Chapter 8, everyone! (yay)
Please let me know what you think :]
"The age of man is over
A darkness comes at dawn
These lessons that we've learned here
Have only just begun"
-'Kings and Queens'- 30 Seconds To Mars
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Trees of every seed and ethnicity flashed by in a multi-shaded blur as Hinata and her comrades flash-stepped through the unending foliage surrounding the outskirts of Konoha. They had been on the move for roughly thirty minutes now, and Hinata found it somewhat odd that not a single word had been spoken amongst them this entire time because they were more often than not a group who preferred conversation and communication. It was probably due to the unexpected- for the most part- mission details that no one had seen coming. Every ninja Hinata knew had heard something of Uchiha Itachi, and although their personal opinions of him differed vastly they all agreed solemnly upon one thing-
Anyone who took him on was, well... fucked.
Shino hadn't uttered a single syllable, incoherent or not, since the beginning of their journey. That wasn't really anything that particularly worried Hinata, unlike the uncharacteristic spasm of muteness which overtook Kiba. Even Naruto hadn't said a single thing; and that was something that truly worried her.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Sakura just looked like she was under a lot of strain. Hinata bet she knew why. With Sasuke's confinement to Konoha on top of his thirst for revenge and a mission directly related to the love of her life, the subject of which being the subject all of Sasuke's hatred was directed towards, Hinata knew she would be going through a tough time. It was times like this that made the Hyuga thankful she didn't have to worry about any lovers or boyfriends- the stress of going on missions and the very real possibility of death on the battlefield was something she knew she could do without, because she knew she would have long since frayed her nerves and fallen into an irreparable depression.
This must be why it was written in the shinobi handbook that ninjas were never to love, or fall in love. Obviously Konoha just kind of skipped over that rule; there was love in her village everywhere she looked- and the strongest of bonds were more often than not held between shinobi and kunoichi. A good example would be of her and Shikamaru's senseis- Kurenai and Asuma had an infatuation with each other for as long as either team could remember, and had finally decided to get into a relationship early the year before. And, to Hinata's excitement, three months ago Kurenai had given birth to a beautiful little girl who they named Hiromi, which translated to 'generous beauty'. She fit her namesake quite well if Hinata did say so herself- she adorned baby-fine black hair and Asuma's sparkling moss green eyes with Kurenai's facial features. She would grow up to be a heartbreaker in no time.
Thump. Thump. Thu-CRACK!
Hinata was pulled out of her musings when she heard the loud snap of a sizeable tree branch crashing to the forest floor. It wasn't until she heard some very familiar screeches that she realized someone must have gone down with it. She paused, along with everyone else, and watched as both tree branch and comrade fell to the ground.
"AAAARGHH! WHAT THE HELL, YOU STUPID TREE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KEEP ME IN THE AIR, NOT BREAK WHILE I'M JUMPING ON YOU, YOU BAKA!"
A yellow mop of spiky blonde hair bounced around in anger as Naruto sat underneath the tree branch from far below, waving his right fist around in the air like he wanted to pummel it. No one said anything for a few moments and merely watched, silently amused. Finally Shikamaru leapt from the branch he was on to land beside Hinata, his hands resting comfortably in the deep pockets of his ninja pants as he slouched over in his typical fashion, and looked around at everyone disinterestedly. His ponytail of spiky brown hair waved as it blew slightly in the breeze that had gradually picked up over the beginning of their journey.
"We might as well stop here," he said lazily.
Kiba looked at him, incredulous. "What do you mean, we'll stop here? We only just started travelling, and it'll take days to reach Itachi, if not longer!" Hinata noticed that from down below, Naruto's facial expression wasn't too far off either, obviously in agreement with the Inuzuka.
Shikamaru just sighed.
"What a drag," he complained. "I don't know how much of Tsunade's lecture you may have listened to, but in case you haven't noticed, I still need to assign compatible teams so we may be able to successfully battle and capture Itachi once we do find him. Without proper strategizing, especially against a very perceptive missing-nin, we must be fully equipped and prepared- and that starts with splitting up and moving out accordingly."
