I'm getting paid to write! I'm creating creatures and other threats for a table top game. That's part of the reason I've been absent for a while. Can't just abandon this story, though. Too much time invested in it to just stop now.
This chapter is the first of four detailing the exploits of the other genin teams while Five and Seven do their thing in Wave. If filler annoys you, don't just skip over these chapters. They have bearing on the overall plot.
Hinata went over the contents of her pack nervously, worried she had forgotten something important. It might have just been a C-rank mission, but it was her first. The mission had been bank rolled by the Fire Daimyo himself, too. Her father would never forgive her if she messed anything up. She was wishing fervently to all the fates that things would go well.
"Calm down, Hinata-chan," her Sensei's soft voice was coupled with the woman's hand on her shoulder, "You'll do fine."
Leave it to Kurenai to pick up her line of thinking so easily. She might have been ashamed that the woman could read her, a Hyuuga, like an open book, but she was just happy the woman could calm that inner voice that always told Hinata she wasn't good enough.
The boys were further away, next to the team's fire. Kiba was telling some anecdote about his family animatedly while Shino listened quietly. The dog user didn't seem at all put off by the bug user's seeming lack of responsiveness. They had all learned rather quickly that Shino was amazingly attentive to everything and only responded if he felt it necessary.
"W-what if something g-goes wrong, Sensei?" Hinata asked quietly, so her teammates would be spared her sniveling. She looked up to meet her Sensei's crimson orbs.
Kurenai smiled at her softly, "Something always goes wrong, Hinata-chan. I'm confident in you and the boys to handle whatever comes up, and if you can't, I can."
Kurenai was always so kind to her. She never told Hinata to give up no matter how many times the timid girl failed. She was always ready with constructive criticism to help her to get better, and always managed to make it sound like Hinata wasn't hopeless. Hinata longed for her own deceased mother, but Kurenai did a wonderful job filling the void she had left.
"Th-thank you, Sensei," Hinata smiled genuinely up at the woman.
"Let's join the boys," Kurenai suggested, "I think Kiba-kun is talking about the time he helped Uzumaki-kun let all the Inuzuka dogs out of the kennel."
Hinata giggled at the memories of shinobi running rampant trying to coral the rambunctious hounds. She closed her pack and followed her Sensei to the fire.
"Kaa had me mucking out the kennels for a month!" Kiba ended his story with righteous indignation, "Last time I helped Naruto with any of his pranks."
"One must be careful when offering aid to him," Shino agreed with his teammates decision, "Why? Because Naruto-san is highly unpredictable."
"N-naruto-kun is a g-good person," Hinata interjected her opinion on the lively blonde, "He j-just hasn't had anyone t-to show him what is r-right."
"He's got Hiroto," Kiba pointed out, "That guy's pretty cool."
"Hiroto-san is a jonin and out of the village a lot," Kurenai offered her two cents. She had to wonder how much worse the jinchuuriki would be if he were well and truly alone.
"I was not suggesting Naruto-san isn't a good person," Shino adjusted his glasses, irritated at his words being misconstrued, "I was simply stating that one cannot easily predict outcomes where he is concerned."
"He sure threw me when he showed up with a hitai-ate after failing the graduation test," Kiba smirked at the memory.
"H-he never gives up," Hinata replied softly.
"You are stuttering less recently, Hinata-san," Shino turned to regard his female teammate fully.
"Hey, yea!" Kiba agreed with a hint of excitement, "What's up with that? Not that it isn't a good thing."
Unused to so much attention the girl scrunched up a bit and began to poke her fingers together, "I d-don't know. I h-haven't noticed."
"Did Osamu finally make a move?" Kiba asked slyly. He might have been a hot-head, but he wasn't oblivious to the close friendship forming between his teammate and the odd genin. Akamaru barked from his lap, honestly curious about the answer.
"K-kiba-kun!" Hinata's voice rose. She was aghast that he would ask such a personal question, "W-we're just f-friends!"
"Kiba-san's question, while inappropriate, is not unfounded," the resident bug user commented, "Why? Because Osamu-san has been invited to dine with your family, and you, his."
Hinata was blushing furiously now. This wasn't the first time someone had insinuated there was something more between the two of them, but it still embarrassed her. The most vocal ones were Osamu's family and friends. They loved to pick at each other, and the small genin was a favorite target because he was hard to crack. She just happened to be caught in the crossfire.
"It wouldn't be that bad of a match," Kurenai mused with a smile, "He is rather talented, and he could bring something new into your clan."
"K-kurenai-s-sensei!" Hinata sputtered, "You t-too!?"
The genjutsu mistress laughed at how easy it was to fluster the young kunoichi. She would need to get over that if she was going to get who Kurenai suspected she really wanted. That was going to be an uphill battle if she ever saw one, and she wasn't sure Uzumaki Naruto was a good match for Hinata. She had seen stranger couples, though. Nara Shikaku and his wife came to mind.
"Time to get some rest, team," she brought their conversation to an end to spare the poor Hyuuga heiress anymore embarrassment, "We're up at dawn."
XxXxXxX
The fortress that guarded the road into Fire from the Land of Grass was an important strategic location for a number of reasons. Anyone who controlled it also controlled the best route into Fire from the North-west. That alone made it a target of Iwagakure during the last Shadow War. If not for a sharp eyed lookout, the fortress might have fallen on the night the first blows of the war had been struck. Instead, the incoming invasion was revealed, and the fortress defenders managed to hold against the attacking shinobi long enough for Konoha to bring in their own force and drive the invaders back into Grass.
When the war ended and cease-fires were signed, Konoha and Iwa had agreed that no shinobi would be permanently stationed at any fortress bordering Grass or Rain. Patrols were run, but without a standing force nearby, shinobi would have to send word all the way back to their village. On the flip side, any invading force large enough to pose a real threat would be easier to see coming since there were no shinobi stationed at the border.
Konoha partially negated the first issue by providing extensive training to the samurai and regular soldiers at the border forts. They were taught signs of a shinobi presence and the key to fighting against the tricky warriors. The Daimyo aided this pursuit by assigning a cadre of sensors to the forts.
