Chapter 11: Infiltrate the Leaf Village
The village of the hidden leaf has not changed much in the last year. Things have begun to return to normal, with all shinobi performing regular missions, all shopkeepers and residents going about their daily lives and young shinobi beginning their training under the watchful eyes of shinobi like Umino Iruka.
Iruka sits at his desk in a large classroom at the front of the class. All of the academy's students remain on a break for lunch. Iruka is marking papers on the latest pop quiz for the class entitled, "Shuriken Physics." As Iruka continues checking the angles the students have drawn, and correcting the mathematics, he looks up to the clock on the left side of the room.
"Hmm 12:30pm already. I guess it should be about time to bring the children back in."
Iruka rises from his chair and hollers out the window to the students outside.
"All-right guys it's time to get back to work!" Iruka says, receiving a loud chorus of moans and groans from his students.
One thing that has changed in the village, is the rock face that bares the visages of the previous Hokages. Tsunade's image has begun to be mapped out on the rock face. Construction has not started, but stencils and markers have been placed all across the mountain side in preparation for the new monument.
Things remain the same at the Ichiraku Ramen stand as well. Business goes on as usual, but things have seemed a little less interesting ever since Naruto left the village however. Iruka still visits the shop regularly, but even he seems a little less lively now that he does not get to have his regular conversations with Naruto. To Iruka, it was the closest thing he had ever had to having a father-son relationship. He has taught many students over the years, but only Naruto felt like family.
Along the border walls of the leaf village, the trees are blowing in the cool summer breeze and the fire country is showing off some of its true beauty. The gates to the leaf village are guarded by two guards on each side. Along the wall security is tight both at its base and on top at the numerous guard stations. At the southern end of the leaf village there is a smaller opening guarded by three guards at a small booth. The three guards are discussing amongst themselves as to when the next chuunin exam will be called.
"I am telling you, as soon as the 5th returns home she is going to call for a chuunin exam."
"I agree. With all the fights that probably took place at that tournament for our team, there is no doubt that someone has impressed the Hokage. And now she is going to want to see how the rest of the genin are doing."
"Are you guys both for real? There has not been a chuunin exam called since the 5th took office. The village's resources have been too busy as of late, and there is too much distrust amongst many of the countries after the whole sound and sand village attack, that none of the countries really want to associate with one another. The tournament they just had in the wave country took place between three countries and villages that have economic connections now. None of the other countries would risk travelling to another country to take the chuunin exam. Until that trust is back, the genin are just going to have to get tougher and show off more often."
The three continue bickering amongst one another swaying tree's cast shadows across the ground and the village walls. As the guards turn to one another to continue their arguing, they fail to notice a section of the shadow that is noticeably darker then the rest. The shadow is not like the rest of those cast by the trees. When the wind blows the tree's and the shadows move, the dark section remains stationary. Silent voices can be heard in the shadow. The voices are those of the hiding sin shinobi.
"What are we waiting for? Let's just take them out now and move to our objective!" An impatient Toragai mumbles to his teammates.
"We wait Toragai. We do not want to risk being seen, the last thing we need is a confrontation." Says Toshida.
"Brother is right Toragai. We want to slip by their security unnoticed, not attack them when they are least expecting it."
"But we have been sitting here waiting for almost half an hour now! I want to get out of this shadow. It's just too creepy."
"Half an hour?" Replies Keinea, "Thirty minutes is nothing. Once, when I was on a reconnaissance mission to steal a scroll from a thunder country bureaucrat, I used this technique and almost got caught while waiting in his bedroom. He returned home early and went straight to bed and I had to remain on in a shadow tunnel on his ceiling staring directly down at him for almost sixteen hours. So trust me, half an hour is nothing."
The guards then all turn their backs to the sin shinobi's shadow tunnel and continue bickering at one another. Toshida seizing the opportunity, leaps quickly from the shadow, across the dirt road path and into an adjacent shadow just behind the guards.
