DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, and...ugh, I'm hungry. Just assume I don't own anything in here that is not an original character.
Itachi: This is a foolishly long chapter, so you idiotic readers out there have no reason to complain about the fact that Esperwen can only update once or twice a week. Also, only about five people have voted for their favourite original characters (my Deniizu is tied at two votes to that inane Michiko), so tell us who your favourite character is in your review, or there will be much death.
A/N: Ok, in the next story, Itachi will be more prominent.
Itachi: ...you're writing more? (death glare)
A/N: Not if you kill me with those looks, I won't!
Zero stress! Zero stress! I am a calm, collected individual. Serenity is my nature, and azure blue is my favourite colour. I will be relaxed. I will have poise and emotional balance. No one and nothing can faze-
"Ohayo, Michiko," Bikto greeted loudly, hanging upside-down from a neighbouring tree.
In the main camp, Shino, Deniizu, Kiba and Goudon all winced when they heard a piercing shriek. Korii simply glanced into the forest where Michiko and Bikto were, before turning back to his breakfast.
"Bikto must have interrupted Michiko's meditation," Kiba guessed.
"No shit..." Deniizu's eyes were wide as she agreed.
"Ow," Goudon nodded, rubbing his ears.
Shino was sitting, facing where he had seen Michiko disappear off to that morning. She had looked stressed; Shino had decided that the wisest thing to do was leave her alone. Now, he could hear dogs barking, cats yowling, and a boy screaming. Looking up, the whole group saw three of Michiko's dogs chasing Bikto and his two cats back to the main camp. Athos had been snapping at the cats' hind feet; as soon as they'd cleared past the forest, he stopped and continued to bark angrily from the trees. Aramis was taking care of the two cats on his own now, while Porthos hung onto Bikto's left ankle; D'Artagnan was nowhere to be seen.
And stay out, you filthy b- Athos barked.
Athos! Watch what you say! Akamaru barked, rising from his place beside Kiba.
Athos immediately fell silent, and after looking over what his brothers were doing, he seemed to nod to himself before running back into the forest. Shino got up and dusted himself off while Bikto collapsed beside Deniizu and Kiba.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Bikto yelled, waving his leg at the two genins.
"You're a mid-level ninja; you can do it yourself," Goudon sniffed, taking another bite of food while Deniizu nodded.
"I'm your client!" Bikto pointed out, shoving his ankle at Deniizu's face.
His whole 'client act' is getting old, Korii thought to himself, chewing deliberately to show that he was doing more important things than helping Bikto.
Kiba finally pried Porthos off of Bikto's ankle, though more to get him to shut up than to help him.
"You don't deserve this," Kiba growled, glaring at the older boy.
"Just like you don't deserve life," Bikto sneered back.
"Guys, just chill," Goudon ordered, holding a kunai between both boys' faces, "We have to be a team, right now."
"Yeah, yeah," Bikto muttered, moving over to his sleeping mat to pack up.
Bastard, Kiba thought angrily, then looked around the camp for support and realized that Shino had left.
Don't mess things up, Deniizu said into Shino's head, while he was still within sight.
Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at your new teammate, Shino advised back.
He's a smart one, Deniizu thought to herself, withdrawing from Shino's thoughts, I'll have to keep an eye on him.
We're off at a great start this morning, Korii thought sarcastically, ...If Akamaru keeps eyeing my toast like that, he can shove it up his ass. ...can dogs even do that? Now there is something worth thinking about.
Intrigue! Drama! Deniizu and Korii? Angst! Itachi is glaring at me again! Help!
Shino soon found Michiko sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree. D'Artagnan was sniffing Michiko's face; she seemed to be doing the same to the dog, as if they were communicating. Athos, who had just run back, was lying beside Michiko, and had his head on her lap, and Michiko petted him silently. None of them had noticed Shino; he had a tendency to sneak up on people, intentionally or not. The bug-user coughed politely to get their attention, and the girl flinched before quickly composing herself and sitting up straight; Shino had startled her.
