The crow did nothing, just sitting there and cocking it's head at her. But it suddenly cawed loudly and took off towards the edge of town, just past the training field. Rikou followed it, walking with her hands in the pocket of her trenchcoat and leaving Ken and Kirema behind without a word. But a moment late, Ken fell into step beside her in silence and they moved into the forest, cutting through the village.
The crow perched on top of a tall tree, waiting for them to follow and flicking it's tail. When they reached the tree, the crow folded it's wings and dropped into a clearing, which, Rikou soon found out, looked familiar, It was her father's house.
The windows were boarded up and the door was open, the place looking as if in horrible condition. The crow landed on her shoulder as she stepped inside, followed by Ken. She placed a foot down on the floor and sent up a cloud of dust, sneezing and covering her mouth. What little light that managed to seep through the dirty windows illuminated clouds of floating dust. Rikou could see perfectly fine in the darkness, but she could tell Ken couldn't.
The crow took off into the darkness, flying up the stairwell and landing on the top stair, waiting for her to follow. She pulled Ken through the living room, avoiding looking at the wall with the bloody writing on it, and up the stairs quickly, the stairs crweaking loudly under her feet.
The crow flew to the ceiling, landing on a hole in the wall and somehow scrambing into the attic. Rikou paused, looking around before finding the hatch that led up, but she couldn't reach the handle.
"Here," said Ken, reaching up and standing on his toes, grabbing the handle and pulling hard. A shower of dust fell from the ceiling along wit a rope ladder that Rikou didn't trust. The crow poked it's head over the edge, a few cobwebs tangled in it's feathers and a spider dangling from one. Rikou stopped, eyeing the arachnid.
"...I don't like spiders," she stated simply. Ken looked up, squinting into the darkness.
"And I can't see a thing."
Rikou paused, wondering what to do. She looked back up to the crow. "Can you get it for me?"
The crow let out a low croak, cocking it's head again, and vanisheing. Rikou waited, listening to the silence. There was a loud crash and she jumped back as something fell from the ceiling. Ken reached out and caught it, examining it as Rikou squirmed away, cringing.
"What?" said Ken, turning towards her.
"It's covered in spiders," she whispered, eyeing the small black things crawling over the surface. Ken quickly brushed it off, examining it.
"Well... At least it's a sword, but I can't see in here. Let's head back out."
Rikou led him back down the stairs and into the daylight again. Ken gasped, his eyes lighting up as he broke into a smile.
"This must be it..." He pulled the sword from it's grey case, brushing a few more cobwebs and pulling it out fully. Even Rikou gasped when she saw the actual sword.
It was completely transparent, allowing you to see the hundreds of small tunnels that ran through the inside, chakra tunnels. The handle was plain and grey like the sheath, but the end had a crystal ball, similar to the one on Ken's current sword, attatched to it. The blade sparkled in the sunlight, causing Rikou to squint slightly.
"Woah... I never thought it would be so beautiful," said Ken, holding out the sword and examining it.
"You can keep it," she muttered. Ken sheathed it, looking at her.
"Are you sure? This sword... It's a legend. It's worth alot."
"I can't use it, and I don't want that much money. You know how to use it, right? So you can keep it."
Ken looked at her for a moment, before smiling and lowering the sword. As an afterthought, he drew it again and placed the plain, grey sheath on the ground, holding the sword with both hands. His hands began glowing blue, and the sword suddenly shot blue chakra from the holes in it, crackling like electricity. Each hole made a small thread of chakra, but together, all the threads curling out from it made it look like a feather.
"So that's where it gets it's name. Gurehane- grey feather..."
Ken lifted the sword higher and turned towards a nearby tree, suddenly charging it. Rikou watched in amazement as he brough the sword expertly across the trunk. A moment later, the tree fell, cut perfectly in half and leaving a smooth surface where the sword had cut through. Ken let the blue chakra seep back to him as he came over to Rikou, who was still staring at the halved tree with raised eyebrows.
He picked up the sheath and replaced the sword, dusting off his trenchcoat. "Do you want to go do some training?"
Rikou thought for a moment, before nodding silently. She walked with him back towards the training field, which had been abandoned by Kirema and his gennins. Ken moved to one side of the clearing as Rikou remained in the shadows.
