Shadow and Wind: New legends
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Disclaimer: Everything that isn't Kishimoto's is mine. There's not a lot left, now is there? -_-'
Oh! And Beta readers are awesome! Many thanks to The Laughing Phoenix
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25. Peacemakers: Preparations
A new mission for Team Oblivion! Time to get ready to do the impossible.
After hearing about the mission, Shikamaru visited his mentor to play one or two games of shogi, in order to unwind. Usually, Shikamaru went easy on his teacher; however the earlier interview with Genta had troubled him. Something Asuma had quickly realized since his pupil's strategies were much more aggressive than usual.
"Something the matter, Shikamaru?" he asked calmly.
"Besides the smoke" he retorted, "I got a new mission… from Genta."
The jounin tensed at the mention of Konoha council's head. He pressed for details and the Nara obliged. By the time he finished, Shikamaru had won the game as well. The discussion resumed as the two shinobi cleaned up.
"So, what do you think about it, Asuma?" asked the chuunin.
"Knowing Genta, he's either made plans for you to fail the mission or prepared for an 'accident' to happen along the way."
"Or probably both," said Shikamaru.
The jounin lighted another cigarette. "Cheer up, Shikamaru. Look at the bright side: it can't be worse than going after Kohaku. And this time, you actually know what to expect."
He couldn't argue with that. The boy thanked his mentor, and after some more talk about the overall progress of Team Ten, Shikamaru headed for his favorite resting place. Clearing his mind and resigning himself to what would most likely be a troublesome mission, he went home and started on the pack he'd be bringing for the mission.
He knew for a fact he'd be bringing his many explosive tags, light grenades and other small useful gadgets along, but also restocked on soldier pills – the things had been highly useful the last time – and various medicinal herbs. He also decided to bring the book on seals he was reading: hopefully this trip wouldn't be as dangerous as he thought and he'd find the time to study. He was thinking putting the book on chakra theory he borrowed from the Konoha library in the backpack as well, but after a brief skimming, he didn't see anything substantial. He hoped to find something better in Nara personal library instead. His father was already in the room when he entered.
"Hey, son. What's up?" he asked jovially.
The boy sighed before answering "I have a mission; a troublesome one."
The jounin raised an eyebrow "How troublesome?"
"Genta's involved." he replied. That was enough to give his father a good idea of what he had gotten himself into, which for some odd reason made the man smile.
Shikamaru had had a bad feeling about the mission ever since he entered the politician's office. That Naruto and now Shikaku smiled about it was getting on his nerves. Was there something he was missing? Then again his father had been acting anything but normal for some time. All that attention and focus on training was unnatural. Shikamaru shook his head. He was going to another dangerous mission soon: now was probably the best time to get to the bottom of this.
"Dad… what is wrong with you?" asked the young Nara
Shikaku eyed his son. "It's simple: you fulfilled one of the requirements."
"…For what?" he asked with a bit of uncertainty.
Shikaku took a brief moment in order to come up with the answer. "Let's call it a coming of age of sorts."
"Coming of age", huh? When he looked at the bigger picture it made sense. There were some gaps in the Nara history that had no explanation. Furthermore, he had this nagging feeling about the purpose of the clan. Most clans had very clear role in Konoha , like the Akimichi, the Arabume, or even the Inuzuka clan; as far as the Nara clan was concerned, he was tempted to answer "support", but even then he wasn't sure. He felt like something was missing. Maybe this "coming of age" stuff had the answers to his questions.
"I guess that explains a lot." He finally admitted.
His father smiled. "So you've noticed. Good; wouldn't be as fun otherwise."
Shikamaru ignored that last statement. "So how many of those requirements are there left?"
From his dad's reaction when he talked about the absolute control technique, he gathered that was the requirement he has fulfilled; it was one of the secret jutsu he had to learn in order to be considered heir after all.
"Just one more:" said his father "During your next mission, you must kill an enemy."
The boy studied his father in order to make sure he wasn't joking. "… That's all?" asked the boy. He had expected something a bit harder, and also a bit less… lethal.
Shikaku answered with a simple "Yep."
"Anything else you want to add?" he hoped as much.
"That's pretty much it, for the requirement." He replied nonchalantly. "But I do believe you came here looking for something."
Shikamaru had nearly forgotten why he had come in the first place. "Yeah; have any books on chakra?"
The older Nara scratched his chin. "There is one, but you won't find it here." He smirked. "I could lend it to you, but you'll have to earn it."
