Chapter 1 – Explosive Entrance

Kiba was lazing by the fire, with Akamaru lying on his stomach. Him and his team were on the way home after an escort mission. It had been a simple assignment, and aside from the merchant's ox getting spooked by anything under the sun, they'd run into no trouble.
Shino was having play time with his bugs and Hinata and Kurenai were idly chatting about something. Kiba wasn't really listening anyway. A full stomach always made him sleepy.

The sounds of the forest around them were calming. The insects buzzed, and occasionally a soft breeze rustled the foliage. Another day and they be back home.
It took him a second before he noticed that Akamaru had his head up, nose in the breeze.

"Huh? What is it, boy? You smell something interesting?" Lifting himself up on his elbows, Kiba himself sniffed the gentle breeze. There was nothing unusual, but suddenly a strange scent was carried over.

"Kurenai-Sensei! Someone is heading this way!" Everyone snapped to attention at once.

"Hinata. Use your Byakugan. Find out who that is."

"Y-yes, Kurenai-Sensei!" Focusing on their surroundings, the girl activated her Kekkei Genkai, scanning the forest for living things.
"I found it. A woman, headed our way. And.. There's someone else, right behind her!"

"Hide!" Kurenai hissed at her students. This was difficult terrain to traverse, so these two weren't mere travellers.
But it was too late.

A young woman flew toward them on the tree branches. She was so focused on getting forward that the sight of the three strangers took her by surprise.
She landed on a weak branch and it broke. Kurenai pulled Hinata out of the way before the stranger could fall on top of her. She came crashing down with a sickening crunch, blue hair flying.
She groaned, but was on her feet again in an instant. Looking around and assessing her surroundings within seconds, she tried to find an escape.
A sharp whirring sound forced her into motion, and a barrage of Shuriken hit the ground where she had been a moment earlier.

Too late… He's here. Damn it! I'd hoped not having to fight Katsurou, the girl thought.
Maybe there was still a way to escape.

"Oh, Asuka!" a sing-song voice came from a tree on the edge of the small clearing.
"You can't run away from me, little bird!"

Asuka had concealed herself in the shrubbery. True, she and Katsurou were evenly matched for speed, and he'd be able to follow her, but he wasn't good at seeing through deception.
If she kept out of sight long enough…

"Fine then. If you don't want to come out to play, how about I use these ones for target practice!"

The two strangers' encounter had happened so swiftly, Kurenai and her new pupils had not been able to react quick enough. Her team was not yet used to each other, and sometimes, their reaction time was lacking.
Asuka was torn. She did not want to battle Katsurou. He'd already gotten in a few good hits in their run, and she didn't know how long she'd last.
But these children.. They stood no chance, and their instructor wouldn't either, not if she tried to protect them.

Kurenai stood before Hinata and Shino, but Kiba and Akamaru were still across the fire when the Shuriken from the stranger went flying at them.
She'd never reach him in time. Kurenai was fast, but not that fast.

"Kiba! Move!" But she knew it was too late, Kiba couldn't escape.
The boy reacted immediately, but he saw himself that it was no use. Eyes widening in shock, he stared at the deadly sharp weapons, when suddenly a flash of blue appeared before him.
Asuka was ready, blade in hand. She could match Katsurou for speed and knew his attacks.
Keeping the boy and his mutt in her back, the blue-haired woman deflected every steel projectile with her sword.
It's not like she really had a chance. She would not let a child die for her.

"Leave them out of it, Katsurou! It's me you want!"
"But it's not a good fight if I don't get you riled up first, little bird."

Asuka pushed the boy away with enough force to send him sprawling to the ground a few feet away. She didn't dare take her eyes off the treeline. Now that a confrontation was unavoidable, she knew not to get distracted for a second.
If I'd only taken another route. No use complaining now. If I don't face him, these kids are done for. Well, suppose it's as good a day to die as any..

Team 8 watched in amazement. This stranger was fast, almost too fast to follow. Kurenai was the only one who'd seen every strike of the blade. She made a hand sign and Kiba and Akamaru ran over to them.
That other stranger, Katsurou, he'd attacked them to provoke the blue-haired girl into action. And that girl, Asuka, had saved her student. Kurenai weighed her options. If they ran, they might get away. Or they'd get attacked. And if they got away.. This girl.. She was obviously trying to escape and instead of using them as an impromptu diversion, she saved Kiba's life.