"What do you want to work on?"
"...Ninjutsu. I need to learn how to control this chakra," said Rikou after thinking for a moment. Ken removed his sword from his back and took off his trenchcoat, folding it and hanging over a branch. He moved back over to where she was standing.
"Well... I don't really want to end up at the bottom of a crater, so I'll just give you tips and watch from over here," he said. Rikou nodded, stepping into the sunlight and holding up her hands, but she stopped, looking down at her trenchcoat. She took it off, revealing her bare arms, a curse seal on her right shoulder and an Anbu tatoo on her left.
She moved into the sunlight again and held up her hand, closing her eyes and concentrating, feeling like she was an Acadamy student still trying the grasp the concept of Chakra. She tried to slowly bring chakra to her hands, opening her eyes and watching as the Dark Chakra engulfed them completely. She almost smiled at her control, until the chakra wavered slightly, before exploding out in front of her, blasting through three trees and sending them high into the air along with a few branches.
She cut of the chakra flow and watched helplessly as the trees fell back to earth on their sides, flattening even more trees. She sighed, looking at the destroyed trees before holding up her hands and trying again.
She did this several times, hardly improving, but managing to destroy most of the trees in front of her. Strangely enough, it felt as if she hadn't used any chakra at all, in fact, it was the complete opposite. She felt like she had endless amounts of chakra, and it almost scared her to think of the power she had been granated.
She raised her hands again, but this time, Ken came up behind her, breaking her concentration.
"You need to relax your mind or else you won't get anywhere. And relax your muscles as well, stand like this."
He reached up from behind her and held her arms in his hands, pressing his body into hers from behind. She tensed as he moved her into a different position. Like this is going to help me relax, she thought as he shifted her arms slightly.
"And you should release your chakra like this," he said, moving his hands further down and releasing her arms, holding his hands before her and bringing chakra onto them. Rikou watched the flow of the chakra carefully, holding her own arms out. Ken took up her arms again, adjusting the position slightly.
"Now, close your eyes and relax for a moment. Just let your mind go."
Rikou did as she was told, closing her eyes and sighing, letting her mind slip away. Soon all she heard was her and Ken's breathing.
"Okay, now release the chakra slowly," he whispered into her ear. She opened her eyes and slowly let the chakra flow from her arms, managing to hold it for awhile longer before it started to run out of control again. Ken moved his hands further towards her wrists, holding her arms still.
"Uhh... Hey," came Kirema's voice from the tree. Ken pulled away and spun around to face the jounin. Rikou blushed and took a deep breath before facing him as well.
"Umm..." he said, eyeing them before eyeing the trees behind them. He cleared his throat. "The Hokage-sama is calling the Anbu together and sending out the teams. She sent me to get you two and some others, so you should get changed and head to the Hokage-sama for orders."
Kirema disappeared in a puff of smoke, obviously trying to get away from the ackward situation. Rikou turned away and grabbed her coat, slipping it back on and coughing a few times. Without looking back at Ken, she also vanished in a puff of smoke, heading back to her house quickly.
She dressed quickly, grabbing a red and white cat mask and pulling it on quickly. As she left the room, she grabbed a black cloak and slipped it over her uniform, dashing out and running across the rooftops in silence. Although she couldn't see them, she could sense many other Anbu answering the Hokage's call and heading towards the main building.
In Konoha's Anbu, there were only four kunoichis, the rest all being male shinobi. Rikou was the newest kunoichi in the group of assasins, and to her it felt like the Hokage used her for everything, even if it was not something she was good at. She sped into the building, slipping into the meeting room where she found herself suddenly surrounded with tens of other Anbu.
She glanced around, noticing Anbu in white cloaks, black cloaks, brown cloaks, each signifying a different level of Anbu. Brown was the lowest, black was in the middle, and white was the highest, usually being Anbu Captains. Kirema had a white cloak, and Ken also had a white cloak, leaving Rikou behind again. But it was impossible to tell who was who among the Anbu.
Anbu were assasins, meant to gather information and utilize it when in battle, twisting things into their advantage. The masks and cloaks, and for the male shinobi the wigs attatched to the masks, were meant to conceal their identity. This was important in battle so that no emotion will be felt if someone is killed and also to hide your identity from the enemy. The cloaks also served as camouflage, and the uniforms underneath were tight-fitting and easy to move around in, giving them the maximum versitility in war situations or assasinations.
