AN : I apologize for the long period without any updates!

I've had way too much work recently. School decided to go and flood me.

Also, I believe I can pass a half-perfectionist. And what you get is way too much contemplation rather than actual writing because you want to avoid any plot holes.

It also doesn't help that I'm really bad at fighting scenes. Can anyone give any tips?

Thank you so much for 3k views, 56 favourites, and 23 reviews!

Chapter 5 : Shimogakure Mission Arc : II

The streets were bustling with life.

One could smell the smoke of many grills, grilling up delicious street foods.

The cold morning air hung heavy with the scents of meats, pastries, fruits; the kinds of things that make your mouth water and your stomach ache for a bite of everything.

"Here! Try a free sample!"

Naruto nearly jumped at the exclamation. How could anyone just offer up free food like that? Weren't they scared of going out of business?

He would never admit it, but the other reason he jumped was because he simply wasn't used to such acts. Needless to say, his status as a jinchūriki did not make him very popular in Konoha.

"T-ank -ou!"

Naruto replied through a mouthful of crumbs and sweet goodness, his breath creating small wisps of steam due to the low temperature. The pastry was so good!

Turning around, he saw Hinata stare off into the distance. She must be thinking of her sister again.

He waved a hand in front of her face. No reaction.

Breaking off half of his pastry, he stuffed it in Hinata's mouth.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She looked down, and saw that Naruto had fed her his sample that HE HAD ALREADY TAKEN A BITE OF-!

Hinata's cheeks flamed, her face the colour of a ripe tomato.

And her brain shut down.

Naruto watched as she fell over, unconscious, with the food still in her mouth.

Hinata fainted.

Sasuke snorted, "Nice going, idiot."

"Can you-"

"No. You caused it. You get to carry her."

Naruto scowled. "Fine. Bastard."

His hands formed a familiar sign, and a puff of smoke signified his signature jutsu. An identical copy of Naruto hoisted Hinata into his arms, and the children continued walking.

After shoving through the crowd of people, Team 7 entered a tea shop.

They were only going to stay for one day, and leave the next. All the children wanted to grab souvenirs or just have fun, and so the jōnin complied, albeit slightly begrudgingly.

Kiba waved at them from a table. "Over here!"

Naruto threw off his scarf, and returned his greeting. "What are you doing here?"

Shino pushed his shades further up the bridge of his nose, correcting their position. "Kurenai-sensei told us to meet here at noon."

Sasuke glanced out the open windows, the light breeze blowing his hair in all sorts of directions. Squinting his eyes to block out the wind, he peered up. He could not see the sun, but the light shining down from above, casting shadows, was enough evidence that the celestial body was high up in the sky.

Shino noticed this. "My bugs report to me that it is already a few minutes past noon."

Sakura frowned. "Kurenai-sensei is usually very punctual. Where is she?"

Kiba shrugged. "Eh. It's probably nothing. She probably is getting all chummy-chummy with Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura's eyes twitched, and her fist came down hard on Kiba's head. "Put some sense into that thick noggin of yours! Kurenai-sensei likes Asuma-sensei, not Kakashi-sensei!"

She puffed out a breath, blowing her loosened hair back. "But I'm worried. What if-"

The six genin simultaneously turned to the north. A large surge of chakra erupted, and made itself known.

"Nng…"

All eyes turned focused on the previously unconscious girl. Hinata woke up, rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on?"

Naruto quickly filled her in, and Sasuke racked his brain for a plan.

"I say we go check it out," said Kiba.

Sakura lightly frowned. "Are you sure? I-I mean, can we handle something like that?"

Shino adjusted his glasses. "I concur. We should not risk it, since we cannot take on such a source of chakra without assistance. However, it may not be a bad idea to plan, and offer our assistance to our senseis."

Naruto shouted, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just gonna let our sensei do the fighting for us! The opponent must be strong if Kakashi-sensei hasn't come back yet!"

Sasuke weighed the options. "The opponents must not know of us, otherwise we would've been disposed of first. So, if we flee, they will likely not catch us."

