Part 02
The Akatzuki
Zenshin walked over to me, asking if I was okay. I signaled I was, telling him that I was just thinking about Ryuu. The young ninja crossed his arms, telling me since my cousin was his best friend, he thought about him all the time. Adding that he hadn't seen Ryuu since he left a week prior to that day, he told me his father wouldn't even let him know where my uncle and cousin had been sent to.
I swung my other leg out of the window and groaned, "Typical Naruto... Anyway, Squad, let's move out!"
Shoving myself outwards, I landed below on the ground, my team all landing around me seconds afterwards. Team #30 saw us and ran over since Shikamaru had yet to show up, as usual. Mouko greeted me warmly with a hug, "Long time no see!"
"Yeah, how's Aunt Sakura?"
"Good, in class right now. We're waiting for Akaihane's dad to show up."
The eleven year old girl sighed, "And we'll be waiting for awhile...my dad's lazier than a bump on a log."
Hakusa giggled, replying that if she said something like that about her dad, he'd make her train extremely hard for it. Out of nowhere, we all heard their sensei's voice, replying that hard training wasn't such a bad idea. Appearing behind his three Genin students, Shikamaru wore a slight grin, telling his team to start running and that he'd catch up to them in a few minutes. Once they were out of sight and earshot range, he looked at the five of us, "Seshuu, everyone, I didn't want to say this in front of the team...please be careful on your mission. It's a highly dangerous Rank A, and unfortunately you'll be on your own because the ANBU are all remaining here in case you fail."
"We know," his son replied, "Thanks, Dad."
The Jounin nodded and took off after his team, while my Squad disappeared, heading in the direction of the Rank S criminals. Amaashi walked up next to me, hands on her hips, "So, what have you been up to since last we met?"
"Not much, actually, just going on continuous missions for the Land of Lightning...and putting up with my younger siblings. You know, you're lucky, being an only child, I mean."
She giggled, commenting that dealing with 'the three bozos' on our team made up for it. Of course, as if to prove her point, not a single one of the three guys understood why the two of us peeked over our shoulders at them before starting to laugh. Zenshin growled, asking the other two guys what could be so funny. Seshuu shook his head, "When it comes to those two, I've learned not to ask..."
Dokuga stopped dead in his tracks, sniffing the air, which caused the rest of us to stop as well. Suddenly Keitaro came flying out of a nearby group of bushes, barking wildly as he jumped into his owner's arms. Our youngest male member glared out towards the overgrowth that his closest friend had just come from, "We're not alone...nor are we in the presence of just any S Rank shinobi. According to Keitaro, our opponents are the Akatzuki..."
My eyes widened, "You can't be serious; I thought all of them had been either killed or captured."
"It seems our sources were wrong," Zenshin replied as all of us followed his sight up to a tree about three hundred feet from us. On the numerous branches, the ten shinobi we were sent to stop stood tall, all with the look of hatred upon their faces. I smiled, telling my team that this wasn't going to be a quick job, and that if any of us should fall, it would be with honor. They all nodded as we crouched down and disappeared.
The ten shinobi enemies launched into the air, meeting us in two to one odds, except in Dokuga and Keitaro's case. I performed the Shadow Jutsu my mother had taught me early on in my years as a shinobi of the Cloud, instantly creating about thirty copies of me. All of us pulled out four kunai knives, throwing them at our two enemies. The shinobi dodged as my clones continued the attack and I jumped to the top of the tallest tree I could see, staring back towards Konoha and realizing just how close we still were to its gates. Looking back down at the battle below me, I shook my head, "If we fail, Konoha won't have enough time to even know about the atta--"
Amaashi noticed I was standing treetop and that by the look on my face, something was wrong. She didn't think twice before revealing the Byakugan she inherited from her father, as Zenshin revealed his that was passed down by his mother. Knowing that they were pretty much unstoppable now, I turned my attention to the other three team members, including Keitaro. The canine that had warned us about our enemies had already been transformed into an exact copy of Dokuga, while Seshuu had the shadows of his two opponents in his complete control, meaning they were helpless.
When the last of my clones had been knocked out for the count, I jumped down, landing before the two enemies I had chosen to fight. Crossing my arms with a sigh, I started at them, "Why are you after the Hokage?"
The one on the right snickered, "We're not after your precious Hokage, we're after you!"
"What?"
"The eldest child of Itachi Uchiha who abandoned us...now he will learn what happens when you disrespect us, the Akatzuki!"
I know, an extremely short chapter. :shrugs: So sue me. Lilith and Naash, thanks for your reviews, they mean a lot. Anyway, as always, please read and review.
Noelani
