Chapter 71: Shifting Eyes
Where his father found the strength and energy to go through this all again, especially at his age, Kitsuchi didn't know. He understood the veracious fury that he felt, the immense emotions toward the Leaf Village, and the fury at knowing that the Yellow Flash fathered a child. Hell, Kitsuchi felt all of those things, but not to such an immense degree. Not to the point that he would open his doors to those that he did not know from the Rain, not to the point that he would call the entirety of the Stone's shinobi corp to march toward the Land of Fire, and certainly not to the point that he would insight another Great Shinobi War. Kitsuchi was old enough to vividly remember the blood spilt from the last one and knew within himself enough to know that he would rather not go through it all again. Not if he had the choice.
The Stone didn't have to go to war, that much he knew. It would be easy to sit back and watch the Cloud and Leaf, maybe even the Sand as well, tear themselves apart while the Stone prospers. Some may even consider it wise to do just that and swoop in to take what could be found amongst the ashes. Who would stop them? The Mist? They would be nothing for many years to come. If they showed enough patience, it could be the Stone that was the only mighty power left in the Elemental Nations that stood unquestioned. For whatever reasons, be it for pride, legacy, or both, the Tsuchikage had no interest to show patience. His father's fury burned hotter than the Sun that hung high in the sky, and it seemed only the ashes of the Leaf incurred by his own hand was the only way to temper it. Maybe then, and only then, the wizened Kage could finally rest.
Not for the first time, Kitsuchi was glad that he inherited more of his late-mother's temperament than his father's. It made things easier in times of hardship when he wasn't screaming until his face turned red and his lungs were out of air. As his father ranted and raved at any chance he found, Kitsuchi was able to recall the bulk of their forces from their assignments to begin their trek eastward. He was able to assign the supplies and resources needed to sustain a standing army as well as bridge communications with their allies in the Rain so there would be no missteps in these early phases of war. It was stressful, as it should have been, but Kitsuchi could say that he never lost his top.
The morale of the Stone's shinobi corps was hard to judge in the early goings of the war planning. Many of the older, seasoned shinobi saw it similarly to Kitsuchi: they hated the Leaf but hated war more. While he could appreciate the cool-tempered thoughts, it didn't bode well for an army that was supposed to be willing to give their lives for a cause. The younger generations, however, those that didn't get to wet themselves in the Third Great Shinobi War were ecstatic to give it to the Leaf and prove themselves in the field of battle. Ignorant, but better for a war effort. But, when his father stood before them and addressed his men, there no longer needed to be a worry of commitment. While Kitsuchi could pride himself over not being as hot-headed as his father, he could also never claim to have the power to insight such loyalty with only his words. He couldn't display the sheer emotion that could invoke such feelings like the Tsuchikage could. Perhaps that was why the old man never stepped down, because there were no others that could lead quite like he could.
Still, his abilities as a leader didn't take away from how old the man truly was. Eight decades is long for anyone, especially those that are in their line of work, and that tends to put a limit on what one can do in their day-to-day lives. Just as the forces of the Stone set out for the Land of Fire, the Tsuchikage had to be left behind from the main factions of their forces to recover from a particularly harsh case of back spasms that left him unfit for travel. Fortunately, their men didn't depend on their leader to travel the countryside, but it didn't bode well for Kitsuchi's confidence in what they were to accomplish. This was his father's dream, to see the Leaf crumble under his fist, and his body will hardly let the man out of bed. It was harsh, but Kitsuchi would hope that his father would take the hint that was being given.
Despite his hopes, however, Kitsuchi still spoke with his father's voice to lead the Stone forces to their destination. Kitsuchi was nothing if not a dutiful son and shinobi of the Stone Village.
Given the size of the army that the Stone mustered in the face of a war, only a couple hundred shinobi short of a thousand strong, it only took a few days to streak down from the mountains of the Land of Earth to the wetlands of the Land of Rain. They were granted passage and led by a few of the Rain's chunin, but the main body of the Stone never encountered the main body of the Rain until they were under the shadow of the walled border of the Land of Fire. It was up to them to figure out how to travel through the unsure ground in the wetlands, harshly contrasting the sturdy mountains of their land, and weather the constantly pouring rain that fell steadily from the sky above. Truly nothing seemed to be an encouragement to the silently unsettled Kitsuchi. The more they progressed toward this war the more he found wrong with it all.
