Chapter 4: Clash! A Battle Under the Moon Light!
As soon as the three Genin had passed out, Yuki got up from his bed and quietly left with his Akatsuki cloak on. He quietly closed the door behind him and just as the door closed, Takeo's eyes opened. He got up and listened to Yuki's footsteps as they disappeared down the hall before opening the door starting to follow him.
Yuki stepped outside the Full Moon Inn and headed down the road to the east for a few minutes before a man stepped out of the shadows. He had short hair but it was ruffled, he stood a little shorter than Yuki, and was roughly twice the size as well with an oval belly. He was wearing some kind of apron suggesting he was some kind of tailor or butcher. His face was nearly cleanly shaven with a small mustache.
"Oh, that is a nice cloak. I didn't expect it to be woven together so fine." The large man said surprised while looking closely at the Akatsuki cloak.
"What did you expect from an Akatsuki cloak? Anyway, this is the cloak you wanted to see, correct?" Yuki asked looking at the man.
"Yeah. You should have let me see it sooner though! Anyway, the villagers reported there being two others with a similar cloak as yours. Any ideas, Yuki?" The large man asked sounding very familiar with Yuki.
"Kei, the village might get a little loud soon if there are other Akatsuki members here." Yuki said starting to look around.
"Yuki, what do you mean by that? What happen this time?" Kei asked giving Yuki a suspicious look.
"Well, you see... the Akatsuki was trying to force me to join them and I told them I didn't care about their plans or anyone else's for the world but then they kind of took it the wrong way and stated they would kill me on sight if any of them would spot me." Yuki responded looking around still when he spotted something in the shadows behind him.
"Couldn't you have been more subtle? Now I have to do some work as an officer of the peace as well as tailor your new cloak; what happened to the last one anyway? That thing was one of my best works." Kei said sounding annoyed by the entire situation.
"There was a little problem and it got torn up. I still have it back at the Inn if you want it back." Yuki said making small talk while motioning with his eyes that someone was behind him.
"Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd like to have my material back if you plan on just having a torn up cloak with you taking up valuable space... not that the material is not valuable..." Kei said noticing what Yuki was motioning to and started to walk back inside his shop.
"I'll be back in ten minutes then." Yuki said walking away before he suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Where did he go?" Takeo asked confused while looking around.
"It was only you? Not even worth my time, I thought you might have been an Akatsuki member trying to get my attention." Yuki said standing behind Takeo with a sigh.
"Hey! I'm not some weakl...!" Takeo started to shout annoyed before Yuki covered his mouth.
"Keep it down. There's still the possibility that there are two Akatsuki members roaming the city looking for me and if they were to find us here, you would be in a lot of trouble." Yuki said slowly lowering his hand from Takeo's mouth.
"Two Akatsuki members? Then that discussion you had with them before near the Leaf Village was them declaring war on you?" Takeo asked looking at Yuki.
"War? No, just that they would kill me on sight. Nothing as big as a war but still not a good situation and if I'm stuck with you having to back me up... well let's just say there would be nearly zero percent chance of winning." Yuki said stepping out of the alley Takeo was in. "Though that other guy, Kazuki, it would be below zero..." Yuki continued while Takeo was gritting his teeth.
"Tch, this guy really is underestimating me." Takeo thought angry about what Yuki had said. "Anyway, who was that guy you were talking to before?" He asked following behind Yuki towards the tailor's shop.
"Kei Sakai, tailor and officer of the peace for Mangetsu Village – this village. His clan is well known for being officers of the peace around this area." Yuki said walking over to the door and knocking on it lightly.
"Before it seemed like he didn't know this place, why does he suddenly know all about the area?" Takeo thought glancing at Yuki when the door opened.
"Finally took care of that little problem?" Kei asked and then noticed Takeo. "Who's this?" He asked looking at Takeo a bit puzzled.
"He's... part of a group of annoying Genin that have been following me around. He's also the one that was in the shadows." Yuki responded slightly looking back after sensing something. "Looks like the guests have finally arrived this time. I will try to lead them away from the village so it doesn't take any damage."
