Disclaimer: Look at the top of chapters 1-9. :)
Heart of the Wolf
Chapter Ten: The Mission
The next day, Team 8 was summoned to the Hokage's office. Kiba met up with his sensei, Shino, and Miyuko there. He refused to even look at the youngest female of the group, trying to conceal his resentment.
Kurenai could immediately tell something was wrong with the Inuzuka, but she didn't know what. He seemed fine the day before at his birthday party. The bandage on Kiba's right hand didn't go unnoticed by her observant red eyes. She would have to ask him about that later.
Tsunade rested her elbows on her desk. She entwined her fingers together into what looked like a prayer and peered over her hands at them. "Last night, a member of Anbu spotted movement in the northeast direction of the village. I need Team 8 to go and investigate. If there's anyone out there, I want you to track them down."
Kiba crossed his arms, not looking too thrilled about the latest assignment.
"Is there a problem, Kiba?" Tsunade eyed him suspiciously.
Miyuko glanced over at him warily, but didn't say anything.
Kiba let out an annoyed sigh. "No," he lied.
"Good." Tsunade put her hands down. "Because everyone needs to stay focused on this mission. If at all possible, bring them in for questioning. I want to know what they're up to. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage," everyone but Kiba replied.
"If there are no questions, you are dismissed."
The team turned around and headed for the door.
"Oh, one more thing," the Hokage threw in for reasons unknown to her. They stopped to look at her. "Be careful."
Kiba completely ignored her, while Shino and Miyuko nodded their heads before they exited the room. Kurenai hesitated, eyeing her superior curiously before leaving as well.
Shizune, who was standing off to the side holding Ton-Ton, had a troubled expression on her face.
Tsunade rested her cheek on her palm and looked over at her dark haired assistant. "What is it, Shizune?"
She jumped to alert. "Oh.. well.."
"Yes?" The Hokage tapped a well manicured finger on her desk, impatiently.
Shizune walked over to the Hokage's desk. "It's just that, ever since Kiba changed into the wolf, he's been acting strangely."
"You're right." Tsunade flipped open Kiba's folder that was in front of her and skimmed through the contents. "But according to this, he hasn't been able to be around Akamaru for months now. It's bound to affect him."
Shizune's worry only mounted. "So, aren't you concerned?"
"It's probably just separation anxiety." When Shizune still looked upset, Tsunade added, "Don't worry. Kurenai is with him. I'm sure she'll keep an eye on the situation. Besides, they are the best team for the job."
And with that, the Sannin closed the folder, putting an end to the conversation.
As they walked through the forest, toward the direction in question, Kurenai looked over at one of her students. "Kiba."
Kiba turned his head to see a concerned sensei staring back at him.
"What's wrong with you?" Kurenai inquired.
Kiba visibly flinched. How did she always know? No matter how hard he tried to hide something from the genjutsu user, she could always pick up on it. To her, Kiba was an open book. But he didn't want to talk about it. "Nothing," he said, avoiding eye contact.
"That bandage on your hand.."
"It's nothing," Kiba said angrily, causing everyone to look at him.
"Good," said Kurenai, even though she didn't believe him. "Because everyone needs to be in top physical and mental condition. Concentrate on the task at hand and put all personal matters aside."
"Whatever," Kiba defiantly said under his breath. She sounded just like the Hokage.
Kurenai internally sighed. Usually Kiba was the most fired up about going on a mission. Gung ho, even. Today, however, he was acting completely different. She didn't know if it was because of Akamaru or something else. Miyuko seemed to be particularly nervous around him. Did they have a fight? She couldn't be sure. His blatant refusal to talk about it, forced her to let it go.
When they had traveled further along, Kiba halted, picking up different scents in the air. "I smell a group of people in this area."
"What direction?" asked Kurenai.
Kiba concentrated chakra into his nose and sniffed again. "About 5 kilometers north of us."
An insect flew over to Shino and landed on his right hand. He had sent them out beforehand to scout the area.
"What does it say, Shino?" Miyuko asked curiously.
After a few seconds of nonverbally speaking to the bug, Shino looked at them. "Kiba's right. They're headed this way."
"We'll ambush them here," said Kurenai. "Remember, work as a team. Don't take on the enemy alone."
Team 8 began making preparations. It wouldn't take long before the intruders arrived.
Four Sound ninja silently made their way through the forest, leaping from one tall tree to the next.
All seemed to be going well, until the short one in the back jumped to a branch that suddenly vanished before his feet could make contact. "What the.."
Instantly, the limb appeared above him, smashing into his back.
Hearing a yell, the other three stopped and looked back in time to see the man crashing to the ground. The ninja landed on a large rock, breaking several ribs on impact.
The rest leapt down the trees to him. "What happened?" asked the tall one, who had a dark blue bandana on his head.
"Takeyo," the fallen ninja managed to say through the pain. "The limb.. it just.. disappeared."
Before they had time to react, the same tree snatched up two more of them. The ninjas yelled out as sturdy vines snapped around their bodies, squeezing them so they couldn't move.