"Is this truly all they brought with them? I thought grandfather said the Rain was a great ally." Kitsuchi was blessed with the calming voice of his daughter that was able to pry him out of his silent worrying. "Hmph. I guess we'll just have to handle most of it ourselves."
Kurotsuchi took the spot to Kitsuchi's right, gifting him with the sight of her mother's sharp eyes along with her own cocky smirk. Just as Kitsuchi didn't inherit his father's angry red nose or miniscule stature, Kurotsuchi didn't seem to take much from himself either. She, much to his relief, managed to only take the best from her mother while somehow inheriting her grandfather's temperament, albeit with less explosivity. Kurotsuchi was fairer than he was, with much sharper features than his own bulky build and look, displaying a grace he could never achieve while also keeping her hair cut short in a way that differentiated herself from her mother. Kitsuchi knew why she did so. It was hard to earn respect from shinobi when all they thought about was how pretty you were, so his daughter saw it fit to try and remove any of that by keeping it clipped and showing a strong, unbending surface. No matter what she did, or why she did it, Kurotsuchi was still his little girl, his little girl that had no right to be near a battlefield.
"The Rain Village is not a Great Village, you know this Kurotsuchi. They may not boast a large army, but your Tsuchikage allied with them with the promise that they were a strong asset. As a jounin, I hope you understand what I'm saying to you." Kitsuchi spoke with a tone of authority, but it was always hard to tell if he did so in a way a superior did to a subordinate or a father to a daughter. The lines always blurred too heavily for him to tell, but by the annoyed look on his daughter's face, he assumed it worked nonetheless. That assumption only grew when Kurotsuchi growled to herself at his words.
It probably wasn't necessary to remind her of such things. Like he said, Kurotsuchi was a jounin and the only reason he had authority over her at this point was his seniority, but that didn't remove the importance in his words. Truth be told, the alliance with the Rain was steep, very steep, and confidential to all but himself and the Tsuchikage. Who could possibly justify giving up both of their Jinchuuriki for the support of a minor village that was never anything outside of a placemat for the Great Villages' Wars? Nobody. It was best that he kept any and all prying eyes away from the specifics.
Though, even in knowing the pact made with the Rain and, by extension, the Akatsuki, it was hard to see the benefits of such an alliance as he looked over to the camps of Rain shinobi that joined them under the Land of Fire's wall. They would be lucky to amount to half of what the Stone brought and they had a wall to cross through. Kitsuchi was no fool. That wall is far more than what it appears to be. To create something that isolates a whole country from the others because of how many previous armies thought that they could claim one of the most bountiful lands on the continent was sure to be protected by more than a few measures. Explosive seals, barriers, stored chakra detonators, and it goes on and on. A mere supplementation of an additional half to their counted men wasn't enough to ensure that they got through.
It was cunning to try and attack the Land of Fire and the Leaf Village while they were preoccupied with the Cloud on the other side of the country, but the Sand already showed itself before the fighting even began. It may have went unnoticed by others, but Kitsuchi noticed the lack of returning scouts from the south, he noticed the lightly scratched numbers in their camp, and he noticed that the advance team that was to clear a path for his father's return to the men was never reported to return to them. He had no doubts that there would be more than Leaf shinobi on the other side of that wall, and still they didn't even know how it was they would cross over.
"There is still time to return home, to continue living in peace." Kitsuchi useless hoped to himself as he stood next to his antsy daughter that likely had the exact opposite way of things in her own head.
"Who's that?" Kurotsuchi again interrupted Kitsuchi's stewing, making his eyes look for what she could be referencing. It wasn't long before his eyes found six figures that were all in matching cloaks that were patterned with red clouds atop a black background. Each of them had odd black piercings in their faces, from their lips to the bridge of their noses and brows, that contrasted heavily with the bright orange hair on each of their heads. Each of their movements were controlled and measured, never straying for even an instant as they stood forward in front of both champs that sat beside each other in front of the wall.
