Chapter three, for your pleasure. Happy reading. Reviews make me want to write more.
Naruto is not mine, the plot is.
There's a storm brewing my dear, and I suggest you run before she breaks.
Sakura flew through the trees at breakneck speed; only the single thought of getting as far away from the three men she had just reacquainted herself with the only thing pushing her faster. When the tall gates to Konoha finally appeared through the thick branches, she slowed her pace to a dead stop, catching her breath. Soft creaks were heard behind her as the others caught up, breaths coming in gasps from following her. She held up a hand and quickly dropped down onto the worn path below, landing deftly and pulled her cloak around her tighter.
The other six fell in around her and she turned her head, calling softly over her shoulder.
"We walk from here gentlemen, and I warn you now. Don't you dare try anything that would be remotely threatening." She ordered her voice low in warning. She met each of their captive's eyes, making sure they understood how serious things were. She didn't care how powerful they were. One false move and heads would roll. Literally.
They each nodded in turn, Naruto throwing in a sheepish smile, trying to reassure her that they were sincere. Shaking her head, she began walking at a brisk pace, muttering under her breath the entire time. Kiba, Shikamaru and Genma all looked around at each other, catching the amusement in each others eyes and smirking at their captain's antics. Kakashi just kept walking forward, his eyes boring into the back of Sakura's cloaked head. Sasuke and Naruto walked along side him, throwing nervous glances everywhere as they got closer to the tall gates.
Finally, after about a mile, the group stopped and gathered behind Sakura, the intimidating gates to Konohagakure looming over them. As they slowly crept closer, Kakashi immediately saw the familiar face of Kotetsu, leaning heavily against one gate, his eyes closed and a kunai dangling loosely from his hand. He watched as Sakura, who was a few steps ahead of him pause for a second as she saw the dozing man and then suddenly stiffen and proceed to stomp over to Kotetsu, clearly fuming. A small smile graced his masked lips. Kotetsu was definitely in for a rude awakening.
Sakura huffed as she took in the sleeping shinobi who was supposed to be guarding the gate. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she realized that she didn't have the time, energy or patience to deal with this right now. Pulling out a throwing star, she held it between her fingers and then quickly sent it flying towards the man, spinning with a deadly accuracy. It struck the wood an inch away from Kotetsu's left ear, jolting him awake and causing him to jump immediately into a defensive stance, the kunai now in a tight grip. His eyes were wild for a second as he took in his surroundings and finally widened at the sight of the cloaked ANBU before him. He stood up straight and quickly lowered the kunai, bringing his two fingers up to his temple in salute.
"Captain! Sorry! I-uh…didn't see you." He said lamely. Sakura crossed her arms and sighed loudly.
"Yes Kotetsu, I noticed that! Now, the point of me waking you up at all is that I have two criminals with me and I need you to lock the gate behind us." She said. Kotetsu's eyebrows rose at the sound of missing-nin and he quickly leaned, peering over Sakura's shoulder at the three men behind her not clad in ANBU. Letting out a low whistle, he shook his head in disbelief.
"Uzumaki and Uchiha…who would've guessed they were still alive." He muttered, and then realizing what he said, he glanced apologetically at Sakura and nodded, quickly stepping away from her.
"Alright, one locked gate, as you wish Captain." He rambled, already holding the gate open as they filtered through. He nodded to each of them as they passed, and Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi guessed that he probably knew who was behind each mask. Kotetsu grinned as Kakashi passed and quickly grabbed his arm in greeting.
"Hatake! You're back too, welcome home!" he smiled. Kakashi just nodded, smiling slightly before stepping away. Well, at least someone was happy to see him.
Sakura was the last one in the gate and the glare she gave Kotetsu was practically scathing. He smiled nervously and stepped back, shutting the gate behind them and disappearing to the outside again. A loud click was heard as the gate was closed and locked. Satisfied, Sakura took up the lead again and they immediately began walking silently through the quiet streets of the sleeping village.
"We have to move quickly, thankfully it's still a few hours from dawn, but still, if someone catches sight of them, there'll be hell to pay. It's very rare that missing-nin are brought home, you know that!"
Kakashi heard the harried whisper of the masked guard beside him as the person moved ahead to fall into step beside the captain. The low tenor of the voice stirred the edges of his brain, and he tried to pinpoint a face. Slightly curious, he glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto, who had also heard and glanced around with slight recognition in their eyes yet no one could place a face in their heads. The two ANBU moved a few steps faster, just out of Kakashi's hearing. Shikamaru looked over at Sakura as he spoke, catching her blazing emerald eyes behind her mask.
"Watch Sakura, tomorrow the entire town will know and then the riots will start. Are you sure that you know what you're doing?" he asked, questioning her, there was a sharp edge to his voice that made Sakura flinch behind her mask. Great, just what she needed right now. Now, he was angry with her. Sakura just sighed as she shook her head.
"Stop it Nara! Don't you dare tell me what to do! All this is just as confusing and strange to me as it is to you. You forget, this was a direct command from Tsunade, I'm simply obeying orders."
"The order was to escort the shinobi, meaning Kakashi, home. Not pick up two damned men in the process! We should have killed them on sight! "He growled, his voice slightly rising.
