Chapter Three: Captured
What was surprising was getting out of the clinic without being seen or detected by Shino, his captain or his teammates. (I still didn't know how many had been assigned to said team.) I guess that was the plus side of having such amazing, unique, yet oh so ridiculously colored hair. Once I was a couple of blocks away form the clinic I removed the surgical mask and threw it away while releasing the breath I had been holding and allowing the charms to completely fade. It had been years since I had last been able to stand as who I truly was, to be who and what I really was. God did it feel good. The power, my chakra supplies had doubled due to the clinical shifts I had been stuck with my first couple of years here but oh was all that hard work worth it. Not only had I been able to continue to practice, to heal like I so loved to do so, but I had been able to secretly train as well. As I walked down the dimly lit streets I could feel all of the mens stares. Could I blame them for their behavior? No. Our kind was always born different, paler, stronger and so much more beautiful than any of your average mortal ever would be born. It was one of the many reasons why we continued to live in secrecy, why we hid form mortal eyes and mortal planes. Grinning I gave a wink here and there, all the while keeping an eye on my surroundings and secretly making sure that I wasn't being followed. Then, as I neared my home I couldn't help but to falter in my step. My place was on fire, and not just a small fire. It was blazing, new years fireworks show blazing! Had I been found? No, I couldn't have been. I had kept my tracks clean, I had made sure not to show my true self and most of all I had stayed off of any and all security systems and radars. As I neared the building, unconsciously walking toward the entrance without so much as second thought of my surroundings, a police officer stopped me.
"Wow, you can't get past here. The fire is out of control." he informed me. I allowed my self a second more of shock before I turned a dazzling smile on the poor man and nodded. Only then did he truly look at me for what I was and how I looked like.
"What happened?" I asked, my tone of voice sweet and luring. The man smiled, grew closer to me but a shake of the head was all it took to stop him and get him to answer. As a kunoichi I had not only been trained in the medical field, and battle field, but I had also been trained how to use my body to retrieve information. It was one of the perks that came with being a kunoichi. Made everything so much more easier sometimes and boy was I thankful for it.
"It looks like a break in. The place was empty and there was no sign of anyone inside. So far no bodies have been found and there are no leads. The investigation is only starting thought." he reported. Well damn. This sure as hell wasn't Shino, not that he or his team had any motivation to do so in the first place. Well they may have tried to lure me out with it but a small fire would have been enough, why go through such extreme measures? Still, that didn't help with the who the hell was this part. Keeping my smile as kind, sweet and as innocent as possible I spoke.
"I see, thank you officer. You've been a wonderful help." I said before walking off. He'd remember talking to someone, some beautiful woman, but he wouldn't be able to remember my description let alone name. Had I given one that is. Some cops were just too damn easy to trance, though those that fought it and were able to keep it at bay had my respect. For a mortal it took a lot to stop one of us from trancing them, from getting them into our hold and manipulating them to our benefits.
After watching, from a fair distance, as my home burned to ashes I took in a deep breath and shook my head. That may have been my home for the last several years but tonight I was going home. I'd be going home with my mission complete and right into the arms of Sarutobi-san and my best friends. So, as soon as I was done completely fading back into my kunoichi role I took in a deep breath and took to the roof tops. Sure in the mortal world it was strange to see people running along roof tops but not unheard of. Hell some people even made a living off of recording themselves and sharing it with everyone around them. Then, about half a mile near my mission sight I took in a deep breath and completely hid my chakra. The guards would be changing shifts soon and that would be when I'd move in. All these years hadn't been for nothing. The clinic had been where Danzo's soldiers were send, a place where I worked at and most of all had access to everyone's files. Not to mention to the shinobi themselves, after all I had been the head medic. As soon as I saw an opening I rushed in and toward where the cameras wouldn't reach. Ino was one of my best friends and a kunoichi who's blood limit power allowed her to access others mind. Thankfully she had taught me some jutsu's to access the mind, and to defend my own when needed. 'I have to thank her when I get back.' I thought happily as I slipped into the building using one of the guards access cards. So far the coast looked clear, I'd be in an out just as I had expected to be. Everything was according to plan, thankfully.
"You shouldn't be here." I could suddenly here a soft whisper and instantly recognized it to be Sai's. He had been a substitute of sort, for Sasuke before Naruto left with Jeriya for his training and after he left. We made up a two man cell but there wasn't a mission that was given to us that we failed. He however had been recruited by Danzo long before we met and before either of us knew it he had been called back to serve Roots once again and back to Danzo's organization.
