A/N: It's been a long few days so i thought i should update, rooting for my friends at dancing doing a show tonight! Too bad i couldn't join them.
Alright so sadly, i have no one to thank but thanks to everyone reading, following, favouriting and such, i really appreciate the support. Okay, so i really struggled writing this so i apologise but i wanted to add this in so we can see more of Kasumi's old Akatsuki days and some more about her seal (Now I'm spoiling it) So i hope you enjoy!
"Like expected. Most of the scents have been washed away with the rain." Kiba said as he and Akamaru sniffed around and Kasumi sighed as she scratched at her head and ruffled her hair.
"Well they're using bats so they should be close by and keeping a constant watch on us so maybe they're not moving around right now either but that could have changed with the dawning of the day." Kasumi explained as they both nodded. "How did it go Shino?" Kasumi asked, turning her head towards him as both Hinata and Kiba were surprised to see him again so quickly. Shino held out his hand as his kikaichuu began to crawl forwards.
"You found them?" Kiba asked.
"I got lucky. One of my female bugs was still carrying eggs. They hatched only a moment ago. These are the next generation." Shino said as he held his hand up and examined the bugs.
"So we can fare well against that jutsu now?" Kiba asked with excited hope.
"There's a high probability they've become resistant to it. However the amount of bugs is an issue." Shino said and they all kind of sunk slightly.
"And just when we thought we could go up against it." Kiba sighed.
"Kasumi-sensei, I need a bit more time. I will increase their numbers once more." Shino explained and Kasumi nodded.
"Until we know how to fight against that jutsu, this is our only shot. We need a bit more time to find them anyway. Report back as soon as possible." Kasumi said to him before turning to Hinata and Kiba. "Shall we keep searching then?" Kasumi asked and they both nodded.
"If we miss them now, it might become a problem to Konoha in the future. Catch up soon Shino!" Kiba said with a smile.
"Do your best Shino-kun." Hinata wished as Kasumi once again summoned her pack and they headed out for more searching.
Kasumi sat down after a while of searching as she pulled out a map and began to run through everything they had learned so far with Kaname laying next to her as she threaded her fingers through his fur absentmindedly. They were coming closer to a lake by the direction they had been travelling in and slowly each day they were getting closer yet further away… It was almost as if they were up to something really important yet wanting to get caught in a way.
"We haven't found anything Kasumi-sensei." Kiba said as both he and Hinata returned to her and were getting slightly frazzled.
"Since they've already noticed us, the chance of a fight starting increased." Hinata said and Kasumi nodded as she leaned back against the tree and looked up, still stroking Kaname.
"I think we'd be able to handle a fight as long as the crystal user isn't there but it's a high probability we'll run into them at full force. Waiting for us in a way… I can't help but feel something is wrong here." Kasumi sighed as she ran her free hand through her hair. Kasumi shook her head before she stood up and Kaname followed. "I want you to make a fairly straight net along the line we've been travelling in with the pack. Keep ahead of us." Kasumi said to Kaname who nodded and headed off, the howling heard off in the distance.
"I have a hunch we're going to run into them now so keep alert but let's keep searching." Kasumi said with a sigh to Kiba and Hinata who nodded and they followed after Kiba and Kasumi's ninken. Kasumi easily changed their coarse slowly before Akamaru growled and she sensed her ninken behind them as they jumped down into the bushes and she sent her sense forwards.
"There's no doubt about it, there's a bunch of scents ahead of us." Kiba confirmed as Kasumi nodded at him and looked at Hinata as she activated her byakugan.
"I see them! This chakra's a shinobi's." Hinata confirmed before they all tensed up and Kasumi turned around to see an enemy come up from the ground behind, it was careless of her not to sense through the ground for chakra either. It was a large burly man who could use something similar to the Akimichi's expansion jutsu as his fist blew up and Kasumi reached for her hip pouches.
"You nosey dipshits!" He yelled and Kasumi scowled as her wrist flicked and his fist hit the ground, creating a cloud of dust.
"Kasumi-sensei!" Kiba yelled out in worry. Hinata yelled at him as kunai flashed inches past his nose and the two looked in the direction they came from.
"Seems I missed." One of the enemies said. "We have the advantage with Gozu keeping your captain busy."
"Wanna bet?" Kasumi asked dead seriously in her tone as the wind displaced suddenly and Kasumi was crouched on Gozu's back with a kunai to his neck and she swung another around on her finger before catching it and holding it out sideways at the enemy. There were four enemies all together, Gozu who attacked Kasumi, the one speaking who looked pretty normal, a blue jumpsuit wearing girly man and the last one looking like he was a Kiri nin with a mask over his face.
"You're surprisingly quick to have avoided such a dead on attack like that." The normal looking one said and Kasumi scoffed.
"I'll be the one talking here. I'm guessing you're the ones we've been tracking from the hideout?" Kasumi asked, shifting her blade to dig into Gozu's neck, her eyes still on the trio ahead of them. Kiba looked back at Kasumi and noticed her eyes focus on him for a split second before turning back to the trio and he nodded, putting a slow hand on Akamaru's back. Kasumi gasped and lost her balance for a second as she realised her feet had sunk into Gozu's back, an earth jutsu as Akamaru transformed and attacked the blue jumpsuit guy and there was a sudden movement from Gozu and she realised she was trapped and he was most likely aiming to slam her into a tree.
She landed by a tree using her Hiraishin as there was a huge smash of Gozu hitting something before smokescreen filled the area and she cursed… They had been separated easily. Gozu came in for an upper cut attack at an incredible speed and Kasumi flipped backwards to dodge away before he almost seemed to super size and dash off again as she crouched by the ground. His speed was insane as well as his strength as Kasumi switched to sensory mode and quickly located him. He came up from behind as she rolled away and threw her kunai, landing meters away from him… She needed a plan and couldn't keep running.
