The village of Konoha was quiet and asleep. Silver light from the full moon lit up the empty streets and alleyways. While everyone was in their dreams, a cloaked figure roamed the streets. Undercover agents who patrolled the village ignored the person, knowing that she would do no harm. The woman was walking through the streets, not really thinking of a destination. She went around corners, looking around for anything suspicious. After around twenty minutes the cloaked woman suddenly sprouted wings and flew off with a single beat of her white, angel-like wings. As she flew over the village she looked down for any late night walkers. The angel-woman flew to the top of the Hokage monuments and landed on top of the head of the Third Hokage. A light breeze blew past ad pulled the woman's hood off her head.
The woman was very young-looking – she looked about sixteen or so. Her hair was a dark red, almost brown, and it flowed past her shoulders. Light brown eyes stared out ahead of her, taking in the whole view of the large village. The youth's navy blue cloak flowed back from a gust of wind, revealing the angel's light blue, tunic-like dress. Her dress had a blue belt with a silver buckle which had an engraving of a crescent moon overlapping ocean waves. Around the young woman's neck was a silver locket with the same symbol as her belt buckle. The woman truly did look like and angel, watching over the village of the Hidden Leaf.
She watched the clouds drift in front of the full moon, blocking the path of its silver radiance. As Konoha was shrouded by the enormous shadow the cloud cast, a strong wind flew past the angel, whose eyes hardened and jaw clenched. The angel sensed that the time was close, and that they must act soon. She took off once again and disappeared into the night just as the moon's light fell upon the Hidden Leaf Village.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Fifth Hokage was doing her usual paperwork, signing and writing on specific lines of a certain document. As she was filling out a form, a knock came at the door. "Come in," the woman said.
The door opened and a girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen walked into the office. She tucked a lock of her pink hair behind her ear and looked at the Hokage with jade green eyes. "You called for me, Shishou?" she said.
"Yes," Tsunade said. "I have a mission for you, Sakura, and your team."
"What's the mission?" She watched the blonde haired woman fold her hands and rest her chin on them.
"Tsunade answered, "You, Naruto, and Sai are going to locate Team Falcon and bring Uchiha Sasuke back alive."
Sakura made a small gasp as she stared at the Fifth. Then she asked, "How long do we have, Tsunade-sama?"
"You have two weeks maximum." The woman stared at her apprentice intently. "Go tell Naruto and Sai to pack their things for the mission. You best get your things as well. You three are to wait at the gates for your fourth member and leader of this operation."
"Hai."
"Dismissed." Sakura nodded and turned around. Before she opened the door, Tsunade stopped her. The pinkette turned around to face her mentor.
"Yes?" the girl asked.
"Be careful on this mission; you don't know what could happen." Tsunade's face was serious, but Sakura saw the worry in the woman's eyes. Sakura bowed to the Hokage.
"I will Shishou." With that the pink haired girl left the Hokage's office and headed out the building. She walked down the street toward the place where she was sure Naruto was at this hour – the ramen shop.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Naruto was slurping up a third bowl of ramen when he spotted pink out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Sakura-chan," he said with his mouth full.
"Hey Naruto." Sakura sat down next to him. Naruto was about to order a bowl for his friend when she told him not to. The boy looked at her.
"Eh? What's up Sakura?" he asked.
"We have a mission. Go get your things and meet me at the front gates," Sakura said. "I better go and get my stuff together. We have to leave as soon as possible."
Naruto saw the seriousness in her gaze and nodded. "Did you get Sai already?" When she shook her head no he said, "Alright, I'll go get him for you."
"Thanks Naruto." Sakura stood up and, with a "good-bye", left the stand. Naruto gulped down the rest of his soup, paid the bill, and ran off to where Sai lived. Once he arrived at his comrade's apartment he knocked on the door. Sai answered it and gave Naruto a fake smile.
"Hey, what brings you here di--". Naruto cut him off.
"We have a mission Sai. Get ready and meet at the gates," Naruto said. Sai nodded and closed the door. Naruto then ran off toward his apartment to pack up as well.
