Disclaimer: Well, my plans for world domination have expanded but those ebay turtles need to be trained so i dont own...yet...just wait until my army of dwarf hamsters assembles! then you shall all see! mauahahahaha- cough cough, ahem...yes.
A/N- Hey thanks for reviewing- they are my drug. You review, you get something even better then a cookie! You get an entire cake! Yes, I said cake!
Dattebayo Girl- The more the merrier, I tried for the mail order squirls but ended up with poodles...yup, so as soon as you get those squirls, we can totally take over the world!
Iruka walked quickly out of the Hokage's tower, setting off down the street. In his hands he tightly clutched a bound scroll, four more, identical to the first sat in his vest pocket. The hokage had requested his presence earlier that morning, merely stating that it had to do with Naruto and the mission he was currently on.
Now he needed to find Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai. Inside the scrolls were identical notes requesting their presence for a meeting that night. According to the Hokage some representatives from Suna would be arriving to speak to them all.
Of course he was only involved in this because of the argument he had had with the Hokage herself over Naruto. He had been determined not to be shut out of what ever was going on, momentarily forgetting his place and not really caring.
He may have only been a chunnin but that didn't mean he couldn't fight or help where needed. He was a shinobi.
A familiar burst of chakra caught his attention, as he turned to face the Jounin now standing behind.
"Ready for lunch 'Ruka?" Kakashi smiled behind his mask.
"Lunch will have to wait; I have to deliver these scrolls. I have one for you." The tanned man replied apologetically, handing the silver haired man one of the scrolls from his pocket. Kakashi slipped it into his own pocket, linking his arm with the school teachers.
"I'll help you deliver the scrolls then we can go to lunch." Iruka smiled warmly at this, placing a kiss on the mask covered cheek.
"Sounds great! I have a feeling things are about to get very busy around here."
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Dull eyes stared accusingly at the sky, the life drained from them. Blood pooling on the dead grass beneath the motionless ninjas. His pale hands, covered in crimson, staining his bare chest and arms.
"Please don't!" He raises a kunai, pain and anguish written on his face at the cowering figure before him. "It's me! It's Kiba! You don't want to do this!" The Inuzuka is on his knees before him, pleading with him, begging for him to remember.
But he's trapped a prisoner in his own body. He wants to stop, to yell, scream for the smaller teen to run, run while he has the chance! No words escape his lips as the kunai is plunged downwards.
He tries to resist, to fight it, why doesn't Kiba fight back? Kill him and end his suffering before he kills everyone he loves.
Black lines on his arms stand out against the crimson and they seem to be feeding off the dark liquid, growing, traveling up his body, enveloping him in a thick haze, making it hard to think, harder to fight.
"You are weak. Your mind is easy to control, for we are all weak when it comes to our fears. Your fears allow me to control you. You are my puppet." The raspy voice comes from behind him.
"Don't listen to him! He doesn't control you!" Kiba's voice is laced with pain, but determined. For a second, he feels as if the control shifts back to him, but the illusion quickly disappears. "Snap out of it! You're stronger then this!"
He can't! His grip on reality is slipping, but while his body does not listen to him, his mind is his own. Think! There has to be some way, some way of escaping this hold!
"It will not work. You cannot fight me. I own you now." The voice comes again, this time from next to him, but he cannot tilt his head to see who it is, who his enemy is.
"You bastard, fight me yourself!" Kiba growls, eyes shifting to the unknown man next to him.
"Why fight you, when I have a perfectly good puppet here?" The cold voice drawls. He has no control over himself as his kikaichuu swarm forwards.
"Shino!" It comes out as a pain filled scream that wrenches at his soul, driving his mind down a dark path of despair and hopelessness.
"Shino...!"
HhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhH
"Shino! Oi, bug freak!" Shino sat up with a start, his kikaichuu buzzing excitedly around him. "Whoa, calm down!" His dark eyes found Naruto's blue ones through his panic. Calming himself down, he realized where he was, taking in his surroundings.
The others sat in the small clearing, obviously woken from their sleep. All eyes were on him, mixed expressions of confusion and shock on their faces as he quickly recalled the insects he had sent out.
"Are you unwell?" Lee asked from his bedding. Shino could feel Gaara's watchful gaze boring into him.
"Fine." He mumbled, fixing his glasses and coat collar to cover his paler then normal face. Cold sweat clung to him as his heart rate slowly returned to normal, the fear that gripped him, slowly lessening.
"Shino?" Kiba's voice carried over to where he now sat. Worried, Kiba was worried about him. He did not want the Inuzuka to worry. Instead he turned back to the blond crouching next to him.
"Did you want something?" Naruto's eyes widened, before narrowing slightly.
"Um yeah. It's your watch, you sure you're okay?" He grunted in response, climbing to his feet, making a show, that yes, he was in fact perfectly fine, when in reality he felt sick. Walking away from the group, he slowed his pace when he sensed a familiar presence approaching, climbing up onto a large rock.
"Was it the same dream as before?" He paused, and then nodded as Kiba joined him, climbing up next to him. "Do you think it means something?"
"I am not sure."
"Well, what was it about?" He didn't reply, keeping his face carefully covered by shadows.
"Come on Shino! I might be able to help if you just tell me!" The smaller teen growled, grabbing his sleeve.
"I cannot."
"Fine." Kiba sighed, releasing the sleeve, making to slide off the rock. "I'm going back to bed." Before he could stop himself, Shino had reached out, wrapping his hand around the other teens, lacing their fingers together. He brought their lips together, quickly, slipping his tongue in the others mouth, feeling the thrills it sent down his spine as he traced out the inside of the Inuzuka teens mouth, a taste that was purely Kiba.
