Hello! Thanks so much to the reviewing readers! :D Here 'ya are guys: an early update. Hope you like this one. Keep on reviewing. :)
A little OOC-ness maybe and some 'subtle' NejiTen and other pairings. :)
[Kakashi's POV]
"I got it Kakashi-sensei! Now let's do this!" Naruto said all hyper.
Great. He's hyped up. This is perfect. We can perform the mission faster and better.
"Great! Let's go! Kiba! Lead us!" I said.
"Arf!" Akamaru barked.
"Alright! Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba said then we fled and disappeared into the forest.
I had a feeling that this was 'gonna be a successful mission. I just hope that I'm right...
-A few moments later, in the forest...-
We were in the forest now; jumping from tree to tree.
"Kiba?" I asked him once again.
"We're still pretty far from them but we'll catch up don't worry." He informed me.
"Okay." I said.
This was a boring time. We had nothing to do but follow Kiba and Akamaru.
I hope Hinata is okay, wherever she is. We can't afford to lose a ninja. Specially a powerful Hyuuga like Hinata. Lady Hokage will be pissed and not only her. I'm sure Lord Hiashi will be angry too if this mission fails. Hinata is his daughter after all.
I sighed.
I just hope.
[Kiba's POV]
"Kiba?" Kakashi-sensei asked me... for the 18th time!
"We're still pretty far from them but we'll catch up don't worry." I told him.
Ugh. Well, we had nothing to do anyways. They just had to follow me and Akamaru and THAT was boring considering Shino and the others were somewhere around 750 meters away or something like that and they were still moving. It was still 'gonna be a while.
After a few moments of jumping from tree to tree, a very familiar scent from the other group became very strong. Like it was just 2 meters behind us.
"Neji Hyuuga." I thought out loud.
"What?" Sakura, who was the closest behind me, asked. She probably heard my 'thinking'.
"I... It's Neji. That Hyuuga dude." I informed her.
"His scent just got stronger. Like, he's... 1 and a half meters away... or something like that." I said.
"Really? But... Isn't he with the other group?" Sakura asked me.
"Yeah. I know. Just... His scent suddenly popped up and... my nose is never wrong." I said.
"Arf!" Akamaru suddenly barked.
"Yeah, yeah. Akamaru's nose too." I said; understanding Akamaru needed some attention.
"Oh. Well... Okay... Should I tell Kakashi-sensei and Naruto?" She asked me.
"Well... Probably..." I said.
Maybe she should tell them. Eh, I didn't really care anyways.
"O-okay. I'll tell them." She said then moved to Kakashi-sensei's side.
My (AND Akamaru's) nose is never wrong.
Neji was getting closer.
[Sakura's POV]
After I learned from Kiba that Neji Hyuuga may be not so far behind us, I asked him if I should tell Kakashi-sensei and Naruto and he said yes. So... I will.
"Kakashi-sensei!" I called out to Kakashi-sensei who wasn't far behind me.
"What is it Sakura?" He asked me.
"Well... Kiba said he detected Neji's smell not very far from here." I informed him.
"Uh-huh. Well... His nose is never wrong." Kakashi-sensei said with his 'thinking look'.
"STOP!" He suddenly ordered and we did.
"A-A-AAAAHHHH!" We heard Naruto scream as he fell down the tree.
"Huh? Naruto? Ugh." I exclaimed.
I immediately jumped down to help him.
"Naruto? Are you okay? That was a pretty tall tree." I chuckled as I helped him up.
"Huh? Uh... Yeah. I'm fine. C'mon." He said then leaped up the tree again.
I sighed. He still hasn't grown.
When we were both at the top we saw Kakashi-sensei and Kiba (Yes. AND Akamaru) of course.
"So..." I said awkwardly. Everyone was so quiet.
"Ssshh..." Naruto shushed me.
SHUSHED ME? No way!
"Are you shushing me? After I helped you when you fell and--" I started to rant but Kakashi-sensei touched my shoulder and told me to stop. So I did then crossed my arms against my chest.
Hmph. Whatever.
"You're right Kiba. It is Neji. There!" He said pointing at a direction.
But we didn't see anyone.
"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." Kiba said smugly.
"But there's no one--... Whoa. Wait. There's Neji. Is that him?" I said as I saw something white from a distance.
It was Neji!
"What should we do?" I asked Kakashi-sensei.
"Just wait." He told me.
"Okay."
After a few minutes Neji was before us.
Wow. He's fast.