Naruto was approaching the village gates and saw two people already there. One of the two people he recognized as Sakura, her pink hair wasn't hard to miss. The second person turned out to be Sai. Naruto stopped in front of the two and looked around. "Where's Kakashi-sensei, or Yamato?" he asked.
"Both of them are out on a mission already," Sakura answered.
"So who's our fourth member?" Just then there was a rustling in a nearby tree. Sakura, Sai, and Naruto looked up into the tree. A young woman leaped off the branch where she perched and landed in a crouch on the ground to absorb the impact. When she straightened, the three ninja had a good look of her.
The girl, who looked about sixteen or seventeen, had the green vest of a Chunin/higher ranked ninja. She wore a fitting black shirt with black shorts that ended just above her knees. Around her waist was a dark brown leather belt that held her sheathed katana on her right hip and weapons pouch on her left on the back. Her long, bright red hair was tied up in a bun held up by a single chopstick. The Leaf Village symbol on her headband shone proudly on her forehead. The young woman put her hands on her hips and stared at the three before her. After a minute the kunoichi smiled at them, her intense gaze turning a bit softer. "Nice to meet you all, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Sai," she said.
"How did you know our names?" Sakura asked.
"And who are you?" asked Naruto. The young woman smirked at them.
"My name is Natsumi Niikyo," the girl replied. "I am your fourth member as well as the leader of this mission since neither Kakashi nor Yamato could make it. Does everyone know the mission?"
Naruto and Sai shook their heads. Natsumi glanced at Sakura. "You did not tell them of the mission? Well, I'll fill them in once we get some distance from here." The young redheaded woman began to walk away. "Let's go."
"Hey! You're supposed to tell us the mission before we head out!" Naruto shouted. He ran after the kunoichi, as did his teammates. Natsumi had stopped to let them catch up, and then she turned to face the blonde.
"Naruto, I am leading this retrieval mission. I will tell you what the whole mission is when we are out of earshot from other people." She saw Naruto's confused expression, but she ignored it and started running. Her team followed closely behind.
After several hours of running the four took a break. Natsumi sat on the ground cross-legged while the other three sat in front of her. Finally, Naruto asked, "What is the mission exactly?"
Natsumi sighed. "Alright. The mission is to hunt down Team Falcon, arrest or kill the three named Juugo, Sauigetsu, and Karin, and then capture Uchiha Sasuke and take him back to Konoha." She looked at the faces before her. "The Hokage has given us two weeks to complete this mission because it will be difficult to catch Team Falcon since they move around a lot these days."
"How will we find them in the first place?" Naruto asked.
"While I was on a mission to gather information about them, I bumped into the female of Team Falcon, Karin. She has the gift to sense chakra levels and signatures from great distances, and eventually will find us even if we mask our chakra. The other two have important abilities and facts as well. Still, I can track Karin down by scent."
"So you use your nose like Kiba?"
"Well, yes, but my sensitive sense of smell is more natural than chakra enhanced. You should know that Naruto, we've met before." The woman suddenly became aware of what she said and tensed slightly. Naruto stared at her, clearly confused. She tried to explain, "You, me, Sakura, and even Sasuke went on a mission together when…" Natsumi stopped and shook her head. "Never-mind, you both wouldn't remember me."
Sakura was about to ask her a question when the red haired woman stood up and was listening to something else. Her question changed, "What is it, Natsumi-san?"
"Come on, we need to gain at least five more miles or else we'll lose Team Falcon." Before anyone could question her again, she ran off into the trees. Naruto, Sai, and Sakura dashed after her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Camp was set up for the night, and Sakura and Sai were asleep. Naruto was also asleep until the sound of movement in the bushed. He sat up and automatically pulled out a kunai, facing the source of the sound. The boy lowered his knife when he saw Natsumi walk into the firelight. He watched the kunoichi sit by the fire pit and stare at the glowing coals. After some silence, Naruto spoke.
"So…we met before?"
Natsumi nodded while staring at the red hot embers in the charcoal. "We were friends, Naruto," she said.
"Then how come I don't remember you?"
"Another story, another time Naruto. Go get some sleep."
"But Nat--"
"Please don't argue Naruto-kun. It will not help my mood." The look in her eyes made the boy remain quiet – it wasn't a stern gaze but a concerned, pained look. Naruto decided that he shouldn't argue, and so he lied down on his mat and closed his eyes.
