A/N:

Hello everyone! Time for an update!

This story has been rated M for a reason - you have been warned.

Happy Reading! ^^

Chapter 9. Blood

Later.

It was nearly midnight when they set out to pursue their lead. Their supposed targets were in their sights and each member of the team in place ready to strike. The lucky ones were Genma and Akane who were acting as backup, keeping enough distance from the sleazy club — The Red Boudoir — they were infiltrating. Then again keeping the team medic safe from potential harm was a priority. The place was dark, illuminated by red lights coming from the dance stage and from the bar. It was busy, filled with plenty of patrons watching half-naked young women twirl on stage while drowning themselves in overpriced alcohol. Nami was dressed in a uniform that the waitresses of the club wore — a very short black glossy leather dress that barely covered her ass, with a deep plunging neckline. Her flaxen hair was up in a high ponytail while her face was adorned with a provocative red lip — Mei's handiwork as per usual. Even though she was uncomfortable in her attire, she remained focused on task at hand. She was a shinobi and the mission took priority over her own comfort. They needed to find their primary target, an Amegakure merchant by the name of Nobutada that frequented Kokudō and its disreputable places of entertainment every week like clockwork. They were close to completing their mission.

She was working the room, making her way through the seedy club, keeping her eyes She glanced up to the stage, seeing Mei finish up dancing a number and disappearing backstage. Nami took a deep breath, feeling thankful that she was playing the role of a waitress. She couldn't imagine standing up on that stage in front of everyone a

She noticed a much older man waving to her. In his lap he had one of the dancers, keeping him company. Nami made her way over, holding a tray with two empty glasses.

"What's your name beautiful?" the man asked, eyeing her up and down like a piece of meat.

When his eyes rested upon her chest for a moment longer before looking at her face once more, Nami felt a sudden need to punch him in the face. But she was playing a role. She gave him a dazzling smile and answered with a sweet voice," Midori. Can I get you anything handsome?"

The man grinned, letting his eyes wander before he suggested," A bottle of your finest sake and perhaps your company? There's a spot for you right here," he patted his free leg.

She was a shinobi. She was a professional. She was not going to murder this random pervert.

"I will bring you your drink shortly," she offered sweetly, and she turned on her heels and made her way towards the bar, holding the empty tray.

She looked at the bartender and gave him the order. While she waited, she glanced around the busy place. Her eyes fell onto a familiar face. There was Kakashi, now alone in a dark booth, nursing a cup of shochu. She followed his gaze, realizing that he was indeed watching the half-naked dancers twirl on the large stage. Nami felt a hint of anger flare within her — or was it jealousy? She turned back to the bar as her tray was filled with a bottle of sake and clean shot glasses and she made her way over to the older man.

"Here's your order," she said quickly as she set the items onto the table quickly.

Without giving the man a chance to respond, she collected the tray and moved away from the man before he had a chance to reach for her. She glanced over to the copy-nin. He was the team captain, it's not like she did not have check in. With her reason all validated, she sauntered over and with ease sat down on his empty lap. She leaned in closer as she felt his arm wrap around her waist almost instantly. How smart that he chose to hide in a dark booth. She reached her hand forward, touching the edge of his mask and then effectively pulling it down, exposing his entire face just to her.

Daringly, she pressed her lips against his neck, leaving her mark before she spoke with a husky tone right into his ear, "Is there anything I can get for you captain?"

His hand moved from her waist to her rear, giving it a tight squeeze. Pleased with his reaction, Nami pressed her lips against his skin, right against his jaw.

"We have to stay focused on the mission Nami," he said rather quickly as he gazed at her.

"I am focused. I am merely checking in with my captain," Nami replied as she let her hand slide down his chest.

"Minx," Kakashi growled and he pressed his lips against hers.

The feel of his lips upon hers ignited a fire within her. This was something new between them and she was enjoying every moment of it. She couldn't wait to enjoy it completely in the safety of their village while off-duty. They had a mission to complete.

Nami broke the kiss and spoke right against his lips," I gotta check on Mei. She's been backstage for far too long."

"Be on guard," he warned before he allowed her to slip off his lap.

Nami nodded as she straightened herself and grabbed the empty tray, heading back towards the backstage.

There was no sight of Mei. She ventured down the backstage and turned her way towards the private rooms, carrying the empty tray and pretending to collect empty cups and bottles of alcohol. As she made her way through the hallway outside the private rooms, she tuned out the sound of panting and moaning. Then, as she reached the last one, she recognized Mei's voice, engaging another in a conversation amidst soft moans.