[Naruto's POV]
After we found out that Kiba detected Neji's scent we stopped and waited but I, BY ACCIDENT, fell off the tree I was standing at but Sakura helped me up.
Now Neji was with us.
"Neji? What're you doin' here?" I asked him.
"Guy-sensei and Kurenai-sensei instructed me to find you guys and lead you to us. Well... them anyway." He said.
"Thanks. But I think we already got that covered." Kiba said, a little insulted.
"Hmph." I heard Neji say under his breath.
"Anyway... They also told me to tell you that Iruka-sensei has joined our mission." He told us.
"Iruka? Well, ain't that good news." Kakashi-sensei said.
It was though. Now, we had more people to help! We can easily save Hinata. YES!
Hmm... All this time though I've been thinking about Kakashi-sensei's plan. He said he had a Plan A and a Plan B. We already knew Plan A... But what was Plan B?
"Hey Kakashi-sensei..." I started.
"Yes Naruto?" He said.
"You said there was 'Plan A' right?" I asked him.
"Yes. I did." He said.
"Well... What's Plan B?" I asked him again.
After I did, he looked like he was in pain; emotionally.
"Well... If Plan A doesn't work, which hopefully it will. We'll have to resort to Plan B which is... Taking Hinata back...by force.
"Huh?" I said in shock.
FORCE? We were 'gonna hurt Hinata? No way! We set on this mission so that Hinata wouldn't be hurt but we were 'gonna hurt her anyways? What was the point of that?
"I'm sorry Naruto. This plan wasn't my decision. It was Lady Tsunade's." He said sadly.
I knew it. Kakashi-sensei didn't like violence too much. Although he loves to fight and train... He really doesn't like violence.
"I knew it." I repeated.
I was upset and mad at Granny Tsunade.
How could she?
"Why?" I sub-consciously thought out loud.
"Because Naruto... Lady Tsunade doesn't 'wanna lose another ninja. Specially a powerful one like Hinata. So we have to do everything to get her back. Even if we have to do it by force." He said.
"I understand but..." I started but I stopped. They were right but... What about Hinata? Was she 'gonna get hurt if our Plan A doesn't work?
"That's why you have to do your best to persuade Hinata to go back to the village so that we won't have to hurt her." Kakashi-sensei told me.
I was really upset right now. It was a wonder I hadn't 'transformed' yet.
I shook my head in disappointment.
"Let's go. Lead us Neji and have Kiba help you." I instructed them darkly.
I was in pain right now and I really didn't care.
My hands were rolled in hard fists.
after I gave my order, I heard them all gasp in amazement and disbelief.
"Uh... Hai!" Neji said then went to Kiba's side.
"Let's go!" Kiba shouted then we all continued jumping from tree to tree.
I still hope that Hinata's alright.
-At the other side of the Forest...-
[Tenten's POV]
"Let's stop here for a while." Guy-sensei suddenly said as we were jumping from tree to tree.
Wow. Guy-sensei wants to stop and rest? That's new.
We all stopped at his order.
"Why are we stopping Guy-sensei? Hinata's still far away." Shino said.
"We have to wait for Kakashi and his team." Guy-sensei told him.
"Hn..." I heard Shino say under his breath.
"But... Guy-sensei... We cannot stop here. Kakashi-sensei and the others will catch up to us anyway! We must go!" Lee suddenly said.
"Lee... As much as I agree to your statement we have to stop and wait for them or else our actions will not be coordinated." Guy-sensei said.
"But... Guy-sensei!" Lee objected.
"I'm sorry Lee. I'm sorry..." Guy-sensei said; dramatically while holding on to Lee's shoulder
Wow. It was like watching a soap opera... Disturbing.
Neji was right. How do we keep up with their craziness?
I sighed; ignoring them.
"Where's Neji and the others?" I said hopefully.
Where are they?
Neji should have found them by now and they should be on their way here right now but still... No sight of them.
I sighed. Again.
"They're very near. Just wait." Shino said.
"Huh?" I said. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Shino suddenly spoke.
"Tenten... What're you thinkin' about?" Ino suddenly asked me.
"Huh? Me? Nothing." I smiled at her.
"Oh. Puh-leez! Your thinking about Neji aren't you..." Ino said in a teasing tone.
"Shut up Ino! I am not!" I said.
No I wasn't!
[Ino's POV]
We were just hanging around now: waiting for the others to catch up with us.
"Where's Neji and the others?" I heard Tenten say.
Hmm...
