Author Note: Hey! What's up people! Prepare for a time skip 'cause I got nothing else to write! *grins*
For future reference, I'm not going to elaborate on the details of the future power surges since I already did in the last chapter. I will only give important details that affect the story significantly.
I need to get them a little older…*sigh* I really want to write better fight scenes…but noo! 7 year olds can't fight like that…unless I make them…but I'm not gonna…
Anyway…I really want to take the time to thank you all for the helpful reviews…they're the reason why I wake up and bang my head against my keyboard trying to cure my writer's block. *grins*
To the story!
KagomeXItachi
"I'm talking."
'I'm thinking.'
Onto chapter…whatever chapter we're on 'cause I forgot!
WOOHOO!
One Year Later…
"I hate you both at this particular point in time…" a commanding male voice quietly said.
"Likewise…" another male voice responded.
"The feeling's mutual…" a female voice said in response.
Currently…team four was tied up in a situation…quite literally. Shisui, Itachi, And Kagome were being suspended in midair, tied together with a large rope over a deep canyon. Back-to-back, they were currently glaring at each other out of the corner of their eyes while trying to think of a plan.
Itachi, being further out that his teammates, began to talk to Shisui, who could currently see their captors.
"Shisui…what are we dealing with?" Itachi whispered.
Shisui analyzed their captors' every move before responding quietly.
"Apparently, from what I can tell, they are setting up a camp.
Upon closer observation, they seem to be ninja from Iwagakure. Two males and one female. Around 20 years of age.
As for power level, they seem to be B rank, newly made Jounin, though I may be mistaken.
Their leader appears to be the female. The males appear to listen to her directions. They have no visible weapons or means of attacking us. "
"We're dealing with ninja from the hidden rock, that would explain why we're tied up," Itachi looked thoughtful at Shisui's analysis as he quickly formulated a plan. Quietly telling his teammates of his plan, it was put into action.
Kagome was currently wriggling in her ropes trying to free her hand. Shisui continued to watch the ninja.
After freeing her hand, Kagome said aloud, "Remind me exactly how we ended up in this mess."
After hearing her statement, both her teammates sighed.
Flashback
"Your mission is to deliver this package to the daimyo of the Kirigakure. This mission is B-rank."
Everyone seemed skeptical of the mission. No one voiced their thoughts except for team 4 themselves.
"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but…" Shisui began.
"Why would you give us a mission of this caliber?" Kagome said, finishing his sentence.
The Sandaime sighed, trying to think of an explanation to give the young genin team. He felt as if he was trapped as he saw Raido's watchful gaze.
"For one, we someone to complete this mission as soon as possible. Two, I feel you are strong enough to accomplish this, and Third…" he trailed off.
"Third, no one else was available…Am I correct Hokage-sama?" Itachi said in a knowing tone.
"No need to be a smart-ass…" Kagome whispered to herself, though, her team did hear the comment.
"Young ladies shouldn't say such words…" Raido reprimanded her before her teammates could.
"My apologies Raido-sensei…"
The Sandaime simply watched, amused at the situation.
"You still didn't answer my question Hokage-sama," Itachi said with a smirk.
He sighed before answering in defeat.
"Correct, We couldn't find anyone to do the assignment on such short notice. You were the only team available. I do however, have faith in your abilities."
Itachi just continued to smirk at the victory.
"Besides, you'll have Raido accompany you on your mission as well."
"Very well Hokage-sama. We accept the mission," Raido said to the Sandaime in response before turning to his team.
"You are to meet me at the front gates in two hours, understood you little hell spawns?" Raido said in a slightly threatening tone.
"Yes Raido-sensei," all three responded simultaneously with a nod of their heads. They simply watched as their sensei disappeared in a cloud of smoke. All three sighed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as well, except Shisui…who decided to fade out of existence.
The Sandaime massaged his temples in an effort to calm a rising headache before sighing, "I have full confidence in their abilities, but I can't help but get the felling that they'll yell at me when they get back…"
WITH TEAM FOUR…
"We're screwed," Kagome confidently said to her teammates as they headed towards the Uchiha District.
"Correct," Itachi half-heartedly agreed as he walked alongside her.
"Agreed…and, by the way Kagome…"Shisui said, slightly trailing off while looking at Itachi, who in turn, gave him a bored look.
"Yeah?" Kagome asked curiously.
"You should refrain from using such foul language," both of her teammates scolded her in unison, making Kagome cringe at their tone.