Sakura wouldn't ever admit it, but she felt a sliver of comfort with this knowledge.

As she internally berated herself for being a coward, Naruto snarled.

"What's wrong with you, bastard? I'm not about to leave Kakashi-sensei behind, ya know! What happened to the 'those who-' "

" '-abandon the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' I know, I never forgot. If you'd just let me finish, then we wouldn't be wasting time, you idiot!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and offered an apologetic smile. "Go on, sorry, hehe."

Sasuke levelled him with a glare, but proceeded. "However, it also translates to the fact that if we do attack, they would not expect it. Perhaps for Kurenai-sensei, it wouldn't be such a surprise; however, with Kakashi-sensei's reputation, no one would expect a team of genin to back him up. So if we strike, we must strike quickly, and use our element of surprise to our full advantage."

Shino nodded. "Your observations are likely correct. I suggest we split up and go after our own sensei."

Kiba smirked. "Divide and conquer, eh? Sounds good to me!"

Sakura's heart leapt. "B-but, we're just genin! How are we going to help?"

Hinata started before anyone had a chance to reply. "All of that is based on the assumption that they really are being held up by enemy shinobi. How do we know that that's the case? Kakashi-sensei never explicitly told us that we were meeting here; that was specifically for Team Eight. Besides, I've checked with my Byakugan. My sight may not be perfect, but I have yet to spot any flares of chakra."

Sasuke glanced around. "Well, then, it might very well be a test."

"Well, let's get going! I'm not gonna wait around any longer!"

The six genin left the tea shop, all determined and eager to find their mentors.

They were not ready for what was to come.

Kurenai glanced up.

The sun was not yet at its zenith, so she had some time.

Reaching out with her chakra, she sensed the signatures of shinobi.

Three of them, a good bit larger than the average civilian reserves; likely her students.

Two signatures that were slightly larger, and an enormous one; Kakashi's students.

They were all grouped in the same area. The most likely scenario is that Kakashi's team found her own, and are waiting at the tea shop.

Lightly speeding up, she started to tread towards their designated rendezvous point. It wouldn't be well for a jōnin like her, who was known for her punctuality, to be late.

A sharp whistle came from behind, and Kurenai dodged the telltale spinning projectiles. Leaping away and onto the rooftops to avoid harming the civilians, she observed the enemy.

The Konoha jōnin's red eyes narrowed. "What village do you belong to?"

The enemy was emotionless in his response. "You are in no position to ask questions. However, I will allow you your life if you simply hand him over."

Kurenai mentally slapped herself. His hitai-ate bore the symbol of Takigakure (Village Hidden by the Waterfall), with a horizontal slash through the twin downward strikes.

"Him?"

"Hand over the jinchūriki, and your life will be spared."

Kurenai's face suddenly fell, and her eyes glinted with anger and confusion.

"Where did you obtain that information?" she hissed. "And to target a mere child, do you have no honour?"

"Yūhi, do you really think that us shinobi have honour? We lie, we deceive; it's our entire occupation. Besides, it was your village who sealed the Kyūbi inside him first. I simply have a job of capturing the host, not a boy."

The intense green eyes with a noticeable lack of pupils stared at her, as if expecting a response. Their colour oddly contrasted the black cloaked adorned with red clouds. Kurenai frowned, it did not seem a fitting article of clothing for a shinobi of such a calibre. She could feel his chakra; it was easily high jōnin, if not borderline Kage level. So why hinder yourself with such a bothersome article of clothing?

"But enough talk."

The enemy shifted, his hands already animated, dancing and blurring through set motions.

Clasping his hands together, a dragon of mud came rushing out besides him.

Kurenai sucked in a breath. Her legs propelled her sideways, jumping over the stream of earthen material. He had only used one hand sign, and did not name his technique.

Immediately, his threat level went up in her mind. The only people who did not proclaim their jutsu beforehand were assassins of the highest level; doing so is a skill that is acquired over time due to the need for silence. And only one hand seal for Doton : Doryūdan ? This means that the shinobi had complete and utter control of his element.

