The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 20
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!
Recap: "When is this meeting going to happen?"
The shinobi looked at Naruto, surprised at a good question from the loud-mouth.
Shikamaru looked at him, debating what he should say. He saw the fierce glint of determination in Naruto's eyes and said only one word.
"Soon."
--
"I have a plan. But…" his head swiveled to face the ANBU shinobi. "What did you tell her?"
"…Only that it would be best to send some reinforcements." The shinobi gave a smile.
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: On the Road
Date: Two Days from Meeting
The shinobi ran swiftly and silently, careful not to step on anything that could cause noise, not even a leaf floating downwards was permitted, for they could not become discovered.
It was the day after Shikamaru had told his team about Orochimaru. After he had received Tsunade's orders, the genius began to outline another one of his plans.
Just hours before, Shikamaru had alerted the team that the kunoichi were going to leave that night; they were to follow. Sai on the other hand, would be staying here at the village to continue correspondence with the Hokage and to alert them of any changes that Rayku and Raika might make.
Privately, Shikamaru and Shino knew that Sai would join the group soon after receiving the reinforcements promised by the Hokage. However, like the information he had found out, Shikamaru too, had withheld this from the group.
'The time isn't right.' The genius deterred. But he had a feeling that it would come soon. After all, they would need to know sooner or later. And with the meeting coming up in two days, he knew that it would be soon.
"Pst!"
It was a quiet whisper, and Shikamaru held still, for looking ahead, he could see that the kunoichi had stopped.
"What are they doing?" Naruto whispers—they are far away enough from the kunoichi and he is close enough to Shikamaru to allow this—trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible.
"Not sure, but keep guard. Neji?"
"I'm already on it." The Hyuuga replies, already a step ahead in the activation of his Byakugan.
He scans the area, using his vision to go closer to the kunoichi, and his voice was quiet when he spoke.
"I see them… there's a map…" his voice drifted off into silence as he magnified his vision more.
The kunoichi huddled together in a semi-circle, all heads bent toward the map and studying it with great care.
"Here." A slender finger landed on the map, pointing. "We should be here." Temari placed her hands on her hips.
"If so…" Sakura quickly and carefully calculated inside her head. "…then we should be halfway there!"
"And with some time to spare." Ino said with a grin.
"Yeah, I bet they didn't expect us to go that quickly." TenTen agreed.
"Hold on a minute!" Hinata said, catching their attention. "Don't you remember that Bear Mountain Pass is booby-trapped everywhere? It was meant to slow down any invaders and such."
The four looked at Hinata, and Ino frowned. "She's right." The blonde turned her head to look at the others. "What'll we do?"
Temari shook her head with disbelief. "You make it sound like such a problem. As if we haven't gone through such traps before." But before the pinkette, platinum blonde, indigo-haired, and the brunette could say anything more, she continued. "But…you're right. These traps could hinder us from reaching the meeting place in time."
"Unless….we were meant to have good time, and after passing the Mountain we would be set back by what was expected?" Sakura asked, thinking out loud.
They looked at her, and TenTen looked thoughtful. "Yes… that could be it…."
Hinata said, "Didn't Ikiara go over what to do when we hit this route?"
"Yes, she did." Ino replied.
Temari stepped back away from the group. "Alright. While you discuss this, I'm going up into air to observe if Bear Mountain Pass is the only way. Oh, and don't worry. I'll make sure I'm too high for the motion sensors to pick up my presence." She added and snapped open her Three-Mooned Fan all the way, making it hover and hopping onto it.
The wind around them flowed gently, before swiftly gathering up, soon blowing strongly with Temari now high up into the sky, with only the white of her fan giving away to her location.
"Be careful!" Ino called as the former Suna-kunoichi sped away.
"Right…now let's consult the map." Sakura declared.
Neji withdrew from his Byakugan and looked at the others. Gaara's aqua green eyes were solely focused on the white fan that had sped away into the air. Shino, Sasuke, and Naruto were looking at the girls on the ground. Shikamaru, he saw, was also looking at them, but Neji could tell the genius was also watching him, most obviously waiting for more information.
"Well?"
"They've stopped because of Bear Mountain Pass." Neji quietly recounted what happened, and the Nara nodded when he was finished.
"Shino," he said, turning to face the bug user. "What do you hear?"