"It's not my fault…I grew up, and still am, on Raizen's foul language. You can't really blame me now can you? His manner of speaking rubbed off on me…" she answered in a slightly dejected, yet full of defiance in her tone. This simply earned her a sigh from her teammates.
"We need to beat some manners into that wolf of hers…not to mention, some manners could also help him not get killed…"Itachi said with a hint of hostility in his voice.
"Yes, we really do. Remind me to do so next time I see him. For all we know, he'll end up rubbing off on us too," Shisui said, mainly to his male teammate. Itachi simply smirked in response.
They just continued to walk in silence to their respective homes. After making their way to the Uchiha district, they said their temporary goodbye to Shisui, who lived in a different direction. After making their way home, they packed their things with little trouble, considering Raiden was sleeping in Sasuke's room, on a rug in the middle of the room, and Raizen was nowhere to be found. To say that, aside from getting the news of their new mission, their day was relatively peaceful, with no Raizen harassing them for the entire day.
They took advantage of the peace, knowing it will soon come crashing down.
A FEW HOURS LATER…
Team four was currently on their way to the front gates to meet their sensei, and the oh-so-important package.
Currently, they found their sensei leaning against a tree, holding a wrapped package. He looked over to his team with a bored look on his face. He then straightened himself to talk properly to his team.
"Alright team, we are to deliver this package to the Daimyo of Kirigakure. There is a high chance of encountering enemy ninja along the way. If separated, you are to stay put unless a situation occurs that forces you to run or fight.
You are not to engage in confrontation unless necessary, or with my permission. Is that understood?" Raido sternly told the,. He nodded in satisfaction as they nodded their heads in affirmative.
"Good, let's go then. This package won't deliver itself, no matter how much we will like it to…" he said in an irritated tone before walking off with his team in tow as they sighed in annoyance.
"Yep. We're screwed…" Kagome quietly said.
"Correct," Itachi agreed with a slight glare at the path ahead.
"Affirmative," Shisui agreed as well. No one even bothered to correct Kagome's language, much to said person's pleasure, since they were too busy thinking about the trip ahead.
A FEW MISHAPS LATER…
Team four was currently covers in scratches sitting around a small campfire.
"I blame you…" a female voice stated.
"I blame him…" a male voice countered.
"I blame her…" another male voice said defending himself.
"If all three of you don't stop blaming each other, I'm going home to escape you all, and you'll have to do this mission on your own."
"Yes sensei…" all three voices responded simultaneously.
"I'm hating this mission already…why did it have to be us? As much as I love a good challenge, and I know you do agree…I still think we're not ready for this," Shisui said while looking at the fire.
"Honestly…even though I know you three are strong, and you'll continue to grow in strength, I have to agree with Shisui. You aren't ready for a mission like this."
All three stopped their glaring as they looked over at their sensei. They all bowed their heads in agreement. They knew he was right. They weren't ready, and they all knew it.
"Well, no point in moping around! Let's get some shut eye everyone. We have a big day tomorrow. We don't want to be attacked while we're tired now do we? I'll take the first watch," Raido commanded. He watched in satisfaction as they all rolled out sleeping bags, and crashed. He smirked, he knew they were tired. They just wouldn't admit it because of their stupid pride.
Once he knew they were sound asleep, yet somehow, still alert, he walked over to his spot by the fire. As time passed, he simply watched the flames dance before his eyes as he sat with the package on his lap.
A FEW HOURS LATER…
Raido was beginning to tire, so he decided to wake the next sentry. As he stood up however, a twig snapped. His senses were alert, and he noticed something was wrong. Quickly, but quietly, he woke his team. After explaining, all four were back to back, watching out for the silent threat.
Before they knew it, a nearly invisible wire was wrapped around them, bounding tightly to one another. The unexpected attack caused them to lose their footing, dragging down Raido with them.
"Crap," Raido said in frustration as he tried to escape the wire's hold, "this wire is draining our chakra, and judging by it's strength, it's been draining our chakra from some time now. No wonder I didn't sense it, it was draining my strength."
Kagome's face twisted into a wolf-like snarl. She fidgeted around as the wire began digging into her sides. She stopped fidgeting as she felt Itachi nudge her side with his elbow. She turned to look at him, and saw the expression on his face.
Instantly, she knew what he was trying to say. She smirked as she understood what he was trying to say.
She dug into her system, and began to draw out her bloodline. She let it accumulate as they waited. Carefully, knowing how dangerous it is for others, she drew her chakra, and began focusing it onto the spots where the wires were pressed against her, and away from her teammates.
