Chapter two yay :) R&R

"You're late." the old man barked at Kumi from behind his desk as she slipped silently into the office.

"My apologies." she replied, taking advantage of her forced bow to scan the room. Apart from the Hokage there were two other men, both masked just as she was, minus the filthy cloak. The taller of the pair she recognised as Eiichiro, the other wasn't much taller than herself his bare arms boasted the kind of muscles only achieved through excessive training and his rigid posture suggested that he was highly disciplined aswell. Eiichiro's body language clearly stated that he wanted as much distance as possible from the Uchiha, a definite warning sign for Kumi and his tapping foot was both a reminder of her late arrival and his impatience to complete his own objective.

" I trust you have been briefed already?" She nodded, rolling her eyes behind her mask at the Hokage's question. Yes, she knew that her responsibility was to deal with Eiichiro is things got out of hand.

"Okay, be safe all of you." he smiled warmly at the three shinobi stood before him and gentley beckoned them towards the door. The Uchiha exited first, his long black ponytail dangling carelessly down his back, the man behind him was staring intently at just that, picturing where he would drive his blade into first.

They travelled in complete silence for the first few miles, the Uchiha Anbu captain studying the new arrival very carefully, he could tell that she was young and he observed that she was always on alert like a true shinobi should be but apart from that she was hard to read. Even with his Sharingun he struggled to gauge her level of chakra, he found it hard to believe that it was as painfully low as she was projecting. So far she hadn't met his eyes, he wondered if it was out of fear of his sharingun or maybe she was just a nervous newbie?

Eiichiro was not as tactile as Itachi, he felt insulted by her presence, he didn't need extra help hanging around. "So why are you on this mission? It's only a B rank after all, right?" Kumi gazed up at the stars as they ran, letting the pointless question fly over her head. Millions of the little lights were dazzling angelically against a gloomy black canvas, only outshone by the large full moon. Beautiful but the extra brightness wouldn't be helpful, glancing at the captain a few feet ahead she noticed his head tilted upward aswell and she found herself wondering if he was thinking the same thing and if he knew exactly why she was there.

"There's the bridge-" Itachi whispered, formulating a multitude of brilliant tactics in his mind.

"So what are we waiting for?!" KumI was unable to suppress a shocked gasp, such open rudeness to someone in a position of authority was unacceptable, something she would never dare to do.

"Must I remind you again who is leading this mission?" Itachi's voice was soft, gentle even, but a hint of annoyance. Reprimanding Eiichiro without a harshness that would rile him further, Kumi was impressed, he was smart.

The bandits were mostly clustered together at the front of the bridge, a few stragglers midway where there camp was set, because Itachi knew nothing about the Kunoichi's abilities he would have to pair up with Eiichiro and keep her back to pick off any targets that fled. Kumi observed the Uchiha, he had been still for barely a minute before sharing his full proof plan for a one hundred percent mission success, she found his calmness reassuring, in any other circumstance she would have willingly put her life into his hands but not tonight, she couldn't leave his side. Finishing the mission with no casualties and in as little time as possible was her goal, it was what she was good at.

"Can I suggest something?" Kumi had felt nervous to speak to her captain for the first time, it was odd she had no reason to feel something so unnecessary towards someone she didn't know.

"Go ahead." he replied, eyes fixed intently on her cat mask. There had been nothing but respect in her request leaving no way to refuse. He hadn't realised that he had been looking forward to hearing her voice again, it felt silky and hauntingly pure for someone of their profession, Itachi felt both enticed and unnerved by the sound.

"If I remember correctly Eiichiro-san prefers to use his projectiles in long distance combat, where as I am suited to either. May I accompany you instead?" The approving nod from the lanky Eiichiro made her feel very pleased, she had avoided the obvious "Look, I need to come with you incase this asshole stabs you in the back when you're not paying attention." in exchange for a very sensitive approach, maybe the Hokage was right after all?

The once majestic trees, that now provided Itachi and Kumi cover from the enemy, stood battered and dented with their branches scattered across the ground like severed limbs. Moonlight exposed the trees shadows as deformed creatures of the night that would fit perfectly in the worst nightmare. Senseless violence was something that both Konoha shinobi hated, men that weilded blades for fun were beyond redemption. Seeing the mangled mess of the tree filled Kumi with sympathy for the human victims, she guessed that the ones who survived may not have been the lucky ones.

"Exploding Grandma? Works like a charm every time." Itachi's snigger was muffled, if the bizarre sentence hadn't tickled him the kunoichi's thumbs up definitely would have. Someone who's costume resembled the grim reaper's cousin shouldn't have been sounding so happy about blowing people up. Despite everything her light heartedness was refreshing.

"This I would like to see."