A/N - Annnnd they're off!! Terribly sorry it took me sooo long to write this and get it up, but I was having a writer's block. FYI, the next chapters will take more time than the first ones did for me to write, but I hope they'll be worth the wait, and longer as well.
I don't own Naruto! - boy, I haven't done one of those in a while...
Team 8 and Team Gai waited for Naruto and Kyiara in the common room near their sleeping quarters. Kiba had managed to talk Hinata into playing a game of Go with him, and was losing, much to the amusement of himself, Tenten and Lee. Shino sat watching them also, though he might've been thinking of other things; it was hard to tell with him. Neji was perched on a sofa arm a little ways away from the others, glowering slightly at Shino, angry that the bug-user was in the leadership position instead of him.
Naruto, followed by Kyiara, shuffled into the room. Everyone looked up at them. "You better not have been practicing, you two." Tenten said reproachfully. "We don't need you guys exhausted tomorrow."
Naruto scowled at her. "We weren't practicing." he glanced back at Kyiara, a faint smile on his face. "Not much, anyway."
That was a major understatement. The two genin hadn't necessarily been engaged in strenuous physical activity, but rather discussing plans of what they could do if after Kakashi was engaged with the enemy they met up with more Sound nins before they reached Orochimaru. Once Kyiara managed to at least partially overcome her dark memories of the practice field they tested her abilities with the Sharingan and Byakugan and Naruto's ability to use the Kyuubi's chakra with his own, both going against Naruto's Kage Bushin. The results of both 'tests' had been the smoking ruins of the practice field, but the two chakra arsonists managed to leave unnoticed as the ANBU came to investigate.
Tenten shook her head at the two of them as a blushing Hinata beat Kiba, who grinned at her as Akamaru barked happily. "Excellent, Hinata-san! Soon you'll be able to beat Shikamaru!"
"Th-thank you for the c-compliment, K-Kiba-kun," she answered softly. "B-but I am a far ways f-from being able t-to beat Shikamaru-kun."
Someone knocked at the open door and entered without waiting for an invitation. It was Tsunade, followed by Shizune and a few Chuunin none of them recognized; all of them were carrying boxes. "I'm glad you're all here." she motioned to the boxes. "I have here your ANBU uniforms for tomorrow; your masks and weapons pouches are on your beds. Once you have received your uniform, please take it and go to bed. Someone will come and wake you early in the morning. Also, to conceal the identity of what village you are coming from, I request that all of you wear your forehead protectors on your forehead, under the masks for this mission, though Orochimaru will probably be able to guess where we are from."
The next morning came sooner than any of them expected, or wanted. Each group of three genin was awakened by someone pounding insistently at their door until one of the got out from under their warm covers (the room weren't heated) to answer. The ANBU nin would then inform them to assemble in the Hokage's office in one hour in their uniforms and weapons, but to carry their masks. With little or no grumbling, not even from Naruto, the genin did as they were told.
Arriving outside Tsunade's office, the two Chuunin on guard informed them that the Hokage had yet to arrive, and asked that they wait down the hall where there was a small sitting room. With more grumbling than when they had been woken up, they trudged down the hall. None of them sat down, too keyed up to sit still. Naruto craned his neck to what the other's masks were. "Hey Bushy-brows, what mask did you get?"
Lee struck the 'good guy' pose and said, "I am a youthful, fire-filled monkey! YOSH! What are you, Naruto-kun?"
"A wolf." Naruto answered. Lee turned to the others. "Yosh, Neji-kun! What are you?"
Neji glared at his teammate before sullenly saying, "A boar."
Naruto roared with laughter. "A boar for Neji? They got that one right on the nose! You're always so pig-headed. It fits you!"
"If we weren't about to go on a mission, baka, I would knock you into next week." Neji growled. "But since we are, I'll wait until we get back."
"Neji-kun, just ignore him. He's not worth it." Tenten said. She held up a hand as Lee opened his mouth to speak. "I have a crow mask, Lee-kun."
Lee grinned at her before turning to the others. Shino had the plain mask of a hunter-nin; Kiba also had a wolf mask just like Naruto; Hinata and Kyiara had cat masks. Only Kyiara saw the irony of her having the same mask as Kabuto had worn the day he betrayed Konoha, and wondered if this was a coincidence or on purpose, but didn't have time to think about it. One of the Chuunin guards came and announced that Tsunade was now in her office and waiting for them. Silently, they followed him back to the Hokage's office.
Tsunade leaned up against her desk, looking pensive. She smiled faintly when the young teens (and one older teen if you count Kyiara) filed into her office in their black ANBU outfits, weapon holsters on their thighs and on their belts, masks swinging from their hands. To the surprise of the genins, a single ANBU nin was also present, a plain hunter-nin mask hiding his face. He looked up when they came in and nodded to them. "Yo, Naruto and Kyiara. Are you ready to go?" It was Kakashi.
Naruto glared at him. "Hmph. About time you show up for something on time, Kakashi-sensei. What took you so long?"
