The Dragon in the Maelstrom
Chapter 14: The bane of all ninjas.
Written by Jlargent.
Me: You know what this chapter is about so I don't need to explain it. You know the routine typical disclaimers apply, I do not own Naruto or Avatar the last Airbender in any shape or form.
Azula's POV
It has been a week since Team Azula was formed and I now know why most ninjas protest at doing D-Rank missions. It consists of menial chores that even a fat and lazy civilian can do, from chasing the infernal demon cat Tora to trudging around in the sewers to fix the storm grates that were damaged due to rust makes me seriously question the sanity of those who assigns the missions. On our first mission as a team we were sent to 'capture' Tora and return her to her owner.
Flashback
"Okay, now I know why Tora is called a demon." Anko remarked as Hinata gently holds Tora in her arms purring contently as Naruto scowled at the numerous claw marks on his face was healing, my hands were clawed as well though not as badly I was seriously considering frying the demented cat.
We finally arrive to the tower to see the Daimyo's wife standing in attendance.
"Congratulations on a successful mission." the Hokage spoke as the team were given their mission pay, we cringe as Tora was enveloped in her deathly embrace when all of a sudden Tora slips out of her arms and started to run towards an open window.
"Capture it!" the Daimyo's wife screeched.
"Kill it!" Anko yells, after an instant I decided to kill it. Daimyo's wife be damned I quickly launched a small fireball hitting the cat point blank.
"TOOORRAAA!" the Daimyo's wife screamed as the cat was consumed with blue flames, the fire dies down after a moment to reveal Tora's fur singed and blackened, she coughed a couple of times a small cloud of smoke coming out each time and takes a few steps and collapses on the floor. We step towards it hesitantly when all of a sudden Tora bolts and leaps out of the window.
From that day forward the Daimyo's wife ordered us to never retrieve Tora ever again.
(A/N: It's official the demon cat IS immortal!)
End flashback
Since then it has been a continuous D-Rank missions one after another, I suspect that it was the Hokage's way of punishing us for trying to kill the cat. The numerous ninjas that had faced the holy terror known as Tora thanked us for doing something that they'd wished the could do.
We've taken every D-Rank mission and turned them into training exercises to ease the fact that these 'missions' are chores and surprisingly it is effective, as for team dynamics Naruto and Hinata work well together as a team seeing as they spent a large portion of their lives together it's not a surprise, Shino is hard to peg down but none the less he is brilliant with tactics and often is the team leader after Naruto. Hinata occasionally takes charge but that rarely happens, after completing one hundred D-Rank missions instead of the usual fifty that a regular team has to do before qualifying for a C-Rank mission we head towards the tower to receive our assignment. We walk in to see team eight walk past us ignoring our presence. The reason why is that Ino and Sakura were literally dragging Sasuke to their next mission all the while screaming at each other while Kakashi follows wearing earmuffs and his face buried into his porn. The Hokage looks up from the paperwork that was in front of him to smile at us.
"Ah I've been expecting you. Seeing as you completed double the recommended amount of D-Rank missions the three of you more than qualify for a C-Rank mission, I'll have the client to come in." the Hokage spoke as the door next to the desk opens to reveal a familiar face that I had not seen in nearly a decade.
"Tazuna?" I gasped as the look on Tazuna's face says that he was not happy to see me.
"Azula." he said in a neutral tone.
"It's been too long, why didn't you tell me that you were coming to Konoha?" I asked him earning a surprised look on his face.
"What do you mean? I mailed you a letter explaining everything last week. In fact I've been sending you letters for the past eight years and you haven't sent one back since." he said in a surprised voice earning a raised eyebrow from the Hokage.
"I did not receive your letters. I'm starting to think the council had a hand in this mess." I growled as sparks of lightning covered my hand.
"I promise to investigate this matter while you are away." the Hokage spoke when Tazuna coughed catching his attention.
"Begging my pardon sir but I would like to confess something the mission is not really an C-Rank mission if I were to guess it would be a high B to low A-Rank." Tazuna said as he explained that he lied on the mission application since Wave country was to poor to afford a higher rank mission and that a corrupt businessman by the name of Gato was driving the economy and the people into the ground. Tazuna was hoping that with the completion of the bridge that he was currently constructing would allow for more revenue to Wave and eventually break free from Gato's control.
The Hokage thought for a moment before speaking "Azula, you can choose to undertake this mission along with your team if you wish." I thought for a moment before answering.
"No offense Lord Hokage but are you sure that we should go? Even though this is now a B-Rank mission?" I ask.
The Hokage puffs on his pipe then looks at the five of us "Azula I have the utmost faith in your team's abilities. And if you aren't too sure then I suggest getting one of your brothers friends to accompany you as reinforcement." he finished as the five of us left the room.
The six of us exited out of the tower heading towards on of the lakes that dot Konoha, after ten minuets of walking I spot Katara at the lake practicing her water bending.
"Hey Katara!" I call out to her, she turns around and smiles at me, over the eight years she's forgave me for my actions and is now a good friend.
"Azula! What brings you here?" she asks as I explain the situation to her.
"I'll be more than happy to come along. It sounds like you need all the help you can get, your brother, Aang, Toph and my brother are busy with trying to fix the mess your father has made, so they asked me to pop in from time to time to try and forge some alliances outside of Konoha." she finished as we make it to the front gates.
"Well this is the perfect opportunity to do that." I said as we set out for Wave country.
Two hours later...
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asks in that whiny little kid voice that grates at you.
"NO! If you ask again I will turn this group around and head back to the village." I growled at him only to see the smirking faces of Naruto and Anko.
Katara steps up to me and whispers as we walk "Notice the puddle of water?" she asks I take a look and notice the puddle that Katara mentioned and nodded, I signal the others discreetly that there's a possible enemy nearby and immediately they lower their tones down until we make it past the water, I strain my ears and heard the sounds of water moving indicating that the trap has been sprung.
We quickly turn around to see two ninjas wearing breathing masks, one of them has a gauntlet type claw with what appears to be poison coming from it on his right arm and the second has the left handed version and the gauntlets are connected with a spiked chain.
Katara starts her bending much to the confusion of our attackers.
"B-brother! Something's wrong with me!" the ninja on the fight shouts as suddenly his right arm swings towards his brother nearly decapitating him.
"What the hell are you doing!" the other one shouted at his twin as suddenly his left arm started to act on it's own accord. I look at Katara and notice the look of determination on her face and her hands moving as though they were puppets Blood bending! I thought as I remember the incident that Katara was forced to use.
The brothers try to fight but in the end they stab themselves in the chest with their own claws and they fall over on to the ground dead.
I looked at Katara "I thought you swore you would never use blood bending ever again." I said.
Katara gave a bitter smile to me " I had no choice that day. Since then I thought about it and realized there would be times I would have to break that promise if it's to protect my friends." she said as we place a signal seal on the both of them. It's a special type of seal that transports the victims to the morgue to be identified later. After applying it they vanish in a puff of smoke indicating that the seal activated.
I turn to my team "Let's keep going. We have a village to save." and we continue onwards towards our destination.
To be continued.
Me: Now you may be wondering why I had Katara use blood bending. The reason is that I wanted her to only use that when protecting her friends. Similar to how Orihime only uses her powers as a last resort. Next time: Demons in the mist.
As always Hoody Hoo!