~~~~~~~ 6 ~~~~~~
A twelve year old Kira's sword clashed with the female with white eyes, who glared down at her with a look of disappointment mixed with anger. Kira blew a fireball at her, managing to catch the few years older girl on the leg, slowing her down as the burn set in…
:::::::::
"Hang on," said Naruto, "This sounds like the end of a fight… Not good enough!"
"Naruto just shut up and listen," scolded Sakura, "It's obviously a painful memory."
"No, it's alright Sakura," laughed Kira, "I just wanted to see if I could get away with it. Now…"
Kira took the story back a bit further….
:::::::::::::
A twelve year old Kira knocked three men down, trapping them in a genjutsu before walking past them and over to the raised podium in the alcove on the left side of the room where a small box stood. Getting out a blank scroll, she rolled it out flat on the floor and began writing a sealing spell before placing the box on top of it. She raised her middle and index fingers up, activating the sealing scroll, the box disappearing from sight. Quickly rolling up the scroll, she exited through a window and ran from the town over the rooftops to the forest.
"I have the jewel," she said into her microphone, "Let's go."
"Understood captain," came the reply.
"You were a captain?" said Naruto before Sakura hit him.
"Shut up and listen," she scolded.
Her team joined her just as she was about to enter the forest, motioning that it was all clear. The mission was going off without a problem, though the oldest man on the team felt bad about doing it on the night of a festival. He looked to his young captain with a sigh before suddenly becoming alerted to something following them.
"Captain," he said. Kira nodded at him, motioning back to the only other female in the group who nodded and dropped back. The young male of the group looked to the female that had broken away worriedly.
"Yasunaga can take care of herself," said Kira, "We're not ANBU for nothing."
"You were ANBU!" cried Naruto
"Naruto shut up!" hissed Sakura. Kira shook her head and continued.
The three remaining ANBU continued on, a new presence soon following them. Without a word, the older man pulled back and soon disappeared into the dark of the forest. Kira noticed the other man's pace slowing, his footsteps soon becoming louder than they had been before he missed his footing on the tree branches altogether though he managed to get a grip with his hand as he fell to the ground. Kira turned and landed next to him, seeing him pull his mask off, his face covered with sweat and breathing laboured. She noticed a slight blue discolouration around his mouth. She reached into her pack and took out a small vial of red liquid.
"I don't know what you've been poisoned with Hamada," she said, handing him the vial, "But this will stop it until we get back to the village." Shakily, he drank the liquid, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He placed his mask back on and the two of them continued on, Kira bracing Hamada as he slowly regained his strength. Out of the darkness, a hail of kunai came at them, Hamada fending them off with his sword before sending his own kunai back at them with an exploding tag. The explosion lit the trees behind them allowing him a glimpse of what was following them. His expression turned fearful as he made out the figure of Yasunaga, the place where her eyes had been was replaced by 4 bright purple slanted eyes. The eyes seemed to stare into his soul, making his body cold, disturbing him more when he could still see them in the dark. Hamada began to slip into a trance, the already dark night becoming even darker. Yasunaga's figure disappeared from sight. His pace slowed again and he looked over at Kira, unable to make her out fully, "C-captain… Yasunaga…there's something…"
"It's a genjutsu," came Kira's voice from in front, "Don't get taken in by it."
Nodding, he raised his hand with index and middle finger up together, "Release." Breaking away from the genjutsu, he was able to see again but his pace remained sluggish. 'Is that because of the poison?' Once more, Hamada fell behind, dropping to the lower levels of the trees. Glancing behind her, Kira observed as a thick mist seeped out from a small wound, enveloping him. She pulled back and went over to him, thinking fast and sealing the mist into a kunai. Colour began to return to Hamada's face, he soon opened his eyes, looking into the blank face of his captain.
"What is wrong with you Hamada?" Kira asked, "You're off." She reached into her pack and took out a scroll, "Go ahead and take this to the shrine, I'll deal with whatever is dealing with us." She placed the scroll in his hands, "Go, as long as one of us makes it back the mission is a success."
"Y-es sir," said Hamada, unnerved by his captain. Standing, he disappeared into the trees once more, leaving Kira alone on the ground. She scanned around through the foliage, feeling someone's presence.
"Come out," she said, throwing a kunai into the tree. There was no sound of the knife hitting the tree, instead a hand held it out in the dim light. A girl stepped out of the dark and into Kira's field of vision, the kunai embedded in her hand. Kira hid her surprise, recognising the female as Yasunaga, backing up as she watched the kunai become absorbed into her teammate's hand. A thick black substance enveloped Yasunaga's arm, a veil of mist dusting off its edges. Slowly the mist spread, spreading around to seal the area off.