Such a man was to be feared.

Kurenai knew there was no way she could win. A genjutsu specialist is a very bad matchup against an offensive elemental specialist with near Kage reserves. Running would be difficult, as Doton was a good element for hindering one's movement.

Only aiming to buy herself some time, Kurenai formed a few hand seals. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin (Shuriken Shadow Clones)!"

A volley of speeding projectiles raced to meet the former shinobi of Takigakure.

The hooded figure simply dodged, as she had expected. However, what she didn't expect was a quick Dōton (Earth Release) jutsu that pushed her off balance, and corrected his own trajectory, landing them in the same position as before.

"Give up, Konoha jōnin. You cannot escape."

Kurenai gritted her teeth, and settled into a stance that signified battle.

She wasn't going down without a fight.

Kakashi first noticed his stalker when he was looking at a row of masks, and someone let out a small scoff.

Immediately, this blared out an alarm in his head. No ordinary passerby would scoff like that. Quickly turning his head, he caught a glance of a man bending down to examine the face masks.

"I need to confirm this somehow before taking action," Kakashi mused.

He idly strolled down the bustling streets of Shimogakure, noting the large population. The amount of people here was simply staggering, likely due to its recent boom in trade with other lands, bringing forth a tidal wave of foreigners.

Taking note of the dense population of civilians, he proceeded with even more caution. One mistake could prove fatal, both to him and to the passerby.

He ran through several possibilities in his head, and decided on the last one. Simply taking to the rooftops, and then going somewhere remote will not cause much harm, especially since his gear makes it apparent that he's a shinobi. Best case scenario, it was all a harmless situation, and there was nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario, he can fight in an open, isolated area, away from civilians.

Pumping chakra to his legs, he soared into the air. Twisting his limbs to avoid a harmful impact, Kakashi landed with a soft thud on the tiled rooftops. Turning around, he found his suspect.

The hooded man stared at the silver haired jōnin, green eyes unmoving and glinting under the cold sun.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "What are your intentions?"

"To take your head."

"Who hired you?"

The unknown shinobi cocked his head lightly, as if approving of Kakashi's observation. "Very perceptive, Hound of Konoha. Perhaps a trait you got from Jisatsu no Sakumo (Sakumo of Suicide)?"

Kakashi's eyes darkened, and his body quivered ever so slightly. Taking a deep breath, he stilled his muscles, and steeled his resolve. "Emotions are not my master, I am theirs! Control your emotions, more lives than your own are on the line."

Shifting his gaze to meet his enemy, his voice was quiet and deadly. "You will pay for that insult, to both my father and I."

The nuke-nin spoke, his deep and raspy voice not showing the slightest sign of fear or intimidation. "It would be in your best interests to surrender yourself. Yūhi is on her way to Yomi no Kuni (Land of the Dead) as we speak."

Kakashi's black eyes narrowed, but this time in fear. He can sense the power of the shinobi standing before him. There was zero doubt that this man was an assault type, the exact wrong enemy for Kurenai. Even a single clone could likely kill her.

The unknown shinobi tensed, hands ready for action, as Kakashi's hands formed a seal. But what came out was not a jutsu, but rather a mild pulse of chakra.

Kakashi reached out with his senses, recalling the way Kurenai and other skilled sensors had moulded their chakra, condensing it, then releasing it in a light wave all around him. He felt a total of eight bumps of chakra, with two large ones right next to each other.

"Kurenai and the enemy."

The shinobi frowned, and gave chase as Kakashi sprinted at top speed towards his fellow Konoha shinobi.

Kakashi's legs screamed as he pushed with all his might to halt his advances. Somehow, the enemy had launched himself over Kakashi's head while he was sprinting, and now stood in his way once more.

"Where are you going? To assist your friend? You really needn't; comrades will only come to stab you in the back one day. You cannot trust anyone but yourself."

Kakashi noted the intense bitterness and hatred that lingered in those words. "Oh? Then why should I trust you?"

