A/N: This will be the last chapter I'll be posting for this story. From here on out I'll be done with writing fanfics. I don't feel that I'm creative enough when it comes to writing. Which is why I have not updated any of them for so long. But no worries. To those that wish to continue to follow this story or any of my stories, it'll be taken over by Ominous-Advent. Thanks to all that followed and kept up with this story during the time I was writing it. I enjoy reading fics more than writing them. I'm great at coming up with story ideas but horrible when it comes to writing them out. Again. Thank you all.
It had been nothing more than an hour since they've left the village for their mission. The three Genin, mostly Hanzi looked around the area in awe. It had been their first time ever leaving the village for any reason. The trees around them swayed in smooth patterns with the wind, blowing leaves in small whirlwinds that blew across the air. Eriya and Setsuko weren't as caught up in the sights as Hanzi was, it was a beautiful sight but it wasn't anything that they found super amazing. Eriya pulled out a map from his pack and opened it up. So far they had traveled a total of fifty miles since they left the village. From the maps point of view, they still had to cross the Kishimoto Bridge then after that there was another three hours of walking before they reached the mountains, which would be a lot more walking. He rolled up the map and retuned it to its place in his pack. They had a long way ahead of them before they reached their destination. He sighed and folded his arms behind his head. His eyes rolled over in the direction of the Uchiha girl. After witnessing the scene with her and her brother last night, he kind of understood why the girl was so bitter all the time. Well he think he knew. All the Uchiha were bitter but Setsuko's bitterness was different. It was like envy and sadness mixed together.
Setsuko could feel that there were eyes on her but not coming from Eriya's direction, it was coming from in front of her. "Do you have an eye problem little girl...?" The Uchiha opened her eyes and looked down at the auburn haired girl. Her hand clenched in a tight fist at her side. It was taking all of her self control to not swing and punch this brat in the face.
"What's your problem!?" Ikari asked the girl. "If looks could kill you'd be dead right now. I can stare all I want!" She said. "Aren't you one of those Uchiha?"
"What business is it to you who I am? I'm your body guard I don't have to share any of my personal information with you. Now hush!"
"You are aren't you? My dad told me many stories of this man what did he say his name was again." She tapped her finger under her chin for a few seconds. "Oh right! Madara Uchiha. That's what he said his name was. He said that Madara tried overtake the ninja world by reflecting the Sharingan Eye off the moon and create some type of eternal Genjutsu. Then there was Sasuke who tried to destroy the leaf in order to avenge the death of his brother. Seems all the Uchiha turn out to be bad apples I see. Or maybe it's just-"
"Ikari stop it!" It was Eriya who shouted out to the girl upon seeing the build up of rage in Setsuko's eyes. "That was the past it doesn't matter anymore!"
"Mind your business Eriya!" The Uchiha girl spat when the boy tried speaking out in her defense. "You know nothing about me or my clan, so I suggest you keep your comments to yourself or be prepared to take the consequences that come with your false allegations!"
"Setsuko, Ikari!" Indo called out which pulled both the girl's attention to her. Indo's eyes were narrowed showing that she'd grown irritated with the two's constant bickering over absolutely nothing. "That is about enough out of the two of you. Setsuko, you're her protector. You have to say nothing to her. Control your anger."
Ikari snickered and stuck her tongue out at the Uchiha girl.
"And Ikari," Indo said in a more strict tone. "I'm sure your father wouldn't be pleased if he found out that you were giving your escorts such a hard time now would he?"
She huffed and rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "I don't care. It's not like he really cares about me either. That's why he sent me here to watch grandpa."
"I thought you were here because your grand father was sick?" Hanzi asked before blinking his eyes.
"I am!" She shouted before huffing and turning her head to the side. "But..forget it.."
There was quietness as the three Genin looked at one another in confusion. They then looked over at their sensei who was just staring off at the scenery. Indo nodded her head and sighed. (The Kazekage's daughter..)
"Hey Indo-sensei, I thought that all the ninja nations were at peace after The Fourth Ninja War. If that's the case then why is the Stone and the Sand Village warring with one another?" Hanzi asked.
