The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 25
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!
Recap: The girls nodded in agreement after consulting each other, and the newly combined group warily walked forward together.
They were walking forward when suddenly, something broke from the cover of the trees and the eight ninja stared stupidly as a battered Shikamaru stumbled in front of them.
Time: 2:30 pm
Place: Near the Waterfall Bridge
Date: Day of Meeting
Naruto, of course, was the first to react. "Shikamaru!" he shouted, running forward to the injured man. Shino and Sasuke twitched, as their cover was now effectively blown, but knew it wasn't entirely Naruto's fault since they had never decided on using fake manes during the mission.
The lazy genius was injured with many scrapes and bruises on his face, arms, legs and torso, and probably had more the others couldn't see.
"Our teammate is injured, do you have any supplies?" Sasuke asked, turning to the kunoichi.
"He has internal injury as well." Hinata said, drawing their attention. "Blossom, I suppose, could help you if she doesn't mind." She looked at Sakura, and the others followed her example.
"Fine." Sakura stepped over to Shikamaru, kneeling beside Naruto. "Scoot over," she told him crossly, and he shifted his position. Her arms stretched out and her hands glowed green with chakra as began to heal the injured shinobi. The others watched on in silence.
Although the other four kunoichi were taught how to heal using chakra, Sakura was the most experienced of them being the first apprentice of Tsunade, so they left the task up to her.
"I'm done." Sakura stood as she finished her task of healing Shikamaru, and his teammates crowded around him worriedly.
"Shikamaru? What happened to you?" Naruto asked worriedly.
Shikamaru, his eyes open, had already assessed the situation and so spoke. His voice came out not weak unlike his body. "It was Kabuto." The other ninjas wore an expression of surprise. "He knew we were following him, and attacked us." Shikamaru recounted the events of 20 minutes ago.
The cloaked figure, hood fallen backwards, turned out to be none other than Kabuto, Orochimaru's most trusted and loyal subordinate. "Hmm, Konoha eh?" he muttered aloud, and studied the unconscious two further. "Well. A Hyuuga and the Kazekage. This is certainly a surprise." His voice took on an interested tone and he did not move for a minute.
Finally, he seemed to come to a decision, and bent to scoop up both shinobi but changed his mind to summon two snakes instead. The summoned hebi curled it's tail around both males and followed it's master as Kabuto motioned it to follow. Shikamaru, as swiftly and silently as possible, followed, careful to conceal his chakra and presence.
After miles of swift walking, Kabuto and his summoned hebi arrived at the mouth of a cave, carved from the mountainside. "Carry them inside." Kabuto ordered. The hebi obeyed so that Shikamaru's comrades were no longer in his line of sight. Following the snake, Kabuto disappeared into the cavern as well.
Shikamaru crept forward until he was at the very edge of the cave mouth's opening. Peering inside, he frowned-the inside was pitch-black and he couldn't make out anything without lighting something and alerting the enemy of his presence. Going against his better judgment of getting help, Shikamaru stepped inside no more than ten steps before suddenly encountering glowing red eyes. Startled, he instantly jumped backwards towards the cave's opening, aware that those glowing eyes could easily detect his figure, and its body his movements.
Eventually Shikamaru made it outside the cave, but not unscathed. The purple creature slithered towards him, coiling its head as a signal it was ready to strike. The shinobi had to calculate his plan as the figure moved closer towards him.
They fought each other, drawing farther back into the forest, away from the cave. The hebi, on its orders, lunged after the shinobi as he tried to flee, and the match lasted no more than a few minutes though it seemed longer. However, brain won against the beast and Shikamaru was able to escape after casting a de-summoning jutsu, causing the snake to disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Shikamaru walked warily towards the forest in the direction where he knew the others would be, slowly ambling his way back to them.
", and that's what happened." Shikamaru said, concluding his flashback. The others stared at him uncertainly, and he leaned back onto a tree. "It's no use hiding it. We know you five are Sakura, Hinata, Ino, TenTen, and Temari. You obviously already know who we are. As of this new addition to the mission, we have at present, a newer and greater concern. If you choose to leave now, we won't follow you." He studied the five who looked at him. Naruto, the protestor, was held back by Sasuke and Shino who forced him to be quiet and still.
"However," Shikamaru continued seeing as no one interrupted him. "if you choose to stay, then we beg of you to assist us. If not for the sake of the rest of our team being your once close companions and or blood relative, then simply for the fact that you may acquire valuable information on Orochimaru."
". . ." The females turned to each other, conferring with themselves in discussion.
Finally, one of them, to be specific, TenTen, nodded at the shinobi. "Fine. We'll help you. But not because we care. Only that you'll possibly benefit us or serve as welcome targets of distraction towards our common enemy. Do not think of us as friends." In no way did she state they recognized or acknowledged themselves as who Shikamaru claimed them to be. Nevertheless, the Nara allowed himself as smile.
