Once and future 11
Sasuke
"So how'd the mission go?"
I looked up from my bowl of ramen. I had asked Tenten out to lunch with me a day after we came back. Until now she hasn't asked about the mission.
"It was alright I guess...a bit if a drag actually."
It was. Once we reached the gates, Yuzuki was there with another one of her team members. Turns out the ANBU had already did some of her own scouting which made our job easier but boring. She let us drop off our things at her house before we headed to the mountains where she had mapped out where we were to check out.
The weather didn't help at all. In fact it made Aniki and my sharingan worse. So that left Hyuga to screen search. There wasn't much detail we were looking for. Really it was a search for clues mission since most of the Byakugan Hyugas lived in Konoha (turns out some Hyugas without Byakugan live here)
"Clues for what?" Tenten asked me.
"Heh, I'm getting to that, Ten."
The area itself was rigid and full of dry air. Snow storms are a very common occurrence there so we had packed for it. However by the time we reached a broken path on the mountain, the mist got mysteriously thicker than it once was. Hyuga couldn't see through it. So I took a look. The mist was part of a genjutsu, if we would have stepped further and further up the path then we would have walked right into a trap. I was going to break the genjutsu, but Yuzuki stopped me. She said that if the people they we looking for noticed that the mist was lifted, then they'd be out numbered.
"This is where the actual mission kicks in," I took a sip of water before continuing.
Yuzuki had told us...well mostly Itachi since she was looking right at him- that the Daimyo's daughter had gone missing in this area of the mountain about a month ago. Yuzuki and her team were put on the mission, but she lost three team members in the process since they were lost in the genjutsu and flew off the mountain. So when she returned, the Daimyo sent a distress call to Konoha to ask Tsunade for help. And there we were.
"Hm. The Daimyo's daughter huh.."
"Yeah, and here's where the troublesome parts kick in-"
So we head back to Yuzuki's house and her teammate heads to the mansion to give a report. On Yuzuki's door step was a summons to the Daimyo. So we had to back track to a hill like mountain thing to see this guy. It turns out this guy is actually the Uncle of the late Daimyo. So it was actually the Daimyo's niece. BUT- the girl's mother was still living in the estate. Yuzuki gave a report and introduced us.
"What was the Daimyo like?" Tenten asked curiously as she slurped more ramen.
"Brown short hair, green eyes..."
Anyway, he was a young Daimyo, who actually got on his knees to beg Itachi to find his niece. The girl's mother gave us a picture and I was actually really stunned.
"Was she cute?"
"Mmm, about twelve, big smile...looked kind of like you actually." I scratched the back of my head.
"Me? You sure?"
"Tenten, I know what you look like. And she looked like you. Except for the green eyes."
"Ah."
So with that we decided to check out the mountain area again in at the crack of dawn. Yuzuki's house was small but comfortable considering that she lives by herself. We talked about the plan of action. Apparently, Hyuga can't see through genjutsu. And Itachi was probably gonna back up Yuzuki on the front lines to search for the girl. And that left me to deal with the genjutsu nonsense.
At dawn we headed back to the mountain where the fog was still hovering. Itachi and I activated our Sharingan while Hyuga surveyed the area for any sign of bandits or the people who took the girl. Yuzuki covered her eyes with some kind of weird ninjutsu that made a black smog.
"Oh, it's a Kekkei Genkai. She can use 'Darkness'. Like literally. You know dark powers stuff like that..." Tenten explained taking a sip of her sake.
"Ah ok that's what it was..."
Hyuga had to use his head band to cover his eyes. Itachi for the first part or the walk stayed behind him while I took the front with Yuzuki right behind me. Turns out that the people who took the little princess had friends. We had to split into two teams. I fought them off with Yuzuki while Aniki fought with Hyuga. We had to keep one alive to beat him into telling us where she was. And he put up a fight too. Aniki managed to get it out of him, Yuzuki blinded him with darkness so he as screwed.
Walking further up the mountain we found a small indent that lead down /into/ the mountain itself. Looking down, Itachi concluded that there was indeed no genjutsu or traps.
"Just to be sure, you're going first!" Yuzuki had said to the ninja we kept alive.
Yuzuki had tied him up with wire and jumped into the hole sitting on the back of the ninja's shoulders. Itachi smirked and jumped in after.
"How stylish," Hyuga smirked. He probably had his Byakugan activated behind that headband.
"That's how we roll, Hyuga."
I jumped in with Hyuga behind me. I heard him activate his Byakugan as we slid deeper and deeper. There was only one trap and Yuzuki had activated it unknowingly.
"But we didn't notice it til we tried to leave."
We both turned in our seats. Hyuga was standing behind us with Rock Lee standing next to him.
"Hey, guys!" Tenten chirped happily.
I nodded at Lee and just glanced at Hyuga as they sat down. I noticed how Hyuga sat next to Tenten and gave her a smile.
"Anyway I was gonna get to that later..." I sighed before continuing.