Rikou waited in the strangely silent room patiently, not one shuffle or breath to be heard even as more Anbu filed into the room, taking their position with the lowest ranking at the back, the middle rank in the middle and the Anbu captains at the front. Rikou remained perfectly still as the Hokage herself came through the door, the Anbu parting respectfully and allowing her and her aprentice to pass through their number, to the front of the meeting room. She stood at the front, a serious expression on her face as the Anbu gave her their undivided attention.
"I have called the Anbu together today because of the information gathered on a recent mission. A group of hunter-nin were sent out to find the Akatsuki and destroy them if possible, but that was impossible. They arrived just this morning with new information on the Organization and on Orochimaru," she began, folding her hands as she adressed them. A few hissed at the name of the dark sannin, others shifting uncomfortably.
"Orochimaru has a new body, whom I assume to be Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who ran from Konoha three years ago. He is apperently preparing to strike Konoha again and start another war, trying to overthrow the Leaf."
One of the Anbu shifted. "Why would you call together this many Anbu for only Orochimaru? We are almost at full force right now."
"Orochimaru is not the only thing we have to worry about. It is not that simple. The Akatsuki are also involved. That is, nine of the strongest shinobi, all s-ranked missing-nin from various villages. They will wait until Orochimaru is weakened by the Leaf before striking him as well, but according to the information, if Konoha interferes at all, they will attempt to crush both of us."
"A three-way war?"
The Hokage nodded, sighing. "We have no information regarding Orochimaru's plans, so we do not know when he will strike, but we will be prepared for the worst. I will be sending out squads of Anbu, either four or five man teams, to guard the village, scout around the entire Fire country, or remain inside the village walls and protect the villagers. This is a very serious situation... We have no additional information on either enemies."
There was a scattered whispering as the Hokage let her words sink in for a moment. She raised her hand for silence and began speaking again. "I'm going to assign the teams to their missions now, so listen carefully."
The Anbu shifted to attention, giving their full attention the the Godaime as she began instructing them. "Teams five, six and eight will be patrolling the parimeter as one group of fourteen Anbu and will be the main defense and first alert in case of an attack. They will circle the village borders every day, taking note of anything suspicious."
Team Five was Rikou's team, and it consisted of her, her leader, one black Anbu and two brown Anbu. Team Six had a two white, two black and one brown Anbu, and team Eight had one white, one black and two brown Anbu. Rikou was the only girl in this group.
"Team four and seven will be guarding the village, working together as an eight-man team. You will stay within the village borders unless something goes wrong and you are needed to help another team. You are the last defense.
"Teams one, two and three will be partolling the entire Fire country, as our highest ranking Anbu squads. They will work together as a thirteen-man team and will be the first warning and defense for Konoha."
As the Hokage finished her instructions, the Anbu shifted anxiously, ready to be dismissed. She stared at them seriously for a moment, before her face broke into a smile. "I trust you all. You are Leaf shinobi, the best of the best, and I know you will not fail me now or ever. We will get through this and come out on top."
She folded her arms across her chest as she examined them all, letting her words sink in again.
"Go!"
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" said the Anbu, vanishing as one. Rikou followed along with her group at breakneck speed, dashing along the rooftops towards the edge of town where they leapt into the forest, landing cat-like on the forest floor and dashing into the trees where they paused in the shadows.
The three white-cloaked Anbu captains silently came forwards, producing a number of headphones from their cloaks and passing them out to the teams they commanded. Rikou took one and fastened it over her ears, sliding the microphone under her mask. It crackled for a moment before the static disappeared, a voice coming through.
"Split into two teams, team Ni and team Sho. Team Ni will consist of team six and two from team eight. Team Sho will consist of team five and two from team eight including team eight's leader. Team Ni will circle Konoha clockwise and team Sho counterclockwise. We will meet up at the Eastern and Western edges where the enemy is most likely to strike and exchange information. Team Sho will take watch for the first half of the night, patrolling alone, until team Ni takes over, alright?"
