Part 1: Feral
Chapter One: Beast
''This is mission is such a drag," Shikamaru moaned sullenly as the group trudged along the forest trail.
"Your face is such a drag," Kiba snarked, grinning proudly at Naruto's snickers and Shika's deepening scowl.
"Less talk, more walk, you lot," Asuma interjected before the pair could begin bickering for real, "We should reach the town before sundown, if we keep up the pace."
"Asuma-sensei, why are all of us on this mission? It just seems like a lot for simple reconnaissance." The pink-haired kunoichi slowed to be in step with the tall shinobi, her brow pulled into a puzzled frown.
"Good observation, Sakura-chan. Normally, we wouldn't need quite so many shinobi for such a mission. However, given that the area that we've been asked to look into is rather large and densely forested, and on our border with the Land of Rivers, it makes sense to take more than one team. Kakashi-san and I were the only Jounin-sensei's not already on a mission, and as I am filling in for Kurenai-san until the baby is born, team eight came along as well. Besides, it's a good team bonding experience."
"He means it's an easy way for Tsunade-sama to keep us all busy and out of trouble," Kakashi drolled, with a nod to Kiba and Naruto attempting to drop a large beetle down the back of Sai's shirt.
Asuma rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Ah, well, that too, I suppose."
"But sensei, I don't understand why being near the border of the Land of Rivers would matter to the mission. Aren't we allies?"
"Even allies tend to get nervous about shinobi on their border," Shino spoke up from the back, causing Asuma and Sakura to turn towards the bespectacled boy.
"Well, if that's the case, why not just send a small ANBU squad? Why send a whole bunch of chunins? Wouldn't that be less intimidating?" Ino interjected.
"'Cause nothing says 'de-escalation' like sending in ANBU," Shika snorted.
"He has a point, Ino-chan," Asuma challenged with a raised brow as Ino stuck out her tongue at Shikamaru, much to Sakura's suppressed giggles and an exaggerated eye roll from Shikamaru. "Sending a bunch of chunin may seem foolish, but we are far less threatening than a full deployment of Jounin. This comes across as a teaching mission, rather than espionage or warfare, as the later might."
"Plus, Hokage-sama wouldn't waste ANBU on a c-rank mission, at best," Kiba added dryly.
"That too." Asuma chuckled.
As the group marched on in companiable silence, Sakura scanned the deep forest surrounding them, mulling over the details of the mission. A small town near the border had petitioned the village for aid in dealing with a strange beast roaming the forest, killing livestock and attacking travelers. Supposedly, it hunted with and acted like a wolf, but was described as rearing up onto it's hind legs like a bear, with a terrible boar-like visage. This had prompted Sakura to ask Ino if it was a relative of hers, earning her anunamused scowl from the blonde. Kakashi had replied that the beast was likely nothing more than some local wildlife, confused for something monstrous in the dark by frightened villagers.
Looking around, Sakura couldn't help but agree. The trees were so thick here that very little light filtered through the canopy to the forest floor below, and the dancing shadows from the massive boughs overhead, rustling in the breeze, made every patch of grass seem to bristle with some hidden creature. It would be very easy to mistake the shadowed bits of rock and dense brush as something hideous and terrifying, let alone some animal, barely discernable during the day and practically invisible in the night.
Sakura was torn from her thoughts with a violent shiver as the quickening breeze bent the brush surrounding them. Startled, Sakura stepped closer, noticing the large tracks the branches of the shrubbery had been hiding. "Sensei, look!"
The group stopped short as Kakashi and Asuma approached, brows cocked quizzically. "Yep, bear tracks; you're likely to find a lot of those around here. Shall we?" Kakashi quipped, barely looking up from copy of Icha Icha.
Sakura turned a shade darker than her hair as Ino snickered, "Brilliant observation, Forehead." Asuma tried to shush the rowdy group as Sakura promptly socked both Kiba and Naruto in the arms for laughing, while Shikamaru huffed in annoyance.
"Troublesome," the brunette muttered tetchily, reaching for the chip bag Choji offered cheerfully from beside him.
"As long as we get there in time for dinner, soon."
"Leave it to you to think with your stomach, Choji" Ino sighed half-heartedly.
"Leave it to you to expect anything less, blondie," Kiba quipped back.
"Hey, do you think they'll have ramen!?" Naruto cheered noticeably at the thought, eliciting several groans from the other chunins.
"You always want ramen!"
"Dear Kami, please, no more ramen!"
"You have the food preferences of a toddler, Naruto."
"When is the last time you ate any vegetables?"
The only ones who didn't express their outrage or exasperation with the blonde, where Sai and Shino, who honestly seemed like they could care less about the jinchuriki's typical antics, and Hinata, who seemed to be struggling to find any words at all as she tagged just behind the blonde sunbeam.
"I wouldn't mind ramen, Naruto-kun," she whispered in a voice that no one would have caught if it weren't for the fact that all those present were trained shinobi.
"There's not a lot you mind when it comes to Naruto," Kiba grinned wolfishly at her, causing Hinata to turn scarlet and hunker even deeper into her sweater. In a rare show of solidarity, Shino patted her shoulder without looking over.
