Kumori stood to attention in front of the Hokage and a small group of jounins. Hikari and Tsuno stood beside her as well, each in a provided Anbu uniform and wearing an Anbu mask. She carried a medium sized pouch of poisons and medical supplies around her waist, she would be acting as the medical-nin for their team as well.
She had tied her hair back again, but no matter what she did, there were always strands hanging annoyingly in her eyes that she had to flick away every few minutes. She had spent the last month making a completely new set of improved poisons and counterpoisons, giving herself an entirely new arsenal. And on top of that, she had finally mastered the seventh and final dance of her clan, making her a formidable opponent. She listened vaguely to the Hokage, but not many words registered because she had spent last night poisoning her weapons and mixing more, causing her brain to slow down from lack of sleep.
"...And his right hand man, an unnamed deadly assasin. He specializes in ninjutsu, apperently knowing over a thousand. He is also rumoured to have high intelligence, using every advantage he had at the precise moment and quickly devising complicated strategies.
"He will be the bigger problem for you three, and should you kill the Raikage before you deal with him, he will rise to the position quickly. I will warn you now, this man is twice as dangerous as the Raikage will ever be. His skills are uncanny, and what makes him more dangerous is he is completely and flawlessly loyal to the Raikage, ensuring he will not betray his country.'
With her last words, her eyes fell onto Kumori and she winced at the words. I didn't betray my country, she thought, I was forced to leave or face death.
"The Lightning country has already taken many of our Anbu hostage, although they have probably died by now. They might have already caught wind of our plans, but I trust you to deal with any problems you might encounter."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," they said as one, still standing to attention. She looked for a moment as if she were about to send them off, but she opened her mouth again.
"And Kumori," Kumori shifted at the change in her voice. It had become softer. "It is improtant that you remember the purpose of the mission and not to be distracted by anything personel. You are needed to navigate for your team, and if you let them down it will be their lives. Remember, you are a Leaf-nin and are now loyal to the Leaf."
Under her mask, Kumori's face was troubled, but luckily the Hokage couldn't see. "...Yes, hokage-sama..."
"It is important you remember your mission, Kumori. When I said I trust you, I meant all of you, including you, so don't let me down."
"...Yes, Hokage-sama," she replied in her usual quiet voice. The Hokage held her gaze for few moments, before raising a hand and dismissing them. Kumori turned as the two other Anbu vanished, along with Shouri. She remained for a moment, turnig to look back at the Hokage. Her relationship towards the Godaime of the Leaf was nothing close to what she had had between her and the Rokudaime of the Lightning. But she felt the weight of responsibility pressing on her shoulders in a familiar way, and she accepted her loyalty with the Fire country, vanishing as well.
They dashed through the forests of Konoha, through the shadows of the early morning. The sun had not yet risen, but there was light enough for them to see the path. Kumori looked around at her team mates. To her suprise, Tsuno had been the one chosen to lead the mission.
They each carried a small bag over their shoulders containing a small amount of food, water, a few other suplies and a brown Anbu cloak. She wondered if the thin cloak would be enough to prepare them for the harsh weather of the Hidden Cloud, and had brought it up with the Hokage. But no one seemed to understand her when she explained the usual winter conditions. That was to be expected from people who had never felt snow on theri faces. Not soft, fluffy, cool, white, melty snow; harsh, stinging, slicing, biting, scraping icicles that were blown into your skin, cutting it as easily as blades of pure chakra.
Kumori dashed from branch to branch as Tsuno navigated at the head in silence. Her mind was wandering, and as she landed on the next moss-covered branch, her foot skidded slightly, throwing her off balance. She managed to grab the branch on her way down, dngling there for a few moments before pulling herself slowly up. Her mind was working at an impossible slow pace and it was getting hard to keep her eyes open. She coughed a few times.
"Are you alright?" asked Tsuno, landing on a branch and looking back. She considered asking for a small break, but shrugged it off.
"I'm fine," she said, standing. Tsuno eyed her for a few more seconds before continuing on, weaving through the trees northeast. They would reach the Sound country by nightfall, and their guard would go up. The country was an enemy of Konoha full of strange and powerful shinobi.
They entered the borders of the new country at sunset, and by then Kumori had slipped countless times. They paused on a tree, looking around and scanning the terrain. Kumori's eyelids were unbearably heavy now, and as she let them slip shut, she felt her legs give out. She managed to snap back to reality before she fell from the branch though, digging a cold hand into the bark of the tree.
