A/N: Ugh, fight scene in this chapter. Not sure how it turned out, but here goes nothing.
This first part is for you guys who were really worried about Naruto. I'm sorry I've kept you waiting so long, I hope this will tide you over till we get to the main course ;)
"You know," A familiar but unexpected voice came from the door, nearly making Naruto startle, "I think I preferred the orange."
Naruto turned, calm now, to see Mae leaning casually in the doorframe, "I thought you hated the orange?" he asked in confusion, hoping she was here for something more important than his wardrobe, "You said it made you want rip out your own eyes and burn them."
"I didn't say it wasn't tacky as all hell," Mae smiled, her perfect red lips pulling back to show off perfect white teeth, "I said I preferred it on you," she flicked a lock of her long dark hair over her shoulder in distaste, "Now you just look like you're in mourning."
Maybe we are, hm?
Naruto cleared his throat and tried to clear his head at the same time, "My old clothes were ripped. I can't go around with ripped clothes. And this was all Oharu-san had at the time, there was no reason to trouble her again when a new shipment came in."
Mae was still smirking knowingly at him and Naruto worked very hard not to stick his tongue out at her, "He protests too much," she murmured, laughter in her green eyes, "And Oharu can repair rips, you know?"
"Did you only come here to harass me about my clothes?" Naruto finally snipped, "Or is something important happening?" He crossed his arms over his chest. As beautiful and intimidating as she was, sometimes Mae could be too motherly for her own good. She wasn't that much older than him.
Mae held her hands up in surrender but the laughter didn't leave her pretty face, "Alright, love, alright," she pulled the lock of hair back over her shoulder just to have something to fiddle with, "Firstly, Toson and Matsuko are fighting about the bridge again," she explained apologetically.
"Again?" Naruto groaned and flopped back into a chair, "What is it now?"
"The usual," Mae shrugged, "One just wants to get it done and the other thinks he just has no artistic vision," she gave an elegant flourish with her hand at the last bit.
"I'm personally on the side of getting it done," Naruto grumbled.
"Well, be sure to put it a little more diplomatically when you go over there to work it out," Mae replied, "And one other thing. Sanjiro's boat is dropping something off at the dock. A scout spotted the flags from the top of the hill."
Naruto looked up in confusion, "He's not due back yet, is he?"
Mae shook her head, "Not for another two days I thought."
The blonde nodded and stood back up, "Would you mind?"
"I'll take Scout and Eizo," Mae nodded, understanding his meaning, "Maybe he just got his shipment in early and was keen to have more time between deliveries."
"Probably," Naruto agreed. Sanjiro was too superstitious of the island to come back without need, "Just be careful."
"Always, darling," Mae chirped and glided off in search of the others.
Naruto headed in the direction of the bridge to take care of things, hoping whatever was going on with Sanjiro was harmless.
It's never harmless, brat. You oughta know that by now.
Kakashi was feeling more than a little smug that they managed to be on the boat the next day and heading for Whirlpool, just like he planned. Sanjiro, the captain, had agreed to take them, thanks to Shikamaru, but had needed even more convincing to take them before his next shipment was due.
"I ain't spose to arrive there again for another two days," Sanjiro had said, "I'm not keen on showin' up when I ain't expected. Who knows what they'll do?"
Kakashi had gotten around this without much difficulty due to his expert negotiating skills.
Or by subtly implying that the dangers on Whirlpool would be the least of the boat captain's worries if the man didn't comply with their request. Either way, they were on the boat in the wee hours of the morning the next day and Kakashi was feeling a bit smug about it.
They were all currently below deck in a very moldy smelling storage compartment where the captain had so kindly told them to stay because he, "didn't need a bunch of idiot, armed ninja running around his boat while pullin' up to a demon infested island."
It was crowded, but Kiba was doing a pretty decent job of keeping them all entertained as he talked animatedly with Yamato.
