Chapter 26: Prisoner
It had been three months since the ANBU had taken him away from Konoha and Katsumi. The ANBU were methodical in their operations and set up a base camp. They set out on their search for the missing villagers from the camp and often returned for food, rest, repairs, etc. The ANBU constantly reminded Kiba of their mission and tried to act friendly. However, Kiba knew that they were his jailers and he was their prisoner. He had attempted several escapes to elude them and make his way back to Katsumi but they caught him every time. Katsumi was the sole focus of his thoughts. He dreamed about her constantly every night. Kiba even took up the habit of drawing Katsumi's eyes on the ground just to have some reminder of the kunoichi who had won his heart. He remembered the touch of her soft skin, her orange hair in the sunlight, her intoxicating scent and her attractive body. Kiba had no contact with anyone outside the ANBU group. He hoped that Katsumi was all right. What if someone attacked the village? What if-What if he lost her? Kiba did not want to think about what he would do if Katsumi died.
(Memory from the film Departures plays whenever Kiba thinks about Katsumi)
His mission with the ANBU had been successful as well as difficult with finding the villagers. They had to trek through rough terrain in their search for them. The group discovered that the villagers had been taken from their villages and held captive by bandits. After several months of hard fighting, Kiba and the ANBU had managed to save all the villagers and defeat the bandits, Kiba was not prepared for what he learned from the villagers. They had told him that the bandits were under the employ of someone very wealthy and had hired their services to interrogate them about the whereabouts of an orange haired kunoichi traveling with a black ninken. Kiba immediately realized that they were referring to Katsumi. He interrogated one of the bandits personally. Before the wounded bandit took a poison capsule, Kiba was able to learn that the benefactor of the bandits, Takeo, had put a bounty on finding Katsumi's location. Takeo was going to make his move soon.
Winter had come fast upon them and the small group had warm fur coats in order to keep out the cold. Kiba decided that he would break away at night and head straight to Konoha in order to protect Katsumi. Suddenly, there were multiple shouts from outside Kiba's tent. The ANBU had no idea who was attacking them, except that they were very skilled. A blizzard prevented a clear visual on the adversary. Kiba sniffed the air and found that there were three assailants. He took out his kunai and rushed into the blinding snow. He swung his kunai only to come inches away from Akamaru. Kiba hugged his beloved ninken and put his kunai away. Akamaru told him that they were here to help Kiba escape. Kiba was about to ask who was with Akamaru when he heard a voice behind him. The man said, "The ANBU have gotten sloppy over the years…I was able to knock them out easily with help from Tsukimi. I must admit that you are a hard person to track, even with your white ninken leading the way. But I would expect nothing less from my own son."
(Author's note: Surprise! Kiba's father returns!
P.S. I have posted a poll about the names of Kiba and Katsumi's children on my profile. Please vote! I will use which names rank the highest.)