"Dammit! That was a little sudden, don't you think?" Says an angry Maea. "Don't tell me we are going to have to go one at a time."
Keinea responds, "That can't happen anyway. Using the shadow walking technique requires a lot of chakra, and anyone that is in one of the tunnels must be brought into the tunnel by a shadow walker. You guys can leave this shadow whenever you want, but you would have no concealment from those guards. Brother knows this technique as well, which is why he was able to travel freely from shadow to shadow."
Toragai remains impatient and now a bit confused, "How is it that Toshida knows that technique as well?"
"It was taught to them by their father Toragai. Keinea told me that awhile ago."
"That's correct Maea. But something is concerning me. Kage Sonsaku (shadow walking) uses a lot of chakra. If brother uses too much chakra then he will need us to seal him again, or the dragon will simply wake up. Since that is the case, why is he risking using the technique just to complete this mission a little faster?"
"I don't know now that you mention it." Responds Maea. "I guess that getting a hold of "it" must be very important. But I personally can't see why."
"Now is our chance! Hold on to my hands!"
Keinea then leaps from the shadows with Toragai and Maea holding onto his hands. The three land in the same shadow as Toshida without making so much as a whisper, and the sin shinobi move into the leaf village unnoticed by the security.
The shinobi make their way quickly through most of the village, jumping from shadow to shadow at strategic points and in perfect timing. They make their way through the first half of the village moving from ground level, to roof tops, to under vendor outlets and finally stopping outside a bar in the centre of the village. The shinobi have stopped as a man leaving the bar turned toward them while they were still hiding in the shadows. The man examined the shadow briefly before turning around and going on his way.
Before the man leaves the shadow however, the four shinobi travel from the buildings shadow into the shadow of the man leaving the bar.
"This is perfect!" Says Keinea to his teammates. "We can move along from shadow to shadow of anyone that this guy passes. If we play our cards right, we will be able to move much easier throughout the village."
Keinea's plan comes to fruition as the man has walked into the downtown corridor at ten minutes till two o clock. The angle of the sun in conjunction with the mountains, the villagers and the buildings, has created an elaborate maze in which the shinobi are able to move freely.
The shinobi find themselves piggybacking their way to just outside the Ichiraku ramen shop. As they move into the shadow that the shop had created the find themselves grinding to a halt as a chuunin level shinobi walks by and takes a seat in the ramen shop.
"Good afternoon!" The shinobi says to the shop owner. "How are you doing today?"
"Oh hello Iruka! Will it just be your usual today?"
"Yea definitely. The students finished all of their drills and exercises early today so I gave them the rest of the day off. So I thought I would come by and get a bite to eat."
"Excellent Iruka. It is good to see that you are still working hard." The ramen shop owner then takes a more serious tone as he turns around to address Iruka. "Say Iruka, have you heard anything from Naruto lately?"
Iruka takes a solemn disposition as he shakes his head sideways, "Unfortunately no. I haven't heard anything from him since he left the village over a year ago. I certainly hope that he is doing ok."
The shop owner turns back to finish Iruka's order, but Iruka himself has noticed something odd. He looks out from the corner of his eye and notices the ominous dark shadow just outside of the ramen shop.
"It isn't dark enough outside to produce a shadow that dark. What is that? Also, the shadow being cast is from the tarp on the front of the shop. It isn't thick enough to cause a shadow that dark. Hmm, I wonder."
Iruka then stretches his arms out and lets out a fake yawn. He leans back on his stool and just brushes the tarp that hangs over the front of the ramen shop. As the tarp moves, its shadow moves slightly across the ground, but the dark spot Iruka noticed does not move at all.
Before Iruka can investigate any further the shop keeper finishes Iruka's order and places it in front of him. "Here you go, Iruka!"
"Ah, thank you very much." Iruka says as he separates his chopsticks and looks back behind him to notice that the mysterious shadow has disappeared.
"I don't know what that was, but I had better report it." As the ramen shop owner looks at Iruka peculiarly, Iruka returns his attention to his meal.
