Village in Distress: A New A-Ranked Mission!
My dad took a protective stance in front of Sakura and myself.
"It was worth teaching you Genjutsu training for the Genin exam." he said to Sakura. "You truly do have a talent for it. I want both of you to release the Genjutsu, and wake Naruto and Shikamaru."
I turned my head over my shoulder and saw both boys still unconscious by the back wall.
"Naruto will be delighted, he'll be getting a mission after all this time." dad added. "But be careful, it's your first A-rank assignment since the Land of Waves."
Sakura and I gasped and exchanged glances with each other, gulping.
A sound ninja came up from nowhere and Kovu knocked it out of the way, knocking him unconscious.
"Sensei, why are you sending us off on some mission?" Sakura asked.
"Sasuke is going after Gaara and the other Sand ninja." dad answered, slicing the underside of his thumb with his kunai knife, drawing a little blood. "You two release the Genjutsu, wake Naruto and Shikamaru, and follow Sasuke." he ordered.
"But then, shouldn't we wake Ino and Choji and go in a group?" I asked, "Since our squads do work well together."
"There isn't any time, you have to move quickly, and you'll just barely be pushing the limit on how many squad members to have for a basic patrol unit." dad rebuked, executing a familiar sequence of hand signs and slamming his hand down on the booth in front of him.
In a puff a smoke appeared a small, pug-like dog with brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears, wearing a blue vest with the heno-heno-moheji seal and a Konoha headband on top of his head and bandages on his front, right leg.
Dad then grabbed my hand, cut the underside of my left thumb and executed the same sequence with my left hand and his right.
"Dad, what the hell?" I asked as he slammed my palm down on the back of the booth in front of me.
In another puff of smoke appeared a puppy with white fur, crystal blue eyes, wearing the standard Konoha headband around her neck, and black bandages around all four of her legs.
"Pakkun and Angel will help you guys by tracking Sasuke's scent." dad told us.
"Seriously, you're sending puppies to help us out?" Sakura questioned, a look of confusion on her face.
Pakkun jumped over to her and looked her square in the eyes, "Now listen little girl, don't just go referring to me as just some cute puppy." he scolded.
"But, she didn't even say cute." Helena corrected.
I sighed, "Look sensei I know the standard rules for patrol units, but this is not some standard situation." I pointed out. "And you taught me to always trust my instincts and they're telling me I'm gonna at least need Choji for this as well."
I gave my dad a pleading look and he sighed in defeat. "Fine, just be quick about it."
I clasped my hands together, focusing my chakra. "Release." I muttered. I tapped Choji's forehead and he awoke, blinking.
"What the-where am I?" I asked, rubbing his eyes.
I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down. "We're going on a mission Choji, now c'mon." I motioned for him to follow me.
Angel trotted beside me as we crawled up the stairs. I looked back at Sakura, "I'll wake Shikamaru, you wake Naruto."
"Alright." Sakura replied, nodding her head.
I smiled and crawled over to where Shikamaru was laying. His back was facing me and his head rested on his folded jacket.
"Kristin, what the hell is going on here?" Choji asked me.
"Basically, the Sound and Sand villages are invading us, and Orochimaru is leading the charge." I answered, looking at him. "Sasuke left the arena chasing after Gaara and his teammates, and we've been ordered to follow him."
"We?" Choji questioned.
"Sakura, myself, you, Naruto, and Shikamaru." I clarified. "Something is just telling me that I need both you and Shikamaru, just in case the worst happens."
Sakura released the genjutsu on Naruto and gave me a nod, which I returned.
"Get down!" Kovu called, and I instinctively crouched over Shikamaru, and Choji crouched over me.
I got up and realized my face was inches from his, and my bangs touched his cheek. I moved up off him and clasped my hands together, both index fingers up. "Release."
But when I went to tap his forehead, I saw his eyebrow twitch, and my face sunk. "Shikamaru, you were faking this entire time?" I grumbled.
Pakkun walked over and bit on Shikamaru's leg. Five seconds later, Shikamaru shot up, shaking his leg to get Pakkun off.
"You released Genjutsu too you faker!" I growled. "Why were you pretending to be asleep this whole time?"
Shikamaru scuffed Pakkun by the fur on his neck and sighed. "I didn't want to get involved." he answered, pulling on Pakkun's jowls. "Give me a break, I couldn't care less about any of this."
Pakkun latched onto Shikamaru's hand, causing my best friend to throw it up. I hit Shikamaru in the forehead with my right index and middle finger.
"Sasuke's your friend, therefore you're involved whether you like it or not." I reminded. Then I reached up and grabbed Pakkun, "Release boy."
Pakkun released his grip on Shikamaru's hand, and whimpered when I pulled him down.
"Oto, six o'clock!" Angel shrieked.