Natsumi sighed in relief when she heard the relaxed breathing of the sleeping Naruto. She put a bit more sticks into the pit, and they lit quickly. As she stared into the flames, memories came back to her.
~Flashback~
Natsumi, Naruto, and Sakura had finished their mission to escort a lord back to his homeland in the Land of Earth. On their way back to Konoha, the three were just talking about other things when Natsumi sensed another presence. She froze and pulled out a kunai. Naruto and Sakura did the same.
"What is it Nat?" asked Naruto.
"Four shinobi, and they smell like earth and preparing to strike," the redhead reported. Suddenly, twelve kunai knives were thrown at them from all sides, but the four Leaf ninja deflected them with ease. A marble-sized sphere fell at Natsumi's feet, and three more landed by her comrades. The marbles hissed and spat out a purple smoke.
"Poison bomb!" Sakura gasped. "Hold your breath!" Naruto and Natsumi did as she instructed. Natsumi saw the surrounding smoke shift, and three men appeared around her.
'Crap!' Natsumi thought. Quickly, she pulled out her katana and took them three against one. She killed all three men and stood with her weapon at the ready as the poison fog lifted. She looked around and saw her two comrades lying on the ground unconscious. She put away her katana and ran over to them. She checked them for any serious injuries; there were none. The kunoichi knew that there still something wrong. She put her hand on Sakura's forehead and inserted healing chakra into her skull. She did the same for Naruto.
'Damn, both have taken a blow to the brain. One of the four men had attacked their Hippocampus and messing with their memory…' Natsumi growled to herself and looked down the road. The village was still several miles away, and she needed to carry them both to the hospital where they could recieve proper medical treatment. She looked up at the clouds in the grey sky and whistled.
Out from a cloud a large serpent descended to the earth. The dragon spiraled down toward the red haired kunoichi and her fallen comrades. It pulled up when it was ten feet from the ground and landed on its four legs. The dragon was fifteen feet long and stood as tall as a horse. The dragon's blue grey eyes stared at Natsumi, waiting for an order.
"We need to get them to Konoha Hospital, fast," the girl said. The dragon kneeled down, and Natsumi picked up Naruto and made him sit on the serpent. She picked up and positioned Sakura on it and then jumped onto its back herself. She then said, "Let's go!"
With a roar, the stormy blue dragon took off into the air and started climbing up into the atmosphere. As soon as they were at least a half-mile up in the sky, the dragon leveled out and cruised. It then spoke. "What happened my lady?" the dragon asked in a tone that belonged to an aged knight.
"We were ambushed," Natsumi answered. "Three of the four attackers kept me away from Naruto and Sakura while the fourth member of their squad raided their memories for something."
The dragon growled. "Removing memories is a risky job. It could well kill the victim or put them in a comotose state, if they're lucky."
"That's why we need to hurry Haku." The dragon turned his head to see Natsumi's worried, pained expression. "Please hurry, Haku," she pleaded.
"As you wish, Lady Natsumi," Haku said. He sped up toward their destination. The village was apotted below, and Haku dove down and landed ontop of the hospital on its roof. "This is as far as I go my lady."
"That's fine Haku, thank you," Natsumi said. She jumped off and made a shadow clone. She took Sakura while her duplicate took Naruto. Both took off and ran into the hospital. Natsumi was met by nurses, who took the two ninja and rushed them off for care. Now all the kunoichi could do is wait.
Hours had passed, and Natsumi was pacing back and forth in the general waiting room. She stopped when she heard the sound f high heels coming towards her. The kunoichi looked up to see Tsunade standing before her. "Were they that bad?" Natsumi asked. The girl didn't notice the legendary healer walk in an hour ago, and that made the Fifth's face even sadder than it already was.
"Natsumi..." she started.
"What is it Tsunade-sama?" The blond woman quietly finished her sentence, and it hurt her to say it. It still had to be said.
"They don't remember you, Natsumi."
Said kunoichi stared at the medic. "W-what do you mean, Hokage-sama?"
