Past Future Tense

a story by

Chaotic of Dark and Chaotic

Summary: A group of a Military special task force from the distant future ends up in the past, or rather, the present. In a world where their specialized skills and knowledge of the future could mean the difference between salvation and apocalypse, they must find a way to go back home or consent to change the future.

Chapter One

The weather was horrid, but there was little else to be expected in the middle of the night at such heights. Hadn't it been for this blizzard that struck out of no where, they would've been at home base by now, handing in their report. Having their mission accomplished meant absolutely nothing if they could not deliver the target. Another bout of turbulence hit the helicopter and Seishiro had to refrain from cussing. Her sharp blue eyes, warped in a perpetual scowl, glanced at the Pilot's cabin. One could say that it was raining icicles outside. It might as well have been were it not for Ryuzen, the team captain. Seishiro looked at the pilot, who was a fellow Hyuuga but from a different division. The one division that still possessed the original Hyuuga bloodline- The Main Branch family. While the name itself was merely a shout out to the past, it was also rather accurate, for it had been the Main Branch that had somehow preserved their doujutsu. Nowadays nearly all of the best pilots were either Hyuuga of the Main Branch or White Corps Uchiha. In fact, their current set up of pilot and co-pilot was just such- Hyuuga Byakuya and Uchiha Yuumei of the White Corps Uchiha.

Her captain was Uchiha Ryuzen, of the Black Corps, and he was a bearer of the Rinnegan, another artifact from the past. It was his shield that kept their helicopter still in the air. He was a tall young man that looked at least 15 years older than he actually was. No surprise there, really, as it was always so with the Black Corps Uchiha with Rinnegan. They over-exerted themselves quite oftenly, making their average lifespan little over 40 years, if they managed to live that long. Rumour had it, however, that her captain was of the 'new strain' of Rinnegan bearers and that he carried that even rarer Uzumaki gene. Seishiro wasn't one for rumours but if that were the case then he would be lucky to pass at least 70 years of age.

'Taichou, can't you do anything about the weather, the target's getting restless with all of the Turbulence.' one of her teammates adressed Captain Ryuzen.

'I am doing what I can, Daiki.' Ryuzen responded and the resumed focusing on the invisible shield that surrounded and somewhat protected all of them. Kuroda Daiki had always been an impatient one. He was also another rare gem in their special task force team. A Mokuton user in a world where trees were something rare to see. Mokuton in itself was not exceptionally rare, in fact, most of the current agriculture was dependant on them to grow and work the crops. Daiki's Mokuton was, however, an exceptionally potent one, and he himself was quite the talented young man with a bright future ahead of him. Headstrong and determined, he was a son of farmers who had managed to scrape among the elite of their military strenght. Mouse brown short spiky hair, light skin and hazel eyes, he had a perpetual friendly smile on his face that matched his open-minded personality perfectly. He was no doubt the friendliest person of their team, followed by, strangely enough, their captain (but only when he had a bit too much to drink). It was for that reason why he was tasked with keeping their target safe.

'We should have been there by now.' said a quiet, but grave voice.

'We should have, Ghost-san, but, as you can see, even I am incapable of completely overwhelming mother nature...or at least what is left of her.' Ryuzen allowed himself a small polite smile at their newest addition, the Ghost Trooper.

The Ghost Troopers were the Elite of the Elite. Specially bred and trained to do one thing only- Their leader's bidding. As much as Seishiro hated to admit, their own Ghost addition happened to be a polite person, who did not get on her nerves (surprisingly) and who also happened to be of undefined gender. Seishiro suspected that Ghost was a young boy, at least that was what she could discern from the slightly muffled from the mask voice. After all, all Ghosts wore stylized masks and hooded dark cloaks. This one's mask was ivory white with three blood red diagonal claw-like markings going across one side. The mask was oval shaped, whit two small openings for the eyes. The cloak was of a thick black material and while Seishiro suspected he used it to cover up his small and slim frame, what she saw underneath proved otherwise. Ghost was wearing a standard Akatsuki no Dakusaido (Dark Side of the Red Moon) outfit. It consisted of some sort of body armor with lots of pockets and small pouches added to it. Utility wear, similar to their own, but designed specifically for their line of work- Stealth, Saboutage and Assasination. It was impossible to tell whether one was male or female by just looking at the Ghost as the armor was also designed to eliminate such visual breaches of personal information.