An internal struggle ensued. Shikamaru's natural laziness and the wariness he now had towards his father battled his curiosity and desire to help Naruto. In the end he sighed.
"So," he finally asked, already regretting his answer, "what do I have to do?"
His father grinned. "When are you leaving?"
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This would be the last Team Seven meeting for a while. Naruto tried his best not to show his excitement and opted to pout instead, to give Sasuke the impression he actually envied his position. Sasuke acted like his smug self, Sakura was obviously devastated and Kakashi was still giving Naruto reproachful looks when the two other teammates weren't watching.
"Be careful Sasuke." said Sakura for the umpteenth time.
The boy sighed. "I'll be fine Sakura."
"Yeah, I'll be with him after all." added Kakashi.
"That's what I'm worried about;" she said glaring at him. "You're always late!"
The jounin flinched before laughing nervously. Sakura kept nagging him about her beloved's safety. The Uchiha, on the other hand, seemed more interested in what his rival had to say. Truth be said, he had hoped Naruto would accompany them. He appreciated a companion on an equal level of skill a bit more then he let on ; even if his friend had the annoying tendency to promote teamwork.
"What about you, dobe?" he asked Naruto, "Nothing to say?"
"Uh, me?"
Naruto was already using impressive jutsu he had learned alongside Shikamaru in his mind. He had to subdue his urge to ignore the murderous big shot.
"No, nothing." he answered. Seeing Sasuke's mood turning a bit too sour for his tastes, he decided to tease him. "Be careful out there; I won't be there to bail your ass of your usual mess."
This had a more positive response from his teammate who shrugged, hiding a smirk. "Whatever. When are you leaving anyway?" he asked, a bit curious about his Naruto's own mission.
Sakura, who was still arguing with Kakashi, somehow heard that last part, and focused on the two boys instead. Naruto was leaving? When did that happen? She had counted on the blonde's company to bring her through Sasuke's absence. However, more important questions clashed in her mind: how come Naruto hadn't gloated about this mission to the kunoichi? Was he going alone? Wasn't that dangerous?
"You're leaving?" she finally asked, "Where are you going?"
"Dunno," he answered casually, "but I'll be leaving in two days."
"Try not to die of boredom." mocked Sasuke.
Naruto answered with a jab of his own. "With you gone that won't be a problem."
The Uchiha twitched. "Why you—"
But his retort was interrupted by the arrival of the lazy chuunin.
"Hey Kakashi." said Shikamaru as he waved at the whole team.
"Shikamaru!" Naruto beamed. Sakura noticed with a bit of annoyance that Naruto seemed happier all of a sudden.
Contrary to the usual, Shikamaru ignored his friend and addressed himself directly to the jounin. "I got a favor to ask; are you leaving soon?"
"Yeah; as soon as we're done here, actually." said Kakashi.
"What is your mission, anyway?" asked Naruto, not wanting to be left out.
Kakashi hesitated a bit, but shrugged in the end. "I guess there's no harm in telling you; we're going to look for the next Hokage… among other things."
"Really?" said Naruto eagerly; he was starting to really envy Sasuke. "Who?"
The jounin smiled. "I think you met him before, Naruto; he's the one who taught you the summoning technique."
The blonde's excitement quickly turned into disappointment. "What? You mean that pervy sage?"
Kakashi looked at his pupil nervously while the other teens eyed the jounin.
"I don't think Jiraiya would favor this moniker." said the jounin tactfully.
The mention of his real name got the appropriate reaction out of the others around, who all looked at Naruto in disbelief.
"Naruto, you got taught by the legendary Jiraiya?" asked Sakura.
The Jinchuuriki crossed his arms as he snorted. "What's so great about him anyway?"
"He's one of the Legendary Three Ninjas: that guy's on equal footing with Orochimaru." stated Shikamaru.
The boy only looked half-surprised. "Really? Didn't look like it to me."
"Why do you call him like that anyway?" asked Sakura.
"I met him while he was peeping on women in the hot springs and he told me himself he was, and I quote, a 'super pervert'."
Silence.
"Pervert Sage it is." concluded Sasuke.
"Indeed." Shikamaru nodded.
"Don't you dare ever become like him, Naruto!" said Sakura ominously.
Kakashi sighed. Jiraiya, what kind of legacy will you leave to the next generation?
The young Nara threw a sidelong glance in Kakashi's direction. If his hunch was right, now that he had mentioned Jiraiya, he might have a way to grab his full attention.
