"A mission?" questioned Sasuke. His interest had now been peaked. Suigetsu and Juugo had either been a member of his team, or residing in one of Orochimari's hideouts for years. The only time they would have had to join any village or organization would have been the year since he last saw them. However, he really didn't think it was their style. How was it that they were on a mission?
"Yeah, a mission," repeated Suigetsu.
"For who exactly?" asked Sasuke.
Neji sat back and listened to the exchange. Sasuke was definitely more pressing of his comrades than he thought he would be.
Suigetsu sighed.
"It's a long story," said Juugo.
"Hey, wait….isn't this the second need for a long story in the last five minutes?" asked Ino. "Will someone please just tell us what is going on already?"
"You first," said Suigetsu nodding to Sasuke.
"Oh alright. I can fill in the details later, but essentially when I wanted to kill Itachi, I came up with a plan that involved these two. I killed Orochimaru and then I needed to form a team to help me track him down. It was myself, Juugo, Suigetsu, and a woman named Karin who is now being held in the Leaf," said Sasuke.
"Karin's in Konoha?" asked Suigetsu. "I always wondered what happened to that windbag." He snickered.
"Knock it off, Suigetsu," Sasuke countered. It was as if they hadn't been apart at all this last year. Sasuke treated him virtually the same way.
"Sasuke, have you seen her?" Juugo asked. Juugo was still kind and caring despite his intermittent inability to control his anger.
"Yeah, I while ago. I've been kind of busy," said Sasuke. "She's fine…for now, at least."
"So these two were on your team when you went against Konoha?" asked Neji for clarification.
"They were with me when I killed Itachi and then when I turned against the Leaf, yes," Sasuke confirmed. "They were with me until the day I helped Naruto defeat Tobi and the Akatsuki."
"Wow, you did?" asked Suigetsu.
"So now what about you guys? What is this all about?" asked Sasuke.
"I guess we should start from when the war ended. After the war, the two of us were left alone and had no idea where you or Karin may have gone," explained Juugo.
"…not that I care if I ever saw that pain-in-the-ass woman ever again…," added Suigetsu under his breath, but still loud enough for others to hear.
Juugo gave him a look that essentially told him to shut up. He continued, "To be honest, I had planned to find the nearest cave and disappear from society once again. Suigetsu actually did me a huge favor by convincing me that I had the ability to control it now after all of our travels with you and Team Taka."
"Don't let him fool you. He did find a cave and it took me three days to get him back out again," added Suigetsu.
"He was right though. I have controlled it even though there have been several stressful situations that we've had to endure," said Juugo.
"Such as?" asked Sasuke, now curious at what Juugo had to endure since they were separated.
"Most of the time wasn't too bad," said Juugo. "We wandered from country to country performing odd jobs, supporting ourselves…"
"That doesn't seem like you," said Sasuke. "Suigetsu, you've always had more drive than to just wander….oh, I get it."
"Get what?" asked Juugo.
Suigetsu smiled.
"You steered him to the places you thought the other swords might be," said Sasuke.
"Yes, I did," nodded Suigetsu proudly. "I didn't think he cared since he really didn't have anywhere else to go anyway. And now with this 'world peace' we have going on now, I wasn't in any particular hurry to collect them all. It's more of a hobby now."
"So I still don't know what all of this is about," said Sasuke. "Why did you take these two children? If all you've been doing has been wandering and supporting yourselves, where does the mission part come in?"
"We happened to be in a large village in the middle of Fire Country about a month ago," said Juugo.
"We were on our way towards Hidden Mist…," added Suigetsu.
"After we completed a few tasks for some locals, word must have gotten around because we were summoned to a large house right outside of the village," said Juugo. "It turned out that there were a few elders there who wanted to contract our services as shinobi."
"…and what exactly did they want you to do?" asked Sasuke, now starting to put the pieces together.
"They claimed to be patriots of the Leaf who had retired to the countryside outside Konoha. However, they had come upon some information…given to them by the Daimyo himself….that there was a danger to the village. One of the clans was plotting a coup and they wanted to stop it at all costs," said Juugo.
"That sounds vaguely familiar," said Sasuke aloud. "Go on. Were you told to eliminate the clan?"
"N-no," answered Juugo.
Could I be wrong? asked Sasuke to himself.
"We were told that these two," he started, nodding at the two unconscious bodies still lying on the ground, "Were the key to the coup. They held all the power that the clan would use. It was something about being able to read emotions."
"Well, that's part's true," said Sasuke. "But the rest is not, let me assure you."
"What do you mean?" asked Suigetsu.
"I'm sure you have very good intentions and if what these elders told you was true, you would, in fact be doing the Leaf a favor. However, I have served on a team with these two and even survived a near-death experience. They would never betray Konoha. I know that from the bottom of my soul. What you have been told is a falsehood," said Sasuke.
"But - ," Juugo started.
"So what will you do now?" interrupted Ino. Neji and Ino stood there mesmerized by the story these two supposed enemies told them. But no matter what, they still had a duty to ensure the safety of both the village and its inhabitants, including the twins."
"I don't like to fail, but," said Suigetsu.
The three Konoha shinobi cringed awaiting Suigetsu's next words.
