Okay, so this one is shorter than usual. Sorry if it's getting a little slow, I'm just trying to get info and characterizations down. Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed so far. My updates will be coming slower than usual since real life has caught up with me this week. Sorry! I'll try and get them out as quickly as possible.

Naruto doesn't belong to me and be grateful for that.

Chapter 5 Rumors

Cursing the Hokage, the messenger, the councilman, and the ungodly hour, Kushina slung her pack over her shoulder and glared at the ANBU standing at her door. How could someone be so calm at four o'clock in the morning? The ANBU motioned for her to follow him as they stepped out into the chilly twilight air. The redhead shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Even with the heavy jacket on, the cold still chilled her to the bone. Or maybe it was just the prospect of the mission she was about to set out on.

Something was wrong with the mission.. Everyone could feel it. Yet they were still walking straight into the Stone's territory and any possible trap they had set up for them. They couldn't just ignore the councilman though, Konoha wanted to end this war as soon as possible and leaving one of their opponent's higher-ups to fend for himself wasn't going to help anyone. Sighing and pulling the coat more tightly around herself, she glared at the back of the ANBU in front of her.

They arrived at the Hokage tower five minutes after leaving her apartment. Being a shinobi did have its perks. Leading her in through a door from the balcony they had jumped onto, the man guided her through the maze of hallways until they reach a pair of heavy, ornate doors. The ANBU knocked and a voice bade them to enter. The office they walked into was surprisingly crowded for such an early hour.

The Hokage sat behind his desk, fingers laced in front of his face. A man Kushina guessed was the Stone's councilman sat in one of the chairs next to the desk. He had wisps of white hair sprouting out of the sagging skin on his head. He was dressed in robes that hid his form from view and a cane made from stone leaned on the armrest. What caught the redhead's attention the most was glossy, colorless eyes. As she entered, the old man turned his blank gaze on her.

The other people in the room caught her off guard. Standing in front of the desk, Minato nodded at her, his eyes slanted and guarded. He was dressed in his usual garb with a backpack at his feet. Next to him, Ryou was in the middle of stifling a yawn when she entered the room. He instantly became alert however when she entered and grinned sheepishly at her, eyes pleading for her to not cause an uproar.

Another man stood slightly more off to the side. He had black braids that were pulled into corn-rows on top of his head. He had a scar on his left cheek and a stern stance. He was dressed in the usual shinobi garb with the Whirlpool headband on his head. Kushina recognized him as on of the men her deceased sensei used to hang-out with during his free time. Hideki Juro if she remembered correctly. She had seen him in the hospital and around the refugee apartments, but had never got to know him or his skills.

"Ah! Kushina! I see you have finally arrived." The Third stood and smiled at her, obviously not affected by the sleep he was missing. "I would like you to meet, Councilman Riku Debiru. He is the councilman from the Village Hidden in the Stone. Councilman Debiru, I have chosen some of the best shinobi our village has to offer in order to make your trip as easy as possible."

"Yes I can see that," the man whispered, his sightless eyes trailing to the blond in the room, who barely concealed his glare.

"Ryou Daiki, Minato Namikaze, Hideki Juro, and Kushina Uzumaki. Juro will be the leader of the platoon as he has had the most experience. I believe they will keep you safe on your journey." The man nodded and stared at the girl of the group. Minato tensed, though he did a better job of hiding it while Ryou was sending out an aggressive aura so dangerous, it wouldn't surprise her if the councilman had a kunai through his neck in the next two seconds.

The old man just ignored it and grabbed his cane, pushing himself out of the seat. "I thank you Lord Hokage," he said with a respectful bow. "Hopefully our nations can come to an agreement soon and end this useless war. I will tell Tsuchikage that your councilman will be arriving as soon as he gets over his illness. Please give him my best wishes." He fished in his pocket and extracted a purse, bulging at the seams. "I believe this belongs to you. Thank you again for your hospitality." He hobbled to the door, the four shinobi following him with a nod from the Hokage.

"What are you two doing here?" Kushina whispered angrily at her two friends. Ryou just grinned sheepishly and blushed while Minato crossed his arms and glared at the man in front of them.

