When I woke up, I sat up on the grass with a sigh, putting a hand to my head as Kakashi approached with a closed-eye grin.
"Finally awake, I see. I wouldn't have expected you to let the beast out of control over something like a spelling error."
I frowned at him, glaring. "Shut it."
He chuckled as I got up, passing me a dumpling, which I heartily ate before stretching and pulling out a blank kunai, making sure I spelled everything right this time when I marked it. Yamato cast his gaze my way as I tossed the newly marked kunai into a tree a ways away and I focused my chakra, instantly feeling a little tugging sensation before finding myself in front of the tree where my kunai lay embedded. Kakashi and Yamato looked at me with wide eyes in shock, as I hummed, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck.
"Hm, far better landing." I muttered.
"T-That was the fourth's technique…" Yamato stuttered out, mouth open in shock.
Kakashi though, just gave that same old closed-eye grin. "Good job, Shi. Now you can move on to the next step."
I raised a brow. "Next step?"
He nodded, smirking and pulling out his own kunai. "Using it in practical combat."
I groaned, before dodging his kunai and being forced to have to fight him, though the rules were that I had to use the Flying Thunder God technique to move around and my new Flaming Rasengan at some point to attack. The fight was long and exhausting, but I was beginning to get the hang of using the new technique and even learned that I could place the seal on actual people and objects as well, seeing as it didn't take too long to place the seal, only a second at most now that I knew what I was doing.
As the fight went on though, Kakashi began using jutsu as well, having been sticking to taijutsu for the most part. But with his lightning techniques, I got to test the durability of my Flaming Rasengan against electricity, thankfully not having too much trouble with it, though Kakashi and I both ended up with burned hands—earning another trip to the hospital where Tsunade scolded us. After we returned and continued fighting though, I suddenly stopped, looking up in the sky as rain started to fall, eyes narrowed. Kakashi though was in front of me in an instant with a kunai to my throat, catching me in my distraction.
"You shouldn't do that, Shi. I could've killed you right now."
I continued to look up, brows furrowed, and Kakashi put his kunai away in curiosity.
"What's up, Shi?"
"Something's wrong." I muttered.
Kakashi raised a brow. "With Naruto?"
I shook my head. "No. Something else."
I closed my eyes then, smelling the air, but caught nothing that could help me figure out why my stomach was churning in unease. I opened my eyes with a sigh, but still had that feeling, which apparently caused Kakashi some worry.
"Well, I think you're about done with training for now. Can't exactly fight with you distracted." He said with a sigh. "Let's go back and check on Naruto. We got a bit further away than I expected."
I nodded and we walked back to where Yamato was watching over Naruto, just in time to see one of Naruto's clones going kyuubi.
"Yamato-taichou! Help!" He called out.
"Tenzou, it's coming." Kakashi said, looking somewhat nervous.
"Damn!"
"You want me to help, Yamato?" I asked, eyes narrowed at Naruto.
"If you could. He's just out of range."
I nodded, gathering my dark chakra and transforming, bounding over and grabbing the Naruto clone in my mouth, tossing him out of the group of clones and in front of Yamato, who quickly launched his wood pillars at it, stopping the clone as Naruto made them disappear.
"Phew." Naruto sighed out of relief, wiping rain and sweat off his face.
"You alright?" I asked, the same moment Kakashi hurried over as well.
Naruto though, pouted, making me sigh and nudge him with my large muzzle.
"Oi. You're doing good."
Kakashi nodded. "Shi's right. Since we entered the training to add wind manipulation to the Rasengan, it's been one whole day. Using approximately 200 kagebunshin. If we sum up the hours of training as one person, it's 4,800 hours. Still nowhere near enough."
"But this training… The chakra control is too hard and 200 kagebunshin is the max." Naruto said, not looking satisfied. "It feels like… I'll never be able to do it."
I frowned, laying down beside Naruto and Kakashi.
"To begin with, creating the Rasengan takes a ton of concentration and then to add nature manipulation on top of that is impossible."
Annoyed at Naruto's sudden lack of energy and confidence, I opened my mouth and began chewing on his head.
"Ah! Shi! L-Let go!"
I did so, snorting and licking my chops. "Still taste like Naruto, but you sure don't sound like him."
Naruto lowered his head. "But… just this time, it's impossible."
"You still have to do it." Kakashi said, making Naruto angry.
"When you're looking right and you're told to look left at the same time, can you do it, Kakashi-sensei?!"
Like crossing your eyes? I mused, not willing to actually do it, for fear of looking idiotic.
"I see… So that's what it is. Then it's not impossible."
I gave Kakashi a look, when he created a kagebunshin, one looking right and the other looking left.
"While looking right…"
"…look left. This is what you mean, right?"
Realization dawned on Naruto's face and he jumped up with renewed vigor.
"That's it!"
I tilted my head in confusion, before looking over at Kakashi who smiled, getting rid of his clone.