Suddenly they heard a bush rustle, and they all turned towards the disturbance. In the shadows, they could make out the silhouettes of a few people, but it was too dark to tell how many. It wasn't dark enough however to see the glint of a kunai. It was in the throwing position, and aimed directly at them.
At that moment, they all saw the kunai about to be thrown. As if in slow motion, they all saw the kunai leave the intruder's hands. With a nudge in her side, she knew that was her time to release her little bomb. The chakra seemed to implode on itself as it made contact with the chakra powered wires.
The wires couldn't restrain the wild chakra as it attacked the chakra in the wire for a battle of dominance. Then, the wires snapped, just in time for the team to move out of the kunai's way.
They all stayed a safe distance from the intruders, until a black shadow attacked their sensei. Unable to tell if it was male or female, due to the lack of light, and the fact that the shadow put out their fire, they knew that it was leader, and the others won't be too far behind. Their senses alert, they began to make a move towards their sensei, but stopped at the sound of his voice.
"GO! Take the package! Go NOW!"
They nodded quickly as Shisui grabbed the package, and made a run for it, with his teammates on his heels. They were running through the forest, until they were attacked by shadows.
END FLASHBACK
"And that's how we ended up suspended over this cliff." Shisui said with a sarcastic smile. Both of his teammates sweatdropped at the story.
"By the way, the Iwa nins are sleeping. I think we can place our plan into action now," Shisui said sweetly.
"Good, prepare to grab onto the cliff. Kagome, in three…two…one…now!" Itachi quietly ordered. During the countdown, her nails had turned into razor-sharp, wolf-like claws. At the signal, she sliced the ropes with her free hand. The second the ropes split, team four began to fall.
All three focused chakra into their hands and feet, and reached out to the cliff. They managed to grab on, and didn't fall to their deaths. Quickly, they climbed up the cliff, and quietly stalked over to the enemy campsite. Itachi went over to retrieve the stolen package, he found it with the female member. Quietly, he took it out of her grasp. Once in his possession, he signaled his teammates, and they all made their way out of the camp.
WITH IWA NINS…
At that second, the iwa nins' eyes shot open. The team got up, and discreetly followed their ex-prisoners.
WITH TEAM FOUR…
They were dashing through the forest as they tried to make their way to Kirigakure, knowing Raido will meet them there sooner or later. They were making good progress, until Shisui turned around and deflected a kunai flying in his direction. This caused them to stop what they were doing.
More kunai flew out the shadows, and team four made a serious effort to deflect as many of them as possible while standing back-to-back. They managed to deflect most, but it wasn't enough, a few were lodged deep into their bodies at random places.
"Damn, that hurts like a bi-,"
"Not now Kagome…focus on the fight," Itachi scolded. Kagome scowled as she dodged more of the projectiles. While dodging, she quickly did handsigns, and in a large cloud of smoke, appeared the wolf brothers.
"Interesting…rock ninja…I haven't fought them in a long time," Raizen said with an obvious sparkle of joy in his eyes as he dodged the sharp flying projectiles.
"For once, I agree with you. This will be fun," Raiden said as he dashed into the woods.
"Now, let's get started," Raizen as he dashed into the forest after his brother. Shortly afterward, a cry of pain sounded through the forest, sending shivers up everyone's spine.
During the fighting, what seemed like a lone kunai flew through the air…at an unsuspecting Itachi. It went unnoticed until said victim felt something splatter across his back, and onto the floor beside him. He tentatively turned around, and saw a sight that filled him with horror as time seemed to stop for Team 4.
Kagome had the kunai lodged deep into her chest. The blood seemed to be an unending stream of life. She fell to the ground as she saw Itachi's eyes had changed. As she saw the Sharingan…she smiled as her eyes closed.
At that second…all Team four could see was red. They pulled out a kunai and glared at the enemy. They surged forward with a war cry as the howl of angry wolves filled the tense atmosphere. The howl was answered by what seemed like numerous others.
The cries filled the air and blended into one…all with a desire to kill.
TO BE CONTINUED…
CHARGE!!!!!!
Oi…I'm sorry for the long wait for a little chapter in comparison to the rest…anyway…I finally pulled this out of hiatus…you can expect quicker chapters now…I was busy keeping up my grades so I don't fail, along with studying for my semester finals, projects, essays, etc…but I'm done for the most part now…and I finally have enough free time to type!
I have to thank you all for putting up with me! You all have an extreme amount of patience…
Read and review! Reviews are welcome…flames laughed at…constructive criticism accepted with pleasure…
See ya next time on C.O.I.A.!
-Taichou is out!