On to more stuff, as Sasuke meets with his team for what may be the last time for quite a while, and Rei begins her real graduation test!
Stuff;
princessbinas; I fully intend to see Danzo punished for his actions. As for who'll get him, you'll have to wait and see. It could take a while, though.
...
Rei stifled a yelp as she barely avoided yet another snare. It seemed like every damn inch of this place was trapped, and she was faring better than her teammates, she noted, as a high-pitched yelp erupted from several yards to her right.
"Damnit Tobio!" she groaned, as Shoriko tossed a kunai through the heavy rope holding the boy aloft. "We've been in here for almost half an hour, and we still haven't seen any scroll.
"No, I saw one!" the boy breathed, managing to catch himself before he smacked face-first into the earth. "It's up on top of the tree!"
The two kunoichi gaped openly, before Rei blinked, nodding at Tobio as she readied herself for a run. "Give me a boost. It's the one behind you, right?" Receiving a nod in response, she sprinted forwards, jumping into the boy's cupped hands, wincing as he catapulted her higher than she'd expected, easily flying past the tops of the trees. Seeing the scroll tied to the top of the tree, she tossed out a kunai attached to a length of ninja wire, using her makeshift whip to slice through the thin branch holding the scroll in place.
"Nicely done, Rei-san," Shoriko praised, as the Uchiha landed back in Tobio's waiting arms. "It seems we have one of our targets acquired at last."
"I thought I told you to just call me Rei. Besides, there're two more to find before we can get going."
"M-maybe we should check the one we h-have, first?" the male genin interjected, with Rei nodding after a moment as she unfurled the scroll. Her expression turned blank as she scanned the writing, before silently passing it over to her prospective teammates.
"We really need to find the other two. Maybe then we'll be able to figure out this... whatever it is." she sighed, rubbing her forehead as they read the riddle written within.
"Four silent guardians stay ever vigil,
They stand atop the border east.
To find the hidden warrior's sigil,
Look to the Greatest and the Least.
The only truth lies above us all,
And ruin comes to those obsessed.
Look beyond the master's call,
To find the ruin in your quest."
Shoriko muttered to herself for a few moments, before her eyes widened slightly. "It was a lie," she announced. "This is the only scroll. He just said there were three to trick us, to make us use up the time we had. We need to go to the Hokage Mountain, between the Sandaime and the Yondaime."
Rei gaped openly, even as she nodded. "How the hell did you figure that out? I didn't have a clue what it meant."
The red-haired girl flushed slightly. "I read a lot. That's all. In any case, we'd better hurry if we want to get there in time."
Her teammates nodded, all three rushing back towards the village with their new destination in sight.
OoOoO
"Wh-what?" Naruto frowned, his head cocked to one side. "I must've heard wrong- did you say you're leaving the team?"
Sasuke nodded grimly. "It's all to do with the council- now that I've been promoted, everyone's going to try and fast-track me to jounin so it looks like the clan is recovering. I've got a training program lined up already, but I won't be able to stay on Team Seven while I'm going through it..."
His teammates shared stricken looks with one another. Sakura spoke first, as Iruka stood some distance back. "Sasuke-kun... where are you going?"
He grimaced. "I... can't say."
"Well, who are you going to be training with?" Naruto retorted heatedly, jumping to his feet.
"I can't tell you that either." Sasuke muttered, ready for the explosion. He was disappointed, however, as Naruto simply took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled raggedly, suppressing his reaction as best he could.
"So it's ANBU then," he guessed, nodding as he took in Sasuke's blank expression. "Ask no questions and tell me no lies, right?"
"...It could be." the Uchiha hedged. If Kakashi's plan to get rid of Danzo was going to work, Sasuke would have to disappear into the faceless ensemble that was Konoha's special forces for a few months, just until he could either declare himself independent or Kakashi could apply for an apprenticeship, which would have to wait until after the man was fully recovered at the very least.
"Damn. How long, do you think?" Naruto's expression was set in a grin, but his eyes were uncharacterisically dull. "'Cause, I'll tell you here and now, that many babysitting D-ranks ain't gonna be cheap."
