A/N: Disclaimer: Blah blah this is not copyright infringement blah. There you go. Well, go easy on me, please. I'm not so good with fanfics…I hope I'll get better as I go. Without further ado, READ!!! And review. Please ^.^
Chapter one: Memory
The three anbu stood back to back, staring into the distance in all directions. Each had a shuriken in each hand, and each was in a defensive stance. The mission had been going for three days, and still wasn't even halfway over. They were tired, beaten up, and barely on their feet. But they would keep fighting until they either dropped dead or finished the mission.
One, whose shock of white hair showed over the top of his dog mask, noticed a movement in the trees nearby. "THERE!" he shouted to the others, letting his shuriken fly toward the spot at the same instant.
The other two, a girl with blond hair that fell over her bird mask and a man with short black hair and a horse mask, both threw a barrage of shuriken toward the general area. There was an enraged yell from the tree, and two figures materialized out of it, falling to the ground. One of them stood up. It was unnaturally tall, clad in a black cloak that seemed to suck the light out of the air, and shaking with rage. "Yooooou!" It howled, its voice searing their ears and making them wince, "Yoooooou kiiiiiiillllled herrrr!"
The black haired man saw the figure twitch, and he dropped to the ground, yanking his teammates down with him. They all flinched as a mass of shuriken, more than one person could throw at once, flew over their heads. As soon as the swarm of missiles had passed, they all leaped up…to find that their opponent was gone.
They slid back into their original positions, nerves on edge, waiting for something to move. "I wish that this was something we could SEE. Then we could fight it normally," muttered the girl as she stared into the fog. The other two silently nodded their agreement, scanning their surroundings for any sign of the enemy.
The bird-masked girl swore creatively as the light began to fail. The fog was enough of a problem. Once the light went, it would be near impossible to see. She was barely breathing, afraid that the slightest noise would attract unwanted attention from their unnatural adversary. They had thought this mission would be as straightforward as the others: Get past the obstacles, capture the target, and bring it home. If the target becomes an obstacle, kill it and bring back the body. They had, apparently, just killed the target with a lucky hit. But the woman's bodyguard…
The dog-masked man saw the target, who he thought he'd killed, begin to slowly sit up and attempt to drag herself behind the tree for the meager shelter it would bring. He could tell he'd hit her hard, maybe even fatally. She was worth more to them alive, though. Just as she gained the shelter of the tree, the last of the light went, and the world was plunged into darkness and fog.
The horse-masked man heard a rattling from nearby and realized that it was his own shuriken, hitting each other as he shook with fear. He focused on his breathing and heart rate; slowly bringing back the calm that was necessary for this fight. He grinned slightly, chiding himself for letting his childhood fear of the dark take over in a moment of weakness.
The Enemy had been watching the three, hidden in the thick fog. It probed their chakra slightly every now and then, looking for an opening. Its impatience was about to get the better of it, and it crouched, coiled as tight as a spring, ready to pounce. Suddenly, a crack appeared in the concentration of the nearest adversary. It howled in triumph, exploding out of the fog and reaching out with arms far longer than they had been a moment ago. As its' clawlike fingers found flesh, it shivered in ecstasy at the feel of the warm blood of its opponent coursing over its' hands, running down its' arms. It opened the pores of what passed for its skin, drinking in the life of the writhing ninja that it held pinned to the ground.
Suddenly, the protrusion it had been using as a head separated from the rest of its mass and fell to the ground, the neck severed by one of the others' swords. It extracted one hand from the now-unmoving ninja on the ground and slashed out in the direction the blow had come from, not needing to look at its prey. It felt the dog-masked anbu jump back and extended its reach, grinning as it was rewarded with a scream and the feel of skin under one of its' talons. It turned to see its handiwork, and saw that it had carved a deep gash down the left side of the dog-masked anbu's face. The man collapsed to land facedown on the ground, a dark pool of blood spreading from below his head.
Suddenly, in a voice choked by tears, the last of its' adversaries began to chant. It laughed horribly, the sound of its voice bringing visions of plague and death. But as the voice continued to chant, it realized that movement was becoming increasingly difficult. It growled, annoyed that this little ninja with its' petty tricks had gotten the best of it for a moment.
Almost too weak to move, the dog-masked anbu could only turn his head to watch through a blood red haze as the shadow demons' movements become increasingly slower and his teammate chanted. He tried to move again, but too much of his blood had already been spilled by the demon. All he could to was simply cling doggedly to life and pray that he and his teammates would survive.
The bird-masked girl continued her chant, eyes shut tight against the bright light that was forming between her outstretched hands. She touched it with her chakra and molded it into the shape she needed, that of a chain. She gave it its' instructions, continuing her chant to keep the demon contained as she did so. She felt as if the two jutsu were about to pull her in half. Finally, the chain jutsu was completed, and she let it go.
The monster tried to dodge the golden chain that flowed toward it, but its' reactions were too slowed by the girl's binding jutsu. The chain wrapped around it, burning the blood within it away, taking away what gave it its strength. It howled again, this time in despair at not being able to avenge its master and fear of what lay in the place the chain was pulling it into. Finally, its strength failed, and it stopped struggling. The chain had expanded into a globe which obscured it from outside view completely, and the huge golden mass began to twist and shrink, coming to rest at the girls' feet in the shape of a gold band with a black lightning bolt inlaid into it. She picked it up and slid it onto her arm, then pulled off her mask and went to tend to her teammates.
Her bright purple eyes went wide as she neared the horse-masked man. He was barely recognizable as human, and obviously beyond saving. Fresh tears made tracks through the blood and dirt on her face as she performed the ritual of cleaning, the flames that ate his body and its' secrets reflected in her eyes…and the band of gold around her upper arm. She spoke the last words of the ritual almost in a whisper, "And may the Lord and Lady, Emperor and Empress, watch over you in Heaven, I commit you to them, Obito of the Anbu. And so it is and ever shall be."
The ritual finished, she made her way across the charred, bloody field to her other companion, fearful of what she would find. She stopped when she was a yard away from his body, "Not Kakashi, too…" she shook away the tears that made her voice crack. There would be time for grieving later, after she had reported back to the village.
As she reached down to close his remaining eye, he blinked. She jumped, startled, then stood shaking as his eye focused on her. His voice was barely a whisper when he spoke, "Iera…is it…"
Iera threw herself across his chest, hugging him to her, ignoring the pain that shot through her muscles at this unexpected sudden movement. Tears of sadness mixed with those of joy as she allowed her emotions to make themselves felt. "I-it's gone…I bound it to me…I…it…it k-killed…Obito…I already performed the cleansing…"
Kakashi wrapped his arms around his sobbing teammate, holding her close as if to protect her from the burden that she had willingly taken on in order to bind the demon. His voice was barely a whisper, "He was dead from the moment it jumped him, we both know that. There was nothing we could do. It was just too powerful."
Iera nodded, her sobs slowly fading. When they were both ready, they stood, Kakashi leaning on Iera's shoulder for support, and began to make their way back to the village to get medical care and make their report.