"Heh, always trying to be a savior. Oh well, I rather not have to have the deaths of the villagers on my watch so get them far away before you begin." Kei said closing the door.
"Takeo, head back to the Inn. It's too dangerous from this point on." Yuki said turning and starting to walk away.
"Tch, fine." Takeo said reluctantly flicking his tongue in anger starting to walk the other way. "But I won't go all the way back, I'll just follow you." He thought with a smirk waiting for Yuki to get a little further before he started following him.
Once Yuki was a good distance away, Takeo started following Yuki as he headed out of the village. Yuki ended up stopping a little ways into the forest near the outskirt farms and just stood there as if he was waiting for something. The full moon lit the area Yuki was standing in but the surrounding area was pitch black with the trees blocking out the light. Figuring Takeo had been noticed, he walked over to Yuki.
"I thought I told you to head back to the Inn. You don't know what you've just done by coming here." Yuki said with a bit of an angry tone.
"Pfft, you underestimate me too much, Yuki." Takeo said walking up to Yuki's side with his hands in his pockets.
"Idiot, I was trying to save your life but it's already too late." Yuki said shaking his head as two shadows started walking out of some bushes near by.
"Yuki Takashi. Long time no see." Itachi said coming into the moon light revealing he already had his Sharingan activated.
"Hehe. Good, there are two. Here I thought it was only going to be you that gets all the fun, Itachi." Kisame said with a grin standing beside Itachi with his sword, Samehada, in hand.
"Two Akatsuki members!?" Takeo thought in shock looking at Itachi and Kisame.
"So, it was Itachi and Kisame that were the ones here. I should have known since that Naruto kid was around looking for his friend Sasuke around here. I take it you two are here to finish me off?" Yuki asked making sure not to make any eye contact with Itachi.
"Yes. The Akatsuki do not take kindly to betrayal and the Leader has given the order to kill you if we happen to come upon you." Itachi said looking Yuki directly in the eyes.
"Itachi, I'll finish this quickly." Kisame said stepping forward.
"No." Itachi said and Kisame stopped and looked at him confused. "I'll handle Yuki, you deal with that Genin. It shouldn't be too hard."
"What. Did. He. Say...?" Takeo said getting angry. "Do not underestimate me or you'll be sorry!!" He shouted angrily charging forward at Kisame.
"Heh, this kid has spunk. I guess I'll play with him for a little while until you finish off Yuki." Kisame said moving Samehada to his side from his right shoulder.
"Thunder Style – Electric Eel Just!" Takeo thought making the seals: Dragon, Ram, and Rat while charging at Kisame.
"What is this?" Kisame asked watching as Takeo's hands became electrified.
"Don't ever underestimate me!" Takeo shouted swinging his right fist at Kisame but he blocked it with Samehada but not only that, the electric chakra surrounding his fist suddenly went away. "What's this...!?" He thought in shock.
"I thought you said not to underestimate you. You should have done some research on your enemies." Kisame said turning and kicking Takeo sending him back to the ground near Yuki.
"Damn it, I told you they're too much for you. Kisame's sword absorbs chakra so that jutsu won't work against him." Yuki said looking forward to find Itachi was no longer next to Kisame.
"I'm fine." Takeo said spitting out some blood and standing up. "Now that I know about that sword, I have this match in the bag." He said confidently looking at Kisame motioning for him to come at him.
"You let your guard down too much, Yuki." Itachi said standing behind Yuki with a kunai moving towards his back.
"Heh, this kid just doesn't know when to stop." Kisame said laughing lightly and charged at Takeo as he requested.
"Do you really think so?" Yuki asked blocking the kunai with an icicle with his right hand behind his back.
"Still too slow." Itachi said and Yuki's eyes opened wide figuring what it meant.
"You're kidding me...!" Yuki shouted when Itachi blew up sending Yuki into a tree near by.
"Thunder Style – Lightning Rod Jutsu!" Takeo thought making the seals: Ram, Bird, Boar, Rat, and Horse while charging at Kisame and hold the Horse seal with Kisame in sight between his two hands as if aiming at him.
"Another jutsu for my Samehada to eat up? You shouldn't have." Kisame said when a bolt of lightning stuck down in front of him. "What? This kid is of the Village Hidden in the Clouds?" He thought dodging more lighting bolts.
