DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, the evening sky, green hair, blind spots, no choice, really bad puns, really bad grammar, poor anger management, turning bright red, or a mysterious clan of bandits.
Itachi: Esperwen is still looking for that book. (just glares at reader through screen. Doesn't move.)
Michiko looked up into the evening sky while waiting with Shino for either a signal, or another attack.
Huh...a waxing gibbous moon, Michiko thought, meaning the time between when the moon is full and when it is a half-moon, The moon is only ever always full or a crescent on TV...you have to time yourself in order to see it in real life...I should be keeping an eye out. I need to focus; otherwise, I really am useless.
Shino was also looking at the moon.
Waxing gibbous, he thought, Too bad it isn't full...Michiko might like to see that...
Both ninjas heard rustling coming from bushes at one side and tensed, waiting. The rustling continued; both noticed that the bushes were on the side closest to where the rest of the ninja were.
"Who's there?" Michiko called, in a steady voice.
Shino glanced at Michiko as he took out a kunai. Her voice belied her true feelings; she was visibly trembling. Looking back at the bushes, Shino held his kunai at the ready, and both ninjas waited for someone to emerge.
Please be Athos, or somebody we know, Michiko thought, trying to get rid of the knot in her stomach.
Both genin stared intently at the bushes. Too intently.
"Michiko, the other side!" Pooriin screamed at the back of the cave.
"Huh?"
Michiko and Shino both turned accordingly, and just caught a glimpse of a girl wearing white who had short, spiky, green hair run into the cave from the side that they had not been watching. Shino gave Michiko a slight push forward on her back, meaning that he wanted her to run straight for the intruder; meanwhile, he ran to the back of the cave, where the clients were, and where the intruder seemed to be headed. Shino positioned himself protectively in front of the Chatora once he reached them, well before the green-haired girl did. The enemy threw a kunai backwards at Michiko as she jumped at Shino with a scythe in one hand. Shino used two kunai to grab a hold of the scythe, and attempted to wrench it out of her hands, but she managed to free it before he could. Michiko knocked away the thrown kunai, then found that the girl had thrown another kunai in its blind spot. Deflecting it just inches from her face, Michiko saw how clever the girl was; there was a third kunai in the second kunai's blind spot.
Uh-oh...
Michiko froze, the third kunai coming straight for her eye; it was too close for her to dodge, and she hadn't mastered the Art of Substitution to the level of not needing hand seals.
"Move, Michiko!" Goudon yelled, seeing that Shino was too caught up in his fight with the other girl to help.
Goudon was still a ninja; instinctively, he threw one of his own kunai as fast as he could towards Michiko. Just before it could blind Michiko, the green-haired girl's kunai was knocked away by Goudon's.
"You're safe, now, Michiko!" Goudon called, unsure whether to leave his place, "Help Shino!"
Michiko stayed frozen where she was; she couldn't move at all.
"Michiko!" Bikto yelled, just as Shino got nicked on the ear by the green-haired girl's scythe.
She was like a statue, with a look of terror still on her face. Pooriin was right in front of her friend; she saw one tiny tear fall from Michiko's eye before her kunai fell from her hands, forgotten.
"Boys, do something! Wake her up!" Pooriin exclaimed, pushing at the dog that sat in front of her.
With a bark, Porthos and D'Artagnan leapt for Michiko, while Aramis stood between the clients and where Shino was fighting the green-haired girl; at least one dog would keep his post. Barking and nipping at Michiko's legs and hands, the dog's tried to get Michiko to do something, but still she didn't move.
"Pathetic," Bikto muttered loudly, "She's no use as a ninja."
A kunai whizzed past the wild-eyed teen's face, hit the cave wall behind him and landed on the stone floor with a clatter. Bikto looked towards where the knife had originated, and saw that Shino had thrown it.
"This is her first mission; you leave her be," Goudon said warningly.
"First mistake," the green-haired girl said with a malicious grin, hitting Shino hard in the stomach with her knee, "You're too easily distracted; focus on the fight!"
Shino found himself suddenly on the ground, coughing up blood.
She hits hard, Shino thought, surprised at the sudden strength in the girl's small body.
"Get up!" the girl growled, bringing her foot down towards Shino's head, thinking, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't have a choice.
Shino managed to roll out of the way and got up again in a second, narrowly missing a slash to the face from the girl's scythe.
"Michiko, I need help!" Shino yelled, dodging a stab from the girl's kunai.
Shino...
Michiko heard his voice from the depths of her mind that she had retreated into, and began to revive.
Shino...he...needs help...! Shino!