Kurenai made sure that her team was aware of all of these things as they trekked to the location of their mission. She impressed upon them that the garrison soldiers were adaptable and well trained and shouldn't be mocked or underestimated. They would likely be unhappy that a team of shinobi had been sent to help them track down bandits, as they took great pride in their ability to get along without Konoha's aid.
When they came into the courtyard of the fortress, they had been greeted politely if a bit coldly, and been shown to a chamber where they were to wait for the garrison commander. Kurenai was giving her team some last minute instructions.
"I want the three of you to be quiet while I discuss the situation with the post commander," Kurenai instructed her students seriously, "Especially you, Kiba-kun."
"I'm not that bad!" the boy protested vehemently. When everyone on his team gave him incredulous looks, even his own small hound, he hung his head, "I'll be quiet..."
After another minute of waiting an older man in a painfully formal black kimono swept in. His graying light brown hair was pulled into a topknot common amongst the Legion, and despite his somewhat bureaucratic appearance, his green eyes had the hard glint of a warrior. Judging by the katana and wakazashi at his side, he was a samurai. That wasn't unusual considering few regulars ever made it as an officer, and even then, not very far.
"Yuhi Kurenai," he said with frosty neutrality in greeting after sweeping his eyes over the team, "I trust your genin are capable of the job before them?"
She felt irritation well up towards the samurai for suggesting her team might not be able to perform. The jonin waited a moment before answering to see if the brash and easily provoked Kiba would lose his cool. He thankfully didn't, so she decided to reward him by putting the samurai in his place.
"Of course, Toukan-sama," she replied in equally chilly tones, "I'm sure my genin will be able to find your bandits in short order. We are happy to help your garrison in this task."
It was a bit obvious for a veiled insult, insinuating that Toukan's men couldn't handle the job on their own, but she wanted her genin to catch it as well. Hinata in particular needed to learn to verbally spar if she were going to take the reigns of her clan one day.
Toukan's eyes flashed in anger for a moment before he masked it, "Excellent. If you meet with the patrol captain, he can provide you with his field notes and relevant maps."
The commander turned on his heel and stalked out of the meeting room.
"Did Sensei do what I think she just did?" Kiba asked, scratching his head, "Cause, if she did, that was awesome."
"Kurenai-sensei is quite adroit in conversation," Shino agreed, the barest hint of amusement in his voice.
Hinata was trying very hard to hide an amused smile. She didn't want to seem like she had enjoyed Kurenai telling the arrogant man off, but she also felt good knowing the jonin would leap to defend them.
"You are all to show Toukan Makoto the utmost respect," Kurenai told them while hiding her amusement, "He has his position for a reason."
It wasn't long before Kurenai had the info she needed to get them on their search. The patrol captain had been much more warm to them, happy to have help for a problem that had been vexing him for weeks now. He complained that whenever they seemed to be about to pin down their hiding place, the bandits would disappear for a few days and pick back up harassing travelers somewhere else along the road. Kurenai assured him that they would pin them down so the Legionnaires could take care of them.
The next week would prove to be a draining one.
XxXxXxX
Four days in and they hadn't found so much as a single soul. No one to follow. No one to capture and question. Not one single bandit. It was midday, and they had converged back together from their spread out search formation for a midday meal.
"This is so damn annoying!" Kiba growled angrily, "It's like they know exactly where we're looking."
The rest of the team couldn't deny his observation. It was honestly the only way anyone could hide from their team effectively. Kurenai lapsed into thought as her genin chatted to ease their frustration. Between two hyper-sensitive noses, the all seeing eye, and the vibration sensing kikaichu their team should have found the bandits by now. Kurenai was beginning to suspect there were more than bandits in these woods.
That worried her immensely. Anyone good enough to watch their movements undetected would have to be a shinobi. Her team wasn't put together for combat like Gai's or Kakashi's, and they weren't ready for any enemy that could hide from them. She had already determined their style would be to bring down enemies through ambush or attrition, and their unknown foe probably wouldn't give them the chance for either.
The problem was their hidden foe was refusing to attack them. Kurenai thought it likely that they were waiting for the right moment. She had a choice to make here. She could take the cautious approach and pull her team out to get more shinobi, but there were some serious problems with that.
First was the fact that it would tip her hand. As a genjutsu artist, deception wasn't just part of her skill set, it was a part of her very being, and she understood that so long as she didn't let on that she knew, she held an advantage.
Second was that she would be making Konoha look weak not just to the Fire Legion, but also to Kusa and Iwa. She had no doubt they would catch wind that she had backed off. It was entirely possible that the unknown threat was Iwa in the first place. Kusa was less likely but still a remote possibility.
The last problem was the confidence hit her team would take. Kids their age, even stoic ones like Shino and brash ones like Kiba, were fragile in their self esteem. All of her genin came from well known shinobi clans whose abilities made them some of the best hunter/seekers in the world. If they couldn't even accomplish a task within the bounds of their specialty, their confidence would be sorely damaged. Her boys could bounce back eventually, but she didn't know if Hinata's tenuous grasp on her self worth would survive.
She sighed inwardly as the she came to her decision. She would need to create the opening their enemies needed. Their first target would likely be Hinata. Her timid nature would mark her as a weak link, and she was an unmarked Hyuuga. Even her corpse would fetch a high price on the black market. Hinata was more dangerous than anyone assumed, though. It was her reluctance to harm friends and family that attenuated her measured skill. Kurenai had no doubt that as soon as her teammates were threatened, the girl would fight fiercely.
Kiba would move to protect her once the shit hit the fan. The boy had thrown himself into the role of team protector with gusto. He was tougher, stronger, and faster than both of his teammates and knew it. She knew he would protect his pack with his life if it came to it. That was just how the Inuzuka were.
Kurenai could trust Shino to run interference for Kiba. The bug user was quite used to supporting the wilder boy, and would watch his back. He also had the amazing ability to verbally restrain Kiba from doing anything foolish. Many might have thought the dog user to be too headstrong, but he understood his shortcomings and allowed his teammates to cover them.
Kurenai trusted them to hold out against anyone at their skill or lower. It was likely whoever was pulling the strings would send fodder at the genin. The master would be the real threat that she would have to take care of. She figured whoever it was would be at least as dangerous as her if they could hide as well as they had. She idly wondered if she could bait them in the morning when her team was fully rested.