Kasumi kept dodging his attacks but put less distance between them as she pulled out on of her tanto's that instantly lit up and ducked from his over sized punch and into his soft area to stab right into his heart before he grinned and she saw his whole body shift as his chakra built up suddenly and compress like his body becoming smaller as he twisted out of the way and was gone before she felt a hard kick to her back and slammed face first into a tree and quickly recovered with a grimace to turn around to face him. She couldn't watch his movements anymore and relied on her senses fully, closing her eyes as she rolled away from the tree that his foot destroyed the rest of.
Kasumi quickly swung her tanto in her hand, pointing downwards as she slammed it into the ground and let her lightning chakra sizzle as he was jumping around by the hum of her sensing abilities. Her hands rested around the handle an on top of it as her eyes darted behind their lids at his speeds… He wasn't quite in range yet.
Her eyes opened as her body tensed, sending her lightning chakra straight ahead of her and into the ground, hitting Gozu dead on and increased as he hit the ground as she was sending it through there as well. He opened his pained eyes as he seemed to melt like earth before he was completely gone and Kasumi sighed as she pulled her tanto out and sheathed it again… The enemy had completely disappeared but Shino was back as she ran to meet up with them.
Kiba and Akamaru looked a bit roughed up but Hinata was kneeling, holding onto her left arm with a slightly pained expression as Kasumi jumped down next to them.
"Is everyone okay?" Kasumi asked as she moved over to Hinata and relieved the pain slightly in her arm using medical jutsu.
"Thank you Kasumi-sensei." Hinata said slightly, trying to put a brave face on.
"Did you get that other guy?" Kiba asked her and Kasumi sighed and closed her eyes.
"No but I did manage to slow him down before he retreated." Kasumi explained.
"Yeah, they ran away from us too." Kiba explained and Kasumi scowled slightly as she concentrated and Hinata winced.
"It was just a test… No doubt they'll have a plan and heavy artillery next time… Most likely including the crystal user. Will you be okay to keep going now?" Kasumi asked Hinata who nodded, looking a little relieved from pain with a true smile this time. "Alright then, we have clean scents to follow, be ready for anything next time. Let's find them first." Kasumi ordered.
"Right."
XXXXXXXXXX
"You wanted to see me Tsunade?" Minato asked as he walked into Tsunade office, feeling slightly confused and Tsunade nodded and gestured to the couch as she moved to join him on it and Shizune brought them tea.
"I wanted your advice on something you'd know more about." Tsunade explained after they had sat in silence for a while, enjoying their tea.
"My advice?" Minato grinned sheepishly as he ruffled his hair slightly and Tsunade couldn't help a slight smile.
"I need you to listen to this as an outsider and someone who knows this team of people the best." Tsunade said and Minato blinked before putting a serious face on and nodded, taking a sip of his tea.
"What's happened out there?" He asked and Tsunade sighed, relaxing back against the couch as she stared up at the ceiling.
"Kasumi is currently on one mission with Kurenai's team, exploring one of Orochimaru's caves where they came across some interesting subordinates we are currently researching, Yamato, Sakura and Naruto have been sent as back up." Tsunade began to explained as Minato listened intently and hummed to say he was still listening. "On the same day, Kakashi was sent out on a mission requested by Kasumi. He's taken Sasuke, Itachi, Shisui and Kabuto along and they have succeeded in taking Orochimaru down however…" Tsunade said, turning to look at Minato who was scowling slightly.
"However?" Minato asked, gripping his cup as he waited.
"Kasumi's mission is a possible set up created by Akatsuki as Orochimaru gave the team this information within his last breaths. Supposedly, four members are lying in wait for Kasumi and now I've sent Naruto into the middle… What do you suggest Minato?" Tsunade asked, taking a sip of her tea as her hands were shaking… She was so worried about this.
"What is Kakashi's team doing now?" Minato asked, his voice hard and cold.
"They're enroot towards Kasumi's last known position as well as Team Kakashi." Tsunade explained and Minato hummed, his eyes focused far away.
"And four Akatsuki members you say?" Minato asked, his eyes still focused on something far away.
"Yes… What point are you getting to Minato?" Tsunade asked with annoyance, the suspense was killing her.
"Well… Kakashi's team had no problem in taking down Orochimaru and Kasumi is strong enough to handle two at the same time. It's twelve against four plus any other enemy, which will seem insignificant to the Akatsuki… You have three strongest Uchiha, two over powered siblings and their charges with a well-knit team and two extremely skilled medical ninja. I'd say they'll come out of this on top Tsunade so there's nothing to worry about and maybe they'll be lucky enough to take out at least one Akatsuki member." Minato explained and strangely enough this made Tsunade feel a little calmer as well as she chuckled slightly.
"You have the utmost faith in them don't you?" Tsunade wondered and Minato smiled.
"Some of the strongest ninja in this village are out there right now… I'm sure they'd come out on top with this mission. They all have their own skill, strength and power to contribute not to mention Kasumi will do anything to stop Akatsuki and keep Naruto safe in the mean time." Minato said and Tsunade nodded with a hum.
"I'll trust in your judgement Minato but I want to keep you close by if they have any reports or requests, you're input will be extremely valued and will help out the team out there a lot." Tsunade said and Minato nodded with a grin.
"I'll help out any way I can… Too bad I can't go out there and help, it'd be to dangerous with both pieces of the Kyuubi out there." Minato sighed and Tsunade laughed.
"You just want to prove to the youngsters you still have it don't you?" Tsunade laughed and Minato laughed too.
"Someone has to keep Kasumi in line." Minato laughed before the door opened and Shizune stepped in.
"The lab results are in Tsunade-sama." She said, walking in with some papers in her hand and both Pinku and Pakkun woke up as they sat on the couch with Minato and Tsunade.
"And?" Tsunade asked and Shizune nodded, reading the papers intently.
