A cold breeze send chills down the spines of Ryuya. The shortest member of Team 11 was standing in front of the Nara district. She was alone and had the constant sensation of being followed. From the moment she left her house she could almost feel two eyes bore holes in her back. It was eleven o'clock and she hoped that her teammates would hurry and come already. According to the map they took from the library, Chi's house was the closest to the location.
Much to Ryuya's confusion though, Chi told them to gather near the Nara compound as it was right in front of her district. When Shinji demanded an explanation, she simply told them that to get to her house they would have to walk through the entire Nara Forest in the darkness. Not to mention that this clan specialized in using and manipulating shadows. Both girls quickly caved and thus the Nara district became their first meeting point. Gathering near a shinobi clan at night sounded like potential suicide, they knew it. Yet Ryuya was pretty sure that the laid back clan members couldn't be bothered by her presence, especially since they would be smart enough to recognize her as a threat equal to a mouse.
Her fingers clenched around her headband around her neck. She had wanted to become a kunoichi to become an example to her younger siblings and cousins. She was the first from the family consisting of bakers and pastry chefs. Every day she would bring cakes and fresh loafs to school, making the rest of the class jealous. Of course she knew that it wasn't healthy and her teachers had more than often chided her to bring healthier food. She would have done that, if she had the ability to become fat that is. She had even vowed that she would stop eating them if she gained any weight. After all, how could she compete for Sasuke-kun's attention if she was fat and with a face filled with pimples?
Footsteps neared her and she looked up immediately. Shinji's scarf was flying behind her as she ran. She too had a backpack, Ryuya noted.
"Is she still not here?!" Shinji panted and leaned on her knees. Ryuya winced, her stamina was no better.
"I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her, or anyone, yet."
Shinji's rosy cheeks puffed up as she started a rant on how much she hated lateness and on how much Chi annoyed her. Ryuya smiled at her antics and waited until she calmed down.
"I am sure she will be here soon. She is probably packing a lot more stuff and weapons. She is from a clan after all."
The brunette nodded, her lips tight. Ryuya, having dull navy hair herself, always wondered at the constant shine and brightness of her friend's hair, even in the dark.
"My father told me to train as much as I can."
Ryuya looked up "Hmm?"
Shinji looked down, wringing her scarf "Since Chi is the only one with a shinobi background, we have to work even harder to catch up. So he told me to work hard."
Both girls fell silent as they mulled over this fact. They were so immersed that they didn't notice their teammate approaching them from around the corner.
Chi was fond of traditional clothing and especially mustard yellow traditional clothing. But unlike her orange clad friend, she did have the sense to wear dark clothes in the night. It was one of the reasons that her teammates didn't see her, at least she hoped so.
When she got so close that it started to become embarrassing, she coughed. Both girls jumped up with, to their credit, a kunai ready in their hands.
"Well at least you are prepared." She remarked dryly.
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Shinji didn't seem to care for the sleep of the neighborhood. Ryuya looked around cautiously and tugged her scarf warningly.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get going already. I have a good reason." Chi waved her hand and walked away, Shinji hot on her heels and Ryuya mentally apologizing to the sleeping people.
The three Genin left, their argument still resounding when they had dissapeared around the corner.
From the shadows near the compound's forest, a man emerged. Slouched posture, goatee and long black hair: a typical appearance.
Nara Shikaku rubbed his head and yawned. "It seems that my speech from earlier didn't work... Troublesome girls..."
He turned around and walked in the compound, ready to resume sleeping. With a bit of luck, next time the girls would realize that:
Shadows aren't really strong at night since there is no light.
Nara's are inherently too lazy to move at day so what made them think they would move at night?
The clan is known for keeping deers. Only deers.
NARA'S. Seriously, moving out at night to harass some little girls is too troublesome.
'Training ground 44'
Aka 'The forest of death'. Chi sighed and braided her hair again. It was nearing midnight and they were all here waiting at the entrance for their sensei to come. She really just wanted to get in her bed and sleep. According to her classmates, they were the only ones to have a test at night. According to their respective sensei's, their sensei was quite extreme and they needed a lot of good fortune to survive. Needless to say, Team 11 was not feeling confident.