"Our orders were to escort the group of shinobi home! Tsunade made it clear that they are to make it back alive under any circumstances. So don't argue with me! Remember Shikamaru, you may be my second, but you still fall under my command." She hissed, clearly signaling the end of the conversation. It wasn't until after those words left her lips that she realized what she said and her eyes went wide.
"Damn it Shika, that's not what I meant…I mean…I'm sorry-" she whispered quickly as she tried to touch his arm lightly. Shikamaru stiffened as if she had struck him across the face and roughly pulled away from her. His deep eyes glared at her through his mask and he looked away, his voice was strained and he nodded his head slowly. So, that's how it was going to be…
"Pardon me, Captain."
Without another word he fell back and into step next to Naruto, who just glanced at him nervously and moved away a little at the tense aura coming from the ANBU. Sakura sighed, cursing her evil tongue and was about to turn around and apologize, but immediately thought better. She guessed it would probably look very weird if she suddenly turned around and threw her arms around him. At least, to the three shinobi walking between them it would be odd. Gritting her teeth, she clenched her fists tightly.
"Idiot!" she muttered darkly, quickening her pace. She didn't know whether or not she wanted to hug him or punch his lights out at the moment.
Eventually, they managed to slip through the quiet streets of Konoha unnoticed. They entered through the ground floor, and made their way up to the Hokage's office. As they made their way up through the halls, they passed more people, mostly Chunin and a few Jonin. The people they passed immediately parted when they saw the masked faces approaching, and those who also recognized the facades of the missing-nin immediately paled and turned away. Kakashi guessed it wasn't just because of the ANBU masks. The three of them had the strong feeling that there was something much more to this strange team.
These strangers had a powerful, dangerous and almost tangible air around them. It was this aura that made people back up, giving them more than enough space and lower their heads in respect…
Tsunade sat up quickly as she heard the heavy knock at her door. Rubbing the sleep from her tired, amber eyes, she nodded to an anxious Shizune who immediately went to the door and opened it. The light from the corridor flooded into her dim office, and seven figures appeared on the threshold before her.
"Come." She called, her voice strained.
They filed in slowly. Shikamaru first, followed by Kiba, Akamaru and Genma. Then came Kakashi trailed by an unusually quiet Naruto and an extremely pale Sasuke. Sakura brought up the rear, quietly shutting the door behind her and locking it. They slowly assembled in front of her desk, the ANBU drifting back so that Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were stuck right before her piercing eyes. She regarded the three closely until they began to squirm beneath her scrutiny. She blinked, breaking her trance and her gaze drifted over to Sakura.
They stared at each other for what seemed like forever until it was finally Tsunade who was forced to turn away from her student's cool stare. She was silent for many moments before she finally sighed heavily, looking up at the three men before her.
"Well Kakashi, it only took you four years, but you've finally managed to complete your mission." She sighed, her voice eerily calm. Kakashi faltered a little at this, surprised and a little wary of her serene tone. He had been expecting yelling and weapons flying as soon as they walked through the door, so this calm, unaffected image of the temperamental woman unnerved him.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." He said, bowing his head.
"You will come back here, tomorrow at noon, along with you-"she absently motioned to the ANBU squad and then, pointed to the door all at once. "Now leave us."
Kakashi hesitated for a second, looking at his students for a long minute before nodding and disappeared in a thick cloud of smoke.
Sasuke and Naruto suddenly looked sick as their teacher was gone without a word, leaving them to their deaths no doubt. The ANBU assembled all looked at each other with confused eyes. Why the hell was she asking them to leave? Sakura stepped forward, and stared at the Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, you're not really asking us to leave now? There are two missing-nin in custody-"
"They are now in my custody, and yes Captain. Kakashi and your team are dismissed. I do not want to see your faces again until noon, am I clear?" It wasn't a question. It was an order. Sakura was ready to blow-up on the older woman and was a heartbeat away from it, until she saw the vein pulsing on Tsunade's neck. Thinking better, she instead bowed and quickly stepped back, away towards the door, much to her team's surprise. Glancing between Sakura and Tsunade, they quickly realized what was happening and decided it would be much easier…not to mention much safer if they followed their Captain's lead. They fell in around Sakura and all bowed to the Hokage.
"Until tomorrow then, Tsunade-sama." Sakura muttered, before she stepped out, Genma, Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru trailing her. Shizune also slipped out right before the door shut, looking annoyed and slightly pale. Genma pushed off his hood and pulled his mask off, a senbon already in his hand, ready to chew on, and looked over at the dark-haired woman, his eyebrows raised curiously.
"What's wrong with you Shizune?" he asked, pulling the rest of his cloak off and tossing it over his shoulder. "Scared?"
Shizune nodded absently, still staring at the thick door, separating them from the Hokage. Kiba had already pulled off his cloak and mask and was loosening the straps of his arm guards.
"You shouldn't be scared! What the hell are you freaking out over? Those two don't stand a chance against Tsunade." He smirked; Sakura just rolled her eyes, sliding up her own mask and took a deep breath. She was looking down the hall to where Shikamaru had sulked off to, debating whether to follow him when she heard,
"That's exactly it. I'm not scared for myself or Tsunade you morons! I'm more worried about Sasuke and Naruto." She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself, still frowning at the door. Sakura's head snapped around, and she paled instantly, waiting for the blinding explosion.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave them alone after all…
Slowly but surely, progress. *smiles* Reviews are a lovely thing.
- Serena