"It is in fact a kekkei genkai of the famous Crystal style. The kikaichuu studied had been encased by the crystal as well as crystallized all the way through into every single cell and completely crystallized its body fluid." Shizune explained and Minato scowled slightly.
"Is this about one of the 'interesting subordinates' Kasumi has come across?" Minato asked and Tsunade nodded.
"They've come across this crystal user as well as a few others." Tsunade explained and Pinku nodded.
"Kasumi-sama has already confirmed her as one of Orochimaru's subordinates. It's why she knows there's something big going on that they needed to investigate." Pinku explained to them.
"What would you like us to do Tsunade-sama?" Pakkun asked the blonde Hokage.
"Pinku will be taking this information back to Kasumi right away. You can either go back to Kakashi and explain the current situation or go to Kasumi and let her know of the information you've brought me and reassure her more back up is on the way." Tsunade told the pug who scowled.
"I see… Kakashi can be told of the information later so we don't stress him out any further. I'll be going back with Pinku to explain her current situation, it could explain some things to her that she's been trying to figure out." Pakkun said and Tsunade nodded.
"Knowing Kasumi, she's probably caught on that something isn't right about this." Minato added.
"Alright then, when you're ready." Tsunade nodded to the two ninken who nodded at her and looked at each other before they took off once again.
"I wonder why Kasumi has never mentioned anything about this crystal user before if she knew about her." Shizune said and Tsunade hummed in agreement.
"Kasumi is very secretive about those days with Orochimaru and Akatsuki. Not even Kabuto will spill the beans but bits and pieces appear every now and again and her whole persona tends to change. She'll need to be careful that some of those things don't come back and bite her on this mission with what Akatsuki reveal and what she's wanted to keep secret." Minato sighed with slight worry.
"What she wants to keep secret?" Tsunade wondered and Minato closed his eyes with a sigh as he leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees, turning his cup in his hands.
"There are reasons she survived in Akatsuki and even got into the organisation in the first place and then even managed to survive with Orochimaru for three years after that… Unsightly things call for unsightly defences. There's no doubt in my mind that she's done things even she's disgusted about and they all interlink which is why she's kept tight lipped about those three years." Minato said and it made sense in Shizune and Tsunade's minds, knowing the snake very well… A specimen like Kasumi would be hard to resist in a way, the secret to escaping the Shinigami is what she holds and it was obvious that Orochimaru couldn't divulge that secret out of her otherwise Hiruzen would have died for nothing during those chunin exams just over two years ago.
"I see… Don't you worry about what she could know though? Surely there's something she knows that she should tell someone about." Tsunade said and Minato leaned back against the couch with a sigh.
"I've never doubted Kasumi, she has these tell tales that you can't really see unless you know her extremely well and I've known her since she was extremely young. There may be a few things but they are hers to tell if she wants or she can take it to the grave… I have no right to pry into something uncomfortable, last time I did that, I caused both of us to be in pain and go berserk then we drifted apart… I don't want to give her that lonely excuse again." Minato said in a harsh yet hurt tone and Tsunade and Shizune decided to drop it. Minato was remembering the time he tried to 'fix' her seal and he nearly lost the Kyuubi and Kasumi drifted from him all of those years, he's only just got her back to how they use to be.
"Have you found it yet Shino? Can you still follow it?" Kasumi asked as they had stopped following the crystal trail his bugs were lying down for now thanks to the appearance of her henchmen.
"No problem. The only place my bug's net was not finished was in the ten o'clock position." Shino pointed as Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air and growled.
"Yeah, looks like we'll have to figure out their objective." Kiba said and Kasumi nodded.
"Let's get going then."
"No, wait." Shino said and Kasumi paused as she felt something come over her. "The Kikaichuu's movements are strange. It's like they can't find a way out. It looks like they have lost their senses and are wondering around aimlessly." Shino explained and Kasumi scowled as she focused on her pulsing chakra, spreading it out further each time.
"It's not a genjutsu is it?" Hinata asked.
"But they only seemed to used physical attacks." Kiba explained.
"Well they may have chosen not to reveal anything to us." Shino explained logically.
"So they were just hiding their abilities from us?" Kiba asked and Kasumi gasped as she shook and dropped to her knee, holding a hand to her face… She felt trapped and it was one of the most horrible feelings as a sensory type as you physically feel restrained right then.
"Sensei, are you okay?" Hinata asked as she crouched down next to Kasumi and Kasumi nodded, reining her senses in to stop the feeling but she still felt trapped because she knew.
"Hinata, use your byakugan and search for a possible barrier around us." Kasumi asked as Hinata nodded and activated her byakugan as she suddenly became scared and almost trapped, looking for a way out as she closed her eyes and covered them with a hand and dropping to her knees. "And?" Kasumi asked gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Infinite reflections… of us." Hinata said out shakily and Kasumi scowled.
"Reflections huh… A barrier of reflections. It could be Guren doing this with her crystals now that I think about that crystal dust we saw last night. Let's focus on finding this barrier and trying to break through because this is just going to become troublesome if we stay in a barrier and overcome by it. Can the Kikaichuu tell us where we're closest to the barrier?" Kasumi asked, turning her head towards Shino as she stood up and her eyes were darting around edgily and the kikaichuu were swarming around.
"The enemy!" Kiba alerted with Akamaru's bark. There was a glint in the distance of shuriken like objects before they broke apart into shards.
"Scatter!" Kasumi ordered quickly as they hit and began to shatter through trees. Kasumi landed with a growl higher up in the trees and ducked behind a trunk before she saw a glint in the corner of her eye and ducked Guren's crystal blade on her arm, swinging for her head and slicing across the tree. Kasumi recovered by placing an upper cut punch up against her jaw as she flipped back with the punch and recovered, creating another blade on her other arm made of crystal. Kasumi gripped her tanto's, facing downwards as her chakra activated through it and she began to clash with Guren.
