Kunoichi Rumble:

Journey to the Land of Whirlpools

Chapter 3

In Time for the Message

The sun danced its way up its mountain in the sky as Shikaku rose from his bed. 'It's been a week since the invasion. Almost a week since Shikamaru left. Should I be worried?'

The windows were immediately opened, allowing sunlight to light the gloomy house. A rapping sound was heard at the door. Shikaku slowly ambled towards it only to be confronted by two of the ANBU. "What is it?" he asked.

"You're being called upon by Hokage-sama. She would like to have a word with you."

Shikaku moaned and flickered away, appearing directly above Tsunade's mansion. 'I'd better go quickly; I might get whipped again if I don't.'

Tsunade stood in the hallway, expecting his arrival. "Shikaku Nara. I've assigned you a mission." Shikaku seemed puzzled.

"Eh? You've assigned me? What for?" he mumbled.

"Gather a team of jonin and head out. There have been rumors on a certain person roaming around. This might disturb you."

Tsunade leaned close and whispered something into Shikaku's ear, causing him to turn pale. "Understand? I'm trusting you, so pick wisely among the jonin. Oh, and unfortunately, Kakashi and Yamato will be unavailable for this mission. Alright?"

Shikaku nodded, leaving Tsunade to walk off. Just before she could re-enter her office, Shikaku blurted out, "About Shikamaru. I'm starting to… well…"

Tsunade turned and faced Shikaku. "Your son is a genius. Don't worry about him, I'm sure if there's been any trouble, he would've found a way to overcome it."

//-\\

\\-//

Shikamaru had definetly not found a way to overcome it. 'Has… has he… gone?' he thought to himself as he slowly drifted back to the surface of the lake. 'Gotta… get… back.'

Several miles away, Zetsu resumed his journey with Pein and Kitsun. "Pein-sama, it was a team of meddling Konoha pests. I took care of them with ease, but there was something that caught my attention."

Pein didn't stop walking, but he gave a sign for Zetsu to resume. "The same chuunin I faced back during the invasion was a part of the squad. He was the brilliant one, and to think that he couldn't throw a shadow at me or devise some plan before he jumped off the cliff."

Kitsun, still walking, faced Zetsu. "Konoha shinobi? Pein-sama, you should've given the task to me. I'd…"

"Zetsu, what is the status on the remainder of Akatsuki?" he responded, cutting Kitsun off. The swordsman, having been offended, grasped his weapon. A drop of rain came down and struck him square in the eye, causing him to somehow lose balance and fall to the ground. Zetsu covered his face with the bindings at his sides, laughing inside his mini-shell.

He emerged with a serious look and made his report. "Pein-sama, Itachi and Kisame are currently searching for Tobi. Tobi was last seen at the Valley of End."

"What in tarnations is that fool doing there?" Pein hissed. This time, it was Kitsun who did the interrupting, as he pointed to the horizon.

"It seems as though we're going to be making our first stop, right Pein-sama?"

Ahead of the three lay the innocent Village Hidden in the Dust. "Kitsun has a point, leader-sama. We've been moving for nearly half a day now. Shouldn't we take rest? It's not like another force is racing us to the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool."

Pein sighed, nodding his head. "Fine, we'll take a short stop. Before we leave, I want the whole village obliterated."

Zetsu grinned. "Swept through, we wouldn't want them to spend a funeral in the dust."

//-\\

\\-//

"Hey, wake up you lazy-bum!" a voice called.

"Unhh, where am I?" he mumbled. Standing at the window was Kiba Inuzuka. "Come on, Naruto! The Hokage's calling us! We just got an emergency message!"

Naruto's eyes slowly popped open. "Not comin', unless it involves Ramen."

Kiba grinned. "The Akatsuki has been spotted."

Naruto instantly tore through his blankets and yanked Kiba by the collar. "The Akatsuki! What are we waiting for then?"