"I have a mission to finish." I hissed back as I made a clone and send it off to the opposite direction, getting Sai to follow it. Sighing mentally I kept my focus and walked down the hallway before using the access code and slipping into the scroll room. Danzo had been collecting scrolls of rare and forbidden jutsu's, and plotting against the council of Konoha for as long as we could remember. The fact that the opportunity came up to gather information and infiltrate his headquarters was a chance a once in lifetime deal. So, it was I who had been send in. Sai had always been a member of Danzo's soldiers but had been one who had been forced into it. When he was assigned to our team, when we had worked together he was quiet but he wasn't so distant. Every now and then he'd slip and I could see emotion and sorrow, he wasn't as heartless as he tried to appear and damn Danzo for using him. He was a comrade, a fellow shinobi and a teammate of mine. I'd set him free one day, even if it was the last thing I'd do.
His blood limit was interesting and deadly when need be. As I walked into the room I took in a deep breath and silently, and quickly, looked for the scroll I'd been send to fetch. What the scroll contained I wasn't sure and didn't want to know. I only knew that it was a forbidden jutsu and that Sarutobi-san knew it would be used against Konoha and the council, should Danzo ever decode it. 'This is taking too long.' hissed my inner voice, causing me to sigh. I knew it was taking long, that I wouldn't have much time to get the scroll and get out without being seen. Sighing I reached into my pocket for a weapon just in case when I was met with a piece of paper instead. That's right, there was a captain that owed me a favor and what better way to repay the debt than to help a fellow shinobi out in a battle. Once the scroll was in hand, and hidden among my weapons, I ran out of the room and for the exit. Instantly I was met with the sound of feet running after me, of shinobi performing jutsu after jutsu only to have me rid myself of the genjutsu. Trying to stop an intruder with a genjutsu was smart, if injured there wouldn't be much to do when trying to torture the information out of them afterwards after all. I was about to reach the exit when I was kicked back and forced to stop. Instantly I spun around and lit the small note on fire before attacking my attacker and sending him threw the opposite wall of me. Out of the many who had followed only one attacked, which meant that they had gotten what they wanted. They stopped me.
"Such a strong kunoichi, its a waste of your skills to heal and work for them. Why not join Danzo-san and..." but before he could finish his offer I threw a kunai and watched, satisfied, as a thin line of blood appeared on his cheek. As his anger showed, as his eyes narrowed I couldn't help to allow my self a grin. 'Hell yea! We still kick ass!' my inner yelled, causing my grin to grow.
"My loyalties are set." I growled as I blocked his attack and jumped out of the way of a large fire ball.
"Return what you have taken." he growled, anger in his tone of voice then. Damn, they had a tracking jutsu on the damn scroll. Mentally I sighed out and cursed my self for not properly checking the damn thing before taking it. It was basics to do so, and I was forgetting about my basics. Which in all reality was what got most shinobi killed.
"I've taken nothing. I just came to see if I could get in and out. Looks like I could get in, maybe you should better your guard." I lied and taunted only to hiss as I felt a gash go across my back. Instantly I send healing chakra into it, sighing as it numbed it before locking eye's with my enemy as I grew aware of the two that took to his side.
"You're outnumbered kunoichi." he taunted.
"Looks like it, but you know what? Your over powered." I growled and before they could reach me I punched the ground and created a crater. During the chaos I jumped out of the building and toward the gate. So close, I was so close but apparently they were good at recovering. I was three feet away from my exit when I was forced to stop as a guard held a katana to my neck. 'well shit...' my inner cursed and I agreed. I was about to try to fight, to push them back, even if it meant me taking another hit, when all of a sudden the two guards fell to the floor and before me stood a tall shinobi. He was dressed in black pants, standard shinobi footwear, a deep blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol on it? 'Well crap, captain U? Of course it would stand for Uchiha!' my inner scram angrily as I watched in amazement. He really had come. Which either meant that he had already known who I was or he was a man who kept his promises. Either way, it looked like I was home free. All I needed to do now was get the hell out and go for home.
"Move aside Uchiha, she is our captive." growled the head of Danzo's guard. Slowly I straightened my posture and reached for my own weapon.
"She is to return to Konoha. The hokage has send me to retrieve her." he said. Instantly I froze. Sarutobi-san was calling me back? Was that why Shino and his team had been following me? They were monitoring me, keeping track of me, finding my patterns before interrupting and taking me back without any fuss. Well I'll be damn, they were here to help and I was putting them off, making their job harder. But why had Sarutobi-san send them? Why had he assigned them to call me back when he himself couldn't have been sure that my mission was done, that I had successfully take the scroll and made it out unharmed?
"She has stolen something from us, we want it..."