"Well Hanzi, when people have power they seek to use it. But when they also discover power that is not their own and someone else's, they get jealous and envy whoever it is that has it and seeks to obtain it by any means possible. Even if it means killing." Indo explained simply without giving confidential information.
"What?" Hanzi blinked and scratched the back of his head. "What does Suna have that Igwa doesn't Sensei?"
Ikari's hand tensed into a tight fist and she started a low growl in her throat that only Eriya seemed to have heard. He looked at the girl with a bewildered expression. He knew she was annoyed by the presence of him and his comrades but something else was obviously bothering her. Then she was tense. What was with her?
Indo smirked under her mask. She had a feeling that question was coming on. "Stability, Hanzi. A year ago I was sent on a mission to the Stone village and the village was very unstable and still is today. The village's Kage, the fifth Tsuchikage, has come down with a terrible sickness and is unable to handle the village properly. So with him out of commission, they have a temporary Kage, the son of the fifth, and he is a bad apple."
"Oh, so what's that have to do with us protecting Ikari Sensei?"
"Would you stop asking so many questions!" Setsuko snapped at the blond boy. His voice was irritating her. "Just shut up!"
"Geez why so snappy Setsuko. Well that's no surprise you're always that way.."
"Huh.." Eriya stopped in his tracks and looked around. A few seconds after Indo did the exact same, as did the rest of the group.
"Sensei? Eriya?" Hanzi called to the two but they didn't answer.
There was something there no someone. And he could feel it, they were coming. The flow of their chakra and the eerie aura they were giving off. Both was enough to send a scary chill all through his body. It was getting closer.
"Stay on your guard.." Indo said to the three of them. "Just keep moving.." The girl spoke calmly. Eriya looked over at Hanzi first but he knew he wouldn't catch on so he looked at Setsuko then darted his eyes at Ikari. The Uchiha girl responded by moving towards the girl and walked behind her. "Hanzi," Indo called lowly to the clueless male. "Take advantage of the abilities. Even when you feel there is nothing wrong, still use them."
"Sensei I-Ah I get it!"
Indo sighed out and shook her head.
The blonde boy concentrated for a moment and seconds later, the veins around his eyes became visible. Indo was pleased to see he did follow what she was saying.
"Ah! Eriya! to the left of you!" Hanzi called out.
Eriya was already prepared. The male took out three kunai knives and tossed them in to the direction in which the figure was coming. The figure parried the attack and dashed off to the right and then jumped back just for safety. "Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears!" The unknown ninja shouted.
Setsuko quickly grabbed Ikari and leapt into the highest tree, Hanzi and Eriya swiftly parried back, just as several spikes protruded from the solid surface of the earth. Indo on the other hand had no time to parry and was skewered.
"Sensei!?" Hanzi yelled out. Eriya looked over his shoulder to see the body of their instructor bleeding heavily on the spike that pierced through her body. "Ind-!" The young boy froze then quickly thought for a second.
The unkown ninja grinned darkly then let out a laugh. This was too easy. "Well, seems like you three children have no choice. Hand over the girl," from the ground, the solid surface of the ground, four more stone ninja made their presence known. Pulling themselves up from the dirt like moles. "Or die!"
Hanzi looked up in the tree at Setsuko. The Uchiha girl glared signaling that she was not following the orders of that ninja. It was obvious that he came from the stone village judging by the technique he used to kill off their sensei. She looked down at Ikari and could see the distressed look in her eyes. It threw her off momentarily. Earlier this girl was talking a whole lot of garbage now she terrified. She was even gripping tightly onto Setsuko's shirt. "Relax.." Setsuko spoke. It came out ruder than she wanted it to. "Panic now and it can end badly."
"Who said I was afraid!?" Ikari shot back.
Setsuko didn't answer. The girl's actions spoke louder.
Hanzi seen the expression on the girl's face and knew that they were not getting out of this easily. He didn't want that any way. "No!" He responded. "If you want the girl you'll have to go through us! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones of Hanzi appeared.
Setsuko jumped down from the tree and ran to stand by her teammates. "Continue onward towards Suna. Don't stop for any reason. got it? Guard her with your lives!" Hanzi told his clones.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Multiply." Six clones of Eriya appeared. "You guys go with them. Make sure no harm comes to her." He ordered. "We'll come find you when we finish here Ikari." He said noticing the troubled look in the girl's eyes. "Our job is to protect you, and that's what we're doing."
