I spotted a man with black hair of average height walking beside a slightly shorter woman with bright yellow hair. They both wore straw hats and black cloaks with red clouds. After silently enacting kuro kage kaze no jutsu, I jumped onto a branch beside them.
"Take off your hats and set all possessions of any value on the ground in front of you," I commanded.
They followed my first order, but rather than follow the second as well,they peered curiously at me. Both of their kekkei genkai were activated.
"What is this jutsu supposed to do?" asked the woman curiously.
For a second, my mouth hung agape. My jutsu had never failed me before. I quickly regained control, released the jutsu, and took a fighting stance.
"Who are you?" I questioned.
"Why should we tell you?" she retorted with a smirk. My eyes narrowed – I never did like smirks.
"Why not?" I returned. She didn't see a good response to that, so she answered the question.
"My name is Mariah Namikaze. This is Itachi Uchiha. We are both ex-members of Konohagakure no Sato and current members or the organization Akatsuki. You are?"
"I tend to not give my name to those who I intend to kill."
"You could not even touch me."
"Let's find out." With that, I merged into the shadows behind me. I ran around her in random patterns, sticking to the shadows. At random intervals, I would throw mass amounts of kunai and shuriken at her. She was able to dodge them all easily, so I drew two kunai and moved in. I sliced my right arm towards her neck, but she deflected the blow with a kunai of her own. With her other hand, she struck towards my neck, so I leaned back to dodge and kicked my knee up towards her chin. She stood back slightly just in time, so I arched my back, placing my hands on the ground and snapped my legs toward her. When she ducked down and swung her leg out, intending to knock my arms out from under me, I pushed up and over her head, landing on my feet. Just as she came up from her attack, I turned around, placing a kunai at her throat.
"Impressive. We could use you, " she observed.
"Now is not the time for you to try to become my superior – I could kill you now without a second thought," I returned.
"If you could, you would have already," she said. I snorted at this comment.
"Just because I have not killed you, does not mean I can't. Enough of this." I pulled the kunai into her throat, but she vanished before I could even draw blood.
"Where is she?" I inquired of the man still standing there.
"Don't worry – she'll be back. You're lucky too – she's in a particularly leaf-mood today." He answered.
"Wha–'' I was interrupted by the woman charging out of the trees with an azure glow around her. The glow formed two wings, claws at her hands and feet, and horns out her head. She came straight at me, so I instinctively ran, tearing a branch off a tree as I went. I turned towards her, finding a blue orb of chakra spinning in her hand. I swung the branch towards her, hoping to prevent it from hitting me, but, whether I was a moment late or too soon, she hit the side of the branch before it reached her. The ninjutsu missed me, but the blast from the shattering branch broke my jutsu and threw me into a tree. I slowly faded from consciousness. When I woke, I found myself in a unfamiliar room with expensive decorations.
"Where am I?" I drowsily asked anyone nearby.
I heard the voice of the man, who's name I had forgotten soon after I heard it – I'm not good with names – answer my question.
"Amekagure no Sato."
"What do you want with me?" I was gradually becoming more wary.
"What is your name, age, rank, and village?" This time it was the woman, who's name I had also forgotten.
"Why should I tell you?"
"It is either that or 72 hours of torture."
I snorted. "I've had worse. Bring it on."
She shrugged and looked into my eyes. I glimpsed crimson irises with black tomoe in each and was plunged into darkness. I looked around, finding everything in black and white except the woman's eyes. I was chained in place with little room for movement. She drew a katana and plunged it into my leg. I blankly looked up at her, showing my immunity to the pain. Seeing this, she stabbed me more and threw a few jutsus at me until what felt like 72 hours had passed. Though mentally I was fine, my brain forced me into unconsciousness when it was over in order to 'repair any damage'. I tried to force it to let me wake, since I had no damage, but its instincts were too strong. I was, and still am not, the most mentally stable person. After a few minutes, I woke.
The woman asked for my name, age, rank, and village again.
"Ugh, you won't let me go until I answer your questions, will you?" They both calmly stared at me. "I thought not. My name is Skai Nara, age 15, not sure, and I know no more than you."
The woman seemed as if she had realized something and responded, "I may know your village. If you agree to work for me as a spy there, I will tell you." I shrugged in agreement and she continued. "You come from a family of shadow manipulators in Konohagakure no Sato. Report any useful information you find and keep an eye on my younger siblings, Naruto Uzumaki and Naoki Namikaze." She handed me a bingo book and gave me further instructions on it. "The information in there is a few years old, but it should suffice. Report any updates to me. One more thing, do not mention who brought you back."
I realized that even if I wouldn't repeat it, I should still know who I was working for. Therefore, I asked, "What are your names again?"
She sighed and the man responded. "Itachi Uchiha and Mariah Namikaze. You should make an effort to remember them." He turned to Mariah and said, "You should probably get going if you want to have her at the hokage's before night." He gently kissed her, and Mariah shimmered us in front of a pair of giant gates.
She pulled up a hood and we walked in. I looked around, taking in as much as possible – I didn't want to get caught in a corner if I had to escape. We soon arrived at the tallest building in the village. The symbol for fire was painted clearly on a sign hung on the top. She told me to go in and left.
