The Soaring Hawk

By: Karasu Kyra

Chapter Two

Izumo was swiftly jumping from branch to branch at a speed even the ANBU would have trouble keeping up with. He was going over the terrain in his mind, cataloging it and storing it away. He then decided when and where to stop on his journey and for how long. Suddenly he became aware of the familiar necklace-- which gently bumped against his chest with each leap-- his boyfriend got him. Izumo's heart fluttered as his mind drifted back to memories of said boyfriend, Kotetsu. He thought back to the most recent encounter between them.

Kotetsu grinned as he slipped his hand to Izumo's butt for the third time that day. Izumo swatted his hand away ignoring the looks from Iruka.

"Kotetsu stop it." Izumo drawled, irritated.

"Why don't you make me?" Kotetsu replied rather childishly.

"Fine. If you don't stop, you're sleeping on the couch tonight." Izumo replied harshly.

"Damn Izumo, I was just kidding. You're vicious. I'll stop." Kotetsu's rose his hands in a sign of defeat before returning to organizing the newest mission reports.

0o0o0

Another memory flashed before Izumo's dark eyes, this one a year and a half older.

Izumo smiled as his bouncy boyfriend, whom had gotten them both into suits and was walking down the main path to only Hokage knows where. He listened idly as Kotetsu talked about his day, what he could reveal of it anyways. Izumo also knew to listen carefully for codewords that the two used when in public. They had two sets, thier field ones and their unique, private ones. He'd heard none so far, and hoped to keep it that way.

He walked into a fine restaurant with the spiky-haired Hunter, who'd already reserved a table. Izumo smiled to himself and let work slip from his mind, forcing it away. He completely opened himself to Kotetsu and whatever he may have had in store. They were led to the table by a waiter, who quickly got them water to start with.

The more serious of the two watched Kotetsu fidget slightly in his seat, before the latter grinned.Izumo raised a brow in silent curiousity. Kotetsu just shook his head, before standing and going towards Izumo. Izumo watched shocked as the spiky-haired man got down before him and took Izumo's hand in his.

"Izumo," he said, "I love you with all my heart, and we've been through a lot together, and well...Will you marry me?"

Izumo's eyes widened in complete shock before he smiled softly, taking Kotetsu's face between his hands and kissing him.

Kotetsu grinned. "I hope this means yes..."

"Of course." Izumo whispered, claiming his now fiancee's lips with his own, smiling as Kotetsu slipped a ring on his finger.

His leather gloved hand reached up to gently hold the ring he had been given that was suspended on a gold chain around his neck. He released it just as quickly as he grabbed it, shifting the weight of the survival pack strapped to his back. He leapt down from the trees, landing gracefully upon the soil and calmly walking into the village of Kensei, still three days from the border of Fire and Waterfall.

He'd decided to go around and enter Sound from it's Eastern border, for they'd be expecting him from the Southern border. He hoped to be met by little resistance this way. What this little detour cost him though, was precious time, so it was a trade-off. Resistance for time.

Every person he passed stared in awe, civilian and Shinobi alike. He was an uncommon face anywhere, always fading into the background, even in his home village. He was in all the black books but without any formidable identification he was elusive. He tucked his hands in his pockets, loosening his posture, trying to look as harmless as possible through the porcelain mask of someone upholding the rank of at least ANBU.

He counted about two hundred civilian presences and about thirty Shinobi. He glanced through the crowd spotting each and every Shinobi. Most of them had chakra so dull that he guessed that they hadn't used chakra in years. There were a couple that were forcibly repressed. All in all, he just wished he didn't have to face them for lack of time.

He politely asked a stranger the way to the Inn and was quickly pointed in the correct direction. It was getting to be dark and he was tired and hungry. He shifted the weight of the bags at his waist, twisting his body towards an alley he figured a shortcut. His guess was correct as when he came out he was faced with the Inn they had pointed him to, Shinta Inn. He made his way in, immediately being greeted with workers asking him if he'd like a room.

He settled himself in before losing his packs by the edge of the bed. The room itself was bland, only occupied by a bed, a nightstand and lamp, and himself. His stomach then decided that if he was going to take the time to stop that he had better get it something better than field rations to eat. He dragged out a few ryo and went into town to decide on what fast food he was eating tonight, for certainly he was not cooking.

He walked back down the alley he had taken before, carefully stepping over a rat scurrying from a trashbin to its' hiding place. He entered on the main road he had come in on, all the people staring once again. He ignored them and continued on his way for his stomach was beyond the point of caring. He'd been pushing himself hard, to keep a fast speed and hadn't eaten nearly enough since the two days he had left.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of a scuffle, and metal hitting metal. He pushed chakra to his feet and darted around and through the crowd, arriving at the scene to stop an older man from harming a young, barely teenage girl. He pushed even more chakra to his feet, seemingly appearing between the man's blade and the girls'. He grabbed the man's blade and viciously twisted, forcing the man's grip away. The girls' he just held firmly in place, reckoning her as the lesser threat.

He glared at the man and then down at the girl. "What's going on?"

