Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Why was I assigned to this mission anyway? I've only been a ninja for this village for what? Four months?! And to think! That old lady assigned me to a C ranked mission! C ranked!
Karin grumbled as she jumped to the forest floor. She'd scanned the forest for any other chakra signatures other than the ones around her over five times in the past two minutes. She rolled her eyes upward for the tenth time in the past minute and a half. Bored out of her mind, she glanced around her at her 'teammates'. Their normal ANBU gear was left at home and their tattoos covered for the sake of the mission and its rank. The brunette with the buns was made the leader. The blonde, her second-in-command. She and the Hyuga were the lookouts while that thing was made the medic. That pink haired know-it-all show-off.
What does she got that I don't? Yeah she's smart, talented, and, Karin gave a small shudder. Pretty. I have all that! So why does he see her and not me?! She shook her head to clear the thought as she looked at the last two people traveling with them. The dirty blonde had decided to join them on their mission. Something about seeing her brothers for vacation.
The man they were escorting was apparently some famous artist, but none of them had heard of him. They were to escort him on his trip to Suna. When questioned why he needed an escort, the old bat had said that he was in danger of being kidnapped. Yeah, whatever. To get there faster they had decided to take turns carrying him, to everyone's dislike. But the fan-carrier wouldn't; no, she was just a guest! Karin muttered a few curses about the woman under her breath.
They were setting up camp for the night before it was too dark to see, sunset in less than thirty minutes. Everyone took up a job and got to work. The three tents were set up, one for the client and the other two for three girls each, the fire was crackling and there was food and water. Ino sat by the fire and looked at her surroundings. Everyone was sitting by the fire, enjoying the out doors. Their client had a notepad out and was drawing something, she really didn't care. She glanced over at Temari and Tenten and could hear them talking about weapons. Typical. Hinata was cooking their diner, fish they had caught earlier with some spices they had brought along. Karin had gone into their tent for…something, she didn't know. She was still a little isolated from everyone else, but she was warming up a little.
Ino sighed as she turned to face her best friend. Sakura barely spent anytime with them now. She started working in the hospital more, went on more missions. The only time they saw her was when they had an ANBU mission and/or when they had their occasional girl's night out. She had been like this ever since Sasuke had come back. And he had been back for over six months. He'd only been given probation because he had helped in the assignation of Uchiha Madara, and killed Danzo but that was only known between him, his team, and Tsunade's immediate circle. He had been reinstated as a Konoha shinobi and, after taking the appropriate tests, become an ANBU captain. Matter of fact, all of the original Konoha 12 had become ANBU; Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, and Sakura became captains. His teammates had even been promoted to ANBU, though the big one, Jugo, was on leave so that Tsunade could work personally on his curse mark.
Ino sighed again and poked the fire with one of its sticks. She jerked her head up when Karin came running out of the tent.
"Enemy to the northeast. At least twelve. Twenty seconds." She pulled out twin kunai from her knee high ninja boots and took up a fighting stance as everyone got into position. Ino grabbed the water and threw on the fire as Hinata placed the food somewhere between the tents. Tenten, the closest, grabbed the man and hid him behind some bushes as they all turned and readied themselves for the attack.
About nineteen ninja landed on the ground, facing them. They wore no shinobi village headband and donned face masks. They each held a weapon, some more common while some less, ready to attack. A silent signal was given as they charged towards them. Temari whipped her fan out, blowing three away, and jumped after them. Hinata took up the Gentle Fist stance and struck three more, immobilizing them. She then stopped, surprising an oncoming ninja with a scythe, and performed her Gentle Step Twin Lions on her. Once her opponent let go of her weapon, she stabbed between two ribs in the upper left chest region with a hidden kunai, killing her. She pulled the weapon out and threw it, blocking the one that was aimed at Sakura.
Sakura nodded at her, a fast thank you, and then continued her attack. With chakra laced fists, she punched the ground then jumped to escape the collapse. She looked up as a ninja came at her, throwing shuriken. They embedded into her body, only for it to explode into millions of cherry blossom petals. He cursed and landed on an erected piece of ground, missing the petals float behind him and mold into the rosette. She pulled out her own shuriken.
"SHANNARO!" Tenten glanced at her pink haired friend. The ninja that had been standing in front of her fell to the ground, a shuriken planted at the base of his neck. The brunette chuckled as she turned to face the small circle of ninjas that had encased her. She smirked at the six, taking the scrolls out from her pouch. "Twin Rising Dragons…" She whispered, the scrolls spiraling towards the sky around her. She stood there, watching her enemies' blink of surprise as weapons appeared from the scroll. She twitched her fingers, attaching chakra strings from them to the weapons. With a directed swoop of her arms, "Impact." The six fell as metal came in contact with vital organs.