"This is the hundredth time, Kumori. What's wrong?" asked Tsuno, eyeing her again.
"I already said, It's nothing. Let's keep moving," she said.
"If you want to take a break, we can stop. You need to take care of yourself."
"Okay, mom. I said I'm fine," she replied sarcastically, perhaps more so than she intended. She was tired of them asking her everytime they saw her stumble. Tsuno looked at her for a few more moments before taking off again followed by Hikari.
She was about to follow them, but something caught her eye, glimmering ever so slightly in the remaining sunlight. Before she could call out, Hikari and Tsuno, along with Shouri, were all frozen in their tracks. She darted behind a tree, biting her lip as she watched in silence. They were trapped in genjutsu.
She watched as six shadows appeared from the trees, surrounding the frozen chuunin and speaking quietly. There were two Sound-nin holding the genjutsu together, working hard to keep it up. Shouri whimpered as Tsuno cried out suddenly and blood trickled from Hikari's mouth as he bit his tongue to stop himself from shouting.
That pain should be enough to break the jutsu, she thought, watching as his blood splashed onto the forest floor. She watched in horror as they were brought to their knees in pain, the surrounding Sound-nin speaking quietly. One of them broke apart from the group, a messenger, and headed straight for her hiding spot. She pulled off her Anbu glove and readied herself.
As the Sound-nin dashed towards her current position, she jumped out in front of him, her bones breaking her skin and forming a large point of bone. She plunged it directly into his stomach, killing him insantly and in complete silence. But something worse happened. The five remaining Sound-nin were soon joined by six others, making her wonder how many there actually were roaming these woods. Hikari grunted in pain and one of the Sound-nin laughed cruelly, manipulating the jutsu.
She pulled the bone painfully back into her arm, wincing and letting the body slip to the ground. She bit her lip as she tried to think of some way to deal with the situation. But she was sleep deprived and her mind wasn't working at all. She decided she could take them all on with a powerful dance.
She silently pulled off her long gloves and arm guards, before pulling the white, padded chest plate off as well, leaving her in her normal, small black tank top. She sighed inwardly, struggling to keep her eyes open and concentrate.
She took a deep breath and plunged into the clearing, whirling around quickly and entering her modified Kaguya fighting stance. "Karamatsu no Mai!"
The sound-nin charged her, but her dance was more advanced this time. She twirled left quickly, bones splitting from the back of her neck and her arms. The first ninja was impaled on a bone protruding from her elbow and she flung the body across the clearing, facing the other ninja.
"Just like Kimimaro-sama!"
Her blood froze and she let down her guard for a moment, the name of the one she had been fated to marry hitting her hard. But in battle, you can never let down your guard. A kunai grazed her neck, splitting the skin slightly and drawing blood. Another connected wth her shoulder, but luckily her bone armour prevented any serious damage. The Sound-nin were keeping their distance, they knew her fighting style. Another messenger edged away from the group, but she could not let word of her escape.
"Tenshi Sendan!"
The tips of her fingers exploded open, sending small droplets of blood flying into her face as ten spinning bone bullets shot towards the escaping ninja. He took three to the neck, stumbling but managing to continue runnig, vanishing into the shadows. She swore under her breath as the remaining nine shinobi encircled her and Tsuno cried out in pain again. She knew what she would have to use to defeat them.
She hesitated for only a moment before drawing her bones in and shouting "Sawarabi no Mai!"
It took her tired body a moment to react to the dangerous jutsu, but she grunted in pain as it took affect. Bones split from every inch of her body, tearing her pant legs and sending droplets of blood flying everywhere. Her body was sucked underground, into the dark, damp soil, although it never actually touched her skin. She tried to cry out as bone spikes shot up aaround her, up through the ground, impaling all nine of them instantaniously but leaving a clearing around Hikari, Tsuno and Shouri.
She hated this dance, not the most of her dances, but as second. It was by far the most painful and put the most strain on her body. She had modified it to use less force than the original, which also meant it left her clothes mainly intact, although the bottoms of her pants were torn hopelessly. The forest of bone spikes slowly faded, returning into her body as blood leaked down from every cut. She stood panting in the forest, the darkness finally taking over fully.
She fought off the side affects, turning towards Hikari and Tsuno. They were unconcious, blood leaking from their mouths. But I never touched them with the dance, she thought. There were no wounds outside of theri bodies, but blood was leaking from their mouths. The genjutsu had done somethinf to them Shouri seemed fine, and was nuzzling Tsuno, whimpering faintly. She stumbled over to them, this forest was not safe to stay in, she had to get them away.