"Mmm… you can tell me anything Nobu-san, I am here to please you."

"Ah… Pein-sama would have my head if he knew I was speaking of his organization so freely."

"Who would I tell Nobu-san? I am merely curious why such a handsome and powerful man like you leave Amegakure for this small patch of land?"

"I'm following orders little flower."

Nami remained outside the door, taking in the information. It would seem that Mei found the target and proceeded with the extraction.

"I will tell you a secret."

"Oh yeah?"

"Pein and his angel will bring order to the world like he did with Amegakure."

"Angel?"

"Hai, she's a woman who controls paper and his most trusted confidant."

"Oh, Nobu-san, I'll take care of your secret."

BLAST!

Out of nowhere an explosion ruptured through the entire club, wrecking the place into a mass of debris Nami surged her chakra to surround her body in an instant as she was thrown by the pressure of the detonation. As she tried to sit up, she noticed that her vision was hazy and unsteady. She didn't hear anything — no doubt a physical reaction to the loud explosion. Slowly, she managed to pull herself up to her feet, noticing that there were others who survived the blast, crawling on all fours, trying to escape into safety before the entire building collapsed. This was not how it was supposed to go. She channeled her chakra into her hand, aiming to summon Shiori. As she released the seal against the ground, a small black cat jumped out of the smoke.

"Hey boss! Oh, what happened here?" Sora asked as she looked around the dilapidated hallway.

The feline brought her paw in front of her nose as the smoke from the eruption intensified.

"Sora? I meant… to summon Shiori. Shit…."

"Boss?"

"Stay close to me Sora," Nami ordered as she made her way towards the room where Mei was interrogating the target.

The feline followed behind her summoner. Nami looked inside, her vision steadying as she noticed that the door was gone and there was a gaping hole in the ceiling. At first, her eyes fell onto a man crushed under a pile of debris. This was no doubt Nobutada. Then she glanced over to the other side and noticed her best friend, laying against the wall, her arms reaching towards her.

"Na…mi."

"MEI!" Nami exclaimed, but then she started to cough as she made her way through the smoke.

As she reached her friend, her eyes fell onto the thick piece of wood that was plunged through Mei's midsection. Nami dropped onto her knees, her eyes wild as she attempted to comprehend what she was seeing.

"No, no, no, no! Come now Mei, stay with me," Nami pleaded as she pressed her hand against the wound on Mei's abdomen.

"G-Go," Mei said weakly as blood exited from her mouth.

"No, I need to get you out of here. I need to get you to the hospital," Nami shook her head as she kept her hand on Mei's wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"M-Mission …. firsst," Mei managed to utter.

"I'm not leaving you behind. Goddamnit Mei, stay with me!" Nami pleaded desperately.

"MEI! MEI!"

As the last of life left Mei's body and her eyes became vacant, Nami moved her hands from the wound to Mei's face, hoping to see a flicker of life. When the reality of the situation set in, Nami pulled Mei's lifeless body against her, cradling her as she sobbed into her shoulder. As her wails slowed down, she gently pulled away and set down Mei onto her ground.

"I'm not leaving you here Mei. You're coming home with me," Nami managed to utter through her tears.

"Sora, I need a sealing scroll," Nami said to the feline.

"Hai," the feline replied and quickly unraveled the scroll for Nami to use.

Nami gently set down Mei's body next to the scroll and then pressed the hand seal to activate it. As soon as she finished sealing Mei's body into the scroll, she hurriedly wrapped it up and stowed

"Sora, you can go. I don't want to lose you too," Nami said softly to the feline.

"As you wish," the feline replied and in a cloud of smoke she vanished as quickly as she came.

Nami weakly straightened herself up, clutching the scroll in her hand while her other hands came up to wipe her tears away, only to smear blood on her face. She looked at her hands, realizing that she was covered in ash and blood when-

"Nami!"

She recognized that voice right away. As she glanced over to the doorway and saw the copy-nin standing there, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. They were lucky.

"Kakashi! Mei… she didn't make it. She…. she," Nami managed to say as she glanced down to her hands.

The blood. Mei's blood.

"We have to leave now. We've been compromised," Kakashi ordered and he quickly hooked a headset onto her ear.

Nami let him do such, as she was too traumatized to do anything. Her eyes remained on her hands and her body began to shake.

"We have to go Nami!" he urged once more as she didn't move from her spot.

Not wasting any time, Kakashi grabbed a hold of her petrified body and jumped out of the debris, disappearing quickly among the chaos that surrounded the entire area.

A few hours later.

