1Please read the author's note at the bottom of the page.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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Chapter 6
Escape from Konohagakure
Tsunade looked over the shinobi standing before her. Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Maito Gai, Hatake Kakashi, Akimichi Chouji, and Uzumaki Naruto. She had considered sending Asuma along as well, but decided he would be needed here. They needed every medic they could get their hands on since Sakura and Ino, two of their best, were the ones who actually needed the medical attention. "You all know what your mission is." The team saluted her and disappeared, reappearing outside the village.
Kiba looked over at Naruto. The usually cheery blonde was eerily quiet and solemn. "Hey... hey Naruto, you okay?" No response. "Naruto?"
Kakashi turned around. "Leave him be, Kiba. Naruto's been through a lot." The air hanging around the ANBU squad was thick and heavy, the tension ready to snap at any moment. Even Gai and Lee were quiet. And Shino... well, Shino wasn't very talkative in the first place, but even the bugs were avoiding him.
Finally, Kakashi spoke up. "Naruto, the map?" He nodded and pulled it out.
"We're right here," Naruto pointed to the leaf symbol on the map that represented Konoha, "And the island is over here." He pointed to a ways off the coast, a bit past the island that held the Hidden Mist Village.
Lee blinked. "That's a long ways."
Kiba glared at him. "You think?"
"Don't you two start." Shino snapped.
Kakashi sighed. "Let's just go."
--
Tsunade turned to Iruka, who was staying in Konoha. "Tell every shinobi in the village, of all ranks, that absolutely NO ONE is to leave the village unless they are under my orders. If they do, it will be considered treason."
Iruka nodded, wondering what Tsunade was getting at and why she would instate this law now of all times, then disappeared.
--
"All right, the ANBU left this morning, so we've got maybe three days to get out before the calamity goes down." Roba muttered. "But we really need to think this over better. Unlike you guys, Menrui and I have younger siblings to take care of."
"Well, can't you have someone else watch them?" Shingetsu asked.
"I already do." Menrui said. "Hanabi-oba-san is watching her. She nearly busted me when I told her that I just couldn't do it. I love taking care of her. I'm surprised she believed me."
Roba sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll have to convince my grandparents to watch Kume then."
Kiseichu nodded. "Okay. But that leaves the problem of disguises still. I mean, the Byakugan eye isn't exactly common, and none of us the control over it Menrui does. Not to mention Tsunade-sama's new law that no one can leave the village."
Menrui shrugged. "You might. I mean, the only reason I can control mine is that dad isn't a Hyuuga, and Tenten-ba-san isn't, so maybe..."
Roba looked up from his notepad. "I'll make some contacts just in case. For you too, Menrui."
Kakushin nodded. "So no Sharingan either, ne?"
"Well, maybe. I might be able to fix is so you and Shingetsu can still use the Sharingan eye and have it not be visible to anyone. But it would take more than three days."
A silence hung over the group as everyone turned to Shingetsu. "What?"
"Well, it was your plan, Shin." Hari muttered. "You're kind of in charge here."
Shingetsu covered her eyes with her hands. "With Tsunade's new law... I don't know... it might just be better to leave now, without disguises, but... I... I guess leaving while everyone was still busy with recovering from the ANBU leaving would be best, but... but with all the chaos trying to find the antidote at the hospital, leaving after three days wouldn't impede us leaving too much." She started chewing on the knuckle of her right index finger, a nervous habit she really needed to stop. Shinobi weren't supposed to get nervous.
Hari jumped to the rescue, seeing as Shingetsu was falling fast. "Maybe if some of us helped you, Roba, then it would go faster."
He considered it. "That would speed the process... as long as no one screws anything up."
Four days and three nights later...
"Wow Roba. This stuff's great!" Hiun exclaimed. Her normally white eyes were now a creamy amber color and her hair was a light brown.
Kiseichu smirked. "Yeah. You did good, genius." His eyes were the same shade as Hiun's, as was his hair, though it was now cut in a fashion similar to his brothers. His scar was also gone, covered by makeup. "You're sure this stuff isn't going to come off?"
"For the fiftieth time, Kiseichu, no. Not until you wipe it off with this." He held up a bag of small purple vials. They all looked up as the door opened and Menrui and Shingetsu walked out. Menrui's whiskers were gone, covered by the same makeup as Kiseichu's scar, her bright blue eyes seemed, if at all possible, bluer, and her hair was, gasp, bright blonde. And cropped up to her shoulders.
"I can't believe this. I look like my dad's sexy jutsu with short hair." She muttered. Roba didn't say anything, but he did turn an odd shade of pink.
"Great job Roba." Shingetsu said. Her hair was dark red and had been extended out of her boyish cut down to the middle of her back. "It looks really natural."
Kakushin rolled his eyes. "All right, now if you ladies don't mind, it's our turn." He, Hari, and Roba walked into the latter's room and shut the door.
... a few minute later...
Finally, everyone was disguised. Hari had honey-gold eyes and bronze colored hair, which had gotten about an inch longer so it was down to his shoulders. Kakushin's hair, like Shingetsu's, was dark red, and his usually black eyes were a darker shade of emerald. Roba's hair was ebony black and his eyes were still the same color.
