Illusion's Folly
Chapter 21
Decoy
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Taking a different route than last time, the small group made their way to Grass Country with happy smiles and lots of laughter. Having Sakura along didn't give the men much time, but she would disappear for several hours a day, usually after dinner. She said it was for first watch, but she would smile at them and wave, blurring into the shadows. She had chosen to change from her regular clothes into an eye hurting gray patterned long sleeved shirt and pants. She had devised a scarf from the same material as well as a scarf to wrap around her face. It definitely helped to hide her bright white skin against the blackness of the forests and the night. She had even opted for a black pair of sandals. Kakashi was well pleased with her insight into the need for stealth on this mission. Sakura had even learned to walk quietly enough that he couldn't tell where she was at until she was within fifteen feet of him. She could probably sneak up on anyone now.
After three days of rough, but happy travel, the group made it to the border. It was another few hours to the estate, but they would take it easy. Two hours out of the estate, Sakura held up her hand and motioned for the two men to come to her.
"Kakashi, what do you see ahead of us?" Sakura asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Kakashi blinked and focused on the area she was pointed to. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. At least not until he realized that the birds and insects had stopped making noise. Dropping the smile from his lips he stretched his senses out. There! He felt the presence of something. It was trying to disguise it's Chakra but it wasn't doing a good job. He motioned Iruka around him and Sakura to the left. She was the best at Chakra control outside of Tsunade. Of this he was certain, besides, the old hag wouldn't have taken her on as an apprentice when the team broke up. Keeping in mind that someone was trying hide from them, Kakashi opened his Sharingan and looked again.
Iruka understood most of the hand language the Jounins used and focused on working around the Chakra flares in front of them. He had sensed something not right when Sakura called them to a halt. He could barely tell where it was from, but once he knew, it was a simple matter of disguising his and working around behind the person. Now all he would have to do would be to make sure that he wasn't seen and he could jump the person.
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Sakura shrouded herself in the shadows, glad that Shizune had found the material at one of the local merchants and had given it to her for her birthday. Her mother hadn't liked that she had it and was even more upset that she had made an outfit out of it. In reality, her parents didn't like it that she had chosen to go into the Academy. Her mother wanted her to stay home and out of trouble. She had seen what happened to people that became shinobi. Her father hadn't liked it either, but he didn't object to her attending. When she had made it out and later when she had competed in the exams, neither one had come to watch her. Not even for her win against one of the older Genin in her last exam. She could only hope that they would, one day, accept that she was a kuniochi.
Carefully keeping into the shadows, she drew the mask over her face and concentrated on the flare. A stray sound distracted her, making her turn her head. A black blur flew by her head and she ducked. Using a kawamiri, she hid in the shadows and watched. That made two. This one was better at disguising it's Chakra. She could only guess that whoever had thrown the shuriken was on her right and waiting for her to move again. She had no way of letting Kakashi or Iruka know that there was two. Focusing her senses, she sought out the shuriken thrower. A slight flare of Chakra and another shuriken flew by her head. Not moving, she damped her Chakra down to nothing. Whoever it was, they could find the slightest flare.
Smiling, Sakura gathered her Chakra and leaped straight up. She could hear a shower of the throwing stars following her, but she was quicker than that. It seemed that the thrower was following her trail instead of her. Coming down silently, she shut out her Chakra. Hearing the whoosh of another star, she simply bent down. Two things hit her at once. One that the attacker was blind. The second was that he had been herding her. She only came to this realization when she came face to face with a man hanging from the branch above her.
"Hello, cuteness," he grinned, his voice grinding like gravel.
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Iruka found the young woman quite easily. He shook his head at her age. She couldn't have been any older than Sakura and she appeared to be weak and hurt. That could account for her trying to hide her Chakra from them. He wasn't going to take his chances though. She was at least able to recognize Chakra flares of others. What got him was that she was all alone and that she hadn't run when he and Sakura had damped out. He was suspicious and the animals were still not back to normal. Careful to keep behind the girl, he slowly approached her hiding place.