"Damn, I was too careless." Yuki said getting up and looking around.
"This battle is over." Itachi said appearing in front of Yuki and kneeing him in the gut bending him forward and coming down with his kunai in his right hand in the back of his head. "Now die." He said stabbing the kunai in the back of Yuki's head but it turned into a pile of snow.
"You got the wrong one there." Yuki said standing behind Itachi.
"An Ice Clone? You won't get away this time. Fire Style – Mythical Fire Phoenix Jutsu." Itachi said nearly instantly doing the hand seals: Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger.
Itachi fired four fireballs directly at Yuki all hitting him before he was able to move out of the way. The only problem was that too ended up being a clone that turned to snow.
"You're not going to get me with that Ice Enclave jutsu." Itachi said hitting the two piles of snow with fireballs melting them and started looking around for Yuki.
"Annoying little brat!" Kisame shouted rushing at Takeo in a zigzag pattern to avoid the thunderbolts. "I can't use my water jutsu around this kid or I'll end up getting fried." He thought getting within range of Takeo and hit him with the Samehada but it ended up being a log. "A substitution jutsu? I thought he was supposed to be a Genin." He thought confused when Takeo appeared behind him with a right hand coming at Kisame's back electrified.
"Take this!" Takeo shouted connecting with Kisame's back but he exploded into a mist.
"Hahah, do you really think I would fall for that easily?" Kisame asked hiding in the mist he had created. "Got you!" He shouted coming down from the sky on top of Takeo.
"He's above!?" Takeo thought looking up in shock.
"Move it!" Yuki shouted pushing Takeo out of the way. "Wind Style – Gust Jutsu!" He thought making the hand seals: Bird, Rabbit, Monkey, Horse, and Bird while taking in a deep breath and exhaling launching a large gust of wind out of his mouth knocking Kisame back a bit and blowing away the mist.
"You shouldn't be butting into someone else's battle." Kisame said landing on his feet.
"I will end this now. There is no way you'll be able to get away from my Tsukiyomi." Itachi said appearing in front of Yuki looking him eye to eye.
Just before he used the Tsukiyomi there was some rustling in the bushes in the forest near by that forced Itachi to jump back away from Yuki. Just as he got out of the way, a strange furry beast jumped out of the bushes where Itachi was. It was snarling and looking around after landing on the ground until it noticed Yuki and started snarling some more getting ready to attack.
"Kisame, we're leaving." Itachi said standing on a tree branch above the area.
"I was just about to take this kids head off though." Kisame said looking back at Itachi when two more wolf-like creatures jumped out of the bushes at him. "What are these things?" Kisame asked knocking them away with his sword and jumping back into the tree next to Itachi.
"Don't think this is over yet, Yuki. We'll be back once these annoying creatures are out of the way." Itachi said vanishing with Kisame.
"Damn!" Yuki stated looking at Itachi as he vanished and back on the creature before him as it charged at him but he stepped to the side and kicked it into a tree and it fell to the ground. "A summoning jutsu?" He thought as it started to disappear as a summoned creature would, in a puff of smoke.
"Yuki, what are these?" Takeo asked backing up to Yuki's side with the two of them now surrounded.
"How am I supposed to know... but Kei did say something about some strange creatures appearing on nights with a full moon." Yuki said now recalling what Kei was telling him when he first visited him at the tailor shop when they arrived.
"You could've said something earlier; it's a full moon right now!" Takeo shouted when all the beasts lunged at them stopping in midair.
"What a drag. I came here after hearing some commotion and find an Akatsuki member as well as one of the Genin I've been looking for." A figure said standing in a branch above holding the Rat hand seal. "Now get moving! There's more on the way."
"That should do." Yuki said putting his hands together while more beasts started to move in. "Ice Style – Ice Shard Forest!" He shouted doing the hand seals: Snake and Bird with his hands separated.
The air around the area started getting cold followed by ice shards stabbing out of the ground all around them punching through all the beasts in the surrounding area.