"Hey," Michiko greeted, waving to Shino as he looked down at her, "Has something happened to Kurenai-san?"
Shino shook his head.
"Um...then are we going yet?"
Shino shook his head again before saying:
"We get another half an hour before breaking camp. Then we're splitting up; Kiba and Deniizu will go tracking, while the rest of us go back to the road and travel ahead."
"Ok," Michiko nodded, then asked after a moment, "How're your eyes?"
"What do you mean?" Shino asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Are they completely healed? I dealt with what I could sense, but were there any other injuries that I missed?" Michiko explained.
"What makes you think I have eyes?" Shino asked, avoiding the question.
"A little bird told me. Apparently they're hazel-coloured," Michiko said airily, thinking, That, and I could sense your eyeballs were there with my healing jutsu.
"...Who told you that?" Shino asked roughly, thinking, It was either Hinata or Kiba; only six people have ever seen my eyes, and those two are the only ones who might have given that answer.
"No, really! A bird!" Michiko protested.
The girl pointed up at the tree behind her, and when Shino turned to look, he saw a small brown bird perched on a branch high above both of them.
"At that angle, that bird can see over your sunglasses," Michiko explained, glancing at the bird before grinning triumphantly at Shino.
"...One of these days, I'm getting a hood," Shino said firmly, still staring at the bird.
"That being said, are your eyes alright?" Michiko asked again, looking at Shino quizzically.
"Yes, my eyes are fine," Shino answered grumpily.
"Good."
Shino looked down at Michiko again, and saw that she was still grinning at him. He shook his head, annoyed, and Michiko couldn't help but laugh at how she was bugging him.
"Is there anything that you needed, anyway?" Michiko asked trying to stifle her giggles.
Shino shook his head, turned, and began to walk away from Michiko. The kunoichi sighed and shrugged to herself, wondering why Shino couldn't take any jokes. As she got up, she felt something land on her arm and start crawling towards her wrist; instinctively, she made as if to swat at the insect, but at the last moment, she remembered who she was around and moved her hand so that it didn't land on the bug, but over her scar hole. Examining the insect closely, she saw that it was one of Shino's kikaichu.
"Um...Shino?" Michiko asked, turning to Shino and raising her arm to indicate the beetle on it.
Shino stopped walking, then turned and marched back to stand in front of Michiko.
"Yes?" Shino asked, remembering to keep emotion out of his voice, like usual.
"There's a kikaichu on my arm," Michiko said, pointing to it.
Shino nodded. Silence.
"Is it your kikaichu?"
Shino nodded. Silence.
"Why is it here?"
Just silence. No nodding.
"Are you planning on killing me?"
Shino shook his head. Silence.
"Is it just an errant beetle that isn't listening to your orders?"
Shino shook his head. Silence.
Michiko stared at Shino for a second, then kicked his shin, now annoyed.
"Darnit, Shino, why did you sic a kikaichu on me?" Michiko exclaimed.
D'Artagnan and Athos barked, showing that they wanted to know too, and Shino sighed silently.
"I want to be able to know where everyone is during this mission," Shino explained, "This is a female kikaichu. I can use her scent as a sort of tracking device with all the other male kikaichu I have. If I can place a bug on everyone, I can find them anywhere, in almost any circumstance."
Shino reached over and gently held both of her wrists.
"The safest place for the kikaichu to be is in your scar," Shino said, "Trust me. It won't hurt you; she's only going to be acting as a homing device."
Michiko hesitated, then let Shino pull her hands apart. Both watched as the kikaichu crawled into Michiko's scar hole, then pulled away from each other awkwardly when the beetle was out of sight.
"Um..."
Michiko fiddled with a lock of hair, and Shino examined his feet for a moment before looking up at Michiko again. He seemed about to speak, when D'Artagnan suddenly ran off, barking, and Athos stood up on his hind legs, apparently looking ahead for something. Both genins looked and saw Korii heading towards them.