Michiko blinked and realized that Porthos was just about hanging off of her hand by the teeth.
"Ow! Get off!" Michiko exclaimed, shaking her dog off, "What was...?"
Michiko looked around, and saw Shino pinned against the cave wall, and the green-haired girl with her scythe raised. Her eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in rage.
"There's no way I'm letting you do that!" Michiko bellowed, instantly turning herself into fire and rushing the girl, using chakra to make herself faster.
The green-haired girl turned at the sound of Michiko's voice, and her jaw dropped.
Kamisama...there's a girl made of fire running towards me...! she thought.
Immediately, she let Shino go and ran straight out the cave exit, passing by a little brown dog that was just entering, and taking one precious second to throw up a flare. Michiko had gained a lot of momentum rushing the girl; for a second, Shino thought he was going to get burnt. However, the 'fire-girl' seemed to 'splash' around him; the flames went around him and he was surrounded by a ring of fire on the wall before it moved off and out of the cave in pursuit of the green-haired girl. Athos, who was the brown dog that the intruder had passed, looked as if he were enveloped in fire, but as the fire left the cave, Athos was still running into the cave, completely unscathed.
"...the hell was that all about?" Goudon exclaimed after a moment.
"Was that a pun?" Pooriin asked, "You know, with hell, and the fire..."
The boys and all four dogs stared at the black-haired girl.
"Forget it," Pooriin hung her head.
There was more silence, then Athos barked for attention.
"The others need help," Shino said stoically, as if nothing unusual had just happened, "I'll go; the four dogs will guard the entrance. Pooriin, could you pass me Michiko's obi?"
Pooriin dug through Michiko's bag and obeyed; Shino looked for a long, thin pocket that Michiko had told him about. He found it, opened it, and removed four soldier pills from it before closing the pocket and passing the sash back to Pooriin. Shino fed the Four Musketeers one pill each, and quickly left the cave to help his group.
Where's Michiko? What's happening with the others? What was the flare for?
Where is there a copy of 'The End' by Lemony Snicket? So many questions...
When Shino found the rest of the travelling party, their battle was already over.
"I thought you needed help fighting?" Shino said, looking around.
Kurenai, who had minor wounds, had her arm around Hinata, who was still crouched on the ground, and Korii stood protectively nearby; the 16-year-old boy had a long slash down his left leg. Deniizu had a bleeding scratch on her right cheek, a deep slash on her right arm, and she was sitting on the ground rigidly; she and Kiba sat back to back, defending each other, while Akamaru sat in Kiba's lap. Inel also had only minor injuries, but as he stood and tuned his violin, he watched the surrounding woods sharply as he spoke to Shino.
"We did when we send Athos," Inel nodded, "But soon, a flare is up in the sky by the cave, and the leader calls for retreat. They know these area well; they had a advantage in the dark. What happens at the cave?"
Shino explained just loud enough so that Korii, Inel, and Kurenai could hear; anyone further away would at best hear his voice, but not the words. This way, no enemies who were still nearby could eavesdrop.
"Korii, are you ok?" Deniizu asked, concerned.
"Of course I am, Deniizu," Korii shrugged casually.
"Oh, but your leg! It's bleeding badly," Deniizu exclaimed, her eyes getting misty.
"Are you all right?" Korii asked, ignoring her last comment.
"Yes, but your leg-"
"Then I am too," Korii interrupted, looking into her eyes intensely.
"Oh, Korii," Deniizu gushed, "You're so heroic!"
"Why, thank you," Korii smiled.
"Oh, Korii!" Deniizu sighed.
"Korii! Hey, Korii?"
The Hyuuga boy blinked when Inel's voice cut through his daydream.
"Heh...huh...what?"
"Korii, what do we do now?" Inel asked, "You are still leader. ...Well? Were you listening?"
"Um, yeah, uh..." Korii thought for a moment, trying to make sense of what was going on, "Um...oh! Yeah, we need Michiko right now. I think maybe you and Shino should go find her, since you're the least damaged. Kurenai-san and Hinata can guard us."
"Wait."
Everyone looked at Deniizu, who had spoken up.
"Shino, did you see Michiko when she turned into fire?" Deniizu asked, on a sudden hunch.
Shino nodded, and Deniizu asked:
"Can I see it? Just think about it, and I'll look with my limit. And I need it as detailed as you can make it."
Shino shrugged, and thought about how Michiko had transformed. How the look on her face had changed, and how her clothing had turned black. Deniizu's eyebrows went up when she saw that, then she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I think Kurenai-san and Hinata should go," Deniizu said, "Just trust me on this one."
"Ok..." Kurenai nodded slowly as she helped Hinata up.