"I told you I took nothing." I hissed back before sighing and shaking my head. "I had been send in to gather information. Not steal." As soon as the words had left my mouth Shino appeared on my left and another shinobi to my right, each of them had a guard in hand. They were unconscious, not dead thankfully. It would have been the death of Konoha shinobi, comrades I may have known or would have one day. In turn the man before Captain Uchiha glared at me. Sighing I moved to stand beside the captain and glared back. One I was mad that he hadn't been informed that I myself was a captain and two if he was aware that I was a captain, what he was doing was beyond rude. Ignoring one's rank was like taking a slap in the face, and to hell if I'd let anyone edit my title out. I had worked too hard and went through hell to get to where I was. There was no way in hell I'd let anyone disregard that, even an heir to some clan.
"Shino." the Uchiha warned, and in an instant Shino was closer to me. I nodded his way in acknowledgment but said nothing. First thing was first, get off of enemy territory alive and well. Faintly I could feel the wound on my back healing, slowly but surely. Damn, had there been some sort of poison on the blade?
"This way Haruno-san." he said, causing me to shake my head.
"I will stand with your captain Aburame-san." I said before sending a senbon needle into the bush and hearing the guard who had been aiming kunai's at me to fall from the tree he had been resting at. Even when I had back up with me, and clearly seeing that they were over powered, they were still trying to take me by force. 'Dumb-asses.' my inner hissed.
"We were send to retrieve you, it would be wise to follow my orders." he noted. Were all Uchiha men this way? So full of themselves and so confident that they would always be stronger than those around them?
"Enough. If you will not listen then we will take her by force." the guard declared. Big mistake. The instant his foot soldiers attacked I moved into action. Shino all the while kept to my side while the other, apparently second Uchiha, kept to the captain's, both fighting with their crimson glowing sharingan eyes. The captain and his guard took out ten men easily, most falling prey to the powerful genjutsu's the sharingan was capable of producing. Shino all the while fought off another three, while I knocked out another four. None of them would die form the injuries I was inflicting, they couldn't. After all the pressure points I was aiming for were all for knocking someone out, not killing. We were done in less than five minutes, all the while leaving the "leader" for the end.
"We will be leaving." Captain Uchiha-san said before he knocked the man out. And then just like that, we were suddenly teleported out of the headquarters grounds and standing inside a park I knew well. I had discovered it my first year on mortal plain. No one ever visited, which made the area a perfect spot for training. As soon as I looked everyone over, making sure no one was injured I couldn't help but to smile and lunge my self at Shino.
"Shino-kun! It's been so long!" I exclaimed as I hugged him tightly. He gently hugged me back before letting go and facing his captain. The man beside him looked over me with curious eyes and was directing a genjutsu at me? Shaking my head I released it and locked eyes with him.
"I'm an alley, Uchiha-san. Not an opponent." I warned before turning to the captain and meeting his gaze. The sharingan no longer active in his eyes. "I am Captain Haruno Sakura." I introduced my self, causing the other Uchiha to laugh.
"You're a little young to be captain, besides I've never heard of you before." he challenged. He was trying to bait me, to get me to spill information without directly asking me. Shaking my head I smiled and laughed.
"Nice try but that's between me and the hokage." I said before turning back and looking at Shino. "Come one, lets go home Shino-kun." I said with a smile. He nodded before looking toward the captain. Once he had gotten his approval the four of us took at a run and ran toward where the secret entrance to Konoha would be. All the while we ran I kept up with everyone and asked Shino about everyone. Apparently Ino had learned some sort of medical jutsu's after I left, helping in my stead. Naruto and Sasuke had been home for a day and asking for me non stop, and most of all everyone was fine. Still I couldn't help but feel like there was something missing, as if there was something he wasn't telling me. Shaking it off I let it go, Satrutobi-san was sure to answer my questions. He'd tell me everything I'd miss and would hopefully give me time off. Spending years working on a mission wasn't so bad, but still. A couple of days off of active duty wouldn't hurt anyone.
When we reached Danzo's headquarters Shino and Shisui were instantly on guard and taking perimeter. It'd be easy enough for us to get in, however the flame had died down. Which meant that either the kunoich had been taken captive and knocked unconscious or we were within sight.
"Take care of the outer guards." commanded. Slipping into the base was easy, all of the guards had been called back inside. Upon activating my sharingan I found our target and watched as she was surrounded in the middle of a hallway, buying her self time before she ran out and toward the western gate.
"She's moving west." I informed my team.
"Hai." both responded before moving. Her strength was incredible. She was so small, petite and yet there was so much power in her. Where was is all coming form. Then there was the fact that she was dispelling high level genjutus's left and right. Perhaps she was captain, and should she not be then she would probe to be a valuable asset to the team. She was about to reach the gate, break her self free when she was forced to block an attack and forced to stop. Despite being out numbered she stood tall and calm.
"Such a strong kunoichi, its a waste of your skills to heal and work for them. Why not join Danzo-san and..." the shinobi chasing her began but before he could finish the kunoichi attack. Wondrously I watched as a thin line of blood appeared on the mans face, how enraged he grew and how amused she was. Truly she was lethal.
