AbhorsenSabriel87: YATA! --runs around happily--
Ser: --looks over, looking disturbed-- What is it, Sabriel?
Sabriel: I HAVE NEW COMPUTER AT HOME! AND IT HAS INTERNET! --ish currently doing Rock Lee's victory dance--
Ser: Erm… That's nice.
Sabriel: --pulls Rock Lee's signature pose-- Darn right! Now I can write my fanfictions from home and not have to worry about transporting them to school to upload them! WA-HOO! --starts dancing again--
Ser: --sighs-- I suppose that's just her… Anyway, Sabriel does not own Naruto nor any characters related to that manga.
Sabriel: --grins, her teeth glinting like… well, you know who-- On with the fic!
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"He's late again!" The outcry came from a young girl, probably only about thirteen or so. Her short cherry blossom pink hair that was her namesake stood out at all angles, massively fluffy in her exasperation. "Why does he always make us wait like this?" she cried, tugging on the silky locks once more.
Her two male companions remained silent; they knew how bad her temper was, and neither wanted to incur its wrath so early in the day. One was dark, in both his physical and emotional appearance, the other bright and cheery looking, though also annoyed at the present moment. They were direct opposites in more ways than one; rivals of each other, appearance-wise, and their personalities were less than alike.
But this time, it wasn't about them. This time, it was all about…
"Hello students!" The oddly cheery voice came from a tree overlooking their position in the town of Konohagakure. Sitting in the tree was none other than their own jounin sensei, the famed Sharingan Copy-nin, the one and only Kakashi Hatake. "Sorry I'm late," he said, both looking sounding sheepish as usual. "You see, I had a bit of trouble finding my way here this morning…"
"Liar!" The blonde haired boy joined in with the girl in this declaration, both looking annoyed and angry at the fact that their teacher thought they could be deceived in such an obvious way. "If that's your best example of ninja deception," the blonde continued vehemently, "I'm worried about the rest of this village!"
"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi replied calmly, landing on the ground before the three teens with a small poof of smoke and wind. "I assure I'm much better than that. Now, who wants to know what our mission is?"
All three went silent (even though the second boy had yet to speak) and awaited the news they had been waiting for this whole time. During the silence, Kakashi pulled out a scroll and held it out to them. "I have something to admit to you three," he stated gravely. None made a sound, though the girl looked worried and the boys looked excited in their own ways.
"…We don't really have a mission today."
The responses were utterly comical. Naruto's jaw dropped in disbelief, while the dark haired boy's eye began to twitch alongside his own shocked expression and the girl gaped at her teacher, her mind screaming at her to scream at him.
"What do you mean 'we don't have a mission today'?" the darker haired boy asked, his voice hinting darkly at homicidal thoughts towards his sensei.
"Exactly what I just said, Sasuke," Kakashi replied nonchalantly. "We don't exactly have a mission to day."
"Then why the heck did you call us down here!" Naruto shouted, glaring just as darkly at the jounin as the other boy.
"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up from the book he had been reading to look lazily at the blonde boy. "Oh. The Hokage wanted us to do something for him."
"What is it?" the girl asked, now slightly curious. Sasuke and Naruto, confused as well, also dropped their evil looks and looked on with attentive curiosity.
"His grandson seems to have lost a valuable possession of his," the jounin replied in an off-handed manner. "Some sort of ninja cat, I believe."
There was silence for a moment.
Then came the question Kakashi had known to come out. "A… cat?" the girl asked, looking tense.
"Yes, Sakura," he answered vaguely. "A cat. We have to find it and return it to the Hokage as soon as possible."
"Tsk, this is beneath us," Sasuke muttered, though only Naruto heard him. Determined to prove the brooding Uchiha wrong, the blonde perked up, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, what are we waiting for!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Let's get that cat for Konohamaru!"