And I think you should drop by the cave, Deniizu said into their heads, and after she recieved a strange look from them, she privately explained Michiko's situation to them, as well as to Inel and Korii (the team had to know).
"Oh..." Kurenai nodded quickly now, and spots of colour appeared on Hinata's cheeks, "We understand."
What happened to Michiko? What is her situation? Where is my lunch? I'm hungry...
After making a quick stop at the cave and getting what they (or in this case, Michiko) needed, Kurenai and Hinata easily followed a trail of singed grass, trees and leaves that Fire-Michiko had left behind. After some time; Michiko hadn't given up on her chase easily; the two kunoichi came across a stream where the burned trail stopped. Looking at the ground, there were bare footprints that led back into the trees by a different route, and after some tracking, they found Michiko curled up with her back towards them, in a clump of bushes, without any clothing on.
"Michiko, it's us," Kurenai said gently.
"We brought you a change of clothes," Hinata added, holding the folded pile towards her friends.
Michiko turned her head to look and make sure there weren't any boys, then sat up properly and meekly took her clothes from Hinata.
"Thanks," Michiko said softly, already pulling on her necessities.
She's very bold, Kurenai thought to herself, I'd be mortified if I had to get dressed in front of other people, even if they were female.
Why make a scene about propriety and make this day worse? Michiko thought bitterly, pulling her shirt on.
"How is everyone?" Michiko asked, getting started on her dress, "What did I miss? I need a proper medical report, if you can give one."
Kurenai described the state of each of the group members while Michiko finished getting dressed; when she was done, Michiko was glaring at the sandals Hinata had just handed to her.
"You didn't have any spare sandals," Hinata explained quickly, "So Pooriin's lending these until we get to the village and can buy you new ones."
"...pink..." Michiko growled, referring to what was her least favourite colour, and the colour of Pooriin's sandals, before pulling them on.
"What happened?" Kurenai asked, curiously, as all three of them got up to return to camp.
"About what? My clothes, or that girl?" Michiko asked.
"Both, but first the girl," Kurenai answered.
Michiko thought for a moment, planning what to say before continuing.
"Basically, I was chasing her as fire; she managed to keep ahead of me, but I don't know if she's especially fast, or if she was using chakra like me. She either knew or guessed that I couldn't cross water as fire, so she ran across that stream. I tried to follow, and when the water hurt me, the pain shocked me out of being fire and I transformed into human again. I noticed I had nothing on, so the first thing I did was hide. I figured Korii-kun or Inel-sensei would send some help."
"How did you lose your clothes?" Hinata blurted, then turned bright red, with Michiko joining her.
"Uh...well...I got really mad, and since my bloodline limit is connected to my emotions, I turned into fire," Michiko stammered.
"But you've done that before, and you still...kept..." Hinata trailed off, and both girls turned redder, "Well, what I mean is, what happened that was different?"
"Um...I almost lost complete control," Michiko mumbled almost inaudibly, "I need at least a little control so that my clothes and whatever I'm holding transform with me, but when I changed, I wasn't thinking properly. I almost burned Shino and Athos; it's a miracle I didn't."
WHERE IS 'THE END'? WHERE IS 'THE END'?
Monoka, the green-haired girl, arrived at her own camp with the other three that had been with her.
"Well?"
The clan's leader, Sumoggu, adjusted his black headband that reminded their team all too much of what a doctor might wear. He looked at Monoka impatiently.
"Do you know which girl it is?" he asked.
Monoka smiled shyly and nodded.
"It's the girl that always wears blue, not the one in pink. Just like I thought," Monoka grinned.
"Are you sure?"
All the clan turned to Ruko in surprise; the boy in the brown trenchcoat usually let others ask the questions.
"Are you sure that she really is the Gorgon?" Ruko asked again.
"How could she have known my greatest fear was fire?" Monoka asked, shivering a little, "It had to be her."
"She fits the physical description, too," Tsume added, petting her hawk companion, "I think we've found her."
"Wonderful," Sumoggu smiled, rubbing his hands together.
"So when do we, like, attack?" Emi asked, running a hand through her short, brown hair, and her cousin, Ezu, raised an eyebrow questioninly.
"Tomorrow," Sumoggu answered, barely needing to think about it, "We've been searching so long, so why must we wait longer? We strike tomorrow."
Itachi: ...Isaac will strike tomorrow, at the Pentagon- (looks up) ...You heard nothing. You will review as if you read nothing suspicious happened.
A/N: You will also not inform the US Police or FBI, because that line was written as a joke. Please don't sue. But you can review! And that rhymes!