"It's time to go, guys," said Korii, and Michiko and Shino nodded and followed their leader back to camp.
Fluff! Happiness! Birdies! More glares from Itachi! I swear, can't he just leave me alone...?
Deniizu, Kiba and Akamaru made a great tracking team.
Kiba and Akamaru kept to the ground, while Deniizu jumped from tree branch to tree branch. Deniizu knew traps better than any of the genins (except Tenten), so she covered Kiba, making sure that there were no hazards or obstacles in his and Akamaru's way. Kiba and Akamaru knew tracking better than any of the genins, so they did all the main work on the ground, not worrying about getting hurt since Deniizu was watching over them.
Kiba and Akamaru were having a bit of a tough time following the enemy's trail. The girl who had been dropping water balloons had stopped using that form of transportation just a few yards away from the road, so looking for slightly damper parts of the ground was not an option. It seemed that as soon as the enemy had gotten out of sight of the road, they had all taken special precautions to cover their trail. Sooner, even; Kiba could only find five trails; the other two bandits hadn't left a mark.
Kuso...We're only about 30 feet away from the road, Kiba thought, glancing backwards, These people were good.
Deniizu watched as Kiba pounded the ground with a fist, and Akamaru started digging a shallow hole in the ground. Both were getting agitated, she knew. With a small shrug, Deniizu began scanning the area again, then blinked when she saw a bit of icy blue peeking through the trees.
"I see something, Kiba," Deniizu said, jumping to a closer branch.
A settlement? she thought, continuing to approach the almost-white object, Some kind of building? ...shit...
"Kiba, get up here," Deniizu ordered, still staring at what she had found, and Kiba obliged.
"What is it?" Kiba asked, as he and Akamaru landed beside Deniizu on the branch.
Deniizu pointed, and Kiba placed Akamaru on his head before turning. At first he didn't understand what he was staring at; the structure was extremely out of place, and didn't make sense at that time of year. But when it finally registered, Kiba's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. Akamaru growled while Kiba clenched two fists.
"They're too good," Kiba said through clenched teeth. Deniizu nodded.
"Yeah," she agreed, "Good enough to make a solid igloo shelter up in the branches of a tree in early July."
More exclamation points! Yay! Wait, an igloo? Not yay. Very not yay.
Early that morning, on the sixth day of their mission, Hinata woke up uttering something between a yelp and a gasp. All she could feel on one side was pain; looking up to see who had kicked her, she saw Kishimu leering down at her.
"Time to wake up, princess," the red-haired boy sneered, adjusting his jar backpack while he spoke, "All the beauty sleep in the world couldn't improve you."
"And no mirror could ever reflect you without shattering," Pooriin's voice rang out in Hinata's defence.
Hinata saw Kishimu's eyes narrow, and Hinata flinched as if expecting him to hit her. Instead, Kishimu whirled around to where Pooriin lay nearby, and slapped Pooriin soundly across the face.
"Shut up, ahou," Kishimu growled in menacing tones, "We don't really need you as a hostage, you know. You're perfectly dispensable."
Pooriin looked as if about to talk back, but Kishimu raised his hand again and she cringed, the fight in her gone. However, he didn't bring his hand down; he merely grinned unpleasantly before walking away. Relieved, Pooriin tried squirming towards Hinata, only to fall flat onto her face; the ropes that tied her hands together had gotten snagged on the floor. Both the hostages heard snickering, and turning their heads, they saw Sumoggu sitting on the ice table, and Kishimu standing with his back turned to the girls, supporting his foot against one of the ice chairs. Both the older teens were watching the girls, sniggering to themselves as they watched their feeble attempts at freeing Pooriin.
"Oh, for pity's sake," a girl's voice breathed, sounding frustrated. But she spoke quietly; neither the hostages nor the two leaders heard her.