"Hmm… that reminds me. Didn't Jiraiya write a book series?"
The jounin quickly understood what was going through Shikamaru's mind. He coughed. "Anyway, mind telling me why you're here, Shikamaru?"
The chuunin grinned. "Sure: Let's talk."
The pair left the rest of Team Seven to themselves. As her eyes fell on Naruto, Sakura quickly remembered her concern for Naruto's… lack of enthusiasm.
"Naruto."
The genin raised an eyebrow. "Sakura? Something wrong?"
"I…" there was that hesitation again; it was like Naruto was totally normal, yet there was something… off. Like hearing a noise without being able to tell where it came from. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving on a mission?"
Naruto looked genuinely surprised by the question. "Oh… I thought Kakashi or Sasuke would have told you, sorry." He said sheepishly. "It's just a boring escort mission anyway."
"So, who are you going with?" she asked.
"Shikamaru, another genin and some ANBU; It's going to great!"
Sakura blinked. A boring escort mission with an ANBU? "But you just said—"
But the Jinchuuriki quickly corrected his mistake. "The mission itself is going to be dull, but I suppose with the ANBU there we'll get a lot of free time; it's like another vacation!"
The pink-haired kunoichi eyed him suspiciously and so did the Uchiha. Naruto was trying to come up with something else to convince them this wasn't as big a deal they thought when they heard a familiar screeching noise.
Sakura tensed. "Hey, that's—"
"Chidori!" confirmed Sasuke.
The group rushed off in their leader's direction as the jounin finished gathering the chakra.
"And there you have it." said the shinobi as he dispelled his jutsu. "I gather you remember what Gai and I said about the technique during the chuunin exams?"
"Yeah… that'll be all;" said Shikamaru as he made various mental notes. "Thanks Kakashi."
Naruto approached his friend. "Hey! What were you guys doing, Shikamaru?" demanded the blonde.
The boy looked at the other genin and simply snickered. "Secret."
Sakura hoped their mentor would tell them something. "Kakashi?"
"Nothing much;" he admitted, "he simply wanted to see the chidori."
"Why?"
Kakashi deliberately ignored Sakura's question and thought about Shikamaru's request. A smile appeared on his lips.
Now this I have to see.
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Why didn't I tell her?
Naruto was taking a night walk. The nights when he couldn't fall asleep easily were few and usually occurred when he felt like he hadn't spent enough energy. This was the first time he couldn't sleep because he had something on his mind. And it was Sakura of all things that upset him.
That didn't make sense. At all. Shikamaru would usually have made perfect sense: what was up with him? He had practically ignored him today. Why? He hadn't done anything wrong: he was studying – he shuddered, the word still left a bad taste in his mouth; he was training; he had found himself a sparring partner… actually, Shikamaru did; so why was he acting like that? He didn't seem mad, or upset, or worried. However, somehow Naruto trusted his friend to be just that, his friend; so maybe that explained why he wasn't worried about his behavior.
Sasuke, he could understand. He still couldn't get over the accidental attempt on his life, nor his cockiness… he couldn't get over him, period. And suddenly, the bastard acted like he was interested in him. Why he ignored Sakura and wanted to talk to him was beyond him. Could he be… no way! He shuddered. He wanted to rebuild his clan, right? So he just couldn't... Man, now he knew he'd have nightmares about it.
Now that he thought about it, maybe he knew reason he felt so weird about Sakura. He already knew she was changing – not getting better or worse if you asked him; just different – so he should have expected something like this evening happening, yet it caught him totally by surprise. Why did she notice? And why didn't I tell her? He knew he should have, that was part of his usual self. He had told Choji afterwards knowing Shikamaru had probably already told him; he had even shouted his joy in the streets – he had quickly shut up when he saw all the cold glares. He had somehow unconsciously decided not to tell her, and that was a problem. Sakura was getting nosy lately: maybe she would finally notice his mask. And bizarrely, that wasn't the part that worried him.
Argh! What's wrong with me?
Naruto was surprised to find himself in his sparring field. When did I get here? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sharp and precise movements, coming from nearby. He approached the sounds as silently as possible. What he saw left his mouth hanging open.
Fast, precise, keep the form. Her hands were flying by themselves in directions Hinata had memorized since she was six. Turn, strike, half step, reach... gently. These moves, however, she had gotten right only recently. She took a deep breath. And now for some fun.