Ikrai nodded a little bit. "O-okay.." The clones of each of them took the girl and dashed off into the woods.
"You brats don't know what you're getting yourselves into." The leader of the group. The one that used the earth spikes, spoke. "Your Sensei is dead, and from the looks of it you three have little to no experience. But if it's your wishes to die, we won't stop you!"
:::
"Something troubling you Indo?" Naruto asked the girl. "You're not looking so well."
Indo was never one to complain about anything the Hokage instructed her to do but, ever since this mission was assigned to her Genin she's been feeling very uneasy. Even though she'd trained them as much as she possibly could, the whole thing still wasn't sitting right with her. They were still Genin, starter ninja. They didn't have the abilities nor did they know how to properly control, or maintain their chakra enough to handle a mission this high in rank. There had to be something else he was planning or had up his sleeve that he assigned this mission to them. "Lord Hokage, I know the chances of you changing your mind is very low but I thought I'd try anyway. I want to see if you'd reconsider these three taking on this mission. It's too much for them."
"Do you not trust my judgement?" The Hokage asked.
"No disrespect, but no." She responded solidly. "I feel that you know that this mission is too much, but there is another motive behind it that you're keeping from me. Tell me."
Naruto chuckled and turned towards the large window in his office. "I knew you would pick up on this Indo and I'm not at all surprised that you still feel that the mission is too much for your Genin. You're absolutely right." The male turned from the window and faced the ninja before him. He couldn't see her expression but he could see the eagerness in her eyes for an answer. "For a ninja of the Anbu Black Ops you have a lot of emotion." He said getting off the subject.
She huffed. "What, you expect me to be some cold-hearted individual? I'm different from from the others in the Ops Hokage. I cloak my emotions when necessary other than that I do have a heart you know." She responded a little offended by his choice of words.
"I meant nothing by it Indo." He laughed a bit. "No need to be so uptight. Anyhow, this mission I've assigned to your team, was actually appointed to the Anbu Black Ops."
The girl was quiet. Her heart began to race at the center of her chest. "Wh-what.."
Naruto nodded. "Yes, however many Anbu have been sent on this mission. They only got an hour outside of the village before they were attacked. The ninja came back so terribly injured they were emitted to the hospital."
So that's why the number of Anbu were decreasing. "If the Stone Village wants this girl so badly then why don't they just charge in here and take her?"
"They're using a strategy. I've figured the pattern out recently." Naruto began to pace. "Instead of charging in and attacking us head on, they decided to take out the shinobi that are assigned to the mission. That way when we run out of ninja they can charge in and take what they want because they know we'll surrender because we have no defense."
"Okay..but that doesn't explain why you assigned this mission to my group!"
Naruto paused. His pacing stopped and he turned to face the window again. "Indo." Naruto started calmly "I'm not sure how you'll view me after I tell you this but, I assigned this mission to you because-"
Indo stood in a tree several feet away from the location of they occurring battle between her Genin and the Stone ninja. What was the Hokage thinking, putting her in a position like this? She felt slightly betrayed in ways. She's done nothing but show her absolute appreciation for towards him and he gave her an insane order.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." She heard Setsuko shout out. She seen the attack aimed for two of the five ninja. The attack connected with one, but the other dodged.
:::
"Pawns!?" Indo screeched out.
Naruto nodded again. "Yes, while your group is focused on Ikari, you'll make tour way to the Stone Village and assassinate the temporary Tsuchikage."
"But what if the plan doesn't go as you envision it? You want to use these three Genin as a distraction but what if they end up being killed!? You would sacrifice your own son?"
He completely understood where the girl was coming from he didn't want to endanger the Genin but sometimes things they didn't want done had to happen. "Trust in me Indo. I swear on my life that no harm will come to these three."
"You mean two.."
He frowned. "Indo..."
"Assassinate the Tsuchikage.." That was no problem she could to that but the other request...
:::
"I need you to focus only on your assigned task Indo. The Stone Ninja will arrive at the Sand Village a day after your Genin show up there. So I need you to get to the Stone Village the same day they arrive at their destination. Got it?" Naruto explained. He walked from behind his desk and straight for Indo. He reached in his pocket and placed a blank slip of paper in her hand. "I know this is hard, but this has to be done.."
