Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
-1Chapter 1
A new mission
"Tell me again why I agreed to do this?" Kiba asked.
"Because it was an order." Neji answered.
"Right. Tell me again why I am doing this?" Kiba asked again.
Neji decided not to answer. He was not too happy about this mission either, but an order was an order and Shikamaru was the one in charge at the moment. At least Meiyo had outfitted them with proper gear for the outing.
Shaded goggles protected their eyes from the sun glare and the outfits they were wearing not only kept them warm, but also allowed them to move with limited restrictions. The snowshoes they had to wear to keep above the snow were slightly annoying and took some time to get use to until they learned the art of walking on snow like those from Seika could.
They had been moving for a week already. The snow slowed them down considerably. Meiyo wasn't surprised by this at all, nor was her team. Neji just wanted to get back to Sanctuary and curl up with a blanket next to a fire, hopefully with Tenten to help keep him warm, though he would never admit it to his team mate and all contact was instigated by her and not him.
None of this showed outward of course. Outside he was just as calm as ever, inside he was contemplating if the cold hadn't shorted a few circuits in Shikamaru and Temari's brains. He was freezing and they still had a few miles to travel before they would stop for the night.
The mountain loomed up before them, silent and ominous. Something in the air was sending shivers up his spine. Yamanaka Kannon had long since ceased flying. Every time he and Talon took to the sky they were attacked by a murder of karasu.
Kannon had returned to Sanctuary and Neji silently envied him. The closer they got to the mountain, the more certain Neji was that something was wrong. It was different then the murderous chakra he felt from Gaara and Naruto when they let their youkai take over or come out.
If he had to try and make a call, he would say that this presence felt more evil, but less murderous then Shukaku and Kyuubi. It also felt bigger, as if there was more of it there. He had a very bad feeling about this.
Unbeknownst to him, Meiyo, Shikamaru, and Temari were feeling the same.
(brake)
She could tell the others were starting to flounder, so called a halt for the day. The three nininu and Tsume seemed unaffected by the cold weather. She was cold, but not freezing.
The others started to set camp. Kiba and Tsume gathered wood. Shikamaru, Keiji and Temari set the two tents. Neji, Genma, Genkaku, and Kageko headed out to set traps around the camp.
She studied the mountain while pulling food out of her bag for tonight's dinner. The entire place reeked of evil. The karasu had forced her to send Kannon back earlier then she had expected and the multitude of coyote tracks in the snow, and the absence of game, had her very much worried.
"Karasu youkai?" Keiji asked her as he joined her.
"Maybe. This seems stronger then any Karasu youkai I have ever encountered." She admitted.
"Coyote youkai?"
"Ile. Wrong feel. If I were to guess, I would say it is a Taiyoukai, though of what race I am not sure. One of trickery and manipulation."
"I say a Karasu taiyoukai. Just because we have never seen nor heard of one doesn't mean it won't exist. Kyuubi is coming to mind here." Keiji pointed out.
"Hai." Meiyo agreed.
The appearance of a nine-tailed Kiki-kitsune had never occurred until Kyuubi had reappeared before them, a four-tailed menace from their own past who had arrogantly named himself Kyuubi, 'ninetails,' and had lived up to his bold proclamation.
"What are you thinking?" Tsume asked as she appeared, Inuko and Inuka at her heals.
"Those karasu?" Meiyo asked.
"Normal karasu so far. They have only attacked Kannon in Talon's body, but Karasu are known to attack eagles, owls, and other birds of prey so it is hard to make a call. Either these karasu are flocking here because they are drawn by this youki, or they are being controlled and the controller is ordering them to behave normally." Tsume answered.
"Our noses are good, but if one controller bird is in that murder, we most likely won't pick up its scent buried beneath the rest." Inuko commented.
"Like trying to find a yellow rose in a field of daffodils." Inuka added.
"Have you seen one that stands out?" Keiji asked.
"Ile. It's like looking for an oak leaf amongst a field of birch leaves." She answered.
"Are we going to travel further?" Tsume asked.
Meiyo thought about it. This entire area felt wrong to her and the sense of a trap being set seemed like it was crawling towards her. This was only a recon mission to see if there was a threat to them. Instinct told her there was and she never doubted her instinct.
"Ile. We will return to Sanctuary tomorrow and gather a larger force. I don't trust this place, or whoever the master is." Meiyo decided.
"Good. I hate the cold." Temari commented.
Meiyo turned to look at the woman from Suna and noticed everything had been set and that everyone was watching her.
"Gomen," She smiled at them, "I got sidetracked."