"Looks like he figured something out."
I nodded, getting up and stretching, before thinking of something. I wonder if I could use the fourth's technique in this form… Might as well try it. I glanced at the kunai that was still lodged in the tree over by Yamato and focused my chakra. I still ended up in front of the kunai, but it used up a lot of chakra and I immediately flopped on the ground with my tongue hanging out.
"Uwah… That was a lot of chakra."
Kakashi popped up in front of me, patting my muzzle with a grin. "You okay there?"
I nodded, changing back to my usual self, the rain having let up. "Seems that the size of things determines how much chakra is needed to send them to the seal."
Kakashi hummed, a hand on his chin. "Have you tried moving other people?"
"No."
"Then here. Take me to that kunai." He said, pointing to another kunai across the way.
I nodded, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder before focusing my chakra. It took more than I was used to for transporting myself alone, but far less than what it took to move my other form. I grinned, pleased with my accomplishments so far and Kakashi pat me on the head.
"Alright. Now let's replace those bandages. I don't need the Hokage coming after me for neglecting you."
I made a face, but followed him to where Yamato was and sat on the ground beside Kakashi so he could undo my bandages. Once that was taken care of, we turned our attention back to Naruto who was now standing with two other clones, a smaller Rasengan in their hands that was releasing a high pitched noise that really bothered my sensitive ears.
"Yes! I'm finally getting the hang of it!"
Kakashi got up and headed over with me, as I looked it over.
"Mmm, so you used one clone for each process."
"That's right! I just need to add a third me to do with wind nature manipulation. If you can't look left and right at the same time, then you need a bunshin to look left and one to look right. All you have to do is assign each a single duty."
"So my kagebunshin earlier gave you a hint." Kakashi mused. "You really are the number one unexpected ninja… Naruto, for some reason I'm beginning to really like you."
Kakashi grinned, but Naruto and his two clones freaked out, being launched away due to the Rasengan and their sudden loss of concentration.
"Don't say something sick like that! You idiot! The jutsu I finally got blew up 'cause of the surprise! You should be saying something like that to Shi!"
I flushed a bright red as Naruto slapped his hands over his mouth, his clones disappearing. Kakashi though, seemed almost happy at what he said, wrapping an arm around my waist with a chuckle.
"Mah, looks like the jig is up, Shi. We've been caught."
I turned to him and narrowed my eyes. "It's your fault."
"Eh?!" Naruto shouted, pointing at us in shock. "Y-You two are together?!"
"Yup!" Kakashi said with a closed-eye grin.
I face palmed, knowing that now that Naruto knew, it was going to be around the whole village. Just then though, someone appeared in front of Yamato and I gave them a look, frown marring my features as that sick feeling returned.
"What is it…" Naruto said quietly.
"Kakashi! We need to suspend the training and return to the village right now!" Yamato shouted.
"What?!"
I narrowed my eyes. "What happened?"
"…Asuma Sarutobi… has died."
My eyes widened and my throat tightened, bowing my head and clenching my fists with a muttered curse. Shikamaru… The four of us returned to the village and dressed in mourning clothes to attend Asuma's funeral, but I didn't head there. Instead, I headed to where Shikamaru's scent was, finding him in a field smoking a cigarette and looking up at the clouds. Staying silent, I sat down beside him and looked up at the clouds as well. After a moment, Shikamaru bumped his hand into my arm, holding out a cigarette that I took. He sat up and lit it for me with Asuma's lighter, and I took a deep breath, sighing as the smoke left my lungs. The two of us sat there, just watching the clouds pass by for a while before Shikamaru got up and I did as well. We didn't say anything and went our separate ways, us both returning home. What I didn't expect was who was waiting for me when I returned.
I looked at Kakashi standing in front of my apartment door and he didn't say anything, just as I didn't. I wasn't at the funeral, which I'm sure he knew, but my way of mourning for Asuma was different than his and everyone else. Whereas they attended a funeral and cried, I stayed silent and instead revisited the people they hurt the most when they left. I would've gone to Kurenai, but I felt that Shikamaru would have it just as bad and that he would handle his grief in a more… quiet way than Kurenai. I couldn't stand people who cried. It hurt just watching them.
Kakashi though, he understood. He didn't say anything about me missing the funeral or the cigarette than hung from my lips. He just went into my kitchen and began cooking something as I sat on the couch and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. It's not like I haven't had people die before. Though I haven't had anyone close to me die in a long while… aside from the Third. I sighed, smoke drifting up as I opened my eyes and headed towards the bathroom to shower. I let the cigarette get snuffed out by the cascading water, and tried to make myself relax. After a while, I gave up on this fruitless task and went into my room to change.