Kiba sweatdropped, feeling a little put out by his comrade's logical explanation. Hinata's heart went out to him. Naruto, on the other hand, just flailed comically.
"We don't need to split up, dattebayo! We can just attack them full-force and take them down with the element of surprise! Who cares about all this boring planning stuff anyway? I don't wanna just sit around here and do nothing when we could already be on our way."
Kiba stood still on his branch, watching Naruto like he was considering siding with the blonde's words. Shikamaru uttered an exasperated groan and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his palm before turning to Naruto once more.
"I care about pre-planning. The element of surprise will never pose any advantage over an older and more experienced prodigious ninja who is always prepared for anything. Your tactics will only get us all killed." His eyes sharpened unusually, becoming hard in appearance. "I refuse to let any of my team-mates perish, especially not due to such ridiculous tactics." Naruto frowned in response but didn't say anything else. Shikamaru took his silence as submission and turned to face Hinata and the others.
"Alright, Hokage-sama made a request of me to split us into three cells consisting of three ninjas, one of which on two teams will either Sakura or Hinata. The two teams including these medics will be the offensive teams and will attack either Itachi or Kisame. I will attempt to assemble teams which will be best suited to battle one or the other successfully."
Everyone nodded in agreement and stood silent as he continued.
"Everyone here knows Itachi is a specialized dojutsu user. His sharingan will almost certainly be used in this battle, and on one team we need a ninja who will be able to revert or nullify its effects to some degree." He turned to Hinata. "You will be the first member of Team One. The Gentle Fist alongside the use of your Byakugan allows you to see and observe chakra network patters and disable or change their flow, correct?"
Hinata nodded dutifully.
"Although you are the medic for this team, your sufficient chakra level in addition to your chakra control will allow you to both battle and have enough chakra reserved to heal your comrades, if such a thing will be necessary. I have personally observed your skill and it has greatly improved within a very short amount of time. If at all possible, the best tactic would be to disable the use of Itachi's sharingan, even if only temporarily."
"Hai."
"Ino, you will battle alongside Hinata. In the instance he traps any of us in a genjutsu we will require your Mind-Body Switch Technique- when this happens, it will be the duty of Team Three to guard Ino's body so that no harm comes to it. Ino, you are also an exceptional kunoichi with excellent battle strategy techniques that I have noticed over the years. I will also be joining your team. With the use of my Shadow Imitation Technique and proper planning, I hope to be able to have Ino take over Itachi's body until I have him trapped with my shadows. Hinata will then finish the job and our mission will be complete."
He glanced at Ino from the corner of her eye. "However, I should warn you, Ino. The memories and intentions of Itachi may very well make themselves clear to you and it will be unpleasant. I suggest you attempt to mentally prepare yourself for this."
Team Two will consist of Chouji, Kiba and Sakura. Kisame Hoshigaki is a brute shinobi who prides himself with his vast strength, and is on par with Itachi. However, he carries Samehada- a chakra-devouring sword. You must avoid it at all costs if you wish to avoid certain death. You three are all ninjas who have very offensive techniques that I believe will counteract his own, if you are very careful. Sakura is an exceptional genjutsu user as well as proficient with chakra-enhanced physical blows, two of the crucial points in this battle. Kiba's Fang Passing Fang and Human-Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf techniques will prove to be very useful against him. Chouji's Multi-Size Technique, Super Open Palm Slap and Ballistic Waterwheel Techniques will be very effective, especially the latter seeing as how it is very good to use against water release users such as Kisame because it nullifies their attacks and uses it against them instead."
Hinata watched on, impressed with Shikamaru's ability to so strategically categorize and team up a group of such diverse ninjas. She wouldn't have been able to do any better herself, even if she tried.