A genjutsu, thought Takeyo, pulling out a kunai. Not wanting to get caught up in the illusion as well, he decided to retreat.
The one on the rock still couldn't move very well. "Wait! Don't leave us!"
But Takeyo didn't even give them a backward glance as he took off. He only made it a short distance before a thick vine raised up, tripping him. He fell to the ground. When Takeyo got back up again, more vines wrapped around his wrists and ankles, restraining him.
Meanwhile, the injured ninja rolled off the rock and crawled along the ground in a desperate attempt to escape.
A figure stepped out from behind a tree. "Where do you think you're going?" asked Shino.
The Sound ninja looked back in horror as the Abarame raised his arms, releasing a swarm of insects that, like a tidal wave, crashed toward him.
"No!" the ninja screamed out before bugs completely engulfed him, depleting him of his chakra.
Shino's insects slowly drifted back to him, leaving an unconscious victim behind.
Kurenai transformed from a tree, back into herself again. Her two captives, who'd passed out, fell to the ground. She walked over to Takeyo, who was still caught up in the vines, while Shino got some rope out to tie up the others.
Takeyo looked stubbornly at Kurenai as she approached him. "You can't fool me! This isn't real!" he yelled. He closed his eyes and stabbed himself in the leg with the kunai that was still in his hand. When he opened them, a mixture of pain and confusion etched across his features. Blood spilled forth from the wound, but the vines hadn't disappeared. "What?"
Another kunoichi came into view. "Guess you thought that would work, huh?" said Miyuko, her head downcast. When she raised it up, her turquoise eyes were glowing. "But unlike sensei's, my vines are real."
Kiba appeared next, a small smirk on his face. "Bet you feel like an idiot right about now."
Takeyo looked at him with disgust. "Shut up! Leaf Village scum!"
"You jerk!" Kiba yelled back. He ran up and punched Takeyo hard in the face.
"What are you Sound ninja doing here anyway?" Kurenai demanded an answer.
Takeyo spit the blood from his mouth. "None of your business!"
"Heh." Kiba didn't look impressed. "Brave words coming from someone who was about to abandon his comrades."
Takeyo laughed sadistically. "They're not my comrades. They're just weaklings, like you!"
Kiba was about to punch him again, when strange markings suddenly appeared and spread across Takeyo's body. They looked like ink blots. Even though it was a pattern he'd never seen before, Kiba recognized it immediately. It was the first stage of the Curse Mark.
Takeyo quickly snapped the vines loose from his body with his new found strength. He caught Kiba's fist with his left hand, and punched the Inuzuka with his right. Kiba went flying back, smashing into a tree. Then, Takeyo ran away with speed far greater than any normal person would have.
Kurenai cursed under her breath. She didn't see that one coming.
Miyuko's eyes turned back to normal and she rushed over to Kiba who was slowly getting up. She put her hand on his back. "Are you okay?"
"Don't touch me!" Kiba growled, blood dripping from his mouth.
Miyuko flinched. She couldn't remember him ever sounding so angry. Was he really that mad at her?
Shino, who had just finished his task, walked over to them. "What's going on?"
Kiba's body began to shake uncontrollably and more growls escaped from his throat.
Kurenai could tell something was wrong. "Miyuko, get away from him!"
But before she had a chance to, Kiba stood the rest of the way up and glared down at her. Miyuko's eyes grew wide at the sight before her. Long fangs extended from Kiba's mouth and his once friendly brown eyes had turned a bloodthirsty red. The nails on his fingers, which were longer than usual, slashed out at her, knocking her to the ground.
"Miyuko!" Kurenai yelled and ran over to her. The claw marks on the girl's arm looked painful, but not life threatening.
"I'm all right, sensei," said Miyuko, more concerned about Kiba than herself.
Shino tried to subdue his teammate. "Kiba! Get a hold of yourself!"
But it was useless. Kiba had lost all sense of reasoning. Revenge was the only thing on his mind. He knocked Shino out of his way and took off on all fours in the same direction that Takeyo had fled.
Kurenai cursed again. It was one disaster after another. She helped Miyuko to her feet.
Miyuko looked confused. "What happened to Kiba?"
Shino was silent for a moment. "I've never seen it before, but it looked like he partially transformed."
"Partially transformed?" Miyuko repeated. "Into what?"
Kurenai saw no point in hiding it from her any longer. "A wolf," she stated. "Normally he completely changes when there's a full moon out."
"Why didn't anyone tell me this before?" Miyuko looked hurt, more emotionally than physically.
Kurenai looked down. "Kiba didn't want you to know about it. You couldn't have done anything anyway."
Miyuko didn't like her answer. She looked adamantly at her sensei. "But I can now." She took off running in the same direction as Kiba.
Kurenai stared after her in shock. "Miyuko! Get back here!"
Forgive me, sensei, Miyuko thought as she raced through the forest. It was the first time she ever purposefully disobeyed Kurenai's orders.