Disclaimer: Nope don't own, you see a while ago i tried to take over the world with the help of some pigeons and hamsters...well they turned me over to a sanitarium and took it over themselves (i knew i never should'n't have trusted them!) but in the meantime, i have a spoon and plan on digging my way out!!! until then, i apparently do not own.
A/N- wow, it took me a REALLY long time to update...please dont hate me!!! i blame my lack of attention span and school, but i promise to try and update soon next time! so please review! it helps me write!!! and onto the chapter...
The building was more of a fortress than anything else, with high fences and visible guards posted along the perimeter. The hidden guards were fairly easy to detect, uncovering his eye.
His team was spread out in the area, searching for weaknesses and ways in. It bothered him that the security around the building seemed almost lax, like they were waiting for them, which they probably were.
Deciding he had gathered enough information, Kakashi turned and moved silently to where they had agreed to meet. Shikamaru, Iruka and Kankuro were already there as he dropped gracefully out of the tree and joined them.
"Find anything?" Kankuro asked.
"The security seems too lax." He replied, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. He relaxed after a moment, Lee and Temari appearing in the clearing.
"From what I can tell, this place appears to have some sort of dungeon underneath it. There were two windows with bars, one without, on the other side of the building." Shikamaru relayed the information, watching as Gai and Hinata arrived.
"It appears as though everyone is mostly on the main floor or second floor." The Hyuuga's soft voice added into the conversation. "I could not tell which was Moon, but there was something." The silver haired Jounin glanced over at Iruka, seeing something akin to hope appear in his eyes. "In the basement, there was a momentary flare of energy. It may be nothing, but…" She trailed off, leaving the others to finish the statement. It could be Naruto, Gaara and Shino.
Kakashi glanced around, searching the area around them. Something was tickling the edges of his senses, it wasn't a person, it was a feeling. And Sakura, Ino, Sasuke and Kiba weren't back yet.
"You don't think they would have gone ahead, do you?" Iruka pulled him to the side, brown eyes filled with worry. Kakashi glanced over to where Gai was putting together some sort of daredevil plan to get into the building, which in turn distracted the others.
"Maa, they're fine 'Ruka." Although he didn't fully believe that himself. His senses prickled again, this time alerting him to two familiar chakra signatures. Just not the ones he had been expecting. "They're back."
Gai's plan was cut off at the arrival of two more of their team-mates, which made the two missing all that more obvious.
"Where are Kiba and Sakura?" Iruka asked the sullen looking Uchiha as he made his way into the clearing, Ino next to him.
"They're not here?" Ino asked, seemingly scanning the faces in the area. Blue eyes widened as she realized what had happened. "They went after them. I knew Kiba was acting too calm!"
"We'll have to continue with the plan anyways." Gai pointed at the rough drawing in the dirt. "Three teams instead of four. Team one will go in from the north, Kakashi, Ino and Shikamaru that will be you." All those that had not been listening to the Jounin's plan before, now seemed to be listening intently. "Team two will go in from the south, that'll be me, Kankuro and Temari."
"That leaves Hinata, Lee, Sasuke and myself." Iruka added, quickly catching on.
"Group three will enter through the basement window Shikamaru found earlier on the west side." Gai nodded, giving him a thumbs up. While Kakashi didn't exactly want to split up from the tanned chunnin, Gai's plan worked and he had no reason to change anything.
"Let's go then." He drawled, offering a lazy smile. Gai's group headed off in one direction ahead of the others, disappearing quickly. "Iruka." He called, as the rest of the third group followed in a similar direction. The chunnin paused, facing him. Checking to see that the others were no longer looking, he quickly pulled the man in for a kiss, enjoying the feel of the hard body pressed up against his own, before he pulled away reluctantly. "Be safe."
"You too." Iruka smiled at him, slightly flushed, turning to catch up to the rest of his group.
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"Kiba! Slow down!" Sakura whispered loudly, running to catch up to the ANBU. He didn't pause, barely slowing to check to see if anyone was coming down the opposite hallway, before darting down another. "Sloe down or I'll make you slow down!" She grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.
"What?" He growled, trying to tug his wrist from the vice grip. It didn't work.
"This was such a stupid idea!" Her eyes sparked with fury as she tugged him out of the hall and into an empty room.
"Then why'd you come?" He challenged, freeing his wrist and pacing like a caged animal in the small room.
"Because you would've gotten yourself killed if I hadn't." Sakura kept her voice low, peering out through the door to make sure they hadn't been discovered. "We need a plan."