"Care to fill us in on your observations?" Shikamaru asked, annoyance in his voice.
With a fire now going to provide warmth and shielded from prying eyes behind a screen, she handed everyone their stick of meat and bag of corn. The others listen in silence as she filled them in on her observations.
She still found it amazing that youkai were so rare where Shikamaru and Temari came from. Youkai were common here, from the small, harmless spirits to the larger, more powerful Taiyoukai. Or course, she had only heard of many of the marvels that Shikamaru's team spoke of.
Television, VCR's, electricity, and other such things sounded a lot like scrying spells, and other things that could be achieved using youki, or chakra. They spoke of lights that turned on and off with the flick of a finger. She was use to lights that lightened or dimmed when it sensed the chakra of a person, or could be changed with a touch of chakra.
Sakura had made a comment about how she had noticed the shinobi of Seika had far better chakra control then those from back home. If one needed chakra to turn a light on and off, then they would be practicing to do so since they were old enough to walk and would endeavor to make the task less challenging and chakra consuming.
Come to think of, Meiyo had been amused to notice that no few of the shinobi in Shikamaru's group had problems with the few chakra lights they had at sanctuary. Something a mere child with little training could do, Naruto, with all of his power, could not.
Naruto, stubborn as any Uzumaki she had ever known, had sat in front of the light for ten days until he got it down pact. The side effect was that he had developed even more chakra control. As a result he had hunted down others of Seika and got them to show him all of the little things they did with chakra.
Meiyo, being the only one other then Zihna and Keiji who knew how to make the lights, had decided to show him how. As a result the chakra lights now lighted a fair bit of Sanctuary.
The nice thing about chakra lights was that they produced no heat so a threat of fire was nullified. Naruto was determined to bring the trick back to Konoha and was already teaching Hinata, Gaara, Konohamaru and Henabi on how to make the lights.
Since no hand seals were needed, it was all how you moulded the chakra, the Sharingan could not copy it anymore then it could copy the Rasengan. The Rasengan was an amazing technique Naruto had shown them once as a demonstration and the chakra lights were a kind of application of that skill.
One took chakra and swirled it around in small space until the friction of the rubbing chakra resulted in light. The constant spinning would slowly develop into a miniature version of a super storm. A lock was placed on that prevented someone from lowering the storm speed too slow so it would wink out.
At minimum level, there was no light; at max it was very bright. One could lower the level to cause the light to be extinguished but they would have to break the lock first and that took power or cunning.
The skill trade between Zihna and Hinata was also going well, if not slowly. Zihna had no medical background to speak of, but with her little brother there, things were going better and he actually seemed interested in learning what Hinata was training.
Like Hinata, Zihna's little brother was not a strong fighter and always felt bad about it. He was the son of the Seikage and one of the weakest children in the academy with no talent when it came to combat at all.
Now he was the star pupil in Sakura and Hinata's class, Chiyu and Doku acting as assistants. Zihna had giving up after learning how to make field diagnostics, something very useful to on the field medics, and let her little brother take the spot light, praising him on each new accomplishment and glad he had finally found something he was good at.
The Seikage would be thrilled his youngest had finally found his calling and Meiyo couldn't have been more happy for her younger cousin. Medics were highly praised in Seika, even higher then ANBU as it took so much longer to train one, and he looked like he had the potential to become the head of the hospital one day.
Kannon and Ino were pretty much finished with their trading. Ino had learned rather fast and all that was left was experience, gained on their scouting and gathering flights.
Nori and Sasuke had spent a lot of training time together and she wondered what skills they were trading. She didn't need to warn Nori to be careful around a Sharingan user. Nori had trained with Keiji. He knew what to expect and was familiar with the Sharingan's ability to copy jutsu's.
Most of the others had trained together and a few new jutsu's had been exchanged, though none were trade secrets or highly devastating. Lee had been more then happy to train others with Taijutsu and had taken over every hopeless case he came across, some even having startling results. His love for children amazed her.
It was late, and most certainly time for bed. Kiba, Akamaru, Genkaku, and Neji would take first watch. The tent was big enough for all of them and the body heat provided would keep the worse of the cold off.
She envied Temari, nestled under Shikamaru and probably warmer then the rest of them. She wouldn't have her watch until later, when an attack was more likely.
(brake)
Neji woke with a start, one hand on his kunai as he leaped out of bed, or tried to. A heavy weight settled on him and the sound of snarling and snapping came from all around, as well as the sound of combat.