"Glad to have you."
Time: 3:00 pm
Place: Cavemouth
Date: Day of Meeting
"They're inside." Shikamaru said, and after a glance, the group stealthily slipped into the darkness.
Once inside, the group split into two as assigned by Shikamaru. Ino, Temari, Naruto, Shino and Sasuke were in one group while Hinata, TenTen, Sakura, and Shikamaru were in the other. Hinata went to the right as Ino went left, and both teams were terribly aware of what was lying in wait for them.
"So why did you leave?" Naruto asked, in a quiet voice.
"None of your business." Ino snapped irritably as Naruto repeated his question continuously.
"Naruto shut up. Snakes can hear." Sasuke said, and Naruto quieted, leaving the groups to silence.
They continued down the corridors, when all of a sudden, Shino spoke, surprising them.
"Sasuke, can you recognize this place?"
Sasuke considered this as they walked, then nodded. "Somewhat. The layout is certainly different, but he likes to use this pattern…. More convenient for his assistant when he needs to finish in a hurry." Sasuke went in front of Ino. "I'll lead," he said, and got no protest from the kunoichi.
Hinata's group traveled in silence with Hinata's bloodline activated from behind her dark shades. They walked in silence as none of them were very prone to talking, especially within the enemy's lair.
After several minutes of walking, the group could see a light up ahead. Cautiously, they approached.
Gaara and Neji woke up to ringing headaches and found themselves to be in a dark room lit with a small lamp. The two were sitting back to back with each other, tied securely with a rope. They found their weapons removed from their hidden spots, leaving them to be partially defenseless.
Partially, because as soon as they awoke and found themselves 'weaponless', Neji activated his Byakugan and Gaara called to his sand from his gourd, seeking it. Neji found it in the room next door, conveniently placed with all of their taken items, and told Gaara as much. Together, they focused on getting free from their prison.
Ino's group walked silently through the passages, making necessary turns seen fit by Sasuke. His direction, he explained, was to find Orochimaru's workroom, or if possible, Orochimaru's location. Relying on his old memories, Sasuke led them to where he believed was the right place, but was in fact making a deadly mistake.
Finally free after much struggling, Gaara and Neji opened the door slowly, and was surprised to find themselves standing face-to-face with Hinata, with TenTen, Sakura, and Shikamaru behind her. They stared at each other for several minutes, especially both Hyuugas, when Sakura broke the moment by jostling forward. This broke both out of their stupor, and the elder Hyuuga looked at Shikamaru eyes conveying a question. Shikamaru tilted his head forward, nodding yes, and Neji spoke.
"Excuse me." His tone was monotone, and his voice was low as to not attract attention. He moved forward as the others moved back, with Gaara behind him. Walking down, he did not stop until he reached a room. However, it turned out to be locked. As they stare at it, wondering how to best open it without attracting attention, TenTen detaches herself from the group and moves fluidly in front of Neji. She bent down and picked at the lock, turning the knob with a successful click. Neji grunts a small thanks as she moves back to stand with the others, and both Byakugans are activated, testing for traps.
As there are none, both disarmed shinobi go forward to quickly reclaim their weapons. They finished and walked out of the room, going down the hallway when a loud scream is heard and at the same time, the whole passage starts to shake with debris falling around them.
The group ran as fast as their legs would carry them, hoping that the falling rocks would neither crush or hinder them.
"Kukuku…" the laugh of Orochimaru was clearly audible to the immobile group of two kunoichi and three shinobi.
"Ugh! Let us go!" Naruto yelled, struggling to free himself from his bonds.
"How did you find us?" Ino cried, fiercely glaring at their adversary.
"Very simple, actually." Kabuto steps forward beside his master and the light reflects off his glasses as he pushes them up the bridge of his nose, effectively hiding his eyes.
"You see," Kabuto smiled. "We quite simply changed the layout of this lair. Although I have to admit that it was quite the trouble since we hadn't done this before. However, it was clearly worth it as you came to our trap very easily."
The others turned to Sasuke, about to yell angrily at him, especially Ino and Naruto, but he spoke before they could. "How was I supposed to know?" he asked irritably.
Shino, the ever calm one, addressed Kabuto and Orochimaru. "What do you plan to do with us?"
"Hmm, something dreadfully fun, I expect. Isn't that right, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked in a lilting tone.
"Kukukuku, you are right, Kabuto. Indeed I have plans for the three of you." He was looking directly at the three shinobi and licking his lips with his long tongue at the same time, completely ignoring the kunoichi present and the shinobis' disgusted looks towards him.
Kabuto gave a mocking bow. "As you can see, we have much in store for you."
"What about Gaara and Neji!" Naruto shouted, and everyone tensed as Kabuto gave them his evil grin.
