Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
A story for a friend, it takes priority right now, hope you enjoy chapter one!
PASSION
chapter one: "HOW'S THAT FOR LIT?"
Her name was Kimiko Yuki, and she almost made it.
A journey of a thousand leagues begins beneath one's feet.
- Lao Tzu
She stood on the verge of the most crucial event of her life and she didn't know it.
The world was darkening quickly, preparing to surrender itself to the rhythmic state of sleep. Her breath came out in labored huffs as she struggled to keep up with the men in front of her. Moisture clung to the inside of her ANBU mask, a combination of her own sweat and condensed water from her breathing.
As they raced through the forested countryside, Kimiko thought of how aptly named the Land of Fire was. The sun may have been resigning for the evening, now sinking under the horizon, but the air had not cooled; it remained a furnace.
Perhaps the heat only seemed intolerable because her native land of Kirigakure had a climate more suited to snow.
Well, whatever made the warmth feel so uncomfortable didn't matter. She felt her fingers rise, as if moving of their own accord, to tug at the mask covering her face, pulling it up the slightest bit to let the breeze hit her flushed skin. This place must make Hell look like a vacation to the snow caps, she mused letting the wind caress and cool her cheeks before setting the painted cover back in place.
Her hazel eyes peered out through the horizontal eye slits of the mask, taking in the scenery. At least this place had one redeeming quality: it was beautiful.
The Hokage monument of Konoha was ever present in the distance, displaying the hard work of the several masterful stone masons living there. Honestly, when she found out that her teammates had planned to bypass the hidden village completely she had been slightly disappointed.
Her disappointment was quelled by the knowledge that if they were to stop they would be forced to explain their intentions to Tsunade-sama, the current Hokage. Not only would that slow them down dramatically and give their target essential time to disappear, but chances were they would also be saddled with a team of Leaf ninja that would insist on accompanying them.
She recalled the Mizukage's explicit warning to avoid other shinobi villages.
This was not the time to sight see. Her ANBU unit could not afford to lose this target - especially when it meant they could face years of waiting until the missing-nin resurfaced. He had a habit of vanishing, untraced. Many units before them had attempted to capture this particular rogue before but few had returned, and never successful. I suppose that means Kisame is as good as they say.
She continued to watch as flurries of green, red, and gold whirred by her in the form of trees. She let a sigh escape her ruby lips, as they eventually passed Konoha as well. Perhaps another time, she thought, turning her head back to watch Ren's blurred figure still moving in front of her.
When he stopped abruptly Kimiko almost crashed straight into him. She had to throw her momentum to the side, nearly impaling herself on a tree branch in order to avoid sending them both flying out of the tree tops and then plummeting to the ground below.
"Damn it Ren," she cursed, making her way over to the boy, "Why the hell did you stop?!"
"Not my fault, Ayuma's orders," he said, shrugging her off.
"My bad, Kimiko-chan, I just thought we should set up camp here."
Kimiko turned to face the new voice, causing her hair to glimmer the color of polished bronze underneath the moonlight. Ayuma was approaching them, his dark eyes apologetic and a soft smile pulling across his handsome features. Noting the redundancy of wearing a mask at night, she removed hers as well, holding it in one slender hand.
"It's okay, Ayuma-kun," she said, tilting her head to the side and smiling back at him.
"Oh yeah Ayuma-kun, you can do whatever you want, it's totally fine," Ren imitated mockingly.
"Of course it's fine when he does it, he's the captain!" Kimiko snarled.
"Whatever."
Kimiko glared daggers at the slightly younger teenager, the beginnings of a scowl ripping away her previous smile. The ginger boy just smirked, winking at her as he went to stand by his brother's side. Naoki, who had just stepped into the clearing, was still sporting his mask but it was easy to see that the two were brothers simply by the way they acted. The two were practically inseparable.
Naoki, noticing the trend, pulled the wooden article off. The similarities were dramatic; the same shock of orange hair and the same gently sloping features. Pale lashes covered two similar sets of eyes, one pair the color of ash, the second a powdery blue. It was fairly obvious that Naoki was the elder of the siblings because along with his towering height, there was a certain degree of wisdom in his gray eyes.
