirt came to a stop at the bottom of her breasts and her cyan skirt rested on her hips. Her black boots stopped at her mid-thigh. This girl was Kori Chikyu. The younger girl, though shorter, had a much more dangerous aura about her. Her long black hair looked like the tips had been dunked in white paint and a dangerous fire burned in her orange eyes. She moved the two snakebite piercings she wore with her tongue and tuned her leader out. She already knew what her mission was going to be. The shorter girl smoothed out her white tank top and black, torn skirt, straightening her posture when Leader fixed her with a sharp glare. Her lack of respect was going to get her killed. Tuning back in, she heard him say,
"Kiara Chi and Kori Chikyu. You two are our youngest members and therefore are the most eligible for this mission. You are to infiltrate Konoha's ranks and find out what you can about the village's weaknesses. Bi-monthly reports will be delivered via hawk, Kiara. If you fail to do this, we will send your brother after you, Kiara. This is your only warning." Jerking his thumb over his shoulder, Pein pointed to a white-haired man with his Akatsuki robe half-open. Bowing her head respectfully, Kiara untied her slashed waterfall village headband from her neck and gripped it tightly. Would things ever be the same again? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she regained her composure and looked Pein in the eye.
"I understand, Leader-sama. We will do our best to complete our mission." Always the stoic one, Kori simply bowed.
"You are dismissed." Pein said as he turned on his heel and walked off, Konan on his heels.
Turning to her partner and friend, Kiara looked her up and down, as if assessing her. "When you have finished preparing, meet me outside." The shorter girl grabbed her sword and headed ou toward the sunlight.
Kori sighed and went to her room, packing her things. She brought soldier pills, bandages, and explosive tags. Her bloodline allowed her to make weapons, so there was no need for them. Just as she was about to turn around, a pair of strong arms encircled her waist and a small smile found its way to her lips.
"Hello love." She whispered, leaning against the man behind her.
"I'm going to miss you, hm." The man said.
As she turned to face him, Kori kissed her boyfriend lovingly and pulled away, looking into the one blue eye that was visible.
"Dei, I'm going to miss you too. I hope we can keep in touch. I will be back before you know it." The brunette pulled out of his embrace reluctantly and stepped back. "I must be going now. Kiara doesn't like to be kept waiting." She squeezed his hand and giggled when his palm licked hers.
As she stepped outdoors, Kori had to shield her eyes from the sun. Being inside for so long really messed with her already sensitive eyes.
"There you are. You know I hate waiting." A steel-edged voice said from her right. Kiara may have been small, but she had the same ferocity as her elder brother and was far more deadly.
Despite the obvious weight of her sword, the Kubikiribōchō, she was fast and a truly silent killer. Her abilities differed from her brother's, however. She could be killed, but not easily. Her ability to stop blood flow to a certain place helped her by stopping blood loss and the fact that she could sew limbs back on helped as well. She didn't depend on Jashin's teachings to keep her immortal, so she had no need to stay stationary like her elder brother.
Kori's fighting style was very different from her partner's. Her ability to manipulate crystal was unique and was used mainly for long-range attacks. Her status as a skilled medical ninja made her a supposed easy target, but when she was in battle, she went ballistic.
"My apologies, Kiara. I was bidding Deidara goodbye." Kori said, tightening the strap on her backpack.
A snort was heard from Kiara as she rolled her eyes. "Love and emotions are for the weak. Come, we must get going."
Days passed as the two girls traveled. They were silent most of the time, but Kori tried to keep it the opposite. She tried to get the 5'3" girl to talk, but she was having none of it. Kiara was far too busy planning things out in her head. Thankfully, Leader-sama had thought ahead and asked the Hokage for permission to transfer two of his ninjas from Ame into Konoha. It was the perfect cover-up.
As the large red gates came into view, the pair slowed down. They approached the gatekeepers and Kori offered them a warm smile. "Hello! I am Kori Chikyu and this is Kiara Chi. We're here to see the Hokage about our transfer from Ame." The two chuunin at the gates checked the records and motioned for the two girls to pass through.
Going immediately to the Hokage's tower, Kiara was almost knocked on her butt by a tall man she ran into. Looking up at him with a glare, she practically growled out: "Watch where you're going, pineapple." With that, she picked herself up off the ground and continued on her way to the tower.
Shikamaru stood there, shocked. Had a girl a foot shorter than him really just insulted him? Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. She must be one of the new Ame transfers. Man, he would hate to be on a team with her. Continuing his leisurely pace, he let his thoughts drift as he gazed at the nearly cloudless sky.
The two girls arrived at the Hokage's office and knocked on the door. A gruff 'Come in' was heard and they pushed open the door. Across the room from them was none other than the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju.
"Hokage-sama, thank you for letting us into your village. I am sure that it will strengthen our respective village's trust in each other. I am Kiara Chi, jonin. This is my partner Kori Chikyu, tokubetsu jonin." Kiara said, bowing her head. On her way here, she had told Kori not to speak out of turn. Despite the girl being older than her, the brunette had a tendency to speak out of turn. More often than not, it got the two of them into trouble.