Ezu, who had spoken, had been sitting in the sleeping area with Emi, Ruko and Monoka. Now, all three of them got up as one. After a short, whispered conversation, Monoka stepped outside of the igloo through a hidden door, and the other three quietly went over to where the two captives were. Ezu started untying Pooriin, while Emi helped Hinata out of her ropes.
"Hey, what do you two think you're doing?" Sumoggu yelled, jumping up from his place.
"They're just untying them," Ruko answered in a low voice, glaring at the clan leader.
"You can't do that," Kishimu exclaimed, "They'll get away!"
Both teens stalked to where the group was; Pooriin could feel dangerous chi emanating off of them as they approached. So did the clan cousins and Ruko, but they made no sign to show it. Hinata barely suppressed a small sigh of relief when she felt the tight ropes around her wrists come away.
"Don't, like, say anything," Emi whispered to Hinata before she did anything else, "Leave the talking to, like, Ezu-chan and Ruko. They'll help you girls out."
"What do you mean, 'get away'?" Ruko asked menacingly, speaking to Kishimu, his chi matching the other boys' aura, "The door is hidden, and they don't know how to use it anyway."
"Like we can completely trust Ezu with the prisoners," Sumoggu tsked, looking sceptical.
"She's too kind to them," Kishimu agreed, "Next thing you know, she'll pull some idiotic stunt like freeing them."
Pooriin, who was still being untied by a silent Ezu, suddenly heard a scuttling noise coming from both Ruko and the sleeping area. Looking towards the sound's origin, Pooriin saw small, grey and brown things coming from Ruko's large backpack, and from the lining of his large coat.
Is he a bug-user too? both hostages thought, quailing slightly away from the crawling mass.
Wait... Hinata looked closer at one of the creatures as it crawled by her, It's not an insect...it's a crab! There are a lot of tiny crabs!
Hermit crabs? Pooriin thought incredulously, Wouldn't that be really heavy to carry around everywhere?
"Um, Ruko? I think you're overdoing stuff just a tiny bit," Emi said in a small voice, emphasizing the word 'tiny' by showing the tips of her thumb and forefinger close together, but not quite touching.
...he reminds me of Shino, overdoing it like that, Pooriin thought, remembering a time when she had been walking with him and Kiba while the other two portal-users were studying with Sakura and Ino.
"'...Hang on tight, we're going really fast!'" Pooriin laughed, saying the punch line of one of her favourite jokes.
Kiba laughed right along with her, completely appreciating the corny story. Shino, on the other hand, remain stoic.
"...oh, come on, Shino! It's funny!" Kiba exclaimed, punching his friendly playfully in the arm while Pooriin continued laughing.
"Not really," Shino shrugged, still serious.
"Arf, arf!" Akamaru yipped, jumping in front of Shino so that he was waist-high, before landing on the ground and running in circles around the small group again.
"Akamaru thinks it's a good joke," Pooriin pointed out, before falling into giggles again.
"Akamaru thinks sticks are hilarious. Much like Kiba," Shino added as an afterthought.
"Hey..." Kiba protested, but even Akamaru was laughing at him now, "It's not my fault you have no sense of humour, bug-freak," he grumbled, more to himself than to Shino.
Feeling a change in the air, Pooriin immediately sobered up, and Akamaru froze where he was. Kiba realized his mistake when he saw the dark look on Shino's face.
"...I'll say this one more time," Shino rumbled, beetles suddenly appearing from out of his sleeves and collar, "The joke was not that funny. All right?"
"Y-yeah! Not funny. Got it!" Kiba squeaked.
"Good," Shino nodded, the bugs quickly retreating back into his body, and he continued walking down the street. Pooriin, Akamaru and Kiba merely watched after him, stunned.
"...Don't call him a 'bug-freak' again," Pooriin advised to Kiba in a quiet voice.
"Don't say that joke again," Kiba whispered back, and Akamaru nodded sagely.
