-1Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Three days later a frustrated Shinji was heard screaming in...well, frustration.
"Where the heck is the next town? I'm tired...and hungry!"
"Ugh...you're not the only one. I can't just live off these scraps; I need some real food!" Choji complained as well.
"I suggest you two stop complaining, it's unbecoming of men. What you should be more worried about is the exam and your pupil passing it. You know the consequences."
"Ah, I'm not worried. Jun's gonna pass just as soon as she finds that cat of hers; right Jun?"
"Um…sure!" she replied rather reluctantly.
"Wait a minute, you mean to tell us that along with this mission she's got to take a test too!" Ino asked, somewhat outraged.
"How long will this test take?" Shikamaru asked.
"Well you seem pretty interested, why all the sudden curiosity?"
"Just wondering. What's it about anyway; intelligence, skill, memory….?"
"You a teacher or something?"
"Yes…why?"
"Awesome! Come on, we need your help." Before he knew what was happening, Shikamaru was pulled toward Shinji and Augustus so that the three could have a more private conversation.
"What do you think they're talking about?"
"Not sure." Choji replied.
"Well, it's got something to do with teaching, but I want to know why I'm not there. What, have I stopped being a teacher now or something?" Asuma asked, a bit indignant.
"They probably don't know Asuma-sensei. Hey, how about I treat you to some Barbeque chicken when we get to the nearest town? Yeah, with some miso ramen and chips and..."
Just then, both Shinji and Augustus looked directly at Ino, and then went back to their conversation with Shikamaru. However, this did not go by unnoticed by Asuma.
"Uh sure. Thanks Choji."
"Thanks man. Hey slowpokes, c'mon! We're getting close to a village here!"
"Really?"
"Yup, come see for yourselves.
Sure enough, there was a village just outside of the forest. While everyone else was reveling over the fact that they'd finally get to sleep on a warm bed, Shinji was frantically looking the town over until Jun interrupted his search for….something.
"Is something the matter Shinji?"
"Yeah, this dumb place doesn't have a red light district! This sucks!"
"What's a red light district?" Miguel asked Augustus.
"Shinji, you should be ashamed of yourself. Those poor women are being used by soulless cowards and all you can think of is your own gratification?" Augustus asked, somewhat indignant of Shinji's behavior.
"Look, you may want to be a virgin your whole life, but that doesn't mean I have to be one too, you know." Shinji responded as he started to walk toward the village.
"Well, what about your wife?" At that, Shinji was completely frozen on the spot as he turned his head toward Augustus.
"You want to get me killed, don't you?"
"Well it serves you right for being unfaithful to her."
"You're married?" Ino asked, shocked.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Why would anyone want to marry you!" she asked as she pointed an accusing finger at Shinji.
"It's not who I think it is, is it?" Shikamaru asked.
"Depends on who you think it is."
"You married Kimiko?" Shikamaru asked, both eyebrows raised. At his question, he only received silence as an answer.
"Ok Jun, now I definitely have to meet your sister. She must be like, Wonder Woman or something to be able to stand him."
"That's the same thing Kazumi says." Jun said, giggling at Shinji's expense.
"Let's just get to a restaurant." Shinji said, obviously annoyed at being made fun of. As they all started to walk behind him, Shinji and Shikamaru noticed an extra shadow that hadn't been there before.
"How long have you been here?" Shinji asked the shadow. It's only response was a shrug though.
"Who are you talking to?" Ino asked, looking over Shinji's shoulder.
"Kimiko!" Jun exclaimed and hugged what to the others looked like nothing but air.
"Really, I don't see anyone." Asuma commented.
"It's her shadow. Apparently she and Shinji are the only ones in Hidden Shadows that are able to do this. Kimiko, it's good to see you, or you shadow at least."
The shadow only nodded as it shook hands with Augustus' shadow. It noticed Shikamaru and was about to hug his shadow when it stopped and suddenly, looked as if it was recoiling upon itself and a lump was beginning to form and grew into what could be considered a literal shadow clone of the original Kimiko.
"Shikamaru, it's good to finally see you again. What's up?"
"Uhh…."
"Who cares? You get him or not?"
"Yes, Gaara is with us. It was pretty hard convincing him to come with us though. We had to wait a couple of days for his sister to come because he didn't trust his brother, you know, the guy with the face paint, to run the village while he was out."
"Gaara's traveling with you? Hey! Which team are you traveling with, Kakashi-sensei or Kurenei-sensei?"
"Yes, and it's Kurenei. About her," the shadow said as it turned toward Shinji and Augustus, "that girl shows a lot of promise. I think she could be her."
"Do you have any proof?"
"I saw her manipulate it a bit, but I can't be sure until she does it in the open. I just thought you should know."
"What are you guys talking about?" Ino asked.
"It's a long story. When you get to the Clearing, Blabbermouth might tell you."
"Blabbermouth! I haven't even told them about that other kid."
"You mean Sasuke?"