A line was formed, a line of half a dozen that managed to ensnare the attentions of over a thousand as men and women from both camps stood to catch a sight of the six before them. If Kitsuchi had the eyesight, he wouldn't have been surprised to see the guards that stood atop the wall look down and eye the newcomers just as those on the ground did. Kitsuchi would've taken the time to try and understand why he caught so many Rain shinobi fall to their knees as they looked out to the six that stood still and silent, but before he could a loud, echoing voice rumbled outward from one of the six that took a step forward to differentiate himself from the rest.
"Today, we are all-gathered under the same vision," the voice was deep and strong. It was a voice that fit the stone-faced owner as purple eyes gazed ominously below spiked orange hair that fanned over a Rain headband, "for today is the day that the Leaf Village is introduced to Pain."
That was all the man had to say, it seemed because he suddenly turned around without anymore to say and approached the wall that dwarfed him more and more the closer he got. Voices rose in either excitement or fear from the Rain camp, but the Stone remained in confused silence as two hands extended out to face the large, imposing border. None of the other five figures bothered moving from their spots, seeing it fit to emptily keep their eyes on the masses as their spokesman did whatever it was he was doing.
"Who the hell is that guy?" Kurotsuchi asked with more skepticism than she had before, and he couldn't think of anything to suspend that skepticism as he saw a man standing idly in front of a fortified barrier as if it would simply crumble before him.
"I don't kn–"
"ALMIGHTY PUSH!"
With a mighty burst of pressure that almost grounded Kitsuchi immediately, an invisible force slammed directly into the wall that physically kept them from those they saw to topple. There were no flames, no smoke, but it sounded like a massive explosion emitted from the wall that kicked up dirt and debris so thick that all the Stone jounin could do was latch onto his daughter's arm to assure she was safe by his side until the air cleared enough to see what happened. It took several minutes, several bouts of scratchy eyes, and several more coughing fits before Kitsuchi's eyes could cut through the veritable smokescreen, but when he did, all he saw was greenery. No longer was there a wall that kept them from the Land of Fire, only rubble that likely buried countless lives that sought to see them repulsed from the border. In an instant, the variables of the war had changed.
In an instant, Kitsuchi suddenly felt strongly about their ability to see the long-lived wrongs of the past righted.
"Why are we still even out here? I mean, we checked where we were supposed to, right? Shouldn't we go back to camp?" Kiba asked out loud to the rest of their team and it wasn't for the first time. This time, none of Team Kurenai responded to the questions, not even the boy's canine companion that simply glanced in Kiba's direction before turning his nose outward again, sniffing the air of their surroundings. The broken silence was mended swiftly after the resigned groan of the Inuzuka realizing that he wouldn't get a solid answer to his question.
The brief, one-sided interaction of their team brought a soft smile to Hinata's lips as she scanned the area with her Byakugan. This was something she would never get tired of. For all the good she was doing for her clan in helping Neji when he asked for it, this was what Hinata preferred over anything else. It was Team Kurenai, once named Team 8 when they were still rookies, that she felt most at ease. Hearing Kiba's silliness or experiencing Shino's peculiarities never failed in making Hinata feel like she belonged, especially when Kurenai was there to guide them along the way. Her cousin could promise her that he wouldn't push her to do this or that for the Hyuuga, but naming her his heir showed that if she was anywhere outside her team, then she would always be linked and trapped by the Hyuuga clan and her duties to it.
That being said, her current assignment as a member of Team Kurenai wasn't something she was particularly ecstatic for. In fact, she hated that they were in this position at all. Like most able bodied Hyuuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame, Team Kurenai was dispatched the moment they arrived at the border wall directly blocking the path for the Cloud's invasion. They're job was to look out to see if there were any Cloud forces gathering to attack a different portion of the border wall while the Leaf focused on the bulk of the enemy elsewhere, but in the couple weeks that they've been at it, nothing has been seen or heard. If Shino was right, they probably left the Land of Hot Springs days ago and wandered into the Land of Sound in their scavenging, but they had yet to decide when to call it quits.
Even if it was simple reconnaissance, Hinata hated that they were about to go to war. A kunoichi she was, but a fighter she would never truly be. Not at heart. Yet, here she was being one of the first groups of shinobi out in the war effort. The only consolation was that she could stay with her team and she didn't have to be matched up with strangers from different clans like her clansmen had. The puffing, man-sized dog was a familiar one, the buzzing of bugs all-around them were of a well-known tune, and the calming energy of their leader was one she was used to. All was as right as it could be.