Despite the occasional joke or light-hearted bickering, the group moved on in relative quiet as the sun sank lower and lower through the trees ahead. As they moved closer to sundown, the woods surrounding them seemed even more ominous, the lengthening shadows throwing everything into sharp relief. Soon, the only sound was the crunch of gravel beneath their sandals and the whisper of the breeze through the treetops; to make a raucous during their travels seemed suddenly imprudent.
Finally, as the breeze turned chilly and the sun sank below the horizon, the little village of Kuraimori came into view, light spilling out it's gates from the town beyond. At the gates, stood a figure in drab garb and a beaming smile.
"Ah, Shinobi-san, welcome!" The man gave a deep bow. "I'm Sato Riku; the elders sent me to meet you."
Stopping short of the sleight man, Kakashi and Asuma bowed, "It's a pleasure; Sato-san. Shall we meet with the elders tonight?"
"Yes; please, follow me." Sato nodded before turning to walk through the twilight darkened town.
As the group trudged through the gathering gloom, the man politely chatted with the two jonin instructors about their journey as they approached a long, low building and led them inside. Inside, at the other end of the long structure, sat the three elders on a raised dais. Sakura worried her lip between her teeth when she realized all three were scowling at the group of shinobi. As the group came to a stop a few feet away, the elder to the right curled his lip, his scowl deepening. The man in the middle, though he still carried the same haughty air to him, seemed to eye the ninja almost warily. The elder on the left, meanwhile, seemed almost bored, as if the Shinobi were a waste of his time. Their guide seemed totally oblivious to the elder's hostility as he introduced the group. "These are the shinobi of the Village hidden in the leaves, sent to help us," turning to the ragtag bunch, he indicated the dais, "These are the village elders, Ito-sama, Fukuda-sama, and Ishida-sama," nodding to each elder in turn. The ninja bowed, Kakashi pushing down Naruto's head and Shino glaring at Kiba, till he too complied, as Fukuda grunted by way of greeting.
"On behalf of the Hidden Leaf, we are honored to be here," Kakashi intoned, "Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about this beast of yours?"
Growling an affirmative, Fukuda began to speak in a dark tone, "The beast has been plaguing us for some time now. It only approaches after dark, and stays outside of the village thus far, but has attacked several merchants travelling through the area. Many of them have expressed hesitance to make the trip as long as this beast roams the woods, and we fear that we may risk losing the presence altogether. The locals are starting to grow anxious, as well, as the beast has been thinning their herds. We would have you find and kill it before it causes any more damage."
"And what of the nature of this beast? We heard some concerning reports. Any idea what it is?" Asuma queried politely.
Ishida snorted derisively, shaking his head. "Local folklore and nonsense are all that is. Some in this village have too strong an imagination," he said, casting a sideways glance to Ito.
"Glad to hear it." Kakashi added to the brief pause. "We'll get started first thing in the morning."
At this, Ito scowled somehow even deeper, "Oh? Are the great shinobi of the Hidden Leaf so easily tired? And here I thought our great benefactors were so skilled they could easily solve our little problem. Seems our supplication was in vain." He sneered as Fukuda sighed in frustration and Ishida rolled his eyes.
At this, both Asuma and Kakashi had to grab hold of Kiba and Naruto, respectively, to restrain the now shouting chunin.
"Sato-san will take you to your lodgings, Shinobi-san," Fukuda waved the group away, ignoring Kakashi's nod as he covered Naruto's mouth and bodily dragged the irate chunin away, speaking over the muffled shouts, "We look forward to seeing your work on the morrow"
As the two jonin ushered out their students, Ino turned to Sakura and tetchily muttered "What was that all about?" Sakura could only shrug in response.
Sato-san led them across the small village to what appeared to be a small inn and bid them goodnight after promising to meet up again with them in the morning, before turning to leave. The innkeeper, a kindly and plump woman, them led them to their rooms, one for the girls, two for the boys, and one for the two jonin instructors. As the boys bickered over who would be in which room, Sakura spread out her mattress for the night and began to unpack her things alongside Ino and Hinata. With a final word of warning to not get too loud and get enough rest for the day ahead, Asuma and Kakashi disappeared into their room and shut out the light. Ino insisted on brushing out Sakura's hair and having Sakura brush out Hinata's, to which Sakura easily agreed and Hinata, blushing scarlet again, anxiously acquiesced to.
It was a warm night, and the girls had the doors to the engawa pulled wide to welcome in the breeze and Sakura, relaxed at last, began to zone out as she braided Hinata's dark tresses, staring off into the trees at the edge of the property. It was a nice evening, and they had only had to scold and threaten Naruto and Kiba the one time for spying, so Sakura wasn't exactly on high alert – until she noticed something in the underbrush blink back at her.
Sakura whipped her head back up to the spot where she had seen the almost glowing yellow eyes, but nothing was there, and there was not a sound nor scurry from the dark leaves. "Did you see that?" she whispered, a little panicked.
"See what?" Ino questioned curiously, as Hinata turned to stare at her with concern.
"N-nothing…I guess…just a trick of the light."
As they lay in the darkness that night, the even breathing of the other two washing over her and lulling her to sleep, Sakura again thought of how easy it must be to mistake the mundane for the monstrous in these woods.