Chapter 2 "The Eyes of the Shadow, Race Through the Forest"
The sun rose over the mountain that bore the carved faces of the Hokages of Kohona. Tsunade woke up from her desk from which she spent the night. The news of the ninja that was attacked on the patrol only complicated matters worse. First, some lizard-tail nin, now some shadow with death-eyes. She wanted to assume the Stones were to blame, but only a fool jumps to conclusions without proof.
The door opened and Hagane Kotetsu, one of her personal bodyguards, entered.
"What is it?"
"Sorry to disturb you, Godaime, but I have the reports you sent for." Kotetsu brought forth a small stack of papers. "Nothing of major importance has occurred. All seven encampments have continued patrols in the major sectors, but there is no sight of any Earth activity. But..."
"But what?"
"There have been strange sightings. ANBU units have reported seeing what they described as glowing eyes on nighttime patrols. Every time they see it and try to investigate, they find nothing."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair to ponder this over. More on these eyes of the darkness. There are some strange types of eyes in this world. The Sharingan of the Uchihas, the Byakugan of the Hyuugas, and a host of other different types of eyes and doujutsus. But there was something different about these. It was not something that she could explain, just something that she felt. Something telling her that this was trouble.
"Thank you. I will look over the reports later." Tsunade stood up. "When will the representatives of the Sand arrive."
"They will arrive in approximately 3 hours, Godaime."
Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba leaped from tree branch to tree branch in hot pursuit of Akamaru while two ANBU nins followed behind. Akamaru had caught a foreign scent and was racing to catch up with whatever the source was.
"Akamaru, slow down or you're going to get too far ahead." Kiba called out. Suddenly, Akamaru stopped on a tree branch, lifting his nose high into the air.
"I didn't mean stop, Akamaru," Kiba said as their squad stopped next to the white-haired canine.
Akamaru sniffed some more. "I can't smell him anymore." Naruto jumped forward and continued pursuing their invisible foe.
"Naruto! Damn, now what is he up to?" Kiba groaned. The rest of the patrol chased after him until they saw that he had stopped in front of a large river.
"We lost him in the river," Akamaru said.
"Geez, who is this guy?" Kiba muttered. "That's the third time in three days he's gotten away."
"And every time, he's getting braver." One of the ANBU nins announced.
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.
"Every time we track his movements, we discover he's going deeper into Fire Country."
Naruto stared disappointed at the river. We'll get him next time,...absolutely.
"Come on, Naruto. We're heading back." Kiba said.
"Yeah."
Kyoufu grabbed hold of the riverbank. That was almost too close. As much as he hated wet clothes, this proved a necessary act. Breathing heavily, he reached inside his coat to pull out a compass. Let's see, I should have only gone about a kilometer East, so if I just head south... His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar feeling of the air being cut though. A kunai!
Kyoufu leaped to his left, barely avoiding several throwing kunai. "Ryuugan!" Looking up, he saw a trio of masked nins jumping down on him from above. His tail froze stiff, then slapped the ground as he drew his sword.
Naruto's patrol returned to their encampment. Kiba told General Hatake about the chase, while
Naruto went to his tent to rest. Uchiha Sasuke was inside checking his equipment before his patrol.
"You're late, again."
"Hmph," Naruto snorted as he lay down on his mat.
"Got away again, didn't he?" Naruto didn't answer. Sasuke chuckled at this. "Sounds to me like you're beginning to take this tracking business personally."
"He must be incredibly strong to evade us so easily. I want to see what he is." Naruto answered.
Sasuke sighed to himself. "Don't get all tangled up with this. You have a job to do, and Godaime will get really unhappy if you screw this up."
"Yeah, yeah."
Sasuke reattached his weapon's pouch to his belt as he got up to leave. "See you later, total moron."
Naruto lay on his mat, motionless, just thinking to himself. He knew his friend was right. He was getting too involved in this. Of course, old habits never die easily, especially not for the most energetic ninja in Kohona. He wanted to go out there again. All by himself if he had too. Age however, did lend itself a some wisdom, and he calmed his thoughts a little.
His thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi entered the tent. "Well, Sasuke's patrol just set off. They should be back by nightfall." He looked at the silent Naruto. "Well, well, someone's not in the talkative mood."
Naruto looked at his old sensei. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I was just thinking."
"Hmmm, I didn't know you could think." Kakashi laughed at his own joke until he saw that his pupil was not laughing as well. "Well, at least this should put your mind at ease. Several of our spies working in Grass country have brought word that Stone nins are withdrawing back into Earth Country."
"What!" Naruto's eyes widened as he shifted to look at his sensei.
"I didn't believe it myself at first, but other sources have confirmed it. Looks like it's going to end better than we thought." This was a confusing revelation for the Uzamaki. On the one hand, it was great news. There would be no war, he could return home, maybe even go forward in proposing to Hinata. But at the same time he was disappointed. The shadow in the woods still preoccupied his mind. Naruto wanted to face him, and his curiosity was still trying to get the best of him.
"Hmm, you don't seem too excited about this." Kakashi observed.
Naruto turned to the Copy Ninja and smiled. "Sorry, did you say something?"
"Huh?"
"I have him in sight now!" Tenten shouted over her radio headset. "The rest of my team is down and needs evacuation. I need reinforcements now!" She reached into her back pouch and pulled out a small summoning scroll. With a flick of her wrist, the scroll unraveled and a large shuriken appeared in a puff of smoke.