Karin looked at the number left and their chakra signatures. So we're left with the strongest and smartest. Great. She rolled her eyes but called to her teammates. "Yo! Twenty-six Spiral!"
"Hai!"
Ino released her clan jutsu and slit her throat at the last second, killing her opponent. She spotted Hinata and ran towards her at top speed as she did the same. The two raced at each, forming the same hand seals as Tenten pulled the large scroll off her back. The scroll unraveled and katana's and spears popped out. She attached strings to them and waited. As the blonde and the Hyuga continued running and their signs, Sakura and Karin joined behind and to the side of them, forming separate signs. The four met in front the last ninja standing. "Spiraling Serpent: Sol Luna Strike!" (1)
Ino and Hinata finished their signs and flipped into the air, grabbing the others hand that wasn't a chakra scalpel. Temari twisted her arms while she waved her fan in a huge arc, sending the two girls into a spiral and encasing them in Tenten's weapon attack. Karin wrapped her fingers in an O around her mouth and let fire jet out into the air current as Sakura did the same with a stream of water.
The enemy had put up a dome of rock around them but the combination of the three elements used shattered an area big enough for the two flying girls to fit in. With quick movements and knowledge of the body, they severed every muscle tissue and tendon that kept them alive. They jumped out, letting the fire and water scorch their bodies with the steam.
The girls turned away from the display and caught their breath. They smiled at each other and gave high fives, even Karin. "Good job girls! Our timings increased!"
"I see you studied more Ino-chan." Hinata smiled at the blonde.
"You too Hinata!" Ino grinned back and patted her on the shoulder.
Karin smirked at Sakura. "Nice work pinkie."
"Thanks, but you could use more power." Karin gaped at her. Sakura grinned then laughed. "I'm kidding! It was excellent four eyes!"
"Hey! Where is he?!" They looked at Temari and saw her where the client had once been. Sakura let out a few curses as they set out to search. They found him a minute later in his tent, sketch pad in hand. His brown eyes were large as he stared at them. The pad fell out of his hand, revealing a few drawings of women in clothes.
"Yo! You okay?"
He shook his head and mumbled something. "Speak up!" Tenten, being Tenten, was loud and rough as she shook him and snapped in his face.
"A-amazing… simply amazing."
"What?" The girls gave him a weird look as his face lit up and he nodded his head, his mop of black hair going everywhere.
"I must have you! All of you!"
Temari bristled at his statement. "Excuse me?! Do you want to die?!"
"Because we can kill you in less than a second!" Ino was right behind her.
"No, no! Not like that!" He put his hands up defensively. "Do you not know who I am?"
Hinata put her hands up nervously. "Um, no."
He made a face as if he was offended. "I am Senta Kamizuru! Owner of the Zuru Elements fashion line and modeling agency!"
"Fashion line? Modeling agency?" Some of the girls stared at him with confusion while others, namely Ino, stared with surprised glee.
"Oh Kami! You're the owner?! I love your clothes, and your models are so pretty!" Ino gushed as she shook his hand.
"Why, thank you." Senta smiled at his fan. "But like I said, I must have you six! Your looks, your bodies, your style! You all are perfect!"
Hinata looked at the others. "I don't know… We are kunoichi, not models."
"Don't worry! I design fashionable ninja clothing too. Ones suitable for battle."
Ino looked at them and gave them puppy dog eyes. "Please! Come one you guys, it'll be fun!"
"Well I'm up for it!" Karin grinned at the girl and they high fived.
"Models? Us?" Sakura spoke as she accessed the other girls' faces. "We need time to think about it."
Senta nodded as he placed his notepad beside him. "Fine. If I am correct we will reach Suna in the morning. You have three days after we get there to decide." He handed each of them a card. "It's all or none. I'm only taking you as a package deal."
They looked at each and exited his tent, bidding him goodnight. Karin restarted the fire and they sat around it thinking of their decision. They would catch each other glancing around the fire, or in deep thought. What would change if they said yes? How big of a chance would they miss if they said no? What would the shinobi world think? Would they be more targeted?
"What do we do?"
Why?! Why did I have an idea at a time like this?! Well I don't know. It's just a prologue anyway. Tell me what you think; Go or No go? I have it plotted already if it's a Go. Leave your answer in a review.
(1)- Sol Luna is the Spanish terms for Sun and Moon (I may or may not be right. I'm not in Spanish). Since the Sun is sometimes connected with fire and the Moon controls the tides I thought that it would be a nice touch to the jutsu. :]
Well, bye-bye! Read and Review!