If the Gentle Fist kata were amazing, it was the next part that left him breathless. Hinata was there but at the same time she didn't look like Hinata; she didn't move like Hinata. The confidence, the focus, the… did she really pull that off? He wanted to cheer, but couldn't. He could just watch, mesmerized by her form. Moments later, the girl assumed the neutral position, took a deep breath, and finally exhaled. At the same time Naruto let out a breath he didn't he'd been holding. It was only after that he found himself able to speak.
"Wow." He finally whispered.
That was enough to make Hinata jump and assume a fighting stance. She activated her byakugan and nearly choked when she saw her intruder.
"That was amazing!" roared Naruto. "I never knew the gentle fist had moves like that."
The poor girl had gone from white to red so fast anybody less oblivious would have worried. "N-N-Naruto?" she asked in disbelief.
Naruto had seen her train in secret, Naruto had seen her…
"Damn, Hinata! Those moves, I don't really know how to say it; it's like… like… Hinata?" Unfortunately, the Hyuuga heiress simply crumpled under the Kyuubi Host's horrified gaze. "Hey, Hinata Are you okay ? Hinata?"
The blonde panicked for a brief moment, then remembered what Shikamaru had told him about the shy Hyuuga heiress. Knowing what might happen, the chuunin had advised keeping smelling salts on him. Naruto acted as the chuunin had told him and moved away when he heard a groan. She stirred, and gently opened her eyes, which got a sigh of relief from the young boy.
"I—… Naruto?"
"Hey!" he said, not trying to wave too nervously.
When she realized what happened and why she was on the ground, it took all she could not faint again, and then some. "I… fainted, didn't I?" the boy reluctantly nodded. She lowered her head. "Sorry."
Naruto waved it off. "Nah, it's my fault; I shouldn't have startled you. But I heard a noise, and then I saw you practicing Gentle Style, and you were… dancing?" amazement could be easily heard in his tone. "Anyway it was awesome! How come you never attacked me with those moves?"
Hinata meekly shook her head. "Because that was dancing; a traditional Hyuuga dance."
"What?" he looked at her in disbelief. " But I could've sworn … never mind." He lowered arms he had raised in the excitement.
"Sorry."
The blonde titled his head. "Huh, why are you…?" he quickly shrugged it off. "Anyway… training at night? Sounds suspicious: what else are you hiding?" he asked, a mischievous grin on his face.
The Hyuuga heiress blushed. "I-I'm not—"
The Jinchuuriki had his mind set. Secret training implied secret technique. It just had to. "You have a secret move, don't you?" seeing her look away silently, instead of replying, he figured he was right. "Oh, you do, you do! Can I see?" he asked like a kid.
Hinata hid a small laugh, but had to refuse. "Sorry, I-… it's not ready yet."
Naruto gave up. "Fine; but you have to show me when you're done. Deal?"
Hinata nodded, and looked at the boy while he was looking around. "Naruto? Why are you here?" She was glad to spend time with him, however she was a curious, and worried; Naruto rarely was out at this time.
He had a tired smile. "Couldn't sleep."
"You have a mission." She stated more for herself than for him.
He nodded. She didn't like that. "A dangerous one?" she asked worriedly.
This time he shrugged. "I dunno," he answered honestly. "But I think so; the guy who gave me the mission hates my guts after all."
She apologized with more sadness this time. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" He wanted to add '… all the time' but felt it would be rude.
She played with her fingers nervously. "You did so much for me, and I—"
He beamed at her. "Keep sparring with me, and be my friend: that's all I'm asking."
She blushed, but sighed soon after. "Sounds… small."
"Trust me, you've already done much more for me than my teammates ever did." His mood darkened as he said that.
Hinata knew something was wrong between Naruto and his teammates; she could see it on his face. She had also visited her uncle Kohaku and he had told her what happened; poor Naruto had gone through so much. She wanted to help him. She wanted to be there for him. But even with the sparring, she felt useless.
The heiress took a deep breath. "I want… I need to be stronger."
Naruto smiled. "Eh, me too! What a coincidence!"
"How do you do it?" she asked out of the blue.
The sudden question confused him. "Do what?"
"Become strong." She looked at him. "You're stronger than before, much stronger."
The boy grinned proudly at the compliment, and then thought about the question carefully. "I know this is going to sound weird but… because I asked?"
"… You asked?"