"It's not an official thing, so I should be done in a couple months," Sasuke sighed. "For whatever it's worth, guys, I'm sorry about this- breaking up the team."
"It's odd, though," Iruka noted. "The timing, I mean. Shouldn't something like this be the Hokage's decision?"
"Part of it is that Hokage-sama's not available for however long it takes for Tsunade to heal him," the chuunin shrugged. "Also, there're a lot of teams that got... separated, with the invasion. They're going to try and fill the gap as soon as I'm gone, I'd bet."
"They're trying to replace you?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "They're out of their minds."
"Naruto!" their sensei admonished, pulling him aside to try and impress on him the importance of respecting your elders.
Sakura tuned out the lecture/argument, pulling Sasuke into a hug. "Take care of yourself, Sasuke-kun. Don't get in over your head, alright?"
For once, Sasuke didn't resist the embrace, returning the gesture as Naruto and Iruka finished ranting at one another long enough to wish him well. He turned to leave, swallowing thickly. "I'll see you guys around."
"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called, just before he stepped out of sight. "When you come back, we're gonna have a proper fight, 'kay? Make sure you're good enough to give me a challenge!"
"Keep dreaming, Uzumaki!" he called back, a cocky smirk making its way onto his face despite his best efforts. "I just want to have to put some actual effort into it next time!"
They saluted one another casually, as Sasuke elected to vanish in a Shunshin, grinning at his team as he blurred away.
OoOoO
Rei jammed her kunai into the rock wall, creating hand- and foot-holds for her teammates to make the last few metres to the top of the monument. "You guys alright to climb up?" she called down, sweating with exertion.
"Y-yeah," Tobio replied, boosting Shoriko up ahead of himself. "W-we'll be up in a s-second."
Rei sank to the ground, taking out a soldier pill as her hands shook. If they'd taken the long way around to reach the peak, they would have been at least another half-hour, and it was already past eleven. Just as well she'd known how to wall-walk up the near-vertical sections of the cliff, she mused, as she pulled Shoriko up the last couple of feet to the plateau.
"Heh," came a gravelly voice, as a dark-skinned man faded into existence. "A couple of kids out here all alone? My lucky day..." he hissed, lashing forwards with a kick, Rei managing to throw herself and her teammate out of the way just before his strike landed. She focused for a second, forcing her bloodline to activate as two tomoe spun in each eye.
The man turned to face them, revealing a scratched Getsugakure hitae-ate. "An Uchiha? Nice. I'll get a good price for you."
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Rei called, blasting the man with a ball of flame. She ducked back as he lunged again, drawing him further away from the stunned-looking Shoriko. "Our sensei'll be here in a few minutes. I think taking down a missing-nin'll look good for our team's test."
"You mean that guy with the scarf?" the missing-nin scoffed, pulling out a serrated blade from behind his back. "He wasn't even an issue- moron never even saw me coming." His face split into an evil grin and he dashed forwards again, slashing wildly, until a flash of light cut off his assault. He turned in time to see Shoriko glaring at him, electricity sparking between her fingers.
"Raiton; Renzokuya." she murmured tonelessly, shorts bolts of lightning releasing from her fingertips, pushing back their assailant as he dodged, only for him to deflect the last one with a flare of chakra protecting his blade.
"Lightning specialist? Interesting. But you should know that neither of you stand a chance against me."
"There's three of us!" came a shaky cry, as Tobio pointed dramatically at the enemy in front of him. "We're a team!" he continued, yanking a chunk of rock up from the ground with shocking ease and launching it towards the enemy, knocking him back and allowing the kunoichi to unleash another ranged assault.
The missing-nin growled, as the blond-haired genin jumped ahead, his shield held out to block the blade before it could hit him. "You three think you can take me out?"
"We know it," Rei grinned, tossing out two wired kunai to pin the man in place, one of them looping around his sword and landing by Shoriko as Rei cut herself free from the metal strings. "Uchiha specialise in beating the odds. Shoriko!"
