Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, a wolf pack (though Corey owns a wolf/husky mix), various other things...I'm too lazy to think up more stuff...
A/N: You know what? I change my mind. The chapters are only going up one at a time. I don't want the story to end so quickly.
A wolf pack was on the prowl.
Slinking silently in a serpentine state on the ground, the wolves were stalking their prey stealthily. Mere inches away from...it, the wolves knew that now; now was the time to pounce. Crouching for proper spring, the wolves waited a moment, testing the winds and ensuring complete synchronization, and finally, they struck!
"AAAAAAACK!"
Michiko's piercing scream rang throughout the small field, waking almost everybody up from their first night's rest.
"What is it?" Korii asked, jumping up from his mat, already with a kunai in his hand.
"What's wrong?" Kiba asked, sitting up, and then looking around, "Where's Akamaru?"
"Where is Michiko?" Inel asked pointedly, looking at Michiko's sleeping mat.
Deniizu and Pooriin rolled over from their sleeping places beside Michiko, and both started laughing. Michiko had been simultateously tackled by all five of the dogs at once; now she couldn't be seen under all of their bodies.
Why me? Michiko thought to herself, struggling to get the dogs off and sit up, "Um...A little help here, please?"
At this moment, Kurenai and Shino ran into the clearing; they had been on the last guard duty shift for their camp.
"Is something wrong?" Kurenai asked, concerned, "I heard a scream."
"No, we're ok," Deniizu waved the matter off, and Pooriin turned to the mat that was at her other side.
"Hinata?" Pooriin shook the still-sleeping girl's shoulder gently, "Hey, Hinata?"
"She's still asleep?" Goudon asked, surprised.
"She's a heavy sleeper," Pooriin nodded, still trying to awaken her friend.
"So's your ugly brother," Kiba muttered to himself, but a little too loudly.
"Hey, he is!" Goudon observed, looking at the teen who was asleep beside him, "Who wants to wake him up?"
His question was met with silence, that went uninterrupted until Michiko finally sat up, holding Athos, who had been sitting on her face. At the same time, Pooriin managed to wake Hinata up.
"Thanks for all the help, guys," Michiko said sarcastically.
"Stop complaining, just get your stuff packed," Korii ordered calmly, his mat and backpack already prepared for travel.
Do you ever notice how on TV, one second the place is a mess, and then the next second the place is completely tidy?
Because that's what Korii did.
Once again, the group of eleven was on the move in their set formation. Well, almost eleven.
"How long have we been walking?" Michiko asked Kiba in a low voice.
The quasi-medical ninja had to ask her question again; the boy walking behind her had been staring into space, completely zoned out.
"Um...not too long," Kiba answered, scratching the back of his head, "Maybe two hours."
"He should be coming soon, then," Goudon said, still walking in front of both of them.
Deniizu, Korii and their sensei all smiled to themselves, and Kurenai shook her head disappointedly.
"I can't believe a jounin with your reputation would be doing this," the red-eyed woman scolded, talking over Pooriin and Goudon to Inel.
"I have a wonderful reputation?" Inel asked interestedly.
"Never mind," Kurenai sighed.
Shino shook his head in agreement with his sensei; after all-
"You're not supposed to abandon the client!" an irate voice exclaimed from behind them on the road.
"There's the Chatora freak," Kiba growled, with a big toothy grin.
Bikto ran up the dirt road, his hair still uncombed and his cats close behind him; apparently he ran after the group as soon as he woke up.
"You caught up!" Korii said enthusiastically, barely turning to look at Bikto.
"You...you..." Bikto struggled to speak as he walked beside Korii, trying to put together a proper sentence.
"Go on," Korii prompted, wiping a little bit of spit from his cheek that Bikto had sprayed there.
"You..." Bikto paused for a moment, then lowered his voice maliciously, "I'm reporting your negligence to the Hokage and my uncle, Koshinu."
"How nice," Korii said uncaringly, "You'll tell them that you purposely stepped out of your place in our travel formation in order to deliberately get hurt, am I correct? Because that's what you're doing now."
Bikto stared at the Hyuuga for a moment, who still wasn't bothering to turn and look at him, then with a wordless scream of frustration, he went back to his position between Pooriin and Inel.
"Nice of you to join us," Goudon said sarcastically.
"Shut up," Bikto griped, throwing an angry look at his brother.
