Journey to Americagakure pt 9: To Catch a Rouge Ninja
"Neji, Hinata. This is Shikamaru. Do you have a visual on the Kurokishi?" the voice was crackly on the headset due to the radiation in the area.
"Not as of yet. I was sure they would come this way…" replied Neji. The Konoha fourteen and most of the Super-Elite Jounin had taken strategic vantage points to spot and ambush the incoming Kurokishi members. It was determined that Zurui Datesha, the greaser-like Kurokishi member, could not use his extremely speedy ninjutsu without the skates of his, and one of them was left behind in the aftermath of post-destruction Washington D.C. Once he and Shokora came back to retrieve it, the 21 ninja would surround them, and effectively eliminate the destroyers of many of America's major cities.
"Jinketsu. How is the view on your end?" asked Shikamaru. It took both Neji and Hinata's Byakugan combined to equal the range and precision that Jinketsu had in his. The Super-Elite Jounin were certainly not ones to be underestimated.
"There's nothing to be seen for miles, Shikamaru. Either they can mask their chakra and know we're waiting, or this damned radiation messes with the sight of the Byakugan." said Jin.
"Ah!" a voice suddenly sounded in everyone's headset. It was Sasuke.
"Brother, what is it?" asked Itachi. Everyone was suddenly put on edge.
"You didn't see him?" said Sasuke.
"Who? See who?" Itachi asked, surprised that something had escaped his Sharingan of all things.
"I barely spotted him, but he slowed down long enough that my Sharingan could get a lock on his chakra signature. He just snatched the skate and dashed, but he left behind a trail."
"Well don't just sit there, Sasuke-teme! Get on it before it disappears!" said Naruto. So the ninja followed the chakra path of Zurui, with Sasuke in front and Itachi right behind so the two could use their Sharingans like infrared goggles to follow the Kurokishi's chakra path.
"This is bad, man. Even without those skates he was that fast?! We're lucky we have some great eyes on our team." Kiba grunted. He was now riding on Akamaru's back.
"You're right. Neji, have you spotted anyone ahead?" asked Shino.
"No, but there's evidence that they went this way for sure. It seems to end at a large body of water." replied the Hyuuga.
"Any idea what that body of water could be? We're gonna need to know before we get there." said Shikamaru, turning to the Super-Elite Jounin, who seemed to be running in formation.
"It's the Atlantic Ocean, but you don't need to know D.C. to recognize that." replied Kamiko, who didn't even turn her head to answer Shikamaru's question. She, out of all the allied ninja was the most intent on catching the Kurokishi. Shikamaru was just about to ask why when they broke through a grove of bare cherry trees and were almost taken by surprise by the huge beach they ended up at. Sasuke and Itachi had stopped.
"The chakra trail continues." said Itachi.
"So why'd you stop following it? We've gotta get those Kurokishi bastards!" yelled Naruto. Then he noticed that Sasuke and Itachi were looking down through the water.
"Oh, you've gotta be freakin' kidding me." Naruto slapped his head.
"Now why would they need to go underwater?" asked Sasuke.
"It doesn't matter, we need to go after them!" cried Kamiko.
"But none of us can breathe underwater!" challenged Tenten. The Konoha nin observed the Super-Elite Jounin make a hand seal. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Of course. Do you guys have a jutsu for everything?" she said.
"Pretty much, babe." replied Tsuki.
"We can cover you too, but don't stray too far from us, or the breathing jutsu will weaken and we'll all lose air." America's Hinata informed them.
"Right then. Let's get moving." Slowly the ninja waded waist deep into the water, and then dove in to swim down. Sasuke and Itachi still had their Sharingans engaged, and the party followed them ever deeper.
"Where are we now?" asked Mio, who was getting worried about the fading light.