"Why, they shall join us, of course. And so will all of your other companions."
At this, Temari clenched her fist tightly, unable to contain her disgust at what Orochimaru intended to her youngest brother despite the fact she was supposed to forget and not care about him.
"Try to be patient. We shall see you soon." The two exited the room, leaving the captured prisoners struggling behind.
"What are we going to do?" Naruto said, struggling futilely to free himself.
Sasuke did not answer; he was too busy trying to free his hands to cast a jutsu.
Ino was moving her hands along the vines holding her, searching for any weakness in them.
Temari was straining to reach the giant fan strapped onto her back, but they her bonds did not allow it, so she attempted to access her two smaller steel fans located somewhere on her body.
Shino, on the other hand, stood calmly with no signs of struggling or anything. The explanation for this was quite simple. While him team conversed angrily with the enemy (more like made angry statements), he had commanded his Kikaichū bugs to devour the vines when the attention was not focused onto him. This was why Shino was mostly halfway free when both Kabuto and Orochimaru exited the rooms, and broke his once trapped hands apart.
They gaped, shocked at his freedom. Shino took the liberty of letting his bugs swarm around them, commanding them to devour the vines that had ensnared them. Within moments, the other four were freed, and making a getaway after the two S-class missing-nin.
"Hold it right there!" Naruto shouted, his clones surrounding the area and the two shinobi completely.
"We're not letting you get away." Temari said this, in a stance to fight alongside Sasuke.
While they were running after Orochimaru and Kabuto, the five had discovered a room fully scattered with papers on a desk. Ino and Shino had chosen to stay behind and gather the information there, so only three of them faced Orochimaru and Kabuto, hoping to take them hostage or seriously injure them.
"Kukukuku…. You fools!" Orochimaru cried and cast hand signals to make a jutsu. Seeing this, Naruto's clones rushed forward to attack but Kabuto summoned snakes which destroyed the incoming clones.
Sasuke launched a fireball jutsu at Kabuto and Naruto's clones made it a combo attack. Add Temari's giant wind to the factor made for a fairly hot and burning fireball speeding towards the enemy.
Of course, the enemy could not be taken down that easily. Kabuto cast a jutsu that dispelled the fireball, leaving the entire area in smoke. Temari, who had tried to get around behind Orochimaru to cut him off but couldn't due to them being in a hallway, blew her giant fan's wind quickly, dispelling the smoke. However, when the area cleared, the enemy could not be found, and she hissed in frustration.
Ino and Shino were rummaging around the office and collecting as many papers that they could, providing it was important, when all of a sudden, the walls around them started to shake. Shino noted the debris slowly falling from the ceiling and told Ino that they go.
They dashed out of the room, and ran into the rest of their group that was also running.
"Did you find them?" Ino cried, running.
"They got away!" Temari said angrily. "And we have to get out of here!"
"No contact with the others." Sasuke informed.
"So what do we do? We've gotta alert them somehow!" Naruto said this as they passed a couple of turns.
"Ino, scream!" Temari said, looking at Ino seriously, and taking hold of her sleeve.
Ino, surprised, stopped for a second but was pulled back into running by Temari's grip on her sleeve. "What?"
"Scream, Ino! You're so loud that it'll echo to them!" Temari had discarded any care for their identities, now openly saying Ino's real name.
"But I-"
"She's right. It will possible alert the others." Shino said. His voice was still unbelievably calm despite their desperation to get out.
"Alright then." After everyone's agreement, Ino took a deep breath and screeched with all her might, "GET OUT!"
The words echoed away as they continued to run.
"I think that was Ino." Sakura said as they ran, fear trickling into her voice. "Did something happen?"
"I'm not sure." Shikamaru said. "I can't reach any of them for some reason. It must be the debris." They turned.
"What can you two see?" Shikamaru asked, but Hinata and Neji only shook their heads.
"Nothing. We'd better get out." Neji said, and Hinata agreed.
"Maybe they're already out," she suggested and sped up as Neji did.
The others adjusted their paces to follow.
"There!" They ran faster as they saw light from the cave entrance up ahead, and burst through just as the entire cave collapsed down. Panting, they stopped but looked around at the same time.
"Where are we?" Hinata asked, looking.
"I don't know… We weren't in this area before." TenTen said.
Suddenly, from the undergrowth of the forest trees they faced, things lunged out, and coiled tightly around some of them. Smoke flowed into their faces and they coughed into their arms. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that they did not do anything but watch as the things disappeared back to the forest. The smoke itself cleared moments later.
"What was that…" Sakura asked and turned, only to gasp as she saw that all the males were missing.
"They just got kidnapped!" Sakura exclaimed, and the three kunoichi looked at each other.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" TenTen said, and burst forward. "After them!"
Her teammates followed.
Chapter 25 has arrived, and more quickly updated as well! I hope you stick with this story until the very end!