"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu," called Kira, launching a fireball at Yasunaga, who dodged and lunged at Kira, a sword emerging from her arm, swiping down at her. Kira blocked it with her own sword, quickly studying Yasunaga's face, 4 purple eyes adorned her face where her eyes should have been and her skin was a charcoal grey colour. The black goop covering Yasunaga's hand bubbled and began to try and swallow Kira's sword. "Gokakyuu no Jutsu." Blowing a slightly smaller fireball, she burned a hole in Yasunaga's arm, freeing her sword from the tar, whipping its remains onto the ground. The tar fizzed away into nothing, she heard Yasunaga begin to scream and saw her arm bubbling, as if trying to reform but it was unable too. The purple eyes looked upon Kira with a glare, dripping out of Yasunaga and onto the ground. Yasunaga fell to the ground as the tar took on its own shape; a large bulky humanoid shape, only discernable features remaining its eyes. Kira could feel the eyes trying to invade into her mind, so performed a quick genjutsu release before sending some shuriken at the figure who stood there and took them all to the chest, absorbing them into its body.
"You're not very bright," muttered Kira, bringing her fingers to her mouth, thin wire cords glinted in the moonlight, "Gokakyuu no Jutsu." Fire shot down the cords and into the creature's chest, burning it up from the inside. Kira sheathed her sword and watched as the creature burned up, not even leaving a pile of ash behind. She went over to Yasunaga's corpse, kneeling next to it she shut the female's eyelids. Placing her palm down on the ground she summoned a crow and scribbled down a message onto a bit of paper, attaching it to the crow's leg. The crow flew off into the air, soon becoming a part of the night sky. Kira stood and took to the trees again, heading in the direction of the shrine.
"Hang on a second!" interrupted Naruto, "Doesn't the other guy have the jewel?"
"Obviously not Naruto!" cried Sakura, hitting him over the head, "Just keep quiet and listen!"
Kira continued on her way to the shrine, soon feeling an unfamiliar presence following after her. Their footsteps were light, a girl? The wind stirred up around her, almost knocking her off balance, small but sharp leaves blew at her face, which she now realised was maskless.
'When did I?' she thought, putting it to the back of her mind, trying to concentrate on the location of her attacker. Another gust of wind blew at her, this time from in front, she managed to catch a glimpse of the person. Anticipating their move she sent out a barrage of fireballs all around the person's location, watching as one of them was blown back at her. Kira dropped to the lower level and changed her direction. A girl, a few years older than her, appeared beside her, her white eyes seemed to glow in the night.
"Did you think a trick like that would work little girl?"
She punched Kira in the stomach, jumping away when she noticed it was a replacement with an exploding tag. The tag detonated, splintering the log into smaller chunks that took the form of shuriken and sped at the girl. Hitting the girl in the chest, she dissolved into a whirlwind of leaves.
The girl appeared next to Kira again, a smirk on her face, "That was a nice trick, but tricks aren't good enough." The girl slashed at Kira with her sword, Kira blocked and continued defending against the girl's attacks. The girl's attacks gained ferocity, knocking Kira down to the ground where she launched a fireball at the other girl, making her dodge away. Kira tugged on a wire and released her traps, also activating the exploding tags she had placed on the trees. The girl once more burst into a whirl of leaves, the leaves charged at Kira who raised a hand in front of her face to dispel the genjutsu, blocking the girl's sword that attacked her from behind.
The girl laughed, "I wasn't expecting much of you seeing that previous ANBU fall so easily. You accept anyone into your group, he was weak. But I suppose he served his purpose as a distraction, even though it didn't last long." A second form of the girl appeared on Kira's left side, impaling her in the stomach. Kira gasped out in pain.
"It seems you were not much stronger," finished the second clone, drawing the sword out. Kira dropped to the ground, clutching her stomach, her hands becoming bloodied. The girl kicked her to the ground, she breathed hard, placing her hands on the ground.
"Summoning: Night of 1000 Crows," she breathed. The girl watched as Kira's form blurred, separating into a myriad of crows that swirled up into the sky. She looked around quickly, spotting Kira standing unharmed up in the high branches of a nearby tree, staring down at her.
'S-she had me in a genjutsu… Impossible!'
Soon, she had disappeared as the sky became completely covered with crows, no light flitting in through the gaps.
"How long…" sighed the girl, closing her eyes as the crows swooped down at her, changing into daggers as they fell, "Has it been since someone has caught me in an illusion?" She looked up to the spot where Kira had been, raising her bloodied arm in that direction. "Kuchiyose… Akuma…"
:::::::::::::
From outside the illusion, the girl's hand raised, pointing towards Kira, who suddenly found that she couldn't move. She looked down and saw her shadow linked with the girl's body.
"Akuma… no Kage," she heard the girl mutter. Her shadow began to bubble, turning into a tar-like substance, building up into a body that stood a few metres tall. The figure raised its arm and slashed down at Kira. A second figure loomed over Kira, pushing her out of the way of the demon.
"I'm disappointed Kira," said the man, coughing, "Letting yourself get caught like that." He drew his sword and slashed through the demon's chest, making it fall to the ground with a thud.