"ITADAKIMASU!" (Time to Eat)
As Iruka eats, the sin shinobi are moving progressively further into the leaf village. The shinobi continue leaping from shadow to shadow, and transferring from person to person. After another few minutes of travelling, the shinobi stop just behind a building facing the Hokage mountain.
"There is our target" Toshida says, "The Hokage building!"
"What? Are you insane?" Questions Toragai, "that has to be the most heavily guarded building in the entire village and our target is in there?"
"Yes it is." Toshida says, "There is a document in that building that I must obtain."
Keinea questions his brothers actions, as even he is sceptical of this mission, "Brother, what could be so valuable in that building? What do you need from there?"
"When I met with that boy back in the forest, something was brought to me attention. It may hold the key to my emancipation."
The sin shinobi then make their way toward to an entryway to the Hokage's building. The shinobi move silently throughout the shadow making no more noise then a light gust of wind moving through the hallways. However, as they move through the hallways they notice that there are no guards. In fact, there is no one at all moving throughout the building. None of the Hokage's aid's are around, and there are no villagers making use of the libraries.
"Something is not right here." Toshida says to his teammates. "Why is this place empty?"
"Well the Hokage is not in the village, so maybe the building is closed to visitors." Maea suggests.
Toragai adds, "Or maybe she gave her aids some time off."
"I don't know what is going on here but something is not right." Keinea says, agreeing with his brother.
"Nevertheless brother, we need it, and I will not leave her empty handed." Toshida then leaves the confines of the shadow tunnel and looks around both corners. "All right, we must split up. If you are discovered, incapacitate but do not kill. As soon as you are noticed, rendezvous back here and we will leave as quickly as possible."
The four shinobi then split up and move to different areas of the building, searching from room to room, emptying desks and ruffling through the massive libraries. Still, there is no one left in the building to be found.
"I don't like this at all." Toshida thinks to himself as he continues searching through every room that he passes. "This all seems too convenient. There is no reason that this building should be empty."
As Toshida passes by an empty corridor he is unaware that an ominous figure has been watching him. The figure remains unseen to Toshida as the silhouette clutches a communication device strapped around the figure's voice box.
"First one is in the east hallway on the 3rd floor heading up to the 4th via the east stairwell. Request instructions."
A familiar voice comes over the audio communication to respond to the figure's request. "Continue with your surveillance. Whatever you do, do not get caught. Watch and observe but do not engage. If we are forced to engage, then this will make for an excellent test for our team. Report back again in two minutes, or until there is a new development. Until then, maintain radio silence."
The figure responds, "Roger that Sensei. Continuing with surveillance. Unit 5 out."
The figure then follows Toshida as he moves up the stairs. The figure moves like a spider, walking along the walls and the ceiling, keeping a low profile and going to great lengths to avoid being caught. However, Toshida is aware of the figures presence. Toshida does everything possible to keep from acknowledging the dark figure.
"Just great. I knew it was too good to be true. It doesn't matter though. I will not be denied this day. If I have to slaughter this nosey little man to do so, then so be it."
Toshida arrives in the Hokage's office and he heads directly for her file cabinets and library stacks. The mysterious figure remains outside of the office and reports back to his superiors.
"The target has moved into the Hokage's office and is searching through her files. Request permission to intervene."
The radio responds, "Permission denied. Do not engage the target, stand back and observe."
The shadowy figure regretfully responds and follows orders, "Roger, I will not engage." As the figure peers into the Hokage's office he notices that Toshida is missing.
"Wh-what! Where could he have gone?" The figure asks himself, as he moves into the Hokage's office, still seeing no sign of the sin shinobi. The figure then moves further into the office and the light reveals his full appearance.
He is a leaf village shinobi. His face is masked and covered from his neck to his nose. He wears a communication device around his throat and a hood over his head accented with a leaf village head protector. His eyes cannot be seen through thick goggles that mirror whatever it is that he is looking at. The shinobi does a brief scan of the room and still cannot see Toshida, or where he may have gone to.