The fact that every now and then, disturbing noises and creaks resounded from somewhere in the forest, did not help. Not at all.
Ryuya had long forgotten any hard feelings between her and Chi and clung to the latter's arm with all the strength she could muster. Chi was fairly sure that any circulation had already stopped and the numb feeling in her arm was the sensation of the limp dying. She didn't dare to speak up though, in the silence every word sounded like it was shouted at the top of the her lungs. To someone who is used to working in silence it felt horrible. Shinji was forcing her senses in overdrive and the only thing she realized was the smell of iron. She knew that it meant blood but it seemed to come from their spot. She tried to ignore it, but it was making her already squirming stomach sick.
"Ehh, guys?" The other two looked up at her whisper. It was Chi who found the courage to speak first.
"What?"
Shinji found that her breath smelled an awful lot like blood. She focused more.
I thought her eyes were mud-colored, why do they seem so red?
"It smells like blood."
These words send Ryuya in a fit of prayers and sobs against Chi's shoulder and Chi looking confused. The brunette send more chakra to her eyes and nose. The smell came from her teammate.
"That must be your imagination."
Now she was absolutely sure that it was Chi. Shinji's mind went in overdrive
Did she kill someone? Her clothes are bordeaux, any stains of blood wouldn't show. But perhaps she changed and that's why she was so late.
Did she kill that missing nin? No, she is just a Genin.
Or is she? She was always a curious case.
What if she killed Naruto-baka? No, she wouldn't. They are friends an-
"Are you okay?" Ryuya's voice sounded unnatural and Shinji realized that she had been staring at her teammate. Chi frowned but then her eyes grew wide. In a flash she had grabbed her arm and they flew in the air. As soon as they landed (away from their previous spot) she pushed the two behind her and pulled out a kunai.
"Chi what the he-"
"Shut up!"
Shinji's mouth snapped shut. Chi took a deep breath, eyes still trained to the dark silhouettes of the trees. Ryuya's eyes were brimmed with tears.
"C-chi? What's wrong?"
Shinji would like to know as well.
"Just now, that wasn't your voice remember?"
Never mind, Shinji was fine without knowing.
"It was too loud, too high pitched and it came from behind me. You were standing right beside me."
Ryuya found that she didn't want to know either. She had been confused when she heard her own voice but thought that it was just her mouth working faster than her brain. It happened before so she just brushed it off. She never expected a potential enemy to mimic her voice.
Alas, they were shinobi and they couldn't just let their teammate surpass them. Besides, their sensei would show up soon so they only needed to keep up until then.
"Sensei is late."
Well that's just great. Shinji touched her tanto hidden behind her coat. Perhaps this is time for Jigai?
A spike of chakra alarmed the Genin and Shinji sighed, pulling out a kunai as well. Dying in battle was honorful as well. Ryuya, still pale, pulled out some senbon and Shinji vaguely remembered her being the only one in class who had perfect control over those things.
"How cute. Are you Konoha's newest shinobi?" A smooth, male voice accompanied by a masked figure entered the scene.
Cold sweat broke out and they unconsciously lowered their stances. Killer intent washed over the girls. Chi gritted her teeth, by now her eyes had become two bright yellow lights in the darkness.
"Ooo a Ketsueki, I thought they were all murdered?"
"Who are you?" Chi's eyes narrowed. Her clan wasn't that big and like the man said, they were all either dead or missing now. Yet, unlike the Uchiha clan, the Ketsueki clan was not well known. When they died, most people only found out after the Hokage had announced it. For a missing nin to know about her clan meant that he was from Konoha.
"I am Yatsushi. For now, let me entertain-" He stepped aside just in time to evade a kunai. Shinji had always been impatient and right now she did not have the time for a dialogue with the enemy.
The man, Yatsushi, sighed "No time for chit chat then."
His hands blurred and the ground beneath them burst open. The trio jumped in the air and landed much closer to the forest. Now that they were near the man, they could see the blood on the mask and cloak. A headband shone in the scarce moonlight. It was a symbol that neither Genin recognized, but they did see the slash across it.