The Anbu nodded silently in the shadows, shifting anxiously. Rikou was not as excited as them about running around non-stop for the next God knows how long in a cold forest. She looked up, clouds were rolling in again and they didn't look nice and fluffy, but dark and heavy with rain.
The Anbu who had spoken raised his hand in the shadow for them to see, completely silencing them as they froze. They remained like this, crouching in the shadows, for a few more moments before he turned his hand. and the two groups split apart, one heading North the other South as they began their endless patrol.
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Rikou's muscles were burning, her shoulers and neck aching painfully as she kept watch over a small cluster of trees where her one of the Anbu squads slept. The temperature had been dropping rapidly over the past two weeks, and a few nights ago she had even found icicles hanging from the branches and thin sheets of ice hovering on the surface of the water.
Clouds now hung constantly in the sky, obscuring most light from her, which was a good thing. She could feel a slight warmth in the dead of night that signalled the sun approaching, a new day of patrolling beginning. She had seen how the Anbu had began easing up lately, becoming less alert, and it scared her. If the enemy attacked now and caught them by suprise, it would take precious time to regain their senses.
Her thoughts were broken as a voice came through her headphones. Her ears twitched at the sudden crackling.
"We're ready to set out again. Get your group up and meet us by the.... brown Anbu to come..... here? If the....."
Rikou strained her ears to try to pick out what they were saying, but the static kept breaking through, disrupting the voice. The mike went silent and she leaned back against the tree, relaxing as the noise disappeared.
She jumped as a scream reached her ears through the microphone suddenly, whipping out a kunai and turning towards the direction of where the other group should be waiting for their orders. It died away, turning into heavy breathing and rasping, followed by a series of coughs and silence. She replaced her kunai, instead pulling her ninja-to from within her cloak and dashing towards the other group.
She caught a glimpse of a shadow through the tangle of branches and she paused before turning towards it in silence, hiding in a tree and poised, ready to strike. What she saw before her froze her to the bone.
Three Anbu remained, each injured and bleeding as they faced a single figure wearing an Akatsuki robe. Around them lay the other four Anbu in their squad, dead. Not just dead, shredded. Body parts lay strewn across the clearing, blood spattering the trees and the icy ground.
The silence was suffocating as Rikou watched the Akatsuki shift slightly, raising a long chain with a knife attatched to either end, blood running off of them. Looking closer, she noticed hundreds of tiny teeth lining the chain, making it a very lethal weapon.
As he lifted it and spun it towards them, Rikou dashed in, slashing her ninja-to upwards and throwing off her cloak as the chain wrapped aroung her blade. She had engaged in a very dangerous battle without thinking. The Akatsuki in front of her had no expression on his face as he pulled th weapon back suddenly. She turned the blade and let the chain slide from it as she jumped back along with her opponent, facing him. He was not one of the Akatsuki she knew.
The Anbu behind her suddenly cried out and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. She turned her head slightly, viewing them from the corner of her eye. What's wrong with them? It's just a few cuts...
She raised her hand in a seal and glared at her opponent from behind her mask. "Gesshoku no Mai!"
Reaching out in two arms beside her appeared over fifty shadow clones, each holding a katana and wearing a black cloak. They completely surrounded the Akatsuki, their swords poised as she held the seal in concentration. She felt the dark Chakra trying to force it's way out of her, her arms throbbing as she swallowed, making more seals.
"Guregenshi no Jutsu!" she choked out. But this time, she could not hold the chakra in and it poured from her arms, reaching out to the clones and taking it's own shape, curling around the trees. The Akatsuki made no move as he watched this happen, insted dropping his weapon slightly. The fifty clones began sinking into the shadows as the Jutsu took affect, turning the world grey.
Each clone appeared red as it slipped into the shadows, sinking for a moment before dashing at the Akatsuki at high speed, katana's being the only part of them above ground. There was a sudden crackling, sounding like electricity, and the first row of clones vanished in a flash of light. When the light faded, she found herself looking into the bloodthirty eyes of a giant thunder lizard, trapped in some kind of genjutsu.
Here guregenshi genjutsu remained in effect, except for the fact that her, the lizard and the Akatsuki standing on it's head. She looked behind her, the three Anbu were grey, seemingly frozen and unmoving. There was no breeze, no sign of life. Has time stopped...?