"Their memories of you may have been erased as a side-effect from the memory probing. Either that or those memories were the target in the first place. Naruto and Sakura don't remember you. I mentioned your name and they only asked me who you were." Tsunade frowned. "I really hope that the memories of you are there, Natsumi, But I can't be too sure. I'm sorry."
"Can I see them for myself?" the red haired kunoichi asked.
"Of course Natsumi, just don't force them to remember."
"I know ma'am. Thanks."
"Would you like me to accompany you?" Tsunade really felt bad for the Niikyo, and Natsumi could tell. To make her feel better the girl nodded. The two of them walked down the hallway toward the room where Natsumi's two friends were resting. They arrived at the room, and Natsumi knocked lightly before opening the door. She entered the room while Tsunade waited outside. Natsumi was standing in the doorway staring at the two people who were sitting in their beds.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked. Natsumi didn't mind the question, but the blank look in his eyes had hurt her on the inside. It looked like he really doesn't know her.
"I'm an inspector," Natsumi lied. She used this as a test and hoped that one of them would snap out of the memory blank. "I want to know what happened so I can investigate with other Jonin."
Sakura nodded. "Well, Naruto and I were heading back here when we were ambushed by several shinobi. We fought but fell into unconsciousness, and when we woke up we were here in the hospital with Tsunade-sama."
Naruto nodded, agreeing with his friend's summary. Natsumi, too, nodded, but her heart was hurt terribly. She was on that mission that took place only several hours ago, and her presence was wiped clean off their memory. Strange, but all it did to Natsumi right now was send her into the darkness of loneliness and sorrow. Naruto and Sakura were her closest friends, and now they don't remember her at all. They've been through many things together, even the Chunin Exams! Now they both knew nothing about her or their friendship -- all in a minute or two's time of memory meddling from a damned bastard of a ninja. Natsumi realized that they were waiting on her response, and so she spoke.
"I see... Well, thank you for your time. You two should probably rest more, it'd be the doctor's orders." Natsumi turned and left the room, too shocked to continue the act. She closed the door and faced the Fifth Hokage. "You are correct, they do not remember me. So, if you will excuse me, I'm going for a walk."
"Natsumi..." Tsuande said.
"The mission was complete, Lady Hokage. I need to be alone now." Without looking to see if the woman nodded, Natsumi began to walk away, feeling like a ghost -- seen, noticed, but then forgotten quickly and left alone.
~End Flashback~
The sun was starting to rise, and Natsumi woke up and looked around. She sniffed the air, looking for her target's scent. She quickly woke up Naruto, Sakura, and Sai. Once they all were conscious enough, she said, "From here on out we need to mask our chakra so Karin will not notice us as too quickly. It seems like our target has slowed down as well."
Naruto and Sakura sat up and nodded. They, along with Sai, began to clean up camp while Natsumi pondered on something. All three were ready, and they stared at their leader. "Natsumi," Sakura said, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to go ahead as a wolf and see what's up. Do not get close to Team Falcon without my permission. One of the members is unstable and can go on a killing spree in at any moment." Everyone nodded, and Natsumi nodded back. She then morphed into a reddish-brown wolf before their eyes.
"How did…" Naruto started.
"I can shape-shift as a kekke-genkai," the wolf said. "Stay behind me, got it?"
"Hai!" said the three. The wolf looked at Sai.
"Do you think you can make several birds to help scope out the area?"
Sai nodded. He pulled out his scroll, inkpad, and brush. He quickly drew four birds and then made a hand sign. The drawings quivered, and all four birds flew off the page and into the trees. Natsumi nodded in thanks and ran after the ink birds. Naruto, Sai, and Sakura waited ten seconds before following the wolf.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Remind me where the hell we're going, Sasuke?" asked a boy with silvery white hair. He looked around the area as they walked.
"We're finding a new place to stay, Suigetsu," a girl with bright red hair and black glasses said. "Remember we were almost caught last time? They found out where we stayed. So, we need to find a new spot where they can't find us."
"I was asking Mr. Stick-up-his-butt, not you, Ugly."
"Why you little…"
"Shut up, both of you," Sasuke ordered.