"Very well, Ren, come help me set up the tents," came Naoki's smooth voice.
"Hai, nii-chan."
As the two constructed the tents, Kimiko felt a sudden chill slither down her spine, making her shiver. She knew instantly that it wasn't because of the rapidly cooling air. Ever since she was assigned to be the medic for this mission she had felt a nervous itch in the back of her mind. She was a fairly recent member of the ANBU but her affinity for chakra control had made her an excellent candidate for this rather daunting retrieval.
I can do this, I just need to stop stressing myself out, she soothed, sitting down a log in front of the freshly made tents.
"Move your ass, I need that to make the fire."
Kimiko gaped at Ren who was looking down at her with a bored smirk plastered to his face. She wanted to protest and tell him to go find firewood somewhere else but she found she didn't have the energy to bother. The aggravated woman stood up, setting her hands on her pronounced hips and watched him. Frustratingly enough, despite being a year younger, the ginger was a few inches taller than her.
When he finished arranging the logs he loomed over her still standing form, staring down at her with smug blue eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that? You still haven't lit the damn thing," she said, raising her chin in a dignified manner and pointing a perfectly polished fingernail at the cold logs.
"Watch," Ren replied, the smug look still noticeable.
He walked a few steps closer to the wood, making a few hand seals.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Flames burst forth from his open mouth before descending on the targeted wood. Heat exploded around the two teammates, dispelling the strengthening cold. Shadows began to seem like separate entities; watchful apparitions illuminated by the brilliant light of the fire. Then it stopped; the chill ensued, the shadows became lifeless once more.
Kimiko stared at Ren, shock overflowing in her russet eyes.
"How's that for lit?" he asked before sauntering over to his tent.
Kimiko didn't say anything, her mouth was still slightly ajar. How did he manage to pull off that technique? It looked like a pretty advanced jutsu. He must have improved a lot... Pressing her lips back together she retreated to her temporary living quarters as well.
The tents were small so she found that being limber was quite the advantage. She could stretch herself into a wide range of different sleeping positions in order to fit within the tight space afforded to her. Sleep claimed her relatively quickly, easing her tense muscles. The next morning they would arrive at their destination and once there they would take down Kisame.
She let a smile overtake her features as she drifted off.
Kisame Hoshigaki strolled along a fading dirt path. His white eyes were glued to Itachi as he watched the shinobi's graceful steps. God, he's like some kind of swan. Stealing a quick glance at the man's piercing red eyes to ensure he wasn't looking, Kisame attempted to imitate the younger's elegance.
"What are you doing?" Itachi asked, one ebony eyebrow raised.
"Oh, nothing," Kisame responded, returning to normal strides. Damn, he saw me.
"Hn."
The shark-nin considered the possibility of starting up a conversation but chose not to. He knew the raven haired man preferred silence and he cringed at the thought of being as irritating as Hidan. Still boredom clung to the edges of his mind, slurring his thoughts.
Where were they going again? Back to the base in Amegakure. Why were they out here to begin with? To capture the nine tailed jinchuuriki but that hadn't panned out because the kid was being protected by a Sannin. Kisame gagged, remembering the summoning jutsu the Sannin had used to send them into the slimy stomach of a toad. Itachi had risked his health using his black flames to free them.
Now they were on their way home.
The sun had risen a few hours ago to signify their second day of almost continuous walking. Kisame was not lacking in stamina, far from it, but he assumed Itachi might be a little worse for wear. The younger looked at least a little tired, most likely from the exertion of casting those black flames. Luckily their journey was almost over, in another six or so hours they'd be arriving at the base and Itachi would be able to seek medical care.
Kisame stretched his bluish hands over his head, feeling a pleasant pull in the muscles coating his shoulders and back. He was somewhat anxious to get back to Amegakure as well, mostly out of hope that he would have some free time to spar with one of the organization's less busy members.
The enormous man turned to look at his partner who was kneading his temples with pale fingertips. When he suddenly stopped, Sharingan eyes snapping open, Kisame halted too. The pair were silent, listening intently for something. The shark-nin wasn't sure what the Uchiha had heard but he knew to trust the man's judgment.
