Disclaimer: I do not own naruto, it is owned by Kishimoto
Chapter 2: Specs of Hope
Skipping from tree branch to tree branch, Naruto and his fellow shinobi suddenly felt two massive amounts of chakra approaching as they entered into the plains.
" Neji!" Kakashi said abruptly implying for Neji to use his byakugan to scout for the chakra locations.
" Got it…one to the right of us…and one….no wait…" Neji replied.
" What is it?" Kakashi asked as he frowned.
" I'm not sure. I see one to the right of us, one behind us, yet there is a shadow to the left of us traveling toward us as well. But it contains just as much chakra as the other two, but somehow it's faint…" Neji said.
The six shinobi from Konoha came to a sudden halt as their enemies appeared. However, the shadow Neji was talking about was nowhere to be seen.
The two shinobi were wearing the same thing. They both were wearing black cloaks that had no hood. One had used his headband as an eye patch. The other was wearing it regularly on his forehead. They were from the Sound. However, the one to the right of them had blue eyes with red pupils, other than the one behind them who had common brown eyes.
Kakashi's POV
Something's not right here…I can sense it. The one to the right of us is strong, I'll handle him.
Normal POV
"Naruto, Lee, Neji, take care of the one behind us. Sakura, Ten-Ten, you'll be helping me. NOW!" Kakashi yelled as he and the two girls ran toward the one to the right.
" Dotun Zinshu Zanshu No Jutsu!" Kakashi muttered under his breath while his opponent was distracted from blocking the two girls. Ten-Ten Leapt into the air, took out 9 kunai, a flexible metallic string, and two explosive tags. She took the string, and put it through the ends of the kunai, then she attached one explosive tag to the ninth kunai at the end, and she threw one under the legs of her opponent that was caught by Kakashi's who was rising from the earth. He then came up and attached it to the back of the weird-eyed shinobi who took no notice of this action. Sakura came running and threw a punch to the face of her enemy. Her enemy, however, was too quick for that, he ducked and was ready to leap just when Ten-Ten landed beside him and quickly tied the metallic string of kunai around his waist. The explosive tag on the end kunai then exploded but the shinobi ripped the string and leapt into the air before he was caught by the explosion below. But then, the tag behind his back exploded. Sakura, Kakashi, and Ten-Ten all smiled for they thought that their opponent was destroyed.
Meanwhile…
Naruto and Lee rushed at their opponent while Neji jumped into the air and formed many hand seals. Naruto threw a punch at the face just like Sakura did and Lee threw a low kick to the legs. The hits connected however, Lee kicked Naruto and Naruto punched Lee.
"HEY, HE USED KAWARIMI NO JUTSU ON US! How could you let that happen?" Naruto yelled to Lee.
"Me? It was your fault that he replaced himself with you. How could you fall for such a basic technique?" Lee blamed back at Naruto. Their enemy however, was up above while the two friends were arguing. He performed some hand seals but Neji was already done. He met his opponent in the air and released his Jutsu.
"Hakke genaroso no jutsu!" Neji shouted as he extended his two arms. Suddenly, green chakra came out of each arm and took the shape of a sword. They pierced the shinobi from the sound and Neji landed on the ground.
Poof! The body disappeared and then the battle was over. Neither of the two opponents or the shadow were to be seen.
The two groups then met up again and discussed their battle with one another.
" Something was very wrong there. It was as if they put no effort what so ever into fighting us. They will be back, so we must be cautious at all times. It was as if this was a test….but a test for what?" Kakashi told and asked his students.
The team of 6 continued to the Earth country without any more delays. The terrain changed from plains to mountains. They finally arrived to Stone Village.
" Our mission is almost complete." informed Kakashi as they all stood behind the huge brown colored gates. " Once we deliver the news, we can return home."
" Kakashi-sensei, can we please stay a night?" Naruto asked wearily. " It's only reasonable after the two weeks we were on the move. We are short on supplies and we haven't got to bathe in over four days. Please…"
Kakashi looked around and saw that all their clothes were dirty and they were all tired from the lack of sleep they were missing. He nodded slowly and everybody let out a sigh of relief.