"That leaves Team Three, consisting of Naruto, Shino and TenTen. Since of course Naruto is the kyuubi host, the reason for his placement goes without saying. Shino is very proficient with his bug user techniques and therefore, if anything should go wrong either during battle or on the trip back, he can dispatch his insects to send a message to the Hokage. TenTen's weaponry skills are outstanding and will provide group protection on their run back to the village if need be."
"But I don't wanna run back to the village once the action starts up," Naruto whined. He had finally freed himself from the giant tree limb and was standing on Kiba's branch, directly in front of hers and Shikamaru's. "Where's the fun in that?"
Shikamaru merely shook his head. "My decision has been made, Naruto. The assigned teams will best make the mission a success."
Naruto opened his mouth to complain some more, but Hinata gave him a stern glance. "Naruto, this is for the best. You want the mission to be a success, don't you?"
He frowned and sent Hinata a look something akin to betrayal. "You mean you're actually taking his side, Hinata-chan? Come on."
Hinata pulled her gaze from his and looked away, feeling a little ashamed and blushing slightly in embarrassment. She was saved when Shino spoke up on her behalf.
"Naruto." Shino's low, monotonous voice was quiet but carried across the space around them effortlessly. "Hinata, like Shikamaru and the rest of us, know this is the right way to go about this mission. You will not always get the 'fun' or 'exciting' part in every mission you get, but everyone on every mission plays their own very important part."
The blonde scowled. "What's so important about standing around and watching while everyone else fights?"
Shino said nothing at first but his chin dipped down slightly, causing early morning rays of light to glint off his ever-present shades. His hands both remained in his teal coat pockets, unmoving. His bushy hair stood in place despite the breeze that had picked up.
"You are responsible for guarding Ino-San's body while she overtakes Itachi's mind, and therefore preventing the death of a comrade. I would say that is a very important duty to fulfill."
Naruto shut his mouth but turned his head to the side, his eyes downcast. Hinata could feel that he felt ashamed about so inadvertently downplaying the need to protect a comrade when he always swore he would do anything to prevent harm coming to them. He looked up but not meeting any of their ayes until they came to rest on the female blonde. He slowly raised his eyes until they met hers.
"Gomen, Ino-san."
Ino said nothing but merely nodded her head twice in acceptance of his apology. He then looked at the others, in the eye, and grinned bashfully, scratching at the back of his head like he always did when he was put in an awkward situation.
"So...ne, Shikamaru-san, what do we do next?" everyone focused their attention to the lazy genius, who only shrugged, his attention on the floating clouds passing overhead.
"We keep going."
Everyone prepared for takeoff before Kiba interrupted. "Sakura, do you have that thing with you?"
The pinkette frowned at him for a second before her face morphed into one of understanding. "Oh, right." She pulled off her backpack and unfastened the security straps, pulling up the top flap and reaching inside. A second later her hand emerged, containing a bundle of nondescript black material. She stood up and leapt over to Kiba's branch and gave it to him. He took it from her grasp and held it out in front of his huge white and brown ninja dog, Akamaru. The dog sniffed at it for a few moments.
"Woof!"
"Nani?" Hinata looked over her shoulder at Naruto, who looked confused. As a matter of fact a good deal of the group did, watching Kiba, Akamaru and sakura expectantly. "What is that?"
Sakura glanced over at her blonde team-mate, smiling grimly. "One of Itachi's shirts."
Naruto's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. "What? How did you manage to get something like that?"
"Hokage-sama sent me to the Uchiha compound to extract something that would have Itachi's scent on it to help with the mission, since we have Akamaru here to help us out." As she spoke she raised a hand absentmindedly and affectionately patted Akamaru a few times on the head. The animal in turn leaned into the attention and uttered a quiet but happy "woof!"
"Well... does he know the scent?" Naruto asked, getting antsy again at the prospect of finding Itachi. Kiba nodded. "Akamaru said the scent is weak, as to be expected from sitting in a dusty drawer for so long, but he has it. I'll keep the shirt on me in case he needs to take another whiff later."