Michiko and Pooriin giggled, then immediately stopped when Bikto turned his gaze to them. Hinata, who was constantly scanning the trail behind the group, winced when she heard blows being thrown.
"Ow..." Kiba muttered quietly, when Bikto was done.
He had jumped out of his position to stand between Bikto and Pooriin, taking the punches that Bikto had meant to deal out to his little sister.
"Hey, are you ok?" Pooriin asked, concerned, as Kiba moved back to his place and Michiko nursed a few bruises.
"Enh..." Kiba grunted by way of answering.
"You didn't have to do that," Pooriin said gently, "I would've been fine."
"You're the client," Kiba snapped, "If your idiot uncle sees you bruised, he'll blame us ninjas."
"Oh," Pooriin said, looking forwards again.
Hey, I got hit too, Michiko thought, Is there no sympathy for me?
'Fraid not, Deniizu answered wryly.
Thanks...Michiko thought, Today is not my day...
She looked down at D'Artagnan, who was growling at the silver tabby walking by Bikto's feet, and clicked her tongue to get his attention.
"Leave them, D'Artagnan," she advised, "We can wait until after this mission is over. Then we'll have some fun."
"Everyone stop," Korii ordered suddenly, and everyone came to a halt, "Deniizu, Inel-sensei, come with me. Team Kurenai, Michiko, you stay and guard the Chatora."
Inel and his two students stepped out of formation and walked ahead down the path.
"What did you see?" Inel asked, taking his violin off of its strap and tuning it quietly.
"I saw someone setting a trap right about..." Korii motioned for Inel to stop and Deniizu to follow close behind, then after walking forwards a couple more yards, deliberately threw a kunai into a tree on the left side of the path, "There! Deniizu, do that thing that you do!"
"Ossu!"
The talented genin saluted, then pulled out two kunai and stood poised, waiting for the trap to hit them. Inel knew that some traps took time, and waited patiently for it to hit. Michiko, standing by Pooriin with a kunai at the ready, got an itching sensation that something was getting more and more wrong, slowly and steadily. Ten seconds passed, with no event. Pooriin felt her heart rate change and become erratic; I must be getting nervous, she thought.
"Good," a stranger hidden in the trees whispered to his companions, "They're falling right into it. Soon we will know..."
Shino's brow furrowed deeper than normal, thinking What's taking Korii?
Kiba and the five dogs sniffed the air suddenly; they smelled something in the air change, but they weren't sure what. Hinata and Michiko noticed and they both shared a look. Something was up, but twenty more seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Maybe it's a timed trap to lull us into a false sense of security, Deniizu thought, her body still tense and ready to destroy any obstacles.
"...That's strange," Korii muttered after a moment.
Michiko felt the part of her blood that was fire rise to meet its kin; her pupils contracted, as if she were about to become fire. She knew something was wrong, but she didn't know exactly what. Pooriin felt her eyes tighten, but then the feeling passed, and she didn't remember it happening. Inel remembered a mission from back when he was in Oto, and knew what was going on.
"I could have sworn I saw-" Korii was saying.
"Korii, get Deniizu and jump far back behind me," Inel interrupted in a brisk voice, "Quickly!"
Korii grabbed Deniizu around the waist and used chakra to propel himself so that they jumped and landed just behind Inel. The former Sound nin knew they had to go farther and pushed both of them backwards.
"Inel-sensei, what-" Korii started.
Again, Korii was cut off, and all the group saw what Inel had discovered. The trap that had been set was not made from weapons or simple fireballs. Instead, whoever had made it had used some kind of high quality jutsu to create two horizontal pillars of fire, both going from one tree towards the middle of the road, creating what would have looked like an eight-foot-tall wall of fire. Korii and Deniizu would have been right in the centre of it, while Inel's little mustache would have been singed. Now, Team 13 was a good 6 feet away from the wall of fire, but they could still feel the heat; Michiko half screamed, half yelped when she had seen it.
"Oh, Korii, my hero," Deniizu gasped, swooning in his arms.
"No need to thank me," Korii said.
"Oh, you're so heroic!" Deniizu gushed, gazing deeply into Korii's white eyes, and prompty fainting in sheer bliss.
"Um...Korii, put me down," Deniizu said.
"Eh, what?" Korii shook his head, clearing it of his daydream, "Oh, right..."
Korii realized he was still holding Deniizu bridal-style and gently set her on the ground. There was an awkward pause, then Korii turned to his sensei.