"The plan is find Shino and hurt everyone that gets in my way." Kiba growled, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
"That'll work well." The pink haired girl closed the door, crossing her arms. "If you want to alert everyone that we're here." The two glared at each other, neither giving any ground.
"Fine, what ever." Some of the anger slid off Kiba's face, but Sakura knew that it was merely hidden. "We'll do it stealthily. But when we find that bastard that did this to Shino, he's mine." The vehemence that slipped into the fanged teen's voice startled her slightly, but she nodded, agreeing anyways.
"Fine. Come on, I think I know where they'd keep them." She headed to the door, making sure that no one was coming before slipping out, Kiba right behind her.
"You do? How?"
"Where do they always keep prisoners in places like these?" She smirked at the sudden understanding that made its way onto his face.
"The basement." The pair made their way silently through the halls, back tracking when they ran into a dead end. Finally they spotted another stairwell, this one stone that led off to the side and down, curving out of sight. "My moneys on this one."
Sakura grinned instead of replying, leading the way down the curving steps. Their footsteps were silent, breathing loud in their ears. The pink haired girl paused near the bottom, holding up a hand, signaling for the other to stop.
"-that witch wouldn't let me turn you into my puppets as well! But what she doesn't know, won't hurt her!" A familiar, raspy voice echoed up to them. Kiba's eyes narrowed, growling menacingly.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, turning to her friend.
"That's him." His fangs glinted in the dim lighting. "That's the guy that's controlling Shino." She didn't have time to stop him as he darted past her, still as silent as before, but with the murderous glint back in his eyes.
"Kiba!" She whispered, taking off after him. The medic nin burst into the room, seconds after the Inuzuka , heading right into the fray. Kiba had an older man pinned to the wall by his throat, growling softly. "Kiba!"
"Sakura? That you?" She turned, the familiar voice startling her.
"Naruto?" She asked, disbelieving. The blond ninja beamed at her, waving through the bars. He shuffled forwards into the light, stopping a few feet away.
"Yeah, Gaara's here too." He pointed at a shadow in the cell next to his. The shadow blinked at her, but otherwise didn't say anything. Defiantly Gaara. "You here to bust us out?"
"Well, I was thinking about it." She took one last glance at Kiba, to make sure he hadn't murdered anyone yet, then in a display that had Kiba's captive's eyes widening, she ripped the door off his cell, then moved to do the same with Gaara's.
"Is there a reason you couldn't do this yourself?" Sakura asked, snapping the chain on his ankle like it was paper.
"Yeah, this stupid thing." He pointed at the collar around his neck, grimacing. "Gives an electric shock every time I try to get it off." She inspected the collar, frowning.
"This may hurt a bit." She didn't give him time to reply, before she took the collar in both hands, ripping it apart.
"Son of a-!" Naruto yelled at the shock that traveled through him. "Thanks Sakura." He sighed in relief as his chakra went rushing through him, mingling with Kyuubi's, the annoying presence back in his mind.
"You owe me, again." The pink haired girl informed him, moving to Gaara's cell and breaking the chain on his ankle.
"Hey, Naruto, do you know where they're keeping Shino?" Kiba asked, eyes still locked on the man he held captive.
"Nope, been stuck down here the entire time." The blond stood, stretching out the kinks in his back and wiping hay off his armor. "Why don't you ask him?"
"Where is Shino?" Kiba hissed, slamming the man back against the wall. Instead of telling them however, he merely smiled a sickly smile that had the hairs on the back of their necks standing on end.
"Why, he's over there." The figure in the shadows that no one had noticed until then came rushing forwards, attacking.
YyYyYyYyYyYyYyYyY
"Ma'am! Ma'am!" She glanced up from the paperwork at her desk, watching as the ninja ran in, bowed and then approached her desk.
"What?" She snapped, irritated with being disturbed. There was planning to do after all.
"Intruders have been detected." The woman relayed, eyes carefully lowered. Moon smiled slowly, laying her pen down on the desk and leaning back in her chair, hands folded.
"How many?"
"Two. They appear to be down in the cellar. Jira also was last seen there." The smile on Moon's face was replaced with a thoughtful frown.
"Why would they only send two ninja in? Why not strike as a group?"
"If I may?" Moon nodded for the younger ninja to continue. "They may be testing our defenses." The older woman shook her head, standing and surveying the area on the other side of the window.