"I expected to never see you again Konoha's Silver Ghost and former member of Akatsuki. Hatake Kasumi." She greeted with a usual cocky smirk and Kasumi huffed as they were blade to blade.
"Same here Guren." Kasumi greeted before she moved in quickly and her blinding white tanto knocked her block away as she moved in to fight again as she clashed against her crystal blades. Guren wasn't serious in the fight and Kasumi scowled as she could see the cockiness in Guren's black eyes, she was waiting for something, she didn't come to actually kill them. Guren suddenly retreated off as Kasumi let her senses trail after her and gasped as she caught more of the same presences as Kiba and Shino jumped down next to her.
"She just left…" Kiba sighed.
"Same here… Where's Hinata?" Shino asked and Kasumi turned to see Guren walking over to them.
"She's right over here." Guren said as a crystal came out of the ground, encasing Hinata and Kasumi growled as her chakra began to build up in her blades again. Kasumi held her arms out as Kiba and Shino wanted to run for her but Guren stepped closer to the crystal and formed the blades on her arms again as she held it up against Hinata and Kasumi's shoulders tensed. "Light captured within the amethyst will never escape. If you keep on following us, your friend here will end up as shattered crystal." Guren warned.
Kasumi was feeling even more trapped as he stance shifted ever so slightly and Guren tapped the crystal as she smirked and Kasumi growled. Her senses were focused and still feeling trapped because she was stupid to reign it in so much, she didn't notice the multiple clones of Guren, which got them into this mess. Kasumi was planning to use Hiraishin to save Hinata before the pressure on her senses just released and they looked to see the crystal dome had collapsed before Kasumi smiled as back up had arrived.
"Is everyone alright?" Naruto asked, arriving on a yellow toad as well as a red one with him. "It's a collaboration jutsu I've been working on with tou-chan. Now, time to let loose! Got that? There's no running away." Naruto said to Kasumi before he shouted at Guren like old times and it surprisingly made Kasumi feel slightly easier before he noticed Hinata in the crystal. "You bitch! What did you do to Hinata?!" Naruto demanded but Guren just grinned wickedly.
"Calm down Naruto. We need to act calmly since she has Hinata as a prisoner and in an extremely fragile cage that will shatter with her." Kasumi explained.
"We sure are in a pinch." Sakura sighed. Guren stepped forwards and she listened to Naruto talking with the yellow toad, Gamatatsu. Yamato took a slow step forwards and lured her attention.
"Don't move!" Guren warned and Naruto jumped in with a water gun and Kasumi panicked slightly, throwing her kunai at an angle slightly to the left towards the crystal but would pass it. The water reached Guren but she just crystallized it and began to move but Kasumi was focused on her kunai as it reached Hinata and she flashed over and stood between Guren and Hinata. The water had turned into a crystallized dragon as Guren noticed her position and jumped onto the dragon that aimed for Kasumi.
"Kasumi-sensei!" Kiba yelled as they other team stood in shock at the shock and surprise on Kasumi's face. They watched as she flipped her hanging tanto into her hand, holding both of them once again, facing down as the chakra in them began to change into a blue encasing.
"Wind style: Wind cutter jutsu." Kasumi called, bringing her arms up in front of her as they crossed and an x-shaped wind attack launched forwards at the dragon that took it dead on and Guren held an arm up in front of her with surprise as they dragon battled the wind. Kasumi's arms came around and down as she held her arms out and instantly lightning encased around Hinata's crystallized form before hitting the dragon a second time, straight after the wind attack as it began to crack and creak.
"Scatter!" Yamato called as they all jumped away and the lightning became more powerful and sure as the dragon creaked and cracked before it shattered, not being strong enough to take on the two jutsus one straight after the other. Kasumi turned towards Hinata as she dropped her tanto to hang as she pulled out her specialized kunai and threw it out into the forest, hearing it hit into a tree before she touched the crystal and used Hiraishin with the crystal.
"Shit!" Kasumi swore with the rough landing as the crystal thumped into the ground and began to crack. "No, please no." Kasumi begged the crystal to stop cracking when it finally did and she dropped to her knees with a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay senpai?" Yamato asked as the group gathered around and Kasumi nodded and ran a hand through her hair before she looked back at Hinata.
"I cracked it." Kasumi sighed with worry as she stood up.
"What the hell was that just now?" Naruto wondered out loud, still standing with his two toads.
"What was what?" Kasumi asked with confusion.
"That amazing attack. Is it a kekkei genkai?" Sakura asked as she stood next to the crystal and hovered her chakra over it with her hands.
"No, it was called panicking. I can use more than one element you know?" Kasumi breathed, still a bit shaky from the tight situation.
"Shit, were we too late?" A gruff voice asked as Kasumi turned towards it and blinked in surprise.
"Pakkun, Pinku?" Kasumi asked as both ninken nodded. Kasumi looked at Yamato who seemed to not know anything either as she nodded to him to follow her. "Everyone stay here for now, I'm going to see what's up." Kasumi said to the group who were all huddled around Hinata anyway as she walked over to the two dogs and picked them up just to hug them after she stopped shaking and placed them on a little raised rock.
"They've completed the analysis of Shino's kikaichuu. The enemy is definitely using a crystal element jutsu. It was also confirmed that the kikaichuu was encased by the crystal." Pinku explained as Yamato stood with his arms crossed.
"That's quite a troublesome jutsu." He commented.
"The real hassle is its potency. It seems the bodily fluids in the kikaichuu were also crystallized." Pinku explained, looking back at Hinata and Kiba perked up.
"Then what about Hinata? She's safe now right?" Naruto asked, slight panic leaking into his voice you could hear he was trying to keep calm.
"Yeah. But we should bring her back to the village immediately." Yamato suggested.