"Shouri, can you carry Tsuno?"
The dog barked softly, and hoisted his body across the dog's back. It was a good thing Shouri had grow considerably from the size he had been before, he was now quite large and well muscled. Her body moaned in protest as she pulled Hikari's arm around her neck, lifting him from the ground. She took to the trees again, moving as quickly as her body would allow and followed by Shouri carrying Tsuno.
She struggled through the forest all night, as alert as she would ever be in her condition. Judging by the landscape, she guessed she had passed through the Sound country. It was afternoon now, and the temperature had dropped considerably. She didn't know how much longer she could keep her eyes open, but she needed to keep watch.
Laying the bodies down under the bank of a small stream, she watched warily, Shouri nipping her every time she began to doze off. She needed no awakening though, because as soon as the affects of using her bloodline hit her, she was fighting for her breath.
She threw her head back against the clay bank, refusing to cry out as pain erupted through her body, burning across her skin as it healed the wounds made from using the Dance of the Early Braken. Her sandals dug into the sand, pushing her against the wall as she clutched her stomach, her body wanting to bend backwards and curl up at the same time. The attack soon passed, but she knew she would be constantly having them until sunset. She hoped Hikari and Tsuno would wake up soon.
She took a deep breath and stood, moving to the streamside and removing her sandals. One way to ease the pain was the cold, and this water was like ice to her. She slid her body, clothes and all, under the surface, moaning gently as her blood slowed. She threw her mask onto the bank so she could dunk her head under fully, holding her breath for at least a minute before breaking the surface again, her body numbed.
She pulled herself out of the water after a few minutes, moving her mask and sandals over to the streambank and pulling Hikari and Tsuno closer under the bank. She opened their bags, pulling out their cloaks along with her own. She rolled hers up into a pillow, resting both of their heads on it before slipping their own cloaks over their bodies as blankets. She placed herself outside of the overhanging bank, bringing her knees up and resting her head in her arms. Shouri curled up around her, his warm body feeling hot on her skin.
She had two more attacks as the sun began to set again, until her body could no longer bear to continue functioning. As another wave of pain washed over her, she finally gave into it, letting her eyes slip shut. She slumped over, her body shutting down as she lay on Shouri, shivering as night set in. Her eyelids were unbearible heavy and her limbs didn't respond, they were completely numb from the freezing cold. She shivered once before passing out, as unconcious as her team mates.
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Kumori moaned inwardly, her muscles sore from leaning against the clay bank. Someone had covered her with a cloak and moved her under the shelter for a good reason. It had apperently poured rain, the small stream overflowing and water running down from the bank above. The rain had let up slightly, now a steady drizzle, but the temperature had dropped.
Beside her slept Hikari, under his own cloak, and Tsuno was nowhere to be found. She shivered, sneezing twice and squeezing her eyes shut again. She was very cold, and was shaking all over, apperently having caught a cold.
"You're finally up?" She lifted her head to see Tsuno head pop over the edge of the bank, hanging upside down and dripping wet. He wore no Anbu mask, but he had his cloak's hood up, not that it helped much. Hikari shifted, waking at the sound of Tsuno's voice.
"Are you guys alright? You were unconcious before," she asked, looking them over. They glanced at eachother for a moment in silence.
"...Yeah," said Tsuno. He flipped down form the bank, landing in a crouch and sending droplets of water flying onto them as he shook his head, his hood flying off and his hair springing back into place. His gel had worn out long ago, but his hair seemed used to its usual spiked position.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at their silence, but shrugged it off. Tsuno yawned, stepping further under the shelter and pushing Hikari from his resting spot.
"We should get going, you've been asleep for awhile... By the way, what happened when we were trapped?"
"I killed the Sound-nin that attacked and carried you over here," she said simply, remembering the mention of Kimimaro. She shivered, not from the cold, thinking of the dangerous Kaguya, the way he would stare at her with his cold green eyes. Although they were the same colour, their eyes were much different. Hers were sharp and keen most of the time, although they were constantly wandering off in thought. His, however, were cold and unnerving, staring you down with cold fury. She hated those eyes.
"Oh... Thanks. I didn't sense them. Are you alright to move?" he asked. She noticed him glance at her legs and remembered her ripped pants. She pulled her legs closer and ran her hands down them, feeling the hopelessly torn fabric. She reached into her bag and pulled out a few bandages, quicly bandaging the bottoms of her legs so she wouldn't trip on the shredded pants bottoms.