Before she'd decided, a figure flipped down from a tree, landing in the clearing.
He was tall, lean, with wayward dark hair and misleadingly warm brown eyes. The smudged paint on his face only added to the menacing feel that emanated from the stranger.
With a small laugh, he drew out a Kunai.
Neither of them had any need for words, launching themselves at each other and jumping right into close combat.
It was clear that they knew each other and were used to the other's fighting style. Every kick, every punch, every slice was countered. The match was fast paced, and Kurenai made her choice to help.
Just as she was about to cast a genjutsu over the attacker, he got the girl with a kick to the gut, and while she was thrown back, whirled around, flashing a few hand seals.

"Bad idea, leaf ninja! Water Style: Water Shuriken!"

"Scatter!" It didn't take more than one word, since the kids were prepared for it now, and they managed to dodge out of the way of the attack.
Katsurou laughed, this was what he lived for! But in his distraction, he fell into old patterns and let Asuka get too close to him. She punched him in the back of the head and sent him flying, but he landed on his feet and launched himself right at her.
At the last second, he kicked off the ground and leapt toward the little girl who'd dodged his water Shuriken.
Kurenai and Asuka moved at the same moment. Asuka managed to get in front of her opponent, blocking his attack, while Kurenai simply grabbed Hinata to get her out of harm's way.
She looked back, ready to block another attack, but she didn't have too.
Asuka had given up her prepared advantage the second Katsurou changed direction. Now they stood head to head, and she felt the pain radiate from her side.
She didn't have to look down, she knew he'd managed to stab her with the Kunai. The girl realized this had probably been his plan all along. She shouldn't be surprised. Katsurou knew her and he knew exactly how to distract her.
Asuka was furious that she'd fallen for this, but she'd been running all day. She was exhausted and had simply reacted.

"I've had enough of this," Kiba growled. He called for his teammate, and Shino felt the same.
While Kiba dropped to all fours, the other boy raised his arms and commanded a myriad of bugs came shooting forth, attacking the stranger.
Katsurou let go of Asuka, who crumpled to the ground, and dodged the cloud of insects, but they swarmed him and he was having a difficult time getting them away from him.

"Human Beast Clone! Fang over Fang!"

"What the-" Katsurou almost couldn't dodge in time, the goddamn bugs making it hard to see, but he managed to weave out of the way of the boy and his clone. He hit a tree and out of nowhere, bloody vines shot out of the ground, trapping him.
Kurenai was standing in front of the blue-haired girl, with Hinata behind her who was trying to help the stranger.
She'd trapped him in her jutsu, and commanded the boys to stop. She wanted to get to bottom of this.

Akamaru changed back, and growled at the bound stranger. Kurenai kept a strong hold on her vines and came closer. The stranger had let his head drop forward, staring at the ground. He was trembling.

"So, now that I've got you," Kurenai stopped two feet in front of him, narrowing her red eyes.
"Just who are you?"

And then the Leaf Jonin realized, he wasn't trembling, he was laughing. Softly chuckling, but it was building up.

"Pathetic!" he spat.
"Do you think this will hold me? Ahahaha, you are dumber than you look!"

His laughter had gotten louder, and he was struggling against his bonds. Kurenai focused and syphoned more chakra into her jutsu, but the pressure was starting to snap the vines. Was he really that strong? She was about to make more vines, choke him if need be, when a shout from behind cut through her thoughts.

"Move!"

All three looked back to see the girl kneeling next to Hinata, flashing hand seals. They all recognized the tiger seal and dove out of the way at the same moment when Katsurou snapped the vines holding him.

"Fire Style! Breath of the Wolf!" Forced out by a large amount of chakra, a ball of blue flame erupted from the girl and shaped itself, resembling a wolf head, albeit hazy and flickering. The beast shot toward Katsurou, growing larger the closer it got to him.
For the first time, his face showed fear and he turned tail and ran. The wolf head chased after him, growing ever larger and leaving bare, scorched trees in its wake.
Asuka held the seal for as long as she could, but she was almost at her limit. The flame wolf would chase him for a while, buy her some time, but not much.