They were on the outskirts of the Bear country, running through the dense foliage. Their cover was blown and now the enemy chased after them. This was a reconnaissance mission that turned into a bloodbath. A team of five reduced to a team of four.

"We need to get past the river into Fire country. They won't be able to follow us after that, not without triggering ANBU protocol," Kakashi announced into the radio set as they bounced through the trees.

"What happened?! Everything went according to plan! How could they have found us?' Genma yelled through the radio set as they were dodging their pursuers.

"Mei was with the target. The target mentioned a woman who controls paper and then that the Akatsuki had a God as a leader. The name he divulged was Pein. That Pein will bring order to the world like he did with Amegakure," Nami stated into the radio set with a shaky voice.

In her right hand she held a sealing scroll, the blood from her hands imprinting onto it. Her whole body ached and yet she ignored it as she pushed through, wanting nothing more than to see the gates of their village again.

"Kakashi, are you alright?" Genma asked.

"I can heal your injuries once we escape the pursuit," Akane piped in.

"I'll be fine, just keep going," the silver-haired man replied as he ignored the burns he received from the explosion.

Nami kept her eyes on the road ahead of them, ignoring her injuries — the cuts and burns on her body that screamed for medical attention. Her entire being was shaking desperately. The attack happened so suddenly she had no time to react — if it weren't for Mei and her sacrifice she would have been dead. Her stomach turned viciously causing her to stop for a moment as she proceeded to vomit suddenly. Her free hand reached and then her eyes fell onto their bloodied was Mei's blood. Her hands were stained with her best friend's blood. This was not an ambush, but a massacre. The explosion at the club — that resulted in the death of Kimura Mei among many others as the club came down. Nami barely had the chance to seal Mei's body into the scroll, unwilling to leave the body of her captain and best friend in a pile of debris as the building caved, nearly trapping them underneath its rubble. She collected herself and glanced back, seeing their pursuers catching up to them — a party of twenty Ame shinobi, readying to attack. She pushed herself and continued to run through the forest, following behind Genma and Kakashi.

"Nami body-flick to Konohagakure," Kakashi stated suddenly.

"I am not leaving you three to fight whatever army is behind us and I don't have enough chakra to body-flick all of us!" Nami replied angrily.

"SHIT!" Genma exclaimed and the remaining trio came to a halt.

Their path was blocked by a single man in an Akatsuki robe. They were surrounded. Genma pulled out a set of kunais out of his pouch, readying for an attack. Kakashi ignored the burns on his hand as he prepared his lightning blade, his Sharingan eye scanning the area around them. Nami stood to face the Akatsuki member while Akane, Kakashi and Genma looked towards the group of shinobi that arrived. Was this it? The final showdown? Four Konoha nin against a group of twenty and an S-ranked missing criminal?

"Nice to see you again Nami-chan," the man in the Akatsuki cloak said.

His voice was cold and devoid of emotion.

"Itachi," Nami said out loud, recognizing the tall dark-haired man, hidden by the Akatsuki cloak.

His face was devoid of expression and his Sharingan eyes bore into her. She was not afraid of him and she was not afraid of his Sharingan. Mei wouldn't want her to fear her enemy. She would expect her to stand proud and face her attacker like a true jounin of Konohagakure.

She kept her gaze on the tall Uchiha. They shared a past together. They were friends once. They were comrades once. There was a form of love between them once upon a time. She did not fear him. She faced him, like an equal ready to fight to the death.

"I can't let you hurt my friends Itachi," Nami stated.

"I know," he replied simply.

"What are you waiting for Uchiha? Let's finish them off!" one of the Ame-nin yelled as he readied his axe.

Itachi's eyes traveled from the blonde kunoichi and onto the group's pursuers. They seemed to await his instruction, all of them focusing their eyes onto the Uchiha. His eyes spun, activating the Mangekyo Sharingan, effectively disabling them with ease. Nami looked back to see the Ame shinobi in trance, standing still. Then he eyes glanced back towards her former friend, completely stunned — he was helping them. Itachi met her gaze, remaining silent. Kakashi and Genma then took a step forward, as if shielding Nami from Itachi's Sharingan gaze.

Hatake-senpai," Itachi acknowledged as his sight shifted to the silver-haired jounin.

"Leave this area at once. I won't repeat myself again," the tall Uchiha stated, as his eyes fell back on Nami.

"Hai," Nami spoke softly and she looked at her teammates.

"Let's go. Now!" she urged, and the team disappeared across the river, leaving the Uchiha behind.

A/N: Until next time.