The lizard roared, opening it's maw wide, electricity crackling from it as it ran at her head-on. She held her hands in front of her, dropping her sword and letting the Dark Chakra seep from her hands, wrapping around her body. It took the shape of wings behind her back for a moment before she sent it forwards, right into the lizards mouth. The lizard sent a bolt of electricity towards her, the two forces connecting and exploding.
The following shockwave sent Rikou skidding backwards as she struggled to hold her force strong, leaving a deep trench where she slid backwards, finally slowing to a stop. The Dark chakra seemed to crackle angrily, as if it had a mind of it's own, shooting out in spikes from her as she stood and face the Akatsuki, hearing his voice for the first time.
"You! That Chakra! That's the Dark Chakra!" Electricity crackled suddenly from everywhere, the trees, his body, the lizard, the air itself, portraying his strength as he readied for another attack, this time not holding back.
His body began changing into that of another giant lizard, a forked tongue snaking from between his lips before whipping back in. Long black claws curved elegantly from his hands and feet and a long, pointed tail stretched behind him as he joined the original lizard at it's side, facing her squarely.
Another force suddenly took hold of her body, burning across her skin and crackling out in the form of chakra. She dropped into a crouch as the wings of chakra, this time more solid, reached out behind her, stretching wide and passing through the surrounding trees easily. It felt as if they were a part of her body, she could control them as if they were controlled by normal muscles. Her chakra felt more controlled, coming out in smaller amounts and evenly covering her skin, stretching past her fingers like claws as she dropped into a crouch, glaring out at him from eyes that were not her own.
The lizards seemed to hesitate, before opening their mouths and charging, electricity crackling before them as she dashed to the left, feeling as if she weighed nothing. She spun in mid-air, catching a lizard in the side of it's scaled head and suprisingly sending it flying back into a tree, although she had barely used any power at all.
She crouched on a branch for a moment before springing at the other one, claws of chakra raised to meet his. His head plunged towards her, but she raised her leg in a kick, snapping it back shut. But a bolt of electricity touched on her ankle, numbing her leg and causing her to fall to the side, unable to move it. The lizards regrouped, facing her and charging again, one of their tails whipping out and striking the three immobile Anbu to the ground, most likely killing them instantly.
She looked into their eyes, thinking quickly and choosing the one with yellow eyes, the one who was actually the Akatsuki. He was leading the other one towards her, and as she raised her hand to slash him down, another bolt of electricity licked out, slashing her across the chest and sending her a few feet back where she lay still.
The yellow-eyed lizard wasted no time approaching her,siking his teeth around her lower body, peircing the skin slightly, but not seriously. He turned and began carrying her off, but she twitched her arms slightly; she wasn't going to go quietly.
Calling up a great amount of the Dark Chakra, she released it all at one, letting it tear through her body, ripping apart her Anbu gloves as it tore at the lizard, sending grey blood flying everywhere. It dropped her instantly, roaring as it fell to the ground, turning back into the Akatsuki. He writhed on the ground, grey blood spilling from his mouth as the real lizard stood in front of him protectively.
The grey haze around her faded as she stumbled back, her limbs numb. The lizrd lifted the Akatsuki, glancing at her before dashing off into the forest, vanishing completely. Rikou fell back onto the cold, hard forest floor, the grey haze slowly fading away.
The world seemed to slowly fall back into normal time, a small breeze picking up and the Anbu behind her falling to the ground fully. The breeze turned into a wind that blew the haze away completely. As soon as the last drop of grey vanished, every wound inflicted during battle suddenly flared up in pain, the red blood leaking from various tooth holes in her chest. But she could do nothing about it, her limbs buzzed from the electric shocks she had recieved, her muscles simply not responding.
She let out a hiss of agony and frustration of not being able to help herself. Her sword lay a few feet away, spattered with her own blood. Am I losing that much blood?
This was answered as her body convulsed, blood spewing from her mouth and running dow her cheeks, dripping into her ears and onto the ground. She looked up at the slowly lightening sky through her mask, feeling the cold seep into her bones. Her pulse began to slow along with her breathing until she could not even feel it anymore.
She tried several times to move, but her muscles simply did not respond, and she soon gave up from exaughstion and pain, letting out a shallow sigh and staring blankly up at the sky, more blood leaking down from the corners of her mouth, pooling under her along with the blood from the bite.