"What do we do about the big fire?" Korii asked, gesturing towards it.
"It's a good technique," Inel said thoughtfully, "But once the papers are ripped up, it should stop. Michiko, it would be safest if you did that."
So that's what I sensed, Michiko thought as she nodded, already walking towards the fire.
Turning into flame was simple for Michiko; her team knew that fire was the easiest element for her to become. Fire-Michiko stopped just in front of the wall of fire and tested it with one hand, checking to make sure that it was not simply some genjutsu but a real fire, which it was. Michiko then made a shadow clone of herself and both easily found each trap tag. They were only about a hand wide, but went about 8 feet along the side of the trees; there was one on each side of the road. Inel had been right; as soon as the seals were removed, the fire stopped. All of Team 8, 13, and their clients watched as Michiko and her clone carefully moved away from where the second flamethrowing seal had been, and transformed back into human at a safe distance from her group. Hinata had her Byakugan still activated, and she saw movement behind the group as Michiko returned.
"Korii, Shino, three people behind us!" Hinata exclaimed, already turning around.
The two leaders turned around, and both saw that Hinata was right. There were three teenaged bandits standing on the road behind them.
"Michiko, Kiba, you, your clone and your dogs stay around our clients," Korii ordered, re-activating his Byakugan, "Kurenai-san, I'd like you to watch the road ahead. Deniizu, you keep your eyes on the surrounding woods in case someone else jumps out. Inel-sensei, yours is the one on the left," Korii instructed, meaning a boy in a long, brown coat who seemed the strongest, "Hinata and Shino, you take the one on the right," he said, meaning a slender girl with shoulder-length, straight brown hair, adding, "The one in the middle is mine," referring to a boy wearing a strange backpack made of glass jars on his back.
"Hinata, I'll charge her," Shino whispered as he and Hinata hurried forward, "It'll startle her, and you attack right away with Juuken."
"O-ok," Hinata nodded, sounding afraid but determined as she prepared her hands for the Hyuuga's deadly fighting style.
Shino sped up and rushed the girl on the left side of the road, waiting for the last moment, and suddenly he summoned all of the bugs in his arms to abruptly create a cloud of beetles that rushed towards the brown-haired girl's face.
"Aw, like gross!" the girl exclaimed, throwing something down in front of her.
What the...? Bandits talk like that? Shino thought, still willing his kikaichu forwards.
The girl jumped up high, and actually vaulted over Shino's head. After landing softly on the ground behind him, the girl ran straight towards Hinata, with a strangely shaped, green-hilted dagger held before her. Hinata froze where she stood; the other girl was still running with her dagger pointed towards Hinata's stomach.
Move! Move! both Hinata and Shino were thinking, Do something! Attack!
Kamisama, she's not moving! Shino thought, fulling turning where he stood and about to jump in and help.
I...I can't...I'm going to die! Hinata thought, her hands trembling.
"Psych!" the brown-haired girl yelled, again throwing something at her feet and jumping easily over Hinata the way she had with Shino.
The hell? Shino thought, surprised again, Bandits aren't supposed to talk like that! Uh oh...
"Michiko, she's headed for you!" Shino yelled, as Hinata fell to her knees in relief.
"I'm not blind!" Michiko yelled back, gripping her kunai hard and keeping her eyes on the brown-haired girl.
She used water to jump, Michiko thought, She threw a water balloon or something onto the ground, and she made the water in the puddle propel her up, like how I used chakra...if she's after the Chatora, she'll either jump over me, or make me jump, and then go underneath...
"You go down," Michiko directed her clone, as she herself jumped up to block the girl.
"Tch, whatever," the girl tsked, attacking Michiko's clone so that it disappeared, "You totally can't beat me with, like, that," she said, brandishing her dagger as if about to stab Pooriin.
"Oh no!" Pooriin whimpered, putting up her hands in a vague attempt to shield herself.
"I hate people that talk like valley girls!" Kiba growled, launching himself at the girl with the dagger.
The stranger neatly sidestepped and managed to evade Kiba, but Akamaru jumped at her face and managed to knock her off-balance. The girl made a muffled sound as she stumbled backwards.
"Porthos!"
Michiko made a hand motion, and her mottled pup tripped the girl neatly. Another hand motion, and D'Artagnan and Aramis secured the girl's shoulders to the ground, and Akamaru jumped back onto the girl's chest and growled into her face.
"Good job, guys," Michiko praised, patting Porthos on the head.