The shinobi then informs his superiors"Unit 5 reporting, the target has disappeared, repeat I cannot located the target." The shinobi begins walking backward toward the doorway, "Request instructions."
Before the shinobi's superiors can respond, the shinobi turns around only to see Toshida hanging upside down from just outside the doorway. The shinobi is caught by surprise as Toshida grabs the top of the door frame and swings backward from the roof, thrust his legs out toward the shinobi striking him in the chest with a thunderous mule kick that sends the shinobi hurdling through the air and toppling over the Hokage's desk.
Toshida then uses his legs and manages to briefly spin in a counter clockwise rotation, and his momentum allows him to quickly spring to his feet ready to make a follow up attack. Before the dazed shinobi can readily defend himself, he looks up to see Toshida with his sword drawn and pointed directly under the shinobi's chin. Toshida turns the sharp end of the blade upward, slightly cutting the shinobi under the chin and forcing him to rise to his feet. Toshida then positions himself and his sword so that the very tip of the blade is just under the shinobi's chin. Toshida inches himself to just a few inches from the shinobi's face as he takes a few seconds to examine the shinobi's goggles and mask.
"Who are you?" Toshida asks the frightened shinobi. "I know why you are following me considering it is I who should explain what I am doing here. But take off that mask and let me look into your eyes."
The shinobi lets out an unamused sigh, as he quickly vanishes in a puff of smoke leaving only a set of rocks and logs in his stead. Toshida however does not fall for the body switching technique and hurls a kunai directly behind him and toward the fleeing shinobi. The kunai grazes the shinobi's right tricep sending a splash of blood against the wall of the corridor. The shinobi grimaces briefly in pain as he sprints at high speed toward the window at the end of the hallway.
"Don't think you are getting away that easily, you nosey little bastard!" Toshida sprints after the shinobi at high speed to no avail.
The shinobi leaps out through the window and lands against the wall of the Hokages building. The shinobi runs down the wall toward the ground where he is met by two other shinobi in the same outfits. The three then move off in the same direction at high speed, and Toshida realizes that the village will soon be aware of his team's presence.
"Oh just great! KEINEA!" Toshida hollers into the empty hallways. As his voice echoes he warns his team of the current events. "ABORT! We gotta move out. Let's go, Hurry!"
Toshida moves so fast through the hallways and down the stairs that one would think he was never touching the ground. He runs into Toragai along the way and simply waves at him to follow. Toragai does not question and he follows Toshida through the hallways.
"We have to find my brother and Maea. We're pulling out! Our cover has been blown."
"What do you mean our cover has been blown?"
"We were set up. Somehow the shinobi of this village knew where our target was. They sent spies to follow us. We have to try and leave as quickly as possible. If we don't, then we will be taken prisoner. Where was Maea when you last saw her?"
"She was just around this corner in the library."
The two shinobi enter the library to find Maea searching through countless scrolls and books, looking desperately for the document that the shinobi seek. She notices the other two entering the room and seeming slightly short of breath. She knows immediately what this means and follows her comrades out of the room.
Meanwhile, Keinea is searching through a hallway on the 2nd floor. He comes to a metal door that is locked with a special seal. The door is silver but holds a red kanji symbol that represents the fire country and the Hokage. Keinea tries to find a weak spot in the door but finds that it is sealed rather tight. There is a small amount of light coming out from under the door, most likely caused by a window on the other side of the door. Keinea carefully positions himself at an angle facing the door and makes his patented hand seal, the symbol of the horse only with thumbs perpendicular and connected.
"Kage Sonsaku!" (Shadow Walking) Keinea then disappears into the shadows and moves cautiously under the door and into the room behind the metal door. He emerges from the shadow and finds that the room is filled with large scrolls.
"Wow! There is a lot of information in this room." Keinea says out loud, "It may take some time to find what we need."