XxXxXxX
"I have to go take care of business," Kurenai told her team as she stretched in the morning, "I'll try to keep it downwind."
Kiba guffawed at her crass humor. It wasn't like her to say things like that, and it had caught them all off guard. That was the way Kurenai was, though. She constantly kept her team guessing, her personality seemingly mercurial. It kept them on their toes and constantly alert, like any good hunter/seeker team.
As she walked away, Shino tossed her a roll of toilet tissue. Just like Kiba he was unfazed by the open admittance of bodily function other than well concealed amusement at her joke. Hinata was blushing lightly. It had taken a couple of months to get her used to the idea of eliminating waste in the wild. Kurenai had actually forced her to keep from using the many public restrooms about Konoha for patrolling shinobi to use. Instead she had to do all of her business in the bushes of the training grounds.
Kurenai trekked downwind of her team like she promised, but she went farther than she might have. She set the toilet tissue aside and performed a simple doton to make a small pit. At least that was what it looked like to anyone watching. Instead she performed one of her favorite genjutsu, replacing herself with an image and turning invisible.
The image went about the task of eliminating waste, and she found herself vaguely annoyed and disgusted that someone was probably watching it. She left the image in place and moved away with the utmost stealth to find her hidden enemy. If they were going to attack, it was going to happen soon.
XxXxXxX
Kiba was fighting with his puppy over a stick back at camp while Shino worked to make them a decent breakfast over a fire. Kurenai insisted they all be proficient in camp cooking, and so they took turns at it. So far Hinata was the worst, never having cooked anything in her life before Team Eight. Kiba was the best, as every Inuzuka was taught to be self sufficient.
Under his very vocal tutelage, the other two were improving quickly. Hinata still often burned food, her understanding of how to work with the heat of the fire incomplete, but her knowledge of preparing food without a fire had come along nicely. Shino, for his part, did very well at cooking the meat, but his taste in seasoning was odd at best. They chalked it up to the bugs.
Kiba noticed the danger first, a faint whiff of weapon oil and sweat reaching his nostrils. Akamaru wasn't far behind him, dropping his end of the stick and growling quietly. The other two genin understood the warning immediately. Shino immediately began to disperse his combat swarm as Hinata flew through the seals to activate her Byakugan.
Hinata's world became shades of silver as the world within fifty meters of her flooded her with information. She saw their camp was surrounded not just by a group of nearly fifty men, but also a genjutsu that had kept the genin from noticing until they were within striking distance. Before she could inform her teammates, the assailants charged as one with a cry.
XxXxXxX
Shino replaced himself with a bug clone as he leapt for the trees. They weren't as tall or large as those in the core of Fire, but it was still better for him to be out of the thick of the fighting. A man with a naginata tore into his clone, only to be swarmed by the kikaichu. The man was out in a second, his chakra dropped to barely survivable levels. Shino directed the swarm to fall over another man who screamed, and then sent a couple of his bugs to hide on his teammates in case they got separated.
He turned his attention outward from the camp when he heard the telltale creak of wood that meant bows were coming into play. One of the attackers had spotted him and sent an arrow his way, which Shino dodged by hopping higher into the tree. He sent a swarm of fliers at the archer's face, causing his next shot to go wide and hit one of his companions in the back. Once the man was down due to chakra exhaustion, Shino directed his fliers to begin attacking and draining the other archers he could see.
A yelp of surprise caught his attention and he looked back at the camp to see Hinata in the arms of a burly man wearing an Iwa hitai-ate. He bounded off with his prisoner. The bandits stayed to cut off Kiba or Shino from pursuing.
The bug user was about to shout something to Kiba when all hell broke loose.
XxXxXxX
Hinata had no time to warn her companions as the bandits rushed in. All she could do was begin ducking and weaving as the assailants tried to strike her with all manner of blunt weapons. She knew why they were avoiding using bladed weapons against her. She had been warned many times that her eyes were coveted all over the continent. They were trying to subdue her so they could take her prisoner.
A man with a staff jabbed his weapon at her midsection, only for her to gracefully sidestep the blow and touch him on his leading hand, elbow, then shoulder. He cried out in pain, and she winced as he dropped his staff and backed off.
He was replaced in moments by a small man with a pair of tonfa. He proved slightly better than his predecessor, and she had to dodge his strikes and a multitude of others. She received a few glancing hits, but one thing training with her family had done was introduce her to pain... lots of it. She was tougher for it, and shrugged off the hurt easily.
The tonfa wielder stepped in and spun one of his weapons out in a backhand strike. Gambling, she caught the pole, causing a great deal of pain to run up her arm, and tugged. He proved unwilling to give up one of his weapons, and was pulled into range of her other hand. She struck out at the closest tenketsu that would drop him from the fight, his third eye, but in the heat of battle, the chakra spike she was using was more powerful than she intended. It shredded his frontal cortex, and he fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
The realization of what she had just done froze her in place, long enough for something to strike her on the upper back hard enough to drop her to a knee. She let out a pained and surprised yelp, and tried to stand, but burly arms wrapped her in a bear hug. She found herself being carried from the battle.
XxXxXxX
Kiba had been secretly hoping for something like this. It was a rare Inuzuka that wasn't born to battle. Even Hana, Kiba's medic sister, loved a good row. Kiba was glad that these weren't ninja, though. He was wild, not stupid, and knew he needed to cut his teeth on something he could readily handle before testing himself against the wiles of other shinobi.
He laughed happily as he threw his butt back to keep from having his guts spilled from the swipe of a sword, and responded to the attack by swiping across the man's face with his elongated claws. The guy fell back screaming, holding his face as it welled blood.
Another enemy managed a shallow cut on his arm, causing him to growl in pain. His growl turned into a feral grin when he saw his assailant cry out and fall over. Akamaru had just done a number to one of his ankles. Still, he was in trouble, and he knew he needed to reach Hinata or Shino if he hoped to survive this. There were too many to dodge all at once, and the Inuzuka style was never made for defense.