The Dark Side of the Akatsuki was an organization founded by their leader, Madara. They dealt with every dirty little job that Madara-sama would think of. So naturally, when they were tasked with acquiring their target, who supposedly carried a fire based bloodline, the appearance of this new member of their team, who preferred to be called just Ghost, was absolutely no surprise. Unusual yes, but surprising? No. At least the boy was exceptionally polite and by no means arrogant.

The last two members of their team were the technician and the medic. The technician was a slim, tall man with wiry build and a prominent nose that had been broken at least three times ( two of which were of her own doing). As much as he was a technical genius and the man who doubled as hacker and communications expert, he was also incredibly aggravating. That Holier than Thou attitude, his constant complains and generally irritable nature made him to be often at odds with Seishiro, who was less than acceptable of dealing with any kinds of bull crap. As much as Seishiro hated his guts, she could not deny the fact that he had probably saved their asses more times than she could count. And that usually from the safety of their transport – an ATAV, a helicopter, a submarine or whatnot. He did his job well, and that was good enough for Ryuzen, and by extension to her. His name was Kenta, which was exactly the opposite of what his bespectacled body looked like. He didn't have a last name but that was quite the often occurence nowadays, as more and more families on the edge of starvation donated their 'surplus' children to the military reqruitment system, hoping to give them a better future.

Their medic was the eldest member of their team. The 47 year old Nakamura Yoko did her job and did it well. While she was their first medic, they, as a team, had been her seventh. She was a woman of tremendous experience and also one that exuded a no-nonsense attitude. She was a dark skinned slim lady with bright orange eyes and dark, nearly black brown hair, pulled up in a tight bun. In some way all of them looked up to her. Her experience on the field was second to none and Ryuzen often took his time to chat with her, absorbing any piece of advice she could offer. She was perhaps the most academically knowledgeable person in their team and her etiquette could put even one of their Upperclassmen to shame. It was no wonder why all of them, even Ryuzen, referred to her as Yoko-sempai.

Usually the way most of them adressed each other was informal, without adding any honorifics such as -san, -chan and so on. But all of them reffered to Yoko as their Sempai. While Ryuzen was their team leader, it was Yoko that had kept them together for the last 4 years with her words of wisdom, counseling and nimble healing hands.

'The target will wake up soon. I will apply the Forced Sleep Technique in 15 minutes if we do not reach Homebase soon.' Yoko stated after doing a check-up on their target.

'Tighten your seatbelts, team, we are about to hit a turbulent zone.' Byakuya's voice echoed from the pilot's cabin. 'It's going to be a rough ride.'

'Secure the Target!'

'Byakuya! The engine has failed!'

'Hold on, I'm doing emergency landing!'

'Is everyone allright? Yoko-sempai, is the target allright?' Seishiro asked as soon as they landed roughly somewhere on this god forsaken mountain.

'The target is alright. No harm has come from the landing.'

'I think I broke my glasses.' that was Kenta.

'Your glasses are perfectly fine, Kenta.' Seishiro drawled, trying not to sound too annoyed.

'Ryuzen, you don't look that well.' Yoko gave her captain a look.

'I am allright. I just hit my head when we landed.' he let out a silent groan and rubbed the back of his head. There was a tender spot and he was certain a bump would appear there sooner or later. That was not helping the migraine that was squeezing his brain since the moment they took flight. Yoko was going to scold him again, he was certain.

'Byakuya, how secure is our location?' Ryuzen finally asked.

'We are situated on a small plateau-like terrace next to the near vertical jagged slopes of the mountain. There are 2 meters of compact snow beneath our feet and some 3 meters beneath that of ice. Further down I see only solid rock with trace amounts of Alluminium and Iron deposits. There is a small opening to a stable cave system 25 meters directly southwest of out location. We can wait out the blizzard there.'

'Very well. I will need to move the helicopter to that position there, or as close as we can. Yuumei, retract the rotor fins and activate the safety mode. Ghost-san, I would like you to keep the target safe. Daiki come here and help me secure our route.'

'Hai, Taichou.'

Seishiro silently followed her team through the tunnel of wood that Daiki had created. As soon as she reached the entrance to the cave, she set out to light up the immediate area around her. Ghost came in the cave last, carrying their target piggyback style, as she was larger than Ghost and he could not carry her any other way. Seishiro quickly set down a few blankets.