They entered through the gates and saw a sight that was unexpected. Most of the village was in ruin. They all gasped at the horrible sight that was being witnessed. They continued through the village and saw people in ripped and dirty ragged clothes carrying heavy blocks of brick and wood. Many of the houses were burned down and were being rebuilt again. The only building that was unscathed was the tower, the tower where the Mizukage lived, their final destination in order to complete the current mission. They all walked to the tower. When they arrived to the entrance they notice that it was guarded by two shinobi. There were also three teenagers about the age of Naruto that seemed to be discussing some important matter. However the guards declined and the three teens walked away angrily.
The three shinobi approached Kakashi and the others. There was a boy, and two girls.
The boy had very spiky hair and half of his face was covered with extremely long bangs. He was wearing sunglasses but only one of the two lens was visible for it was behind the bangs. He wore his earth headband on his neck. He wore all black clothes however the end of his arm sleeves were cut into sharp strips.
One of the girls had pink hair a little dimmer Sakura's. She was a very beautiful girl, even next to Sakura. She wore her head band to the back of her head, over her hair, and upside-down. She wore a tight t-shirt that was plain black and a short pink skirt. She also wore peach-colored boots up to the bottom of her knee-caps.
The other girl was a bit different than the other two. She was weird in some way. Not the way she looked, but she was just…different. She had blond hair and short bangs combed to the side. She wore an over-sized jacket that was white, and some dirty white jeans as well.
The boy was the first to speak. " It appears we have visitors. Why would people from Konoha come to such a poor and destroyed civilization? Why are you all here.?"
Naruto then spoke before anybody had a chance, " It's none of your business. We just want to talk to your Mizukage, and eat, bathe, and leave this retched place!"
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled while casually smacking Naruto as if it was an apology of some sort.
The boy teen gave Naruto an evil glare which was returned straight away. " You won't find the Mizukage at the current moment. He's dead. You see what's left of this village? Well if it weren't for him, there wouldn't be even a stick left standing. He sacrificed himself protecting the village."
" From what?" Asked Lee.
" From six members of the Akutsuki." He replied.
They all frowned and suddenly a wave of sorrow and pity swept over the visitors from Konoha village. " I'm sorry for your loss…" Kakashi said sadly.
" It's fine, but the real crisis is, we only have very few shinobi to defend the village now. There isn't a shinobi strong enough to meet the standards of Mizukage. By the way, my name is Ichibi Kouga. The girl with the pink hair is Aikan Ayame. The other girl has no last name. Her name is just Iyou. We are the strongest three in this village. We are called Team Earth." With that, they just walked off to help a civilian nearby.
" Now what do we do?" Asked Ten-Ten.
" We were too late…We have failed our mission. It's time to go home. Now…" Kakashi said softly.
" That's it?" Naruto said with a tint of disgust in his voice. " What about all these people? We're Going to help them aren't we? They need us. They're barely living. We can at least improve their lifestyle right?"
"Yes, THIS VILLAGE MAY REQUIRE THE FLAME OF OUR YOUTH!" Lee shouted saluting Kakashi for some unknown reason.
" Hn…." Neji agreed.
" No, our mission is finished and we must go back now. These people are not our responsibility." Kakashi rejected.
" But THESE PEOPLE NEED US! Don't you understand that? We can help them…I can help them… I know it." Naruto argued.
Kakashi sighed, " Very well, but our blood is on your hands now."
" Don't worry I won't let you all down, that's a promise, and I won't go back on my word, that's my ninja way!" Naruto shouted with a grin that covered his whole face.
Suddenly a siren sounded loud and clear for all to hear.
All heads turned to face the six figures in Akutsuki robes approaching the city…
Author's note: Please R&R! I need at least 6 reviews before I'll continue. I'm trying to do my best but try to cut me a little slack. This is my first fanfic. But PLZ PLZ R& R!