"TSUGA!" he yelled out, kicking himself into a chakra fueled spin that threw back every one around him. He went in the direction he'd last seen Hinata. He could still smell the faint scent of the flowers she loved to press.
His Tsuga petered out after about two meters, destabilizing as he lost control of the chakra flow. Maybe Kurenai was right about practicing his control after all. He had plenty of chakra for more of the insane spinning taijutsu maneuvers, though.
A yelp of pain and surprise reached his sensitive ears; it was Hinata.
He caught a glimpse of a large man carrying her off and tried to follow, but the downward chop of a naginata cut him off.
"Where you going, dog boy?" the wielder asked menacingly, "That girl's gonna make us some good money."
Kiba glared balefully at him, earning a laugh from the other thugs that had surrounded him to keep him away from Hinata's captor.
"Maybe we'll get to have some fun with her," another joked lewdly, "She's a bit young, but that won't bother some of these freaks."
More laughter could be heard, but Kiba wasn't paying attention. His mind was focused on that single sentence, 'Maybe we'll get to have some fun with her,' and its implications. They were going to rape Hinata... his teammate. His packmate.
There were few things in the world that could infuriate an Inuzuka faster or more completely than threatening one of their packmates. Just about anyone in Fire knew that, and the bandits were counting on the wet behind the ears genin to lose his cool and become an easy kill.
It was a solid strategy that had cost more than one Inuzuka their life. What they were about to find out was Kiba was perhaps the worst possible choice of his generation to anger. Something snapped in him, and he saw red. His enemies saw only their death.
XxXxXxX
Kurenai cursed inwardly as she dispelled another genjutsu designed to throw her off her enemies trail. It hadn't taken long for the mystery leader of the ambush to realize she was on the hunt. She was homing in on him, but she could hear the battle going on and she desperately wanted to go aid her genin. She had to eliminate this threat first, though. If she didn't before she revealed herself, her team would be in a world of shit.
Her opponent was a true genjutsu master, as evidenced by the constant use of wide area, non-rote illusions. They were getting imaginative in their approach. At one point she had found herself trapped in a maze formed by the forest itself. She had caught on after only a couple of turns and gotten rid of that one.
One she didn't dispel was a sound dampening illusion that got stronger the closer she got to her enemy. Her foe was creative, but foolish for leaving up such a genjutsu. It was only useful if your enemy didn't know you existed. It was making pinpointing them difficult, true, but the more muffled the nearby battle became, the closer she knew she was.
She came through a particularly thick patch of undergrowth to see a man nearby. At least she thought it was a man based on the build. He was covered in a thick cloak with the hood up to shadow his face. He was looking in her direction, and launched a brace of kunai at her the moment she spotted him.
Her image disappeared as she rushed him from another angle and pierced his temple with her own blade, only for his body to melt away like a candle in fast-forward. She was about to turn when she felt a blade press to her throat.
"I expected more from Yuhi Kurenai," a decidedly masculine voice chuckled darkly, "Konoha's genjutsu mistress, my ass."
She smiled as she ran a blade across his throat from behind, the image before him popping like a soap bubble.
"I hate to disappoint," she whispered into his ear as he gurgled, drowning in his own blood.
She threw back his hood and frowned. He wore an Iwa hitai-ate, but unless Stone was taking in Suna's nukenin, it didn't belong to him. She quickly stored the body in a scroll and headed for her genin. With the sound dampening genjutsu gone, she could tell the battle had gotten worse. On the bright side, she could hear screams of agony and terror, and none of them were coming from her genin that she could tell.
XxXxXxX
Shino watched in mute amazement as his normally brash and fun loving teammate became a whirlwind of pain and death. He was laying about himself with abandon, tearing out throats with both claws and teeth. When he couldn't reach their necks, he tore at their limbs, and many of the thugs would never walk again if they survived at all.
Akamaru was proving to be just as vicious. It looked as if the dog had gotten a soldier pill, as his fur was red as blood. He was dragging men twenty times his size to the ground where he would maul their faces until they stopped thrashing.
Soon, the enemy was in full retreat from the single furious Inuzuka and his dog. Kiba didn't bother chasing them. Instead he dropped to all fours and shot off after the man who had carried off Hinata. Shino followed, being careful not to catch Kiba's attention. He got the feeling doing so would not end well for him.
Keeping up with the dog user in his current state proved difficult for Shino, but he managed. Soon, he felt a presence next to him, and sighed in relief when he found it was his Sensei.
"Report," she ordered curtly as they ran.
"Hinata-san has been captured by what I believe is an Iwa shinobi," he informed her, somewhat breathlessly, "Kiba-san has flown into some sort of rage. I don't think approaching him is a good idea at the moment."
Kurenai nodded at his assesment, "Tsume warned me this could happen. He has the Gekijou."
"What do you mean?" her genin asked as they ran.
"I'll explain after we retrieve Hinata-chan and calm Kiba-kun," she told him and they fell silent.
Kiba's tracking skills didn't seem to take a hit in his current state, as they soon came upon Hinata's captor. To their surprise, he was already having trouble walking. His situation got much worse when Kiba began to spin.
XxXxXxX
Hinata's surprise soon gave way to fear. She'd been captured, and she knew what would happen to her if she didn't escape. Death was the next best option. She was manhandled from her awkward position in front of her captor to one over his shoulder. She remained limp, feigning unconsciousness. Maybe he wouldn't stop to secure her if he thought she was out. He still did have to get away from her team, after all.
She hoped desperately that they were okay. She knew Kiba would be after her as soon as he could, and even the tactically minded Shino would look for the earliest opportunity to break away . She cursed her weakness. They could get killed if their minds weren't fully in the fight, and it would be her fault.
Hinata could still hear battle, though, which meant they were still alive. It died away quickly; her big captor was fast. She needed to do something about that, or her team would never catch him. She was afraid, though. If she did something to him, he may just kill her on the spot and take her eyes.
She gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. Her arms were dangling down his back, completely free. She slowly did the seals to reactivate her eyes, and choosing a bundle of nerves that led down into his right leg, she jabbed it with a chakra spike.
"GAH!" he stumbled down to a knee.
She was pulled off his shoulder and slugged right in the face twice. Unable to concentrate on anything, her eyes went back to normal and she had to fight off the blackness that threatened to swallow her.