Kakashi ignored his student. Tsunade pushed herself off of the desk. She slowly shifted her eyes from one genin to the next, holding their gaze with her own. "I want all of you to know, I believe in each of you. I believe that you each have what it takes to complete this mission and make it successful." She stopped, looking at each of them once again, realizing that this might be the last time she would see some of them. That was a thought she didn't want face. "Look out for each other, and stay strong." She straightened and walked around her desk to where a map hung. "You will all travel together under Kakashi's leadership until you reach this point" - she pointed to a small lake about ten miles east of some old, abandoned caves - "This is where Orochimaru is hiding. It should take you two day to reach this point. The main attack team will launch their attack on the third day. Wait until four hours after dawn before setting out. Kakashi, Kyiara and Naruto will take this path," - she traced her finger in an arch, going south from the lake and then back up to stop at the caves - "and attack the cave directly. If you meet up with any Sound nins, Kakashi is to handle them. Naruto and Kyiara, it is vital that the two of you reach the target. The rest of you will go directly from the lake to the caves and attack at the rear. Most of the Sound nins should have been drawn out by the time you get there, which should be after the main attack starts and before Naruto and Kyiara get there." She turned back to face them. "Any questions?"
They shook their heads. "Very well. Kami bless each and every one of you." She turned away to face the map again, but not before everyone had seen tears in the corners of her eyes. "Go and complete this mission!"
"HAI!"
Two days later at the lake
The sun was rising above the horizon, the sky still slightly tinted with the colors of pink mixed with faint orange and purple on the third day, though they were fading fast. The eight genin and Kakashi had reached the lake early in the evening before and had immediately rested, setting three people to guard the others in shifts. Everyone was up and about, too nervous to try and rest anymore. Even Neji was shifting from foot to foot as he stood with the others near the forest.
Kakashi had ordered them upon leaving Konoha territory to wear their masks unless they were eating until the end of the mission. All of them, even Kakashi except Kyiara and Neji and fake hair attached to their masks to hide their rather… unique hair.
Naruto glanced at the sky as the sun rose a little higher. "It's rising so fast…" he commented to Kyiara as he sat next to her near the lake.
She nodded. "Yes it is." She turned her face to look at him. "Are you scared, thinking about facing Sasuke again?"
"'course I'm not scared!" Naruto scoffed. "Why would I…" he trailed off, sensing Kyiara raise her eyebrows as she caught him in his lie. "Ok, I am a little scared. But… in a way, I'm looking forward to seeing him and fighting him again. He betrayed Konoha, tried to kill me and hurt Sakura-chan. I want to teach him that he was wrong to do what he did." Naruto cocked his head at her. "How are you doing?"
Kyiara wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to shield herself from something. "I know this sounds stupid, but I'm not at all afraid of having to fight Kabuto. If all else fails, I have a back-up plan I can use while fighting him. But Orochimaru will probably be there, and that scares me. If he realizes who I am, he can probably activate the seal, allowing Kabuto to finish me off before he finds out who I am."
Naruto nodded. "And what about the curse seal? Is it still attacking your heart?"
Kyiara didn't turn to look at him, but watched the rising sun. "Yes, it is. I have been able to slow its progress down, but I can't stop it. I doubt anything short of losing the curse seal will stop it, and that is next to impossible."
"Naruto, Kyiara, time to go!" Kakashi called from the edge of the trees before Naruto could say anything more on the subject.
"Nani?! Already?" Naruto yelped, jumping to his feet with Kyiara. Kakashi waved them over as the others assembled together.
Kyiara walked over and gave Hinata a hug. "You be careful, Hinata-san." She whispered in her ear. "Fight like your team and I know you can." She straightened and nodded to Kiba and Shino before joining Kakashi and Naruto.
"Attack and kill any Sound nins you encounter before you reach Orochimaru, and then attack as soon as you get there. Work as a team; countless missions have failed and lost most or all of the mission shinobi to death at the hands of the enemy because a few of their members didn't get along with someone else on that mission team." Kakashi informed the young genin team, his voice carrying a trace of emotion that might have been sorrow before he pushed it away. "If someone gets hurt, hide them until they can be retrieved. If someone dies, leave them." Kakashi stopped, eyeing the genin who were looking at him with masked faces. They're too young to die as ANBU shinobi, Kakashi thought sadly. But they are able to complete their objective if they work together as one. And maybe, just maybe all of them will survive this. He glanced at Naruto as he came over and stood next to him. Naruto… I hope you realize you probably won't be able to save Sasuke. And Kyiara, standing next to Naruto, still not recovered from what that snake bastard had done to her and probably never would make a full recovery. Kyiara, you are going to have to kill your brother, and you know it. Kabuto will never believe that you're his sister, still alive, and that it was his master that had kidnapped you.
Kakashi shoved his thoughts away. "It is time. Let all of us be successful on this mission, and make it home alive. GO!"
Kakashi led the way as they traveled by foot on the ground, headed for Orochimaru, Sasuke and Kabuto. Naruto had asked Kakashi why they were traveling on the ground instead in the trees and he had replied that it was safer since there might be traps set for those who were traveling in the trees such as trip-wires and exploding tags, and it was nearly impossible to avoid an attack in mid-jump. After that the two genin fell silent, both understanding that they were in hostile territory.