"Right. Tsunade-obaa chan, she can do something about this right?" Naruto asked, his panic rising and Kasumi put her hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down Naruto. We need to think this through properly before we jump to any conclusions." Kasumi said to him before they heard a crack and all turned to the still breaking crystal and Kasumi tensed. The crystal shattered but Hinata's body was still intact. "Sakura?" Kasumi asked as the pink haired medic checked her over.
"It's fine. She's still alive." Sakura said, overly relieved and Kasumi breathed a shaky sigh with her eyes closed as everyone else had a similar reaction.
"There's something else isn't there?" Kasumi asked, turning back to the two dogs and Pakkun nodded.
"You shouldn't move just yet." Sakura's voice interrupted as Hinata was sitting up and Sakura helped her.
"What is it Hinata?" Kasumi asked, walking over to the girl and getting on her haunches.
"That jutsu… When I was caught in it, I released chakra from my chakra points on a whim and it shielded the surface of my body." Hinata explained and Kasumi nodded.
"Must be a similar thing to my kikaichuu that survived." Shino added.
"So she can't crystallize chakra… Well done Hinata." Kasumi smiled as she nodded at Hinata who gave a weak smile back.
"Well then senpai… What shall we do from here on out?" Yamato asked as Kasumi stood up and looked at Pakkun who looked back, almost pleading with puppy eyes.
"Pakkun?" Kasumi asked and the dog nodded.
"Perhaps this should be told to you in private." He said and Kasumi nodded.
"Alright guys, rest here for now while I talk to Pakkun. Yamato, you're coming with me." Kasumi said to the group before she walked over to the pug and picked him and Pinku up as she walked them deeper into the forest slightly, still able to see the two teams before jumping into a tree and sitting down with the dogs between her and Yamato. "What's up with Kakashi then?"
"He's completed his mission with minor injuries." Pakkun explained and Kasumi nodded.
"So why have you come? It must be urgent." Kasumi asked, hanging one leg over as she leaned back against the trunk, curing her other leg towards her body.
"It's about what Orochimaru said in his last seconds. He said you wouldn't be returning from this mission and asked how well would you fair against four Akatsuki members?" Pakkun said almost reluctantly. Yamato flinched and steadied himself on the creaking branch as did the two ninken but they seemed ready for it before he carefully raised his eyes to look at Kasumi, her lightning had lashed out and cut into the tree and branch, now she was just vibrating with KI and chakra as her fist cackled with lightning and the rest of her body glowing and cracking slightly with her lightning affinity.
XXXXXXXXXX
Akamaru growled as the team flinched from the sudden KI as well as the sound of lightning as they looked to where Kasumi was sitting with Yamato and Naruto frowned as he looked up at them.
"You don't think something's happened to Kakashi-sensei do you?" Sakura asked, still helping Hinata sit up.
"It's one hell of a dark KI to have. I wouldn't be surprised if something has happened, I would expect Kasumi-sensei to react like this." Kiba commented.
"Kiba, don't be so negative, it's her brother we're talking about here." Hinata said with worry.
"No…" Naruto said, looking up at her as their eyes met and he saw something within them that didn't speak of great grief.
"No?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded as he saw Kasumi look away and jump off the tree, her hand cackling with a Raikiri before Yamato jumped down behind her and grabbed her tense shoulder, probably trying to speak some sense into her. Her eyes spoke of great anger and worry directed at him before they had shifted into something vicious and dangerous.
"No… Something has just made sense to her now. I think we're facing something a lot more dangerous than we've already come across." Naruto said as everyone blinked in shock at the suddenly wise blonde who could predict Kasumi perfectly and Akamaru barked.
"You know what Naruto… I think you may just be right." Kiba said, patting him on his shoulder.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kasumi jumped off of the branch with her hand still holding an angry Raikiri before her shoulder was grabbed roughly and she was forced to stop as Yamato stood behind her.
"Rushing in there right now all angry and worked up is exactly what they want senpai. We need to think about this before we do anything because Akatsuki wants you dead and they want Naruto." Yamato said, squeezing her shoulder tighter as her chakra died down and she sighed.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry I lost control." Kasumi apologised before she turned around to face Yamato, casting a quick glance to the group to see they were keeping themselves entertained.
"I understand senpai… I know how you hate being cornered and told what to do." Yamato smiled and this time gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before he let her go.
"So what to do now…" Kasumi sighed in wonder as she crossed her arms and tapped her finger against her arm.
"Why don't we ask the team. Naruto seemed pretty passionate when he heard it had something to do with Orochimaru." Yamato suggested and Kasumi smiled darkly.
"Just don't tell him he's dead yet or we might loose his spark of life for this mission…" Kasumi mentioned as Pakkun and Pinku jumped down onto her shoulders.
"He's on his way straight here with his team to back you up and Tsunade has given the go ahead with the mission just be careful." Pakkun added and Kasumi nodded.
"Thanks pug." She said, scratching his head roughly as they both walked back over to the team who stopped joking around and slowly became more serious. "So… We've been given the go ahead to carry on however it's become more troublesome." Kasumi began to explain.
"So let's go!" Naruto said, punching his palm with an excited and determined smile.
"Not so fast. There's more to it now that we have new information." Kasumi explained and they looked at her in confusion and question. Naruto flinched slightly when he saw the worried look in Kasumi's eyes as she took a deep breath. "We're going to have to be extra careful and extra aware now." Kasumi said, meeting Naruto's eyes particularly.
"What's happened?" Shino asked and Kasumi sighed.
"It's been told that this mission may actually be rigged up mission especially to lure me in." Kasumi began as most of them scowled.
"Why you sensei?" Hinata asked and Kasumi closed her eyes.
"Akatsuki wants me dead. There may be four of them lying in wait for me right now on this mission. I'm giving this choice to all of you whether to get caught up in this or to return home and leave this alone." Kasumi spoke, extremely seriously as the group gasped and also looked at Naruto who had unyielding anger in his eyes.