Keinea begins searching through the scrolls to find out which one it is that he has been ordered to retrieve. He notices one large scroll that stands almost four feet tall and is massive in its thickness. As Keinea examines it, he notices the writing along the side of the massive scroll. It reads, "The Hokage's Scroll of Forbidden Seals." Keinea thinks to himself of the possibilities that may reside in the scroll, but after a few seconds he tosses the scroll aside to search for his real target.
His attention is then drawn to another very large scroll that sits on the third shelf from the top. Keinea reaches up and grabs the large scroll that is even larger then the one he just had. He looks to the shelves and notices that the top shelf is marked with a label that says "first." The second shelf from the top has the same, although it reads "second."
Keinea turns the scroll over and notices the same kanji written on the giant scroll that is written on the third shelf from the top. "Yes! This has got to be it. All right time to go." Keinea says to himself as he straps the scroll to his back and re-enters the shadows and leaving the room.
As he emerges from the shadows, he notices his teammates running toward him at high speed. Keinea knows just as Maea knew, that they have been discovered.
"Oh shit!" Keinea yells aloud. He joins his teammates who then make a hasty retreat from the building.
As they make their way out of the building they are stopped dead in their tracks as they are surrounded on all sides by an army of ANBU guards. The special operatives are positioned in a semicircle around the doorway of the building and even above the fleeing shinobi, perched high on the building walls.
"Well this is just great!" Toragai curses to himself and his teammates, "Toshida, how many do you count?"
Toshida responds, "Twenty. Twelve of them ANBU."
Toshida gets confused looks from his teammates as they can only see the twelve ANBU guards. Maea is the first to point it out to Toshida, "I only see twelve. What are you talking about?"
Before Toshida can respond a large puff of smoke appears just in front of the sin shinobi, sending dust, sand and leaves into the air and toward the shinobi. As his teammates cover their faces from the wind and sand, Toshida maintains a focussed look on their current roadblock. When the dust settles, another eight shinobi have appeared in front of them, all of them wearing the same outfit as the shinobi that was spying on Toshida. All of the shinobi wear black outfits that cover them from head to toe, with the exception of a white band around their left arms that contain the letters "S.I.C.T." written in red. They are also armed with a set of razor like claws that stick out roughly eight inches and are strapped to the wrists of each their arms, making for an even deadlier strike with every punch thrown.
"Sorry, make that two more." Toshida says as he looks to the trees to the left of the mysterious shinobi, and a building top to the right of the shinobi. "I believe those two would be the men in charge."
Toshida's attention is fixed on the two shinobi observing the actions of the strange shinobi. The one that stands perched in the tree communicates to his team through the communication devices they all were.
"Get them to relinquish the scrolls peacefully, or take them by force. Either way, do not let them get away."
The message is then referred to the sin shinobi by a tall member of the strange new shinobi group. "Give up the scroll peacefully or it will be taken by force."
Toshida thinks to himself about the futility of trying to resist against these numbers. "Judging from the size of these shinobi, they are all either at chuunin or jounin level. Twenty high level ninjas' against the four of us. This is not good at all. What are we going to do?"
Toshida does what he can to figure out an escape route away from all the menacing shinobi. The only escape route appears to be using the shadow walking technique to move under the shinobi. However, with all of the chuunin and jounin level shinobi, successfully leaving the village or even leaving the confining circle of ninjas would prove futile.
"Dammit, we don't have a choice. We have to give up. I won't risk their lives any more today."
Toshida turns to his younger brother as he swallows his pride, "Give them the scroll Keinea. We will work this out later, but for now I want all of your safety insured."
Keinea looks to the scroll and contemplates giving it up. He struggles with his own conscience and quickly comes to a conclusion. "No!"
Toshida and the rest of his teammates look on in shock as Keinea unstraps the scroll from his back. Toshida begins to get angry with his brother's defiance and is sure to tell him.
"Brother I wasn't asking you. I was ordering you. Give them the scroll!"