He was wrong, this didn't have to be done. It could have been approached differently. And the Hokage knew that!. What was he up to? Was there more to this than he had told her? She sighed. There was no time to be stressing over this now. The mission was already in affect and she needed to get moving. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Five clones appeared. She reached in her pocket and placed the slip of paper that Naruto gave her within the hand of one of the clones. "When the time is right, you know what to do with this." She said. "As for the rest of you, make sure these three stay safe.."
:::
"Byakugan!" The boy activated his dojutsu and quickly tossed four shiruken at the ninja he chose to go up against.
"Ha-ha ha!" The stone ninja laughed, maneuvering his body so quickly to avoid the weapons thrown his way, that it appeared that he was flashing. "Give up kid, you can't win!" A fist was slammed into the side of Hanzi's face. Then the enemy's foot connected with the young boy's stomach.
"Nygh!" Hanzi's eyes bulged and a gasp for air entered his lungs. His body flew back and slammed into a tree, splitting the piece of earth in half from the harsh impact. The young blond breathed rapidly. A cut was now present on the top right o his head, spilling blood down the side of his face. His vision blurred and his body ached all over.
"This is it for you kid!" The ninja darted at Hanzi, smirking darkly. "Die!" Dog, Ram, Rat, Snake, and Ram. Were the hand seals he performed. Earth Style: Stone Fist Jutsu."
Hanzi smirked, and suddenly he poof into a cloud of smoke. What was left behind was a log. "What the!?"
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palm." Hanzi ran from behind the male. His fingers flowing with visible chakra as he connected them with certain points on his opponents body. "Two palm! Four palm!" He yelled as he jabbed his enemy. The ninja grunted. "Eight palm!" He shouted again his hands moved so quick his enemy didn't know what to do he couldn't even move all he felt was continuos pain throughout his body. "Sixteen palm, Thirty-Two palm! Sixty-Four palm!" The last blow sent his opponent flying back. When he finally hit the ground he was dead.
Hanzi looked over at the last Stone Ninja standing, the leader. His eyes wandered off to the body of Indo that was lying lifeless on the spikes. "H-huh!? But.." His attention went to Eriya. Did he know?
"So you're gonna take me by yourself kid?" The leader asked.
"You better believe that I am!" He shouted out. He studied the man in front if him, mapping out the chakra points on his body. (If I can use my Gentle Fist like I did earlier, I can take this guy out as easily as I did the other one. But I have to distract him first. If he sees it coming it'll never work.) Hanzi stood in a position of defense as he watched, waiting to see what his enemy was going to do. The man was much bigger than the other ninja he showed up with. He was heavier in muscle weight. His arms were humongous!
"Earth Style: Dust Deception." The man waved his hand through the air, an essence of his chakra emitted from his body in the form of dust and fogged the area between him and the young boy. The man moved through the fogged up area believing now that he had the upper hand. Hanzi however didn't show panic. The man was underestimating him. What he lacked was knowledge of his abilities. Knowledge of his Byakugan. He kept his defensive position. Even though the area was fogged up Hanzi could still see the ninja's chakra flow and sense his movements. "Alright.."
:::
"Give it up kid!" The ninja said to Eriya as they clashed swords with one another, canceling one another's attack. Eriya kept a blank expression the entirety of the battle. While his opponent was showing signs of fatigue he had yet to break a sweat. His eyes fell upon the sword of his opponent which was slightly shaking against his own, a sure sign that he was closer to his limit. He was gasping for air heavily the wounds on his body and the amount of blood he was loosing was taking a toll on his body. However it was still too soon for the battle to end. Eriya suffered from the same condition as the ninja but he was still maintaining his balance and had complete control over his body. Eriya took the advantage and swiped upward and pushed his enemy back. Dashing at his enemy, A few quick hand seals were performed and he ran his fingers down the length of his weapon. "Shadow Blade."
The three Genin fought long and hard against the five Stone ninja but they were only able to do so much. With the little chakra they all had within their body it was only a matter of time before they would have run out.