"If we loose them now, we may never find them again." Kiba mentioned and Kasumi nodded as she looked at the rest of the group.
"Don't worry about me." Hinata said determinedly as she shifted slightly before Sakura stopped her from trying to stand up.
"We have no method for countering Guren's jutsus right now. The best thing to do would to retreat." Shino said and Kasumi nodded at his explanation… Guren would be an as big a threat as any member of Akatsuki.
"But that would mean we'd be letting those bastards get away and show Akatsuki they have the power to do what they want!" Naruto said out in protest and Kasumi smiled grimly.
"We went through all of that trouble. I'm not letting them get away." Kiba complained and Kasumi looked at Sakura who nodded and smiled.
"Alright then. We'll continue on with the mission so we'll split into two teams right now. Sakura, you stay here with Hinata and a wood clone of Yamato so Hinata can recover and the rest of us will pursue the enemy using their bats. Let's see what they are using to try and lure me out and take me down" Kasumi grinned as did Kiba as Naruto blinked at her with confusion.
Kakashi was stressing. Pakkun hadn't returned but maybe it was for the best, Tsunade must have received his message by now but if Pakkun hadn't returned it means that Kasumi wasn't stepping down from the mission. Pakkun would have returned to him to tell him Kasumi was pulling back and to go home instead.
His team had also rested longer than he thought with the antidote Kabuto had administered. They left towards Kasumi by noon and it would take them a while to get to the other side of the country, hopefully they would arrive just after the evening had set in.
"Wait Taicho!" Itachi suddenly said as Kakashi skidded on his feet and looked to where everyone else was looking.
"Hello!" A masked man with an orange swirl on it appeared suddenly. "Oh my, oh my. Hello there, there and there… I never imagined I would meet up with Konoha all the way out here. And there's at least two, four… Five against one, that's just not fair." The masked man said. Kakashi and the rest of the team tensed exceptionally as they crouched.
"Quite messing around Madara." Itachi warned the man who just tilted his masked face.
"I'm no Madara, me Tobi!" He said happily.
"Well according to his robe he's a member of Akatsuki but I've never seen or heard of him before." Kabuto said to the team.
"Well that's because I'm new. It's nice to meet you." Tobi said excitedly as the team tensed even further.
"What do you want and where's Kasumi?" Shisui asked up at him as Tobi tilted his head the other way.
"Kasumi? Hm I think Deidara-senpai is taking care of a Kasumi right now."
"We don't have time for this." Kakashi growled but Itachi put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder.
"I know but we can't act brash… He's exactly like Madara but he's acting completely different. Let's observe him for now." Itachi said into his ear but the rest of the team heard him, all of their eyes never leaving the masked man.
"What was that? Am I being… Underestimated?" He asked before Sasuke jumped ahead and tried to cut him up with his katana but it just passed right through him.
"Aaahhh…! Just kidding." He laughed, looking like he got hurt before he slouched forwards again and his arms swayed back and forth in front of him. He tilted his head again, looking at each on of them in turn, and pointed at them. "Ah! Sharingan! What's this now? Could it be that you're trying to analyse my abilities? You Konoha people sure are cunning. But for a new guy, I'm pretty good don't you think?" The man said with a chuckle and scratched at the back of his head.
"Sasuke-kun's attack just went right through him." Kabuto pointed out and Kakashi nodded with a hum as Sasuke walked back to them to regroup.
"As if he's toying with us but what is he after?" Kakashi wondered.
"So what game should we play now my Konoha friends?" The man asked happily.
"We don't have time to screw around with you." Sasuke said out angrily as his mangekyo sharingan showed up in his eyes but Shisui put a tense hand on his shoulder and shook his head, secretly telling him to calm down and observe.
"Alright everyone, let's end this quickly and get back on route." Kakashi ordered. They all nodded as their formation changed with Sasuke and Itachi in front, forming hand seals.
"Looks like you're getting serious now. Then I guess I'll get serious to." The man said as he began to stretch.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu." Itachi and Sasuke said out at the same time as a huge fireball began hurling towards Tobi.
"Wow! It's huge! Ooh maybe I should move out of the way!" Tobi said with flailing panic as he jumped off of the branch and crouched with his hands over his head and his butt up in the air. Whoa! They distracted me with a decoy and now have three people surrounding me?! I don't know which one to dodge! H-Hey, th-that's unfair!" The man shouted as Kakashi, Shisui and Kabuto surrounded him, going in for attack. One after the other, they all went through him with their attacks missing as they landed again, all regrouped.
"Scatter!" Kakashi ordered as they scattered.
"Hey! Come back here!" Tobi shouted, going after them. Tobi was quick as he used some sort of earth based jutsu to appear out of the ground and began to battle them back together using a stick before the team ended back grouped together again and Tobi dancing around happily before he took on a thinking pose.
"I know! I'll name this technique… Ninja art; Whack a mole jutsu!" He announced happily.
"Although the mole is doing all of the whacking. Unless we defeat this guy, he's not going to let us through." Kakashi said annoyed.
"Hey, hey, hey! What do you want to play next?" The man asked happily.
"What shall we do?" Shisui asked as they watched Tobi as he seemed to stretch and then dance around happily in a flailing sort of style.
"He's not going to let us push through." Kakashi said with annoyance.
"So then we just have to keep pushing. There's no way he should be able to hold us all down so easily." Sasuke said with annoyance also on his voice.
"Let's try ambushing him one more time. The more we try the more we'll know about him." Itachi suggested, unsheathing his katana as he stood with Sasuke who was still holding his as lightning flashed through it. Kakashi nodded and turned to Shisui and Kabuto who also nodded and Kakashi held out his hand to Kabuto as he took it and Kakashi sling shot Kabuto up at Tobi as he used the Mystical Palm Jutsu but Tobi just side stepped him and continued to even as Itachi and Sasuke joined in before Kabuto fell back.