She was thrown back over his shoulder as he continued to limp away. He only manage another fifty meters before a feral growling caused him to stop.
XxXxXxX
Kiba watched in a detached fashion from his own mind as his body wreaked bloody havoc on their enemies. He saw through a red haze as he tore through their enemies with no mercy. He caught glimpses of Akamaru doing the same, and wondered if the dog was experiencing the same thing he was.
When his foes began to flee, he felt the urge to chase them, but he screamed at himself that Hinata was still in danger. His body shot off in the direction she had been taken, and he quickly found the scent. The longer it took to catch up, the angrier he got, until he came into sight of the large man who'd run off with his packmate.
He skidded to a stop and let out a low, animalistic growl, causing his target to come to a stop himself. Turning slowly to take in the threat, he chose to set his burden down and back away slowly.
"I wasn't paid enough to risk dying," he told the angry Inuzuka calmly, trying to back up, "I'll be on my way."
Kiba heard none of it. This man had tried to carry away one of his packmates. He launched himself at the burly ninja and began to spin. A thought filtered its way to the calm part of his mind, that Tsuga had never come so effortlessly to him, or done so much damage.
The enemy ninja managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, but he couldn't get his bum leg out of the way in time. The terrible forces produced by the rage fueled technique tore it to shreds, and he was left screaming in the blood soaked dirt.
Kiba landed from his spin and turned to go in for another pass. He stopped short when someone shouted at him.
"Kiba!" Kurenai yelled with authority, Shino standing next to her, "Stand down! We need him alive."
He growled at her. No one would stand in the way of his fury. He charged them with a battle cry and swiped at Shino, the closer target. The bug user sidestepped the vicious attack and back pedaled.
"Kiba-san," the Aburame was fighting hard to keep his voice calm, "We are your allies. Please calm down."
Kiba kept up his assault, growing angrier as he was denied the fulfillment of his rage.
"Kiba-kun!" a cry from Hinata stopped the dog user short, "Stop!"
He had been trying to save her, right? He shook his head in confusion. Why was he attacking Shino again? Were they sparring?
The Inuzuka fell to a knee as he felt all of his energy flee from him in an instant. He had never felt so tired before. He fell face first onto the ground, and blackness consumed him.
XxXxXxX
Kurenai rushed over to Hinata while Shino checked to make sure Kiba was okay. The girls face was bruising pretty badly, but other than that and some more bruising across her body she seemed to be okay. The jonin turned to the kidnapper who had stopped screaming and was now instead breathing heavily and rapidly. If she didn't do something soon, he would die from shock and blood loss.
Shino joined her as she finished tying off a tourniquet at the top of his leg. The thing was done for. Shino fed the man a blood pill to help replace what he had lost.
"Fuck..." the captive groaned out, "The hell is wrong with that kid?"
Kurenai slapped him across the face, "Shut up."
He quieted down, not wanting to further infuriate the people currently working to save his life. He felt something poke into the crux of his elbow and he began to feel drowsy. He was unconscious in a minute.
"Keep an eye on him, Shino-kun," Team Eight's leader ordered tiredly, "Don't let him die."
The boy nodded as Kurenai went back to Hinata to do a more thorough check of her health, both mental and physical.
"Is K-kiba-kun okay?" she asked quietly, worry written all over her bruised face, "W-what was wrong w-with him?"
"He's inherited a rare and dangerous ability from his clan," Kurenai answered while checking the girl's body over for damage beyond the bruises from the glancing blows she had taken, "Something during the battle triggered it."
"I may know what," Shino offered from where he stood, his bugs crawling over their prisoner to monitor his heartbeat, "One of our attackers tried to infuriate him by suggesting that they would force themselves on Hinata-san."
"It worked, apparently," Kurenai's lips thinned into a grimace, "At least you're all okay. I'm sorry I had to leave you to that fight alone. There was a bigger threat I had to handle. I didn't think there would be two of them."
Hinata shook her head, "I should h-have spotted them."
Kurenai smiled at her student, "You had no reason to suspect anything, and I ordered you to leave off the Byakugan during the night so you could fully rest."
"There is no reason to blame yourself," Shino agreed with the jonin, "Why? Because neither Kiba-san nor myself detected anything until they were on us."
"How did you get caught, Hinata-chan?" Kurenai didn't want to bring it up, but she needed to know.
"I f-froze," the girl admitted miserably, "I c-couldn't control m-my chakra s-spike, and I d-destroyed a m-man's brain."
Kurenai could have sighed in relief. When the girl had said she froze, she was worried she hadn't fought. Instead the shock of killing a man had done it. It still wasn't good, but she could run damage control on it.
"That's okay," the jonin wrapped her in a hug, "I froze the first time I killed someone, too."
"I d-didn't mean t-to k-kill him," Hinata began to cry into her Sensei's chest.
"Don't feel guilty, Hinata-chan," Kurenai told her soothingly, "They were trying to take you away and sell you. They were trying to kill your team. They don't deserve any mercy or your guilt. Understand?"
She felt the girl nod, but her sobs only got worse, "B-but Kiba..."
"What happened to him was inevitable," the jonin replied before the girl could try to blame herself for that, "His rage is a part of him. You have no control over that."
"You were able to draw him out of it," Shino pointed out to Hinata, "Had you not done so, I might have been injured or worse. I am in your debt, Hinata-san."
Kurenai held her female student until she cried herself to sleep. She placed the girl near Shino so he could watch over her as well and set out into the woods to locate the still missing Akamaru. Dog or not, he was as much a part of the team as any of the genin.
She found him passed out on top of the corpse of one of his mauling victims covered in blood. She found that none of it was his own, and silently thanked whatever Kami would listen for small mercies. Kiba's life was about to get much harder, and the loss of his companion would only make things exponentially worse.
Now she just needed to figure out what was going on with the bandits. She hurried back to where Shino was, to find he had moved his charges to a better spot. There had been a hollow nearby that he had hidden their prisoner and his team in. Kurenai left them again after dropping off Akamaru to track the bandits back to their hideout.
