A Mission of Shinobi and Outsiders

Ch. 3 "Fast Friendships Forming"

The newcomers of the Hidden Leaf seemed to settle in quite smoothly. Lady Tsunade offered the group a safehouse to bunk down in, but the children were scared to be alone without one of the new friends they've come to trust. As the Hyūga household were already entertaining political guests, the only clan that had room in the inn was the Inuzuka family who agreed to house them. Suspicious of the strange Genin at first, Tsume soon warmed up a bit though she kept her eye on the girl. The kids finally felt secure now they were within the compound, even though it had only been a day, and of course, enjoyed the company of the many dogs. Though they were a bit wary around Kuromaru. "Thanks again for letting us stay here, Mrs. Tsume." Aggi smiled at the clan leader as her older daughter Hana set out a plate of cookies on the coffee table. The children and Kensha were sitting around the living room with Kiba and the other two Inuzuka members.
"Not to worry, kid. It's the least we could do for you little ones." She grinned at the young black-haired girl, Kuromaru yawning at her feet. Kensha was in an armchair next to the two youngest who were sat on the rug, rolling a ball to each other and Akamaru who would nose it back happily. Nijimaru had since washed the artwork from his arms and was sketching out new designs in a small drawing pad he had kept in one of his many pockets. Konton was lounging on the couch next to Kiba, listening to the conversation though not fully. Yaketa was staring out the window. She had been a bit twitchy since Kensha took away her matches so she would behave herself. It's not that she was a messed-up kid; she just had a small addiction to fire and now had to go cold turkey for a bit. "So, why don't you kids tell us a bit more about yourselves." Hana asked as she sat down next to her brother.

"I'll start." Yaketa turned away from the window to face the group. The annoyed look on her face said she just wanted to get it over with. "I'm the only child of the head of the Akumu clan. My mother's side of the family were originally in the oil business and dad's side were weapon craftsmen. My family are now the main source of ninja weapons for both villages. My grandfather was an Anbu Black Op and it's my life goal to be just like him. Finally, I have a slight problem involving my pyromania and right now I'm jonesing to blow something up!"
"Yaketa!" Kensha gave the girl a look.
"Hey, Dad says the first step is admitting you have a problem." The little Firestarter shrugged.

The greenette artist looked up from his drawings. "I'll take the next turn." He put the pad back in one of his pockets and sat up respectfully. "My family, the Tokage clan, are one of the nobles of the Hidden Demon Village. We are known for our superb Kekkei Genkai. I can't go into details, of course. I myself… am the black sheep of the family. We're expected to either become ninja or get involved with politics. That's not the life I want; I'm a crafter! Paint, wood, clay, even food I can make into something beautiful. But it's my main passion that my clan resents me for… I want to be a Tattoo Artist."
"Why doesn't your family like that?" Orokana asked, rolling the ball back to her sister. "My mommy and daddy love when I'm creative!"
"It's just the way they are." He said as he took his drawing book back out. "Not that I care. I do what I want and if they don't like it, tough!"

Aggi leaned over to pet one of the three Haimaru Brothers that sat by her chair. "We can be next." She smiled as the large dog licked her hand. "The three of us are the youngest members of the Satsujin clan. Almost everyone in the family is an assassin or mercenary for hire. My daddy's the first born to the head of the clan and his twin brother is the father of these two."
"I am his stepdaughter but that doesn't mean anything." Orokana stated, pushing the ball to Akamaru. "Mommy just didn't wanna change my last name."
"Anyway," the older cousin continued, "our family is very large and stretches all over the Land of Creatures. Some of them we've never even met. Due to our numbers, not all of us have to go into the family business."
"I just wanna make people laugh!" the middle cousin giggled.
"Yes, we know, Cuz. You plan on being a circus clown. I'd just prefer to be a R.A.W.S ninja like Kensha. Animals have been my passion since I was bit by an Adder snake when I was three."
"You were only three and survived?" Tsume grinned at the girl, impressed. "Talk about being lucky, kid."
"The snake was doing what nature designed it to do." The eldest Satsujin moved the hair from her neck exposing a fang bite scar. "I wear this with pride. Plus the kids at school like to call me Fang."
Her best friend started to speak, "Oh yeah, well I…"
"Loosing a toe by stepping on a firecracker pales no comparison, Yaketa."