"He's an Ice elemental user?" The figure asked a bit confused when he noticed the temperature. "I see. He uses the air from the upper atmosphere to cool down the moisture in the ground turning it into ice and from there into his jutsu." He said jumping down from the tree across from Yuki and Takeo revealing he was Shikamaru Nara.
"That is correct. Quite the eye you have there." Yuki said looking at Shikamaru noticing his head plate on his left arm.
"It was more of the cold air then my eyes that spotted it." Shikamaru responded looking at Yuki and Takeo. "So, what is a Cloud ninja doing with an Akatsuki member and where are the others?" He asked now with a serious look on his face.
"That's former Akatsuki member." Yuki said throwing off his cloak to his left.
"Like I would believe you so easily." Shikamaru responded pulling out a kunai. "They should be just about in position if this goes south." He thought glancing around the area.
"Shikamaru Nara, one of the brightest Chunin in the Leaf Village. I take it you didn't get news about our new orders?" Takeo asked pulling out a scroll from his pocket.
"Orders?" Shikamaru asked puzzled. "What could he possibly mean by orders?" He thought hesitant to walk over and grab the scroll after seeing what the Akatsuki were capable of doing. "What about the other two Genin?"
"They're back at the Full Moon Inn. Here's the scroll." Takeo said tossing a small scroll over to Shikamaru and he unrolled it cautiously.
"This is a real scroll after all." Shikamaru thought continuing to read the scroll. "It holds the Raikage's seal but why would Genin be trusted to follow this guy and why aren't they following him?" He thought glancing up at Takeo. "You do know this states you're supposed to follow him... don't you?" He asked with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"That idiot Kazuki wanted to be trained by him so we've been doing our duties using this method." Takeo responded still annoyed at Kazuki.
"So, these Genin are planning on learning from an Akatsuki member? That's ridiculous." Shikamaru thought looking over at Yuki. "I don't particularly like this situation but I have no choice since the Raikage's seal is on here but to allow you to continue your mission but the other two have to show me their orders as well if I am to return to the village." He said throwing the scroll back to Takeo.
"Fine, let's get back to the Inn since our enemies ran off." Takeo said catching the scroll and putting it in his pocket before walking ahead of the two of them towards the village.
"Our enemies? They didn't even know who he was and nearly killed him." Yuki thought watching Takeo walk away while getting his cloak.
"If you're not still a member of the Akatsuki, why do you even have their cloak?" Shikamaru asked standing beside Yuki.
"It serves as a reminder of my goal... and my other cloak was torn to pieces in another battle." Yuki said throwing the cloak over his right shoulder heading towards the village.
"A reminder...? Just who is this guy?" Shikamaru thought glancing over at Yuki. "How long has it been since you were with them?"
"Years, I joined around the time the organization was started and that's all the information you'll get out of me. I already told Jiraiya what I know about the Akatsuki that would help." Yuki said continuing ahead.
"Jiraiya? Wait, this is the guy that was at the Leaf Village." Shikamaru realized after hearing about Jiraiya talking with him.
Elsewhere, Itachi and Kisame were on the northern part of the village a little ways into the forest so that the villagers would not see them.
"Itachi, why'd we leave? We could've finished them off so easily back there." Kisame asked as they stood on a tree branch overlooking the entire village. "Was it because of those 'things'?"
"No. There were ninjas from the Leaf near by. We must wait for the right moment to take Yuki Takashi out with the least amount of attention as possible. Let's go Kisame." Itachi said turning and jumping down to the ground heading towards a cave near by.
Once inside the cave four other figures appeared in a silhouette form before them, it was the remaining Akatsuki members.
"Itachi, you two did not take care of him?" Pein asked looking over at Itachi.
"No. It wasn't the right time." Itachi responded with no emotion.
"The ninja from your old village keep getting in our way. Stick to your main objective and deal with Yuki Takashi only if you have time to spare." Pein said glancing over at Tobi.
"What of 'them'?" Tobi asked looking over at Pein.
"You should know more than anyone else what the plan is. We'll keep it the way it has always been." Pein said vanishing along with the other silhouettes of the Akatsuki members.
"I didn't think 'they' would be brought up so early. I wouldn't mind running into one though." Kisame said with a light chuckle.