"I'm just saying, what if the Daimyo have a secret laboratory on the island, like Orochimaru. And they're, like, experimenting on people, like he did with you. And then Naruto comes out and he's got some crazy new jutsu or he can, I dunno, spew acid or fly or something," Kiba said this all in one breath, leaning eagerly over the long table where he sat across from Yamato. The ANBU just starred back at the boy in silence for a minute as if trying to decide whether to answer or throw him overboard.
"Kiba, could you do me a favor?" Yamato asked slowly after that minute
Kiba sat back a bit, looking confused, "Um, yeah, sure?"
"From now on, could you wait until I've had at least two cups of coffee before you talk?" Yamato asked wearily indicating the single mug in front of him.
Sakura and Hinata giggled as Kiba's face fell into a pout and he crossed his arms over his chest. Akamaru put his head on his master's knee as if to comfort.
"That's an improvement," Iruka said from Yamato's side, "When he was in the Academy I needed three." Even Shino and Shikamaru smiled at that one as the girls continued to snicker at Kiba's expense.
Another side-effect of this mission was that Yamato and Iruka-sensei had gotten rather chummy over the course of it. It wouldn't bother Kakashi if they didn't gang up on him and accuse him of worrying when he intimidat—, er, convinced – the boat captain to set sail early.
"How long till we get there?" Kiba grumbled in Kakashi's direction.
"Round this time tomorrow," Kakashi replied monotonously over his Icha Icha.
Kiba groaned dramatically and his forehead slammed into the table top.
"Sanjiro-san doesn't expect us to stay down here the whole time does he?" Sakura asked skeptically.
"He said we could stretch our legs," Shikamaru said from where his chair was leaned back on two legs against the wall, "But be careful if you do."
Sakura looked up at him, "What for?"
"He's got a twitchy trigger finger," Shino replied much to Kiba's amusement.
Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked to Hinata for an explanation but only received a shrug.
"Anyway," Sakura said slowly, looking back over at Shikamaru, "You said you had something for me?"
"Oh, yeah," Shikamaru reached into his vest pocket and retrieved a small cloth bag, "Got this from the local healer on Wave. It's an herb the settlers on Whirlpool have been trading with them."
Sakura took the bag and reached inside, pulling out a small stem of green leaves that came to a purple tip.
She thought for a second then her eyes lit with recognition, "Oh, I know this one. Agilis, known for its versatility." She twirled the stem in her fingers, admiring the little plant.
"It's kind of pretty," Hinata said, picking up one of the stray leaves that fell from the bag, Kiba following suit out of boredom.
"Hm," Sakura continued, "It's a disinfectant and a numbing agent, nice when you have to stitch something up outside of a hospital. You can make balm from it to help with cuts and burns. Really useful when you're in the field. No wonder they were excited about it, it's hard to get something like this way out here. Agilis is really tricky to grow and only a few farmers have the patience and skill for it, so normally only big villages like Konoha can afford it or grow it on their own."
Kakashi glanced over his book again and gave the little plant another look after Sakura's mini lecture, "I think I recognize it, too."
Sakura smirked at him, "You would, wouldn't you? That's probably because in its basic, concentrated form it's actually a poison. Ninja can dip their weapons in its oil to paralyze enemies – "
"KIBA! Get that out of your mouth!" Iruka suddenly roared, surprising all of them by diving across the table to whack Kiba on the back of the head.
Kiba sputtered and spit out he little leaf he'd apparently decided was a good idea to taste, "Am I gonna die?!" he asked hacking and rubbing his tongue with his sleeve.
"Kiba?" Hinata's hands went to his shoulders while Shino and Yamato stood.
"My mouf feelsh fuddy!" Kiba wailed, "Shakuwa, do shumting."
Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes, "Calm down you guys. That quantity and concentration isn't enough to kill anyone," A sigh of relief escaped everyone but Kiba, "But your tongue and the rest of your mouth is going to be numb for a while so your speech will be impaired. You'll be fine after that."
Kiba let out a relieved sigh and collapsed back in his chair with the rest of the team.
Sakura glanced back down at the purple tinged leaves then back at Kiba and her lips pursed unsurely, "Um, but, you know just in case," she reached under the table for her pack and started searching through it, "Let me give you something that will neutralize the worst if it," she chuckled awkwardly, "Lady Tsunade wouldn't be too happy if I let your heart stop because I was careless."