After she did, she suddenly looked deep in thought and there was a hint of worry in her eyes.
"They're very near. Just wait." Shino told her.
"Huh?" She said; looking like she was snapped out of her thoughts or something.
She was probably thinking about Neji... Hmm... Hehehe... I found something to get me out of boredom...
"Tenten... What're you thinkin' about?" I said; teasingly.
Hehehe...
"Huh? Me? Nothing." She smiled.
Mm-hm. Yeah, right.
"Oh. Puh-leez! Your thinking about Neji aren't you..." I teased her again.
"Shut up Ino! I am not!" She said defensively.
Being defensive huh...
"Okay, okay. But... Why are you being so defensive about it?" I asked her innocently.
"I am not!" She said even more defensive than before.
Hahaha. Got her!
"Okay, if that's what you say..." I teased her more.
"Hmph!" She turned away from me.
"Hahaha... Oh, Tenten. It's obvious! Don't worry Neji can take care of himself. You know that right?" I said.
"Yeah... I do... But..." She hesitated.
"But what? Worried about your little Neji-pooh? Hahaha." I teased her again.
"Shut it Ino-PIG! Your one to talk!" She told me.
"Huh?" I said.
'Huh?' was right. What was she implying?
"Please! Your 'gonna be 'Mrs. Nara' someday..." She started teasing me.
"WHAT?" I nearly exploded.
WHAT?
"I mean it's perfectly logical... The Nara men are attracted to stern, over-bearing women and... Well... YOUR a stern and over-bearing woman and besides you and Shikamaru have a 'special relationship' since your in the same team... Together." She teased me again.
Tenten!
[Tenten's POV]
See, Ino-PIG the stupid porker's been teasing me for a while now and it was SICKENING ME!
"But what? Worried about your little Neji-pooh? Hahaha." She laughed.
UGH! Okay! ENOUGH!
"Shut it Ino-PIG! Your one to talk!" I told her.
"Huh?" She said; very clueless.
Gotcha!
"Please! Your 'gonna be 'Mrs. Nara' someday..." I started. Haha. Found an opening!
"W-W-WHAT?" She nearly exploded.
"I mean it's perfectly logical... The Nara men are attracted to stern, over-bearing women and... Well... YOUR a stern and over-bearing woman and besides you and Shikamaru have a 'special relationship' since your in the same team... Together." I teased her again.
Hehehe. This is fun.
After I said that she turned red and started to get angry.
Hahahahaha. I'm really enjoying this now.
"Why so mad Ino-pig? If your mad then that just means that it's true..." I said.
"Shut up Tenten! Hmph!" She turned away from me, trying to calm down.
Oh no you don't! You had your turn. It's my turn now.
"Hmmm..." I thought out loud, under my breath.
What do I do now? I've run of tease-tactics. Hmm... AH-HAH!
I ran to Shikamaru's side in full ninja speed then put my arm around his shoulder.
"Huh?" He said, startled.
"Hey Ino-pig!" I called Ino's attention.
She looked at me.
HAH!
"What?" She said calmly.
I kissed Shikamaru's cheek than ran back to my previous position.
"What the--" Shikamaru said surprised.
"Ah-huh!" I winked at him then sent a flying kiss.
Hahaha! Now...
I looked at Ino.
She was obviously angry now and smoke was coming out of her head. Excellent. She's bound to explode anytime.
"GET YOUR HAND OFF SHIKAMARU! YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING... WEASEL!" She exploded.
Perfect. Hahaha.
"I'm sorry... But... Why? Is he your boyfriend?" I said in a mushy-gushy tone.
"I said shut up you pest!" She yelled again.
Hahahaha. Now, THIS is REAL fun.
"Hahahaha." I laughed.
Oh, Ino. Hahahaha.
[Shikamaru's POV]
When Ino started with Tenten the rest of us knew that it wasn't 'gonna end well and now I was involved.
Hmph. What a drag.
"I said shut up you pest!" Ino yelled. She was so angry now.
"Hahahaha." Tenten continued to laugh.
It would seem that Ino's irritation was satisfying her.
I sighed, just watching them.
Hmph. Girls will be girls.
"Huh?" I said under my breath as I saw Ino start a hand seal, and not just any hand seal. It was the Technique Specific Hand Seal for the Yamanaka's Mind Body Disturbance Technique.
Oh no. This is 'gonna get out of hand.
"Ino don't!" I screamed but I realized I was too late as she had already finished the hand seal but the jutsu wasn't in action for a few more seconds.
