Chapter 19
"So what do you think of the lineup we've assembled for you?" Tsunade asks leaning over her desk watching Kakashi who closes the book she had given him.
"Honestly, it's the perfect team for a search mission." Tsunade smiles softly glad he agrees. "However, this is Orochimaru we are talking about. If it is alright with you. There is one more I'd like to add to the roster."
Tsunade smirks and gives him a nod already knowing who he was talking about. "You got it. They will be a great fighting force if you run into any trouble."
A knock came at my door as I was putting away my latest shipment drawing my attention from my scroll. Rolling it up I slip it into the pouch at my hip before walking over to the door. Opening it a brow raises in curiosity. "We have a mission."
"Alright." I sigh and grab my jacket from the hanger next to the door. Stepping outside with Kakashi as I put it on before locking my door. "What's the mission about?" I ask him as I follow him into the darkened streets.
"The Anbu may have located Orochimaru's hideout, we are to track its location from where they left off." He states simply looking over his shoulder as if watching for my reaction as I finish buttoning up my jacket.
"I see, though I'm not much of a tracker." I state simply as he smiles.
"Your skills will come in handy if we run into trouble." I give him a nod as I put my gloved hands into my pockets.
"I see, then why not Sakura or Naruto?" I ask him if only to see what his answer would be.
"Your reaction so far to hearing the mission speaks for itself. We need people who can remain cool-headed about this."
"I see, as those two would rush about blindly with the thoughts of finding Sasuke taking over them." I nod in understanding to him.
"Kira, there is a question I would like to ask." He says as he stops walking and turns towards me making me stop as well. I look up at him to read his emotions through his gaze though beyond his eyes softening upon me. I can't seem to tell for a change. "What do you think of finding Sasuke?" I tilt my head at his question and I shrug.
"He left on his own volition. He won't soon come back. At least not until he achieves his ambition. Short of forcing him to return and imprisoning him. Doing so is redundant." I inform him before walking past him. It's true. Sasuke, he either is or was a friend of mine. He is also Itachi's little brother. You just can't force someone to change.
"I see. That's the difference." He breathes and I nod to him.
"You can chase him all you want. You can't save someone who doesn't wish to be saved. All you can do is wait for him to come back. It's fact." I tell him as we come up towards the main gates. Our conversation coming to an end as we see Kiba, Shino, and Hinata waiting for us.
"Kakashi Sensei." Hinata says as the three of them turn towards us.
"Good, everyone's here. You've all been filled in, correct?" Kakashi asks looking between the three.
"Yes, we are to pinpoint the exact location of Orochimaru's hideout." Hinata answers him. Her voice is soft enough it was still barely above a whisper just like when we were in school. However, she seems to have a bit more confidence now. Good for her.
"And with this group's skill set, that should not be very hard." They nod to Kakashi's words and my eyes nearly widen. My gaze is drawn toward the white movement at Kiba's side. A.A. Akamaru?! He's huge!
"I'll send a wave of parasitic insects ahead. To search for high concentrations of chakra." Shino says drawing my attention from Akamaru. His tone is as creepy and unfeeling as ever.
"Akamaru and I can take it from there." Kiba says taking a couple of steps closer to Kakashi. "With his nose, finding this hideout will be easy." Kiba smirks and Akamaru barks in turn.
"And once the location's been found, my Byakugan will seek out the enemy's chakra, and locate their positions." Hinata adds in. I nearly sigh when the three of them look at me as I pocket my hands.
"And I'm here just in case we run into trouble. Knowing Orochimaru we can expect a lot of it."
"I'm counting on you." Kakashi nods to the four of us. Hinata looks down with her thoughts.
"Chances are if we actually do find our way to Orochimaru." She looks up to meet Kakashi's gaze. "We'll probably encounter Sasuke, as well." She says hopefully making Kakashi give her a nod.
"That's right." He answers her seriously.
"But, doesn't Naruto know that?!" She asks taking a step forward. Her pale eyes wavering, full of emotion.
"That question is nonsensical." Shino says making me nod as he seems to just stare at me. "If he did, it would be impossible for him to contain himself."
"Yeah." Kiba smiles at his teammate. "No two ways about it."
"It's true. Naruto has been kept in the dark on this." Kakashi adds in watching Hinata.