"These two are acting alone. We'll let the fool Jira try to take them on. In the meantime, the others should be arriving soon to rescue their comrades." The ninja nodded in understanding, bowing before exiting the room.
A small smile crept back onto Moon's features.
"Let the games begin."
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Temari's grip on her fan tightened as they ran through the corridors, moving further and further into the maze of a building. It was the perfect way to describe it as well, a maze. With the way the halls twisted and turned leading them to dead ends or places where there should be a door but there wasn't.
It wasn't like her to be wistful, however she sincerely wished that Shikamaru had have been in their group, not only for the advantage that his mind would give them, but for the company as well. But instead he was off with that blond. She shook her head, getting rid of the anger. They were all on the same side after all and her little brother still wasn't back by her side.
"Oh how this reminds me of when I was young! Sneaking into enemy fortresses and stealing scrolls!" She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and remind Gai that they were not looking for scrolls, but for their missing ninja.
"Didn't we just come this way?" Kankuro glanced around, suspiciously. "We did, I remember this vase." Temari snickered lightly at the fact that the object that stuck out the most in his mind was a vase, but if she looked at it closely, it really was unique. Pictures of death and destruction decorated it, with flowers, such a dark purple that they appeared as black as midnight.
"Perhaps, we should try this way?" Gai gestured down another hallway, that she could have sworn had not been there the first time they went by the vase. Nodding, they headed as a group in the other direction, eyes open searching for any clue that they were going the right way.
She turned a corner, stopping as she nearly ran into a wall. "Wrong way." She turned back, in time to see a new wall slide into position from the way that they had come. How had they missed that? "The walls move." She turned back to the wall she had nearly walked into and looking for ways to open it.
"Which is why we've been walking around in circles." Kankuro deduced, checking the wall that had just moved into place.
"Such bright youths!" Gai cried out, moving to help Kankuro with the wall.
"Which probably means that they know we're here." Temari added, lifting her fan and swinging it around, using the wind to create a large hole in the wall she had been inspecting. "Let's go."
The three climbed through, into a new corridor with walls the colour of rose petals. She froze at the sound of footsteps running towards their position. They couldn't exactly go back through the hole in the wall, and if everyone already knew they were there, then why run?
"A fight will be very refreshing!" Gai announced as they prepared to face the people quickly approaching.
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"Sakura, Naruto- you take him! I'm fighting Shino!" Kiba yelled, dropping the man and running to meet his friends attack. Thankfully, Naruto and Sakura seemed to realize how important it was for him to do this and he watched out of the corner of his eye as Sakura's punch sent the man flying. Knocking the kunai from Shino's grip, he turned his full attention to him.
"C'mon Shino! I know you can break this!" He dodged a punch, sinking his own fist into his opponent's stomach. Shino was his opponent, he had to fight Shino. No holding back, maybe if he kept telling himself that he would believe it.
The blank stare tore at him as he blocked another punch, tossing the bug teen over his shoulder. Bugs, the kikaichuu hadn't appeared since right before the jutsu. That meant Jira didn't have complete control.
"If he had complete control then he'd be able to control your bugs! You can take back control!" He grunted as he landed on his back, feet swept out from under him. Shino was on him in an instant pinning him down. The older boy seemed to jerk above him, mouth forming words.
"L-legs." The word escaped from Shino's mouth, before the blank stare returned. Kiba used that moment to flip them, pinning down the taller teen.
"Legs?" He took his eyes off Shino's face for a moment, looking down at the pale legs he had pinned, he could see skin through the tattered pants and the jutsu markings, but that couldn't be what he had meant.
Dark eyes turned their gaze to the man fighting his friends and winning. Then everything clicked. The unnatural speed in the forest.
"Naruto, go for his legs!" He shouted, suddenly finding himself shoved off the struggling body below him and onto the ground a few feet away. Kiba pulled himself to his feet, going on the defensive as Shino attacked him again and again.
"Got him!" Naruto called across the room, ripping the small scrolls that had been tied to the mans legs. Speed jutsu's.
"Shino! Snap out of it!" Kiba yelled, as he suddenly found himself dangling a few inches off the floor by his neck in a similar position to the one he had had Jira in earlier.
Naruto victorius cry lifted his spirits as the man crumpled to the floor, most likely just unconscious. Shino jerked, but remained the same, applying more pressure to his throat.
"Kiba!" Judging by the way Sakura called him, the others were about to join their fight and things were going to get messy.