'Leave the target here and help me secure our immediate surroundings, Ghost-san.'

'Ryuzen collapsed!' Daiki rushed in with Yoko and their Captain.

'Damn it. I told him he was overdoing it. Stubborn as he is...hn. Sempai, what is his condition?'

'Let us set him down so I can check him up.' Yoko stated and just as Daiki and herself set down the tall man next to their target, Byakuya and Yuumei entered, carrying a large crate with holes.

'Taka-chan was getting restless, so I decided to let her stretch her wings here. What happened with Taichou? I saw him collapse.'

'Over-exerted himself, the poor thing. I told him to take it easy today but he wouldn't listen. Stubborn that boy is. He should feel lucky our mission is an easy one. Not counting this freak weather of course.'

'This blizzard really did start without warning, Even Byakuya was surprised by it.' Yuumei stated, while petting Taka-chan, Byakuya's Peregrine Falcon. Or rather, Seishiro's Peregrine Falcon, which had decided very early on that it liked Byakuya better than her owner. So much for being an elite tracker of the Eagle Branch of the Hyuuga family.

'There was only a sudden pressure drop. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. This entire area seems to be some sort of microclimate pocket. Right above us is the meeting point between the two peaks and further south there is a valley, covered by ice, but a valley none the less. It is possible we just had the bad luck to pass through here at a bad time. It's night after all and the temperatures are probably going to drop with at least 15 degrees more.' Byakuya made a face as he kept looking about their area with his all seeing eyes.

Seishiro sighed. Byakuya knew his stuff. As a Hyuuga of the Main Branch Family he was supposed to be able to see everything withing a huge distance with great detail. His personal specialties were geology and meteorology, which, along with his job as a pilot, allowed him to accomplish a vast variety of assignments and also gave them an astoundingly good overview of their missions' locations. In a sense, Byakuya, along with Kenta, formed their very own mini Intelligence.

'So we have to stay here until the weather calms down.' Seishiro stated.

'And until our Taichou feels better.' Yoko added, her palms covered with the tell-tale green healing chakra and hovering about Ryuzen's skull. 'Seishiro, you are our vice-captain. I suggest you formulate a plan of action.'

'I'm thinking about it, Sempai.' She stated and then took a deep breath and sighed. The air...'The air...'

'What about it, Seishiro?' Yuumei asked.

'It's ... so clean.'

All of the team members started sniffing the air and Byakuya activated his Byakugan yet again.

'There is an air current comming from within the cavern. It doesn't open on the other side of this mountain either. How peculiar.'

Byakuya stood up and Taka hopped from her spot on his lap onto Yuumei's lap. He turned towards the direction of his interest.

'What do you see, Byakuya.' Seishiro asked, turning to look at the same direction he was looking. Unlike him, she did not possess what was considered the pure Byakugan. Her eyes, however, were capable to see things in minute detail at great distances. Not unlike Taka-chan's vision. She also possessed a superior sense of smell and hearing, an echo from her Inuzuka ancestors, an ancient extinct clan that had merged with a branch of the Hyuuga many hundreds of years ago.

'The current is comming from a larger cavern but it's a dead end. It's practically comming out of no where.'

'Shouldn't we investigate it, Seishiro?' Kenta asked. He was busy tinkering with a small portable radio.

'We have around 12-15 hours to kill anyways.' Byakuya added.' We can allow ourselves to do that while we wait for the weather to clear. Plus I think there is something down there, but I can't see it clearly. Probably some sort of chakra resistant material but...'

'Is it man-made?' Yoko asked with interest.

'I can't see it clearly. Looks like a smudged shadow and that's about it.'

'What about anything living. Is this cave secure?'

'Haven't seen a single whisp of animal or human chakra. The place is pretty much very secure.'

'There's this something in the air. I can't put my nose on it though. It smells... green. Like vegetation... but... I am not exactly sure what it is. I think we should investigate it. Byakuya, how far away are we from the source?'

'A mile or so, maybe more.'

'That far? It's quite the huge cave system then.'

'It goes for quite a while throughout this section of the mountain. It looks like there were cracks and the melting ice water had expanded those cracks. But...the cave is stable and relatively new. So basically it this entire thing might've been man-made.'