The enemy shinobi replied bitterly. "I was once like you, naïve and optimistic, thinking that I could actually lend my back to others. But what did they do after I gave my life and career for them? They spat on my sacrifice, and threw me to the wolves to save their own skin."

Kakashi was certain now, that the man in front of him was only a nukenin out of circumstance. Perhaps his village used him as a scapegoat, tossed him out for all to see and spit on.

Kind of like his father.

Kakashi quickly shook his head free of those thoughts. His father had chosen death over betrayal. Even if he arrived at this point by circumstance, he had chosen to do so. He could've chosen another road, right?

Right?

But… the village indeed stabbed his father in the back. It wasn't physical, but the damage had still been done.

They killed his father.

The mysterious shinobi saw that his words had resonated with Kakashi. "Come, join us. We are collecting the jinchūriki. Each one holds an insurmountable power, which once harnessed, can finally bring an end to this corrupted society."

He held out his hand, and Kakashi's hand, trembling ever so slightly, slowly met it.

"Sakura! Can you sense Kurenai-sensei?" shouted Kiba at the top of his lungs.

Sakura hissed at him in reply. "I'm trying! Also, shut your mouth! We are shinobi, not movie stars! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves!"

"Sakura-san is correct, Kiba-san. It is in our best interests to keep a low profile; this would also act as practice for real situations."

Kiba scowled, and bared his fangs. "Could you two both stop acting so seriously? It's just a test, right? What's the big deal?"

Sakura suddenly paused, halting in her footsteps, placing her palms directly onto the frozen earth."Shush! I sense something!"

Kiba and Shino skidded to a stop. They remained quiet, letting Sakura do her job.

She slowly removed her hands from the ground, and shook them clean of dirt. "I think they're this way."

She led the way, moving along the shadows, and the two followed behind.

Internally, Sakura was frightened. "What if this turned out to be real? What would I do then?"

During wartime, any child with a natural chakra reserve sufficient to perform jutsu are mandated to join the shinobi forces.

Thus, Sakura was recruited against her will. At first, she hated it. But, her crush on Sasuke became a driving force of sorts.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura's mind drifted just a bit, and she nearly hit a tree.

"Focus, Sakura, focus!"

She could practically hear Kiba's smirk from behind her as he spoke. "What's wrong, Pinky? Got distracted for a moment?"

"Pinky" turned her head back, and Kiba saw death. "Shut up, dog boy."

He wisely complied, not wanting to die such an untimely death.

Sakura suddenly held up a hand, and gulped. "I think I can sense Kurenai-sensei. She should be right around this bunch of trees."

Kiba and Shino stopped. The three genin silently creeped up, and they beheld a sight that only frightened them.

There stood their jōnin sensei, bloodied and battered. Her clothes were cut up and torn in places, her hitai-ite was scratched and dented. Her right arm hung limply by her side, likely broken. One can easily tell that she is on the verge of collapse.

Opposing her was a bulky, tall shinobi, face covered by a mask similar to Kakashi's.

He was completely unscratched.

His eyes were trained on them.

Sakura's blood ran cold. She froze, her legs locking her in place. Her mind raged at her body, to move, to run, but there she stood, paralyzed by fear.

Kiba and Shino weren't much better off. The oppressive atmosphere given off by this man triggered something primal in all of them : fear.

Kiba's legs were like jelly, quaking in this new emotion. Sure, he had felt scared when Iruka-sensei yelled at him, but that was a domestic type of fear. Not authentic.

However, now he knew the full effect of the supposed killing intent that he had scoffed at as a child. The same applied to Akamaru. The tiny puppy whimpered, and shrank even further into the boy's hood.

Shino's bugs were agitated, however, they weren't aggressive. Instead, they shrank, and hid in the deepest parts of his somatic hive. Just like the other two, he too trembled in his place, as his muscles froze, rendering him useless for combat or any attempt at rescue.

Kurenai turned toward her students, weakly gesturing for them to run, "R-run! You're no match!"