Then it came, a rustling in the trees too loud to be birds or some other mundane animal. Now as the noise grew closer the sound of footsteps was distinct. Three pairs - maybe four. They were moving at a high velocity, obviously shinobi, no civilian could travel that fast.
The first to emerge was a man of perhaps twenty, he wore a mask that covered his face and Kisame immediately recognized it. ANBU, they're hunter-nin.
"Itachi, watch out, these are hunter-nin from Kirigakure!"
Itachi responded with a sharp nod before activating his Mangekyo Sharingan. Upon looking into his eyes the man stopped in his tracks, no doubt caught unexpectedly in one of Itachi's genjutsu. The poor fool didn't even know what hit him.
"Wait," came Ayuma's stern voice as he came to a full stop at the edge of the woods. A dirt path curled endlessly just beyond the trees.
"Why, what's up?" asked Kimiko as she and Ren paused, glancing around.
"Look at Naoki."
The two directed their attention to the orange haired man who had frozen on the trail. He was looking at something only a few feet away but the trees were too dense for either of them to get a clear view of what it was. Ren's jaw fell though his mask concealed the startled expression.
A man strongly resembling a shark started to approach their ominously still friend. He hauled a sword even larger than himself across his wide back.
Before Ayuma could open his mouth to direct his two remaining teammates Ren had rushed out of the trees, making a wild dash to protect his brother. Ayuma grit his teeth. Shit!
Kimiko watched in horror as the man wielding the enormous bandaged sword smiled a toothy grin. He swung the weapon as if it weighed no more than a feather, sending it crashing against the significantly smaller kunai that Ren was holding in a defensive position. His mask shattered as the tip of Samehada pierced into it.
The younger ginger was standing a few feet in front of his brother protectively, his now revealed face broke into a wince as he used all of his strength to block the attack.
He barely managed it but the block was successful. Kisame swung Samehada for a second time, knocking the shinobi off balance, forcing him to slide backward a foot. Taking advantage of the opportune moment, the missing-nin struck out a third time moving with remarkable speed.
Ren had no time to block, much less launch an offensive jutsu. He sprung to the side but Kisame was faster, shifting the momentum of his weapon in record time. His sideswipe hit. Blood flew into the air, speckling Kisame's face in a fine spray. Ren's blue eyes widened as it splattered across his pale skin. He fell to his knees, orange hair scattering across his face, matted with the warm liquid.
Still fixed to her current position by fear, Kimiko screamed. As it turned out, that was the shock she needed to start moving. Racing across the distance between her and the two brothers, she slid on her knees to catch Ren's limp body before it hit the ground.
She hugged the man's body close to her, blood smearing across her face and clothing. She didn't care. Hot tears pressed at the back of her eyes and as she heard him whisper her name as she held him they finally escaped. Kimiko gently laid him down, summoning healing chakra to her hands.
"It's too late for that, he's as good as dead."
The words came from the shark man. She could tell there was laughter hidden in the sentence. She could feel the bitter words bite her, gnawing away at her heart. No. No. He can't be dead. Please, no!
"How's that for lit?"
With a sob stuck in her throat she allowed the chakra to fade away from her hands. She was an experienced medic, she knew he was dead. He had lost too much blood. That blood now covered her, soaking through her clothing and staining her skin. She searched for something to say but found nothing.
As Kisame approached, preparing himself to finish her off as well Ayuma found himself running to help her against his better judgment. He should have retreated and told the Mizukage that the mission was a failure. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave her and Naoki to the same fate Ren had met.
The dark haired man now stood at her side, holding out his hand to help her up. She took it and rose to her feet, not bothering to dust herself off. She promptly noticed that the other man, the one that must have trapped Naoki in the genjutsu, had now disappeared. She had no time to warn Ayuma before she felt a sharp pinch on the back of her neck.
Everything faded to black and she sunk to the ground. She was suddenly thankful for the ANBU mask that hid her tears from the world.
The last words she heard were her name being called out by Ayuma, then nothing.