We are in so much trouble... And where the heck is our sensei?
Chi gulped and pulled another kunai out, this didn't seem like someone they should engage in a close taijutsu battle. Ryuya looked back, the ground where they had been standing on was completely destroyed. It had turned into a large crater and she felt sick imagining what would have happened to them if they hadn't moved.
"How about you ladies come with me, huh?"
"As if!"
Shinji cried and threw a shuriken to the man who simply caught it. Chi was about to groan when the girl smirked and brought her hands together. The shuriken exploded in his hand and smoke engulfed the area.
"Nice * cough* job!" Chi spluttered and squinted her eyes. The smoke cleared but revealed a log with the shuriken embedded. Shinji swore out loud, making Ryuya blush and Chi clear her throat.
"Does anyone sense him?" Chi whispered and Ryuya took this opportunity to prove her sensory ability. She closed her eyes and concentrated like Iruka-sensei had taught her.
"N-nothing. He's gone."
She barely had time to relax when a kunai came flying at her from the smoke. What?! I didn't sense a thing! She blocked it just in time and spun around. The crater, she now noticed, was pitch black. Her eyes got drawn to the edges. Is it smoke?
Her breathing grew shallow and without a second thought she ran in to the forest, ignoring the cries from her teammates.
Shinji cursed again and looked at the crater. There were giant spiders crawling out of it and they all seemed to go after them. Running to the forest seemed like a great idea now. She nudged her tall teammate
"Oi Chi!"
"I know. We need to go after Ryuya. Stupid crybaby, this forest has spiders the size of her head!"
Shinji gulped but went after Chi anyway. It was best to stick together, she would beat that into Ryuya after they got out of this mess.
The trees loomed over them and sounds surrounded them from everywhere.
Ryuya was nowhere in sight.
Chi tried to ignore the cold feeling in her stomach but it only got worse the more minutes went by. She jumped over a log and looked around again. Shinji landed next to her and both girls winced when a loud 'squelch' came from underneath her feet. When they looked down, it turned out to be a large centipede whose guts were spilled all over her sandal. Shinji suppressed a gag and stepped aside to clean her sandal, very glad that Sasuke was not here to see her.
"Does your clan have any tracking jutsus?" She whispered while rubbing her foot down on a grassy spot. She didn't know much about her clan other than they must have had no creativity in naming her. Seriously, Ketsueki Chi? Who thinks of that?
Chi's eyes flickered to her and she found that they did little to calm her nerves. Her answer made her contemplate whether running away now was an option.
"We have one, but it requires her blood." Chi looked uncomfortable under the unbelieving gaze of the brunette.
"You know what, we are all going to have a nice talk after this." Shinji decided and Chi looked happy to agree.
They continued searching for their missing teammate when Chi stopped and slapped her forehead.
"I can make clones."
Shinji shrugged "Yeah, so? I can do that too. Just one though."
Chi shook her head "No, I mean solid clones who can help me search faster."
She formed the seal and much to the shock of Shinji, ten clones appeared. They all gave her one nod and jumped away.
"That's so cool!"
"That's how Naruto graduated."
"N-naruto?! Seriously? But then-"
"It's a kinjutsu. Only someone with our chakra reserves can do it. And before you ask, if Sasuke tried this, he would die."
Shinji lowered her hands and frowned, clearly not liking the thought. Chi gave her a grin but then turned serious.
"Found her." That was fast.
"What? How?" It was clear that she was not moving without an explaination.
"Clones transfer their memories when they disperse. Let's hurry, she is in trouble."
They sped through the trees until Chi halted and motioned for Shinji to go the opposite way.
Both girls moved without a sound, until they reached a good spot for hiding. They were near a clearing and with some stretching of the neck they were able to get a good view.
Ryuya was tied to a tree and in front of her were three ninja's. Chi spotted Yatsushi talking to the others. They wore identical white masks over their nose and mouth and had the same black cloaks. The only reason Chi could recognize him was because of his chakra. It was foul and cold, he did not seem to find it necessary to conceal it.