Both brothers moved in for a slash and it went through Tobi before the sound of their clashing blades were heard and Tobi screamed before laughing and disappearing into the tree branch and slipping right through it and landed on the floor where Kakashi and Shisui intercepted and the same thing happened. Tobi ended upside down under a branch as he rubbed at his stomach that should have been sliced through twice.
"You gotta hand it to me. I'm pretty flexible huh?" He asked. "Now for my counter attack! Hidden jutsu…" He began, clapping his hands together as the team stood close together, the three Uchiha's ready with Susano'o no matter the attack. "Frilled Neck Lizard! Actually that's all there is to it." He said sheepishly since his cloak flipped down behind his neck and he held his arms curled over in front of him.
"He's just messing with us." Sasuke growled.
"It must be some kind of jutsu that's making us pass right through him but I see no hand seals… Perhaps it's a kekkei genkai?" Shisui suggested as Tobi jumped to stand on the branch, no longer upside down.
"Let's see if he can dodge this… Amaterasu!" Itachi said, focusing his mangekyo on Tobi as the black flames appeared and he began to flail around before he just disappeared as the flames dropped to the ground as well.
"That was unexpected." Kabuto muttered before there was a slight wrapping of the air on a tree as Tobi and a plant like being wiggled out of the ground. Tobi's Akatsuki cloak was gone though.
"How'd it go?" Tobi asked the plant like man.
"She's fallen for it and is heading that way already. The Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki is there as well." Zetsu said as his casing opened to reveal his face.
"That's unbelievable! Or not." Tobi said with excitement then confusion.
"It's just as I thought… Her personality should lead us right to her and get what we want." Zetsu said, carefree. It was when Kakashi noticed Tobi's sharingan.
"I shall continue my fight with you some other time." Tobi said, changing the tone of his voice to be more serious as he raised a hand and sort of erased himself away and Zetsu followed and Kakashi growled.
"That was the Madara I remember." Itachi breathed and Shisui nodded with a hum.
"So that was really the 'Uchiha Madara' who attacked the village with the Kyuubi sixteen years ago?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi nodded.
"How Kasumi and Sensei ever fought him head on I'll never know if we couldn't even land one hit on him." Kakashi said.
"We should get going now though if they said Kasumi-senpai is walking right into their trap like they said, and Naruto-kun is there." Kabuto mentioned and Kakashi looked at the sun setting slowly.
"We've been delayed, it's exactly what they wanted. We should get to her just before nightfall, let's move!" Kakashi ordered.
"Yes sir!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Kasumi's ninken led them towards a bat that had taken off during the day time when it was lured out by one of her ninken and a shadow clone of Naruto and they had already begun making their way after where they last faced the enemy which was where the bat was currently flying to.
"Kasumi-sensei, won't they find us like this?" Naruto asked and Kasumi nodded.
"That's the whole point. If we follow their bat back, we'll find the enemy and this time we'll be ready. Do you understand?" Kasumi asked him, looking over her shoulder at him as he scrunched up his face in thought.
"That bat's heading for the mist right?" Yamato asked and Kasumi stopped the group.
"No doubt about it. There's an absurd amount of chakra coming from over there." Shino explained.
"There's something in the mist isn't there?" Naruto asked, looking at Kasumi who had frozen. "Why have we stopped?" Naruto asked as they all looked at Kasumi and Yamato was shocked slightly. Kasumi was panting and shaking slightly before they heard her gasp and fall to her knees.
"Kasumi-senpai!" Yamato said with worry as he jumped up next to her and got onto his haunches to see her eyes were wide and one of her hands were over her upper stomach and clawing rhythmically into her flak jacket. "Are you hurt?" Yamato asked as he put a hand on her back and she shook her head before turning it towards the mist and still panting heavily with pained features.
"I never thought they'd use this to lure me out." Kasumi said shakily as they all gathered closer around in confusion.
"What have they used?' Kiba asked.
"What ever they've used it's weakened Kasumi-sensei and has an absurd amount of chakra." Shino stated.
"You've got that right." Kasumi said shakily as she pushed her hands against the tree and got up slowly with Yamato's help. "It explains exactly why Akatsuki are here and lured me to this specific point…" Kasumi began to explain as she pulled off the bands around her arms and pulled off her flak jacket, eyes still focused painfully on the mist ahead. "But to think they'd want to do things like this…" Kasumi continued to explain as she pulled her vest over her head then ripping off the brace like seal and the group all gasped as Naruto looked away with pain in his furrowed eyebrows and normally bright blue eyes. "You all know the story the night the Kyuubi attacked Konoha thanks to the masked man correct?" Kasumi asked, turning to the group with her seal showing, glowing angrily in a light blue and spread with two intercepting branches on either side partially around her waist.
"It's said that Konoha's Silver Ghost was the one who saved the Yondaime and the village but died afterwards." Shino said out and Kasumi smiled self-loathingly at herself.
"Exactly and I ended up still living and with this seal every time a bijuu is near… There in that mist is a bijuu lying in wait to be captured by Akatsuki and to lure me in." Kasumi explained as she folded her vest and put it into a scroll with the sealing brace and put her flak jacket on as she left it open, revealing her seal for now.
"Then… Why did the academy say you were dead?" Kiba asked with annoyed confusion and Akamaru barked.
"She's been a secret since then until Orochimaru attacked the chunin exams that one time… She knew a lot of things that people would be after and was kept in Hiruzen-sama's ANBU. This is a high class secret." Yamato explained as Shino stood calmly and Kiba was gaping slightly.
"Now the cat is out of the bag. We better get to it then and confirm what I've sensed in the mist… But it seems like we've been spotted." Kasumi sighed, looking behind her at the smoke screen in the trees and mist.
"What are we going to do Kasumi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his voice firm, clearly showing the upsetting emotions he felt earlier at seeing Kasumi's seal once again.