"I guess we have no choice but to listen to you, Sasuke," finished Suigetsu.
"Based on your actions in the past, can we assume your next stop is the village where those elders live?" asked Juugo.
"Yes," said Sasuke. "I have a bad feeling about all of this and we need to end it….now. Will you take us there?"
"Absolutely," said Suigetsu.
"We're going, too," said Neji.
"Juugo, can you carry the twins until they come around?" asked Sasuke. "You probably have the most strength of any of us."
"Yes," said Juugo. "They should be waking up within the hour. Here's what we gave them." He reached out towards Sasuke with a small vial of liquid in his hand. "They gave this to us to help with the mission."
Ino aggressively snatched the vial from Juugo before Sasuke could touch it. She opened it up and smelled it. It was foul, so she crinkled her nose almost immediately. After she put the top back on, she commented, "Historically, this stuff is potent, but predictable. There's no long-term risk here. We just have to wait for them to wake up."
"Thank goodness," said Sasuke. He breathed a little sigh of relief now knowing that it wasn't inadvertently poison that they had been given.
Juugo scooped up the two prone bodies from the ground.
"Let's go," said Sasuke. "You two lead the way."
"We're on it," said Suigetsu, who started running in the direction they had just come from.
OlOlOlOlOlO
The strange new group ran across the ground and flew through the trees. Not much was said as most of the members of the group were thinking about what had happened and trying to figure out if their guard should be up or if these new people were now on their side or not. Sasuke was the keystone and for now, they decided to trust in him when it came to the others.
"Huh," said Ino aloud.
"What?" asked Sasuke.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were returning to the Leaf," she remarked. "It's so strange that we have enemies so close to home."
"Yeah, but no one knows they are enemies," remarked Neji. "It seems to me they pull their strings from behind the scenes."
Suigetsu was in the lead followed closely by Neji and Juugo. Sasuke and Ino took the rear. Sasuke kept a close eye on Sumato and Kanja looking for signs awakening.
Suddenly Juugo stopped on a nearby branch and called out. Suigetsu and Neji quickly turned around.
"What's up?" asked Suigetsu.
Juugo carefully laid the two bodies on a large flat branch. Sasuke could both see and hear that them waking up was imminent. Ino kneeled down next to Kanja while Sasuke did the same with Sumato.
"Wha...?" Sumato immediately started shielding his eyes from the small speckles of sunlight that made it down to his face through the treetops. Sasuke helped him sit up.
"How are you feeling?" asked Sasuke.
"Sasuke?" asked Sumato, still obviously getting his bearings. He blinked a few times and then looked around. He could see a few Leaf shinobi and his sister lying down next to him. He looked to the other side and saw...
"Whoa!" he shouted and immediately backpedaled and scrambled to his feet.
"It's ok, Sumato. They're with me," said Sasuke.
"But they...they were the ones that...," Sumato tried to spit out the words.
"Yes, but there is a story behind it," said Sasuke. "Just calm down for now."
"A-are you sure?" asked Sumato.
Sasuke nodded and actually smiled for his young friend. "This is Juugo and Suigetsu. They have been teammates of mine in the past. We think they may have been tricked into kidnapping you. As soon as they found out, they decided to help us to figure out the culprits behind all this."
"Teammates?" repeated Sumato.
"Yes," said Sasuke. "From my dark past."
Sumato knew exactly what Sasuke was referring to. He looked over at Kanja who was now completely awake as well and was quietly listening to the conversation. Ino helped her stand up.
"So what now?" asked Sumato.
"We are headed to a village near Konoha where the orders to kidnap you were initiated," said Sasuke. "We want to find the elders who told Juugo and Suigetsu that your clan was going to attempt to take over the Leaf and...," said Sasuke.
"WHAT? But that's not...we weren't...," interrupted Sumato.
"Relax, brother. They know it isn't true," interjected Kanja. "Can't you tell?"
Sumato looked at his companions. He took the time to use his gift to read the situation. Kanja was correct - no one was even questioning the fact that it was a lie.
"Oh," he muttered.
"Are you two feeling up ready to the small trek to get to the village?" asked Ino.
"Yes," said Sumato.
"I think so," agreed Kanja.
"Let's get going then," said Sasuke. "The sun will be setting soon. We'll stop outside the village to discuss the plan going forward. Agreed?"
Everyone nodded back at him and they took off following Suigetsu and Juugo once again.
OlOlOlOlOlO
The sun had just set when the group dropped to the ground right outside the village.
"I know we don't have any camping equipment with us, but let's try to make due for one night," said Sasuke.
"Are you going to town for supplies?" asked Neji.
"Yes," replied Sasuke. "I will go and...Ino and Neji, you both come with me. The others can't show their faces for fear of being recognized. We'll get food and a few blankets...you four can start a fire. Oh, and start brainstorming a plan for tomorrow, too."
As they started to walk away, Neji said to Sasuke, "Are you sure it is a good idea to leave the four of them behind?"
"If you are nervous, you can feel free to stay behind as well," said Sasuke.
Neji hesitated. "Yeah, I think I may stay behind. I don't know these two as well as you do. It would make me feel better to stay behind."
"Suit yourself," said Sasuke. "Ino, let's go."