Kiba made few inarticulate whimpers and started poking at his tongue while Shino grumbled, "Why would you stick it in your mouth? It's like working with a toddler." Kiba just whimpered again and Akamaru gave him a lick to the face.
Yamato gave Iruka a questioning look to which the teacher just shrugged helplessly, "It's always been like this. Naruto was about the same, if not worse."
Kakashi thought he had managed to hide his impending laughing fit during all this but he thought he saw Iruka cast him a slight glare of disapproval over his book.
Sakura started berating Kiba about proper handling of medicinal substances after that but really the rest of the ride went by without incident.
The next morning Kakashi woke up before everyone else to do a head-count. Well, he assumed it was morning, there was no easy way to tell when below deck of a boat, but his internal clack said it was and it was as reliable as the sun most of the time.
Kakashi briefly wondered at his reasoning behind a head-count because there wasn't much place to go on a small fishing vessel but he supposed it was a left over habit from having a Genin team. Those little buggers had a tendency to get some wild hair in the middle of the night and ended up not where you left them in the A.M.
Nevertheless, he counted the sleeping forms of the boys first (wondering briefly if he should wake Kiba before the boy drowned in the impressive puddle of drool he'd produced from his still numb mouth) and peaked behind the barrels the girls had opted to sleep behind for some semblance of privacy. Apparently he was not, in fact, the first one awake because Kakashi came up one short.
Again, there weren't many places for a person to disappear to on a boat so Kakashi headed up the ladder leading to the deck. The sky was overcast so he still couldn't be completely certain what time it was yet. The salt air surrounded him in earnest when he stepped out onto the deck and located his missing ninja. Iruka-sensei stood looking out at the blue-black water, gripping the railing of the boat.
Kakashi laughed to himself, Heh, Iruka-sensei, a missing-nin. Could just imagine.
"You're up early," Kakashi said aloud as Iruka turned at his approach.
The Sensei smiled softly, "Oh, please, I'm a teacher. The day is half gone already."
Kakashi cocked his eyebrow at that but said nothing.
Iruka accepted his silence with his own and turned back to look at the horizon. Kakashi was taking his time going back down below deck, stretching his legs and just moving around to get the kinks out after sitting in the cramped room for so long.
"I've never been on a boat like this before," Iruka murmured suddenly. Kakashi turned and Iruka seemed to realize he'd spoken to an audience, "Ah, I mean, I've been on a boat before of course, never on the ocean. It's different from the lakes and rivers back home."
Kakashi blinked at the realization that Iruka was actually trying to make conversation with him. The teacher had barely said three words to him the whole trip. Unless kicking him under a table counted as conversation.
"Weird," Kakashi replied finally, "I would've thought . . . with your name and all." He finished vaguely but Iruka seemed to catch his meaning.
The Chunin smirked at him and asked, "Do you ever get the sudden urge to stand in the middle of a field and scare birds away from crops?"
Kakashi felt a smile tug at his mouth and wondered if Iruka could tell through his mask, "Once, but not for quite the same reason you're thinking."
Kakashi almost startled when Iruka barked a laugh and said, "I guess I am weird, then."
For a second, Iruka looked like he wanted to say something else but stayed quiet. Kakashi shrugged to himself, feeling an odd sense of victory in his chest that he simply would not admit had anything to do with making Iruka laugh.
Suddenly, Iruka lurched and leaned forward on the railing, his entire upper body hanging dangerously over the dark water below. Kakashi's arm reacted without his permission, reaching out and was a centimeter away from grabbing the back of Iruka's cloak when the teacher pulled back and pointed excitedly to the horizon.
"Look!" Iruka said excitedly, heedless of Kakashi's slip, "Can you see it?"
Kakashi blinked again and turned his head to follow the teacher's finger, squinting at the distance.
"I don't –" Kakashi started, but stopped when a speck on the horizon became apparent, "Oh, yeah . . ."
"Whirlpool," Iruka said quietly.