Sasuke "tsked" again, and Sakura gave Naruto a rather annoyed expression, but Kakashi smiled beneath the mask hiding the lower half of his face. He couldn't tell them their true mission yet, but the cat mission was part of it.
So, as per usual, they went on their way through the Konoha Forest to face their mission… though some were less excited than others.
About two hours later, almost all were less than excited. They had been wandering around the forest for over two hours, and Naruto was getting-
-GRRRRROWWWWLLL-
-hungry.
"Sensei, when will we be able to stop and eat?" Naruto whined, his entire body drooping with the effort to keep walking. Kakashi answered, in a rather blasé way, "When we find that cat, Naruto."
Naruto's stomach groaned in protest.
Sakura was beginning to agree with Naruto, though. She was feeling rather tired, and she hadn't eaten before leaving either. Plus, she had started imagining the sky getting darker ever since about five minutes ago…
Glancing up, she saw that she hadn't been hallucinating; the sky was turning black with shadows!
"Sensei!" she shouted, catching Kakashi's attention, as well as Sasuke and Naruto's, and directing it upwards with her pointing finger. "Something's happened to the sky, sensei!"
"Hmm, then we may be too late," Kakashi murmured, casting confusion about the party. Without a word of explanation, he ordered them to hurry and darted into the trees. Not wanting to be left behind, the genin trio did the same, keeping in stride with their leader.
After a short time, the sounds of swords clashing could be heard resounding through the thick forest. Kakashi seemed to be leading them towards it. Before anyone could ask, however, the jounin stopped, dropping onto the ground and watching the scene before him. The others, in their curiosity, did the same.
The first things Naruto saw were her legs; long and slender, they were helping the rest of her body leap into the air against her assailant. A black cat suit covered them like a second skin, met at the knees by tightly laced black boots that would have been the envy of any kunoichi.
Kakashi noticed her midsection when he had first dropped to the ground. Petite yet long, her abdomen was covered by an odd silver tunic that seemed to be made of fluid metal, and around her tiny waist, a black belt, typical of the ninja style and handy for holding small weapons such as kunai and shiruken. Her bust was small for her frame (which disappointed him greatly), but her body was small as well…
Sasuke had a much more innocent and material notice of the woman; her weaponry was not something he'd ever seen used by any ninja. Ever. In her right hand, a double-bladed scythe was aimed for a kill shot of her foe, the wood black with silver runes sketched into it. In her left, a wakuzashii blade crossed her chest as a main strike. Apparently, the scythe was only for a rebound attack. Even still, with a katana strapped to her hip and a longbow and arrow set across her back, this woman was ready for any form of martial combat.
Sakura was the last to see the woman and looked the furthest upwards. Instantly, she was startled by what she saw; black hair flowing like liquid twilight, framing a pale face, only one steak of white to mar its perfection. Dark eyes were narrowed in concentration, the lower half of her face, like Kakashi, was covered by a black mask, so the entire expression was indistinguishable. A silver diamond sat in the centre of her forehead, high like Sakura's own, but for some reason, she seemed absolutely fearless.
After the moment of initial shock, time sped by quickly again, leaving the group to wonder what happened in the fight as the attacker ran off with his life. The woman stared after the ninja, then spoke in a dark tone, "Are you the team from Konohagakure that was to be sent for me?"
The genin started, but Kakashi didn't skip a beat. "Yes, the Hokage sent my team for you, ma'am. I'm terribly sorry that we were late."
"…" The woman turned about and faced Kakashi, stared straight into the eyes of every one of them, then sheathed her wakuzashii. "'Tis no fault of yours nor problem of mine," she stated coolly. "I was in need of a bit of a challenge."
Kakashi nodded. "Then shall we be heading for the village, Lady Naïlo?" he asked. With only a curt nod, the woman began to walk in the way they had just come, folding the unique scythe in half and bending the blades to the handle so it could fit in a loop of her belt. Kakashi walked beside her, his bewildered genin team following. A black cat, appearing out of nowhere, jumped up onto the woman's shoulder and perched there like a guardian.