"If Akatsuki are around and there are four like we've been told, we're out numbered. We need to take out these small fries before they interfere so I want a quick and clean job before we advance to the lake." Kasumi explained as the team nodded. "Kiba, Akamaru, you guys rip those trees down like last time and Naruto and I will collaborate out wind natured chakra to blow it away, in the mean time, Yamato, take Shino and meet up with Kiba and Akamaru and engage with the enemy. Got it?" Kasumi asked and they all nodded as Kiba stepped up with Akamaru and smirked as he cracked his knuckles.
"Let's do this Akamaru. Gatsuuga!" He called, heading into the smoke screen as he hit the trees and Kasumi nodded at Yamato and Shino as they jumped down into the mist once the trees had been ripped away.
"Okay Naruto, I'm going to teach you something really quick here. You're going to take my tanto's and use them exactly how Asuma has shown you before and I'm going to concentrate my chakra into your back. When you're ready, slash the blades in an X-shape and release your chakra, like the collaboration you did with Gamatatsu remember?" Kasumi asked, passing her tanto's to Naruto as she stood behind him and placed her hands on his back.
"Okay, I've got it Kasumi-sensei." Naruto said calmly, taking a deep breath as he began to concentrate his chakra into the tanto's.
"Wind Style: Hurricane jutsu." Kasumi said, concentrating her chakra into Naruto as he felt it and slashed the blades as mini whirlwinds of wind ripped through the smokescreen and made it dissipate quickly before they heard a roar and Kasumi flinched with a strangled gasp, putting her hand over her seal.
"Kasumi-sensei!" Naruto turned around in worry, placing her tanto back into their holsters before helping her to stand up.
"What the hell are those bastards doing?" Kasumi growled and Naruto scowled.
"I'll go and see." Naruto said determinedly as he jumped off.
"Naruto wait!" Kasumi called after him before she flinched and dropped to her knees.
"Kasumi-sensei, are you okay?" Sakura asked, arriving with Hinata as they both crouched by her.
"I'm fine. I need to go after Naruto. Yamato and the rest of the team are down there facing the earlier villains, give them back up, I'll be fine." Kasumi reassured as she stood up. Both Sakura and Hinata gave her one more worried glance before they jumped down towards the ground and Kasumi took off after Naruto's chakra signature she could barely sense through the pain and mist as her seal spread that little bit further.
Naruto's signature was easier to trace in the mist because of her weakening from the Sanbi's chakra, the Kyuubi was easier to sense than a human's chakra so she was running in blind through the mist exactly like Naruto… Akatsuki could be waiting for either of them right in that mist by the Sanbi.
Pink glittering caught her eyes as she focused her eyes and saw the crystal element once again, five pillars raised up high with a huge dome in the middle of it and Naruto getting closer and closer to it by the second as she could swear she saw his two toads once again.
Kasumi swore under her breath as the water began to ripple and the roar of the bijuu was heard once again as the crystal began to break down and glitter as it fell into the water. There were only two water-based bijuu the Sanbi and the Hachibi and she knew where the Hachibi was… This was all a sick and dirty ploy against Kasumi as she used the burn on her stomach to fuel her power and anger as she got her adrenaline running. Guren was still over there as there was glittering of what looked like a meteor shower, hitting against the Sanbi as she saw Guren glittering above the Sanbi attacking with her crystal element.
Guren dived down towards the Sanbi with a giant crystal blade on her arm before the Sanbi roared once again and it was enough to shatter the crystal and knock Guren back with the shockwave. The waving water was getting harder and hard to run on and so Kasumi pulled out one of her kunai and began to throw it and catch it as she flashed each time so it didn't drop into the water. It may not have been faster but it was easier over the raging rapids of the water.
Kasumi's senses spiked as her eyes caught a glint of blue and looked to see a steady and amazingly strong chakra shooting up into the sky and making the five crystal pillars glow brightly and Kasumi knew this was her chance even though she felt nauseous and felt like she was being stabbed by the pain of her seal.
"You idiot Naruto!" Kasumi yelled at him as she got to one of the crystal pillars and tensed with power as she felt the pillar was breaking with the vibration of power the kid with the amazing chakra was giving off.
"Sealing Arts: Five Pointed Beast Sealing Jutsu!" Kasumi called as the pillars glowed brighter and crystallized seals began to wrap around the Sanbi and seep into it like a needle as it roared and broke two pillars and sent a shockwave of water outwards but it was stopped by Kasumi's full seal that was beginning to take affect as a transparent rainbow coloured film formed over the Sanbi from the remaining three pillars and two others that were formed by black seals standing up like totem poles.
"Kasumi-sensei, what was that?" Naruto asked as he sat on Gamatatsu and swam up next to her as she carefully removed her hands from the pillars and began stepping back for now as the Sanbi began to struggle against the seals.
"It was… A sealing barrier for now… We need to leave." Kasumi said, panting from chakra exhaustion and pain before she tensed.
"The perfect death by art… Katsu!" It was a voice Kasumi had never heard before but it was sly none the less and she saw Naruto tense up in the same manner as she saw an extremely large white bird flew between them and the sealing pillar and lit up. Kasumi turned and hooked Naruto with her arm as she dove with him into the water as the explosion hit full force, breaking the rest of the pillars and making the Sanbi angrier as it roared once again and created another huge shockwave, separating Naruto from Kasumi underwater as they both blanked out.
A/N 'Kasumi? Hm I think Deidara-senpai is taking care of a Kasumi right now.' What Tobi means here is the name 'Kasumi' means 'Misty Morning' in Japanese if i researched it right and it's also a pun for what she would be going into with the Sanbi and the mist surrounding the lake. Tobi also means Deidara has basically put dibs on taking on Kasumi and killing her for her betrayal to Akatsuki. I really battle writing this so i apologise for typos and things that don't make sense to you (They made sense to me?)
R&R my Lovelies!