The blonde shook his head. "I'll never understand how you can understand a dog. It's not like he can talk or anything."
Kiba sent him a look that clearly stated how little intelligence he thought the blonde contained under his unruly mop of hair. "Why the hell do you think animals make sounds? They communicate, just not in a language you can understand. I, however-" Kiba tapped at the red triangular marking on his left cheek and then his nose "-have the ability to communicate with animals of the canine variety. Obviously requiring much more skill than you'll ever manage to gather up in your pinkie finger. Right, boy?" Akamaru barked out an eager "Woof!" in agreement while Kiba waggled the pinkie finger of his left hand for good measure, smirking in a cocky manner in the blonde's direction.
Naruto scowled at the Inuzuka and began to travel solo in the direction they were heading before his crash landing. Kiba stood back and watched from afar, standing slightly on his tip-toes to catch sight of him through the dense foliage.
"Oh, real mature, Naruto!" Akamaru barked an agreement.
Shikamaru sighed again. "Hey Naruto, get your ass back here!" the blonde failed to turn around or even send the rest of the group so much as a glance over his shoulder- if anything he just began to travel at a faster pace. The Nara muttered something about being troublesome and turned to the rest of the group. "Come on, let's go. We'll just have to catch up with him."
All eight ninjas took to the trees simultaneously, forming a beeline train headed in Naruto's direction. They soon came to find Naruto was much faster than any of them ever gave him proper credit for- they chased his tail for at least two hours until they finally caught up with him- but even as he fell into the group he said nothing, becoming as mute as he was at the start of their journey.
They ignored him.
Hinata kept pace with her comrades for many an hour, until the sun began to set in the west, painting a masterpiece for a sunset. They had travelled without any distractions, ambushes or breaks since Naruto's fall- knowing Itachi was elusive and skilled at hiding in plain sight or the most unexpected areas would make it ten times more difficult to find the already skilled missing-nin and therefore, no time could afford to be wasted at any cost by doing anything but the utmost necessary tasks- such as sleep.
Hinata was travelling directly behind Shikamaru now, placing her as second in the line of ninjas. The male in front of her hadn't said anything since giving orders, but that was hardly uncommon. However a few minutes later he jumped down to the left and landed in a small clearing surrounded by trees such as the ones they were currently in. Everyone stopped due to the Nara's deviation in direction and stepped to a halt on multiple branches.
"We will stop here for the night. Shino, Kiba, TenTen and Chouji, you guys are responsible for setting up camp. Sakura, set a fire. Ino and Naruto, please gather what food you can find- we have packed a good deal, but we cannot afford to eat it all in the first few nights. Hinata, that leaves you and I to scout a perimeter and set traps. We will be the first watch shift when everyone retires to bed."
Everyone went about, working on their assigned chores. Hinata and Shikamaru set out through the trees- it was too dark to flash-step, even with Hinata's Byakugan it would be a risk she was not willing to take.
Shikamaru broke through her thoughts with an order. "Hinata, I want you to patrol the left half of the perimeter within a five mile diameter and set traps accordingly. I'll do the same on the right half. We will meet back here in one hour and return to camp."
The indigo-haired kunoichi nodded her head in consent and with that, Shikamaru left and the Hyuga went about her task.
Some people may have thought Hinata to be merely disinterested in her work as a kunoichi or just downright lazy. This was not the case. In order to make the lengthy task of setting traps a lot more time-savvy, she put her hands together to form a four-string seal.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Ten large plumes of smoke suddenly appeared and expanded before fading away with the breeze. In its wake stood ten identical copies of Hinata, each one watching her intently and waiting for orders.
"Set efficient, stealthy traps along the left half of this perimeter within a five mile radius. Do not miss any opportunities that may take potential enemies by surprise. You know what I would do. Make me proud of my improvement as a ninja."
Hinata said the last part with a small smile on her face. Her clones responded, nodding their heads in acknowledgement.