Both Suigetsu and Karin stopped arguing, but still gave each other death glares. The other member, Juugo, shook his head at his two comrades' immaturity. He looked around the forest sides as they walked. Everyone else was mainly keeping their eyes ahead of them, not seeming to be worried about anything. Juugo was still looking around, seeming observant to nature, which he was but also to danger. A few minutes passed, and Suigetsu, who was walking alongside Juugo, sighed.
"I'm bored," Suigetsu said. "Are we there yet?" The white haired boy stared at the back of his "leader".
"Hn," was all the reply he got from the Uchiha. Suigetsu sighed again and rested his hand on the hilt of his large sword. His grip tightened and loosened as they walked. Finally he snapped.
"I wanna cut something. I need a battle damn it!!"
"Shut up Suigetsu," Karin said. Suigetsu grumbled to himself, and Karin frowned and stuck a tongue at him, knowing he was talking about her. The boy then froze, listening to his surroundings. Karin quickly made a hand-sign and checked all chakra signatures within a five mile radius. "There's a few animals, nothing else Suigetsu."
"I swear that something is stalking us." He looked toward the bushes. Then he resumed walking alongside Juugo. Everyone continued to walk as well, yet they quickened their pace just a little bit.
Sasuke also believed that someone was following them. He didn't exactly sense the enemy, but he had the gut feeling there were indeed eyes on them. The Uchiha sped up into a small run. "We're losing daylight, hurry up."
Karin quickly trotted after Sasuke, and Suigetsu rolled his eyes at his fan-girl of a comrade. The white haired shinobi sped up anyway as well as Juugo. Juugo was staring at a particular direction as they walked, and Suigetsu noticed that out of the corner of his eye.
"What are you staring at Juugo?" Suigetsu asked after some silence.
"There is a wolf following us," the large man replied in a quiet voice. Weird?
"Got any idea why?"
"It looks like it's after Karin…"
Suigetsu's large, mischievous grin came across his face. "I say we take a break, ditch Karin while 'scanning the area', and then let wolf have her." When Juugo looked at him with a certain stare, Suigetsu responded, "Kidding – though I wish we could though…"
"The wolf left," Juugo stated.
"Huh, I wonder what it wanted."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Natsumi trotted away from Team Falcon and back to her comrades. When they met, the wolf began to trot beside them. "Day two and we already have sight of them," the wolf said.
"Sweet!" Naruto said. "When do we snatch Sasuke?"
"Easier said than done Naruto." Natsumi looked ahead. "We might have to wait 'till nightfall. Then we'll get the female of the group as bait that they'll hopefully take."
"Hopefully?" Sakura asked.
"She sounds like a nuisance that they wanna get rid of."
"Oh."
Sai interrupted the conversation. "Team Falcon has begun to run." Everyone nodded and began running as well. Natsumi turned back into her human form and resumed running with her teammates. "We're approximately fifty yards from them now." They slowed slightly and kept at that pace.
It was noon when the target and pursuers stopped for a break. The Konoha ninja stopped by a creek to rest. Sakura took off her sandals and dipped her feet into the cool water. Natsumi looked around the area while Naruto and Sai sat down on the grass. "I'm going to check it out," Natsumi said. She ran into the bushes and transformed into a small bird. She flitted about the trees until she perched on a high branch that was above the resting spot of Team Falcon.
Juugo was taking a nap while Suigetsu was sitting nearby with his sword lying next to him. Karin was examining her nails, and Sasuke was leaning back against a tree, quiet. The bird watched them for another minute before taking off back to her team. What the shape-shifting kunoichi didn't know was that Karin had sensed her chakra signature.
"They're just resting right now," Natsumi, in human form, reported.
"It's rather odd how they haven't noticed our presence yet," Sakura said. "You'd think they would have by now."
"They may have noticed," Sai said. Naruto, Sakura, and Natsumi glanced his way. "I sent a bird after Natsumi-san, and the redhead of Team Falcon eyed Natsumi suspiciously. Then she concentrated on it and is currently talking to Sasuke-kun." He stood up. "They're moving."
"Alright," Natsumi said. "Let's move!"
"Hai!" All four dashed off after their target, which was gaining great distance from them every second.
