"So, sensei-chan! Brief us!" Anei said to their female sensei. Eneko looked back at him.
"Well, we've got to go get an important document from a daimyo and get it back to Tsunade-san." She replied. Fushi blinked.
"Is this document really important? Are there going to be rouge ninjas after us like there was when Naruto-sempai and Sasuke-sempai went to the Land of Waves?" She asked, slightly nervous. Eneko shrugged her shoulders.
"Tsunade didn't tell me much. What I've told you about all I know of this mission. She chose us for this mission because Itachi and I have met this daimyo in our travels." She told them, a laugh evident in her voice. Itachi's brows furrowed and he tried to remember when he had gone to this place. Deidara walked beside him and was now sporting a konoha headband.
"Really, yeah? Itachi? When did you of all people meet a daimyo that you didn't kill?" Deidara's blue eyes sparkled with mischief. Itachi glared at him while Eneko retold the story of when they did meet the daimyo. When she got to the part about some hot springs it clicked in his head and he clasped a hand over her mouth, blushing.
"No, Eneko. Not that story again. That was embarrassing enough as it is without you telling an old friend and our genin team." Retsu looked up at him, grinning.
"Ooh, it was an embarrassing story about our Itachi-sensei? I want to hear it!" He raised his hand. Fushi's hand went up too along with Anei's and Deidara's. Itachi sighed and took his hand off of Eneko's mouth and she continued as if nothing had ever happened. Soon, the road they were walking on was filled with laughter as she got to the part about Itachi and the towel. Itachi sighed and grinned along with everyone else. It was funny, he did have to admit, but at least he protected what was his.
"And I'm not going to let him even look at you in the wrong way on this trip, Eneko. I've had enough people in Konoha alone that have flirted with you, even seeing my wedding band on your finger." He told her and she smiled and kissed him.
"And I've not flirted back with any of them, have I, Itachi? You don't have to worry about our relationship. I love you and only you." She promised him. He smiled. Deidara blinked again.
"You two are really hoping for children, yeah?" He asked innocently. Both their faces went bright red.
"Deidara. Shut up." Itachi told his old friend, who was grinning his head off. While Itachi and Deidara were bickering about some old feud they had once had, Eneko was talking to the children about training techniques she had learned about in her travels.
"Since you three have already been my students for nearly a month, I feel it appropriate to take your skills to the next level by teaching you the pressure point system. I've taught it to Naruto and Sasuke just while on the road and before Itachi left I had taught it to him. Now, Anei, you could reinforce it with your fire and Retsu, yours with your ice. Fushi, we're going to work hard on finding your special skill. I'll try you with wind first, then we'll try with fire, ice, earth, sword, genjutsu, water, and medical." She told her female student, who looked excited. She handed each of them a scroll, which they immediately started opening and studying. She grinned, knowing she had them trained to her own training style in the first week.
"Eneko-chan, shouldn't we teach Deidara some Konoha moves so he won't be recognized immediately as an Iwa nin?" Eneko stopped to think for a moment before nodding and tossing back a scroll she seemed to pull out of nowhere. Deidara started reading it, blinking every few minutes, but obviously trying to study it. They traveled on in silence for a few seconds before Eneko stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide.
"What is it, sensei-chan?" Anei asked nervously. Itachi went up to her quickly and gasped, pulling a kunai out of her stomach and clasping his hand over the wound. Everyone else's eyes widened and they all pulled out weapons; Deidara's hand went into his clay bag. Eneko grunted in pain and leaned against Itachi. She hadn't even seen the kunai been thrown. Itachi activated his sharingan and quickly scanned the area.
"We need…to get out of here." Eneko spat out, breaking out of Itachi's grasp and moving forward. "Wings of the Feathered Dragon!" She called. The team all looked at each other. They had never heard of an attack like that.
"Eneko! You don't need anymore wounds!" Itachi scolded her as the blood spurted from her back and her wings appeared. She grinned at him apologetically and pulled out both her fans. She darted forward and leapt into the air, her wings spreading and she flew straight up, searching the nearby woods for the attackers. When she did catch a small sign of them running away, she flicked her wrist and a sharp burst of air went straight towards them and tossed them up in the air and far away from any of her team. She flew straight back down and as soon as her feet touched the ground, her wings were deactivated.
"That was amazing, Eneko-sensei!" Retsu cried, hugging her around the waist. She grinned and ruffled his hair.
"I hope that answers your question about rouge nins, Fushi-chan." Fushi's eyes were wide. Itachi walked over to her, pulling Deidara along who had been watching everything with a wide-open mouth.
"We need to get your wounds bandaged up, Eneko. You remember the last time you activated your wings and then didn't let me bandage them up?" He asked her, his voice furious. He was mad at himself for not realizing there were rouges in the area. She sighed and nodded.