Naruto dived into his closet, coming out a couple of seconds later fully dressed. "Alright, it's time we get moving. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A team of clones were spread out around the room.

Kiba put up an annoyed look. "Naruto, what now? We don't have time to be messing around! Let's go!"

Naruto gave each of his clones instructions before he and Kiba dashed through the morning streets to the Hokage Mansion. There was already a group of chuunin waiting there.

Ino tapped upon Tsunade's door, but Naruto rushed past her, going as far as breaking the door down. "Naruto-kun!" Ino cried, but he ignored her, knocked Shizune over by accident, and landed in front of Tsunade as if he had just won a race.

"Granny Tsunade, what is it? Where's the Akatsuki? Tell me!" Naruto cried.

Behind him, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji stepped into the room. Tsunade looked around, making sure everyone was there. "Alright. Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga! I'm assigning an escort mission to you four! And this is an extremely important mission!"

Naruto's eyes flared as he turned around and pointed a finger at Kiba. "Liar! You just said that to get me out of bed!" Kiba grinned, leaving Naruto was a furious and flattered face. "Ahh, that's not funny!"

"Be silent, Naruto! Kiba, this isn't something to joke around about. I'll have our fourth chuunin tell us the info." Naruto's eyes drooped this time at Tsunade's pointing out of him not being a chuunin.

A side door swung open, and a weak figure emerged. Bandages and cloth had been tied around his body, and he had a sling attached to his arm. "Shikamaru!" Ino cried. "That can't… that can't be you!"

Shikamaru stepped through the door with the aid of a crutch. He seemed to be weak, extremely weak. "Shikamaru!" Ino cried, beginning to rush towards him.

"No, Ino. Don't touch me. There's been a microscopic organism that managed to enter my body. If you make contact with me, then it will enter your body and destroy your systems. Lady Tsunade was able to control its effects, at least for me, so that I wouldn't killed."

"Shikamaru, down to business," Tsunade snapped, and he nodded.

"We were told by the Kage of the Village Hidden in the Dust that we weren't needed anymore. The village could manage itself as long as the Akatsuki was away from them. With that, we prepared to leave, but we were wanted back at the village again for some apparent reason. We were to come there in four days, three days from the current time. The Kage seemed to be uncomfortable about something.

"As we were making our way back to the village, we heard a large explosion. It came from none other than the Akatsuki themselves. The leader, along with a mysterious figure and their hunter-nin, was headed in the same direction as the Village Hidden in the Dust.

"My squad was confronted by the hunter-nin, resulting in the deaths of my three comrades. Me, I could do nothing but run. He caught up with me and eventually caused me to fall off a cliff. I landed in a lake, and it wasn't much longer before I blacked out."

Tsunade took over the story. "Fortunately, Temari of Sunagakure found Shikamaru and brought him back here quickly with the aid of a few other members of the village. That means your mission is to investigate the Village Hidden in the Dust."

"Hokage-sama, you previously said that it was an escort mission," Kiba responded.

Tsunade nodded, and Shizune opened the entrance to a quiet hooded female who stepped in. "This will be your escort. Your mission – investigate on the Akatsuki's whereabouts and make sure Mira makes her way safely back to the Land of Whirlpools!"

The journey was set!

Naruto Uzumaki, ready to face a reunion destined to occur.

Ino Yamanaka and the new mysterious Mira, both of whom were ready to prove their value as kunoichi.

Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuga, the pair ready to defend their comrades with their lives on the line.

And one mustn't forget Akamaru!

This team of five, ready for a journey of madness, chaos, disaster, death, and in the end, joy!

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"Mira-sama, what is the Land of Whirlpools like?" Ino asked as the team of five dashed through the fields.

Neji took the lead and made a signal to stop. "This looks bad!" he cried, viewing the next obstacle with his Byakugan. "There's no village. The only thing that exists is demolition!"

Next Time – Akatsuki as the Vaccuum – The team learns of a dreadful event that occurred.

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