* * *
It was night, and the four Konoha shinobi were going over their plan. They were going to take out Karin, get into the enemy camp, and lure Suigetsu and Juugo out of the area. Then they would have no one to get in the way of getting Sasuke. All of this sounded simple, but there were still variables in the equation – What if Karin gets the others' attention and brings them all with her to investigate? Take them on four-on-four. What if Juugo decides to go on a killing spree? Avoid him at all costs when he's in that stage. What if Sasuke refuses to come quietly, which is highly likely? Beat him senseless and drag him back to Konoha. What if this plan gets countered. Improvise.
"Everyone ready?" Natsumi asked.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sai nodded.
"Alright then. Here we go." The four approached the campsite of Team Falcon. They peeked from behind the bushes and saw Juugo sitting the farthest away from them staring at the stars. As they waited, the large blond man stood up and walked into his tent. A soft yawn came from the tent closest to them. Natsumi turned to face her teammates and nodded to them. They nodded in return and vanished. Natsumi focused a slight amount of her chakra and waited. When nothing happened Natsumi picked up a pebble and threw it at the tent only eight feet from her hiding spot.
The sound of fumbling told Natsumi that the woman was awake. Knowing ninja instinct, the Niikyo knew that Karin had sent out a web of chakra to investigate her surroundings. Natsumi began to walk casually away, slightly jogging. With her acute hearing, she knew that Karin was following her in what she thought was a silent fashion.
Natsumi then broke into a run, and Karin chased her, thinking that she spooked the Leaf ninja. Natsumi turned sharply around a thick patch of trees, and Karin pursued her.
Karin skidded to a halt when she was face-to-face with herself, but her reflection didn't have glasses or the same outfit as herself. "What the…" she started, but she was soon knocked out by Sakura from behind. The pinkette caught the redhead and set her down on the ground. Natsumi, who copied Karin's figure, walked over to the unconscious kunoichi and took her glasses and put them on.
"Good luck Natsumi-san," Sakura said.
Natsumi nodded. "Once I send Suigetsu and Juugo over here then you and the boys do your thing. I'll try to get Sasuke."
"Hai." Sakura picked up Karin and disappeared. The Karin look-alike walked back to camp. She stood by the tent for a second and drew a deep breath. Then she walked over to Juugo's tent. After a moment's hesitation, the redhead entered the tent. She looked at the large blond sleeping on his pallet.
"Juugo! Wake up!" Natsumi whispered loudly with Karin's voice. The man stirred in his sleep, and then one eye opened and stared at the redhead.
"What is it Karin?" Juugo asked.
Natsumi held back the successful smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth. Instead, she answered in a worried tone, "The Leaf shinobi are close by. They managed to find us and are probably planning an attack so they can get Sasuke and arrest us. It also looks like they're ready to attack soon; their chakra levels are great, looks like it's at full capacity." Juugo sat bolt upright and stared at his "comrade" with wide eyes.
"Did you tell Sasuke?"
The woman shook her head. "I thought that you and Suigetsu could intercept them while I get Sasuke up and tell him so he can get away."
Juugo stared at her for a moment in hesitation. Then he answered, "Alright. You better get him out of here in time Karin."
"Do you honestly think that I would let those ninja come here and take my Sasuke-kun away from me?" Natsumi put her hands on her hips and frowned at the blond.
"No, you wouldn't." The man got up and headed out of the tent and mumbled, "Looks like Suigetsu gets a fight after all…" As he left the tent, the redhead followed him in suit. Juugo walked over to Suigetsu's tent and went inside. After he had woken up Suigetsu and got him out of bed, he walked over to Natsumi and asked, "Which way Karin?"
Natsumi pointed east. "They're over there. According to their chakra levels, they're still and asleep while one is on watch." Juugo nodded and he, followed by Suigetsu, ran off in that direction and disappeared. Natsumi smirked, and then she walked across the campsite to Sasuke's tent.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sasuke woke up to the sound of feet running through the campsite. He sat up on his pallet and listened, but the sound was gone. The Uchiha pulled out a kunai and got out of bed. He walked to the tent flap and pulled it aside and was face-to-face with Karin.
"Oh, you're up already," she said.
"Where are Suigetsu and Juugo?" Sasuke asked.