"Shadow Possesion Jutsu!" I said as I made the Rat hand seal for the jutsu.
I caught Ino's shadow before her jutsu could act on Tenten so, as a result, her jutsu was disturbed and cancelled.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Shikamaru. What are you doing to Ino?" Choji said as he shoved 5 potato chips into his mouth.
"Choji, can't you ever stop eating?" I asked him.
"Nope." He replied.
"Thought so."
I went back to Ino.
"AH! Ugh! Shikamaru what the hell are you doing?" Ino yelled. It was obvious that she wanted to squirm but she stood still because I controlled her.
"Sorry Ino. Your 'gonna go too far with the jutsu you were about to do." I told her.
"So you noticed. Hmph. Okay, fine. I won't do it. Just... RELEASE ME!" She yelled.
Crap. If I don't release her she'll get angrier but if I release her who knows what could happen next.
I sighed.
As always, she's so troublesome.
I released her.
"Shikamaru Nara! You are going to PAY!" She yelled as she drew out 6 shurikens from her pouch.
CRAP.
She threw them at me of course and continued.
I only managed to block a few of the shurikens because they were coming to fast. But after a second the shurikens stopped.
"STOP!" Tenten yelled shortly before the shurikens were stopped by a small Demon Wind Shuriken-like weapon.
"Thanks." I told Tenten as I dusted myself off.
"No problem." Tenten said.
"Hey. Stop bickering. There they are now." Kurenai-sensei said as she pointed to the distance and fair enough they were there. Great. Now we're one step closer to ending this mission and I'm one-step closer to returning to my soft pillow and fluffy white clouds.
Good.
[Naruto's POV]
"Hey there they are!" I said as I saw the others in the distance.
Finally.
"C'mon. Let's go. There they are." I said as I ran faster. In a few seconds we reached them.
"Man, what took you guys so long?" Shikamaru said in his old boring tone.
"Well, we were with Kakashi-sensei." I smiled.
[Kakashi's Face is: -.-']
"Thanks." Kakashi said; offended.
"Hehe. Sorry." I apologized.
"Alright. Time to get serious. Let's go! Neji, Kiba, Shino, what's Hinata's location?" I asked them.
Time to get serious.
"She's about 7 kilometers away. She's running though." Shino said.
"I sent a bee to keep track of her." He added.
Wow. The things you can do with bugs... Creepy.
"She sensed our presence instantly when we came a few kilometers close to her. Hinata's field of vision when she uses her Byakugan is remarkable. She has expanded it to 10 kilometers when the standard field of vision is only around 50 meters. She has even surpassed mine." Neji said with amazement and disappointment at the same time.
"Huh? Really? How far is your field of vision Neji?" Tenten asked him. We were all curious.
"800 meters." Neji said shamefully.
We all chuckled a bit. I mean, 800 meters is so far away from 10 kilometers.
"Okay, stop. Let's go." Neji said.
"No. It's getting dark now. We should camp for now." Iruka-sensei suggested.
"NO! We have to catch up with Hinata first. When she stops, that's the only time we stop." I said. We were being too relaxed. Hinata's life was in danger. We can't rest. We have to find Hinata.
"What a drag." I heard Shikamaru say.
I should be snapping at him but I was just too worried.
"Huh?" Neji said. We all looked at him.
"Byakugan!" He activated his Byakugan... What's wrong?
What could be the problem.
[Sakura's POV]
We finally reached the others but when Neji activated his Byakugan, we instantly knew something was wrong.
Maybe he's right... I have been feeling... something since we reached them. Like, like there was someone elses with us that didn't belong...
...
Uh!
That's when it hit me.
'Iruka-sensei'... It was his appearance but it wasn't the same chakra. Not the same 'feel' I had around him.
It wasn't him.
I confirmed it to myself.
"Neji's right." I said.
"Huh?" Naruto said. Clueless as always.
"Arf!" Akamaru barked.
"Huh? Akamaru wha--... Got it." Kiba said. He figured it out too.
"Hmm..." I thought.
A Genjutsu Release would work.
"Release!" I said as I made the hand sign to reveal who was under the the face of Iruka-sensei.
After the cloud of smoke disappeared... We all gasped.
All at once.
For the first time in such a long time...
We finally got the chance to see... Him.
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CLIFFHANGER! Hahaha. :) Sorry if any of you are disappointed. I'll post the next chapter VERY soon. Don't forget to REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! :D