"It felt like… every time I needed to become stronger I needed someone else's help in order to get there." Kakashi, the closet pervert, the super pervert, and now Shikamaru: they all helped him get where he was today. "I got a lot of people help me get better; you should do the same."
Apparently, this wasn't the answer Hinata was looking for because her shoulders slumped so ever slightly. "I tried. Kurenai said I should start studying genjutsu."
"Ok. Cool." he said.
The boy had never liked genjutsu, yet couldn't deny their usefulness. He had hard time figuring out how it could be applied to the Gentle Fist specialist, but since a jounin suggested it, they must have had something in mind.
"Kiba and Shino think I should try to find another style." She added.
He thought about it. "Ok. Cool."
Now that he could see pretty well, actually. With the Byakugan and their physical training focused on speed more than power, adopting another style could only help. It only came to finding the right one.
Meanwhile the girl laughed softly at Naruto's "perceptive" remarks. "…You're not really helping, Naruto."
The blonde noticed his lack of nuance and smiled sheepishly. "Ha sorry, I'm not good at these things."
He thought about it again. So far he had heard what others thought about the problem, and he had come up with a solution himself – though he didn't really think it would work – but he didn't know what she thought about it. Though Naruto did ask for help and whatnot, advice always helped him develop his own style. Those ideas… he had no idea what Hinata thought of them.
"Well, what do you want to do?" he finally asked.
"Me?" The Byakugan user returned to her fidgeting. Not because it was the first time she had been asked the question, but because the discussion headed towards known territory. "I want to master Gentle Fist."
"Why don't you that?"
She lowered her head. "I can't. I think I hit a wall." She didn't know why or how to solve it either.
"Hmm… I think this is something you should ask Neji or your father about it."
She smiled bitterly. Others had told her the same thing. "I tried; I don't think they can help me."
A moment for them to gather his thoughts and he would try to comfort her, like the others did. Maybe he'd come up with another alternative. She didn't want to learn another style or stray from taijutsu, she wanted to master the Gentle Fist! It was painful; it seemed nobody understood.
Naruto however surprised the kunoichi by taking out a small book instead. "Oh! I know! Let's start small." He said, ruffling through the pages. After a moment he stopped, seemingly finding what he was looking for. He took a didactic tone. "What's your style Hinata?"
She raised her eyebrow. "Huh? Naruto, I just told you I—"
He waved his finger, like Iruka would have done. "I didn't mean the fighting style, I meant your style."
"I… what?" she absolutely no idea what he was talking about. The only thing she had learned about styles was the different taijutsu – and that all of them were worthless compared to the might of the Jyuuken.
Naruto looked at Hinata from head to toe. "Well if that helps, I think you're more of a defensive type."
That simple statement gave her a general idea of he meant, but she wanted to be sure. "Why do you think that?" she asked warily.
"You don't attack a lot." He quickly tried to encourage her when he saw her lower her head. "Not that it's a bad thing! It's just your style, you know? Anyways that secret technique you're working on, it's a defensive move, right?"
"… Yes." As she had figured, style meant the general way to approach problems and combat in general. As long as she could remember, Hinata was more of a "react" person, meaning she preferred staying back and look at a situation before acting. Like Naruto had said, this wasn't a bad thing but…
"I don't think I'm suited for the Gentle Fist" she admitted bitterly.
The realization was quite a shock, yet it made perfect sense. Naruto was right in that it had something to do with Hinata, yet it wasn't her defensive style that made things so complicated, or rather, it was only part of the problem. Following Naruto's lead and going back to the basics to look at her physical abilities and talents, she realized she just wasn't suited for the more advanced moves Neji and her father had mastered. These required a control that still eluded her. The more she thought about it, the more it became apparent, and the deeper her despair.
Naruto could see Hinata was down, but he had no idea how to cheer her up. He said the first thing that came up.
"Isn't there another Gentle Fist style?"
She shook her head. Naruto was starting to understand the problem. Out of ideas, the blonde came out with the only logical solution left.
"How about you create one?"
Hinata's eyes grew wide. The Hyuuga clan was so enrooted in tradition that the simple idea of another Gentle Fist style was foreign to the kunoichi. It came close to heresy. "Naruto," she finally whispered, as if he had transgressed some kind of taboo, "that's—"
Naruto pretended not hear. "I'm sure you can do it Hinata: you're smart and you're strong. I'm sure you'll have something great to show me by the time I come back."