The children laughed at the snappy comeback. Kiba turned to the boy next to him. "What about you, Konton? What's your family like?"
Konton suddenly got noticeably quiet and looked down at his feet. "I…umm…well… *sigh* My family died a long time ago. I just want to make a name for myself, so I'd constantly escape from the orphanage. That's how I was caught by the kidnappers." He smiled a little as he looked up at the kunoichi that rescued him. "Luckily, I never have to go back there."
Kensha tilted her head and grinned back at the boy. "My parents have been trying for another kid for a while now. I'm sure they will adopt you if I ask. Besides, I've always wanted a little brother." The young boy got up off the couch and hugged the older girl. "You'll love it. Since we Inuchusei founded the R.A.W.S, we get to have free range of the local zoo and hands on experience with the animals. We even get our pick of the rescued animals to foster. Mom's the best doctor in the hospital, Dad's a video game designer and my uncle runs the main office for where the R.A.W.S ninja are issued their missions… You'll make a great member of the family."
The Inuzuka family beamed at the happy group. "Well," Kiba glanced at the wall clock, "Akamaru and I are meeting the others at the training ground for our usual session." The pup rolled the toy back to the baby and jumped into his master's coat. "We'll see you guys later." He exited the compound and began to head to his team's training area.
"Hey, Kiba!" he turned around to see Kensha running after him. "You mind if I come along? I could use a good sparring match."
"Well, umm, I don't think…"
"Please…" she smiled at the boy, her eyes shining as the Inuzuka boy turned bright red.

XxXxX

The rest of Team eight, Hinata Hyūga and Shino Aburame, waited at their usual training ground, still awaiting their third member. Shino had already begun working with his kikaichū beetles as usual but the young Hyūga girl kept looking up from her routine questioning where the Inuzuka was.
"I wonder where Kiba and Akamaru could be. It quite unusual for them to be late." She said, looking towards the entrance to the grounds.
"He's probably just caught up." Shino replied without looking up from his workout. "Haven't you heard what happened on his last mission?"
"Neji did mention they ran into some children who were kidnapped, but he didn't go into any details." There came a rustling of leaves from ahead. "Oh, here he comes…" The two turned to see their friend walk through the entrance with the white haired kunoichi. Kensha smiled at the two as they walked up to them.
"Hey guys." Kiba grinned as he approached them. "This is Kensha Inuchusei. She's staying at my place for a while since…well" He explained the situation before finishing introductions.
"So, you're Hinata and Shino. Nice to meet you, Kiba told me a lot about you guys." She replied as she shook their hands. "You don't mind if I train here with you? I'd rather not get rusty while the Tetsudzuki is still on the trail of the kids."
"I…I don't mind." Hinata answered, though Shino seemed apprehensive.
As Team Eight started training in their usual spots, Kensha moved towards a more open area. Forming the hand signs dog, dragon, tiger her nail began to grow sharp, her hair grew wilder and she started to become visibly larger in size. She took of in a zigzag pattern and lunged at a few trees as claw shaped chakra emitted from hands. As she swiped at the bark, a very deep gouge was slashed into the wood. Striking the trees three more times, she zipped back to her original spot. Kiba and the others looked up at her in amazement. "That's… just like my Four Legs Technique!" he thought as he watched the kunoichi, his eyes wide. "That was…impressive, Kensha."
"Thanks." She smiled. "We Inuchusei are known for our Animal Style Justus. In fact, Chakra Claws are the first thing we're taught." The chakra dissipating from her knuckles.
"It seems impressively similar to the Inuzuka's style of fighting." Shino stated in suspicion.
"I wouldn't know." The Hidden Demon ninja shrugged. "But… if you want to compare, I wouldn't mind a little one-on-one, or I guess in your case, one-on-two. Loser buys the winner lunch…unless of course, you're afraid to get beat up by a girl." She snarked. Kiba stared at her, the look on his face said he was obviously up to the challenge.

