Shinobi Leaves: What Lies Beneath

Ami Inuzuka isn't quite sure how she feels about her first Genin team. Her fellow Jounin make it seem easy, but dealing with three twelve-year-olds fresh from the Academy is driving her crazy! One of her students is color blind, another one uses hand puppets to communicate and the third is deathly afraid of dogs, including Ami's pet, Ryu. After a close call with the children, Ami's feeling the pressure of past mistakes. Ready to give up, she gives the kids one last, simple mission. Unbeknownst to the Inuzuka, there's someone out there who desperately wants to get their hands on one of her kids. And they're willing to do anything. Will Team 6 manage to pull themselves together in time to prevent disaster? Find out in the first of the Shinobi Leaves series, What Lies Beneath, updating every Tuesday and Thursday!

Rating: PG-13 (Some Violence and Sexually-Themed Humor)
Pairings: Vary

Shinobi Leaves, Characters © wolfram18, angeloflight123
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Prologue

3

Ami dodged debris from a collapsing house just in time to see Yugao, the purple haired woman on the squad run by with a baby in her arms and a toddler on her back. Ami stopped, trying to determine if the children were from the longhouse. It shouldn't have mattered and it cost her precious time. She cursed herself as she took off again at full speed.

I can carry two babies, a toddler and then Ryu can carry two toddlers. The older girl can carry a baby… I can get them all out this time. She planned out her strategy.

Something from the right plowed into her like a train, sending her reeling through the air and into the flames of a burning house. As her senses came back and the world ran in slow motion, Ami heard the unmistakable sound of Ryu fighting. The heat from the flames sent her adrenaline rushing at an all time high and Ami scrambled from the wreckage, ignoring the pain that shot through her body. There was a ringing in her ears that made everything else sound far away.

For a moment, all that Ami saw were the flames engulfing the village. Then, the large figure that swung fists the size of boulders at Ryu distinguished itself from the fire by stepping away from the light. Ami grabbed her staff and jumped forward. She swung Tsume no Ookami twice around her head to gain momentum before delivering two deep gashes on the giant's crossed forearms. Ryu dug his teeth into the man's thigh and was torn away quickly. Blood spilled across the ground.

Ami jumped back, shoving her staff away before quickly forming the seals to the first step in her father's clan's special jutsu technique, Mūndansu.

"Maboroshi no Ōkami!" She shouted as she finished the last hand seal. Random spots on the giant exploded in blood as canine bite marks appeared on various parts of his body. He staggered in surprise and lurched forward again. "Dammit!" Ami pulled out her staff to block his advances. Where was the rest of the squad to take care of this mutant? She needed to save the children.

Ryu grabbed the man's wrist and managed to pull him down. Ami unleashed a whirlwind of attacks with the blades of her staff on his rippling back before he managed to toss Ryu away. The back of his hand met her cheek and she was launched back, stars dancing before her eyes. Shaking, she began to form the seals to the next stage of her attack. Her eyesight was blurry, but the man's size made it easy to spot him.

"Kiba no aru saiken," she managed to mutter as she finished her hand seals. The giant froze a foot away from her crumpled body. His arms were suddenly pulled back and held out like a crucifixion model, wolf bites deep in the soft flesh of his wrists. His skin began to blister and burn around the marks, and he cried out for the first time. His feet were spread by an invisible force and marks appeared on his ankles, flesh burning.

Ami struggled to her feet and Ryu limped to her side, helping her stand.

"We have to save the children," she told him and they shuffled away as the man behind them struggled to free himself from the phantom bonds holding him back. Ami's foot caught on a rock and she fell to the ground. Ryu whined and licked her face.

"Ami? Oh my god, Ami!" Kai rushed forward after delivering a fatal blow to his opponent with his katana. He knelt beside her and lifted her face to the light. "Ami, what happened to you? You have to get out of here!" He stood up and picked her up around the waist. Ami cried out in pain and resistance.

"No! I have to save them!" She coughed up blood down the back of his white vest when he put her over his shoulder. He used his foot to kick up her staff and caught it in one hand.

"Save who, Ami?" He looked around them for a way out of the growing fire.

"The children, the longhouse, there's more." She was out of breath from the fight and struggling against him. Soon, her body refused to move and she lay limp, breathing heavily.

"Ami, stop fighting. You're hurt bad. We have to get out of here. The others will save the children." Kai told her as he ran through a path through the flames. Ryu followed behind and Ami watched him as long as she could. She pulled her mask off and held onto it tightly. Her eyes shut and when she opened them again, Kai was laying her down on the grass near the drop zone.

"Kai?" She blinked rapidly, trying to focus. Then she remembered and cried out, "the children!" A scream rose from the village almost as if in response. A fresh bout of adrenaline forced her to her knees and she fought to stand.

"I told the rest of the squad about them. They'll save them I promise." Kai held her down.

"Promise?" Ami grabbed his wrist, pleading.

"I swear," he promised.

"Kai! There were more hiding outside of the village, we're outnumbered!" A shinobi informed them as he ran passed to meet the enemy at a safe distance from the rescued.

"Shit," Kai cursed. The healing chakra that had started to glow around his hands faded away and he stood up. "Stay still. I'll heal you when I get back."

"Kai! Don't go," Ami reached out to grab him but he was out of reach. With horror, she realized that no one was headed back into the village to retrieve the children. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled after Kai.

"Ami, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He growled and shook his head. He turned around and jogged back to her. Ami lifted her face just in time to be sprayed by a thick, warm liquid. She dropped her face toward the ground, trying to shake it off. The more she wiped at it with her hands, the more there seemed to be of it. And then she realized why as the sick sound of gurgling reached her ears.

Someone was leaning on her bent-over body. She reached out, feeling up the man's body. He was ANBU. His mask fell to the ground but she couldn't see what animal it had on its front. Ami held him up and away from her so that she could see his face. Kai's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, a river of blood flowing over his bottom lip, down his chest and onto her arms. His grey eyes were wide and terrified.

Ami screamed.