"Ny-uh..uh.." Hanzi fell to the ground along side his other two teammates huffing and puffing. They've done all they could do and only two out of the five ninja were destroyed. Maybe they had bit off way more than they could chew with this mission.
Setsuko rolled over onto her back and stared up at the sky. The sun was slowly beginning to set, ducking down behind the trees, and out of sight. As morbid as the thought was, she felt like that was happening her her and her teammates. They were slowly fading away and soon, their light, life, would be gone. Was this how it was going to end for them? Was she going to die as Genin? The Uchiha girl rolled over onto her stomach. Their sensei was dead. Why did they even care about this mission anymore? They should just return to the village and accept a mission failed. "N-no." Grunting and letting out struggled breaths, she pushed herself from the ground with the little strength that she had. She would never forgive herself. Failure was not an option. "Get up guys.." She breathed out. She wasn't going down this way. She had too much pride to. "We g-got this..we wanted to prove that we can take on a higher mission a-and that's what we're..gonna do!" There was no response from either of her teammates.
"Hanzi! Eriya! Get up!" Still no response.
"Fine lie there and be weak!" She grabbed a few Shiruken from her pocket. I'm not going to stand around and allow us to fail!"
:::
"Help me!" Ikari yelled. She kicked and pulled within the ninja's tight hold but nothing worked. His grip was too great.
"There! Eriya behind you. The last one!" The clone of Hanzi called out, spotting the Stone ninja with his Byakugan.
"Got it!" Two Eriya clones leaped their way up the rocky mountain top, along with two Hanzi clones, where the last Stone shinobi was seen fleeing with Ikari. "No you don't!" He clapped his hands together. "Hanzi, ready!?"
"All over it Eriya!" The two clones responded in unison. Both clones raced behind the ninja. He was fast but the Hanzi clones were on his tail. "You're done!" One Hanzi clone jumped and tackled the ninja to the ground while the other snatched Ikari.
The Eriya clones leaped down from the mountain top seconds after the ninja was caught and jumped down next to Ikari and Hanzi. The auburn haired girl ran from Hanzi and stood behind Eriya. "Step back.." Eriya said to Hanzi and the other clone of himself.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palm." The Hanzi clone that was handling the Stone shinobi leaped into the air a bit before executing his final attack upon the man. Eriya watched as his comrade performed his attack. He never thought that Hanzi was capable of actually combatting anyone since he was such a soft-hearted person and was always trying to keep the peace between everyone. But when push comes to shove or when it's time, Hanzi did what he needed to do.
"Sixty-Four palm!" The leaf ninja finished. By the time his attack was done, there was a medium sized crater in the ground. The Stone ninja lay there within, clinging onto his life and gasping for air. "No sense in trying to get up or anything.." Hanzi spoke. "You're gonna die shortly anyway." He said and started walking towards the others. "You shouldn't have underestimated us.."
It was over. This part at least. "Are you alright?" Hanzi asked Ikari who was still hidden behind Eriya. The girl nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine.." She said lowly.
"We rest here for the evening." Eriya suggested. "It's getting too dark for us to be traveling around right now.
"Right." The Hanzi clones said and nodded.
:::
A kunai knife slipped from her hand and against the ground. Setsuko huffed out a struggled breath and fell to her knees. Five ninja and four were destroyed. The Uchiha looked around and at the bodies of the ninja she destroyed. One had a shiruken in his jugular and three kunai in his chest. The second one she did hand to hand combat with, and shattered his spinal chord. And the last died of severe burns from her Fireball Technique. Now there was one left. The last ninja, the leader of course, still stood.
"Fire Style.." Setsuko stood to her feet, wobbling as she did so. (N-no, I'm not done yet..) blurriness began to obscured her vision making it hard for her to see or point out anything. "F-fire.." (Dammit!)
Her opponent smirked and held his left hand out in front of him, while using the other to perform hand seals. "Alright kid, I'm done with the games. I'm ending this."
The male slammed one of his hands into the ground where the flow of his chakra was being applied. And held the other out in front of him.
"Earth Style: Rock Prison!"
What the hell was that? She'd never heard of such a jutsu. But she didn't care none the less. She was just tired. So tired she couldn't even get her jutsu out. The girl's body finally reached its limit and she fell forward onto the ground.