She had to hand it the shinobi in front of her; he had a knack for shocking ideas. He had proposed something… daunting to say the least, yet after coming up with her own version of the Sixty-Four Palms ; it seemed like a natural progression. Naruto was right; it was too soon to give up. She already knew she would have to work harder than most in order to be able to face the rest of her clan. If that meant creating a new style, so be it. Maybe it could help other Hyuuga members.
An unsure smile appeared on her lips. "Thank you Naruto."
He encouraged her with a thumbs up. "Don't sweat it, Hinata; just do you best."
She would, and she'd make it work.
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Naruto left his apartment a bit groggy that morning. The village hadn't quite woken yet; the team was supposed to meet a little before sunrise. The blonde barely managed to suppress a shiver as he felt a small breeze sweeping the deserted streets. He smiled despite the cold; walking at this hour was quite enjoyable: there was nobody around to make him feel like an outcast. He took his time to look at the town at his leisure.
Naruto exited the market place and waited for Shikamaru near an old building. The chuunin arrived a moment later. The Jinchuuriki idly wondered how his friend could be so lazy, yet punctual. He shrugged; no use complaining about his good traits. As long as he didn't become like Kakashi and annoy him by his lateness. After a brief greeting the two set out to the rendezvous point.
"I wonder who's the last team member." mused the genin. He was still cold, but his tension rose as the moment of departure came nearer.
The young Nara shook his head. "Dunno, but I got a bad feeling about this." He said darkly.
"Why?"
"Well, for one, we still don't with which hidden village we're dealing with, or how long will the negotiations take, or even the name of our diplomat; there're too many unknowns." He sighed. "Still the main reason is kind of obvious." He smiled bitterly. "It is Genta that gave us the mission."
The blonde elbowed his teammate "Don't be such a downer! How about you worrying about… oh I don't know… things in front of us?" he ignored Shikamaru's retort and focused instead on the silhouette coming into view. "Speaking of which, I think there's our third partner over there."
Upon closing the distance, a boy wearing a coat and sunglasses along with what looked like messy hair, was looking in their direction. The blonde immediately recognized Hinata's teammate. "Hey you're Shino, right? Are you on the mission as well?"
The bug user waved at the two shinobi. Naruto smiled, however the chuunin stopped, looked at the two of them, slapped his forehead, and sighed. Meanwhile, Shino paled.
"This is bad." groaned Shikamaru.
Shino slightly lowered his head. "Indeed."
Naruto looked from one ninja to another in confusion. "Eh? What are you guys talking about?"
Shikamaru was rapidly putting pieces together. "Putting the three of us in a team… diplomacy between hidden villages…" He didn't like the conclusion. "Genta is a bastard!"
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
The genius did not bother explaining his reasoning to Naruto. Massing his temples he felt a headache coming. "Naruto, remember the day of the invasion."
The genin did as told. It all came back to him, his fight against Neji, Kankuro, forfeiting his match, Shikamaru "losing" against Temari… Sakura and him going after Sasuke, Shino finally fighting against Kankuro, then the final fight against—
He gulped. "We're going to deal with the Hidden Sand, aren't we?"
Shino nodded. "The probability is high."
Shikamaru confirmed his horrible suspicions. "So is the probability of the genin team they will bring of being…"
Naruto felt sick. "This is bad."
Facing Gaara once in a lifetime was more than enough. He didn't like the idea of meeting the Sand Siblings again at all. He could trust Shikamaru to handle Temari, and maybe Shino would gain the upper hand against Kankuro like the last time, but going back to his fight against the psychotic genin, he realized the only reason he had fared so well against him was that Gaara hadn't been using his sand as well as he could. Sure, he was far advanced from what he was a couple of months ago; that didn't mean he wanted to face the sand demon anytime soon.
His thoughts were rapidly going from mild optimistic to downright depressing when Shino, and surprisingly Shikamaru snapped their heads towards the nearest building. Looking in that direction, he saw that a mask wearing shinobi with long purple hair had just landed on the roof. Looking closer, the slender figure denoted it was a kunoichi, most likely the ANBU that was going to accompany them to wherever they were heading. How Shikamaru was able to notice her presence was curious; the woman was too far for them to pick up sound… that is, if she made any noise at all. Shino and his bugs were understandable, the Shadow user… not so much.
Gotta remember to ask him about that later.