The bulky man cocked his head towards the young genin. "Oh? These are you students? How ignorant of them, to just waltz on up to their death."

Kurenai's eyes widened, and she could not even utter a single sound before the ground beneath her students' feet turned to mud, and they sank in.

Bit by bit, their bodies were consumed by the thick earth, and Kurenai could only watch as her genin walked toward death.

"It is futile to resist. Simply give up your lives."

The black haired woman's expression turned from one of despair to anger. This man was not only the enemy, but a monster. The kind that would kill innocents for no reason at all, when he could easily incapacitate them.

But he is giving them a slow and painful death.

Her flames of fury rose, and with the last of her strength, Kurenai leapt up. Boosting her feet with chakra, she violently flung the three kids from their death, away from danger, and stood there, limping, coughing up blood violently.

"Yūhi, you are a fool. You may have saved their lives, but they will not return your favour."

Kurenai smiled. "I do not expect them to. After all, they are children. I, however, am not. It is my duty to protect and shield the young from harm."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Believe what you want. No one is truly loyal; the only thing that won't betray you is money. No matter what, nothing changes the fact that no one is coming to rescue you."

He was interrupted by a familiar sound. The piercing sound of shuriken came from all around him, and the man was forced to spin and dodge the projectiles.

"Oh?"

A shadow appeared on the ground, and he looked up to find the boy with red, fang-like clan marks coming down at him with a kunai. With a simple backhand, the assassin lashed out at the child.

Only for his hand to pass through.

"Shannarō!"

The pink haired girl that suddenly appeared unleashed a punch that was far beyond what was expected of her age. A small shockwave appeared, and her fist rocketed through the air towards her enemy. It hit the shinobi straight in the stomach, sending him flying backwards like a ragdoll.

Suddenly, the man began to dissolve. His features melted in brown goo, and soon, there was nothing left of him but a pile of mud.

Shino corrected his glasses. "It appears that he was merely an elemental clone."

Sakura nodded, the adrenaline of the moment slowly fading, and the situation settled in once more.

Twin streams of silver came rushing out, and upon seeing them, triggered a chain reaction from the others. One by one, they all wept a little, be it from joy, relief, or fear.

Kurenai stopped first, wiping her tears away with her good arm. "You idiots. That was brave, but very idiotic. If I hadn't spared that one bit of chakra, the illusion would not have caught him, and you would all be dead right now."

Kiba grinned. "But you did, Kurenai-sensei, and we won!"

"Shut up, dog boy. Didn't you hear Shino? That was only a clone! Unlike shadow clones, elemental clones only contain a third of the user's chakra at most, and die once broken. Seeing as how powerful a clone was, it would be safe to say that none of us stand any chance at all against the original!"

Kurenai agreed. "The original is likely far beyond any of our capabilities." Then, she was reminded of something. "Sakura, why were you the one with the main attack? It makes more sense for that role to fall to Kiba, and for you to be the distraction."

Sakura gave her a nervous smile and blushed a little. "Kurenai-sensei, that's us in the future, not now. As of right now, none of us have any particularly heavy hitting jutsu. So, Kiba and Shino proposed that I hit him, because apparently I have very heavy punches."

The jōnin nodded her head. "You do indeed, Sakura. If you put your mind into it, you can potentially have a career as a taijutsu master, like Tsunade-sama."

Sakura glowed at the praise. "Really?"

Her sensei smiled at her. "Really. Now, get me patched up, because I feel like some trouble might be heading in your friends' way."

"Chidori!"

Kakashi's left hand, pushed his hitai-ate up, revealing an orb of crismon. A long, straight scar carved down this eye, adding further intimidation. The three tomoes spun furiously, capturing the assassin in an illusion. His right, instead of meeting the assassin's in a friendly manner, sped towards the man's heart in a trace of electricity.

It exited out the back.

As his enemy's body fell to the ground lifelessly off of his hand, Kakashi vehemently spat out, "If you think I would stoop so low as to take the life of children to gain what I want, then you are sorely mistaken."