"Shino." He whispered, bringing his hands up to break the hold. They went sprawling onto the floor, Kiba trying his best to pin the other teen with his remaining strength. Dark eyes widened beneath him then closed as suddenly black insects seemed to emerge from the jutsu marks on the pale arms.
The kikaichuu swarmed up, enveloping them in a cloud, blocking them from the world's sight.
"Shino, Shino!" Kiba called out desperately as the bugs continued to come, leaving no trace of the marks from the jutsu, but creating small cuts on his arms and legs. "Wake up!" He shook the older teen, trying to get a response.
Shino groaned, eyes fluttering open and it was only then did Kiba finally realize that Shino had lost his glasses back in the forest as dark eyes finally focused on him.
"Never do that again." He said, smile breaking out on his face. Shino nodded, before being suddenly pulled into a deep kiss, with a ferocity that made him realize that Kiba was trying to make sure that he was still there.
He wrapped his arms around the smaller build, pulling the Inuzuka closer down on top of him, even as the kikaichuu dispersed, returning to his body and the two lovers were revealed to their friends.
RrRrRrRrRrRrRrRrRrRrR
He had a bad feeling about all of it. In the bit of his stomach, the feeling was gnawing away; telling him to get everyone to turn back, but at the same time, the feeling that they had to find the others soon was winning out. So they kept going.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm worried about Lee." Hinata spoke softly so that the two others in their group would not hear them. Iruka cast a worried glance at the normally exuberant teen that was now silent, far away look in his eyes.
"I am as well." He smiled reassuringly at her, before slowing down to walk with the troubled looking shinobi. "Are you okay Lee?" He asked quietly, allowing Sasuke to take the lead.
"I am fine Iruka-sensei." Iruka shot him a dubious look. "But I am also unwell."
"This is about Gaara?" From what he had heard from Ino- Lee and Gaara had…grown close over the course of the mission. Lee nodded, seemingly unsure whether he should continue or not. Iruka waited patiently, while at the same time staying on the look out for enemy ninja. So perhaps this was not the best time to talk about matters like that, however Lee's faraway look from before had worried him and the younger man did not need to be distracted should they need to fight.
"I am very worried about him…" Lee admitted, but the Chunnin could tell that there was something else bothering him.
"Are you…" He trailed off glancing at the Jounin. "Blaming yourself for this?" Lee nodded, eyes trained on the ground. Stopping, Iruka gripped Lee's chin, forcing him to look at him. "This was in no way your fault. If you continue to blame yourself, it will hamper your abilities and then how will you rescue Gaara?" The green clad Jounin met Iruka's eyes, a small smile flitting across his face.
"You always know what to say Iruka-sensei."
"Which is why I know more about most people in the village than anyone else." He winked, resuming with their previous pace. Sasuke and Hinata had waited for them to catch up, before continuing on down the corridor.
"There's someone up ahead." Sasuke whispered, reaching into his pouch for a kunai.
"Come out, come out wherever you are." A female voice called out. Sasuke seemed to freeze where he was, eyes narrowing and hands clenching. "You can't hide from me."
"Sasuke?" Hinata asked softly, worried about the sudden change in the teen.
"It's her." He cursed softly, looking as though he was restraining himself from running out into the open. "It's Moon."
"What should we do Iruka-sensei?" Two sets of eyes turned to him, waiting for direction.
"Sasuke, what are the chances of us beating her? Or even being a match for her?" He asked, mind whirling. They needed the rest of the group.
"Not much." He admitted.
"But if we were to fight her, we could create enough noise to attract the attention of the rest of the group?" Iruka continued, plan forming in his head.
"It is a genius plan, Iruka-sensei!" The old Lee seemed to have returned, enthusiastic about the chance to enter a fight with his friends.
"Yeah, make lots of noise and try not to get killed." The chunnin muttered, grabbing a kunai from his own pouch. "But who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and beat her." He grinned, more to boost the others morale than to prove how sure he was of his words. But really, what choice did they have? Run and hide? They were ninja of Konoha. They would fight. He knew there'd be a fight at some point anyways. There always was.
Taking a calming breath, he tightened his grip on his kunai and slipped out of their hallway. The corridor led into a large ballroom and in the middle, sitting calmly in a large winged-back chair, was a young woman with brown hair swept up with a ribbon. She wore black clothing with body armor, and while she appeared pleasant, he had the feeling she was quite the opposite.
"Ah." She smiled. "There you are."
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