"He needs to spend his time healing." I tell her as I move my gaze over to meet hers. "Besides, we need to move quietly."
"Yeah, and Naruto isn't known for his stealth." Kiba chuckles.
"Enough talk. Let's move." Kakashi cuts in and walks past them. Leading us down the road and away from the village.
Leaping through the trees we try to get to our destination as quickly as possible so that the scent doesn't go cold. Everyone had fallen silent as if they were all caught up in their own thoughts. Leaping through the tree limbs above them I couldn't help but glance down at them. Their friendly talk had ended when we left the village. I don't know why I had expected Kiba to be as loud as Naruto would have been. Instead, he was riding Akamaru like a horse. Akamaru suddenly barks. "That's right, boy." Kiba mutters to the dog.
"What are you thinking about?" Hinata asks coming up behind Kiba.
Kiba looks over his shoulder towards her. "I was just remembering how our mission to rescue Sasuke turned out, and if it's really Orochimaru's hideout we're headed for. Well, I'm wondering if this mission might not just turn out the same way." He looks ahead of him.
Leaping down onto the same patch of branches I land to the right of Hinata. "What? You getting nervous Kiba?" Kakashi asks from ahead of us.
"Not on your life, Kakashi Sensei." Kiba smirks nearly laughing. "Besides with everybody talking about how Shikamaru and even Naruto were able to beat the Akatsuki. I want a chance to show that I've been training just as hard as they have." Akamaru barks his agreement.
"You forgot. Sakura as well." I speak up causing a sound of confusion to come from Kiba as he glances over his shoulder in my direction.
"It's essential that I demonstrate the results of my training as well." Shino says from behind me and I look over my shoulder in his direction as Kiba questions him the same way he had done for me. "Unlike the rest of you, I've rarely been allowed the opportunity of going on missions with a group and show what I can do."
"Oh come on. Don't tell me you're still upset just because you didn't get to go on one mission?" Kiba questions with a groan. As if this is pretty normal for Shino.
"That, and the fact that Naruto didn't recognize me after all we've been through." Shino snaps at him.
"Of course, Naruto didn't recognize you. No one can even see your face with that stupid thing over it." Kiba yells at him making Shino jump past me towards him. His face mere centimeters from Kiba's.
"That shouldn't matter to an old comrade." He says darkly.
"Come on, The important thing is we're together now!" Hinata shouts up from having jumped lower in case they start fighting.
"Besides, you are relying too much on Naruto's memory. Shino." I tell him and shake my head drawing his attention and making him draw back from Kiba. "Naruto is a knucklehead that wouldn't remember how to tie his shoelaces if he suddenly had to wear them."
"You have a point. But how do you know so much?" He drops his voice even lower as I feel his eyes on me through his sunglasses. Looking away from him I sigh and Kiba laughs.
"Here you're sore about Naruto not recognizing you, and you forgot about Kira, that's lame." Kiba chuckles and Akamaru barks in turn almost as if they were both actually laughing.
"Kira, huh." Shino says now falling silent. Probably to dwell on what just happened.
"Don't fret, Shino. I take no offense to that." I mutter to him. "I was just hoping to find out more about this, rescue mission, I've heard about." I openly frown seeing Kiba and Shino watching me. "You want to sulk or argue about who got to go on what rescue mission, or who remembers you or not? Look at it from my perspective, will you? No one came to save me, just as most people don't recognize me. I don't complain, however. I can't change any of it so why allow it to bother me? Point is, focus on what actually matters." I tell them then leap back up onto the upper branches to let them think about what I said.
Kiba clicks his tongue looking ahead of him again. Akamaru lets out a bark bringing Kiba's attention down to him. "Yeah boy, she's right." I nearly smile hearing that but really, it didn't change anything. No one knew I was gone. No one knew me enough to know I would never go to Orochimaru like Sasuke did. Not even my team. No one had even an inkling. With those thoughts, I couldn't help but glare ahead of me.
I've been becoming too complacent being back in the Leaf. I had almost let myself forget how much it had actually hurt. Months had passed with me being in the Akatsuki after I had broken the curse. I trained and traveled with Itachi and Kisame, day in and day out. Not a moment would go by that I wouldn't wonder if someone would show up to try and -rescue- me. I knew it was impossible but it wasn't until so much time had passed that I gave up seeing anyone at all from my old life and fully accepted my new one. I'm nothing to any of them. Looking at it. The Akatsuki was the best thing to happen to me since I got to this dimension.