'Or toad made.' Yoko suddenly said.

'Toad-made?'

'Indeed, Seishiro. This is, after all, the Myoboku mountain chain. This is, according to legends, where the toad summons lived. Or, rather, they lived in the valley that is on the other side of this same valley you mentioned, Byakuya.'

'As interesting as this is, I don't see how this would help us.' Seishiro said.

'It is said that during the Summon wars, the Toads hid their statues deep within the mountains. And these statues were actually toads and people who were turned to stone. They were very precious to their people. That is why I believe it is possible that the things Byakuya saw might be some of these statues.'

'You know, Yoko-sempai, sometimes I think you spend way too much time reading legends and...ahem... history books.' Kenta said with a slight scowl on his face.

Yoko merely smiled at him.

'It is a nice way to spend my free time, especially when the alternative is much less pleasant most of the time.'

'Very well then, we shall take a look. Yuumei, Daiki, Byakuya with me. Kenta, you try to make contact through the radio. Go outside from time to time and check the signal.' There was a mutter from Kenta that he knew his job well enough.' Ghost-san, keep an eye on our target. Yoko-sempai, reapply the Forced Sleep Technique when she comes to and please update Ryuzen on our situation when he wakes up. Let's go team. Byakuya, lead the way.'

'Hai, Seishiro.'

The four headed out, Daiki out front along with Byakuya, followed by Yuumei, and lastly, Seishiro.

'The walls look moist but they are actually dry. It is almost if they were glassed. Now I suspect fire or some sort of intence heat was used to shape this cave system.' Byakuya mumbled after some time.'There is no evidence of fire-based techniques being used though.'

'Even when they were cast hundreds of years ago?' Daiki questioned.

'Even then there would be some sort of mark on our surroundings. Especially in an area as desolate as this one. There would be nothing to wash away that print.'

'Then what do you see?'

'Water. Lots and lots of water chakra.'

'Toads were amphibians, after all.'

'Don't tell me you believe in that mumbo-jumbo Yoko-sempai talked about, Daiki' a small teasing smile played on Byakuya's lips.

'And the Summon wars were legend as well?'

'Only Madara-sama would know that. He has lived through them, after all.'

'Madara-sama is nearly a 1000 years old or so. And he hasn't really talked about the Summon wars but everyone knows about them.'

'By word and some books talking about them. It's not like it matters, Daiki. It's probably some minor conflict. You know it happened mostly in the Dairuki Prefecture and that place is currently under water. They probably used the sinking event to mythologize the war or something.'

'But imagine if there really was a Summon war. Like huge talking animals suddenly turning on us humans and stuff. Legend has it-'

'We all know that, Daiki. Nature started to die out little by little since the Summon wars. But I think that is just some terrorist propaganda or some such crap.' Seishiro butted in.

'Aww, Seishiro, you say that about half the stuff that we have to do.'

'And isn't it just that? Propaganda crap and hippie bullshit.'

'Well now, I grew up on a farm, so I might have some idea what's going on.'

'Uhuh.'

'Don't tease the kid, Seishiro, you know he is sentimental about his stuff.' Yuumei said, a teasing note in her voice.' It's not like Mokuton experts grow on trees.'

The group laughed, even Daiki.

'Well, since you put it that way, actually they do. Considering the fact Ma and Pa are Mokuton specialists themselves and Uncle Daisuke was in the special Moonbase division.'

'You talk about that Uncle of yours as if he is the third comming of Sasuke or something.' Seishiro deadpanned.

'Hey! Kuroda Daisuke planned and constructed Moonbase all by himself thank you very much!'

'Stop teasing the boy, Seishiro, you don't want him to start having confidence issues, now would you?'

'Yuumei! You're doing it as well!'

'I admit that Kuroda Daisuke was probably one of our lead specialists when it came to the Moonbase project, but that is as far as I will go.'

'You may want to stay quiet for a moment and let me concentrate.' Byakuya suddenly said.

'What is it?'

'There is a cave-in here, but I did not see it until now.'

'Hn. Weird.'

'This whole cavern is strange and I don't like the feel of it, to be honest. Things keep popping up and disappearing and considering my 360 degree vision is not defective in any way I am starting to wonder if this is not some form of Genjutsu. Though I highly doubt that still. It must be the latent chakra within the mountain.'