"I thought there would be more, you know . . . whirlpools?" Yamato said to Sanjiro as they neared the dock on the middle of a wide bay, where the water was almost completely still and calm.
"And there would be," Sanjiro said gruffly as he gathered the rope he would use to latch onto the dock, "If we'd taken any other route. Made that mistake myself the first time I made a delivery. Nearly tore the ol' girl apart," he patted the railing apologetically, "This here's the old trade route the village used before the wars. Only safe way in or out. Well, only way I know of."
The rest of the team had emerged when Kakashi had judged they were close enough to the island, which was no longer a speck but a lush, overgrown forest surrounding the bay, a line of large, gray rocks bordering the water. Broken and rotting wooden piers stuck out at intervals from these rocks, a tribute to the trade that used to happen in this part of the island. The only thing that looked new was the dock floating in the center of the bay, an unseen anchor keeping it in place.
The younger Shinobi were staring around in fascination, Hinata even activating her Byakugan, either to see the island better or search for signs of life, Kakashi didn't know. Shino and Shikamaru were conversing next to her and Kiba was still harassing Sakura with a worried Akamaru by his side.
"Shtill ca' tal'," Kiba was wailing and pointing at his numb mouth (which was still producing copious amounts of drool).
Sakura must have understood the gist of it, because she snapped back, "I told you already, there's nothing more I can do. Just drink lots of water and wait till it wears off."
Kakashi tuned them out in favor of watching the dock approach.
The dock was where Sanjiro climbed over the side of the boat and nimbly hopped down and tied the boat, never once touching the water. He climbed back up and looked at them sternly.
"This is where I leave you, I won't go any farther," he rubbed his scruffy cheek thoughtfully, "I'll be back with the next shipment in two days. If you're . . . ready to leave by then . . . just meet me back here and I'll haul you back to Wave." It sounded like he meant to say If you're still alive.
"Thank you, Sanjiro-san," Iruka spoke up from Kakashi's side, smiling kindly, "We'll keep that in mind."
With that the teacher hopped the side of the boat much like the captain just had and leapt silently down to the dock below, pack strapped to his back and waiting for the rest of them readily.
Kakashi felt that smile threaten again.
As leader of the mission Kakashi waited until the others were off the boat before following them down.
When they were all standing on the dock and looking up at the boat, Sanjiro seemed suddenly reluctant to just leave them there, "Last chance to turn back," he called down.
"We'll be fine," Yamato placated and just then a wind kicked up that seemed to come from the direction of the island, blowing Sanjiro's gray streaked hair and making the old man's eyes go wide.
The boat captain grumbled something about 'crazed Shinobi and their idiot ideas' but said so they could hear, "Right. I'll be off and back in two days. Remember." He disappeared into the bridge and soon the boat was sailing back the way it had come.
Yamato turned to Kakashi then and asked, "That was you, wasn't it?"
"That conveniently placed breeze?" Kakashi's eye widened innocently, "I don't know what you could be implying."
There was a small splash to his right then and Kakashi looked to see Iruka standing on top of the water staring at him, "If you're done messing with elderly fishermen?" He tapped his foot in the water impatiently, making a little splashsplashsplash noise.
"Always ruining my fun," Kakashi grumbled and herded the rest onto the bay water to join the teacher, setting a brusque pace for the shore.
As they ran over the water, Kakashi saw Hinata look down in surprise and activate her widening eyes again. The Copy-nin followed suit out of curiosity and saw the eerie sight that had caught her attention.
The water was clearer the closer they got to shore and the shallower it got. Under the surface was a jungle of sunken wood and metal skeletons of ships that used to inhabit the bay. They rested at the bottom, only the pieces closest to the surface showing clearly, reaching up as if to pull them down to their level, the rest of their bodies disappearing into the depths. Kakashi wondered unwillingly if the ships had been sunk after the island was vacated due to disuse, or before . . . to prevent escape.
Kakashi was somewhat relieved to reach the rocky shore.
He summoned Pakkun as soon as they reached the shore and climbed over the rocks onto more level ground.