"Sensei…" breathed Kira, a small look of worry creeping onto her face as she went over to him, the man grinned weakly at her, pushing himself up to his feet. He groaned and held his chest tightly, using his sword as a cane. As she approached, she saw his wound bubble, the thick tar spurting out of the wound, enveloping around his torso; the monster that he had slain previously also bubbled, slithering up his legs and joining with the mass that was protruding out of the man's chest. He fell to his knees once more, groaning in pain he looked to Kira.
"Get out of here," he grunted, moving back away from Kira, "I'll seal off the area so this… thing can't get out. But you need to leave…" He cried out in pain once more. Kira nodded and took off once more, taking to the trees. Then man watched her with a sad smile as he fell backwards onto the ground, no longer able to keep himself upright. Staring up at the sky he pressed his microphone on, "It's too bad… you had to become an ANBU at such a young age…" he breathed, "I honestly wish you hadn't become a Shinobi… it's not something a kid… should be…"
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"And that's it," said Kira, "Somehow after that I ended up in this forest… as far as it was concerned, the mission was a failure."
"That's so sad," said Sakura, "Your team died… I'm so sorry."
"That's the life of a Shinobi," said Kira, almost mechanically, looking over to Naruto, "Did that story satisfy you?"
Naruto sat silently, looking into the fire, a deep frown set on his face, "You sent your teammate to his death… what kind of person does that?"
Kira sighed and stood, "I did what I had to… no one regrets it more than I do… you have to understand that Naruto." She looked to Kakashi, "Even though Hatake says those that abandon their team are worse than trash, he understands… Some things are unavoidable… it's unfortunate that sometimes they have to happen…"
Naruto said nothing in response, leaving the group in an uncomfortable silence.
"Into the real reason I came here," Kira began again, turning to Kakashi, "We have to go back tonight."
"We?" asked Sakura, "Are you coming along too?"
"The jewel is inside of me," said Kira, "I have to come, you fail your mission if I don't. You're lucky you came at this time or you would have had to wait another year."
"A-another year?" cried Naruto, snapping out of his brooding, "You're not serious?" Kira just nodded at him, trying not to laugh as Naruto's face drooped.
"We should get a move on, or we'll miss our window."
Kira took out a short sword from her duffel bag and took it out of its sheath, beginning to draw a large circle in the ground around the fire. The circle spanned 6 metres across, two straight lines ran through its centre, symbolising the cardinal points, at the ends of them she drew alternating pictures of the sun and a crescent moon, each with a different element in its centre. She drew a second circle halfway between the fire and the outer edge of the circle.
"How did you come to be here?" asked Kira, moving a metre from the fire and drawing another circle, erasing the horizontal lines that ran through it.
"A summoned portal," replied Kakashi.
"Do you have the scrolls with you?" enquired Kira. Kakashi nodded and removed them from his vest pockets. "Lay them out on the lines then take a spot in a gap and sit down."
"Hey, when did you become the leader of this mission?" asked Naruto, slightly annoyed.
"Now's not the time for that," scolded Sakura, rolling out a scroll, "Just do what she says!" Naruto unrolled a scroll and huffed as he sat down, crossing his arms over his chest. Kakashi shook his head, having a sense of de ja vu, sitting down. Sasuke was the last to comply, still looking upon Kira with distrust.
"Now close your eyes and clear your mind," said Kira, making a tiger seal, "I need you to focus and gather what chakra you can and give it to the scrolls. I will give you some of my chakra to help draw yours out." She went to each of them and placed her hand over theirs, tracing a line down the centre of their palms to the tip of the middle finger. The next few moments were spent in silence until Naruto exclaimed loudly in frustration.
"If you said we can't use chakra here, why are you trying to make us gather it!"
Kira went over to him, ignoring his glare, "Clear your mind and you should be able to gather a small amount. Chakra is more powerful here if you can manage to summon it." She placed her index finger to his forehead, injecting some of her own chakra into him, forcing him into a trance. She then returned to her position and did the seals for a summoning jutsu, looking around at team 7 she waited until they had gathered a small amount of chakra before placing her hand over the slowly dying fire.
"Summoning: Gate of reversal."
The fire flared and spread across the scrolls to the edges of the circle and slowly traced it in until it reached the centre again. Kira felt the chakra of the jewel begin to stir, slowly making its way out of its seal. The extra chakra helped Kira to remain standing as the gate swallowed her and the ninja up in flames, leaving behind an empty field, extinguishing the fire as they disappeared.
The landing back in the land of fire was less than soft, the group landing with a not so soft thud, enough to knock them out of their meditation trances. In the middle, Kira breathed heavily, clutching her chest as she tried to catch her breath. The long periods of not having used chakra caught up with her in a few short seconds, her eyes turning red with 2 black commas in each eye. As soon as it had appeared it had disappeared, though it didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi who went over to her, supporting her as she passed out.
"Well… we made it," she breathed, "That was something… for not having done it in a long time…"
Sakura looked around, "Are we really back?"
Looking to her left she saw the menacing shape of the wall that surrounded the Leaf Village. Kakashi lifted Kira onto his back and went to the front of his team, motioning for them to follow him into the village.
:::::::::::::::