"Let's set up camp here. We will go one day further before we turn back and report." Kurenai spoke up from the rear of their diamond-esque formation as the Sun traveled deep into its set. An orange glow from the early-evening light bounced off of the water in the many rice fields that extended through the plains before them, plains that held little sturdy ground to set up camp and no roads to settle beside. Still, it didn't take long for the four of them to find a resting spot amongst ground hardened by spared vegetation between the cultivated fields. Only an hour later, a fire burned in between Team Kurenai, providing more light than there was to spare outside of their camp, and they all nursed their meager field servings of food that only kept them sated but not wholly satisfied.
Pale eyes lingered across the small camp, stopping on each one of her teammates as they did, each of them bringing their own form of peace to the Hyuuga's mind. Kurenai looked just as she did when the team formed years ago, hardly a hair sitting differently on her head, and proved to be a steady hand in all their lives. Shino and Kiba also kept themselves familiar to Hinata in their years together. Granted, they were both more than a couple inches taller than her now and developed a more mature look compared to their thirteen year old selves, but they looked all the same to her. Even with Kiba replacing his fur-lined hooded jacket with a hoodless brown one that was hidden under a flak jacket they all matched in wearing, or Shino adding a bulky, baggy forest green hooded-coat atop a darker green, high-collared shirt that resembled the one he wore in their younger years, it was all the same to Hinata. They were all the same and it made her comfortable in the uncomfortable times they lived in.
"Hey, Kurenai-sensei? What's with us going this far anyway? Do we really think the Cloud is gonna go this far to attack us? Wouldn't it be better to attack the wall with all your strength rather than divide it up?" Kiba asked after he scarfed down his food that he heated over their small flames, his brow scrunched up as he tried to understand the reasoning himself. To Hinata's surprise, however, it was Shino that spoke up before their teacher could.
"Kiba has a point, sensei. It would not be practical to keep one's forces this far apart if you are the invader of a well-defended land. It would only be easier for us to repulse their attacks." Shino seemed to have finished his meal just as Kiba had, albeit with a little less sounds or groans as he did so. With Shino agreeing with Kiba's question, it made Hinata more intrigued in what their sensei would respond with. She didn't give Kurenai's suggestion to go farther any thought, simply trusting that the woman knew what she was doing. But if both of her teammates saw it as weird, maybe she should have given it more thought.
Kurenai set down her humble meal next to her, its contents not quite empty like the others had been, and she inspected the three of them with bright red eyes that looked aflame from the reflection of the campfire. She didn't say anything for a long, dragging moment as she seemed to be collecting her thoughts. Whether the jounin knew it or not, the suspenseful pause sent a chill down the Hyuuga's spine.
"Our Lord Hokage passed along a special set of orders to our team that is considered to be known by only myself and him to keep any unneeded discomfort from as many as possible. We are here for recon, yes, but not for the Cloud. Lord Fifth has asked me to inspect the possibility of a dispatch of forces from the Sound Village. To make sure we accomplish that, we will continue until we encounter the main road that passes from the Land of Fire to the Sound, then we will turn back." Unconsciously, Hinata's lower lip found itself between her teeth as she set to nervously chewing it at an anxious pace. It was always more. At first it was Cloud declaring war, then it was the Stone and Rain doing the same, and now the Sound might join again. How much blood will be spilt for no reason? She hated it. Hinata could only look back at her earliest days of sneaking from her father's lessons to watch fish swim in the pond and birds chirp above her head. It was so peaceful, their world could be so peaceful, and yet people still choose to fight.
"Well, if none of us have seen anything yet, then we should be fine. It's not like an army is just going to appear in front of our faces tomorrow, so at least we can give the Hokage some good news." Kiba said those words with the energy he never seemed to be without, and it was those words that caught Hinata from the spiral her brain had thrown her through. When she finally refocused on what was around her, it was Kiba's sharp eyes and goofy smile that met her from across the fire. Like always, he was able to say something that brought her countless worries to rest, if even for a little bit.