"Hey, Boss," the little pug greeted him, sniffing the air subtly and taking in the gathered team, "What's up?"
The others were spread out searching the tree line and getting the lay of the area while Kakashi explained briefly, "Whirlpool Island. This is where we think Naruto is, with others probably."
He would have said more but Iruka saw the little pug and greeted him warmly, "Oh, hello Pakkun. How are you?"
Kakashi blinked as Pakkun's normally saggy eyes lit up at the sight of the Chunin, "Doin' well Iruka-sensei. Glad to see you're here." The dog's eyes widened to puppy-like proportions then and Iruka laughed, digging in his bag.
Iruka pulled out a smaller bag and produced a meatball from it, "Don't worry, I didn't forget," and tossed it to Pakkun who caught it in his mouth, chewing happily.
"Um," Kakashi said eloquently after this exchange and looked at Iruka in disbelief, "How long have you been spoiling my dog?"
Iruka shrugged as Akamaru walked up and pawed at the teacher's pant leg, tongue hanging out. Iruka smiled and held a meatball out for the larger ninkin as well saying, "The whole time, I guess." Akamaru gave the Sensei a grateful lick and Pakkun chuckled deviously.
Kakashi heard a snort behind him and turned toward Yamato in betrayal, "You knew about this?"
Yamato just shrugged guiltily as Shikamaru called from the tree line, "Everyone knew about it, Kakashi-sensei," rolling his eyes he added, "Hinata found a path hidden by some brush. It's old but recently used."
Deciding to put the ruining of his prized ninkin on hold for now, Kakashi sighed and walked over to the Nara, Pakkun leading the way. Kiba gave Akamaru a signal and he and Pakkun began sniffing the entrance of the path where Hinata stood.
"If they're smart it's trapped," Sakura murmured needlessly.
"Here," Shino answered her anyway, reached into the brush that hid the path and ordered, "Back up."
The group did and Shino pulled out a piece of nearly invisible wire his bugs had swarmed. They watched as that simple pressure unleashed a barrage of kunai from the trees on either side of the path, wooden posts carved to spikes shooting out of the ground at intervals farther and farther down, stopping only when the last kunai flew.
"So . . . we should be careful," Pakkun, the little smart-ass, said, staring at the wooden spike closest to him, probably with visions of pug-kabobs swimming in his head, "But people have definitely been coming through here recently. Not picking up Naruto's scent in particular but it may be covered by the others'."
"Hm," Kakashi hummed, and instructed shortly, "We'll stick to the trees."
With that the group followed him into the ancient forest, following the little path through the trees instead. Pakkun and Akamaru led the way pausing and sniffing now and then. The forest got thicker the farther inland they went, the path becoming harder to discern through the overgrowth. It completely disappeared as the forest gave way to swampland.
It was here that both dogs stopped suddenly and began sniffing frantically. Kakashi and Kiba both dropped to the ground when their ninkin leapt from the trees, the dogs putting their noses to the soggy ground. Kiba sniffed the air a bit as well, but didn't say anything (probably because he still couldn't).
Pakkun looked over at Akamaru as if to confirm something and the larger dog gave a little nod.
"The kid's scent is definitely here, Boss," Pakkun said finally, as the rest of the Leaf ninja joined them on the ground, careful of more traps. Kakashi heard Iruka shift behind him.
"Here?" Yamato questioned, looking around at the rather inhospitable marsh. Sakura also wrinkled her nose at the smell of stagnant mud and general rot that came with swampy ground. Hinata's eyes were activated and searching as were Shino's insects, the latter seeming almost cheerful at the surroundings. There were a few extra buzzing things in the air here if Shikamaru's waving hand was any indication.
Pakkun nodded, "Just to pass through. The trail doesn't end here. This way." And they were off again, this time choosing to stay grounded for the sake of the dogs.
The search slowed as the spongey earth of the swamp converted completely to muddy water. The only solid ground to be found was tufts of scraggly grass and the roots of old, smooth trees. They had no problem walking through it but the dogs had a harder time picking up scents in the water, having to stop several times and see which root or mound of mud held the next clue.