The two ninja and the Nin-dog faced each other. The seconds felt like minutes as they stared into each other's eyes. Kiba then lunged for Kensha on all fours in his known technique, Akamaru close by his side. As he got ever closer, the kunoichi leapt over the two and slashed back with her chakra claws, narrowly hitting Akamaru. The duo righted themselves and faced her again. His Nin-dog jumped on his back. "Beast Human Clone!" Akamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke and a clone of his master appeared in his place. Growling, the partners raced to attack her from either side, the Akamaru clone laying a strong hit on the girl.
"Great shot, Kiba!" Hinata cheered her teammate on from the side-lines as Shino watched in silence, studying her every move. But as the dog clone got her down onto the grass, she dispersed into a cloud of white fur. Blinded, Kiba's dog fell backwards much to the surprise of them both. Akamaru's clone tried to rub the fine hair from his eyes to no avail. His vision just kept getting even more blurry.
"A Fur Clone will do that to you." Kensha appeared behind the two. Kiba whipped around to face her. "Rubbing won't help it. That stuff is finer than silk." Kiba's clone attempted to glare at her, his eyes almost bloodshot. "It'll wash out later, Akamaru."
"Wait, how did she know that was Akamaru and not me?" Kiba thought as he stepped in front of his companion.
"Yeah," she smirked staring the two down. "you're not the only ones with a keen sense of smell!" The girl dove for the Inuzuka boy. At the last second, she flipped over Kiba and struck the clone face on, causing the pup to turn back into his original form in another cloud of smoke.
"Akamaru!" the small dog slid towards the base of a tree, stopping before he could crash into the roots.
Kensha smiled at the boy. "He'll be fine. Just knocked out." The leaf ninja gave a low growl at the kunoichi. "Seriously! It's not in my nature to hurt animals. Humans on the other hand…" She grinned as she began to claw at Kiba again. The Inuzuka dodged her attacks, getting a fair distance away.
He barked at his opponent as he charged his chakra. "Let's see how you like this!" his body began spinning wildly as he seemed to take flight. "Tunnelling Fang!" Kensha tried to dodge but Kiba had a lock on her scent. He collided with the kunoichi, sending her soaring into the air before she slammed hard against the trunk of a tree as Kiba landed safely on the ground.
The Hidden Demon ninja slowly got up, clutching her stomach as a drop of blood fell from her mouth. "*Huff huff* That was a rather good shot, pal. Been a while since I've had the wind knocked out of me like that." She smiled, wiping the red liquid from her face.
"There's more where that came from." He snapped at her, preparing for another shot.
She glared the Hidden Leaf ninja, the smile never leaving her face. "Then I'd better up my game and end this."
Kiba rushed at her in another Tunnelling Fang. She lunged at him straight on into his attack. "Bad move, girl!" he thought as he slammed into her once more. As his attack met hers, she exploded into another Fur Clone. "Damnit, a trap!" He quickly shielded his eyes with his arm, stopping his Jutsu to land safely. "Darn! Where did she?" he looked around but there was no sign of her.
Suddenly, she zipped out of the trees and latched lightly onto his shoulders. "Nice try, Dog-Boy! Creature Barrel Roll Tai-Jutsu!" The second she placed a foot on the ground, she flew back up in a triple flip, whipping Kiba around violently before releasing her grip. He flew through the air before crashing against the ground, forming a small crater under himself.
"Kiba!" his friends rushed to their teammate's side. The Inuzuka groaned as his team helped him up. Shaking his head, he looked up to see his opponent step forward.
"Looks like I'm getting a free lunch!"

XxXxX

The four ninja made their way through the village towards Ichiraku Ramen. Kiba kept rubbing the back of his head while Akamaru was riding on his shoulder. "Man! That was quite a hard landing you gave me." He said as Akamaru gave a little whimper. "I'm surprised my neck isn't broken."
"Technically, I could have done that if I wanted to. It's just against my morals to kill. Plus, I like you guys." She gave a cheesy grin as Kiba gave a slight blush.
"So, Kensha…" Hinata started, "what is the Land of Creatures like? I've never even heard of such a place existing."
Kensha placed her hands in her hoodie pockets and thought for a moment. "It's a beautiful place to live. Due to the few number of settlements, the wildlife is able to stretch across the island. There are plants and flowers that you won't find anywhere else and the fauna… they're the highlight of my job. Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Kiba mentioned this…R.A.W.S organization you work for." Shino stated. "What exactly does that occupation involve."
"Many of our land's species can only be found on our island. Through the years, overhunting has caused many of them to become endangered. Poachers have become a severe problem, hunting the animals for the Black-Market pet trade or even… 'medicinal purposes'." Kensha shuddered at the heinous term. "The R.A.W.S shinobi dedicate their lives to protect the creatures of our land. Everything from capturing those illegal hunters to the rescue and rehabilitation of the sick and injured, we do what we can to preserve our wildlife."
Kiba grinned at the white-haired girl. "You really care for the animals of your land, huh?" She smiled back, a small blush crossing her cheeks.
"Well," she began, looking away so as to hide the color in her face, "when I was young, I wandered into the woods behind my family's compound. A poacher found me and thought I'd make good bait for his next catch. He strung me up over a pitfall trap for what felt like hours. I thought I was done for until an Armadillo Lizard came along. They're small, spiny reptiles with sharp teeth that almost look like tiny wingless dragons. He chewed through my ropes and set me free." The young shinobi smiled at the memory. "I'll never know why Tokay decided to rescue me. But I feel that becoming a R.A.W.S ninja is my way to thank nature for saving my life."