"They left to check the area out. I sensed unknown chakra signatures and sent them out to investigate." Karin's face looked somewhat different to the Uchiha, and the boy noticed that she wasn't looking him over like she usually did.
"Hn. Since when do you give orders to my team?"
Karin tensed. "I did what seemed to be the right thing to do, Sasuke-kun," she answered. She stared directly into his onyx eyes, and right then Sasuke knew that this wasn't Karin. He vaguely recognized the gaze though, but he disregarded that thought.
"Hn, that's different," Sasuke said. When the redhead tilted her head in question, he said, "You haven't noticed what I'm wearing."
"You're not wearing a shirt, I know." She then added, "I'm not blind."
"Is that a new outfit?"
Karin folded her arms and frowned. "You don't like it?" she asked in an innocent tone. Sasuke cringed inwardly – there's the real attitude. Still, it didn't sound right.
"You're acting strange, Karin."
"How so?"
Sasuke's mind stumbled. "You're…not acting like yourself…" He took a step back as she took a step toward him.
"Do you want me to be all over you?" She smirked. "All you have to do is ask, Sasuke-kun." The girl cornered him and closed the space between them so there was only an inch of air that kept their bodies from touching. Karin looked up at him from under her eyelashes.
Natsumi didn't like doing this kind of act, but it had to be done so she stays under the radar. Being this close and looking at Sasuke in such a way reminded her about the past, but she shook that thought away.
"Um…Karin, didn't you say that there were enemies lurking by?" Sasuke asked, trying to get her distracted.
"Yes, that's right," the redhead replied. "Want me to take you there?" She sounded relieved to be off that intimate moment, and that got Sasuke over the borderline of suspicion and into knowing that the person was an imposter. He quickly grabbed the girl and pushed her onto his pallet and held a wrist in each of his hands and pinned them over her head. He kneeled beside her and placed his left knee on the young woman's side to pin down her torso and used his leg to slightly hold down her legs. The girl gasped in surprise.
"Sasuke! What are you--?"
"Who are you?" the Uchiha growled. "What did you do to my team?" The redhead under him stared blankly, but then she chuckled darkly when his gaze hardened in attempt to scare her.
"Why would you care about them?" the look-alike asked. "I thought that you only needed them to take care of Itachi. Did you not kill him yet?"
"I don't care about them, and I still have unfinished business with the Leaf Village," the Uchiha replied. "Who are you?"
"You already know me." She winced when the boy put pressure on her ribs.
"Refresh my memory." Sasuke had now activated his Sharingan, trying to see through the kunoichi's jutsu. He was taken aback by the result of nothing – it was either a Forbidden Jutsu or this was Karin, but under a jutsu's control.
The redhead stared right back at him and smirked. "I'm leaving it up to you to recall." She suddenly pulled her leg free and kicked the back of the Uchiha's head roughly, and while his focus was broken, the imposter threw him off her and stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going."
Sasuke seized her left ankle and pulled, causing the girl to fall forward onto the ground. "Not so fast," he said.
"Let me go!" Natsumi attempted to kick the Uchiha with her free leg, but he caught that too. She turned sideways and punched the air in Sasuke's direction, which he thought was pathetic until he notice fire was being shot at him. He quickly let go of the girl to dodge roll. Natsumi got up and ran out of the tent.
Sasuke got up and ran after her. He threw a kunai, which the redhead dodged with ease. After three more kunai, the imposter turned around and shot several fireballs at the young man, who jumped into the air to dodge them. He pulled out his katana and brought it down. Natsumi had pulled out her own katana and blocked his attack with a loud clang. Sasuke landed and the two engaged in a swordfight. With a thunderous clang, Natsumi's katana broken in half. She cursed, tossed the other half away, and flipped back several feet to dodge Sasuke's blade. She shot fire at him, and he dodged them, ran towards her and took swings at her. She moved impressively fast, and the Uchiha smirked.
This girl is pretty good… he thought. Sasuke let his guard down, and the redhead kicked his hand and disarmed him. The boy's katana flew four feet to the left. The two commenced in hand-to-hand, chakra infused combat. Both took and landed multiple hits on the other. As they fought, the two inched toward the katana. Sasuke dove for the sword, but the katana flew past him and into the Karin look-alike's hand.