"They won't get away. All right?" Ruko asked, raising an eyebrow seriously.
"Um...yeah..." Sumoggu nodded slowly, while he and Kishimu eyed the many hermit crabs surrounding them warily.
"Good," Ruko nodded, making a hand seal so that the crabs retreated back into their places.
A lot like Shino, both Hinata and Pooriin thought.
"'Morning, everyone!" Tsume greeted cheerily, just entering the igloo with Monoka. The falcon-user looked around, taking in everything in the scene from the hostages' stunned looks, to the last crab entering Ruko's backpack, to the remnants of what was angry chi in the air, and realized that she was interrupting something.
"Eto..." Tsume's voice trailed off, and the falcon on her wrist hid its head under a wing, pretending to be asleep.
"I, um, I got some food!" Monoka said cheerily in a cute voice, holding up two bowls proudly, and in doing so, ended the tense atmosphere.
"I guess it's my turn at guard duty," Ruko nodded, already walking to retrieve his backpack.
Tsume nodded, still unsure of how to act, all too well knowing the clan leaders' unstable moods. Tsume took the ropes that had held Pooriin and Hinata's wrists from Emi and leaned against the ice wall nearby, within hearing range, as if standing on guard for them. While the falcon-user stood, keeping an eye on Sumoggu and Kishimu, who were sitting down again, Monoka passed a bowl to each of the captives before sitting down in between her two clan-mates. Then there was silence, with the captors watching the captives curiously, and vice-versa.
Pooriin and Hinata looked first at the girls surrounding them, then down at the bowls they were given, warily.
"It's good rice soup, trust me!" Monoka encouraged cheerfully, then clutched at the back of her head and exclaimed, "Itai!" after a moment.
Turning around, all six girls saw that Kishimu had just thrown a blunt, practice kunai at the back of Monoka's head.
"Could you shut up?" Kishimu asked angrily, while Sumoggu laughed uncaringly in the background, "Kuso, you're so loud!"
Monoka opened her mouth to retort, but before she could speak, another practice kunai came into painful contact with her forehead. Pooriin clapped a hand over her mouth, and Hinata flinched, wide-eyed and holding an arm in front of her as a subconscious defence. Both were shocked at how the clan leader was treating his group, but the actual clan-mates seemed as if this were a normal occurence.
"Itai!" Monoka whimpered, covering her forehead with both hands and hunching over, as if expecting another kunai to come her way.
Fortunately, the two boys simply turned away and began talking to each other again. Emi and Ezu glared at Tsume, while Monoka kept nursing a growing lump on her forehead.
"Girl, you could've, like, done something!" Emi exclaimed, punching the icy floor irritably.
"You're the only one Kishimu even bothers to listen to," Ezu added, tugging on a lock of her long, brown hair in an irritated fashion.
Hey, Michiko does that too, Pooriin thought, recalling that the more annoyed she was, the harder Michiko would pull on her hair.
"This is a change from before," Tsume defended, "The kunai were blunt this time."
Hinata had been examining the soup she was holding, but now she dropped her spoon in shock; Pooriin couldn't help but make a shocked sound in her throat.
"Yeah, it's true," Tsume nodded, stroking her falcon's neck feathers absently, "Kishimu used to throw sharp kunai at Mono-chan, here."
"And proud of it!" Kishimu called, waving to the girls from the other side of the room.
Emi grabbed one of the falled kunai and made as if to whip it at the red-haired boy, but Tsume was suddenly at her side, holding the wrist that Emi was using to throw.
"You know I can't let you do that," Tsume sighed, with the air of one who had argued the same point many times before.
"No matter how much you wish you could," Ezu grumbled, tugging at her hair again.
"Ok, like, seriously? You really take that, like, 'oath thing' too seriously," Emi complained, pouting.