"Right," the other girl agreed, snatching the kunai up from the ground and making her handseals. "Raiton; Shibari Haji." she grunted, lightning arcing along the wire and surging through the man's body, locking his muscles in place long enough for Tobio to slam his shield down onto the man's skull, bursting him into a cloud of smoke.
"What the hell?" Rei asked, confused, before the sound of clapping sent all three of them into combat stances once again. Jumaru was sitting atop a boulder with a grin on his face.
"Congratulations!" he cheered. "I was hoping to split you up, try and force you to make some tougher decisions, but it's pretty clear you all understood the true purpose behind the genin test."
"Teamwork, right?" Tobio chimed in, a wary smile on his face. "I remembered aniki t-talking about his test b-before." he shrugged in embarassment as the jounin quirked a brow at him.
"Yes, that does sound like Noboru. In any case... you pass!" Jumaru's smile grew wider as he saw Rei pull her teammates into a celebratory hug. "We'll meet at eight o'clock tomorrow. Same training ground as this morning. I'll see you then!"
"Hai, Jumaru-sensei!" the trio chorused, sharing grins between themselves as they headed back towards Konoha.
OoOoO
Sasuke made his way through an earthen tunnel, taking special care not to bump against the unsupported ceiling as his destination finally came in sight. He released the illumination technique Iruka-sensei had used to teach him the basics of raiton, shaking out the minor cramps in his hand as he knocked on the wooden door ahead, in the same pattern Kakashi had shown him. An ANBU member wearing a familiar mask appeared out of nowhere beside him, awaiting an explanation.
"Inu sent me. Authorisation code: Last of many, first of one." Sasuke muttered in hushed tones. Kame nodded, taking out a key and opening the door, holding out a hand before the chuunin could enter.
"ANBU isn't like regular forces. I know Inu and Neko vouched for you, and explained what the plan is but I want you to know what you're getting into. While you're here, there is no more Uchiha Sasuke. You will not be able to contact your team, or your clan, when you're on duty. You will not be able to use your real name here. You will be broken more times than you can count, just to be put back together and start again. Are you ready to do what must be done?"
Sasuke stared emotionlessly back at the mask. "I will do whatever I have to, to protect what's important."
Kame looked him over once more, before passing a pile of black cloth to the teen. "This is your uniform. You will be expected to report for duty with a full uniform in good condition every morning, barring long-term missions," he instructed, before passing the boy the last piece of equipment piled behind him. "Your mask must remain on any time you are outside of your assigned sleeping quarters. Your name for the duration of your stay in ANBU will be Taka, the hawk." Sasuke stared grimly at the bird-of-prey design in blood-red dye, before pulling the mask on, rolling out the attached hood to conceal his hair.
"I am ready, Kame-senpai." he stated, receiving a brief nod in response.
"Good. I'll show you the base this afternoon, and leave you to get some rest for tomorrow. You will need it."
OoOoO
"Umino-san, in light of Uchiha Sasuke's reassignment, you will be assigned a new member to fill the fourth position on your team." Koharu informed the young jounin, who started at the news, his two genin looking shocked behind him.
"This soon? Sasuke's only been gone for a few hours." Iruka asked, bewildered. He flinched as she glared at him, but refused to back down.
"The invasion left us in chaos, and with Sandaime-sama in no fit state to make these decisions, it is left to myself and Homura to do so. The genin we are assigning you comes highly recommended by his former teacher, who perished along with his other students in an attack by the Suna forces," Koharu gestured to the ANBU to bring in the boy. "It has... affected his emotional capacity, but his skills are easily chuunin-level. Your team will be ready for the next chuunin exams when Taki holds them."
A very pale, dark-haired boy wearing a too-short jacket that showed his midriff entered the room with an odd, placid smile on his face. "Greetings. My name is Sai. I hope we can get along."
...
Done.
I'm not fully happy with the end, but I didn't wnat to leave you guys hanging. Next chapter will have Sai attempting to integrate himself into Team Seven. See you guys then!