Before he was able to reach her, he felt another flare behind him. Diving with a quickness, he was able to catch what appeared to be a scythe pass over his head. Wonderful. Coming to his knees, Iruka looked around for the wielder of the weapon. He could feel the flare in front of and to the left, but there was nothing there. Concentrating, he could make out a wavering in the foliage. What was it? It was a man, he was certain of that. What jutsu was he using? Not getting a chance to think on it, the non-shadow moved.
Leaping away again to crouch on his knees, Iruka muttered the first justu that came to mind and slammed his fist into the ground. Shock waves resounded through the ground. The non-shadow wavered and fell away from the man, revealing the shock and determination of a trained killer. Gaining his balance, the man blinked at Iruka and cocked his head to the side.
He was huge, even bigger than the Raiden brothers. His hair was a deep black, the color of a moonless night. His eyes the same souless black of a shark's. His skin was so pale, it appeared blue with all the veins that ran through his skin. When he smiled, his teeth were sharpened to points. Wave. Damn. Not a good thing. But if he used Water then Iruka could work against him with Earth. If only that were the case. Otherwise, he could be in some serious trouble. Wave Genin were just as strong as Fire Chuunin. The Chuunin of Wave were brutal and fierce. They would rather take your life than save it. There was a reason that Wave was feared and it wasn't because of the bad dental plan.
"I've found something to tide me over," the missing Wave nin giggled, licking his pale lips.
"Shit," was all Iruka said before dodging another powerful swing of the scythe.
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Kakashi couldn't help but notice the Chakra flares of Sakura and Iruka. So, he thought, there were more than this one. I had thought as much. As he had sent out the two Chuunin, he had thought there were at least two more hiding and using them to draw them out would help to know exactly how many were there. The girl was a decoy, possibly for one of the local traveler's. They were just the unlucky ones to come against them. His eyes widened slightly when he felt a stronger flare to his left. There was another and it was at least Jounin level. Sakura was in for some trouble. She had at least two to deal with now. He would have to end the search part of his self appointed mission to help her out. What he didn't expect was another stronger flare coming from his right. Damn it all to hell!
Iruka had to have found the other one, but this one was a Jounin. He main problem was now apparent when he stepped out to head off in Sakura's direction. Two men and the decoy stepped out, shedding any disguise on their Chakra or village of origin. Or should he say lack thereof. He could see the scratched out Wave symbol and sighed. He absolutely hated Wave. And here were three of the bastards. At least they weren't Jounin. There was no doubt that there was a Wave missing nin camp around the lord's estates. Now it was up to the three of them to rout them out. Great. Sighing in disgust, Kakashi came out fully and adjusted his headband.
Now that Kakashi could see them better, he noticed that they looked alike. Nearly identical. Each had thier greenish colored hair, blue-green eyes, pale skin, and pointed teeth. What was with the pointed teeth? They were all the same height, build, and weight. The only difference was the girl. He only knew it was a female by the swelling of her chest and hips. But they all outweighed him by at least thirty pounds and they were taller than he was. What the hell was this? Pick on Kakashi day?
"Something interesting has fallen into our laps, bros," the girl chirped in a high voice, her blue-green eyes flashing with predatory glee.
"God is out to get me today, I take it," Kakashi mumbled before taking his usual slouching posture.
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A/N: I know, you'll kill me for leaving off right here. But there is a plan to this madness. I want to give you readers a better view of Sakura's fighting ability, as she had gained some respect from me because of the manga. And I am referring to the time skip Sakura. I like her better now. Besides, she doesn't get enough time in fights anyway.
And we all know that Kakashi will take out the triplets with little effort. I can't wait to finish the fight scene with Iruka and his Jounin opponent. That will prove to be a very interesting even in itself. We are halfway through Illusion's Folly as of the next chapter, which will live up to it's title. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. You'll just have to guess.
And I am deeply sorry that I haven't written anything in the last two months. Fiances and work have kept me away from even proofing this chapter. Not to mention kept me from finishing the next chapter! I've had them both for the last month now, but wasn't able to even sit down and work on them. So, I will be getting the next chapter out by Wednesday, Dec. 20th. If not the day after. There are the two fight scenes I have to work on. They weren't detailed enough for my liking. So, I would liek to thank all my readers that have infinite patience with me. I PROMISE to have the next chapter out before the end of the week.