"Hai!"
They all took to the trees, running in different directions in a fan formation, Hinata being the base. She watched them go and waited until they were out of sight before heading into the foliage herself, making sure to keep herself covered by shadows or trees at all times.
"Byakugan!"
The veins near Hinata's temples and under her eyes throbbed and expanded with the activation of her kekkei genkai. Her vision changed from full colour scheme to monochrome black, white and grey. Using her birthright to her full capability she scanned the area around her, turning on the spot in an achingly slow motion so as not to miss a single thing. She could spot Shikamaru prowling through underbrush approximately nine miles to the west, in the process of concluding the setup of a particularly intricate trap. Beyond his presence she could see for another three miles or so, but nothing alarming caught her attention. Continuing her scan she saw nothing but typical forest wildlife and more trees, and occasionally one of her team-mates as they scrounged around for food or firewood. She spied Ino and Naruto at a creek roughly four miles north. Naruto appeared to be splashing around in the creek while Ino stood watch with a handful of kunai, throwing them with deadly accuracy every time a fish jumped out of the water. Hinata smirked as the blonde lost his balance and fell face-first into the water with a loud splash. Ino, on the other hand, was laughing hysterically.
Moving on, she continued searching undergrowth for threats. Nothing worrisome was seen.
"Caw!"
Hinata jumped a foot in the air at the unexpected noise and looked to the treetops by instinct, her eyes scanning for the cause of her disturbance. She searched for a couple of minutes but the forest was getting darker and darker by the second and making it even harder to see what made that ungodly shriek. After hesitating for a moment and giving the branches one last quick glance, Hinata stepped forward to a large rock twenty feet away and crouched once more, her surveillance continuing.
"Caw! Caw!"
Hinata uttered a string of heartfelt curses under her breath as her heart skipped three beats. The sound had come from directly behind her this time. Mentally and physically preparing herself for a moment, she moved to turn around but halted. Instead she widened the range of her Byakugan to see what was behind her without giving in to her urge to turn and see for herself as a normal person would, meanwhile practicing her skill.
Whatever made that noise was sitting directly in her only blind spot- the one that stemmed from her upper thoracic vertebrae.
Acting on impulse of fear of anything being in the range that left her defenceless against anything that may attack her, Hinata whirled around rapidly and stared into the trees where her Byakugan was unable to.
There, on a particularly nondescript tree branch of a particularly nondescript tree, sat a particularly nondescript bird.
Hinata let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding in the first place. She really let herself be scared by a mere bird, of all things? She almost felt ashamed of herself and her overactive imagination. A bird would have no reason to attack her, surely. She was about to turn her back on the animal and continue her search when it turned its head slightly and caused its head to reflect the rising moonlight at just the right angle.
This bird had red eyes- well, the one she could see.
Hinata refrained from gasping and narrowed her eyes, now studying the bird before her. It was a crow, a male from the looks of it- females were generally smaller in comparison. The crow like all others she has ever seen was pitch black and its plumes appeared to be well tended to.
She looked closer and noted with astonishment that its left eye, the red one, held the familiar three-tomoe pattern of the sharingan that Hinata remembered witnessing on Sasuke during the Chuunin exams. She marvelled at the irony sitting before her and shook her head, trying in vain to clear it.
Why would a crow hold the sharingan? There was no possible way it was born with a kekkei genkai- such a thing was unheard of; an impossibility. She knew for a fact that Sasuke didn't have crows as summons- he had snake summons, courtesy of Anko. There was no one else who could have an animal summon, with their kekkei genkai, no less...
Unless, the user of this summon was Uchiha Itachi.
"Caw! Caw!"
The crow flew south, its obsidian wings flapping purposefully. Hinata stared at its retreating form before numbly finishing her scan. When the one hour was up all ten of her clones vanished and Hinata gained all of their memories- they had set up a good deal of traps in excellent places- even some in the treetops. Hinata smiled, satisfied with their work, and relocated to hers and Shikamaru's meeting place with the use of a transportation jutsu.