"We asked to be put in this mission. There's something wrong about this and you know it. I'm not about to let you walk blindly into a trap when I can do something about it!" His voice was deep, rough from the decrease in the volume of his voice. It sent shivers down her spine as she looked at the blond teen. For the first time since she met him, she sounded like the famed killer.

"Same," Ryou claimed from ahead of them, tilting his head slightly to face them. His eyes were devoid of there usual cheerfulness, and anger and possessiveness surrounded him like a cloud.

"Stop lallygagging you three. This isn't a social event. We have a mission to complete." Hideki and Debiru had stopped and where waiting patiently at the gates of the village. Kushina glared at the two boys and ran to catch up with the two at the gate. "Come on. It will take us at least a week to get to Earth Country's borders. And then we have to get to the Hidden Stone Village."

The kunai whizzed past her head, cutting a lock of her hair as it barely nicked her. The group instantly formed a defensive circle around the elderly councilman. Senses stretching, Kushina easily picked up twelve men moving around them in the shadows. Minato pulled a kunai deftly from his holster and glanced quickly around the woods. If she didn't know what she was looking for, she never would have noticed the figures around them. Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing.

A quick glance at Minato confirmed that they weren't dealing with just normal roadside bandits. Involuntarily, her muscles tensed and her hand hovered over the holster attached to her thigh. The man behind her was surprisingly calm as he turned his blank eyes around in a vain attempt to see what was happening. There was a moment of tense silence as the group waited for any sign of their attackers. "How many?"

"About twelve. Maybe thirteen. They're moving around too much for me to count." Minato's rough whisper answered Hideki's.

"So about three for each of us." Ryou's low chuckle sounded oddly out of place with the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "To easy." A birdcall resounded throughout the quiet forest, answered shortly after by another. Minato tensed and looked around at the trees bordering the road. The leaves rustled and there was a dull twang.

"Move!" The shout was followed by the whistle of metal cutting through air. Minato grabbed Debiru's arm and disappeared in a flash. Hideki rolled out of the middle of the road and took a windmill shuriken from his backpack. Ryou roughly grabbed her shoulders and flung them to the ground as the kunai soared overhead. The heavy weight pinning her to the ground pressed down on top of her as the group of bandits emerged from the forest.

The redhead grimaced as their attackers came into view. The men were obviously used to living on the road, there bodies were covered in mud and grime, some even sporting a few bloodstained clothes. Swords and knives were blatantly strapped to their hips and backs. Scars adorned their faces and arms like badges. Teeth were yellowed and chipped behind chapped, grinning lips.

"I thought this road was supposed to be more heavily used. You're the first people we've seen in a while." The biggest man who looked more like a bear than a man, regarded them with beady eyes. "You better have a good amount of cash on you. It's been a while since we hd anything decent to eat. My men aren't in the best mood right now so it'd be better if you'd just had over the money now. We might let you live if you're willing to cooperate."

"Yeah right moron!"Her green eyes were alight with fire as she watched the bandits. Ryou shifted nervously and stood up, glaring at the beast of a man. "I suggest you take your pathetic crew and get out of here before we kick your butts!" The leader laughed and put his hands on his hips.

"Bring it on little girl." Temper flaring, the girl leapt up from the ground and toward the man, shuriken twirling in her hands. Ryou made a mad grab from her, but missed. Twisting, he ducked beneath the oncoming bandit's punch and jumped away from the next swipe. Hideki had blocked several smaller shuriken, using the windmill for a shield. A grin grew on the leader's face as Kushina continued to charge.

There was a clash as her airborne shuriken met the kunai in his hand. The weapons dropped to the ground. Continuing her charge, the redhead swung her fist only to have to hastily blocked. The hand holding her fist tightened and twisted her arm. Twirling with the movement, Kushina kicked off the ground, foot connecting with the man's temple. He gasped in pain and surprise and let her drop to the ground.

Unable to get her feet beneath her, she landed awkwardly and was unable to block the kick aimed at her shoulder. Wincing as a bruise formed on the abused skin, she pivoted on her heel, and took out the man's ankles, letting the large bulk crash to the ground with a thud. Seeing their leader fall, one of the bandits pulled away from the group trying to get at Ryou.

