Chapter 2: A Real Evil
While several ninja of the leaf struggled to figure out just what was happening in their village the source of their problem moved ever closer to their home's outer walls. A figure sat lazily on a low hanging tree limb allowing her legs to dangle freely, she wore all black and her hair that reached the middle of her back matched her attire perfectly. The only thing that would set this female apart from a regular kunoichi was her crimson eyes that seemed to glint in the dark as she sat in the tree with an odd grin plastered across her pale feature. It was not until another figure emerged from the darkness of the forest that she hopped down from where she was sitting and stood before this now visible man. He towered over her head by a good three feet and must have weighed every bit of four hundred pounds, but he too shared those same crimson eyes. In his grasp was what looked to be one of the unconscious chunin that stood guard at the front gates most of the time.
"Lady Toshiko, I bring another willing servant." The man's voice was deep and echoed off the surrounding tree trunks as he spoke. A giggle that would send chills down most people's backs erupted from the woman while she sized up the unconscious ninja with hungry eyes.
"Minoru, your actions are pleasing. This one should work just fine.." Toshiko hissed as she dropped to her knees beside the young chunin and placed her palm against his neck. Suddenly a searing noise resounded from where she had placed her hand and the boy jerked back to consciousness. Once Toshiko removed her hand from the boy's neck the kanji symbol of death appeared much like on the other thieves who had been killed in the village. When the boy opened his eyes they were solid black but after a few seconds the darkness seemed to crawl to the backside of the eye socket.
The chunin's confused expression slowly morphed into a grin before he bowed before the woman who stood before him, Toshiko. "Welcome, my humble servant. I trust you know what you must do." The demonized boy nodded and then disappeared in a shunshin . Once the smoke cleared Minoru walked over to where the woman was standing and gazed into her face with a humbled expression. "Our numbers have reached their highest yet and we are only one resurrection scroll away from having the full set." Toshiko simply nodded the entire time the brute informed her of their situation and then clasped her hands together in front of her.
"One more scroll and my brother will be free.. It is almost time to wake up, Toshio.".
Typically on a night off of duty Neji would train for several hours and then sleep for the rest of his time off as so to be at peak performance when it came time to do his job. This was not the case after the young Hyuuga prodigy left Kiba and Tenten that morning. He had found himself hulled up in the library that held most of the B-ranked secrets in the ANBU headquarters. The source of the extensive research he had began was what relevance the kanji symbol for death held throughout the shinobi world, but unfortunately after endless hours Neji came up with nothing plausible.
Although there had been one thing the ninja had stumble upon while glancing over a book that contained most of the area's folk lore. It stated that the symbol of death served as a symbol of servitude to a specific family of demons. One that supposedly, if the lore was true, had been defeated and sealed away long before Konohagakure had ever been constructed. Neji simply waved this information off as unrealistic and then placed all the books back on the shelf in a desperate attempt to call it a night. Even after deeming the only clue he had found impossible Neji could not shake the feeling that all of this was not simply a coincidence.
Regardless, Neji needed to get some rest considering he was back on duty early the next morning so he left the headquarters. Once he reached the gate of the ANBU compound the two rookie members that stood guard gave him a brief bow. Neji was one of three squad captains with Inuzuka as his second-in-command. It was funny how things worked. Back in their genin days Neji simply looked at Kiba as one of the biggest annoyances in the village, close second to that of Uzumaki Naruto. That all changed through the years of war and now the two were some of his most trusted friends. He and Kiba went through the ANBU training together and when Neji was named a captain and given the opportunity of choosing his right hand there was no doubt that Kiba deserved it.
A lot had changed since the war came to an end. Neji actually became more than a robot and showed emotion when it was needed. Most of their class that had rose through the ranks of Konoha and were among the most valued shinobi Lady Tsunade had. Lee had his own genin team to take care of now while Tenten had taken the position of personal guard for the Hokage. Being a jounin, Tenten had been given a chance to lead a team genin but after Neji joined the ANBU she wanted a more important rank.
The girl had secretly taken a special place in his heart but Neji had no idea how to handle such emotions. So Neji did what he did best; put what he felt were more important things in front of figuring out how to confront Tenten about their situation. Of course, that didn't keep Kiba from constantly taking shots at him using that as inspiration.
The only sound coming from Kiba's bedroom was the soft swishing noise that came from the ceiling fan and the loud snoring coming Akamaru's giant body at the end of the bed. The breeze from the fan caused the blinds coving the window to move side to side thus making the moonlight that peaked through dance across the dark surfaces of the room. Everything in the Inuzuka's room may have been peaceful although Kiba's mind was anything but. Much like Neji, this situation was bugging the hell out of him. He didn't know whether to just chalk it up as a funny coincidence or if there was something going on in the bigger picture. Bigger picture, that wasn't something that the dog user was very good at viewing.