'Latent Chakra?'

'Yes. There is an oddly large amount of it spread out about the cavern and it seems to be leaking underneath the valley, near its solid rock sufrace beneath the ice.'

'That almost sounds like this here is-'

'A sleeping volcano.'

A chill went through Byakuya's companions.

'Is it safe here?' Yuumei's voice was slightly more high-pitched than usual. Byakuya mentally rolled his eyes. Any mention of geological phenomena and panic starts to ensue.

'It is safe, though as soon as we reach our destination we should use our gas masks as a precaution, even though I don't see any Carbon based gasses. In fact, the air gets even cleaner. Ah. There is the opening I was looking for. As soon as we take this turn we will see the cave in. Though now that I look at it from this distance it looks more like someone had stacked these stones here to seal the entrance.'

The four now stood before the stacked stones. There was a small hole on top of the pile that allowed the fresh air to pass through.

'We can go through there if we expand it.'

'Leave that to me.' Daiki said and forced his hands together. Several roots grew out of the solid rock and shot at the small hole, disturbing the rocks and expanding the otherwise too small tunnel. 'I think that should be enough.' The young man stated with a satisfied grin on his face.

888

'Mmmhnn' Satsuki groaned as she gradually started to wake up.

Today had definately not been her day. First she was woken up by a huge bird and then she had to answer before the village council (again) for that incident three days ago. And then those weird Military Task force people appeared.

And now.

Now she was here. Alone in some dark cave.

'The Target has woken up.'

Satsuki looked at the source of the voice. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the dark hooded figure with the ghastly white mask with the red markings. She could feel the figure's gaze upon her and icy chills ran down her spine. A woman appeared before her vision and before she knew it, she was unconscious once more. Her golden eyes drooped to a close.

'I wonder how things are going with Seishiro and the others.' the woman, Yoko, mumbled, while petting away a stray lock of golden hair behind a small pointy horn.

'As per usual in such situations.' it was the Ghost Trooper that has spoken. Yoko looked at him with interest. 'Passing the time until it is safe to depart.'

That had been the longest sentence Ghost had ever used in a casual conversation. A small, maternal smile appeared on Yoko's lips.

'Children grow up eventually. And even then some never grow up. As long as we are confined here, we may as well enjoy some sight-seeing.'

'If you say so, Sempai. I still rather stay here, where is safe and sound, thank you very much. For all we know we might've stumbled on one of those abandoned Rebel Dwellings.' Kenta didn't even look up from what he was doing.

'Like last time in the Salt Flats? I highly doubt that. Didn't you see where we are? This place hasn't been entered in probably more than several hundred years, boy.'

'Here you go again, Sempai.' Kenta sighed and left the conversation pretty much with that exclamation.

Yoko shook her head, not at all pertrubed by his behavior. He was sour on his good days and if one managed to catch him in a rare elated mood, then that someone had to put up with his pompous attitude for approximately 30 minutes, after which Kenta would percieve that that particular person does not care one bit about the praise he had recieced from the Head of the Technological Advancement Bureau. Long story short, he would resume his default snarky, sour mood and since everyone was used to it in the team, nobody particularly lost any time of day brainstorming about it.

888

'It changed again.' Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed with both concentration and confusion. 'And I was looking for it. It just changed and I just saw it different and I couldn't pin-point when exactly it changed.'

Byakuya was referring to the constantly appearing and disappearing shapes near and far within his field of divination.

'I don't like this place.' Seishiro said finally, blue eyes narrowing. Still that scent...'Let's see what we will find and return to the others quickly.'

'Hai-hai.' Yuumei agreed, her Sharingan darting left and right, looking for something that would tell her what was going on. Even with her superior bloodline, she was unable to catch it in action.

Unlike the rest of his team mates, Daiki seemed to be getting more excited as they neared whatever they were going to inspect. Maybe in was the fact that, at this point, even with his non-enhanced sense of smell, he would practically inhale the smell of moist, fresh, green forest. The smell that was often accompanied by the extensive use of Mokuton when creating small artificial gardens, clearings, fields and... it smelled of home and happy childhood memories. Try explaining that to a group of sarcastic but mostly casual people that made up their team.