"And I told you, no! This scroll may hold the key to your release, and if that is the case then I will die before I give it up!"
Toshida moves closer to his brother to continue to conversation at a whisper. "Brother, you do not have to do this. We will think of something else. Besides, you made a promise to me remember? You gave your word, and I will not let you go back on it."
"I remember brother, but please, I want nothing more then to see you cured. If I take them all on, I may be able to hold them off for a few seconds. It isn't much but it may give you time to get a head start and maybe you guys can escape with the scroll."
"Brother don't be stupid! You would not even last a second against these odds. So shut up, give me the scroll and be patient."
As Keinea readies his response a voice comes from the tree as the leader of this new team speaks directly to Toshida.
"I am afraid your little squabble will have to wait until later. None of you are going anywhere." The shinobi leaps from the tree and lands several metres from Toshida and his team. The shinobi wears a mask similar to the ones that the strange shinobi sect wore. One of his eyes is covered by his leaf village head protector and he holds a novel with a red cover in his left hand. He places the novel back in his back pocket and then addresses the sin shinobi.
"You have stolen something that belongs to our village. If you do not give it up willingly then you will have to defeat us to leave here with it." The shinobi raises his head protector off of his left eye and reveals the signature sharingan eye made famous by members of the Uchiha clan, and a talented leaf jounin by the name of Hatake Kakashi.
"This is turning out to be fairly interesting. So why don't you help us test out one of our shinobi?"
"Who are you guys? I have heard of the legendary "Copy Ninja" Kakashi, but I have never heard of your little group. Who are you?"
"First of all, you are in no position to ask questions. But since you have proven to be a strong shinobi, I will answer your question. This is the S.I.C.T. team that is all you need to know. Now, you have proven that you all indeed have talent, and I am curious to see how far along our team has come. So I offer a challenge, you pick one member from your team to face off against one member from our team. If you win, then you can pick one of your members to go free. If you lose, then you all will be taken as prisoners. The choice is yours.
"And how do I know if you are telling the truth or not? A real shinobi would never offer such a challenge. You are just interested in testing out your team and you wish to use us as guinea pigs."
"Hmm. That's right." Responds the playful yet serious Kakashi. But what have you got to lose?"
"Hmpf, I guess you're right." Toshida says, as he removes his hat and trench coat. He reaches back and removes his sword from its sheath. "Then it will be I who will take on your challenge."
Kakashi then looks amongst his ranks to find a suitable opponent for the dangerous sin shinobi. All of the shinobi remain stoic as no one volunteers, willing to let their Sensei decide who will fight the thief. The only shinobi who seems to be volunteering is the shortest of the group. He stands roughly feet tall and wears the same outfit as everyone else.
Kakashi thinks to himself, "Oh great. I will never hear the end of it from "him" if he gets hurt." Kakashi points to the volunteering ninja and gestures him to face of with Toshida. "All-right Unit 6, you're up."
The shinobi jumps high into the air and lands several metres in front of Toshida. The shinobi then looks to the claws that he and all the other SICT team members possess, and he quickly strips them off surprising Toshida. He then takes his offensive stance and readies to start the battle. Toshida nods at the shinobi's actions and returns his sword to its sheath, and throws the sheath to Toragai.
Toshida then takes a stance very similar to the one that Keinea took in his fight with Tenge. His left arm is stretched out facing his opponent with his thumb and ring fingers touched together and the other three fingers pointed toward the SICT member. His knees are bent, and his right hand sits parallel against his hip with his fingers curled ready for a strike.
After adjusting the direction that the fingers are pointing he thinks to himself, "His right arm is the strong one, he puts most of his weight on his left leg, and his line of sight dictates he is going to come in low and strike. 98, 34, and 48, very well, defensive pattern lambda."
After properly adjusting his stance, Toshida stares into the goggles of the SICT shinobi with the determined yet stoic look that has become his trademark. "All right then leaf shinobi . . . LET'S GO!"