Disclaimer: Me no own!
Author's note: Team eight's mission takes place around the same time as when team seven meets Sasuke for the first time in shippuden. Also it is mentioned that team eight is very well renowned for being a tracker team, thus their skills have ascended into AnBu. Shino- Ookami Kiba- Hawk Hinata- Raven
Chapter One
Fear the Unknown
"Do we have a trail?" Shino asked tilting his head down from his placement in the trees. Kiba shook his head, Akamaru whined pawing at his nose.
"Uchiha covers his tracks well." He sighed looking up at his team mates.
"Raven, any leads?" The raven masked female shook her head, long waist length indigo colored hair swaying at the motion.
"G-Gomenasai but there is none." Shino paused allowing his Kikaichu to slowly spread out; one insect passed the information to the next.
"Raven, please focus your Byakugan northwest of here." Hinata nodded, slowly searching over every molecular detail that could have been left behind.
No chakra but…
"I see s-something." She landed on the ground and quickly ran northwest her team mates following her at a respectable distance.
"Right here." Hinata tapped a small thin branch, Shino allowed his Kikaichu to study the branch calling them away once he saw what Hinata had seen with the Byakugan.
"Theres a hair on the branch." Shino stated, Kiba nodded.
"How can be so sure it's Uchiha's though?"
"B-because the slight, very slight chakra source does not belong to Sasuke-san." Hinata added, Kiba nodded.
"Akamaru can you get a scent?" the rather large dog panted and barked once in agreement rubbing his nose against the one strand of hair. The dog growled at the lack of scent but did his job, his head snapped into the air the scent fully memorized.
"Let's go." Shino concluded just as the dog leapt into the trees nose bent on finding the man with the next to nothing scent.
"Raven keep your Byakugan active, I don't want to miss anything. Or be caught in a trap because of our carelessness." Hinata nodded at her Hawk masked friend.
Akamaru stopped his fur rose up on end with a low growl building in his throat, the team of three stopped. Hinata kept her ears strained, she could hear the forest, the wind blowing and the leaves cracking.
She could hear two people breathing slowly.
"Move!" Shino commanded and the team did exactly that as the ground broke apart beneath them. Hinata's pale eyes narrowed, she should have seen the explosives planted in the ground!
"Hawk, Raven are you two alright?" Shino's voice rose over the smoke allowing them to pinpoint his location, however Hinata knew it was only a Kikaichu clone.
As expected the clone was destroyed, by water she could tell. Hinata could now assume that Kisame Hoshigaki was indeed here, so that meant their target was as well.
Kiba had joined her along with Shino, it was now a game of patience. They were still here, just on the other side of the clearing in fact if they weren't they would have gone after them by now. The smoke cleared and a mocking voice was given way to speak.
"Impressive to track us done without a trace, eh Itachi?" The shorter man said nothing, using the sharingan to memorize his enemies. They would be trouble if left alive, considering how easily they had found them.
"Tell me AnBu-san how did you manage to find us, when there was nothing to lead you here?" Itachi questioned, because even he had to admit that he was curious. More experienced AnBu had tried and failed to track or hunt him down, what made this one team so special, aside from the fact that they were in a team of three and not two?
The Hawk masked AnBu looked at the Ookami masked one, and was given a nod.
"Even hair leaves a trace Uchiha-san." The Hawk one replied, Itachi could tell by the rough under tone in his voice that he was an Inuzuka. Kisame could only assume based on the giant dog giving both missing Nin. A rather vicious look.
"I see." The only one not to have given any signals silent or not had been the Raven masked one, how ironic.
"Quite interesting to see polite AnBu, wouldn't you agree Kisame-san?" Itachi stated not looking at his partner, knowing his hand was already clasped around the hilt of Samehada. Kisame gave a sharp toothed grin, causing the AnBu to tense slightly.
"Indeed, what is it that you want?" Kisame asked gruffly, the Raven masked one took a minor step forward.
"We have come to take you into captivity, what else would you assume? Perhaps an outing to tea?" Hinata swallowed, she probably shouldn't have called out on their intelligence.
"I would prefer that instead of torturing faceless, nameless people. Unfortunately I presume that will have to wait another day, as I cannot afford to be taken into custody." Shino's Kikaichu spread from his body and buzzed in the air, some even crawling out from underneath the Akatsuki men's cloaks.
"Not bad." Itachi commented before vanishing from sight, Kisame gave a sadistic grin.
"You're in for it now little ones." He commented as Itachi suddenly appeared only mere inches away from Hinata, her eyes widened as she blocked his arm from crashing down onto her.
The Sharingan was swirling and Hinata knew it would be ready to copy her moves, Kakashi had not been so lenient with her team. He had gone all out on them, causing more than just a few broken bones.
Only then had he revealed the inner workings of the Sharingan, Hinata had been fascinated by how similar and different the Sharingan had been from her own Kekkai Genkai the Byakugan.
"The way you all move and react." Itachi spoke trying to swipe her feet from under her.
"You know how my Sharingan works." The scarlet red eyes had narrowed in a slowly rising anger. Hinata felt a shiver go through her spine as she activated the Byakugan, she didn't want to take any chances.
The Kikaichu had drained their chakra thanks to Shino and Kiba was currently fending off Kisame. Even so the two missing Nin weren't feared for nothing, their chakra reserves were vast and quite large.
Should she try to block them off?
Shino shook his head, showing his distaste at the idea. Hinata nodded her hand grasping Itachi's foot from crashing into her face. She sent various spikes of her chakra into him however, the viciousness of the chakra making the older male wince.
"Impressive, but you cannot even dare to dream of what limits my capacity." Hinata's eye brows furrowed, she was becoming annoyed with him.
"I do not need to d-dream." She had stuttered! In front of an enemy and in her AnBu uniform nonetheless! Hinata could feel Shino's eyes boring into her back.
"Because I already exceed your capacity." Hinata did not know if this was true, in fact she was certain this man was stronger than her by many, many ways.
"I see." The Sharingan she had avoided looking directly into caught her gaze through the holes made in her mask. A pinwheel like pattern swirled dangerously in her line of sight, sucking her into what Kakashi had informed her was called the Tsukuyomi.
The red skies frightened her, the black moon glared at her from the skies and she realized briefly that she had been strapped to a T-shaped wooden post.
Itachi materialized in front of her, face kept carefully blank as he removed a black katana from his cloak. Hinata winced as the Katana was dug under her ribs, she bit her lip harshly strictly reminding herself that this had to be a genjutsu.
Kakashi said the only difference was that she would feel the effects after it ended, but that it was only genjutsu.
"You know of Mangekyo?" Itachi mused, Hinata tried to keep from crying out or responding.
"I'm afraid you will not live pass seeing me." Itachi commented black flames starting to crawl up the post. Hinata froze, could he really kill her with these flames that she was told to avoid at all times if she was in a genjutsu when used?
"Your body may not die, but your spirit will break. You will literally become a living doll. Lifeless of any emotion or will." Itachi commented offhandedly, Hinata felt fear. She was scared of this, it was unknown to her. Even to Kakashi, had Itachi killed someone's spirit before?
The panicked frenzy that came with the thought of being unable to love anyone made her activate something deeper into the Byakugan. She screeched as her eyes clashed with his, black flames turning white.
"You fool!" Itachi hissed as the shadows slowly engulfed them both.