As if there were enough, the more he thought about it the less comfortable his bed got. Eventually he sat up with a frustrated sigh causing his counterpart to jerk his head to attention. "Everything is okay. I'm just gonna go get something to drink so get some more sleep." Even Kiba's whispers were annoyed but Akamaru simply laid his head back down on his paws and watched the boy disappear through the doorway.
The cool breeze seemed to calm the ninja's nerves after he took a seat on the steps leading to the Inuzuka clan main house. It was pretty peaceful just sitting there letting the wind wash over him but it didn't last long before Hana walked out and sat down beside him. "What the hell are you still doing up?" Kiba grunted without even taking a look over at her.
"I've been in the kennels taking care of some of the other dogs that needed vaccinations. So what is on your mind, little brother?" Hana asked quietly so that they didn't wake any of the other clan members.
"Just some stuff that's been going on around the village, I would tell ya but I'm not really aloud to talk about it." The younger of the two Inuzuka replied while leaning against his knees.
Hana nodded all the while staring out into the dark streets of the village she loved so much. "Mom has been talking about it a bit. She was acting the exact same way you are about it."
"Well she is our mom.." Kiba snorted and finally looked over at his sister. The Inuzuka were one of the more family oriented clans in the village so occurrences like this happened more often than not. The number of these bonding events increased drastically once they got home from the war after it had ended. Tsume said it was something that should happen because it was a miracle they all had survived and NOBODY argued with what that woman said.
Unfortunately, the conversation with Hana ended abruptly when a huge explosion resounded through the village. There was not a question to where the source of the sound came from because smoke immediately began to billow over the top of the Hokage tower. "What the fuck?!" Kiba shouted as he and his sister jumped to their feet. Tsume came bursting through the door with a look of unconditional ferocity on her face which to Kiba was scarier than anything that could've caused the explosion. Before there could be any sort of verbal exchange between the three the spiral tattoo on Kiba's right shoulder began to tingle as a signal that the ANBU were needed.
Neji arrived at the front of the tower in his standard ANBU uniform with the captain's white hooded cloak to see that even most of the active jonin were called to duty as well. Something big was going on if both forces had been called on. Kiba appeared beside the Hyuuga with Akamaru at his side, like that was going to conceal his identity but if this was as dire as it seems the dog's help would be appreciated. As the Hokage appeared at the top of the stairs wearing tatter robs with burnt spots all over them both of the ANBU moved closer to her to make their presence known. That was their job, to protect the Hokage unless she told them to do otherwise.
Behind Tsunade was Sakura and several other medical ninja working on what looked to be four bodies that were badly burned but the pink haired kunoichi looked up at their leader and shook her head slowly. Neji felt his face grow hot with anger and Kiba obviously felt the same because the boy's body was beginning to shake under the black cloak. "We have been attacked by one of our own." Tsunade's voice was obviously saturated with anger as she shouted out to the group of high-ranked shinobi.
"The chunin, Akio, has detonated several powerful bombs that have claimed the lives of four other chunin. This was done to take the scroll that was unsuccessfully stolen yesterday, but this time it seems that a far more skilled shinobi has done so. I am tasking the ANBU I have called forth with the apprehension of Akio at any means possible, but I would prefer him to be brought back alive for questioning. This scroll must not leave the village! As for the rest of you, I need you all to group together and patrol the village for any other potential bombs or threats."
With that Tsunade nodded at her subordinates and turned back to Sakura to help examining the victims of the explosion. Neji immediately motioned for the other two operatives to move out and began walking towards the back of the group to discuss how they should approach the situation. Before the young captain could make it out of the crowd someone grasped his wrist which made him snap his hand to the side, it was Tenten. The look of concern on her face slightly unnerved Neji but he hid it well. The young jonin's expression said it all and Neji gave a slight nod before being released. The girl was worried about them but Neji couldn't understand why, it was just a low leveled chunin.
The plan was simple, split up and find the target but they weren't to engage until the rest of the team converged. So that is what they did and it didn't take long for Neji to see a figure jump from the shadows of an alleyway and make and mad dash for the gates. Fortunately, the ANBU captain was able to cut him off just before he exited through the opening. "Close the gates!" He roared at the two other chunin who stood at the gate. They nodded their heads nervously and began to frantically close the gate together. The appearance of an ANBU captain seemed to send the two guard over the edge and the reel slipped from their hands causing the gates to slam together with a very loud bang, but it was closed never the less.