With his hands still wrapped in the sleeping bag, his movement was restricted and his hands were pinned by his side. No matter. He sent chakra spikes through his holes. His attacker yelped and shifted on him, but still refused to let him up.
"Byakugan." He declared.
The night lit up around him as his bloodline feat was activated. Above him he saw a small wolf, or what he took for one at first. This creature had hands and seemed slightly humanoid. The creature wore strange armor that had something flowing through it, something he had never seen before that appeared black to his sight instead of blue like chakra tended to.
He struggled against the creature, trying to dislodge it and get free while promising death on whoever was suppose to be on guard. The creature snapped its fangs at him and snarled. To his right he could see Shikamaru and Temari. Shikamaru was holding one arm, blood running down it in small rivers, while Temari bashed another creature over the head with her fan.
The sound of fighting came from all around him and he could see the others were engaged in combat with more of the small wolves and the murder of karasu they had been tracking.
Now he knew something was wrong. Karasu had no better night vision then falcons and yet they moved with no hindrance. Unlike normal karasu, these ones had eyes that were glowing red, as did the creature pinning him.
The creature spoke, taking him by complete surprise. What was said was lost to him since he didn't speak the language, let alone understand it. The creature spun him about until he was on his chest.
The spinning allowed him to get one hand free. He pulled the kunai and tried slashed out behind him. The creature caught his wrist with a furry hand that promised more strength then even Lee had.
Grinning, he sent out chakra spikes, his reward the howl of pain from the creature. The grip loosened and he finished driving the kunai home. Now somewhat free, he was able to get to his feet and lash out with his foot, sending the creature back a few feet.
He jumped away from the now shredded tent to give himself some fighting room. Loud screams came from the air and he launched into a Kaiten, tossing the Karasu that had dared to dive at him into all directions.
It was bloody cold and all he was wearing were his Pajamas and socks. He soaked almost at once and that began to freeze in the frigid temperature. He quickly sped up the chakra flow in his boy until the friction warmed him up, even while launching into another Kaiten to deflect the oncoming a swarm of karasu.
The entire area was swarmed by youkai. He had no weapons, all of it buried under the swarm where Temari and Shikamaru had been. With no choice, he made a tactical retreat and could only hope that he could meet up with one of the others and get something warmer to wear then this. He could only keep his chakra running through his body at an accelerated rate for so long.
(brake)
The attack was so sudden no one had time to prepare for it. The coyote's she had been expecting, but not the karasu, led by ten Karasu-youkai. She barely had time to shout a warning before the Karasu-youkai dropped ten coyote-youkai upon them, four landing on the tent and tearing through it with their claws.
Meiyo instantly countered the swarm of karasu diving at her with a kaiten, whipping up snow as she did so. Beside her Keiji already had two kunai in each hand and fighting to his fullest.
Tsume, Inuka, Inuko, Kiba, and Akamaru were whirling around and scattering the concentrations of karasu as they showed themselves, doing their best to stop them form ebign completely surrounded.
"Retreat." Meiyo snapped. "Back to Sanctuary."
"Hai." Those that were able to respond did.
Completely surrounded and outnumbered, she had no choice but to fight without restriction. Her byakugan was fully activated and every last pull of chakra was being utilized. Her kaiten was all that kept her from being pinned down.
With the wild spinning of the tsuuga, Kiba, Tsume, Inuka, Inuko, and Akamaru were already long gone and in the clear, or so she hoped.
Shikamaru, Temari, and Neji were still trapped in the tent but she had no way to get to them. She hadn't been able to see Genkaku or Genma since the attack. Keiji was already falling back with at least one pack of supplies.
She looked back at the tent. It was impossible to get there. Cursing inward, she joined up with Keiji, following the trail of destruction the Inuzuka's had left in their wake.
The horde of youkai and their servants didn't follow them. She didn't expect them to pursue them very far. With all of their gear back there, the chances of making it far were slim. The youkai would wait for the environment to wear them down before going after them again. They would have to run as far and as fast as possible before a second strike occurred or before the landscape killed them.
She could only hope that the others would be able to find their own way to freedom and that Genkaku was all right. She hadn't seen Kageko or Genma since the fight broke out and she worried for their safety as well.
(brake)
Shikamaru and Temari has been asleep when the assault had began. There was so little warning that it was a wonder they had even managed to get to their feet, and that had only been because Shikamaru had quickly used his Kagemane no Jutsu to freeze all the opponents around him, giving Temari time to get to her feet and armed.