"It would take an astounding amount of quickness to penetrate the perimeter all of our senses have created. Between my kikaichu, Akamaru's nose, and your eyes, it would be hard for us to miss something so blatant." And, as always, Shino always had the words to legitimize Kiba's reassurances. Hinata only smiled to herself, knowing that they already knew that they had her eternal thanks for being there for her, and she let herself fall into some semblance of comfort in their small camp. Once tomorrow had passed, it was only a few days back at a brisk pace to return to the Leaf camp on the other side of the wall.
The morning was like every other since this mission began. The three sleepers were awoken at the end of Kiba's watch, which was decided by the gray haze of the early morning, and the camp was quickly disbanded and the area was left as if the four of them had never been there to begin with. Immediately upon clearing the camp, Shino's kikaichu from the night before returned and another group were sent off. There was a grief, almost unnoticeable shift in the Aburame's face when the returning insects re-integrated with the hive within the chunin's body, but when the boy didn't say anything, Hinata passed it off as nothing. Once Shino's bugs were handled, Kiba took his spot at the lead of their group and the remaining three fell into place to form the other three points of the diamond.
Hinata's eyes looked outward, toward the north as they traveled further east, as she activated her Byakugan. There were the same few flickers of chakra that lit up in her all-seeing eyes that showed the previous days. Natural chakra of the Nature around them faintly thrummed around them, miniscule lights of the animals that maintained their own business across the land, and the very few larger, but still minute, fluctuations of common folk that tended to their lands. For the first hour or so, it seemed like Kiba's words of reassurance the night before held true. There really wasn't anything to be worried about if they've made it this far without seeing anything out of the ordinary.
Then, like clockwork, a flash appeared at the end of her vision, but it was gone as swiftly as she caught a glimpse of it. From the very edge of her vision, lights of potential bodies of chakra then began to flutter in and out of the range of Hinata's eyes. She couldn't decide if she was merely seeing something that wasn't there, but then she heard the sneeze from the canine in front of her.
"You too, buddy?" Kiba asked Akamaru, putting a hand on the dog's tall shoulders as both of their noses began twitching widely. There was a change in the thrum of the bugs that flew around Shino, one that Hinata was sure only they would've been able to notice, and that's when she knew that there was truly something going on.
"We should speed up, I fear there is something keeping themselves just out of our reach." Shino suggested, but before anything could be decided, the Inuzuka that led them launched himself forward to blaze a trail ahead of them. Kurenai's words were properly ignored by the boy as his teammates were forced to try and catch up, keep pace, and keep their eyes on the surrounding area. Frantic scrambling turned into confusion, and then quickly fell into horror as Kiba's acceleration seemed to have done exactly as Shino hoped, but also revealed what she truly loathed to see.
Hinata brought Team Kurenai to a swift halt as her feet dug into the soft ground that surrounded a particularly broad rice field, eyes widened as far as they could be asked to go. At the edge of her vision, now firmly in her field of sight, was a large mass of vicious chakra signatures that could only be described in one way: unnatural. Where the natural chakra of living beings held a soft blue hue that was matched by all things, or should be matched by all things, these chakra signatures were inflamed and engrossed by a vile purple color. Tainted and disturbing signatures sat enmasse a far distance removed from the road that Kurenai suggested they traveled to in a disheveled formation as if they had been pushed from the road suddenly. Standing out from this mass of sickly chakra were three normal chakra signatures that now began to creep closer to their position.
"Have you seen what it is we are looking for, Hinata?" Shino asked, more urgency present in his voice than anyone would be used to hearing. The monotonous cadence was broken with confusion as being left in the dark by one of the few targets that escaped his kikaichu more than likely filled the Aburame with more than a little bit of frustration. Instead of addressing Shino, however, Hinata whipped her gaze to their leader.
"Three chakra signatures are headed our way. How do you want us to proceed, Kurenai-sensei?" Although her mind was racing, Hinata knew that it was Kurenai's decision on how they would proceed first and foremost, and Hinata trusted her teacher more than anything else. Even if she spoke to Kurenai, it was no surprise that it was Kiba that spoke up first, voicing his thoughts on what they would do next.
"If only three are coming, why not face 'em ourselves? With the five of us it should be easy to get rid of 'em." The deep echo of affirmation barked from Akamaru as the canine matched his partner's enthusiasm, but the pair seemed to be the only ones of the group that held such thoughts.