"Yes, Itachi, I remember. The wounds got infected and I started to run a fever and get delusional and all that." She recited like a child in school who was being forced to read something out of a book that she thought was stupid. Itachi sighed, unable to stay mad for very long around her. Eneko grinned and picked up her pack that she had dropped so she could activate her wings and started going forward. The genin quickly followed along with Itachi and Deidara.
"This is all very confusing, yeah. Your wife's one of the Winged Dragons?" Deidara asked Itachi, confused. He nodded.
"She said her father used to call her 'the prodigy' because she could use all of her Clan's jutsu styles. Wind is her main element, followed by fire and wood. She knows techniques for all the elements though. Eneko's a very strong kunoichi, but she always puts others before herself. Sasuke says she's a sound ninja in disguise because when she sings, it seems to raise anyone's mood." He explained to his friend. Deidara's eyes widened slightly and he nodded.
"She's good for you, yeah. You need someone that can lift your spirits when you're down. You're no fun when that happens, yeah." He told his friend with a teasing grin. Itachi playfully swiped at him.
"The thing is, the kids don't know much about Eneko. We've only been teaching them a month and they're already probably ready to take the chuunin exams." He predicted with a sigh, looking at his and Eneko's team. Anei kept pestering Eneko with questions like 'are you sure you're okay?' and 'do you need me to carry something for you sensei-chan?' while she just smiled and ruffled his hair. Fushi looked worried, but Itachi couldn't tell if she was worried about her sensei or of the dangers of the forest. Retsu looked depressed that he hadn't been able to do anything to help. They looked like they needed some cheering up. Itachi grinned to himself.
"Hey, Eneko? I think that there are three genin who's moods need to be lifted." He called up. Eneko grinned back at him and nodded. She began to sing a lively little song, which immediately startled the genin and Deidara. Even though he had heard she had a great voice, he didn't realize that she was this great. (A/N: The inspiration for this song was When We Die by Bowling for Soup, just to let you know.) By the end of the song, the team was all smiling and laughing. They soon got to their destination and were sent to meet with the daimyo, whose eyes widened when they came in.
"They told me they were sending six konoha nin but I didn't realize that those six would include you Tsubasano-san." The daimyo kissed Eneko's hand politely and Deidara had to hold Itachi back. She gracefully pulled her hand out of his grasp and smiled.
"It's Uchiha Eneko now, Lord Okkuu. I'm married to Itachi now, thank you." Okkuu seemed to pay no mind and led her into his office where the transaction would be made. The team looked angry that the daimyo was so openly flirting with Eneko. Deidara groaned, realizing he was going to be Itachi's keeper for the next few hours.
"So, you were the ones sent to protect this precious scroll from those who would wish it gone? Perfect. I know you are a strong ninja Tsubasano-san." Eneko bristled ever so slightly, but kept her polite smile.
"Uchiha, Lord Okkuu. I'm married, remember?" He waved it off and continued on with his little speech.
"This scroll has been in my family since the first hokage's time. It holds many secrets about this land and others that not very many people know. Like how the Uchiha Clan was started, who was who, etcetera. It's like a history book for this land and some people don't want some of the things about their families to be known so they try to destroy this scroll. I'm intrusting it to you, Tsubasano-san to – " He was cut off by a punch that sent him to the wall and a bristling kunoichi.
"For the last time, Okkuu. I'm married and my name is UCHIHA Eneko. Not Tsubasano. So get it through that thick skull that you never had a chance with me and you never will! Thank you for your time and we will be leaving now." She yelled before picking up the scroll and leaving, her very dangerous aura trailing along behind her. Itachi smirked and bowed politely before running after her. Deidara shared a look with the genin and they all did the same. Eneko was scary when she was mad.
"Eneko, calm down. We need you to be calm so that you can help us sense any presence that would alert us to danger." Itachi tried to calm his wife down, but he knew the only way to do that was to pet her hair and he wasn't getting anywhere near her when she was this angry. He would let her cool down just a little bit before he would try anything else. Suddenly, kunais rained down upon them and Eneko snapped out of it, leaping in front of her team and pulling her fans out. She manipulated the air above them to send the kunai back to where they came from.
"Thirteen! Get down!" She called through this. Retsu glared around and did a few hand seals. He was helping this time.
"Ice shield!" He called and a dome of thick ice surrounded all of them. Fushi and Anei shivered but other than that they looked fine. Deidara looked cold, as did Itachi. Retsu and Eneko didn't look like they felt it at all.
"Good thinking, Retsu. It'll take them a while to get to us now." Eneko praised him and he grinned, his ice-blue eyes sparkling.
"Glad I could help out this time, sensei." He responded. Anei glared over at him, but everyone knew it wasn't a real glare.
"You just had to be an ice specialist, didn't you, Retsu?" He asked his friend teasingly. Retsu grinned and Fushi sighed.
"I wish I could help, but I don't know what I'm able to do…" She sighed. Eneko patted her on the shoulder.
"We'll find out, Fushi-chan. Possibly here. But for now…we wait until the enemy figures out a way to get through Retsu's ice shield. When they do, we'll be ready. Here's my plan…"