A voice came through her microphone, asking her position just as the sky brightened further, the light grey clouds growing even lighter. She tried to answer, but had no breath left to do so, not even enough to make any noise at all. He must have hit my internal organs, she thought, her lungs failing further.
Her eyes slowly began to close, but snapped wide open again as she heard the remaining Anbu approaching, pausing at the edge of the small clearing before dashing forwards, examining the battlefield. They began checking the bodies to see if any survuved, and Rikou's spirits were raised as one of the Anbu apprached her, placing two fingers on her throat and feeling for a pulse. He got none and moved on.
Ugh... I'm still alive... Come back! The four Anbu gathered in the middle of the clearing and the two white-cloaked leaders arrived as well. She heard their conversation through her headphones.
"Eight dead, they've all fallen. No sign of the enemy, but there was a large battle. This crater is quite large, and the trench over there is over three feet deep. We should immediately report to the Hokage-sama."
"Did you check all of the bodies?"
"Yes, there are no survivors..."
No survivors? Rikou squeezed her eyes shut in pain, forcing her lungs to work harder, the sudden intake of air causing her body to cunvulse as she coughed up another lage amount of blood before falling silent again.
"...Still twitching..."
Still twitching!? She felt her mind beginning to slip away, the pain receding to a dull throb as her vision darkened.
"That wasn't a twitch. Let the medical-nin check her out."
Rikou sighed inwardly as she was finally acknowledged, the Anbu crowding around her. Her team leader, and the medical-nin for the group, kneeled beside her, pulling off the mask. Before he could do anything, however, Rikou convuled again, her stomach muscles pulling her into a sitting position of a moment as she coughed up more blood, feeling her lungs completely give out. Her heart beat irregulary a few times before she fell back to the ground.
"Just a kid... Keep her alive, we need more information!"
Rikou's lungs had stopped completely, and her heart seemed about to follow suit, but the medical-nin brought green chakra to his hand and placed it over her chest, nulling the pain for a few moment before her removed his own mask, bending forwards as she slipped away further and further.
He pulled out a knife and cut away the outer layer of her uniform, leaving her in her black undershirt as he leaned forwards, tilting her head back. Rikou caught a glimpse of his face, a name registering vaguely in the back of her mind. ...Ken?
He plugged her nose and sealed her mouth with his, breathing air into her empty lungs quickly and folding his chakra-laden hands over her chest, pressing down hard a few times before repeating. He breathed more air into her lungs, pounding hard on her chest. She felt one of her ribs pop and sat up, her nerves burning with the new pain as she gasped, the cold air filling her lungs.
But sitting up caused more pain, and her hand flew to one of the larger holes in her shoulder, her fingers digging into it as blood seeped down her elbow, being absorbed by her torn up gloves. Ken forced her back more, but propped up her head gently, using his chakra to try and heal some of the more serious wounds. The Anbu around her shifted impatiently.
"We need information, get her to talk before she's gone."
"She's not going to die... Rikou, listen. Can you talk?"
Rikou supressed more coughing, looking up into Ken's face. "Yeah..."
Her voice was cracked and raspy, fading into a whisper, but she could still talk. Ken shifted his hold on her. "Tell us what happened."
Rikou squeezed her eyes shut in pain, managing to force out one word. "Akatsuki..."
"You two, go now and report to the Hokage-sama. Run!"
Two of the six Anbu departed instantly, vanishing in silence and dashing back to Konoha. "We need more information, make her talk," ordered the other leader. Anger flashed across Ken's face for a second, before he leaned closer to Rikou.
"She is in no condition to speak or move right now, she needs more medical attention. You may question her after," he said, his voice slightly raised.
"We need it now! If she dies passing information to us, then it would be her honour to die for her village. Let her speak!"
"No!' hissed Ken. Rikou felt his hand tighten around her as he turned to face the other leader. "We have enough information alredy and do not need one of Konoha's most talented kunoichi dying at the time of war."
Ken ran his hand over her wounds again before lifting her in his arms, motioning for the others to go back to the village. He followed behind them at a fast pace, considering he was carrying Rikou. Rikou looked into the forest, her limbs still not responding, as she thought of the next few days in front of her. The war was starting soon.