"We cannot waste anymore time on this nonsense. Leader has told us our orders, we must continue our objective." Itachi said turning towards the exit of the cave.
"Right, the objective." Kisame said getting focused once again.
Yuki, Takeo, and Shikamaru all arrived back at the Full Moon Inn with two shadows following them closely. The three of them walked inside and headed directly for their room and just when they walked in Kazuki and Ayaka were already awake about to head to the baths.
"Shikamaru...?" Ayaka asked surprised.
"I see. They actually were here." Shikamaru thought surprised to see them there. "You two have your scrolls with the orders to follow Yuki, right?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Kazuki asked confused pulling out his scroll from his bag near his bed and handing it to Shikamaru.
"Wait, mine is right here." Ayaka said quickly rushing back from her bed with her scroll and handed it to Shikamaru.
"I don't even want to bother reading them all; it's too much of a pain." Shikamaru thought scrolling down to the seals to confirm. "Okay, the Queen's seal as well as the Hokage's seal are both on here. That is all I needed. My mission is complete. Let's get going." He said signaling all clear and suddenly Ino Yamanaka as well as Choji Akimichi walks in the front door.
"That was quick Shikamaru." Ino said looking towards the odd group. "And I thought team seven was an odd pairing." She thought looking at the other four ninja.
"Let's get going, we have to get back to the village now that we know where the Genin are and what they're doing." Shikamaru said starting to walk out.
"Hold it right there!" Ino shouted pointing at Shikamaru and he stopped suddenly. "The sun will be coming up soon and we've been searching for them for I don't know how many days straight! Besides, my hair is a mess and I need my beauty sleep!"
"What a drag, I figured we would reach the village just in time for the next round of the Chunin Exams but it doesn't look like it now." Shikamaru thought scratching his head before turning around. "Are you sure? I mean, we would be missing the Chunin Exams."
"I have to agree with Ino on this one. We haven't been able to eat any decent food since we started this mission." Choji said agreeing with Ino.
"All right! That's two on one!" Ino shouted celebrating.
"Fine but we're not staying that long. We're leaving tomorrow night as the sun goes down." Shikamaru said reluctantly giving in.
"Yeah! We did it!" Ino shouted cheerfully. "Now to get ourselves into a nice into a nice Inn with a hot spring bath." She said starting to walk out ahead of Shikamaru to pick out the Inn.
"Shikamaru, should we really let Ino go like that?" Choji asked walking up next to Shikamaru.
"No, we shouldn't. We'll probably not have enough to cover it." Shikamaru said rushing after her with Choji. "Hey, Ino! Hold it, we've got to limit the amount we spend, or we won't have enough to take any rests on the way back." He said leaving the room to the four other ninjas.
"What a lively bunch... I hope these guys don't start getting loud like that." Yuki thought glancing over at the three Genin.
"So where did you two go?" Kazuki asked looking at Yuki and Takeo.
"And why does Takeo look all beat up?" Ayaka asked with a blank look.
"It was nothing, just a little training, that's all!" Takeo shouted angry about the way Ayaka put it.
"What!? You went out training with Takeo, alone!?" Kazuki shouted in a rage.
"Calm down. He was following me and got caught up in a small little battle." Yuki said trying to calm Kazuki down.
"Keh, taking away the fun? Anyway, who were those two?" Takeo asked dusting himself off finally.
"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki." Yuki responded feeling he did not really have to go further into whom they were.
"Itachi Uchiha from my village?" Ayaka asked remembering the stories she had heard about him.
"Yeah that's him." Yuki responded.
"So that's why that guy was so tough. He was one of the Seven Swordsmen." Takeo thought realizing how tough a battle he was actually in; "But if that were true, why didn't he kill me?" He asked lost in thought thinking aloud now.
"That's because he was playing with you. He did not see you even as a threat or you would have been dead long before the fight even started. You got lucky today – you should never do that again. I doubt you could win against an S-ranked criminal alone." Yuki said throwing his Akatsuki cloak on his bed and started heading towards the door.
"So that is what happened while we were sleeping..." Ayaka thought surprised by what she and Kazuki had missed.
