A/N: Hi!
So here we go again!
Chapter three
In the next morning Kakashi awoke from the sound of rustling clothes. Lazily he opened one eye and saw that Anko was making breakfast. It was nothing special what they had. Only rice balls, dried fruits and some plants that were growing in this area. But they were on a mission after all so it wasn't anything to complain about. He just got up when Anko was finished with the preparations. They both sat down and started eating. Anko wore her usual smile and acted just like she used to. She definitely had improved but it still wasn't enough to fool Kakashi: he still noticed that she was tired. Although he had no idea of how tired she in fact really was. Anyway, for the mission it was important that she was fully awake so he thought of a good way to wake her up. Suddenly he remembered that he still had some of those pills in his pocket. It was double effective as coffee but it also was double bitter. This would surely be a clear disadvantage if he would simply ask her to eat it. But then smirking under his mask he looked up to the sky. Gray clouds were coming from the west. "Looks like there will be more rain today." He said innocent. Now Anko looked up to the sky, too. This was just how Kakashi had planned it. He used the time while she wasn't looking to hide one pill inside her rice ball. Then he simply waited for her to eat it. And she grimaced afterwards. She definitely seemed to prefer sweets but so she wouldn't feel tired anymore soon. After breakfast they left for Grass Country.
Xxx
They arrived in Grass Country around midday where they would meet the Feudal Lord inside his castle. Now they were sitting in a not small but also not big room waiting for him. Although they had to wait quite a while Anko and Kakashi didn't talk nor did they do anything else to entertain themselves (or each other). It might've looked professional but it was plain boring. Kakashi thought about how to kill some time. He possibly couldn't use a kunai for that so what was he going to do? Reading 'Icha Icha Paradise' seemed not to be a good idea… Anko seemed equally bored plus she hadn't a mask to hide it. He could start conservation but about what could they talk? He had no idea. Well, ninjas were used to endure many things so they wouldn't die from boredom.
Finally the Feudal Lord came in. The two shinobi bowed their heads as he sat down opposite to them.
"So you are the leaf-nins." He stated. Both nodded.
"I'm Hatake Kakashi and this is Mitarashi Anko. Shinkoku-sama, we were told that Warui Akuma a massacre and we would like to start our pursuit from there."
The Feudal Lord nodded. "I've expected something like that… Shiyo!" A servant entered the room.
"Yes Shinkoku-sama?"
"Take them to Sonraku."
"Yes my lord." He bowed and went outside with the two shinobi.
Xxx
They came to a place that looked very much like the leftovers from a village that had been destroyed by a mudslide not long ago but this hadn't been caused by mother nature it was the deed of the Iwa-nin. Even though Anko had not such an excellent nose like Kakashi she could easily smell the blood of the victims. The scent was all over the place. The whole place must've been soaked with blood she thought. And she had the feeling that it was still wet, but maybe it was just her imagination. Much to her relief the corpses had been brought away, most likely already buried. She didn't know how many massacres she could still witness before it would drive her insane. Anko wondered why one would kill so many innocent people. What was it good for? Then again maybe he was one of those who didn't value (human) life just like… her former sensei, she thought bitterly as she stared at the ground. There were far too many of those. In the dirt there was a little doll lying, also drenched in blood. Anko immediately looked away and focused her attention on her silver-haired teammate trying not to think to whom this doll had belonged.
Kakashi knelt down and started reconstructing the fight. Obviously the last attack had been a doton, which came from the right side. It wasn't quite easy because many people had been there afterwards but nevertheless he found the place where the attack had came from. There he summoned Pakkun. The dog looked around curious.
"Pakkun I need you to follow the scent of who had been standing here." The copy-ninja said pointing at the ground.
Pakkun started sniffing. "What an easy thing to do. Many had been standing here but I guess you're looking for the one who left the village, don't you?" He asked and Kakashi nodded. Then without wasting more time the two jounins and the pug started running although they couldn't run that fast because they had still to follow the tracks of Akuma and with that Pakkun's nose. They were lucky that the rain from Konoha hadn't arrived yet but the clouds were already dark gray so it was only a matter of time. Kakashi just hoped that it wouldn't come too soon because if it rained they wouldn't be able to follow Akuma's scent anymore.
Xxx
Of course his hopes would never come true. Soon it started raining. And with every drop that fell Pakkun found it harder to follow his Akuma's scent. Kakashi could see that the dog tried his best to keep the track but in the end he lost it. It wasn't Pakkun's fault; it was because of the rain. Somehow Kakashi had expected something like this. In the end it always turned out this way if he dared to hope. That's exactly why he had given up his hopes for the future. Now all they could do was to think of another way of finding Akuma. He turned to Anko.
"I guess we should go, look for shelter before we catch a cold in this rain." He suggested but Anko didn't move. She just stared eastwards with an expression on her face as if she was trying to recall something. "Anko? This isn't the right time for daydreaming, we should hurry up and go!"
"Something is there I – I feel it." She muttered right before she winced and held her neck. Then she stubbornly glared at him straightening herself. "We have to go there!" Sighing Kakashi gave in. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyway and maybe Anko was more blessed with luck than he was. But then again they were both quite unlucky.
Xxx
Anko led them towards an area that was near the border of Iwa. They were still in Grass Country although it didn't look like it. The area was mostly plain wasteland. Anko didn't know why she had wanted to come here but something inside her seemed to remember that place. It was quite frustrating: You feel that you something but you can't remember no matter how hard you try. But she was used to it. Just as she was used to endure the juin which was throbbing again. It was really an annoying seal, once it had stopped throbbing you never knew when it would start again. The last time the pain really had been overwhelming and she couldn't help but wince in front of Kakashi's eyes but fortunately it soon had lessened so that it was only a dull pain now, which she could almost ignore.
It stopped raining. Pakkun who still was with them suddenly started frantically sniffing in the air. "He's here!" The dog shouted running to the right. The two jounins followed him until he suddenly stopped in front of a hidden cave. "Is he in there?" Kakashi asked. The dog nodded. Anko looked inside, it was just like a cave should be: dark. It wasn't like she'd expected something else like a signpost saying 'Warui Akuma's hideout' but nevertheless there was definitely something wrong with that cave. Her instincts screamed to her not go inside it. It just would've been too nice if she knew the reason.
"Out of all places this guy has to hide inside this dark, creepy hole." She growled frustrated.
"Scared?" Her silver-haired teammate asked with the hint of a smirk.
"Of course no!"
Pakkun interfered. "I suppose you guys won't need me there, so see ya." With that he disappeared.
"Then shall we?" Kakashi asked as he lit a torch. Anko nodded.
TBC
A/N: O well another chappy is done. So after this is done I can start with the interesting part (evil evil grin).
Please leave a review if you don't mind. They always make me write faster.
Thanks to hikage shinobi, Akanan, DancingPickle101, American-Idiot14, fire.elve and Arezal for reviewing.
disappears in a poof of smoke