"About 100 meters below the surface. We've passed the continental shelf, so it will get a lot deeper from here." said Jinketsu. Due to the narrowing light source, he had engaged his Byakugan to get a better view of the area. Suddenly he gasped. "Neji. Hinata. Take a look at this." The two Hyuuga followed the Jiyuukage's eye line and used their Byakugan to see what he was so surprised at. Their eyes widened as well.
"Sasuke-kun! Itachi-san! Stop!" yelled Hinata. The brothers stopped swimming and turned around.
"What is it? The chakra trail continues—" Itachi was cut off.
"Into that big metal thing!" said Hinata. The other ninja gasped.
"What are you talking about? There's nothing there." said Kiba, he and Akamaru attempted to sniff the area.
"There certainly is something there. It's about 400 meters across, and 500 meters long. It seems there are multiple entryways, and it's covered in projectile launchers of all sorts. It's free floating." reported Neji.
"No way. The Kurokishi are hiding in something like this?" said Naruto, staring at what he couldn't see with amazement. The twenty-one ninja silently plotted their next move, but the large object that was the Kurokishi's hideout had different plans. Suddenly hundreds of lights turned on, illuminating whatever it was that Zurui and Shokora had hid themselves in. "Whatever it was" was a massive submarine, many times larger than the airship that the Super-Elite Jounin piloted.
"Wah! It's so big! Mio is scared!" cried the youngest American nin. The shockwave of the submarine vehicle suddenly starting up blew the ninja away. Suddenly they were separated.
"Kya! I can't see!" yelled Hinata Hyuuga through the chaos.
"Akamaru! Where'd you go?!" called Kiba.
"Damn it, Jin! Do you see what you've gotten us into?" Tsuchi cried from somewhere.
"Sudden Shield Jutsu!"
Jinketsu woke up in a dark room. From the little light he had, he could tell he was in a storage closet. Boxes and barrels were stacked up around him, and the room seemed to be all metal. What he was sitting on was rather soft, though.
"Mmf!" a voice suddenly sounded.
"What was that? Who's there?" said Jin, surprised. He drew a kunai in defense.
"Geft tf fuck uff fme!" the voice said again.
"Ah! Oh, it's just you, Kamiko."
"Do you know how big your ass is? My boobs are not an air cushion!" Kamiko scolded him.
"Well it's not like I did it on purpose! I used the Sudden Shield Jutsu to protect everyone and then I passed out and woke up here!"
"Eh? Your Sudden Shield Jutsu? That's the one that protects nearby friends from imminent harm, right?" asked the Super-Elite.
"Said the jutsu dictionary. Yes, it is. But it looks like we're the only ones in this room. Maybe the jutsu put the others in different places."
"Kiba-sama!" Akamaru barked. This startled the Americans.
"Oh! Akamaru! You're here too!" Kamiko sounded relieved, and hugged the large dog.
"So she switches personalities so quickly." Jinketsu rolled his eyes. "Aside from that, it looks like we're inside that thing we saw earlier. My Sudden Shield Jutsu takes its targets to the closest safe place there is. Seeing as we're hundreds of meters below the ocean, I guess the Kurokishi's submarine counts."
"So where are the others?" asked Kamiko.
"Obviously somewhere else in this hunk of metal. We'll need to find them."
"You know if you hadn't gone on that trip to Konoha in the first place this never would have happened. None of it. This is all your fault." Kamiko suddenly looked somber. Maybe I am the cause of all this, thought the Jiyuukage. I wonder, if I hadn't gone to Konoha, if I hadn't wanted to turn America into a ninja nation; would millions of people still be alive? Is this all worth the title of Jiyuukage?
"No. I can't think about that now. The past is the past and now is now. So right now I need to focus on gathering everyone together again."
"Jin!" yelled Kamiko suddenly.
"What?" he asked.
"You're thinking out loud again. Now let's go." she said.
"Ah, right. Let's go, Akamaru!"
That's it for part 9. In part 10, we'll find out the situation of the other 18 characters, so the number of characters will decrease for a while, but please stay on alert! The Journey to Americagakure is not over yet!