It didn't take long for Kiba and the other operative to appear on the scene. "So you're the shithead that woke everyone up!" The Inuzuka growled and even though the porcelain lizard mask covered his face that wild grin was still pretty obvious. Neji slowly unsheathed the sword from his back and stepped forward, his byakugan also activated causing the surrounding veins to bulge drastically. Neji didn't deem this target threatening enough to use his clan's special fighting style so his sword was the next best thing.
"You have committed crimes against the Leaf! Surrender or you will be engaged!"
Again the captain's orders were drenched in a coldness that only a enemy of his village would receive. The chunin glanced at all three of the ANBU operatives that had converged on him within a blink of the eye and without any visible emotion assumed a combat stance. Kiba's clawed fingers twitched slightly as the feeling of an oncoming battle excited him, that feral grin still plastered across his face. "I must complete this mission for Lady Toshiko! You will not stop me!" Akio shouted before sending several kunai whistling towards Neji and his hands immediately began string seals together. Unfortunately for the treacherous chunin, he was never able to complete the last seal for his jutsu because Kiba's hand grasped the side of his head and violently slammed him into the ground. Just as fast as his first attack, Kiba jammed two fingers into a pressure point on the side of Aiko's neck which temporarily paralyzed him.
The dog-user couldn't conceal the laughter that the adrenaline caused as his captain walked over and examined the now immobilized chunin. With a quick search, Kiba tossed the scroll over to the boar masked ANBU who immediately put into a pouch on his side. "Too easy. Don't ya think, Cap'n?" He said quietly as a group of jonin appeared on the scene, Tenten amongst them. Before Kiba could make a quick joke about Neji's admirer being there a black blur smashed into their teammate. The force of the blow sent the operative crashing through the wall of a shop to their side. Everyone immediately assumed their battle stances as the dead ANBU member was thrown back out of the hole at their feet.
Toshiko emerged from the wreckage twirling the scroll between her thin gloved fingers. "Who are you?!" Neji shouted out to the woman in black but she only replied with a giggle that ignited Kiba's temper. The black cloaked ANBU immediately shot forward with blinding speed but before he could attack Toshiko reacted with inhuman quickness. Her arm seemed to stretch out and grasp Kiba by the front of the cloak and proceeded to slam him into the trunk of a nearby tree. Pieces of his mask fell to the ground that were quickly followed by his limp body. Before anyone else could join the battle she held a hand up to them and spoke,
"I am Lady Toshiko, the true ruler of these lands. You all would be wise to remember that!"
Despite her absolutely beautiful appearance her cold voice that was accompanied by an evil smirk made the hair raise on the back Neji's neck. With that being said she seemed to melt into darkness and quickly disappeared. Once everyone was sure that she was gone even more chaos erupted, Akamaru bounded through the crowd over to his owner. "KIBA!" One of the jonins screamed and also sprinted over to his limp body whom Neji was immediately able to identify as Yamanaka Ino despite the darkness due to his byakugan. The ANBU captain slowly sheathed his sword and walked through the rubble of what once was the wall of the shop to where his other fallen companion laid covered in blood. Tenten stared at him from a distance with a conflicted expression, the girl wanted to comfort Neji but knew that due to his ANBU status and appearance that she could not. So instead of rushing over to the scene like the rest of the jonin had done she just stood in the shadows and observed.
Neji had crouched down beside the dead ninja and examined him for a moment but snapped to attention when he saw Lady Tsunade and Ibiki appear. He rushed out to stand at attention when she ordered Ibiki to take the chunin for interrogation which he only responded with a nod. The scarred man grabbed the immobilized thief by the collar and disappeared with a cloud of smoke. Tsunade turned her attention to the ANBU captain next, "Where is the scroll?" Neji slowly shook his head before answering, "We were able to retrieve it from the original thief, Hokage-sama. Then another woman engaged us that went by the name, Toshiko. She was strong enough to take down two of my men before getting away with the scroll." Tsunade dawned a look of shock at the mention of the name but immediately shook it off and nodded before turning away. Her reaction to the name made Neji believe that she knew more than she was letting on.
That woman was very powerful in a weird way, it was almost like she wasn't human. He turned his attention to the direction of his fallen best friend as medical ninja worked with a sense of urgency. Ino stood close to Kiba but far enough away as to not get in the medics' way. She had a distraught look upon her face and was obviously fighting back tears. Neji had failed to recapture the scroll, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he may have lost his best friend and teammate as well.
Author's Note's
Well, here is the second chapter! I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far!