"You tryin' t'break my cover Blondie?"
"Blondie! Nobody calls me Blondie and gets away with it!" Ino was about to attack Shinji when Choji and Shikamaru held her in place.
"We're in a public place , Ino. Calm down!" Choji tried to reason.
"That's right, why hasn't anyone been staring at us?" both Shikamaru and Asuma took notice of this while Ino and Shinji were in a shoving fight trying to beat each other up.
"You're in Kane lands now. Jinchuriki shadows can be common. Thankfully, these are one of the few villages still allied to us." Augustus commented.
"Well those two fighting isn't common. Come on you two, we've got to go." Asuma said as he grabbed Ino by the waist and carried her over his shoulder walking toward a random restaurant.
"Let go Asuma-sensei!"
"Speaking of going, I should leave. Jun, don't worry about your cat, you'll find her somewhere around this village, I guarantee it. Well, I'll see you guys some other time."
"Cat? What cat?" Choji asked after the shadow left the same way it came.
"My cat, everyone female in my family has one; I still have to find mine though. I can't wait!" Jun responded as she left to go nowhere in particular.
"Where is she going?"
"Probably to find that cat of hers. She'll be back in a while, but I'm not sure if she'll be with it or not."
"Why not?"
"Just because Ko-ko said she'd find it in this village doesn't mean she'll find it tonight."
"What should we do now then?"
"Let's find a place to eat first, I'm hungry." Choji said.
"You're always hungry. Let's go where that teacher of yours went."
After some trouble finding the right restaurant, Shinji and the others were able to find Asuma and Ino eating dinner while having a quiet conversation.
"...That's just my opinion. Be careful though."
"Yo, what's up?" Shinji said as he took a random seat from a nearby table.
"Nothing much, before you interrupted our conversation." Ino pointedly looked at Shinji as he began eating some of the food that was on the table.
"Miss Ino, Shinji and I would greatly appreciate it if tomorrow morning you were to take a walk with us. There are many things of which we wish to speak to you."
"Like what?" Shikamaru asked getting a suspicious look on his face.
"Just stuff in general." came the blunt reply from Shinji.
The guys all looked at Ino to see what her response would be. Asuma's brow was slightly creased as he began to think of what the two strangers could possibly want to talk about with Ino; especially Shinji, with his ruffian demeanor. Shikamaru was slightly wondering if this talk had anything to do with the questions the two men had asked him about; and if it did, what did Ino have to do with it? Choji was worried that Ino might be taken captive by the two, it was still not known what exactly they were supposed to do. What if they were allied with the Sound. But still, the same question remained, why Ino? These same thoughts ran through Ino's mind as well, each thought becoming more frantic as every second passed.
"AHH! I don't know! I'll think about it okay!" she said, obviously pretty frustrated.
"Cool, just give us an answer before tomorrow. And you know you didn't have to scream right?" An amused smirk gracing Shinji's features.
"I think we should go somewhere more private. Everyone's starting to stare."
"Whose will pay the tab?" Augustus asked.
"Not me, I'm dead broke." Of course this started a stare off between the seven until they decided they would pick straws to see who would pay, unfortunately, Shikamaru had to pay the bill.
"Thanks Shikamaru! You're so kind." Ino said, receiving a blank stare from Shikamaru.
"Let's just go." After the bill was paid, they went to find a good hotel to stay in.
Meanwhile, Jun was in the other side of the village searching for her cat. Currently, she was in the outskirts of the village in what looked to be a seedy area of the village near an extremely wooded forest. She went into a nearby empty street to see if she could find anything before going into the forest.
However, Jun was aware that she was being followed by strange and gruesome looking things that were probably supposed to resemble humans, but looked to be far from it. The ones in the front were in a crouched position, with clothes that resembled metal so closely that it was hard to determine if the clothes were really just pieces of cotton or even spandex. Their backs looked as if they had been forcefully opened; instead of having a skeletal frame it was apparent that it was replaced with a metal skeleton instead because you could see that the metal was attached to the back. Their skin was grayed as if they had carried some terrible burden their whole lives.
The people behind them looked to be controlling the former, as metal chains from their hand were connected to the mutants necks. Jun had faced them before, however, she had never done it alone. She would just stick with her same battle tactics until she found her future feline friend. Her pursuers however, had different ideas in mind.
"You are an Uzumaki, are you not?" One of them asked. His voice guttural and cadaverous.
So they've decided to start the attack. I guess I have no choice. She thought as she turned around to face them. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am" was her response as she opened her eyes to reveal blue eyes as deep as the ocean itself. "I see that you want to start a fight with me. My only question is who should initiate the first physical attack."
The only answer she received were the dominant ones releasing the leashes in their hands to allow the leashed ones to attack.
"You may have battled our hunters before; but they are far more advanced now." The same voice said.