"It is impossible to know who we deal with and how to approach them. These also aren't our lands, making it easy to be forced into a disadvantage despite our shallow numbers advantage." Hinata was sucking in a breath to respond to her teammates, wanting to add that there wasn't only the three that were steadily progressing toward them, but a whole mass of foul enemies waiting behind them, but before her words could slide out, Kurenai had made her decision.
"Enough of that. We were sent to survey and report back, we won't be fighting anything or anyone when we are out here by ourselves. I don't want to hear any arguments otherwise, Kiba." Their sensei turned on a heel and began moving swiftly back in the direction they came at a much faster pace. There was a huff from the new caboose in their formation, Kiba clearly put out by their teacher's proactive dismissal of any of his potential, and inevitable, arguments.
As they traveled, the majority of Hinata's focus never strayed from the trio that were now fashioning themselves as a tail for Team Kurenai. By the jounin's estimation, it would take no less than two hours to reach the next viable crossing point into the Land of Fire. With their tail slowly and steadily creeping up behind them, Hinata couldn't help but bite her lip in worry as she tried to make her observations known.
"They are slowly catching up to us," Hinata spoke in a strained voice to allow her words the strength to carry over the swift wind that separated her from her teammates, "but none of the rest have followed them." Only blue chakra signatures scraped the rear of her Byakugan's vision. A small solace that brought some comfort to the Hyuuga's mind.
"Wait," Kiba called out with some concern in his voice from behind her, "there were more besides the three following us? Damn it, now I feel like an idiot." The Inuzuka pouted from the rear, hismoping somehow being palpable over the rushing air and hurried pace of the team.
"How much time do we have until they catch up, Hinata?" Kurenai asked from in front of them, bringing Hinata's focus from behind herself to her direct line of sight once again. She couldn't answer immediately, her mind silently trying to provide a reasonable estimation but never landing on anything direct when she did. The trailing bodies were catching up to them, but could they make it to the gates of the wall in time? Maybe, maybe not. This would be something that Neji would be more equipped in handling, not her.
"I don't know, Kurenai-sensei. I'm not sure if we can make it before they catch up to us." Hinata hated having to say those words, wishing deep within herself that she could provide something more. That she could help more.
"It is fine, Hinata. Kurenai-sensei, if you could provide some cover for me?" Shino's cool and calm voice took over, and when Hinata looked over to her teammate, she instantly saw the flood of insects that came pouring from the sleeves of his bulky coat and high-collar underneath. Hinata watched through her all-seeing eyes as the bugs flew behind the quartet, with more than one gruff exclamation from the trailing Kiba, as their sensei sent a well-crafted web of refined chakra that joined and encapsulated the insects that amassed into four distinct figures. Their figures that now held a stout and convincing image of themselves, all of which stood solidly in the path between them and their tail.
Silence once again fell between them as they pushed forward, doing what they could to maintain their aggressing pace back to their land. The entire time, Hinata watched as the diversion Shino and Kurenai made was met by the approaching enemy. Four small flares of chakra represented the amalgamation of insects of Shino's hive, but when they met with the three larger systems of chakra, the insects were dispatched and handled with ease. No more than a single charge from one of their tails was all that was needed to disband the Bug Clones, making them no more than a minor buffer for them. Providing only the smallest of reliefs. Hinata was about to report what she had seen, but it was Shino that spoke up first.
"They have a sensor. She knew it was a diversion before they ran into the clones. I recommend we make haste to the gate." Shino reported with words that directly described what it was she saw. The presence of a sensor explained why it took so long for them to recognize the enemies that were hiding under their well-trained noses. If the sensor was strong enough, she could have known of their prying, be it her eyes, Kiba and Akamaru, or the kikaichu that flew around and pushed whatever gathering of bodies it was that they had out of their reach.
As they pushed forward, as Kurenai left a countless number of genjutsu related traps in their wake, and as the gates back to their country closed in, Hinata was only dumbfounded when the three that were keeping such a feverish pace to keep up with them abruptly cut their pace in half and turned away from them. Without cause or warning, the ones that pressed them in what was thought as the intention to neutralize suddenly stopped completely just as the gates of their country opened to them. The pressure of a chase was suddenly and inexplicably ended by their pursuers, but their pace wasn't slowed. The moment Team Kurenai crossed the threshold to the Land of Fire, they resumed their sprint back to the camp of the Leaf to the east.