'Would you look at that. Yoko-sempai was right. Heh.' An impressed smirk spread on Seishiro's face as she marvelled at the extremely detailed and incredibly life-like toad statues, both big and small.'Gotta bring her down here. She'd like to take some pictures of this place.'

'Yikes!' Daiki yelped and retracted his arm as if it had been zapped. He tried to pick up one of the smallest statues but as soon as one of his hands had came in touch with it, he felt a strange, slightly painful but mostly startling surge, not unlike static. It was, in some way, chakra. Or at least somethign very similar to chakra.

'What happened Daiki?' Seishiro immediately inquired, her piercing gaze having immediately settled upon his form as soon as she had caught rapid movement. One of her hands was already gripping the handle of a pistol, purely by instinct.

'I wouldn't touch them if I were you.' Byakuya stated seriously.' Now I know why I cannot see these statues with my Byakugan. They absorb the chakra and become blank to my eyes.'

'Are they dangerious?' Yuumei asked as she glanced with her Sharingan from one statue to the other.

'What do you think?' Responded Byakuya.'I am starting to believe there was at least some truth in the Legends of the Summon Wars. These toad statues are ridiculously life-like.'

'Team. Come here!'

The three immediately looked at their Vice-Captain's location, at the other side of the Cavern. She was staring intently at the wall there.

'You have to see this!'

'Ano, there is nothing there Seishiro.' Yuumei stated.

'SEISHIRO!'

'Daiki!'

'I'm already on it!'

'ARGH!'

888

Taka-chan stirred and ruffled her feathers. Something had happened, and the Peregrine Falcon did not anticipate it to be pleasant. It never was. She looked at Ryuzen who was just comming to, Yoko already next to him, applying a soothing healing technique to his aching temples.

'Where are the others?' the captain immediately asked, albeit his voice was still very groggy.

'They went to explore the cavern.'Kenta stated, his mood more irritated than usual.

'How long have I been out?'

'Approximately 2 hours and 12 minutes.' Ghost replied, even though the question was more likely intended for Yoko.

'And the others? How long have they been gone.'

'About two hours as well.' Again, Ghost supplied.

Ryuzen slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. He noted the still form of the peacefully sleeping girl.

'Any problems with the Target?'

'None. She woke up as it was expected but I quickly put her back to sleep. Sweet child, isn't she?' Yoko smiled at the girl and then turned her full attention to Ryuzen again. 'I warned you, Ryuzen-Taichou. I will write a note to give you a prolonged vacation. Your body is overworked as it is. I want you to spend two weeks on a beach or in a spa, with a young bird or two to keep you company.'

A smile cracked on Ryuzen's face at the stern lecture Yoko gave him.

'Maa, I cannot leave my favourite team-mates all by themselves.'

'Taichou, Seishiro is bossy enough for the whole team. Your absence will only make her stricter.' Kenta grumbled.

'I suppose you are right Kenta. Still, I'd rather get all of us a nice long vacation. That way we can all be happy and 100 per cent ready to handle the job.' Ryuzen turned toward the Ghost Trooper. 'What do you say, Ghost-san? A nice big jacussi, beautiful shapely women and martini in hand, eh?'

Ghost remained silent.

'Eh, I guess you are no fun then.'

'The bird appears to be distressed.' finally Ghost said.

'Hm?' Ryuzen glanced at Taka-chan.

Kenta and Yoko also looked at her.

'That is rather unusual. You okay, girl?'

The bird spared him a glance and then ruffled her feathers once more.

'Something must've happened with Byakuya or Seishiro.' Yoko said quietly.

'Ghost-san-' Ryuzen started but the Ghost Trooper was already moving.

'Already on it.'

Kenta sighed audibly. And this was supposed to be a simple little mission in the middle of nowhere to retrieve a girl with supposed Fire related Kekkei Genkai. Hell, their target had small horns. For all they knew it might not have been fully human, considering some of the rumors that had started circulating at the Technical Advancement Bureau. The radio wasn't picking up any signal. The weather was trying to kill them. They were stuck in a cave with no way to go down on foot and to top it all off they had to babysit a Ghost trooper. It happened on occasion to work with them but notwith one of them IN their team. The brat was unnervingly silent and stealthy. Not even his cloak made any sort of sound. No wonder they were called Ghost Troopers.