"Ok, um...this is the part where I do something you'll truly understand. Whatever," Tsume rolled her eyes, making a 'W' with her index fingers and thumbs, and holding it out towards Emi; even the falcon held its wings out, making a slight 'W' shape of its own.
"Cute," Emi cooed sarcastically, while Monoka and Ezu giggled in the background.
Pooriin and Hinata looked at each other, slightly confused. These people weren't all that bad, it seemed. The two leaders may be bullies, but the rest appeared to be...
"A lot like us..." Pooriin whispered unintentionally.
"Hm? Who?"
Ezu looked at the two hostages and saw the looks they were giving each other; she couldn't help but half-smile.
"Let me guess," Ezu said, catching Hinata and Pooriin's attention, "You're surprised we're like this. You thought kidnappers would be completely mean and nasty, right?"
Hinata turned bright red, and Pooriin nodded, both embarrassed that they'd been caught.
"Well, some people are kidnappers out of necessity," Ezu shrugged moodily, keeping her voice low so that Kishimu and Sumoggu couldn't make out her words, "Some kidnappers only do so because they have to."
"And we had to follow orders, so that's why you're here," Monoka chimed in, "Now eat your soup with no worries, or it'll get cold!"
That's not much incentive, Hinata sweatdropped, examining her soup again; both she and Pooriin were a little surprised at the green-haired girl's constant positive attitude.
"Um...ok," Pooriin nodded unsurely, and slowly filled her spoon with the rice soup, thinking, Lugao, referring to a Philippino rice soup that very closely resembled what was in front of her, I really don't like lugao...
Still, after both Pooriin and Hinata sampled the white concoction, both realized that it was actually quite tasty. Upon seeing their delighted expressions, Monoka grinned and held two peace signs out towards the girls.
"See? I make the best rice soup!" the small 10-year-old laughed.
"I like this!" Pooriin exclaimed, motioning towards the soup excitedly, "No offence, but I didn't think I would!"
"Yeah. Monoka's our kawaii widdle cook," Emi chuckled, tickling the younger girl and teasing her in more baby talk, "Isn't dat right? Huh? Huh?"
"Nee-chan, stop!" Monoka gasped between giggles, "I'll get in trouble!"
Tsume and Pooriin joined in the laughter, but Hinata, while still eating, saw that Ezu only half-smiled. The long-haired 16-year-old had an eye on Sumoggu, who was looking at the other girls' good time with disapproval. When she saw Kishimu's hand stray towards his weapons pouch, Ezu grabbed Emi's elbow firmly, completely stopping the tickle fight. After receiving a stern look from Ezu, and after glancing at the clan leaders, Emi left Monoka alone, and both girls sat on the floor as primly as possible.
"We're totally not allowed to have fun in this clan," Emi said matter-of-factly.
"...Are you serious?" Pooriin asked, half-believing the short-haired girl.
"No, but she's pretty frigging close," Tsume growled, and her falcon clacked his beak in agreement.
"So...why are you in it?" Pooriin queried, before glancing fearfully at the two boys to make sure they weren't looking.
"Will you eat your soup if we tell you?" Monoka asked hopefully.
Ezu grinned and poked the girl in the ribs playfully before saying:
"What Mono-chan really means to ask, is 'will you listen carefully, then somehow get rid of Sumoggu and Kishimu so we can be free?'"
"That bad?" Pooriin asked, again surprised.
What's with this clan? Hinata thought, knowing exactly what it was like to be in a clan that you wanted absolutely no part in.
"It's a bit of a long story, but we've got time," Tsume shrugged, "Ezu, I guess it starts with you."
A/N: Gasp! Shock! Qu'est-ce que c'est? Nan da? Ano yan? Other shocked sounds!
Itachi: Shut up...(brandishes blunt kunai)
A/N: Eh...yeah. Well, that's the end of this chapter. Excuse me while I read some Death Note (I don't own Death Note. I don't even own this copy; it's the library's...). And review! Your favourite original character and maybe some feedback! And send me some Pocky!