His dark glasses were hidden by more shadow from the shade as the bug-user looked at them. "What Neji said and a little bit more."
The genius nodded. "I see."
Naruto tugged on Sasuke's sleeve, slightly pointing. "Look!" he hissed, and the Uchiha's obsidian eyes followed his gaze. The kunoichi were moving away.
"Guys." He said, and they turned to look. "Do we follow?"
Temari had not yet returned, but Sakura had discovered a short-cut on the map. "Look!" she cried. "If we go through Bee's Lair we can get onto the middle of Bear Mountain Pass instead of climbing up all that way."
They studied it, curiously.
"She's right. Or it seems that way." TenTen said. "Hinata," the indigo-haired kunoichi turned in her direction. "What do we know about Bee's Lair?"
The Hyuuga fixed her eyes on TenTen with a quiet stare. "The course is far more dangerous than that of Bear Mountain Pass. Where the Pass merely has deadly human-made booby-traps and poisons, the Lair has genetically-enhanced mutant bees."
". . . Well, it's only a couple of bees…. I'm sure they're so huge that we wouldn't be seen!" Ino stated nervously with a slight laugh.
"But, what about Temari?" TenTen asked.
"We can call her over the communicator… here, let me do it." Ino clicked on her headset. "Hello, Temari?"
Temari's buzzing voice could be heard back over the set, the wind also audible. "What now?" she asked, gruffly.
"We think that maybe going through Bee's Lair toward the forest would be a faster route than going through Bear Mountain Pass."
". . . . What?"
"You know, it's shorter maybe."
"And what about me?"
"We'll meet you there at the other end!"
". . . . Are you sure about this?"
"Um, not completely, but it does beat climbing up that huge mountain. Unlike you, we cannot fly."
". . . And what do the others say to this, Ino?"
"Oh, they think it's great!" Ino replied in a chirpy voice, but after seeing Hinata and TenTen's frowning faces, added "Well, except for Hinata and TenTen, but you know. You could always watch out for us from above."
". . . Consider that Hinata's ex-team has a bug-user. Won't it be a better idea to listen to her and see what she has to say about this?" The ex-Suna kunoichi's voice had an audible tone of impatience and annoyance in it.
"Well…"
"Whatever. I'm gonna keep going. Contact me later if anything else comes up. This means all of you." The com-link turned off and Ino turned to the others.
"Well?"
As Sasuke and the others carefully followed the kunoichi, the Uchiha noticed they were getting nowhere near the Bear Mountain Pass.
He nudged Shino, and when the Aburame turned to him, he asked, "What did they say?"
". . . " Shino stated plainly, "They're going to Bee's Lair as a shortcut path."
". . . " If Sasuke remembered correctly…. "Isn't that where giant genetically-enhanced bees are at?"
Shino nodded, and Sasuke blinked. "Who suggested it and why?"
"Sakura and Ino. I'm guessing they've found a shorter way to get to the Pass without climbing up on the map and decided to take the chance. However, it's also possible that they don't consider the reality of gigantic mutant bees existing." He added the sentence after a thought.
". . . What did Hinata say about it?" The Uchiha asked, remembering the Hyuuga's cousin as one of the missing and the ex-teammate of the bug-user and the dog-keeper.
". . . Well, she was practical about it. Gigantic genetically-enhanced mutant bees are nothing to laugh at or joke around with. The possibly of their existence is probably around 80 percent." He stared at the Uchiha's confused face, and asked, "What did Orochimaru specialize in?"
"Experimentation." Sasuke said, realizing a second later that maybe the bees and the Sannin was connected, since, after all, they were on the path to meet him.
"Exactly." Shino said. "With ninja like Orochimaru running around the planet doing dozens of uncounted and unknown experiments, the possibilities of creating mutant bees are entirely probable." He pointed out bluntly.
"Also, there was a time when Team Eight and Naruto encountered a bug-user clan like my family. However, that clan focused especially on bees. This was one of the missions that was supposed one of the ways that would help find and bring you back." Shino told the Uchiha evenly.
Sasuke stayed silent.
"Alright. We're now entering the Bee's Lair. Stay close." Shikamaru ordered, and they all nodded.
Alright this is chapter 20! Sorry for the wait. Please read and review! Oh, and since yesterday was the New Years, I hope the year brings luck to all of you! Oh, and Valentine's Day too. Thanks for reading! Hope to update soon!