The group arrived at the rest restaurant and moved the curtain to sit down. As usual, the orange clad ninja was sat down, his face in a bowl of Miso raman. "Hey, Kensha, guys. How's it going?"
"Ha! You mean other than me laying a can of whoop-ass on this guy?" Kensha laughed, pointing at her failed challenger.
The Inuzuka rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Seriously!"
"Hey, I'm the one getting a free lunch out of it." She bragged, ordering a bowl of roast chicken flavor.
Naruto laughed, slurping up more noodles. "So, have you and those kids settled down okay?"
"Yeah," the kunoichi sighed, "they seem happier, but I can tell Aggi and Konton are still anxious to get home."
"You all must really miss your families." Hinata said quietly. "I know I would if I was in your situation."
Kensha got noticeably quiet, tapping her chopsticks on the side of her now empty bowl. "My parents, I know will miss me. My uncle…he's probably glad I'm gone. Though I can understand why."
Shino looked up from his meal. "What do you mean by that?"
"He blames me for my cousin's disappearance." She sighed, placing her utensils down on the table. "I was supposed to be watching her while we were at the zoo. I only turned away for a minute to speak to one of the keepers and she was gone." Her hand clenched in a fist. "I love Izumi like the little sister I never had. Now she's gone…and it's all my fault…"
Kiba placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't blame yourself for this. You could not have known she would be taken."
"Kiba's right." Hinata said supportively, "None of this is your fault."
"Yeah, and who knows?" Naruto exclaimed, "You might just get you cousin back. Believe it!"
The ninja of the Hidden Demon village gave a small smile. "…thanks guys. You don't know how long I've needed to hear that."

XxXxX

That night in the Inuzuka family's house, the children all slept soundly in cots and couches around the living room. Well, almost all. Ikimono was fussing and crying in the kitchen. Hana, Kensha, Aggi and Orokana were taking turns rocking her in an attempt to get her to settle down to no avail. "Is she usually like this?" Kensha asked the older sister, her eye twitching as the baby continued wail.
"Yeah," Aggi added, "No offence, but I'm getting a headache."
"Only when Mommy and Daddy aren't around." Orokana said, bags starting to form under her eyes. "This would be so much easier if I had her stuffed lion. Mr. Growly always calms her down."
Hana continued to rock the child in her arms. "Well, we have to think of something. She needs to sleep."
Konton entered the room yawning. "How long has this been going on?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Forever!" the younger girl whined.
"Sorry of waking you up, Konton." Kensha apologized. "Go back and try to get some sleep." She turned her attention back to the infant. They suddenly heard the most beautiful singing voice that had ever met their ears. The three girls turned around to see the young boy belting out a smooth, soothing melody.

Come little children
I'll take thee away, into a land
Of enchantment.

Come little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows.

Follow sweet children
I'll show thee the way
Through all the pain and the sorrows.

Weep not poor children
For life is this way
Murdering beauty and passions.

Hush now dear children
It must be this way
Too weary of life and its deceptions.

Rest now my children
For soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet.

(soft oooh's)

Come little children
I'll take thee away, into a land
Of enchantment.

Come little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows.

As the song ended, the baby girl fell fast asleep in Hana's arms. "That…that was the most beautiful voice I've ever heard." Aggi said, a blush on her cheeks.
"Where did you learn to sing like that?" Kensha asked, she and Hana awestruck.
Konton smiled at the girls. "I used to sing in the streets for spare change so I could buy toys for the other kids. We didn't have many at the orphanage."
"I've never heard a voice so lovely in my life." Hana grinned, her eyes sparkling.
Kensha put her arm around the boy's shoulders. "You might just have a career in music, bro."
The young boy beamed. "Music is one of my few passions. I'd enjoy that very much."
The group laughed quietly as they all went back to bed. Little did the friends know, they were being watched from afar.

XxXxX

(A/N) Wow! Never have I wrote a chapter this long before! Quite proud of myself. So, this has just been a bit a filler chapter. I wanted to put a little action in to give a preview of what is to come. Think I did a fairly good job.

Just a few notes: The Armadillo Lizard is actually a real animal. Look it up; they're adorable! As for the name Tokay, it's based on the Tokay Gecko. Also, adorable they're named for the sound they make. The song I used is Come Little Children based on the Edger Allen Poe poem.

Anyway, the next chapter will defiantly contain more action scenes. Reviews welcome… Please! I need the attention! Can't wait till next time. Till then, stay safe and healthy! :3