"Where are you going now?" Kazuki asked looking at Yuki.
"To find out about a little request I was given from an old friend." Yuki said walking out the door leaving Kazuki with a puzzled look.
"Old friend?" Kazuki asked confused looking at Ayaka and then at Takeo. "What friend?"
"Seems he somehow knows the tailor in town. The tailor also doubles as a police officer for the village but there's something else that is bugging me about this village." Takeo said sitting down at the edge of his bed.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Ayaka asked intrigued by Takeo's look of intense concentration.
"During the battle, there were these strange beasts... no, they were more like werewolves." Takeo said still trying to figure out what happened.
"W...w...w...werewolves!?" Kazuki asked with a shaky voice, scared by what Takeo had said and took a big gulp after taking a step back.
"What are you all scared about? There's obviously no such thing as werewo...wo...wolves...!" Ayaka said starting to get quiet with a look of terror on her face looking towards Kazuki pointing behind him.
"W...what is it...?" Kazuki asked shaking slowly turning around and turning white suddenly.
"What are you two so... oh, that's what it is." Takeo said noticing the window Kazuki was now looking out of and saw a werewolf-like creature outside of it.
Before the three Genin were able even make a move, the creature was pierced through the chest with an ice shard and vanished in a puff of smoke. Kazuki shook off the fright and looked outside to see Yuki walking away.
"Yuki just killed that thing." Kazuki said still in a state of shock from what he had seen.
"How is that even possible, werewolves aren't real." Ayaka said in a state of shock in her own right.
"If I remember, Yuki said something about a Summoning Jutsu." Takeo said remembering when he had first seen them.
"Summoning Jutsu? How would anyone be able to summon werewolves?" Ayaka asked surprised by what Takeo had said.
"Yes! This is it!" Kazuki shouted rushing over to his bag and putting it on quickly.
"What's up with him?" Takeo asked with a straight face glancing over at Ayaka.
"No clue." Ayaka responded watching Kazuki as if he were crazy.
"Let's go! We have to get to the bottom of this with Yuki to prove we're not just useless Genin!" Kazuki shouted pointing forward towards the door.
"I already proved I'm not as useless as you the first day." Takeo said disagreeing feeling superior after his battle with Kisame.
"If you think he respects you then why didn't he let us in on his new mission and why did he say that you got involved instead of brining you along with him. It's plain and simple that he underestimates us so much that he doesn't trust us to be his back up." Kazuki declared getting Takeo and Ayaka's attention.
"Tch, as much as I don't want to admit it – he's right. Yuki kept telling me to leave before the battle started even though I was able to hold my own." Takeo said annoyed with the way Yuki was underestimating him.
"He never told us if we passed his test either." Ayaka added crossing her arms.
"Ayaka, do you mean...?" Kazuki asked looking at Ayaka.
"Yeah, I'm in as well. Let's prove we're not just some weak Genin." Ayaka said as the three of them left the room.
Elsewhere, Yuki had just arrived back at Kei's place and knocked on the door. By this time the sun was starting to come up when a man wearing a black cloak walked by Yuki. He had his hood on so most of his face was not visible; his cloak had some kind of strange sun on it colored with shades of blue.
"I hate the dawn, it might be peaceful to some, but I prefer the dusk. Don't you agree, Yuki?" The man asked walking by but just as Yuki turned to see, he had vanished into the darkness just before the sunrays touched the area.
"That voice... I know it from somewhere." Yuki thought as the door opened behind him.
"Yuki? Something wrong?" Kei asked unaware of why Yuki had been looking the opposite direction when he opened the door.
"No, it's nothing. Just thought I heard a ghost. Let's get down to business on these odd creatures." Yuki said now facing Kei.
"Right. Come in, I might have some leads for you." Kei said inviting Yuki in and stepping aside.
"Good, how is the cloak coming along?" Yuki asked stepping inside with Kei closing the door behind him.
"It's nearly done but the design and head plate you requested is taking most of the time." Kei said as the figure from before stood outside the door looking at the place.
"Yuki Takashi, how interesting to run into you here. I'm sure he'll be pleased." The man said walking away with a smirk on his face.