With a cry, the nameless bandit threw himself at her, knife ready to attack. Flipping away from the attack, she watched the man, boy really, right himself and turned to face her. She stuck her tongue out at him, smirking as he scowled. "You're going to have to do better than that." Kicking off the ground, the boy took another swipe at her, this time tearing a hole in her pant leg as she rolled to the side.

"Gotcha!" A meaty fist came down on her head as she came out of her roll, slamming her skull into the ground. Biting her lip to keep from yelping in pain, she tore a kunai from her pouch, dragging the knife across the thick wrist of her attacker. He yelped in pain and tried to hit her again. But she was ready this time.

The arm shot forward. Ducking around the blow, she pushed herself into a crouch and trust the kunai into the man's throat. He gurgled as blood flooded his throat, a trickle of the liquid running down his lip. Letting go of the bloody weapon, she felt the air move as someone else tried to take a hit at her. Hands working quickly on a jutsu memorized long ago, she turned to face her opponent.

Her body froze as a sword slide into her stomach, running up to its hilt. She chocked, her green eyes meting the grinning ones of the boy who had attacked her earlier. Eyes wide, she fell, taking the sword with her. The boy jumped as her body exploded in a puff of smoke. Cursing, he jumped away from the pierced log, shuriken slicing light red lines into his skin. Kushina jumped down from the tree and quickly knelt, picking up a handful of the fallen weapons, They flew through the air toward the boy, who ducked beneath them.

Eyes wide, the boy bandit could only watch as the redhead ran kunai along his throat. His limp body fell to the ground as she jumped past him to finally take care of the leader. The giant was watching his men as they fought, waiting for the right time to come in for the killing blow. "Don't move Hideki! Red!" She froze and the leader turned to face her.

There was a short pop and a silver tube shot into the air. The remaining bandits stared at the stick with confusion. Kushina looked over to where Ryou had been fighting, feeling the brunette's chakra spike. "Raining Needles!" The tube cracked open at the end, sharp needles falling from the hidden compartment. The medic's chakra grabbed each one and redirected them. Cries of pain came from the bandits as the needles were pushed into their body and into vital organs. They collapsed, blood spurting form pinhole wounds.

There was another shift in chakra and a flash of yellow as Minato reappeared next to the downed leader. Rolling him over, he frowned as the man grinned back at him. "I'm not dead yet brat! It'll take a lot more than that to kill me."

"Usually." Three pairs of eyes landed on the brunette as he caught the canister as if fell. "I've coated these with my own poison however. If you happen to somehow survive, the poison will eat away at your muscles until you are unable to do move and your body shuts down." The brunette shrugged as he cleaned off a kunai. "You might not die now, but you will eventually." At the disgusted look on the leader's face, the medic gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It won't hurt. It will be more like dying from old age. It shouldn't take affect for another day or so."

"Why did you attack us?" Hideki, usual stern face in place, helped Debiru over to the others. His black gaze was fixated on the dying leader.

"I told you. We needed the money. You looked like easy pickings."

"Who sent you? Were are you from?" Kushina rolled her eyes at the older shinobi.

"We weren't sent dingbat! We were from the Grass Country on the border of the Earth Country. Our village was attacked by some beast and we've been forced to steal for food. I don't know what it was. It looked like some messed up e..." The man stopped, eyes bugging. His hands went to claw at his throat as he tried to draw in breath. The group looked to Ryou but he just shook his head.

"The poison shouldn't have taken affect yet." The leader continued to struggle as his face changed to a dangerous purple. With one last gasp, his eyes fluttered closed and he went limp. Minato stood up from his squat next to the man and frowned.

"Beast?" Hideki just scoffed and turned to continue down the road.

"The rambling of an insane man. He was probably to stupid to know what it was, and it's probably nothing to worry about."

"Even so," the blond said as he lifted his backpack higher on his shoulders. "We should be careful. These guys weren't new shinobi. Whatever scared them off, must have been bad enough for them to evacuate." His blue eyes were glowing as the thoughts swirled around in his mind. Ryou laughed and slung his arm around his friend's shoulders.

"You think to much Minato." The blond just chuckled and rubbed his head sheepishly. Kushina turned to wait for their charge, who's blank eyes looked even brighter in the light. . He gave her a kindly smile as he felt her gaze and started to follow Ryou's loud voice down the road.