I turned around and saw a Sound shinobi coming right toward us. Shikamaru pushed me down to the ground just as Kovu intercepted the Oto shinobi. He had black, jagged marks all over his exposed skin, symbolizing his Stage One Demon Seal.
"No one attacks my little sister when her back is turned." he warned, lacing his arms around the ninja's neck. In a fluid motion, he twisted it and the shinobi fell limp on the ground.
I turned my head away and flinched. "I know it's the influence of the Demon Seal and all, but did you have to break his neck right in front of me?"
"You wanted to be a shinobi sis?" he questioned. "Well welcome to the club." he smirked.
I rolled my eyes and looked up, and was met with Shikamaru's face an inch or less from mine. I felt my cheeks flush and cleared my throat.
"Uh Shikamaru, can you please get off me now?" I asked, nicely. "I kinda can't move my leg."
Shikamaru pushed himself up and chuckled, "Right, sorry. Reflexes I guess." he apologized.
He pulled me to a sitting position and that's when I realized I was still holding Pakkun, who was crushed against my chest.
"Jeez kid, don't grip so hard." Pakkun grumbled, coughing.
"Sorry Pakkun." I apologized.
"Naruto, behind you!" Sakura warned, just as another Sound Shinobi was coming at us.
Then, in another instant, the Sound shinobi was pinned against the back wall by Guy-sensei.
"So-fast." he muttered.
Guy-sensei smiled. "Not just fast, but handsome too." he applied more pressure to his fist and pushed the shinobi through the wall.
My dad and Kovu appeared in front of us.
"Now, I'll explain the mission to you." dad said. "First you are to track down Sasuke and stop him. Then find a safe location and await further orders, that's your mission."
"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"I'll fill you in on the way, now let's go." Sakura said, grabbing Naruto's arm and pulling him out through the opening in the wall.
"And boys," Kovu added, referring to Shikamaru and Choji. "We're trusting you to watch Kristin's back. If anything happens to her, I'll hold both of you responsible."
I scoffed. "Nice bro." I rolled my eyes.
"And Kristin, only use that jutsu as a last resort." dad added.
I nodded. "I know daddy, I know."
"Come on kids." Pakkun ordered, jumping out of the hole, Angel on his heels.
"Bossy little guy isn't he?" Choji pointed out.
"No kidding." Shikamaru agreed.
I grabbed both their arms, "C'mon boys, let's go." I said, jumping out of the hole and pulling them with me.
We ran down the forest path with the two ninja hounds up front, leading us. I glanced up at the sky and saw two rainbows encircling the sun above, and I got another ominous feeling.
"Whatever happens, I've got your back." Helena reminded.
"Only as a last resort will I unleash you." I told her, biting my lip.
Helena just chuckled and grinned, baring her fangs.
"Oh, now I get it." Naruto said, after Sakura finished on cluing him in. "I guess Sasuke had to get all impatient."
"So why drag us into this?" Choji asked. "Sasuke's your teammate, not ours."
"This whole thing is such a drag." Shikamaru complained.
"It can't be helped okay, it's Kakashi-sensei's orders." Sakura reminded.
"And when a Jōnin gives you orders, you follow them." I added. "Those are the rules of being a ninja."
Pakkun sniffed the air, "This way kids." he said, jumping into the trees to the right of us.
"Right." we all said in unison, following him and Angel.
As we leapt across the tree branches I kept glancing at Shikamaru and Choji, who were both on either side of me, and I felt almost guilty for dragging them into this for my own selfish reasons.
"If that thing from before manages to awaken again, I may just have to unleash my full powers, and hopefully having them there will be just enough to keep me in control." I thought, glancing from Choji back to Shikamaru. "And since he volunteered to be my anchor, I can only hope he doesn't get killed because of me. I'll never be able to forgive myself."
I took a deep breath and sighed, looking ahead at my two teammates in front of me. I had to prepare for the worst case scenario, and that meant the possibility of unleashing Helena from her confinements in my subconscious mind and letting her aid me on the battlefield, should the worst come to pass.
Next time…
Naruto: Damn, those ninja chasing us are just so fast.
Choji: We'll never outrun them.
Shikamaru: If they catch us, then that'll be it.
Sakura: So what do we do?
Naruto: I vote we ambush them and kill them before they can kill us.
Shikamaru: We might not win, even if we pull off the ambush successfully.
Naruto: Quit being negative, I don't see you coming up with any ideas.
Shikamaru: Well I have one in mind.
Helena: Next time: A Shirker's Call to Action: Layabout No More!
Shikamaru: This is really not my style, but I guess I have no choice.
Kristin: Shikamaru, what are you planning to do?
A/N: Surprise guys! A double feature. Sorry if the chapters are a bit short, I'll try to make them a bit longer in the future, I just wanted to get these two up to kick off the Invasion of Konoha arc of my story. From here on out i'll be adding a bit more original aspects as well as hints and foreshadowing to future events and such^^ Review please.
XOXO~Cyber