Holding that many had been a huge strain, especially because he had snagged at least four youkai who had instantly assaulted his jutsu with their youki. With the close quarter fighting Temari wasn't able to initiate many of her stronger jutsu's
Having little choice, Shikamaru released his hold on the youkai, but did finish of the animals he had snagged, snapping their necks before completely dispelling the technique. Then he was fighting with nothing but his fist as two of the four youkai came straight for him.
Taijutsu was not his strong suit and this was perhaps the worse scenario he could possibly find himself in. He re-snapped up his kagemane no Jutsu on the two fighting him and turned then on the two fighting Temari. She used the distraction to finish one off of the four.
Shikamaru had no warning when something plowed into his back, forcing him to the ground and breaking his control. A blade was held to his throat and the creature snarled something to him in its native tongue.
A cry from Temari caught his attention. The three youkai had all jumped her at once, and like him Taijutsu was not her specialty. She managed to deflect two of them, but the third had her down on the ground and her fan went flying away from her grasp.
He struggled the best he could, but with their superior youkai strength it was like a two year old trying to fight against Gai. In short, it was impossible to win.
(brake)
The problem with genjutsu was that it rarely worked on higher-level youkai. It worked on the animals under their control and that gave him a bit of a leeway. This meant he managed to get out of the tent through a rip and managed to get a few feet away from the main assault area before the youkai in command took over where their servants failed.
Yuhi Genkaku fell into his stance, forming seals as fast as he could before letting lose with a high level, multi layered, Genjutsu trap. It took a lot of his chakra, but it did enable him to get a good head start.
Fusing chakra to his feet he leaped up onto the snow and ran as fast as possible. The big problem with his Genjutsu trap was that it didn't hit things that flew above it or went around it.
He drew his shiruken and fired them at the karasu flying down upon him. Several gave a dying squawk before collapsing dead. Snarling at his heals warned him of the threat on the ground.
He pulled several kunai and threw them, yelping letting him know he hit. He tried to form more seals to set another trap, but was unable to as he ducked under the diving strikes of the Karasu.
He was out of weapons. He spotted an uprooted tree, the roots forming a solid wall. It wasn't much, but it would let him put his back to something. When he spun around to face his pursuers, he suddenly wished he hadn't.
Like any hunter they had realized they had brought him to bay. Before him stood six coyotes and an unknown number of karasu. Their eyes were an eerie red and the sudden explanation as to how the damn Karasu could possibly see at night was answered.
"Redenrus." A voice commanded.
Genkaku felt a cold knot of fear hit his stomach as two karasu-youkai landed before him. They appeared like humans covered in black feathers with wings on their backs. They wore armor made from woven feathers and wielded whips and bows instead of the heavier katana's, kunai, or shirukens.
"Reven." He snapped back, falling into a defensive stance.
"Redenrus." The bigger one commanded again.
"Reven." He answered again.
Surrender to these creatures would be a fate worse then death. He had no plans on becoming a slave for their sick, twisted, desires. Both karasu-youkai pulled out their whips, etches in thorns and he felt that cold knot of fear grow. He had no weapon to defend himself.
The attack came from the Karasu first, diving towards him. The moment he lifted his arms to shield his face from the karasu's claws and beaks, the coyotes moved in, teeth grabbing his pant legs and ripping him off of his feet.
He fell onto his back and started lashing out with his legs while struggling to get to his feet again. He was rewarded with several whimpers as his feet connected with a few of the coyotes.
The coyotes, backed off, snarling and snapping at him from a mere meter away. He was halfway back to his feet when something wrapped around his arm, biting into it. He barely had time to notice before it ripped him off of his feet to land face first in the snow, drawing blood and tearing skin from his arm and the arm of his jacket to shreds.
He had just enough time to look up to see one of the Karasu-youkai coiling its whip back up before the coyotes were on him again. He lashed out with arms and legs to try and keep them at bay, but he was completely off balance now.
They leaped in, pinning him to the ground with their fangs and weight. His winter gear protected his skin from their fangs except for on the arm that had been shredded. He yelped in pain before grinding his teeth as the coyote's fangs bit down on his wrist, drawing even more blood to stain the snow.
Above him the flock of Karasu cawed their encouragement in mocking laughter. With the commotion over he looked up to see the two Karasu-youkai walking towards him, feather turfs on their heads raised in pleasure.
He tried struggling a few more times, but the extremely painful grinding of the bones in his wrist against the fangs of the coyote holding that hand elicited a scream of pain and he quickly stopped that.
That cold knot of fear that had been growing in his belly enveloped his entire body as the two youkai stopped before him.
"Ou loush evah deredenrus evals." The lead one mocked him. "niartser ti." It commanded.