"Who are you, and what are you trying to do?" Kiba asked, looking down at the girl.
The girl merely smirked and there was a puff of smoke; when it cleared, she was gone, and a straw dummy was in her place.
"Substitution," Kiba and Michiko muttered, both already looking around.
"Ok, like, whatever you do, don't look here. Teehee!"
Both ninjas turned and saw the girl had grabbed Bikto and held her dagger at his throat.
"Oh, fine, look," the girl rolled her eyes, "But don't move!" she added, waving a finger teasingly, "Otherwise, this boy goes bye-bye."
The Manx cat that Bikto usually carried and the silver tabby attacked the girl's leg.
"OW!" the girl shrieked, "Ok, that's no fun!"
The girl let Bikto go, and after spinning on the spot, she grabbed Goudon's hand and neck at pressure points, so the boy was forced to go where she directed him. They moved fast, and were almost at the woods when Kurenai threw a shuriken that grazed the girl's cheek as she dodged it.
"Yowch!" the girl exclaimed, clapping a hand on the bleeding scratch, "Ok, like, no! Forget this!"
The girl threw another waterballoon onto the ground, and again used it to give herself a boost into the forest, and she was gone before Kurenai could reach her.
"Ok, those hurt," Goudon complained, just as Kurenai got to where he stood. He was wincing and rubbing the pressure points the girl had used.
"Stop saying 'ok'," Bikto said, annoyed.
"She was good," Michiko sighed, and Kiba nodded.
The group collected and got back into formation at Korii's advice; they would discuss what had happened as they travelled, since they had already lost some time fighting.
"My person just ran," Korii said, from his place at second in line.
"Same, sort of," Kiba said.
"So did mine," Inel nodded.
"When they saw you were winning?" Kurenai asked, thinking about the brown-haired girl.
"No, she just ran," Korii answered.
"My person looked at his friends, and when he saw that one girl was leaving, he give the three...the third person a hand signal. Then they leave," Inel said, shrugging.
"...A distraction?" Shino guessed.
"I don't think so," Korii said, "They didn't really do anything except kill Michiko's clone."
"Sh. I'm mourning her," Michiko shushed, then closed her eyes, put her palms together, and kept her face solemn.
"You can't be serious," Pooriin said, aggravated, and then swatted at her friend's arms, "Stop that!"
"Are you going to do that each time you lose a clone?" Deniizu asked, still glancing at the ground from time to time for traps.
"Quiet. Give the dead some respect. She fought well," Michiko said, still with her eyes closed.
"Ok, Michiko, cut that out. You can't keep guard if your eyes are closed," Kurenai said.
"That's true..." Michiko opened her eyes.
"Please stop saying 'ok'," Bikto grumbled.
"Ok then," Korii nodded, earning a disgusted groan from Bikto.
"So what were they doing, then?" Kiba asked, "Testing us?"
"Possibly. The question is, why," Korii said.
"Maybe they seem to be after the twins," Inel suggested, which recieved strange looks from everyone else, "I will explain. The girl when she attacks tried to kill Pooriin. Why? To get to the twins without any problems. Then she tries to take at least one of the boys with her. The other two attackers are just distracting the rest of our group. See? It makes sense."
So Inel really is such a good jounin, Kurenai thought, I was worried for a little bit there.
The group continued along the road, completely on guard, but there were no more attacks by the time they reached their campsite at nightfall.
A/N: Why is it called 'nightfall'? Night does really fall. It just sort of...fades in. (looks around expecting other people to enter the room) Hah! Would you look at that? I'm the only one here! That's awesome! Now, before I jinx the wonderful silence, please review! ...revew! ...now... Quick! Before someone walks in! Hurry...! If you don't review now, some crazy axe-murderer or something will come in! Review! Please! For all that is good and chocolatey, just review! ...GAAH!
Deniizu: (walks in) I miss Itachi...why did you get rid of Itachi?
A/N: Ok, obviously we can't have a nukenin following us around during our mission.
Deniizu: But I miss him...
Itachi: (poofs into the room) Miss me much?
Deniizu: Yes! (glomps Itachi)
A/N: Aw, isn't that cute?
Itachi: (pushes away) But Deniizu, I have terrible news.
Deniizu: What? What do you mean?
Itachi: Deniizu, my love...I am your father.
Deniizu: ...NOOOOOOOOO!
A/N: Ok, footnotes end here. Review already!