Who the hell was this?
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Apparently, that was the question on everyone's lips as the team returned from the forest. Everyone stared at the newcomer, and many things were whispered as they proceeded, but none dared walk forth to question them. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had yet to see any form of a headband on the woman, but they knew that she didn't come from Konoha… then again, that's all they could tell.
Once they reached the Hokage's house, Kakashi shook the woman's hand and watched as she walked inside the building. Turning back to his group, he dismissed them and watched as they left for lunch.
This is where the theories began to fly.
"Maybe she's Kakashi's sister!" Sakura offered, sipping her tea delicately. "She has the same way of hiding her face."
"But she doesn't look anything like Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke mused. What kind of place uses weapons like that? he wondered to himself, not noticing the down-trodden look on his teammate's face in his concentration. That double scythe was an interesting weapon…
"Maybe she's like Jiraya and can summon cat demons or something!" Naruto put out, scarfing down his ramen between words. "I saw that cat jump onto her shoulder as we were walking back! It probably has some sort of connection with her!"
"Impossible," Sasuke shot down again. "There are only three Great Shinobi who can perform pacts like that, and we know who all three are. She can't be one of them." Naruto growled darkly at that, but made no other objection as he finished his ramen and asked for another bowl.
"Maybe she's a disbanded Black-Ops kunoichi," Sakura offered again. "I didn't see a headband on her, and she dresses sort of like the ANBU we see around the village."
"But she doesn't wear a ANBU mask," Sasuke muttered, shooting down yet another idea of theirs. "And she has such odd weapons… No ANBU I've seen carries those types of armory."
Naruto was now growing impatient with his dark ally. Then again, when hadn't he? "Then why don't you give us a theory, hot-shot?" he snapped, glaring at Uchiha Sasuke rather darkly.
"…" The thing was, he couldn't. Not without more information…
Kakashi had entered the Hokage's office after his students had left only to be greeted by utter silence. Anko was there, as usual, as was Iruka-sensei. Since it was mid-afternoon, classes were over for the day and he'd come by to talk to the Hokage, meeting up with Anko along the way. They both had been speaking about the next chuunin exams when she walked in. Kakashi had followed suit a few moments later, but his presence did not change the odd feeling of darkness in the room that had permeated every corner upon the visitor's arrival. The Hokage was the first to speak.
"Welcome to Konoha," he stated grandly, rising to his feet in respect. "We've been waiting a while for you to arrive, Lady Naïlo."
The woman knelt on one knee to the old man, then rose again, something unknown flashing in the depths of her dark, pupil-less eyes. "It is my honor, your grace," she answered firmly. Her voice was not deep, but it had a dark whisper to it that reminded one of darkness and shadows. "My clan was able to participate in your chuunin examination last year, and though they did not succeed, it was noble of you to invite us at all."
"Nonsense," the Third Hokage scoffed lightly, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Who could have a chuunin exam without those from the Village-Hidden-In-The-Night?"
Anko, Iruka, and Kakashi all looked at him in the same bewilderment Kakashi's team of chuunin had shown before. With an odd twinkle in his eye, the old man introduced them to the woman before them.
"Iruka, Anko, Kakashi, I present to you Lady Twilight Naïlo: the Bankage of the Lands-Hidden-In-The-Shadows."
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Sabriel: --grins-- So, how do y'all like it?
Ser: --looks at it-- Isn't this a little… short for you?
Sabriel: --shrugs-- I didn't want to put that much time into it.
Ser: --sighs--
Sabriel: Okay readers, listen up! If you want me to continue this story, review. If not, review anywho and tell me why not. --grins viciously-- That way I'll have a reason for performing the Konoha Hurricane on your asses!
Ser: --looks over-- Sabriel!
Sabriel: Ok, maybe not. But I'd still like my reviews please! Review onegaishimasu!