Preparing herself for an attack, Jun raised both arms to stay at her side as the hunters advanced. After they were within a couple of inches of her, Jun jumped up in the air to avoid being hit by one of their electrical attacks. When they saw that they had missed, the hunters looked to the air to see where she could be, but only saw a gust of swirling air coming towards them. The fight had officially begun for Jun.
Back to the metropolitan area of the village, everyone else was in a hotel room. Shinji, Augustus, and Miguel were in the room across from Asuma, Shikamaru, and Choji. Ino was in her own room for the time being until Jun came back.
Too many things were happening at once, especially for Choji; even though he didn't show it.
"Is something the matter?" Shikamaru asked, seeing Choji obviously stressed.
"It's just too many things happening. I don't even know if I can keep up for much longer, Shikamaru. I'm going to go outside to think."
"If you need anything, you know I'll always be here." Shikamaru said as he put his hand on Choji's shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks Shikamaru." Choji said as he left the room.
He decided to go up to the roof, since he wanted to be alone this time. In spite of this, Augustus noticed his departure and decided to have a talk with Choji. Tapping him on the shoulder, he asked "May I have a talk with you?"
"Actually, I just want to be alone right now."
"I understand, but what I have to tell you is very important."
Choji conceded and let Augustus accompany him to the roof.
"Now tell me, what is it that troubles you?"
"I thought you had something to tell me?"
"I will, but later on. So I repeat my question, what is troubling you?"
"I guess I'm just kind of stressed is all. Small things really."
"Does it have anything to do with the place you call home?"
"A little bit." Choji answered shifting a bit uncomfortably.
"Did they not accept you?" At Choji's silence, Augustus decided to continue. "Then I shall tell you the story of my childhood. Maybe then, you'll understand something, which you don't understand now.
"I was never accepted into my original village because it was said that I am the son of Raiden, the god of lightning. Also, there were always thunderstorms caused by Raiju. They said that since I was Raiden's son, I could control Raiju as well. At first, my family came from a different part of the country, and the villagers did nothing to help us feel welcome into our new home. They did whatever they could to make our lives miserable, they did not allow us to buy food from the same stores as everyone else; they would bring us whatever supplies we needed, but they were in the worst of conditions.
"One night, my mother had decided that we were to move once more. My sisters helped her pack; halfway to our destination, we were attacked by the villagers because they didn't want me to "poison" another village with my curse. They killed my entire family, even my mother. My sisters shielded me while they themselves were killed. That is when Father Raul showed up to save me. He helped me bury my family and took me to his village; the Katorikku village. They accepted me without judging me like everyone else had. That's why, even if the demon Raiju does live within or alongside me, it does not matter, because I will always have those who accept and love me for who I am.
"I believe you have found friends who accept you. As long as you have them, you have nothing to fear."
"Thank you. Did you ever know your dad?"
"No, I don't think I ever even met him." Augustus responded looking up into the night sky.
Jun was losing the fight, terribly losing. Landing on the ground once again, she decided to do a surprise attack, by summoning as much air as she could and turned around to face the hunters, but they were too quick for her, and she was sent farther back into the forest. She couldn't perform any spells until she found her cat, so all she could rely on was her control over the air.
She needed to get into a clearing and soon, all these trees would not help her much. She jumped up onto a branch and propelled air through the bottom of her feet to make her jump higher. Desperation, was what she felt at this moment; the hunters were on her heels and she had nowhere to go since she didn't know where Shinji and the others were.
She then decided to use kimigure, a part of her bloodline trait which was a lot like the Hyuuga's except that the blue of her pupils completely engulfed her eyes and in place of pupils, she had yellow pupils, like those of a cat. With this, she could not only see far distances, but also a bit into the near future. What she saw was something extremely surprising, but nevertheless, she went in the direction of that something. First, she had to distract those hunters somehow.
Her best bet would be to dematerialize and become her true self, Kaori; even if that would deplete her chi. Looking behind her, it looked like it worked because the hunters were no longer chasing her, but had instead stopped running and looking all around them to see where she had gone.
There was no time to waste now, she had to go to the cat now. Turning into Kaori wouldn't hurt either because it would probably know who she was in her present state. She had finally arrived to where the cat was, and one word went through her mind at that moment Huge! For that is what the cat was, probably taller than even the Hokage monument. Its fur was a translucent color, almost white, except for on certain places like her snout. Her size and color weren't the most surprising features, it was actually the fact that she had no eyes. Kaori knew this had to be her cat, they were descendants of Bast herself, they would never receive an ordinary cat.
Almost as if sensing Kaori's presence the cat looked down to see who was there. Kaori just stood frozen to the spot, looking at the cat where it's eyes should have been.
"You can see me?"
The cat only nodded and looked to where the hunters were, running in Kaori's direction. They had found out where she was, but before she even had a chance, something held her from the neck, preventing any movement.
"Don't try to play with us." The voice said. The hunters had finally arrived and looked about ready to pounce on Kaori.
They didn't know her ace however, and that would be their downfall.