XxXxXxX
Bandits, as a rule, were some of the most diverse people on the continent. Many of them were victims of circumstance, ousted from their homes by uncaring lords or the violent conflicts that ripped across the land from time to time. These men, and rarely women, often grew jaded and cruel as time went on, turning them from victims to something much worse. Their original crime was nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and their final punishment would often be death.
Some, however, were simply bastards to begin with, preying on others without remorse from the start. One thing they shared across the spectrum, no matter their origin, was loyalty to their gang. Without that, the shinobi and samurai would easily destroy them. One might think that the toughest nuts to crack for an interrogator were shinobi, but unless one included the specially trained ANBU, bandits often proved their mettle was greater under the sweet ministrations of torturers.
Another talent they had was the ability to disappear from an area with an alacrity that shinobi would be proud of. They were more than willing to leave behind what they couldn't carry, and they knew well the back ways of the countries they haunted. Many an enterprising group had made quite a bit of ryo by selling such information to shinobi. Some even sold their services as a guerrilla force during times of conflict.
Hiring a group of bandits could be a rather cagey option, however. They were not a military organization, and the failure of their mission would often mean they would disappear without a trace with what they had already been paid.
Sadly for the band that had attacked Team Eight, they hadn't had time to move out after their debacle of an ambush before their employer had shown up for a report. He was cloaked to prevent identification, and they couldn't tell much more than his height under the voluminous garment. The bandits were twitchy because of the two nukenin that led them, one had been found with a slit throat and the other was missing.
In lieu of them, one of the older and more experienced bandits was conversing with the cloaked man. He had a single gray eye, the other socket covered by bandages wrapped about his head. He had no hair to speak of, and he was wrapped in strips of boiled leather to protect his skin from grazing blows. His hands rested on his twin scimitars' grips, ready to draw and strike.
"What do you mean they aren't here?" the hooded figure asked sharply.
"They ain't back yet," the temporary leader responded in an irritated tone, "How many times I gotta say it?"
"Where are they, then?" the cloaked man asked, "They charged me a great deal, and those Rock plates were not cheap. I want to know if what I paid for is done."
"You'll know when we know," the bandit replied evenly. His men were getting antsy, but this didn't have to end in bloodshed. He did not want to fight this man.
"I think you're just stalling and trying to get rid of me," they could almost hear his narrowed eyes, "You failed in your task, didn't you."
The bandits bristled at the insult. Many of them had spoken out against taking money to attack shinobi, but it had been enough ryo to silence their grumbling.
"So what if we are," the leader shot back angrily, "We gave no guarantees. Even green shinobi are dangerous, and one went wild like a rabid dog."
"This can't get out, you fool," the man in the cloak said to him in a dangerous tone, "If the Daimyo gets wind of this, he'll have my head."
"That sounding to me like a 'you problem'," one of the other bandits chimed in, earning some laughs from his fellows, "Run along now, soldier boy. We could care less about your politics."
"I don't believe you understand," the hooded figure sneered, "Those shinobi will track you down and get the truth out of you. That will not happen."
He threw off the cloak, revealing Toukan Makoto armored and ready for battle. Before any of the bandits could react, he had drawn his katana and removed the head of their one eyed leader.
Enraged by the betrayal, the other men let out a battle cry and charged him. Against such an experienced warrior and chakra user, they died to a man.
The commander didn't see the woman hidden amongst the trees, capturing pictures of him with a small camera. Kurenai had learned long ago how easy it was to hide the flash from people using genjutsu. The photos she slunk away with were damning, but the audio recording she got was the nail in the coffin for the traitorous general.
XxXxXxX
Kiba awoke with a start from what he thought was a nightmare. The aching of his body and the sharper pains of many smaller cuts told him that wasn't true. He couldn't move too well and so had to rely on his nose to get his bearings.
He could smell Shino, Hinata, and Akamaru nearby along with a scent that was more recently familiar. His Sensei's scent was there, too, but faded some. She wasn't there, then.
"I figured you would be out longer," he heard Shino comment in his ever calm voice, "Why? Because I would suppose what you just went through was exhausting."
"So it was real?" Kiba had held onto a sliver of hope, "I went berserk?"
"You did," the bug user replied, "It may have saved us, too."
"I attacked you, Shino!" Kiba couldn't quite shout, "How can you be so calm?"
"You were not in a state of mind to recognize friend from foe," the Aburame replied evenly, "There is no reason for recriminations."
Kiba fell silent for a minute before replying, "I'm sorry, anyway."
"I appreciate your consideration, Kiba-san," he could almost hear Shino adjusting his glasses. He usually did that in place of an emotional response, "I must ask. What was it that happened to you? Kurenai-sensei mentioned it being called Gekijou."
"I'd... rather not talk about it at the moment," the Inuzuka told him with a deep sigh, "I should wait until Hinata is awake before I do, anyway."
"Very well," Shino acquiesced easily.
It wasn't long before Kurenai's scent grew strong again. Her face appeared in his line of sight, smiling down at him.
"You gave me quite a scare, Kiba-kun," she told him softly, "I thought I was going to have to disable you."
"What brought me down?" he couldn't help but ask. The rage wasn't exactly conducive to memory.
"Hinata-chan," she replied simply, "How do you feel? There are a lot of corpses back there."
"Screw those fuckers," he blustered immediately. He meant it, too.
Kurenai nodded, happy he wasn't having fallout from the death if not with his general attitude about it. Inuzuka were infamous for their lack of empathy on the battlefield.
"How is our prisoner, Shino-kun?" she left his vision and moved to where Shino was.
"He is stable for now," he replied, "I have had some flesh-eaters finish severing the leg, and I have covered the stump with an antiseptic bandage. If we maintain the tourniquet, he should survive."
"Excellent," she moved to Hinata and shook her awake gently, "Hinata-chan. We need to move out."
The girl shot upright and gasped. Her Byakugen activated on instinct alone, and Kurenai had to deflect a surprisingly well aimed Jyuken strike.
"Calm down," she wrapped the girl in another hug to keep her from freaking out further. She was amazed to see her reacting in much the same way she had after her first kill. Her poor teammate had gotten a Nurakama instead, but it was essentially the same.
Hinata's breathing slowed until she gently extricated herself from her Sensei, "I'm o-okay."