"If everyone's ready, let's get going." Hari said. Everyone nodded and grabbed a backpack off of the couch.
Menrui hesitated. "I can't believe we're actually doing this. I mean, we're abandoning Konoha."
Kakushin looked at her. "Get real, Menrui. We're six Genin and one Chuunin. No one's going to notice unless someone asks around about us. Now can we please go?" Everyone nodded and slipped out the door, hitting the lights. Once they shut the door, those who had one activated their respective blood traits (a/n: I can't remember the word! NOOO!).
"All clear this way." Hari muttered. After everyone else confirmed no one was in the immediate area, they all jumped to the roof.
Menrui turned around. "Hey, we can see the hospital from here." Everyone else turned around to look. And it was true, the building was visible from their position on the rooftop, even though the lights were all off.
"Let's just go." Shingetsu muttered, turning away. The others, some more slowly, turned away and followed her as she leapt across the rooftops.
Finally, they reached the bridge leading out of Konoha. Shingetsu turned around, for she was still in the lead. "Guys, I have to ask one more time. Is everyone sure they want to do this?"
Kiseichu groaned. "Are you telling me that after all that work Roba did, all of us did, that you're still not sure whether or not this is the right thing to do? Who put her in charge again?"
Hiun and Menrui both smacked him on the back of the head. "Shut up!"
"Look, I was just asking." She snapped. "No need to be a jerk, Kiseichu." She stalked across the bridge, barely remembering to keep quiet.
Hari shook his head as he walked past him. "Smooth, bro. Real smooth."
--
The sun was rising by the time the group stopped. "Shin, maybe we'd better take a break." Menrui said.
She looked up at the sky, which was quickly turning from gray to pink. "Yeah, okay. We'll take watch in shifts. Kakushin, you, Kiseichu, and Roba go first. Hiun and I will go next, and Hari and Menrui are last." After a bit of grumbling from Hiun, Menrui, and Roba, everyone agreed to this plan and those who didn't have the first shift went off to go to sleep.
Most of them did, anyway. Shingetsu was still brooding over the map. "This place is too far to make in one trip. But we can't stop on the island of Hidden Mist, there are ninja there. But there should be other islands along the way..." She yawned, and the map was snatched out of her hands. "What the heck?" She turned to see Hari behind her.
"Get some sleep, Shin. You've gotten less sleep than any of us."
She stuck her hand out for the map. "Give it back, I'm fine."
He rolled his eyes. "Please, you look like you've got a pair of black eyes. Get some sleep." He ordered again, pocketing the map. She gave up and laid down, asleep in an instant.
Hari smirked and laid down at the roots of the tree across from her, nodding off in barely ten seconds.
--
Iruka knocked on the Uzumaki household's front door. "Menrui? You awake yet?" No reply. He chuckled. "As lazy as her dad, that one." He opened the door, he'd had a key since Naruto moved in, and walked upstairs. "Menrui? Get up, I brought you Ichiraku." No response.
He frowned. That always brought Menrui, and Naruto, running. He slid open the bedroom door. The bed hadn't been slept in. He walked in. 'Maybe she's over at Shingetsu's. Or Hiun's.' His foot lowered on something, and he looked down to see what it was. His eyes widened, and he lifted his foot up.
With the word's 'Menrui Uzumaki' written in Neon colors across the back, was Menrui's hitai-ate. The bag dropped out of his hand as he ran down the stairs.
--
Tsunade rested her chin on her hands. "Are you positive that they aren't just visiting their parents?"
Iruka shook his head. "The hospital doesn't allow visitors for another hour, and all seven of them left behind their hitai-ates." He emptied a bag of dyes and materials used for making disguises when a henge no jutsu wouldn't hold long enough. "These were in Roba's room and these," He pulled a stack of papers from his vest, "Were in Shingetsu's."
Tsunade took them and gasped. "These are-!"
He nodded. "Sakura and Sasuke's mission specs. The map's missing."
She set down the papers and put a hand over her eyes. "So it's safe to assume that they've escaped Konoha." It wasn't a question, but Iruka nodded nonetheless. Tsunade was silent for a few minutes, approximately three, before she sat up straight, looking every part the Hokage she was. "Alert their parents first. Then find me these agents," She scribbled three or four names down on a piece of paper, "And bring them here. This is not a job for children to handle, and they've directly disobeyed my orders that no one is allowed to leave the city."
Iruka paused at the doorway. "Tsunade, if we do bring them back-"
She looked up at him with that piercing gaze of her's. "Not if, Iruka. When. And when you do bring them back, I'll deal with them. They are still shinobi, Genin or not, and know the rules. You will bring them to me as soon as you find them, understood?"
Iruka looked away. "Understood." He whispered sadly, walking out, shutting the door behind him.
--
SC: I know, another really short chapter, and I'm sorry, but breaking up with my boyfriends was more difficult than it should've been, and I'm going through horrible writer's block. The only way this was getting posted was if I did it now, while it was short, and I didn't wait forever.
Puck: Yeah, she's been miserable 'cause he tried to kill himself with sleeping pill OD. He's okay, but...
SC: Anyway, I have no witty remarks or threats right now, but I'm probably not going to update Into the Game anytime soon, or this, until Ronnie gets through his head that I don't want to get back together. Sorry.
SpontaneousCombustion