'You're family is just another clan of average ninja just like any other ninja in Kanoha, there is nothing superior or special about the Uchiha clan, oh wait, except for that freaky thing your clan can do with their eyes. I haven't seen you use it yet, probably can't!'
No, she was average. Her family were true Uchiha. She was the only one who wasn't. She was the black sheep. It didn't matter how long, or how hard she trained herself, she'd never make it to the level of her brothers, nor would she be as strong as her father. What if she wasn't meant to be a ninja?
'I know, but over doing it won't help either. Trying to force activate the Sharingan will not make it happen any quicker, you have to let it happen naturally.'
A section of the ground, directly in front of her uprooted itself, and broke up into small tiny pieces. The pieces then collected around the dark haired girl and clustered together in a sphere shape, encasing the girl in a rock like prison. Only think that was left out is her head.
"This is your last moments kid.." The hand the ninja had out in front of him, slowly started to close. The rocky prison holding Setsuko's body inside, started shrinking. "Any last words!" He quickly shut his hand tightly and twisted it. Then he opened it again. Then repeated the gesture several times.
Setsuko let out loud screams as the action the ninja performed caused pain to certain parts of her body. The twisting motion he was doing with his hand was causing her the most pain. (No more...please no...no more..) She thought to herself. The pain was all too much for her little body to handle. She was so sore that she was numb. She couldn't even feel the pain of the ninja's attack anymore. She just wanted it to end. "St-STOOOOOOOOP!" The cocoon around the girl's body dispersed into dust and her body fell onto the ground.
"What the!?" The ninja was in shock. No one had ever been able to escape that attack.
Setsuko stood from the ground against her will and staggered back towards Eriya and Hanzi.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon!"
"Heh," Setsuko chuckled weakly. "I knew you would say that.." She quickly grabbed Hanzi and Eriya and leaped into a tree nearby, just before the ninja's attack could connect.
"How did she-"
Setsuko looked her opponent directly in the eyes, revealing her new ability; the Sharingan.
"An Uchiha!?"
The little bit of strength she had, Setsuko performed her hand signs, but at a SLOW pace. The ninja was doing the same instead his was quicker.
"Mmmph.." Eriya began to awaken. He opened his eyes, blinking them a few times until they cleared up. "S-setsuko?" He said. His eyes watched the girl's SLOW hand movements.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon!"
Setsuko grabbed both Hanzi and Eriya again and dashed into another tree. Quickly she countered with her fireball jutsu and successfully, took out the ninja.
Setsuko jumped down from the tree and landed on the ground. Eriya followed behind. She looked down at the body of the ninja with disgust. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Eriya looked at the body as well. He was impressed but he was too proud to say it aloud. Especially to Setsuko.
"I-it's done.." Setsuko said and turned to her comrade. "We have to get moving now. Grab Hanzi and-"
"Setsuko!" Eriya quickly caught the girl as she was falling. She was exhausted and still tried to keep pushing. He looked over her body it was covered in both blood and many wounds. "How was she able to keep going like this? Then her eyes..could she have.."
"Eriya, Setsuko..?" Hanzi had finally waken up. While making his way to his comrades, he looked around at the dead bodies of the stone ninja. He remembered there being a few left before he blacked out. "You do this Eriya?"
"It doesn't matter.." Was his response. He threw Setsuko over his shoulder and looked over at the corpse of their sensei. "Hmph.." (What are you up to..?)
"You think it's wise for us to CONTINUE onward with this mission Eriya..?" Hanzi said vaguely. He too stared over at their sensei's body. "I mean what are we supposed to do without sensei? How are we supposed to know what to do next?"
"We already know Hanzi. Our mission is to get that little girl back to Suna. We don't need sensei to do that. It's going to be tougher without her but, we can do this. We're not stopping because of a small setback. Now let's hurry and find our clones. The quicker we do that the faster we can rest."
"Right!" He said confidently. "Let's go then!" And rushed ahead.
Eriya looked at Indo's body once more and shook his head. He knew this wasn't the real Indo. She'd never allow herself to be taken down this easily. But what was the reason? Why did she have a clone with them this whole time? Where is she currently? Why are the three of them left to handle this mission all alone? "What are you up to Onee-san..?"