So we reach the bottom of the hole, went through a tunnel. Turns out there was a whole little mini village under there. There were little cots set up for small families, turns out there was water running through the mountain as well as on the out side of it. And the ninja teams were small, small like a single academy class size. As Yuzuki had hulled the Mist ninja to a standing position and pulled a kunai on him. This cause alarm and the other ninja began to flock toward us.
"That's amazing! Living in a mountain seems interesting." Tenten looked wide eyed at me cutely.
"Indeed, they worked along the mountain's farthest channel where the sunlight hit. It turned out that they had a garden. As well as a small form of government with in that village." Hyuga said ordering some ramen.
"That is indeed fascinating. The youth must have been pouring out of their ears!" Rock Lee chirped as he ordered as well.
I gave an awkward smile as Tenten grinned at Lee. I'll never understand that kid...
Anyway, one of the ninja that approached us questioned our purpose. Yuzuki held up the hostage we had and spoke with iron.
"You have stolen something important to my Village. I need it back."
The hostage told the others of the deaths that we put on the guards before hand. From that, Yuzuki released the hostage and shoved him toward the others.
"A life for a life. The princess. Where is she?"
The hostage straightened up and told the others to stand down.
"My name is Hyuga Jun. I am the head ninja of this village. I cannot bring you to her. You must speak to our Daimyo."
"WHAT?!" Tenten and Lee both looked at Hyuga.
I let out a laugh.
"He's not bluffing. It turns out Jun is a relative of mine. My eyes were still closed so he didn't notice me until I replaced my headband." Hyuga explained scratching the back of his head.
Once Jun had announced himself, Hyuga had stepped forward, taking off his head band.
"I am Hyuga Neji. Branch member and nephew of Main branch leader Hiashi Hyuga of Konoha."
That made them step back. Jun had a strained look on his face. He must have been a Hyuga without the Byakugan. They had a bit of a staring contest for a while-
"It was just to intimidate... Besides, I had to see if he was actually a Hyuga..-"
And then Jun bowed to him and the rest of the shinobi. Yuzuki walked forward which caused the the men to flinch at her introduction. Jun still insisted on seeing the Daimyo for the princess. So Yuzuki demanded to see him immediately. With Neji and Yuzuki glaring him down, Jun gave in and led us to the Daimyo's house. It was a small estate. Not grand but was able to fit two families.
The Daimyo recognized Yuzuki once she walked through the door. Hyuga sat next to her as they spoke. So apparently the princess was sleeping in one of the rooms. Of course Yuzuki state their purpose, which caused the Daimyo's blonde eyebrows to raise.
"She is of that family? My my I didn't know. I though she was a noble girl lost in the mountains so my ninja took her to me."
"What do you mean 'lost'?"Hyuga asked.
The girl had been unsupervised when se snuck out of the estate. Even with the ninja around, she was able to sneak past them and out of the village. And that story turned out to be true. Yuzuki told the Daimyo that she was needed back with her uncle and mother. The Daimyo agreed and told one of his maids to wake up the princess. The little girl was carried to Yuzuki, still half asleep.
As we walked back to the entrance of the cave, we noticed that the top had been sealed shut.
"It was a trap you set off," Jun explained, "it seals to keep the intruders inside so we can terminate them. The only way out is this way."
The non Byakugan Hyuga led us to a bunch of stairs leading down to the base of the mountain. Walking down with us, we made a bit of small talk. Jun was three years older than me and had two younger siblings. They moved to this small village because of the climate issues that took place outside. Also his parents didn't like the fact that there were so many people. His mother was the daughter of a Byakugan weilder, but she didn't have it either. His father was a normal ninja with no clan and no Kekkei Genkai. So he just carried the name Hyuga with him from his mother. I told him my name and he smiled.
"Uchiha, huh? So that means the other dark haired ninja is your older brother Uchiha Itachi." He said.
And that was kind of it really. We got the girl home, got the money and stayed at Yuzuki's for another few days to gather supples and rest.
"It sounded like a fun mission." Tenten said smiling.
"I would like to take you to meet Jun sometime. He said that he would like to meet friends and Byakugan relatives more often." Hyuga said having ate his ramen fully.
"It would be a nice vacation for all of us, right Lee?" Tenten looked to the bowl cut ninja, who nodded in agreement.
"So, what is Yuzuki-san's name?" Hyuga asked me.
I shrugged. Hell if I knew. I bet Itachi does though.
"It's Yuzuki Yami." Tenten announced as she reached in her pouch for her wallet.
I was quick with my money and paid for the both of us before she could count out the bills.
"So her name is her Kekkei Genkai?" I asked.
Tenten nodded. She didn't know too much about the Yami clan. But she seemed to be a normal kunoichi. A bit aggressive but normal... I think that's why Aniki likes her...
"Well they were sneaking off together every now and then." Hyuga stated.
"Well they did come back late from drinking that one night...they were dressed so casually too..."
I heard a laugh coming from Tenten and Lee. I looked at her for an answer.
"It's nice to see you two getting along!" She chirped.
"Indeed! You two are putting aside your differences and aren't arguing for once!" The green beast chimed in.
I glanced at Neji, who glanced back at me.
That's not good.