Breaking away for air, Kiba rested his forehead against Shino's.
"Just tell me sooner than later, okay?"
"Hn."
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He was being followed. That much was for sure. They weren't doing a very good job of disguising their chakra, meaning they shouldn't be too much trouble, still if he could avoid a fight then the entire better.
The town he had stayed the night in disappeared behind a hill as he made his way into a small forest. Early morning sunlight filtered in through the canopy top creating an enchanting effect around him, but Sasuke barely paid attention to any of it.
In his right hand he held a concealed kunai, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The moment came, when one of them took a risky chance, coming too close to the raven haired teen. The enemy nin ended up in a unconscious heap on the forest floor, Sasuke quickly disappearing.
There were two other ninja's, he quickly discovered from his hiding spot among the trees. Easily chunnin level.
Remaining hidden, he created two clones, sending one out into the open, then using the other to track the two ninja's. Kunai in hand, he knocked the first one out, using his two clones to lead the third directly to him. All three ninja lay on the forest floor by the time it was over.
Sasuke crouched down, inspecting one of the nin. He had an un-marked headband.
"Damn." He hissed. They were still after him, bounty hunters. Apparently the price on his head was pretty high, this was the fifth group he'd run into in the past two weeks. They ranged from different levels. So far he'd been lucky not to run into a group of the more powerful ninja's, but his luck couldn't hold out forever.
Perhaps he should head back to Konoha? No, that was suicidal. If Tsunade didn't kill him, the others would, plus that would mean leading the hunter's right to Naruto. No, he'd have to continue the way he was going.
Sasuke straightened up, grabbing his small bag from where it had fallen on the ground. So, he'd need more then a different change of clothes to keep these guys off his tail until he came up with a plan and he'd have to move fast. These three appeared to be more recon than anything else.
Setting off again, he kept himself alert, but still found his thoughts wandering. They seemed to do that a lot lately. Keep yourself safe Naruto and I'll keep you safe from my own monsters.
GgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgG
"I can't believe Gaara took off." Temari and Kankuro set off through the trees, a group of Jounin following them.
"I can." Her brother snorted, keeping pace as they leapt through the tree tops towards Konoha. "I can also understand these guys being unable to find him; he's a sneaky little bastard when he wants to be." Temari glared at him.
"He's the kazekage!"
"You heard what they said- Gaara took off, the only thing he said was Lee. He probably knew the bushy browed freak was in trouble or something." He shuddered at the thought of the green spandex outfit.
"I'll still feel better when we reach Konoha and Tsunade fills us in." They paused on a thick branch, resting.
"Gaara can look after himself. 'Sides, I have this feeling he's fine, probably jumping bushy brows bones right now." He joked, smirking at the look on Temari's face.
"We should just lock them in a closet and tell them to get it over with." She agreed, smiling. Not that either of them would ever figure it out without having it beaten into them.
"So," Kankuro drawled, "I hear Shikamaru'll be there." His head broke his fall as Temari glared at him again, blushing and continuing on.
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Feet hitting solid wood, before once again pushing off, his hands pushing off of the next tree branch, propelling himself forwards. He twisted in mid air, pushing off of a lower branch, then the next and the one after that until it became a easy pattern, as easy as walking.
Naruto held the lead, taking point. He knew this area well, had had a few missions in this area of the forest. He could feel Ino and Kiba following close behind, Gaara chose to stick close to Lee, which left Shino in the very back.
There was something wrong with his friend; even he figured that out, especially after nearly being attacked by Shino's kikaichuu the night before. His face looked paler then before and it was like the bug teen had become even more closed off then before. Kiba didn't seem to be having much luck getting through to him either.
Filing that away at the back of his mind, he focused on the task at hand. Sasuke. There always seemed to be more people after the raven haired teen. How was he supposed to help the teme if he didn't even know where he was!
Kiba growled in frustration from somewhere behind him. Naruto knew he missed Akamaru, but the large dog had been injured in a previous fight, keeping him from accompanying them on this mission. They really could of used the extra nose right at the moment too.
"Hey Shino, you got anything?" The blond teen called back, turning in mid air, leaping effortlessly off of the branch behind him.
The Beetle ANBU shook his head no, but remained silent. He'd worry about getting Shino out of his shell later; right now he needed to come up with a plan.
Sasuke had at least a four-day head start. Not to mention he could of easily changed directions and neither he nor Kiba had found even a trace of the familiar scent. That didn't leave them with much to work with, even with Gaara's information.
Wait! There! Something familiar tickled his senses. He twisted in the air, skillfully avoiding colliding with a thick tree branch, instead using it to propel himself back to where he was a second ago.
The others came to a stop, heading back to where he was now prowling around on the ground.
"What is it?" Ino called, dropping down on the forest floor next to him. He didn't reply, nose close to the ground, so he was on all fours.
"Kiba get down here!" He called excitedly. The other teen dropped down next to him, followed closely by the others.
"What?"
"Smell the ground!" Kiba shot him a weird look, crouching down next to him, giving an experimental sniff. His dark eyes widened, a grin forming on his face.
"You have to be kidding me."
"Nope." Naruto shook his head, grinning widely.
"What is it that you smell?" Lee asked, confused. Gaara seemed to of caught on rather quickly, remaining silent.
"Sasuke. He's disguising his scent and traveling on the forest floor, not through the trees." Naruto's grin could not disappear. "The scent is still fresh. He's only about two days ahead of us now. We found him."