The sky was still overcast, perpetually looking on the edge of a storm, but Kakashi judged they'd been at it maybe an hour before something changed.
It was nothing tangible but it made the hair on the back of his neck raise and he'd learned from years of experience to trust that little feeling of unease.
When Pakkun and Akamaru both stopped and looked up in slight alarm Kakashi threw his arm out to signal the others stop as well. Kiba was by his ninkin's side in a second and every other ninja went on high alert.
But the swamp was silent.
Then Hinata whispered, "Does anyone else . . . feel that?"
Kakashi turned to look at the Hyuuga and saw her looking at the water. Then he felt it. The water was moving . . . no, vibrating like it was about to boil.
Before Kakashi could give the order to move the water beneath them exploded.
Kakashi landed in water that was deeper than he thought it would be, managing to gather his chakra and get himself standing on top of it in a matter of seconds. He heard sputtering beside him and spared a glance at Yamato also getting to his feet in the water to his left before looking up at the thing staring back at him.
It was a crocodile. A really big, really pissed off crocodile.
The armored body reached almost to the tree-tops where its upper half had reared out of the swamp. Water cascaded off its green-brown skin and rained down on them. It's massive head was turned toward Kakashi and Yamato, yellow eyes locking onto them as its body fell forward into the mirky water.
Kakashi and Yamato dodged and ran together as the croc lunged their way, long maw open to reveal rows of giant teeth as it released a primordial sound. The beast was fast for being so large. When it turned to follow them it took no heed of the trees blocking its path, just went through them.
"Where are the others?" Kakashi yelled over the noise of the crocodile battering its way through the marsh. The crocodile lunged again and the two Jounin took to the trees, not that it helped when the monster could knock them down like toothpicks.
"I see the kids behind it," Yamato shouted back, "I don't think its seen them —"
The croc's long tail lashed out then and Kakashi caught sight of all too familiar pink as Sakura barely dodged. There was another swirl of air as Kiba and Akamaru attempted a synchronized attack, but apparently didn't account for the creature's thick skin. The two just bounced off its flank and landed practically up under it.
They were, however, successful in getting the croc to notice them.
Kakashi pushed his hitai-ate up to reveal the Sharingan and leapt just as the reptile lunged for the younger Shinobi again. Lightening surrounded his hand as he aimed for what he hoped would be a weaker point in the animal's armor, the fleshy joint where its front leg joined with its body.
Kakashi landed on the thing's back as his Lightening Cutter connected and cut into the crocodile's skin as it screeched. The cut was as long as Kakashi was tall but couldn't be more than a flesh wound for the beast.
Nevertheless, it was enough to piss it off more and take it's attention away from the younger Shinobi so the Copy-nin considered it a small victory.
At least until the croc bucked, throwing him into the air, and twisted, opening its mouth to make sure Kakashi had a clear, unhindered path into its waiting stomach.
The Copy-nin saw monstrous teeth flash in front of him and felt the humid heat of the croc's cavernous mouth before there was a puff of smoke and leaves and the croc snapped down on nothing but air.
Kakashi transported himself back into the tree with Yamato in seconds. From a distance he thought he heard someone angrily shouting at him, but didn't have time to pick out who.
Shikamaru joined in then and attempted to pin the crocodile down using his Shadow Technique, but the overcast and general gloom of the swamp hindered him. He managed to slow it down though and signaled for his age-mates to run. They did so reluctantly but did not retreat far.
Yamato made a few hand seals and planks of wood shot out of the mud and wrapped around the croc. Kakashi followed up with a Water Dragon jutsu. Much like the trees though it broke through these easily and began thrashing wildly to the point Shikamaru had to back off and make a run for it as well.
That accounted for the younger Shinobi but where was —
There, Kakashi spotted a now filthy green cloak in the water, Iruka. The teacher was backing away slowly but from his position in the tree Kakashi couldn't see what else he was doing or if he was injured. He didn't have time to worry about Iruka though, when he saw the croc take a little too much interest in where Shikamaru and the others had run.
