Notes: This is the re-written version of my first fanfiction 'Written'. Although the general idea is still the same, it will be a lot more Canon compliant (some characters supposed 'dead' will make a come back). I hope you will enjoy it!
Chapter 1
The sun was still high and there was nothing do to except counting the minutes and wait for the day to turn into night. Fuu knew that it wouldn't take long before they would assign her another patrol, but she had seen the same trees enough over the years to even know them by heart, and the only thought made her mind spin.
"Maybe next time we should try doing it with a bandage on the eyes to see if I really know the woods by heart", she said to massive beast that appeared before her as she closed her eyes. The bijuu moaned as he shook off sleep from his closing eyes: "As you like, I will be here to make sure you don't get hurt. By the way, still no news from the Chuunin exam? "
"Nope… nothing… Ah, I don't care! I'll find another way to get out of here!" The girl sat down and pouted in frustration. That day she had just happened to be around Shibuki's hut and hear it. There were no eligible applicants for the Chunin exam as their best Genins still needed one year of training before applying. The leader hadn't deemed necessary to reply to Konoha's invitation of the test to confirm Taki-nins participation, and they moved on the other matters. But for the green-haired girl, it was a golden opportunity that only happened once in a lifetime. With Chômei's support, she wrote a simple answer on a parchment and attached it to the falcon that made the correspondence with Konoha. But a week that seemed never-ending went-by, and there was no news from the Chunin Exam. She came to the conclusion that they figured it wasn't from Shibuki and the parchment was currently lying in a bin.
Fuu consoled herself by saying that there were better opportunities that would come up in the future, and that just like Chomei always told her, she had to think positively. In the meantime, she would lie down and wait for something to happen. Her Bijuu observed the whole scene silently. Although she liked to appear cheerful and optimistic even in front of him, he could feel her blood vessels churning in anxiety. She couldn't hide from him her lack of confidence, nor her fears for the future, and yet, he would always act as if he didn't notice her crying when he was supposed to be asleep, or feel her hands shake whenever she thought she made something to upset the young leader. Unlike her predecessors, she was lacking that emotional control that every single Shinobi had to have. Chomei curled himself into a ball, and snuggled lightly his head against the girl side. If he couldn't make her life better, he would at least make sure she had him by her side.
But suddenly, two familiar chakra signatures broke the quietness of the scenery.
"Fuu, Shibuki wants to see you." The dry tone in which she was called was synonymous of problems. The teenager sat up in a startle and found Yoro and Kegon staring at her.
"Uh, what did I do again?!"
Fuu blinked a couple of time, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"You said we are going to participate?" Chomei, you heard that? We are going! We're finally leaving!
Shibuki sighed. It was a risky bet to let their jinchuuriki participate to the Chunin exam, but with her and their two best Jonin, they could reestablish the name of Takigakure and increase its influence over the Shinobi world.
Not letting him the time to explain, the teenager rushed outside, making a list of what she had to prepare for the departure.
"I'm soooo excited, Chomei! What if we happen to meet another jinchuuriki? I've never met people from other countries, do you think thay have the same habits as us?"
"You have nothing to worry about, dear. Just be yourself and be postitive. Everything will go well."
Fuu smiled at his last comment and concentrated his chakra on her back where for colorful wings appeared. This time, she was going to see the outside for sure.
After rain drops splashed on freshly formed puddles. The sun was a rare sight in Amegakure, and Itachi thought its inhabitants would be pretty upset to know that it didn't have to do anything with their Leader who contrary to popular beliefs, didn't leave the village so often. They had all been asked to come to Amegakure in person because the organization's plans were moving on. They had kept an eye on Bijuus and jinchuurikis for quite some time now, the next step was logically their capture, but he never bothered to explain how they are going to be used.
"You look quite meditative Itachi-san. Perhaps you have an idea of what's going on?" Kisame asked from behind. His partner seemed to have come to same conclusion and was only looking for a confirmation.
"Nothing more than you already know, but I think that today we are going to get our questions answered." The guards in the front-door of the Tower split into two to let them in, and soon familiar voices from the bottom of the main corridor reached their ears.
"Your art in garbage, man! I'm tired of your 'demonstrations', we're gonna get deaf at this rhythm!"
"SHUT UP! You don't know anything about art! It's one hundred times more useful and esthetic than how you fight you useless stupid!"
"Enough, we're late." The tall hooded man appeared from a narrow passage and acknowledged the newly arrived with a nonchalant glance before making his way between the two young men, closely followed by the silver haired one who kept mumbling something under his breath.
"Long time no see, Kisame-no-danna! Itachi." Deidara turned directly his attention to his partner and the two of them discussed the recent missions as they headed towards the central room. The look in Deidara's eyes made it clear: he was a rival, and at the first occasion he would prove it to him. Itachi hid a smirk behind the collar of the cloak. At first, he didn't understand the reasons behind the choice of the members. People with different affinities and temperaments were forced to work together, and this caused useless tensions among the group. For an organization that was aiming at conquering the world, some would have come to the conclusion that it was destined to self-destruction. Yet, with time, the organization's influence and wealth across the Shinobi world became solid enough for the Leader to talk about to the next stage of their plan.
"Yo, Shark-face and sick-boy are here! What's up men?" Hidan called them out as they crossed the entrance of the meeting room. It was a giant circular space, lit up by three white spheres hung up in the middle of the ceiling. Kakuzu was already sitting on one of the chairs displayed circularly, with a pile of papers on his knees that he was carefully reading. Konan was sitting next to him, looking blankly in front of her, while Sasori was dragging himself to the other end. Soon the all the positions were taken and the only empty space left was the Leader's. Of course, there was another missing member and Itachi wondered how many of them knew about its existence.
"How long are we going to wait?" I was the puppet master who voiced the question on the group's behalf and soon a rectangle of light appeared on the floor, only broken by the shadow of the awaited Leader.
"You won't have to wait any longer. We will start the meeting." Pein walked to the center of the room as all the eyes turned to look at his direction.
"We have finally been able to gather enough support and monay to put our second plan into action. We are going to deprive the Five Great Shinobi Lands from their strongest weapons and change the dynamics of the geopolitics of our world. We will have to act quickly. We don't want the main hidden villages to gather their strength and prevent us reaching our goal, so we will proceed in this way. This year's Chûnin Exam will take place at Sunagakure and we are going to send one team of genins from the sensitive type to participate and gather information on the eventual presence of jinchuurikis in the exam. Two teams will be waiting at the borders of the Land of Wind, one from our country's side and another one from the Land of River for the signal. If you do not receive anything within 2 days, you are free to come back and you will be assigned a new mission, otherwise, you'll have to capture the jinchuuriki and take him to Amegakure alive."
Pein turned his face to the side, and then crossed eyes with Itachi. "Kakuzu, Hidan, you will head to Ame's borders with the Land of Wind. Itachi and Kisame you will head to the Land of River. Sasori and Deidara, I have a mission for you in the Land of Earth. If one the two teams assigned successfully captures a jinchuuriki, you have to immediately notice me so that I can send you reinforcements. You can take a week off to prepare yourselves. The Chûnin exam will start within two weeks."
Pein looked once more to the hooded man side, and the man stood up and followed the leader outside as the rest of the group discreetly dispersed.
As they exited the room, Kisame turned to the right were the staircase and said to his partner: "I'm going to take a nap then. We have been travelling the whole day without rest. You should get some too. Don't wander around too much."
Itachi nodded, and the two men took their respective paths. Naruto hadn't returned from his travel with Jiraya yet, so he was safe for the time being. He only hoped that when Naruto's turn would come, he would be the one assigned to capture him.