888

Ghost silently went through the various tunnels and caverns that littered the inside of the entire mountain. The trek was utterly quiet and there was a sense of tension in the cold and strangely fresh air. At one point Ghost saw where Daiki used his Mokuton to widen an opening in a cave-in. There was a very dull humm of some kind and that forced the trooper into a further state of alertness. With Sharingan active, Ghost cautiously made steps forward, ears straining to define the source of the humm.

'Yuki-chaaaaan!' a small child exclaimed to the front left of the Ghost. The trooper froze as the apparition skipped closer and closer, until it just disappeared. Ghost took several minutes to regain the ability to breathe calmly again. Perhaps it was some sort of illusion? Ghost continued forward, fists clenched in order to keep them from trembling.

The Sharingan finally picked up something. Whisps of some sort of energy flowing chaotically and yet still barely on the edge of the senses. It was a large cavern, filled with Toad statues. And there, at the far end, was a scroll – the source of the mysterious chakra currents. The trooper came closer. And then, voices started talking- the voices of the team she was assigned to follow during the mission.

'I wouldn't touch them if I were you.' that was clearly Byakuya's voice.

'You have to see this!' Seishiro exclaimed and literally appeared before Ghost's eyes. The apparition of the vice captain went through Ghost and neared the scroll. She picked it up and the scroll lit up pulsing waves of energy.

'SEISHIRO!' The Uchiha pilot yelled in alarm.

The waves of energy formed vines of light that crept up towards the the team members. The vice-captain stood still, like a statue, an expression of shock wr

'Daiki!' Byakuya commanded, though slightly needlessly,as the Mokuton user was already throwing seeds on the ground. They rapidly grew into sprouts and from sprouts to small slim trees, but it was all futile as their whipping branches went right through the light tentacles. One of the chakra constructs shot at the female Uchiha and captured her.

'ARGH!' she screamed as she was pulled into the scroll.

'Yuumei!' Byakuya shouted and pulled out a small chakra pistol. It was nothing fancy like Seishiro's fine-tuned state of the art arms, but it had to do. The chakra pistol slowed down the light tentacles for a few moment, but soon enough the two remaining people were sucked into the scroll as well. Ghost just stood there like that, silent as death, too afraid to move, despite all the training that had been done.

'Yuki-chaaaaaan.' Ghost whipped around and saw the apparition of the little girl skipping at her again.

'Not now, Onee-chan.' Ghost mumbled softly.

'Yuki-chaaaaan!' the little girl exclaimed again and appeared by the scroll.'Pick it up!'

Ghost stared as the girl smiled and then vanished. All was silent and dark again.

888

Ryuzen sat cross-legged and stared at their target, a rather tall girl with tanned skin and blond hair. She had pointed ears and small brownish gold horns. Here and there on her skin were elegant, small swirly tattoos that were barely visible. She also had the most vivid golden eyes he had seen in quite a while.

'A member of the Ryu Clan, if I am not mistaken.' Yoko commented as she watched her captain inspect the girl with some interest.

'Didn't they lead a regiment during the Summon wars? The one that sunk the Dairuki Prefecture?'

'Apparently one or two of them survived, because she is their progeny.'

'How old is she? She looks around her mid-twenties.' Ryuzen muttered.

'Actually, she is 15, even if she is too tall to look her age.'

Ryuzen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'I can wait a few years, I guess.' The captain sighed with mock disappointment.

'You have three girlfriends in the capital, several friends with benefits, a bunch of birds all over the Elemental Continent alone, and you are feeling bad that you can't feel her up? What a pity captain, really.' Kenta rolled his eyes.

'Now, now, Kenta. You know he is a ladies man.' Yoko chuckled.

'And what about you, Sempai? Does a fine cougar such as yourself have a sweetheart?'

Now it was Yoko's turn to raise eyebrows.

'And what would it be to you if I did?'

Ryuzen barked a laugh.

'Honestly, I don't find you to be the type to-'

'Please follow me.'

'Ghost-san? When did you come back?'

'Please follow me, it isn't safe here.'

Ryuzen and Yoko shared a concerned look.

'Is something the matter, Ghost-san?'

The Ghost Trooper did not answer. Instead, using swift and precise movements, Ghost knocked them out. Taka-chan cried a few times but a glance with the Sharingan subdued her.