The secondary youkai moved to his side and he tried to follow it with his eyes before the coyote holding his wounded wrist jerked it slightly. He hissed in pain and closed his eyes, determined not to scream.
The coyotes holding his legs down released him first, but were smart enough to lie on him to stop him from moving. The cold air touched his ankles just before something cold and metallic chinked down.
"Eh tsir si degamad Karkla, who doush em nairtser ti?" The creature asked.
Karkla, for that was the creature standing before him was named, seemed to think for several seconds before turning his attention back to him.
"Redenrus ro eid." Karkla declared finally.
Genkaku weighed his options. Rescue was likely to occur at some point, but he had no doubt that being a slave to these creatures would not be pleasant. Karkla gave him two minutes to think on it while the Coyote's whined and snarled impatiently. The karasu perched in silence.
"Lik ti." Karkla declared after two minutes.
"Wait." Genakaku shouted. "Tiaw." He shouted in their language, though they had paused after his first shout, understanding the meaning if not the words.
"Redenrus." Karkla declared again, and this time a hint of impatiens was in its voice.
"Se." Genkaku chocked out. "Se." He agreed.
The coyotes holding him down let him go and he stood up slowly, or tried to. The other youkai knocked him back down to his knees and hissed at him in anger.
"Len, evals."
He remained on his knees, cradling his wounded wrist and worried about infections. The youkai grabbed his good wrist and snapped a metal cuff on it. He looked at it in confusion until a metal headband was added.
All at once his chakra disappeared and his fear turned to panic. He tried to stand up again and was knocked down once more.
"Len evals." The youkai hisses at him again, this time louder and angrier.
While trying to get up he noticed his ankles were not restrained and he figured the same cuffs must be around them. The youkai pulled its own whip. He closed his eyes and trembled in apprehension expecting to feel the lash tear into him at any moment.
Instead the youkai used it to bind his arms to his sides in such a way that his wounded wrist was left free. Once satisfied, the youkai kicked his back, sending him face first in the snow. He didn't try to move, already the thorns were tearing his clothes and at least two were drawing blood.
His eyes shot open when something wrapped around his torso and jolting lifted him from the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see the smaller Karasu-youkai, now in its true form with a forty-foot wingspan. He was wrapped in the youkai's talons.
Looking down the swarm of karasu also took to the sky, acting as a noisy escort. Below him the coyotes were moving on their way.
His captors flew towards the mountains in a flight that was both painful and extremely freezing. He spotted the cave before they plunged into it and were enveloped in darkness, leaving the swarm behind. He didn't see light again until he was dropped on the floor rather abruptly.
Keiji had been right, He noted with horror as soon as he looked up. Sitting before him on a throne made from bone, ookami hide and raven feathers, was the lord of this citadel. At first glance he appeared human until you noticed the other markings.
Unlike the lesser Karasu-youkai under his command, he was able to appear human. His wings still mantled his back and were a beautiful, gloss black. His hair ran to his ankles and was also a gloss black. His robes appeared to be of the finest silk, most likely woven from a silk spider youkai, and were silver and black, the pattern eye catching and chaotic.
His eyes were deep, pools of silver and strange, black marks ran from the corner of either eye to disappear in his hair. He was a rather handsome creature, and that made him all the more frightening. The closer a youkai could get to human appearance, the stronger it was.
Flanking him were two coyote youkai, both female. Both stood completely upright like a human, but both still had the heads and fur of their race. Both also wore fine silk to cover their bodies, though not very well.
Standing behind them in the shadows was another Karasu-youkai; this one appearing much like its master and only the taloned hands differed in appearance.
That was all he was able to observe before one of his two captors hissed at him and kicked his side. He averted his eyes from the creature before him, deciding now was not the time to pick a fight.
Two more bodies were thrown beside him. He glanced over to see Shikamaru and Temari, both tied up. Shikamaru was bleeding badly from several gashes in his left arm and Temari appeared to be unconscious.
"Sith si la Retsam." The coyote youkai who had dropped Shikamaru reported.
Genkaku sighed in relief at the statement. The others had gotten free, granted they hadn't been trapped in a tent during the initial strike. There was still hope for a rescue.
There was alot about this little short story I didn't like, so after much debate I finally decided I was going to change it, and that makes it a massive overhaul. Hopefully if all goes well I will manage to make all the changes with no one the wiser but if someone ends up where they shouldn't be, it's probally beacuse I missed them in the rehaul. It was this debate, and my posstions as guild and raid leader of my WOW guild, that has slowed this bit down.