Chapter 10
a/n: Hello hello! I just wanted to give a shout out to all my readers and reviewers…I love you all! Nothing makes my day brighter than looking at my emails and seeing reviews for my latest chapters. I hope you guys are still liking the story as much as I am writing it… I'm trying hard to keep the chapters rolling along for you all. So enough with the pre-notes, on to chapter 10!
The air was filled with a happy sort of humming, courtesy of the expecting mother riding along, enjoying her newfound hobby: carving. Karin had loaned out an old kunai knife, too dull for battle, but still good enough for its current purpose. Evidently, pregnant women liked to make stuff; before she discovered carving, she had kept trying to make stuff to wear out of weeds, which never turned out pretty. There would have been a trail miles long of woven bits and pieces of grass and flowers she kept throwing away had they not been secretly backtracking to dispose all of them. Anything to keep Sasuke satisfied, they reasoned. Not to mention keeping the emotional timebomb under wraps; they never knew when she would start wailing for no apparent reason whatsoever.
The first time she went off, Sasuke had panicked and bailed, leaving the rest of them to scramble for a solution. After they'd reached their limits and decided to abandon her until further notice, Sasuke had returned with an armload of sweet fruits. Immediately her tears stopped and a wide smile erupted on her face, much to the others' utter exasperation, and now Sasuke thought that food was the fix to everything that ailed her.
But it seemed that the little wooden creations were keeping her satisfied for now, and they could concentrate a little more on their surroundings.
With Karin able to focus her senses, she picked up on a foreign chakra signature that was tailing them.
"Sasuke-kun, behind us," she reported. They all turned their attention to the rear, where they didn't see anything at first, but Karin was never wrong.
"Show yourself, or I will force you out," Sasuke gave the deadly threat. There was a rustling from the shrubbery on the roadside, where a little pug padded out from underneath.
"Hey, Sasuke. Is that anyway to treat an old acquaintance?" the pug named Pakkun inquired with his droopy gaze.
The rest of his team was curious about the strange newcomer.
"Do you know this dog, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked. Sasuke turned his back dismissively, intending to move on.
"It's of no importance," he told them. "Let's go." Just as he took a step, a strange form began sprouting out of the tree branch above them, and ended up as the monochromatic torso of a plant/man, who spoke to them.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I have a message from Tobi." He pulled a wrapped parcel out to toss down at their feet. "Konoha is in ruins; you will gain nothing by attacking it further. Instead, he asks that you take your brother's place in our organization, and accept the mission he has for you."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Someone had beaten him to destroy Konoha? He was skeptical about the whole ordeal.
"What's in it for me?" he demanded. The man bowed and responded.
"As an espionage specialist, I can find those who you wish to kill; certain people who were involved with your brother's orders to kill your clan." Half of his mouth turned up into a dark, wicked smile, exposing razor-sharp teeth.
Sasuke weighed the offer carefully, and decided it to be a valid trade.
"We accept the circumstances. What is the mission?"
"Capture the eight-tailed host. Alive." He shrank back into the tree he was sticking out of, before he disappeared completely. Sasuke picked up the dropped package and opened it to find four black cloaks similar to that of the Akatsuki's. He tossed one to each of his teammates before donning his own. Juugo held his for a moment, a thought striking his mind.
"Sasuke, we can't take Nikita-san on a mission; it's sure to get her killed or worse," he looked at his leader, then at the girl. She was scratching the belly of the little Konoha visitor. Sasuke knew Juugo was right; it was too risky. There was no place he knew of, though, that she could stay for an indefinite amount of time. She certainly couldn't take care of herself, either, and if she were found by the wrong shinobi…
"What do you think, Juugo-san?" Sasuke asked, needing sound advice for the important matter. The little pug rolled over and stood, addressing the problem at hand.
"Hey, Sasuke. Us dogs are the best bet you have, it seems. Leave her with us, we'll keep watch over her." Sasuke knew it wasn't that easy; he had something in mind that he was planning, obviously. But, what other option did he have?
"Fine," he relented. "But when I come back for her, there will be no problems from you, or any of yours."
"Hai," the little dog agreed. Sasuke made his way to Nikita, and held his hand out to her. Up to this point, she hadn't been paying attention to the shinobi and their dealings; she knew somewhat about what they did, and that it usually didn't concern her. So when Sasuke walked over, she figured that they were done and ready to leave once more. But he pointed to the little dog at her feet.
"Stay with Pakkun," he told her. She didn't understand what he was saying. She looked at him in confusion.
"Stay," he said. He let go of her hand and took a few steps back, and held a hand up when she made to follow. She was still confused. He wanted her to stay with the dog? Itachi had always left her with one of his comrades, usually Kisame-san, or even one of his 'clones.' That always weirded her out, watching him make a clone; but it was for the best, she knew. Why didn't Sasuke just make a clone, like Itachi did?
Nikita tried to imitate the hand sign for clones she had seen Itachi make before. Her fingers didn't like to stretch that way, but she managed to make it recognizable.
"A clone?" Sasuke thought out loud. He wondered what she was trying to ask him. Pakkun understood; he often got this with civilians. She simply wasn't used to the idea of nin-dogs in general.
He gave a few barks, and three other dogs wearing Leaf headbands appeared. Pakkun looked around, then barked again, impatiently. A booming 'Woof!' rattled the shinobi's ears, and a huge brown dog walked silently out of the woods. All the shinobi's, including Sasuke's, eyes were the size of saucers. How did they all manage to tail them undetected? Especially that lumbering giant of a canine; there was just no way. They heard as Pakkun barked out orders, then saw the canines scramble, only to reappear with all the comforts of an outdoor home. Campfire, dinner, blankets, cushions; one dog reached behind to pull a large scroll off its back, opened it up and pressed his front paw into the seal there. They all jumped back as a private bathhouse popped up out of the smoke, the perfect size for a single person to relax in the hot steamy bath water waiting inside. Nikita cautiously tiptoed over to investigate what this strange building was. Once she peeked inside, she turned and squatted down to pat the nearest dogs on the head, looking up and waving at Sasuke with a "Ja ne, Sasuke-chan." This brought Sasuke out of his stupor, then he shook some sense back into his skull and turned to his team.
"Let's go, Taka." They all bent their knees and sprung off through the trees, except for Sasuke, who glanced back and gave a "Ja ne, Nikita-sama," and then he vanished too. Nikita looked around at all the dogs around her, thinking she hadn't been in this strange of a situation for a long time.
"Well," she said to the dogs. "I've got a private bathtub. It could have been much worse than this," she reasoned happily. She knew they didn't understand, but it felt better than talking to people who didn't understand. At least they seemed to be smart dogs. She bent down and scratched another one behind the ears, and the others crowded her for their turn. They've had far worse missions to carry out than this one. They were all going to make do just fine with each other, for sure.