She moved to where Kiba lay and looked down at him, "Thank you for saving me, Kiba-kun."
He smiled up at her, but lost it when he saw her face. The left of it was a mass of purple and yellow. He began to see red again, and started to growl deep in his chest.
"Calm down, Kiba!" Kurenai shouted, drawing him from the brink of rage, "Another Gekijou while you're this tired and you could die."
He panted as he fought back the anger welling deep inside from seeing Hinata hurt. Finally he managed to bring it under control.
"I'm good, Sensei," he panted out after he'd managed it, "I'm good."
She let out a sigh of relief, and went into command mode, "Shino-kun. You carry Kiba-kun. Hinata-chan, take the pup. I'll take our prisoner."
"Are we g-going back to the f-fortress?" Hinata asked timidly.
"No..." Kurenai said with a grim look, "We're going to the capital."
XxXxXxX
Every jonin in Konoha had an effective rank in the Fire Legion of Captain allowing them a measure of authority over the Legionnaires. This also allowed jonin with a serious issue to come before the Daimyo, Banshou Noburu, rather quickly. The fact she was carrying a drugged shinobi prisoner to him instead of the Hokage was telling, as well. So after a week of travel, Team Eight managed to stand before the sovereign of Fire within just a few hours of entering the capital.
Hinata was understandably mortified by the thought of going before the Daimyo with her face bruised as it was. Kiba had settled her by saying if he had a problem with a soldier being injured, he didn't have a right to be a leader. The Inuzuka and Akamaru were able to move on their own by this time, and didn't have to suffer through looking weak.
They dropped off their prisoner in the palace dungeon, which was normally reserved for political prisoners, but would serve to hold the ninja, heavily sedated as he was, while Kurenai explained her reasons for being here.
At Kurenai's request, Noburu had cleared his audience hall of all but his two samurai guardians, and the shinobi of the Twelve Guardian Ninja Squad. Only two were visible, a pair of Kiba's clan, who were married. They sported a pack of five large mastiffs between the two of them. The only animals ever allowed in this area of the palace. They had a distinct interest in the young Inuzuka who had shown the Gekijou.
Noburu himself wasn't a very large man, coming in just taller than the jonin. Despite this, he held an air of power that wasn't due to his position. His thick black hair gave no indication to his actual age, and was pulled into a topknot, to which a golden flame attached to signify his position. His eyes were a piercing violet, a common trait in his line. His clothing was rather simple, considering his rank, a red battle kimono. On his hip was his Daisho; the Daimyo was an accomplished warrior, as acclaimed amongst the samurai as the Hokage was amongst shinobi.
He was kneeling on a cushion upon a dais raised a few steps above the rest of the room.
"Yuhi Kurenai," he intoned her name as if sampling a fine wine as she walked in with her team, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Hiruzen-dono speaks highly of you."
Kurenai knelt on the cushion set out for her as her team did the same on their own. They all bowed their heads to the floor as she had instructed them. They rose back to the kneeling position when Noburu ordered them to.
"You do me honor, Banshou-sama," she replied to him sincerely, "I only wish the reason for my visit were not so dire."
"Your team has the look of fresh battle," Noburu frowned as he took in their appearance, "I've not seen a Hyuuga so injured since the last war. Are you well, dear?"
Hinata squeaked in surprise at being directly addressed by the powerful man, "Y-yes, B-banshou-sama."
"Your young Inuzuka looks a bit worse for wear, as well," Banshou smirked at the boy, "But then, they have always preferred to be in the thick of things."
"Got that right," Kiba puffed out his chest, then realized where he was, "Uh... Banshou-sama."
"If you don't mind, Banshou-sama," the female Inuzuka looked to the Daimyo, "I would like to take the genin to the royal physician to be checked out."
"Of course, Tsubaki-san," he nodded to her, "We will discuss your request for discharge later."
The woman gave a bow, and collected the genin, leading from the hall by a different route in which they had come.
"You message was somewhat vague, Yuhi-san," Noburu got down to business, "Though certainly alarming. What is this possible treason you speak of."
"You know of my mission to the border of Grass to track down a large bandit group there, yes?" she wanted to confirm he was actually privy to it, and not just signing requests only having skimmed them.
"I am," he confirmed.
Kurenai took a deep breath. Accusing a commander of treason was a serious thing, no matter if he was guilty or not.
"I believe Toukan Makoto is complicit in a plot to have my team killed," she said, causing the normally implacable leader's eyes to widen slightly, "He provided incomplete information about their strength, and I witnessed him conversing with the bandits. I believe he also may have conspired to have Hinata-chan kidnapped to be sold."
"These are serious charges, Yuhi-san," Noburu frowned deeply, "You have proof I take it?"
"I do," she retrieved the negatives she had developed with a field kit, and a tape recorder, "These are pictures of him meeting with the bandits, and a recording of his conversation with them."
One of the samurai guards stepped forward to retrieve the items. A quick check by him, then by the remaining Inuzuka confirmed them as safe for Noburu to handle. He switched on the recording device to listen while he examined the negatives.
As he went through both, his face grew more and more grave. When he was done, he handed both to the Inuzuka, who stowed them for later.
"Yumiko-san," he called out. A woman in a plain jonin uniform embellished only with the Guardian sash appeared before him in a puff of smoke and kneeled, "You will head to the border fort we have been discussing and arrest Makoto. When you have him, take him back to Konaha and ask if Morino-san wouldn't mind terribly speaking with him."
Without a word, she was gone again.
"You don't want him brought here?" Kurenai asked with surprise.
"He has wronged Konoha as much as me," Noburu explained, "I would like the Hokage involved with the investigation."
"I thank you for the consideration," she bowed her head in honest respect.
"You may go to your team now," the leader dismissed her. He waved a hand at the remaining Inuzuka, "Yuudai-san will take you."
XxXxXxX
Inuzuka Yuudai was a rather small man, actually shorter than Kurenai, and didn't have any of the feral features of his clan, save the two red fangs on his cheeks. His eyes were a soft golden color, which went nicely with his bright, shoulder length blonde hair. He wore a chuunin vest from Konoha, but due to his position on the Guardian Squad, he didn't wear the Leaf plate. Underneath the vest was a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, and he wore a set of gray pants and standard issue sandals.