"What was that?" Kurenai asked. She'd never seen blue flames before, and the force they had and the destruction they left behind… Her pupils looked just as impressed, even the usually stoney-faced Shino. Before they could ask any more questions, Asuka cut them off.

"We have to get out of here, now. I don't have enough chakra left, it'll only chase him for a few minutes," she was breathing hard now, and wasn't even sure how she should summon enough power to run, but there was no other way. Forcing herself back on her feet, Asuka tried to jump up onto a branch, but the motion made the pain in her side flare up again.

"Here, let me help you."

Kurenai was beside the stranger, and slid one of her arms around her own shoulder, helping Asuka stand. Her pupils had snatched their things, and followed their sensei and the stranger into the trees.

"Okay, you guys, double time. You heard it, that only bought us a few minutes. Stay sharp. And you," she added to Asuka, "If he catches up again, what is the best way to attack him?"

"Katsurou is fast and strong, but his eyes aren't the best," she replied.
"Anything that will rob his sight works. Or Genjutsu. He really, really sucks at that."

Kurenai frowned. She was a master at Genjutsu, but in the heat of the moment, hadn't thought about using it. The two strangers had been so skilled, and that Katsurou so ready to lash out, she had tried a more offensive method to protect her team.
No time to fret about that now, though.
The shinobi took the chance to get a closer look at the young woman who had dropped in on them so unexpectedly.
She wasn't very tall, and she certainly wasn't all that heavy. Blue hair, very pale skin and dark, blue-grey eyes. Definitely an unusual appearance around these parts.
The clothes she worn were torn and singed, and the smell of smoke showed it was pretty recent.
And that skill and speed… The entire encounter with her, and the fight with her pursuer had taken little over 15 minutes, even though it had felt like much longer.
This one was certainly interesting.

"Why are you even helping me?" Asuka's voice was a bit feeble, but she had to know.
"I brought Katsurou to you. He could've killed you. So why?"

"You brought him to us, yes, but not intentionally. And instead of escaping and using us for cover, you saved Kiba. And blocked the attack on Hinata. If anything, I owe you to get you someone who can patch up that wound. Because I'm not that skilled in medical ninjutsu."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense. Somehow.." Asuka was feeling the chakra exhaustion, but she had to keep going. She utilized a mental exercise she'd perfected over the years. Blocking out everything and just focusing on the movement of her feet, letting muscle memory guide her.
Kurenai noticed the slight change in the other woman's step and a quick look told her that she'd shut down.
The blue eyes were open, but empty and unfocused.

We need to move it. She's bleeding out as we run. No idea what will happen when she's healed up, but as of now, I owe her a debt for doing what I could not.

Fuelled by her thoughts, Kurenai picked up the pace. They had to utilize their headstart as best they could.
An unspoken agreement passed between the three genin as they trailed behind the two adults. They were tired, having travelled all day, but they would not slow them down, no matter what.

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Squad 8 ran through the entire night, Asuka having to rely on Kurenai to keep her upright more and more as the hours flew past. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd make it.
The leaf shinobi felt her fading when they jumped from the branches to the broad road leading to the village.

"Hey, Asuka! Stay with me. We're almost there. Just open your eyes, the village is right there, see?"

"Oh. Really. There it is. That's.. that's good. That's very good." She tried her best to blink the fatigue away, but she was fighting a losing battle.
"I have information…"

A few steps from the gate, Asuka gave in to the blissful darkness and passed out. Kurenai noticed immediately when her load suddenly became a lot heavier.
She dragged the woman the last few steps, the gate guards from the night shift already hurrying to the group.

"Kurenai! What happened? Who's this?"

The Jonin was completely winded and smiled gratefully when Yuu relieved her of the girl.
"Get her over to the hospital. She needs attention. Tell them they wanna keep an eye on her though. Post a guard in the room or something."

Kurenai watched as the guard jogged away. All the gratitude on the world wouldn't eliminate the suspicion.