They went over what had happened, with the exception of the crow. Hinata was not completely sure herself just what or who that crow was and if it was being controlled, a summon, or just an ordinary bird with a freak defect- perhaps an escapee of one of Orochimaru's hideous experiments. Hinata decided she would not say anything until she was sure of it.
Back at camp makeshift tents were set up, a sizeable fire was blazing with fish on sticks surrounding it, and everyone was seated in a circular fashion, munching on various berries and what appeared to be roots. At Hinata's nonplussed expression, Naruto explained.
"Oh, hey Hinata-chan! We got food, you want some?" He held out a small container of berries and unidentifiable objects. "They're berries and some root vegetables we found. Well, Ino did, knowing all this stuff about plants. I just got the berries."
Ino smiled proudly at the indirect compliment.
Well, that explained it.
"Arigatou, Naruto-kun." She sat down beside the blonde and accepted the container of food. The fish were done cooking a minute or so later and everyone pulled a stick from the ground and dug in. Fifteen minutes later everyone was done eating and retired to bed. Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru were already in their tents- there were four set up, they were sleeping in pairs, the same gender together, of course- and everyone else was cleaning up after their meal when they heard an unexpected sound.
"Caw!"
Hinata jumped again, startled and now unnerved. She could tell it was the same crow as earlier, but the moon was now shining on its right side so the others remained unaware of its peculiar ocular trait.
"Caw! Caw!"
Ino looked up and wrinkled her nose, holding the discarded sticks used for cooking the fish in her arms. "What the hell? Why is there a crow watching us?"
Hinata looked at Ino then back at the crow, noticing that the crow did indeed appear to be inspecting them, quite closely at that. Its head bobbed slightly as it jumped from foot to foot, flapping its wings in an agitated way. Its feathers ruffled with both its movements and the wind that had progressively picked up over the day's travels.
Shino watched the bird, but didn't say anything.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't start freaking out, Ino, it's just a bird for crying out loud."
She glared at him. "Well, look at it. It's just sitting there, staring at us. It's creepy."
"Then go to bed. It won't be able to stare at you if you're in your tent."
She scoffed and threw the sticks away in a nearby small ravine before walking back over to where she and Naruto stood. "You're just jealous he likes my good looks more than yours."
Naruto tilted his head slightly, confused. "Are you saying I have good looks?"
Ino sent him a look that bordered on offended. "Ugh, you're so impossible. I don't know how Sakura deals with you. I almost feel bad for her. Almost."
Naruto growled. "Hey, don't go around insulting Sakura-chan!"
"I wasn't insulting her, dobe. I was sympathizing."
He settled for a healthy glare. "If that's what you want to call it..."
Hinata sighed and retreated to the tent in which Sakura resided. The pinkette was already out cold, so she quietly moved over to her prepared bedroll and lay down, falling into a quick and dreamless slumber.
Trees flew by as wings flapped strongly against the northbound wind stream. He flew in this fashion for at least another fifteen minutes before cawing and descending to a tiny clearing which held only a small fire and two males. He landed on the smaller one's shoulders, his talons latching securely into the fabric of is peculiar red and black cloak.
"Caw!"
The man whose shoulders he sat on said nothing but listened intently as he relayed to him the strangers' location and activities, including the description of a particular female with strange pale eyes.
The man nodded.
Another pair of eyes watched from across the fire, rows of razor-sharp teeth glinting in firelight as he spoke in a gruff tone. "So, we have them?"
Obsidian orbs stared, unseeing, into the flames before him. He nodded once. "Hai. We will depart at dawn. Be prepared."
The gruff voice chuckled again. "Good," he said, a hand reaching behind his left shoulder to stroke the large handle of a particularly formidable looking sword wrapped in bindings. "I can't wait to cut them down."
So there's chapter 8, I hope you liked it!
Please review/comment. And thank you to those who have ^-^