If Kurenai remembered right, Yuudai was actually not born to the clan, but instead was made a full member after marrying Tsubaki, Tsume's younger sister. That was a rare occurrence amongst the loyal but insular clan. They rarely gave those brought in from the outside such honor, but the two black mastiffs trailing him loyally showed his skill in their hijutsu. Even more impressive was that was only half of his pack. His wife sported only one bonded ninken. If tales of her rages were true, that was all she needed.
"How are things in Konoha, Yuhi-san?" Yuudai asked as they moved through the palace at a sedate pace.
"Kurenai is fine," she told him amicably, "Things are well for the most part. Hokage-sama is about to pull the last of his hair out organizing the Spring Chunin Exams."
"Will you be nominating your team?" the unusually polite Inuzuka asked, "If your written report is anything to go by, they could do well."
"I don't know," she frowned, remembering Kiba's rage, "With Kiba-kun manifesting your clan's rage..."
"Tsubaki will sort him out," Yuudai shot her a confident smile, "And I would be happy to train you and your genin on methods for controlling him."
"What about your duties here?" she asked with a hint of surprise.
"My wife has asked for our discharge, and I doubt Banshou-sama will disagree," Yuudai replied evenly, "We have given him four years of service already."
They lapsed into silence as the sounds of battle drifted to their ears. Kurenai almost bolted straight through the rice-paper doors into the large garden they were coming from, but Yuudai restrained her with a hand on her shoulder.
"It's just Tsubaki measuring Kiba-kun's Gekijou," he told her, "I would not suggest interrupting."
He led here to a clear area in the garden where the Inuzuka berserker was indeed fighting with her nephew.
Tsubaki looked much like her elder sister, with dark, wild hair and slitted eyes, but she was stockier and more solidly built with wide hips and a small bust. She forwent the flack jacket associated with her current rank in Konoha. Instead she wore a blood red vest studded with metal rings. It was a designation of her place in the Inuzuka clan as Keeper of the Fury. Under it was a simple mesh top with bandages binding her breasts down to preserve her modesty. Her pants were much the same style as most shinobi chose and black in color. Like Kurenai's first apprentice, she forwent footwear, instead choosing to bind her feat with yet more bandaging.
"C'mon whelp!" she taunted her furious nephew, "You haven't touched me yet. What good is all that anger if you can't use it?"
Off to the side, watching with concern, were a freshly healed Hinata and Shino. Hinata's feelings about the spar were far more obvious, but Kurenai could see Shino's fingers twitching in the beginnings of bug directing motions from time to time.
Sitting with them, watching carefully for signs of Tsubaki flying into her own rage were Yuudai's other hounds, both bluish gray. Sleeping off to the side was Tsubaki's own partner, a massive, bear like dog, colored dark brown.
"RAGHH!" Kiba had lost his ability to speak, he was so caught up in his rage.
He launched himself at Tsubaki with an equally furious Akamaru coming from the other side. Both began to spin in the deadly Gatsuga combination attack. Their form was near perfect, which surprised Kurenai. That hadn't gotten the timing right before leaving on their mission.
Laughing, Tsubaki jumped high to avoid both attacks. Kiba ended his early, and received an axe kick to the back of the neck when she descended. The blow sent him tumbling to the ground were he lay still. Without Kiba's rage to fuel his own, Akamaru's fur faded back to white and he fell over exhausted.
"Kiba-kun!" Hinata rushed to her fallen teammate.
"Don't worry, girl," Tsubaki chuckled, "Gekijou is more than just strength. It hardens the body against attacks. That love tap will only keep him down for an hour at most."
"What do you think, dear?" Yuudai stepped forward to pick up Akamaru and look him over, "Will he be able to control it?"
"Damn sight better than I did when I first blew my top," she replied with a grin, "Took me near to ten minutes just to make him lose it. Got a mighty rage once it boils over, though."
"W-will he b-be okay?" Hinata asked the female berserker.
Tsubaki smiled at her, and nodded, "I'll be coming back to Konoha with y'all to train him to handle it. Yuudai here will teach the rest of y'all how to handle him."
She looked back at her nephew and her face softened, "Poor kid... I remember my first time. At least he's got me to teach him. I had to learn from scrolls."
"You still need to speak with Banshou-sama about our discharge," Yuudai told her.
She waved it off as she headed back into the palace, "Yea, yea. I'm gonna take care of it now."
Kurenai sighed in honest relief. Kiba was a berserker now, but at least he had a master to show him how to cope. She just hoped he would learn fast enough so the power didn't destroy him.
Never quite understood why people seemed to think Hinata would have any skill with cooking. It is reasonable that she might have the skill, but considering her position, I think it more likely she would be ignorant of it. Cooking is servant work after all.
This world defines shinobi differently than our reality, so I have no problem having a berserker in their midst. I also like Kiba as a berserker better than him transforming into a giant two headed dog. Always thought that skill was a bit silly.
Gekijou (Fury)
Type: Hijutsu (Supplemental)
Rank: B
Effect: Inuzuka have always been wild fighters, but from time to time a true beserker is born into the clan. These furious warriors must learn to control their battle frenzy or it will destroy them. Those that do come to control it learn to call it up at will to give them a substantial boost to their combat efficacy at the cost of severe recklessness during battle and exhaustion after.
Inuzuka
The wild and loyal Inuzuka are fairly normal as shinobi clans go. Early in their history, they performed body altering rituals that enhanced their senses. These alterations have been passed down through the generations, and most everyone born to the clan has enhanced hearing, eyesight, and olfaction. Other than that, they are completely normal for chakra users.
Their hijutsu focuses on safely enhancing their already acute senses and a wild form of combat they claim was passed down by their tribal ancestors. Of great interest to me is the Gekijou, a terrible fury that manifests once a generation.
Recent studies on both active Berserkers, Kiba and Tsubaki, have shown little to no genetic reasons for this ability. I believe anyone could learn to harness their anger in a similar manner, but something allows them to do so instinctively. Since I have found no genetic markers for the ability, I have decided to leave it classified as hijutsu.