"I own that wench! What right have you for stepping in here?" The man yelled, infuriated.

"You own no one." Izumo glared harder, hoping the man felt it through the mask.

He glanced at the girl who was staring dazedly at the dirt, her grip still fast on her blade. He then turned his attention back to the man who was still yelling at him. "You'll regret this you scum! You think because you alone are so powerful that you can just get whatever you want? I'll teach you!"

Izumo cocked his head, chuckling dryly. "Oh? Will you now?"

The Hunter bit back the retort of "You and what army?" as an entire company of rogue Shinobi from Leaf turned thier attention on him. He carefully picked the girl up and carried her off to the side, well away from danger. He was torn between sighing and wincing as he put the girl down, his stomach still not liking the situation of not having food. He should have been used to being hungry, he mused, watching the enemy carefully, for he was trained to last past the point of starvation for your average Shinobi. But, his mind went on a tangent, that doesn't make it any more comfortable.

The four Shinobi closest to him glanced furtively at each other before all four rushed him, throwing shuriken. He pulled out a kunai and deflected most, jumping backwards to avoid the others, twisting midair as a kick was aimed at his side. The second his feet touched the ground he grabbed the arm of the nearest person and twisted his upperbody, slamming the man he held into the one behind him.

With two knocked on the ground, he flipped the kunai he held and threw it at another who deflected it easily. That distraction let Izumo get in close, quickly knocking out another of the four with the blunt end of the kunai. That was when four took the place of the fallen three. One spit a fire jutsu at him, while another complimented it with an earth jutsu. He opposed both of them with an ice jutsu and an elegant backward flip, landing meters from the damaged Earth.

He dissappeared in a shaft of light, the others staring at a shadow clone thinking it was him. He'd guessed the relative proximity of the villagers and set a small explosive tag off that was hidden in the pouch of the water clone, As it explode the clone, the shockwave sent one unconscious while it drenched three others. He quickly sent an ice jutsu off again, freezing them into place, if only for a few moments. That was all he needed though, a few moments, for he had already knocked those few unconscious, turning to the last two Shinobi.

One of them was a medical-ninja and both were the two he felt cloaking their chakra. He bit out a curse as a senbon tore through his upperarm, angry at himself for not paying more attention. Luckily this med-nin didn't bother to pre-dose the throwing needles in a poison or something similar. He ignored the burning pain and began his attack on the two. He took them head-on, clashing kunai to kunai with the non-med-nin, and sending the medical shinobi a little gift in the way of a small explosive tag.

It went off, sending all three shinobi in different directions. Taka, the only one expecting it, landed softly on the pillar of a nearby merchant's shop. He deftly lept from the pillar to the med-nin, disabling him, then turning his attention to the last remaining Shinobi. He pulled out several shuriken, throwing them towards the opponent, running behind them, and lashing at his opponent with his recently unsheathed kodachi.

Slash. Slash. Feignt. Dodge. Step. Step. Slash.

He kept up his dance, easily gaining on the man before him whom only defended himself with a kunai. Izumo took a chance and knocked the man's arm with his left hand and turned his hilt upon the man's skull, sending him sprawling to the ground. His first priority was to check for injured civilians. Seeing none, only a few dazed faces, and the angered face of the man he'd first talked to. He then turned his attention to the senbon in his arm, and pulled it out, hoping to get to his room before it bled too much.

He walked back to the man sputtering in anger. "You were saying?"

"Who the hell are you?! Take the whore! She's of no use to me!" The man crawled to his feet.

Izumo shook his head mentally walking to the girl on the ground, who'd long ago dropped her knife. "Hello, I'm Taka. It's very nice to meet you..."

"Uhh, K-Kyla, sir. Thank you for...saving me." The girl turned shy green eyes on her savior.

"No problem." Izumo said, a warmth to his voice. "Where do you live?"

"Well, I sort of lived with Mr. Tsubaki before he got angry at me for trying to leave him."

"Well, let's go back to my room and you can tell me there."

Izumo led the distraught girl to the hotel, going around instead of through the filthy alley. Kyla sat on his bed staring at her hands, her brown hair cascading down her shoulders. Izumo sat in a chair he'd brought up from the lobby after he'd moved his packs. "So, you haven't a place to go?"

"N-no. I...lived with Mr.Tsubaki. He-I was sold to him to pay of my father's debts after he died and he was my last living relative..." Kyla glanced up then back towards her hands, that were wringing around each other.

"Well...stay here for the night and I'll figure it out in the morning." Izumo said, lying himself out at the end of the bed.

"W-where am I sleeping?"

"The bed of course." Izumo said.

"O-of course. Thank you."

Izumo nodded. He listened as the girl layed down, moving every now and then until she was comfortable. He counted the cracks in the ceiling as he waited for her breathing to even out before he himself fell into a light sleep.

It was some time later, still hours before dawn, that green eyes snapped open, and a slender hand pulled a knife from an ankle. Kyla turned towards the sleeping Shinobi, a dagger glinting in the dim light from outside the room. "Orochimaru will be very pleased with me, I'd say."