They still had to warn their Hokage of a third army that threatened the safety of the Land of Fire.
"Why the hell are we even doing this? We could've just let them go."
Karin could only groan at the grating voice of Suigetsu as they pushed forward to scare off the Leaf shinobi that thought they could snoop around Lord Orochimaru's plans. Ever since they began the chase, Suigetsu started his whinging and whining. It was enough to make anyone go crazy, but Karin was only seconds away from taking a rod to the man before taking a trip to the Land of Lightning. That would shut the walking, talking puddle up. The only solace in the feverish pace and endless droning of the boy to her left was the silence of Jugo on her opposite side. The third part of their trio had yet to say anything since they began this run around.
"Because Lord Orochimaru gave us orders, you nitwit. If anyone locates the main body of the army, run them off before they see anything. That's the whole reason we were even there." She grated out between the slim spaces of her teeth as she fixed her glasses onto her face and sent an antsy hand through her deep red hair. Nervous movements that kept her from slapping the pale-haired boy silly and derailing the whole point of their mission.
Suigetsu only responded with a childish whine that grumbled through his throat, earning the boy another glare from Karin's blazing eyes that matched her bright hair. She didn't understand how this was the next in line to pick up a Legendary Sword of the Mist. Some childish boy that inherited the water-body bloodline from the Hozuki family but had the demeanor of a toddler, a point emphasized as his purple orbs met her glare and a tongue was stuck out between pointed teeth. Another scoff was forced through her mouth, involuntary as it was.
Karin contemplated saying something else, no doubt carrying on the bickering and childishness that she was dragged into, but something tickled her less physical senses. It wasn't the shinobi that they were chasing off, or not them directly. A swarm of miniscule bodies of chakra positioned themselves in their path, down further than their eyes could tell at the moment, and around the swarm was a precise web of chakra that could only be a genjutsu. A simple diversion to throw them off or delay them. Dropping whatever displeasure she felt at Suigetsu, Karin addressed the quietest of the three of the developments in front of them.
"Clones made from the Aburame bugs are in front of us. They should be easy to destroy. Make it quick so we don't lose time." Karin stated with finality, knowing that he wouldn't make as much of a fuss as Suigetsu would. The orange-red eyes glancing at Karin was the only evidence that the man heard what she said. That, and the increased pace he took to peek forward slightly in preparation to attack.
The purple cloak that was not snapped just ahead of Karin's face from Jugo's increased pace matched the purple of Karin's long-sleeve tunic and Suigetsu's sleeveless shirt. It was the purple that represented their loyalty to the Sound along with the musical notes that were attached to them in various places. The three of them were a few of the many fascinations of Orochimaru due to their bloodline abilities. Each had their own peculiarities that allowed them to stay alive long enough to be here. As four figures that represented the pitiful diversion laid for them, the right arm of Juso grew and morphed as it poked out of the draped cloak on his back, taking the shape of a large grotesque arm that was armed with countless shooting spikes. As the three of them closed in on their diversion, Jugo launched forward and slammed his mighty arm into the soft dirt that was equidistant from all four bug bodies, spreading a force of colliding pressure at the might of the swing and accompanying dirt and mud flying around in every which way.
Karin and Suigetsu didn't even have to slow their pace or redirect their bodies after Jugo dispatched the Bug Clones, and it took little time for the man to realign himself at Karin's side once again. Peeking over at the man, Karin didn't notice a single orange hair out of place in the rear-spiked locks on his head. She didn't see a single drop of sweat on his face or any sense of displeasure. The mighty attack was less than a chore for the man.
It only took a little longer for their targets to find themselves scurrying back through the wall that sat along the border of the Land of Fire, signaling an end to their mission directed by Orochimaru without fail. When it was done and the trio began arcing a path back to the army's camp, Karin took a steadying breath at completing the mission. She wouldn't have to look forward to punishment for failure by their Lord or Kabuto upon their return.
Now, all that was left was for the fighting to begin. No worries at all.
Things are getting a bit tricky on this side when it comes to times to timing and things of that nature, but I knew it would be. Letting this little knot work itself out will probably come with a few mistakes, and that just makes me glad that this is a personal project that has no outward bearing on me. Either way, hope you enjoy and i'll be back on the 17th