Behind her porcelain mask, the young kunoichi was annoyed. She always pride in her stealth and infiltrations abilities, and two of the three brats had found her like she was a beginner. She had read their files and expected no less from the bug user, but that the Nara picked up her presence as well… as far as she knew Nara weren't known to be sensing types. Upon closer inspection he had a scowl. A lazy and annoying Nara… just what I needed. Add to that the stupid look on mini-Anko over there and she already had the firm impression that accepting this mission was a big mistake.
Still, acting like the professional she was, she landed near the teens to greet them. "I suppose you'll be the kids I'll be traveling with." She sighed. "Hi, I'm the ANBU who'll be traveling with you during this mission." Finding small talk to be useless, she quickly briefed her team on the mission. "We'll be traveling to a neutral village where the negotiations will take place. The diplomat will be escorted there two weeks from now; at that point the discussions will begin. Your job will be to protect the man during that period. Till then you'll be asked to spend time with the other genin team in order to build a stronger partnership. Any questions before we leave?
"Why are we leaving now if our mission actually starts in two weeks?"
She had expected that question. "That's because my task is to take care of the security of the place before and after the meeting. Also, you'll be meeting the other shinobi before the negotiations."
"Any idea of the kind of opponent we might face?" asked the bug user.
"There shouldn't be any if the info wasn't leaked, but otherwise expect any of the other hidden villages to interfere; alliances can be threatening to villages planning any sort of invasions. Any other questions?" not that she expected any more.
Naruto raised a hand. "Why are you wearing a mask?"
She simply stared at the blonde. This kid has to be kidding me! "Because I'm an ANBU; any other stupid questions ?"
The kid frowned, but did not give up. "No really, why do you wear a mask? It's not like this is an ANBU mission, or else they would have sent a squad. And it's not like other Konoha nin don't know who you really are. Besides, it's not like people outside the village will actually recognize you anyway. In fact, you guys are supposed to be undercover agents: if you hadn't worn that mask, we would have never known you were an ANBU."
This kid… he's pretty sharp.
"I bet it's because you're hiding an awesome battle scar or something." Concluded the genin.
Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, for guys, scars are cool, but for a woman it's a bad thing."
"Oh." Naruto shrugged and turned his attention to his friend. "So you think it's a scar?"
"Dunno, don't care." said the chuunin as he shrugged himself. "It might be because she's ugly, or maybe she likes to wear masks; not my business ."
The kunoichi twitched.
Even Shino offered an opinion. "Maybe Naruto thinks every ANBU has a scar underneath."
"No! that's not what I—"
The small talk came to a halt as a sword appeared from behind Naruto and stopped an inch from his throat.
"Listen," snarled the ANBU, "I'm only going to say this once: I've been through a lot recently and I'm not the most patient or sociable person around . So if you get on my nerves you might wake up with a limb missing."
The poor boy turned blue. "C-can she really do that?"
For some reason, the other two weren't in any hurry to find out. After a moment, the kunoichi sheathed her sword and walked away muttering about babysitting brats and her reason for joining the ANBU in the first place .
Now Shikamaru was sure he'd be getting a headache. "Oh great. First," he whined, "we just learned that we're probably going to face the Sand freaks and now this troublesome—" Said woman simply appeared and towered over him. The chuunin tried to not look impressed. "What do you want now, woman?"
She decided to ignore the last remark, much more interested in his earlier statement. "What did you just say?"
"Huh, about the Sand? I'm not sure but everything points that way." He narrowed his eyes "Wait, how come you don't know?"
The rookies weren't able to see her smile, but figured something changed where they heard her tone. "Wasn't part of the briefing." she looked at them and snorted. "Now, if there aren't any more stupid comments, we're leaving."
The teens looked at each other.
"Oh!" said the ANBU as she turned around. " My name is Yugao."
A new team, a new adventure! The shinobi of the Leaf move forward!
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A/N: New Chapter! For those who know who Yugao is… yeah, I went there. Genta is a bastard through and through.
Oh, and you know that fic I said I was going to continue? Well add to that another fic I'm going to start. It's an Avatar fic; I hope you look forward to it. And no, it won't bother Shadow and Wind. Those fics will probably be updated once per month or two. No problem at all… I'm in perfect control… I think…
R&R
Rev: P.S. Spelling and grammar have gotten much better since The Laughing Phoenix started betaing, thank him for me!
Rep: I know, right? She's a great Beta reader! I already thanked her a bunch of times, but let me do it one more time cause she'd just that great. Thanks phoenix!
Rev: action?
Rep: coming in the next chapter, I promise!