He turned around, and in the distance, saw a cloud of dust coming his way.

Pushing his chakra out, he could sense the "cloud" as his three cute little students.

As he walked over to greet them, a hand reached over and grabbed him.

A hand that shouldn't be moving.

Kakashi spun around, only to find the dead man not dead, but rather very much alive and well.

The hole in his chest had closed up, with blood stains being the only evidence that it ever existed.

"I have to say, you surprised me there, Hound. You truly deserve your reputation as a fearsome assassin. However, your fatal mistake is that you have underestimated me. I may have done the same for you, but rest assured, I will not any more."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "How? I killed you. I pierced your heart!"

The man grunted. "You did. And that was a good heart that you destroyed too. However, it'll take much more to kill me than that."

He then formed a hand seal, and a ferocious gust of the wind slammed into Kakashi. It knocked the breath straight out of his lungs. He staggered, regaining his balance, only to be forced off the ground yet again by another attack from the enemy.

"Give up, Hound. Your comrade is likely dead by now, as will your students soon enough."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. This was one fight he could not lose.

The Sharingan in his left eye socket spun rapidly, and the two charged towards each other.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto cried out. The three genin had stopped a good fifty metres away.

"Quiet! You idiot, if we want to help Kakashi-sensei, then we have to stay quiet!" Sasuke hissed, and pulled Naruto down into a crouching position.

The teammates settled down and hid. Sasuke asked, "Hinata, can you see anything?"

The man engaged Kakashi in a fierce bout of taijutsu.

They moved together in a blurry dance. Their arms and legs moved at speeds nearly imperceptible to the normal human vision, meeting each other in incredible angles that would drop the jaw of any civilian.

Kakashi's palm sliced towards his enemy's heart, which was met by a powerful fist strike, knocking his hand off course.

The enemy retaliated with a quick series of kicks, forcing Kakashi back on the defence, and followed up with a Raiton(Lightning-Release) jutsu.

In taijutsu they were equal; in ninjutsu, Kakashi was at a disadvantage.

He tried as hard as he could to get back into close quarters, but with the man's constant single-seal wind jutsu, he was unable to. The tempest tore at his clothes, and the dust stung his eyes.

"Katon : Gōkakyū (Fire Release : Great Fireball)!"

The flame set the air ablaze, creating an inferno that blinded anyone who stared at it.

As the heat subsided, the two enemies were upon each other's throats again.

She whispered. "Yes. I think-," Hinata's breath paused frightfully. "Kakashi-sensei … he's losing."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What do you mean, he's losing? How?"

He was interrupted by a great shockwave. Turning their heads, the young shinobi saw a horrifying sight.

The enemy's hand seemed to have gone through Kakashi.

There was a single moment of silence that seemed to last for an aeon.

Then, Kakashi fell limply from his opponent's appendage.

A titanic creature opened a singular, crimson eye.

It was surrounded by a consuming darkness. The darkness seemed to unfold as it uncurled its limbs, sitting up from a prone position to resting on its haunches.

"Finally. There is an opportunity."

It cackled, and pushed.

The gates restraining him shook violently, and a vile energy slowly seeped out.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Naruto was the first to rush towards them, with Sasuke and Hinata following after.

The killer of their teacher turned his head, and scoffed at their advancements. "Fools. You're just rushing to meet your demise."

With a simple earth jutsu, he rose a wall from the ground. Slamming his palms into the ground, he then conjured earthen rods from the earth, slamming into the children with extreme force.

Hinata had the wind knocked out of her. Sasuke had it worse, the jutsu having broken a few ribs, as he had been travelling at a higher velocity.

Naruto roared.

This man hurt his friends, his teacher-

All coherent thought was thrown from his mind. Anger consumed his reason, and fury took over.

Naruto's whisker marks darkened. His fingernails lengthened, into something that resembled a predator's claws. His front teeth grew fangs, and his eyes were turned from their normal cheery blue to a menacing crimson.

A red aura swept out and surrounded him, taking the vague shape of a fox.

And he charged.