"You are not getting away!" Tenten shouted, releasing the weapon in the direction of the fleeing figure. Whoever he was stopped to look around in time to see the spinning projectile closing in on him fast. A gleam of light shown and the shuriken was deflected off to the side. Tenten looked in astonishment as she got closer and saw the drawn long-sword in the nin's hands. She stopped several meters away while he kept his back towards her, standing perfectly still except for the twitching tail.
He turned around slowly and revealed his face. His solid features bore a solemn, yet calm face. She noted there was a slight green and brown discoloring around his lower jawbone and around his eyes.
His eyes!
She looked closer and saw that his pupils in his orange eyes were not round, but slit-lined, like an animals. The only other time she had seen eyes like these was when she saw the power of the Kyuubi in Uzamaki Naruto.
He spoke first. "You're pretty foolish to come at me alone, without your squad." His eyes narrowed on her. "If you do not want to be harmed, turn back now. My mission will soon be complete and you will not inhibit it." The tip of his lizardine tail swayed from side-to-side, betraying his excitement for a battle.
"I'm not letting you get away." With that she grabbed the large scroll that slung over her back and whipped it open. A puff of smoke and a pair of katanas appeared. Closing the scroll and twirling the swords in her hands, she prepared herself in a defensive fighting stance.
The stranger muttered under his breath, grasped his long-sword firmly with both hands, and held it above his head with the blade pointing downward. With this he initiated himself in his own fighting stance. "You will regret this," he spoke.
"Do not underestimate me," Tenten said with a smile. "I am a jounin-level weapons specialist, and I'm not afraid of whatever you are."
"Really?" Kyoufu smirked, then chuckled. His face got serious again. He looked earnestly, examining her body and stance, looking for an opening or possible weakness. Weapon specialist, huh. This should be fun.
She attacked first. "Leaf Style! Dance of the Crescent Moon," she shouted. Kyoufu saw her create illusional clones, all charging at different angles towards him.
"Ryuugan!" He responded by opening up his eye-lids more. His darkish-orange eyes turned neon-green, much to the shock of his opponent.
"What the..." Before Tenten could get in to make a fatal strike, the tailed nin charged. But he did not strike at any of the clones. He went straight for the real one. He knows! Tenten brought her swords in front of her in defense, barely in time to stop his long-sword from striking her. She did not calculate the force of the impact to be so strong, as she flew backwards when metal struck metal. Her clones dissipated into smoke when her body hit the ground.
Without even a second to spare, she rolled to the side to evade a powerful sword stroke smashing into the ground. Tenten was on her feet again in a flash. Clones are worthless, and he's super fast. She defended herself from more strikes from the stranger's double-bladed sword. Not just fast, but strong. It was all she could do to both keep a solid defense against her adversaries powerful strikes. Even with two swords against one, his skill was immediately apparent. His movements were fluid and continuous in nature. Even after a sword strike, he already knew the next location of attack and continued.
I'm in trouble, Tenten thought to herself. Finally, his attacks let up for just enough time for her to jump back and reach for her scroll. She made the mistake of taking her eyes off of her opponent for a split second. Her scroll in hand, Tenten looked back, but found her opponent no where in sight. She stood amazed until a powerful kick to the side of her head sent her body flailing uncontrollably on the ground.
She lay there on the ground dazed. Blood slowly streamed down her hairline where the kick impacted. Quiet ensued the forest; the wind breezing softly and rays of sunlight drifting through the branches and leaves to the forest floor. Tenten looked at the sunlight, and the encroaching shadow that appeared in it. He was coming towards her. Tenten gasped and reached for a katana that lay next to her.
Too late. His leather boot stepped on the blade, leaving Tenten defenseless. He reached down and grabbed her by the shirt, lifting the weapon specialist up and slamming her body against a nearby tree trunk. Tenten gasped madly for air. Still holding her, Kyoufu brought his face closer until they were mere centimeters away. She could see them clearly now, those eyes. They looked at her with a primal stare, as if he wanted to devour her where she stood.
"Jounin-level weapon specialist." Kyoufu bared his fangs. "You aren't even worth the effort to kill. Summoning weapons like they were toys to play with. No respect at all." His hands now were at her throat. She was tried her best to control her own body in this situation. She didn't fear death. No one who ever reaches jounin level ever fears an eventual end. Sacrifice for the village was part of the shinobi life. Her training in this kept her shaking to a minimum and her breathing under control.
He spoke again, the hand around Tenten's throat becoming tighter. "I will not kill you here. I have no interest in meaningless deaths. However, you will not be able to tell of what occurred here until what needs to happen happens." His eyes looked directly into hers. Tenten did not want to look back, but he was forcing her through some unseen power. It was a battle of wills she had no strength to win. Her world became darker as her mind grew heavy and weary in his genjutsu.
"You will sleep for three days and three nights without stop. By then, my mission will be complete." With that, Tenten's limbs went limp as she fell into a deep sleep.
Kyoufu looked at the Leaf nin lying on the ground. His face no longer showed anger, but pity. It was as if he completely changed his personality. He knew he had gone too far, and he regretted his actions. I'm sorry mother, but I'm almost done with everything. Then Tsuchikage will approve my request and my dream. I will be home soon. Only one more needs to die. Kyoufu closed his eyes.
Godaime of the Leafs.
Chapter End