"Up ahead." Kiba suddenly calls out to us. Dropping down to the ground with them we land next to ashes in the shape of a human body sprawled out on the ground.
"This must be one of the Anbu Black Ops that delivered the message." Kakashi says kneeling and running his finger over the mark. Getting some of the ashes on his finger. Kiba turns and puts his hand on Kakashi's shoulder catching his attention. "What is it? You sense something?"
"We don't need to sense anything, do we Akamaru?" Akamaru barks and Kiba's eyes narrow ahead of him. "You can smell it." He growls. "There are gonna be a lot more bodies up ahead." Kakashi stands and Kiba gets back onto Akamaru.
"I thought my nose was pretty keen too but… which way?" Kakashi questions turning more towards Kiba.
"This way." And with that said Akamaru jumps. Moving in the direction of the scent. Leaving us to follow after. It wasn't far before Kiba and Akamaru stop near a stone cave. As soon as we halt our movements Shino holds up his hand sending a single bug out towards the cave. Checking to see if it's safe. Ducking down into the foliage we watch and wait.
It only took a couple of minutes before the insect came back and lands on Shino's finger. As Soon as he nods we leap up to the mouth of the cave. "Keep on your toes." Kakashi says and I nod. He waves us in and I slip in ahead of the other three. Following Kakashi. I'm meant to handle any problems. If anything happens it is my job to make sure nothing happens to these four. That's my mission.
Stopping I hold my hand out for them to do so as well. A man stood in front of me causing Kiba to gasp. Seeing the purple energy markings covering the man's fearful gaze as he grunts and gasps in pain. "Someone, please help me." As soon as it begins to fade he falls face-first onto the ground.
"A curse mark." Kiba comments and I very nearly reach for the one on my hip. "Orochimaru's curse mark. Like on the ones before." Kneeling I look at the marks on his back and neck, leading beneath his clothes.
"Seems he didn't have enough chakra to accept the curse." I say quietly before standing. "He's dead."
"Faint traces of chakra, there are two. No more. There are a lot of them!" Hinata calls out in a panic sweat rolling down her face as she shakes.
"Let's go Kakashi Sensei!" Kiba calls out.
"Yes, there is no time to waste." Shino agrees as insects seem to pour out from under his arms. The numbers were unimaginable. Like a thick black fog of them were now rushing through the tunnels covering the walls.
"Alright, move but watch out for traps." Kakashi orders and I push forward taking the lead. Nearly clicking my tongue. With all of these insects, I can't tell if what's moving is the bugs or the enemy. This is so irritating. Kakashi catches up glancing at me from the corner of his eye. Probably irritated with me for running on ahead. I'm going to hear about this later, that's for sure.
It was Hinata that told us which way to go from behind so we wouldn't get lost, until I let out a low deafening growl that even made Akamaru whimper. Picking up my pace I leave them behind. Going after the scent like a predator chasing down its injured prey. "Kira!" Kakashi hollers out from behind me. Coming to a room I skid to a halt just inside the door. Leaning back on my right foot I steady myself until I stop completely. Looking out over the room I listen to the moans of pain coming from all of them.
"Damn it, this is cold, even for me." I mutter hearing the team come up behind me.
"What." Kakashi begins in my direction before he falls silent looking out at the room. When the others catch up Hinata lights up a torch making me move away from her. They gasp as she raises her right hand to her mouth. "How horrible!" She whimpers.
"What the hell happened?" Kiba asks in disbelief.
"It would seem they have been fighting each other." Shino points out making Kiba look at him.
"They had a falling out?" Kiba questions making me shake my head.
"Knowing Orochimaru. This was an experiment with an added twist of entertainment." I comment this time Kiba looks at me. "Wha?" He begins before Kakashi steps forward.
"Let's find out from them what happened." He states for us. It was then Akamaru barks.
"What is it, boy?" Kiba asks causing all of us to look at him. It was then, I noticed it. It was small and faint but I could feel it. "Tch" I click my tongue in annoyance. If it hadn't have been for those bugs, I wouldn't have missed it.
"We have to go now!" I yell just as Kiba went to say something.