Her eyes wandered to the spot where Shinji was. They looked at each other and Chi regretted not taking some of her blood, it would have made communicating a lot easier. That way she would have been able to tell her that her that they needed to investigate first before attacking.
The smoke bomb went off and Chi sighed before moving out. It was a terrible and rushed idea but they only had one shot. She threw in some bombs of her own, mixing a poisonous one with a normal one. The three missing nin were missing, but Chi had expected no less. She could only hope that they inhaled some of the poison. She cut through the mist and found her way to the tree.
Shinji was already halfway through the rope when Chi arrived and cut it completely with one slash. Shinji caught Ryuya before she hit the ground in shock and flung her over her shoulder. The trio fled the scene as quick as possible. They jumped from tree to tree until Shinji had to stop to catch her breath. They dropped to the ground and Chi went to check up on Ryuya. The girl was crying but Chi could not feel any pity for her. Thus she flicked her forehead and forced her chin up.
"Snap out of it!"
The blue eyes went wide and she nodded shakily.
"What did they do?" If they were after sensitive information then they had to hurry and warn the Hokage. And also their sensei since his information was not right and he needed to improve the security of the forest. And get a clock. Ryuya blinked and then her already wide eyes went as big as dinner plates.
"T-they wanted me to tell them about S-sasuke-kun!"
Shinji looked up in anger "WHAT?! How dare they! What business do they have with him?"
Chi was in deep thought but the loud exclaimation startled her and she slapped the back of Shinji's head. She had already formulated a reason. After all, it was written in the scrolls of her clan. The Uchiha's eyes were priceless. "He is a weak Genin at the moment but he is one of the last with the ability to awaken the Sharingan. That dojutsu is highly sought after. If they get Sasuke, they get the Sharingan and then there is real trouble."
She was about to answer their questioning looks when all the alarm bells in their heads went off. They ran before they even realized what was happening. Shinji was never more grateful for the countless awareness exercises in the Academy. Chi had gotten a hold of Ryuya and was speeding up. With a huge burst of chakra to her legs she jumped to a large tree and pushed her teammates against the trunk.
"They are after intel and we can't stop them at our level. So instead we must prepare to give them either nothing or false information." Chi made a shallow cut on her arm and dipped her fingers in the dark blood seeping out. Shinji and Ryuya looked at her in fear. Neither failed to notice the sudden darkening of her eyes.
Chi reached out to Shinji
"I am going to place a seal on you so that you can't give them any useful information. Stay still."
That last bit was unnecessary as the girl was mesmerized by the deep ruby color of Chi's eyes. The seal was drawn on her forehead and soon Ryuya followed. A dull pain spread through their heads when the seal activated and became invisible and both stumbled on their feet.
A flare of chakra made Chi look up. She grabbed the other girls and ran away, ignoring the burning of her legs. She was feeling the end of her chakra reserves nearing now because of the seals. She managed to keep the chase up for another minute but the three chakra signatures soon came too close and she was forced to stop.
"My, my. You girls sure can run. And poison? That was not very nice."
Yatsushi stepped closer and his pale green eyes curved in a smile. The two others were behind them, effectively surrounding them. Ryuya slumped against her arm and Shinji was pale, too pale. Chi could feel her own chakra seeping away to the two seals and cursed inwardly. Without their sensei they were helpless.
Something moved from behind them and her teammates fell to the ground. Chi jumped forward but felt her arm getting pulled back and twist against her back. A sharp pain exploded in her elbow. Yatsushi walked closer to her.
"You can rest for now. We will talk later, in a more appropriate fashion." His smirk could be heard in his voice.
Pain shot through her neck and the world became dark. Her knees gave in and the last standing member of Team 11 collapsed to the ground. The three shinobi gathered the three girls and disappeared in the dark forest.
Naruto woke with a start. His alarm clock displayed three thirty in the morning. His nightmare came back to him, but when he looked around he was still in his tiny apartment. He fell back to his pillow and turned on his side, soon snoring again. He was save, his house may be messy but there were no such things as centipedes in this place, dattebayo!