I do not own Naruto
Chapter 3: The Pursuit.
In Konoha:
As Kakashi was explaining to Naruto about the mysterious ball that they had found at his apartment, Naruto could not help but feel an increasing sense of dread about the fate of Sakura. Apparently the symbol belonged to an ancient clan of ninja who could use the long forgotten art of Shadow Flare. This kind of ability made them incredibly hard to find due to their ability to hide where most people tended to over look.
"Naruto? Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, startling Naruto out of his contemplation. "Oh sorry Kakashi, you were saying." said Naruto.
Kakashi sighed and continued with his explanation. "As I was saying the last time that this clan appeared we were barely able to fight them off. It was mainly thanks to your father Naruto that we were able to force them out of the Land of Fire." Kakashi paused to look out the window of the Hokage Mansion. "However, their leader Tsumi vowed to return and destroy everything that stood in his way. We believed this to be an idle threat by a defeated foe, but it appears we were wrong."
"Who cares about any of that, we should be out there searching for them! Who knows what they may be doing to Sakura." said Naruto. "Naruto is right. With my dogs we can track them to anywhere." said Kiba. It was clear that both of them were not going to sit tight and wait for others to find Sakura; so Kakashi agreed that the both of them were to locate and have one of Naruto's shadow clones to report the location to Kakashi who would then send in a force to back them up.
As Kiba and Naruto approached the gates to the village Kakashi's parting words to them echoed in their ears; "Make sure that you report back to me as soon as you find them, do not engage them by yourselves."
"Do you think that these guys are really as dangerous as Kakashi made them out to be?" said Naruto. Knowing that it did not matter how dangerous this opponent may be, Naruto still wanted to be prepared or else he would be of no use to Sakura when they found her. "Who cares? You want to get Sakura back don't you?" said Kiba.
"Of course I do!"said Naruto.
"Then what are we waiting for!" shouted Kiba with his signature grin plastered on his face. Signaling to his hounds, Kiba instructed them to search for Sakura's scent due to the fact that Shadow Clan had somehow managed to leave no trace of their own. Both shinobi proceed to follow the hounds, knowing that they were racing against the clock to find Sakura.
At the layer of the Shadow Clan:
Tsumi continued to watch the monitor that showed the chamber that housed Sakura, but something was different now. Sakura was now hooked up to a machine that appeared to be draining her chakra. As the unconscious shinobi's chakra was slowly being drained out of her a smile spread across the Shadow Clan leaders face. "Soon we will have what we need." said Tsumi.
"Lord Tsumi, you haven't explained what we are getting from this girl. Couldn't we have taken chakra from any other shinobi?" asked Daigus? He knew that Lord Tsumi was one, who was easily angered, but Daigus had been a loyal servant of his and since their plan was going so well, maybe he would fill Daigus in on the plan.
"Because Daigus, this is one of the few who had the skill and the talent to be trained by one of the Legendary Sanin. That is due in part to a special sort of chakra that only a few have ever possessed. It is thanks to this chakra and the left over remains of the Akasuki's spy Zetsu, that we will be able to take our revenge on the Land of Fire.
Suddenly a loud sound began to emanate from the console. "What is that?" said Daigus.
"It is the proximity alarm. Someone has just breached the outer perimeter." said Tsumi as he pressed a button on the console. A picture of two figures appeared in front of the two shadow shinobi. "It seems that Konoha has more competent shinobi than I thought. Daigus, I want you and Kino to go and take care of these meddlers; I must have enough time to complete the harvest and combine them with the cells of Zetsu." commanded Tsumi.
"As you command Lord Tsumi." said Daigus disappearing into the shadows.
"Soon my dear, soon you will fulfill my grand design and help me to take my ultimate revenge."
To be continued…
Here is the next chapter. I apologize if this chapter seems rushed; it has been an interesting last few days. Anyway reviews are always appreciated and I promise a good fight scene will be coming in the next chapter.