A little over half-way there, Kyiara, who was in the lead with her Sharugan activated held up her hand, signaling Kakashi and Naruto to stop. "What is it?" Kakashi asked softly.
"We have fleas. Four of them, and I can see at least one of them with a Sound hitai-ate. They are approaching from the rear and the sides." She turned to look at Kakashi. "Orders, Kakashi-sama?"
"Use your voice to hide you and Naruto until you get well away from here. Then make for the caves as fast as you can." He turned to face the direction of the on-coming enemy nins. "Hurry up and go!"
"Hai, Kakashi-sama." Kyiara nodded to him before motioning to Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, please be careful." Naruto said as he passed his teacher. Startled, Kakashi turned to look at his student, but he was gone.
"Giving the little pigs time to escape, are you?" a cold female voice taunted him. Kakashi glared under his mask at the female Sound nin who approached him. Three others followed her out into the open, but stopped, waiting for her orders. Two were male and the last one was also female.
She smiled at him. "They will never make to Orochimaru-sama, you know. We are only part of the force waiting for your pitiful attack from this direction. That other group of children is being torn apart right now, even as we speak." Her smile widened when he started slightly at the mention of the six-genin mission team. "Don't worry; they'll be taken care of soon enough." She turned and pointed at one of the Sound nins behind her. "You. Take this invader down."
Naruto had surprised himself at the sentimental words he had spoken to Kakashi, but as he and Kyiara traveled under her genjutsu, her realized that he meant them. Unnoticed to him, Kakashi had been added to his slowly growing list of precious people which now included Iruka, the rest of Rookie Nine, Lee, Tsunade, Jiyaria, Kakashi and Kyiara. He just hoped there was a way to add Sasuke back on that list.
Kyiara stopped for a moment after dropping the veiling genjutsu. "You doing okay, wolf?" she asked, using the name of the animal his mask represented rather than him name in hostile territory.
He nodded. "Hai! Let's keep go-" Naruto broke off as Kyiara yanked him backwards as six kunai plunged deep into the earth where they had been standing just seconds before.
"Well well. You're pretty quick there, whoever you are, woman. But you won't escape us." Seven Sound nins dropped from the trees to surround the two genin. Both of them dropped into a defensive fighting stance and reached for their kunai packs. The Sound nin who had taunted them spoke again; "Do you really think that you two even stand a chance against all seven of us? Don't throw your life away so foolishly. Come quietly with us, and you won't be hurt."
Naruto snorted. "Do you really think that we're such thick-headed bakas that we would fall for something as lame as that? If you do, then you need the snake bastard to look at your head."
The Sound nins around them growled. "Don't insult Orochimaru-sama, brat." The talkative one spat. "Otherwise it'll be the last thing you ever do."
"Oh, sure. Now you're being honest." Naruto shook his head. "Hey, Cat, why don't we put Operation Got You! into action?"
Kyiara shook her head. "I was thinking about saving that one and using Operation Goodbye. That one would be so much more effective in this instance."
"Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about that one." Naruto commented conversationally. "You're right, that one would work better."
"You two - do you two really think you can just stand there and carry on a conversation while surrounded by enemies?" the Sound nin demanded.
"Actually, we do." Naruto and Kyiara said together. At that moment, Kyiara, whose hand had been in her kunai pouch, pressed 'play' on one of the three tape players; it was labeled "Operation Goodbye." Instantly, Naruto felt something happen to his body; it was the same feeling he had gotten under Kyiara's hiding jutsu she had used when they had left Kakashi. Thing was, the Sound nins were still glaring at the spot where he was standing. He risked a glance over at Kyiara. "What's going on?"
" 'Operation Goodbye' makes the real us invisible until we're five hundred yards away from the tape player, remember?" Kyiara reminded Naruto as she dropped the tape recorder onto the ground. "It also leaves behind clones of us, almost like your Kage Bushin, just that they won't disappear until the tape ends, which won't be for another three hours." She motioned for him to follow her.
"How did you manage to make three tapes so fast?" Naruto demanded, wanting to ask the question before they became visible again.
"You're not the only genin who can use Kage Bushin, Naruto."
The two continued pressing onward in silence, keeping their eyes on a dark; looming object ahead of them; the caves.
Surprisingly, what the Sound nin told Kakashi about the other genin team being attack at that moment was true. Hinata had sensed them right before Neji, and shouted a warning to the others. They too had chosen to travel on the ground, which was a lucky thing; the attack also came from the ground.
"Stay together!" Shino shouted as another volley of kunai showered them.
"Well, well. This won't be as much fun as I thought it was going to be." A brown-haired Sound nin landed in front of Tenten. "Konoha sends children to fight us; either the new Hokage is ignorant of our abilities, or you're the only ones fit enough to go to battle." Five more Sound nins landed in front of the other genin.
"Don't underestimate us."
A/N - Once again, sorry it took me so long to get this thing up. I will do my best to get the rest of them done faster. Plus, Little Red Riding Hood is being a pain and not helping. Oh, well.
R&R!!!
- New Moon Werewolf