The water rumbled again and for a second Kakashi thought another one was about to pop up. A second later, he readied the hand seals for another water jutsu, but realized someone had beat him to it.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Iruka slap the top of the water with the palm of his hand.
The swamp exploded again.
Mud and water shot up together underneath the crocodile, carrying it up into the air, above the tree line and farther. It let out another inhuman roar as it became airborne, jaw snapping at the water propelling it upward. The spray shut off even more quickly than it started, like a tap being turned off.
"We should move," Kakashi said matter-of-factly and grabbed Yamato just as the beast came crashing back down into the trees. The tree they had just been in went down as well, but the croc had landed on its back, disappearing under the water and the massive wave that resulted from the landing.
"Faster," Yamato called from behind him but then the world was mud, water, mad tumbling, and trying to find the surface when everything was the same shade of brown.
Kakashi broke the surface of the water just in time to be washed unceremoniously onto a rare tuft of reeds and trees as the wave receded. He could hear the beast still throwing a fit somewhere in the distance but could no longer see it. He hoped to keep it that way.
"Well," Yamato sat up on the semi-solid ground beside Kakashi, "That was fun."
Kakashi just shook his head like a dog to get the majority of the water and muck out of his hair and eyes, suddenly realizing that he had not only lost track of the kids and Iruka but Pakkun as well.
"Kakashi-san," The Copy-nin almost jumped when the unexpected, although very welcome voice came from the trees in front of them. Kakashi looked up to see Iruka trudging over to them, covered head to toe in muck, hair undone and dripping in his face, "And Captain Yamato are you all right?"
"As well as can be expected, Sensei," Yamato replied for them both, "You?"
Iruka just nodded tiredly and plopped down gracelessly next to them on their little patch of grass, "I can only do that once, it takes more chakra than I should really use."
"That was you?" Yamato asked, pointing int the direction they'd just . . . splashed . . . from.
Iruka shrugged and then turned an unprovoked glare at Kakashi, "In case we don't get out of this alive, there's something I need you to know."
"Okay," Kakashi said, wringing out his headband out and weighing the necessity of putting it back on his face.
"I hate you," Iruka said without preamble.
Kakashi blinked, "Oh, ah —"
"And I consider you a friend," Iruka continued, scowling harshly, "So don't pull any more dumb shit like almost getting eaten again, okay? Now, did anyone see where everyone else went?"
Kakashi was really beginning to debate who was crazier: elite, highly skilled and rigorously trained Jounin or Academy school teachers.
"They were running in the other direction," Yamato said, breaking into Kakashi's thoughts, "They were together so they should be fine. And they have Kiba and Akamaru with them."
Kakashi stood then, put a hand to his mouth and let loose a shrill whistle.
Iruka held his hands to his ears as he asked, "The heck was that for?"
"Pakkun," Kakashi said simply, "He got separated from us, too."
"Oh," Iruka said, suddenly looking concerned, "Well, can't you just summon him again?"
"Doesn't work like that," Kakashi said simply.
"Maybe he —" Iruka started again but Yamato's kunai shot over his shoulder, startling him into silence.
Kakashi spun to where Yamato was aiming, his own kunai in hand. Iruka did the same but a little slower, making the Copy-nin wonder just how much chakra he used up with that last jutsu.
Nothing moved in the trees and brush where Yamato's weapon had disappeared but Kakashi felt a significant chakra signature within. In fact, it almost felt like the other chakra signature was reaching back . . . feeling for them . . . almost surrounding them.
Finally, there was a rustle and a shadow moved. Slowly, carefully the shadow picked its way out of the brush, taking shape with each step.
It was a girl that stepped out, fingering the sheered white hair above her left ear that Yamato's blade had sliced through.
"Hello."
A/N: Alright guys, this is where the OCs become prominent in the story, one in particular being important and you're gonna hear a bit from them. Don't panic yet, this is still a Naruto-centric story, just bear with me, please. They are not here to carry the story, but I need them.
However, next chapter we get to Naruto in earnest, so hang in there just a little longer! (That is if this stupid AU decides to work with me)