"My loyalties are set." she growled out. Her voice was soft, like velvet and yet in that instant deadly as could be. Intriguing. Who was this creature? What was her name? Where did she come form?
"Return what you have taken."
"I've taken nothing. I just came to see if I could get in and out. Looks like I could get in, maybe you should better your guard." she spoke, a taunting to her voice. Amazing. She switched through so many emotions in so little time, yet the way she showed emotion could not be defined as weak. Impossible. Then one of the leaders men in waiting slashed out at the kunoichi's back. She didn't scream, she glared and growled at the man who had injured her but did not falter in step.
"You're outnumbered kunoichi." he taunted.
"Looks like it, but you know what? Your over powered." she growled once more. Did she truly believe she had the power to stop them all. To escape on her own without a partner of sort? Then, before anything else was said she jumped and punched the ground beneath her, creating a large crater and shocking the shinobi before her. Instantly she ran for the gate.
"We're in place captain."
"Wait for my orders."
"Hai." they answered though I payed no attention. She was running, she was getting close to the gate and would made it if not for the snake that had been laying in wait by the exit. He was low level, one she could have taken if it weren't for her position.
"Move in." I called and before anymore harm could be done to her the man holding her was dealt with, placing myself before her.
"Move aside Uchiha, she is our captive." spoke. What a pathetic shinobi, he was weak if he couldn't deal with a single intruder. No matter the caliber.
"She is to return to Konoha. The hokage has send me to retrieve her." I informed the man calmly. My sharingan eyes active and noting the hidden ninja in the trees. I'd deal with him soon enough.
"She has stolen something from us, we want it..."
"I told you I took nothing." the kunoichi behind me hissed. Even after such a closer encounter with death she was willing to fight.
"Shino." I cautioned. It appeared that the two had in fact known one another. If they were acquainted then perhaps he could persuade her to corporate.
"This way Haruno-san." I heard him call to her. Haruno, I'd heard the name somewhere before. Where?
"I will stand with your captain Aburame-san." she declared boldly before sending a senbon needle into the bush and causing the guard who had been aiming kunai's at her to fall from the tree he had been resting at. Impressive. None the less.
"We were send to retrieve you, it would be wise to follow my orders." I cautioned the kunoichi.
"Enough. If you will not listen then we will take her by force." the man declared. What a fool. The instant he and his foot soldiers attacked we all moved into action. Shino kept to Haruno-san's side while Shisui kept to my side. It was beyond me why it was he felt the need to stay beside me however there was no room to argue when in a battle. Shisui and I easily took out ten men, most falling prey to the powerful genjutsu's our sharingan was capable of producing. Shino all the while fought off another three, while the kunoichi knocked out another four. She was wounded, her healing ability slowed, bleeding and yet she continued to press on as if there nothing wrong with her body at all.
"We will be leaving." I informed their leader before I teleported us all to a park we had passed on the way to the headquarters. It was abandoned, left to fend for its self and the safes place to check for injuries. Or rather the kunoichi looked over us all for injuries. Amazing, she was wounded herself and yet she put those around her before her well being. She much have been able to handle pain well.
"Shino-kun! It's been so long!" the kunoichi suddenly exclaimed as she proceeded to hug him. Slightly I turned to Shisui and noted his sudden chakra release. He was testing the kunoichi, how would she fair?
"I'm an alley, Uchiha-san. Not an opponent." she warned, seemingly unaffected by his attempt at trapping her, before turning to me and meeting my sharingan eyes head on. She was calm, collected, and confident in locking eyes. Much like the hokage was with meeting my gaze. "I am Captain Haruno Sakura." she introduced herself, causing Shisui to laugh. It was true that neither of us seemed to have heard of her, or remembered her rather, however it was unwise for Shisui to underestimate his opponent.
"You're a little young to be captain, besides I've never heard of you before." he challenged. Again Shisui moved to try and bait her, to get her to leak what information he could draw out of her without directly asking. She in turn simple laughed, how was she so amused by his actions after just fighting a battle?
"Nice try but that's between me and the hokage."she taunted him before turning back and looking at Shino. "Come one, lets go home Shino-kun." she said with a smile. Shino nodded before turning to face me. He was looking for my approval, and so silently I gave it to him. All the while we ran I kept up watch to make sure we weren't being followed while the kunoichi simply slipped into a pleasant conversation. She was relaxed and yet every so often I couldn't help but catch how her eyes scanned the area around her, keeping track just as any captain would do. What was more interesting was knowing, learning that she had gone completely off grid from Konoha for her mission, that she nothing of the disaster that had taken place in our home. Well, she'd learn soon enough.