The Hokage looked both girls up and down, assessing them. "It is a pleasure to meet you two. We have teams assigned for the both of you. Unfortunately, you two will not be able to be partnered. There are absences on two teams, and we have four-man cells here." The busty blonde pushed two folders toward the girls and they picked them up. "Kiara-san, you will be on Team 10. Your assasination skills and skill with kenjutsu will compliment the team greatly. Kori-san, you will be assigned to Team 8. Their fourth member is on maternity leave, so you will be replacing her. Your medical skills and attacks will help them, seeing as they are a tracking team." The Hokage folded her hands on her desk and gave the two girls a small smile. "Welcome to Konoha. You will meet with your teams in one hour at training ground seven. I will have someone escort you there. Dismissed."
The girls bowed and said their thanks before exiting the office. The hour they had to themselves was spent searching for their apartment and exploring the village. Soon enough, they found themselves approached by a loud blonde, telling them to follow him. I was time to meet their teams.
As the trio arrived at the meeting place, Kiara took note of four of the people there. A brunette (obviously pregnant) woman, a navy-haired kunoichi whose posture screamed 'meek,' two brown haired boys, one sitting next to a giant dog, and the other sitting in a tree. This must be Kori's team, if the folders were correct. Looking at the other three, Kiara frowned. It was pineapple-head! Sitting next to him was a tall blonde girl in skimpy clothes and chubby boy wearing armor. This was her team? She groaned mentally and made her presence known by throwing kunai at each of them. As each was delfected or dodged, she stepped out of the shadows and raised her hands.
"That was... Pathetic. You did not even notice I was here until I attacked you." She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. "I am Kiara Chi and this is Kori Chikyu. We are your new teammates." She said in a monotonous voice. Turning to team ten, she scoffed. "You three need to shape up. If you get in my way, I will not hesitate to kill you." Despite being shorter and looking like she couldn't even lift the sword strapped to her back, the three teens knew she meant business. She folded her arms across her chestt and addressed her team.
"Chouji Akimichi, chunin. You specialize in body expansion techniques and you're the heavy hitter of the team."
"Ino Yamanaka, also a chunin. You specialize in mind techniques and medical ninjutsu. You work at your family's flower shop in your spare time."
"You're Pineapple-head Nara. You work with shadows and are a tactical genius who is chronically lazy. The brains of the team." Shaking her head, Kiara sighed. This was going to be a tough road.
"Since you know nothing about me or my abilities, why don't we move over to the far side of the training grounds and I will tell you about my abilities."
The three ninja followed Kiara to a tree and she propped her sword against it. "My name is Kiara Chi. I specialize in kenjutsu, assassination, and I am a distraction if you need to get away."
Shikamaru scoffed at her last comment. "You mean to tell us that a squirt like you could be a worthy distraction? Please." With those words, Kiara's eyes ginted as she grabbed her sword and faster than he could blink, she held the large blade against his neck.
"Say that again, pineapple. I dare you." She whispered. When he was silent, she just smirked. "I am a distraction because I am not so easy to kill." Pointing at Ino, who had a katana strapped to her waist, she smiled and stood with her arms out to her sides. "Cut my arm off. And don;t give me that look. I know what I'm doing."
Ino was hesitant to do what she was told, but her gut instinct made her follow the order. With a single swipe, Kiara's arm landed on the ground with a thump. Ino gasped. She had just crippled her new teammate!
"I am so sorry! I thought you were-" She was cut off mid sentence by Kiara's bell-like laughter.
"I am fine, blondie. I assume you know how to stitch a wound?" At Ino's uncertain nod, she smiled and bent down to pick up her arm. "Sew it back on." She commanded. Ino looked at her strangely, but complied nonetheless. When she was finished, she gasped when Kiara moved her arm. How was that possible!
"It is my bloodline. I can stop blood flow and I can re-attatch nerves in my own body. This is why I said I would be a good distraction." She absent-mindedly scratched at the stitches, and hoisted her sword over her shoulder. "Now that we know eachother, how about a spar? I need to be able to test out your abilities."
With the affirmative nods from her team, Kiara got into a fighting stance without her sword and bolted toward Chouji, seeing as he was the slowest. Her light steps made it easy to dodge his attacks and she struck him on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. One down, two to go. Ino tried to stop her with kunai, but Kiara ducked and weaved through them, grabbing one in her hand and jumping into a taijutsu battle with Ino. Blows were exchanged, but Kiara landed the winning hit, stopping her kunai before it plunged into Ino's heart. "Dead." She said before looking around for Shikamaru. She knew it had been foolish to lose sight of her enemy, but Ino was more powerful than she expected. Grabbing her sword from where it stood, stuck into the dirt, she jumped up as high as she could when she saw a tendril of black racing toward her. Following the path back, she tossed two kunai into a bush, making Shikamaru jump out of it and into her line of sight. Smirking, Kiara charged toward him, her sword at the ready. She began to slice and slash, her blade dulled with chakra so it wouldn't kill him. She missed each strike as the nimble Nara ducked and bent out of the way. Taking advantage of his bent-backward state, Kiar threw a kunai at him, managing to slice his leg. Pulling on the wire attatched to it, she brought the kunai up and licked it, swallowing his blood.
This is where her abilities differed the most from her brother. While they may look similar in this state, Kiara did not harm herself in order to harm her enemies. The only effect it had on her was increased speed and tougher skin.
Charging toward Shikamaru again, she let out a yelp of surprise when the body in front of her exploded into smoke. A shadow clone! She cursed and attempted to move, but was surprised when she was forced to the ground by a shadow. Shikamaru straddled her hips and held a kunai over her heart, a cold glint in his eye.
"Dead."