"Thank you chakra strings," Natsumi said. She stood up and held the sword out. She tossed the glasses that she wore and waited for Sasuke's attack, the sword out and ready to block.
She shouldn't hesitate. The boy quickly made hand-signs and summoned lightning natured chakra in his right hand.
Natsumi stared in shock. He'd actually use Chidori on me?! she thought. Then she answered herself, Of course he would! He doesn't remember you! While doing that, Natsumi didn't move until Sasuke took off in her direction at great speed. Damn it! The redhead quickly jumped to her left at the last couple of seconds before feeling the shock and the pain of the Chidori. She screamed in agony and fell onto her side when the Uchiha pulled his hand out of her chest.
Sasuke stood over her, glaring down at her with the crimson eyes of the Sharingan. "Heh, you're pretty fast," he said. "You made me miss your heart. I could fix that easily though." The Uchiha took the katana from the girl's hand and held it up, the blade's tip pointing at her heart.
"Please…" a soft voice said, "don't…Sasuke-kun…" The Uchiha stared down at the dying girl, and she looked different. Her facial features changed a bit, but she still had the same bright red hair. The young woman's eyes were now a pure gold. Her pleading turned into coughs and gasps for air.
The katana came down anyway.
The young woman looked to her left and saw that the katana was stuck in the ground beside her. She smiled weakly while Sasuke's emotionless mask broke for a second to reveal his confusion about his choice. The girl whispered a weak "thank you", and then she closed her eyes. Sasuke stared at her, wondering why he spared her. Yes, she's probably going to die anyway from blood loss, but still. He remembered those eyes, and that voice, from somewhere. The only problem about that was where? And when?
Sasuke turned his head to the sound of his name, and then he heard a familiar voice call out, "Teme!" Suigetsu emerges from the trees along with Juugo carrying the real Karin, who was unconscious.
"Let's get outta here!" Suigetsu said. Sasuke gave a small nod and pulled out his katana out of the dirt and into its sheath. The four vanished when Naruto, Sakura, and Sai came out of the bushes in pursuit. They all saw Natsumi ten yards away, bleeding to death.
"Natsumi!" gasped Naruto.
Sakura sped over to her comrade and saw the wound on her chest. She placed her hand over the injury and began to heal it. Naruto and Sai walked over to the two kunoichi. Naruto spotted Natsumi's broken katana several yards away and ran over there to get it. By the time he got back Sai was helping Sakura carry Natsumi toward the abandoned tents. When the pinkette walked out of the tent a few minutes later, Naruto walked over to her and asked, "What happened to her?"
"She was hit by Chidori," Sakura answered. "It nearly took out her right lung. Luckily we got here in time." She noticed Naruto's fists clench, and she looked at his face.
"Sasuke is really going too far," he growled. "He didn't even know Natsumi! That doesn't give him the right to kill her! He doesn't even know what Natsumi has done to make her deserve to be killed."
"Naruto…"
"What Sakura-chan?" The boy's voice was still heated and loud.
"Keep it down, Natsumi needs to rest." She stared at the blond, who in turn nodded and walked to where Sai was. Sakura followed him and sat down by the small fire that Sai started.
"I still can't believe that Teme did that," Naruto muttered.
Sai glanced over at the grumbling Naruto. The boy then looked up at the sky and said, "Didn't Natsumi say that you, Sakura, and Sasuke had known her before?" Naruto's murmuring ceased and that about that.
"Yeah, she did mention it…but I wonder why we don't remember her."
"We can try asking her later," Sai suggested.
"We'll have to let her rest first," Sakura said. "She's taken a nearly fatal blow to the chest. I think that Sasuke was aiming for her heart, but Natsumi moved just in time for it to miss."
"That kind of explains the broken katana," Naruto said. He glanced over at the two pieces of sword that lay before the fire. They would repair Natsumi's katana when they got back from their mission. "I hope Natsumi will be okay." Sakura and Sai nodded and remained quiet, letting their silence help Natsumi rest to recover from her injury caused by the person that they've been after for years.
I hope you guys liked the first chapter. I tried to give you guys a lot to read for the first chunk. Please review! Thanks!