Her head throobed painfully as she continued shivering, pulling on her sandals and lifting her Anbu mask, replacing it quickly to hide her pained face. She was tired of her team mates worrying about her constantly. Holding back another sneeze, she crawled from under the shelter, grabbing her bag and shouldered it. Tsuno emerged after her, followed by Hikari and they turned northeast again, pausing for a few moments.
"Maybe we should wait out this storm. It's getting pretty bad," said Hikari as thunder rolled in the distance.
"This is nothing. We should take the oportunity of easy travelling now, while are still free of frostbite," said Kumori sarcastically, still shaking.
"I'll take your word for it," said Tsuno. He crouched low before dashing forwards, running along the bank for a few moments before jumping into the forest. Kumori followed along with Ken, their eyes darting around for any signs of the enemy, Sound-nin or Cloud-nin.
The weather conditions slowly declined, until, when night approached again, it began hailing. The balls of ice were large, about the size of large marbles, and hurt considerably. They continued on through the night after making sure they were able to continue on safely. But the further north they moved, the worse the weather got.
After the hail, there came a large thunderstorm with pouring rain and harsh winds. The two males seemed drawn back at these conditions, but Kumori felt perfectly at home. She never once slipped on a sheet of ice or sunk to her knees in mud. She tried to teach them how to travel easily against the icy winds and how to keep themselves as warm as possible, but they were struggling considerably and she noticed easily.
They would be fine one moment, jumping through a clearing or small field, but the next they would be huddled on the ground, frantically trying to find some way to warm their bodies. Kumori was worst off, her cold growing worse. She had a high fever, but said nothing to either of her team mates. She had the least dirt on her, having only slipped once, unlike Hikari and Tsuno. Hikari was drenched after falling into a hidden pond, Tsuno having to haul him out and almost falling in as well. Tsuno, on the other hand, had gotten stuck in a mud pit at the edge of a small swamp. As he sunk, Kumori yelling instructions angrily at him, he finally got out, Shouri pulling him roughly out onto the ground.
Kumori's head was really throbbing now, but she felt at home for the first time in a year and a half. To her, the raging winds and freezing cold was what she was used to, what she had grown up with, what she preferred to the steamy, hot Konoha weather.
"We should set up camp," said Tsuno, breathing heavily. This time, she said nothing, quickly finding the best place to stay. There was no place to stay. They were surrounded by trees on one side, a swamp behind them and open fields before them. Tsuno led them to a slightly more covered area in the forest, only slightly, and she leaned against a tree, slumping to the ground in relief. She wasn't sleepy at all, but her legs ached and her cold was starting to eat at her patience.
"I'll take first watch," she announced, shivering violently. Hikari and Tsuno seemed relived, curling up against a tree and pulling their cloaks around them. They removed their masks, Kumori noticing the scar across Hikari's face had not healed in the slightest, and pulled up their hoods further, hiding their faces. She stood, jumping up onto a nearby tree sitting up against the trunk, watching warily as their surroundings slowly darkened.
The rain seemed to slow slightly, allowing a gap of calm in which her fever shot up. Her head spun slightly and she pulled off her mask, letting the air cool her burning skin. She suffered in silence, her eyes ever alert and darting from shadow to shadow at the slightest noise. She remained awake until around midnight, when she felt a soft whoosh of air beside her.
"You should get some rest," said Hikari, crouching beside her. She sneezed a few times, pushing herself up. She was still shaking uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" he asked, eyeing her.
"Fine," she replied curtly. But he lifted his gloved hand, pulling off the black covering and gently brushing his fingers across her cheek. She shivered at his touch, so cold. It sent shivers down her spine; she knew the fever was bad.
"Your so hot," he said. He suddenly pulled back his hand. "I mean, uh... you have a bad fever," he said quickly. She smiled slightly, pulling away.
"I'll be fine by tomorrow. This weather suits me perfectly, once we arrive I'll feel much better," she reassured him. He leaned forwards slightly, but she pulled away suddenly, shying away from him. Glancing once at him, she dropped from the branch, landing in a crouch and moving towards another tree, curling up tightly.
It is improtant that you remember the purpose of the mission and not to be distracted by anything personel, she thought, remembering the Hokage's words to her. She closed her eyes, shutting out the world with suffocating darkness. It wasn't that in which she was worrying about, it was Akame. Always Akame. Up until this mission, her life had revolved around her promise to him, to become stronger and return for him. But she had been having doubts lately.