As I put on my clothes, I remembered that I didn't have my scarf anymore and grew even more depressed as I put on one of my usual shirts, planning on having Kakashi's masked shirt washed in the meantime. Once I left the hall, I sat at the table with Kakashi, eating whatever it was he cooked, being too out of it to really notice what it was. When I finished, I headed towards my bedroom, but Kakashi stopped me with a hand on my wrist. We didn't exchange any words, but I followed him to the couch, sitting down with him and allowing him to hold me.
I don't know when I eventually fell asleep in Kakashi's arms, but when I woke up, he was gone. I sighed quietly to myself and slowly got up before redoing the bandages on my hands and following his scent. What I found, was odd. Kakashi left the village? As I stood at the gates, I also caught Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji's scent and frowned, immediately heading to the Hokage's office. They went after Asuma's killer. This isn't good. It doesn't matter who they're dealing with, the Akatsuki is a group of extremely dangerous people and if they got one of the upper tier members… I stopped my thoughts there and focused some of my chakra, immediately appearing in front of the hospital where I had left one of my marked kunai just in case. It was nearby the Hokage's office and I quickly hurried there, being sure to leave a marked kunai outside here as well, and didn't bother knocking on the Hokage's door before hurrying in.
"Hokage. Sorry. Kakashi—"
"Yes, yes. I know." She said with a sigh. "I let Team Ten go with Kakashi. There was no convincing them otherwise."
"Could I—"
"We were actually just talking about that." Tsunade said, cutting me off and turning to Sakura. "Sakura, go tell Yamato to complete Naruto's new jutsu in 24 hours. And that if they can't do that, we'll send a different team."
"Yes ma'am." She said, but hesitated, looking at me. "What about Shi?"
Tsunade smirked. "What do you think?"
I nodded, deadly serious. "I'm ready."
"Good."
Sakura left and I went to go as well, but Tsunade stopped me.
"And Shi?"
I glanced over my shoulder at her.
"I suggest you wear the mask."
I frowned, not pleased even though I understood why she was telling me to. "I won't be able to fight then. Not if I want to keep my identity a secret from Kakashi and the others."
Tsunade sighed. "Fine. Wear the mask, but be sure that none of them give any mention as to who you are should your cover be blown. I would rather the Akatsuki didn't find out about you."
I nodded, easily able to hide the small smirk under my mask and focused my chakra, ending up at my house where I quickly packed. Once that was done, I hurried to the gate and summoned Shoji, who sighed at the prospect of another trip through the woods.
"You know, you could just walk." He complained as I dropped the occasional marked kunai.
I rolled my eyes, sitting low on his back as a low hanging branch flew over my head. "But then I wouldn't have such thrilling conversations with you."
He snorted and as we approached where the battle was happening, I stabbed a marked kunai into the tree beside me and sent him off silently, placing my fox mask on and analyzing the scene from where I was at. Kakashi and Ino are hiding behind those dead trees. Choji and Shikamaru are together, Shikamaru's shadow holding one of the Akatsuki and Choji having just attacked the other. I looked at the two Akatsuki and narrowed my eyes, searching through my mind for any information I knew on them. The one Shikamaru has… that's the one that killed Asuma. I can still smell his blood on the man's weapon. Barely, but it's there. I believe he's Hidan and the other is Kakuzu. I closed my eyes, thinking. I don't know much about him. Him and Hidan are both S-rank and, if I remember correctly, are known as the two immortals. Hidan has some sort of ritual that he uses to kill his victims, but Kakuzu I don't know about. I've heard everything from stealing hearts to a steel body.
"This is going to be difficult." I murmured so softly that even I could barely hear myself.
I noticed the dust finally settled and spotted Kakuzu standing there unharmed, his body a dark shade of grey. So he does have a steel body?
"His jutsu is probably hardening his body. That's his power." Shikamaru said, confirming what I had been thinking.
"You're analyzing well. That's right, no physical attack will work against me."
Not unless it's ridiculously strong or catches him off guard.
"Alright. It's time to counter Kakuzu. Hurry up and do something about this jutsu." Hidan said, just as Kakashi came out from his hiding place and used Raikiri—his enhanced and concentrated Chidori—to stab right through Kakuzu's chest. Good job, Kakashi. I thought with a smirk.
"Can't be… from behind me, without even a presence…"
"Your jutsu to harden your body from the deal you used earlier, it's an Earth element manipulation." Kakashi replied.
"You saw through… the speed of my seals and a lightning release of this degree… that's it! You're—"
"Earth is weak against lightning. You weren't compatible." Kakashi said. "It's the end."
My brows furrowed as Choji and Shikamaru spoke.
"That's Kakashi-sensei for you!"
"It would have been a problem if we didn't get rid of him to start with."
No kidding, but it seems a bit too easy for Kakuzu being a so-called immortal.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Shikamaru called out and I immediately prepared a marked kunai as Kakashi pulled his hand out of Kakuzu and charged up another Raikiri.
"One stab in the heart, huh? Don't go getting yourself killed so easily! Stupid!" Hidan mocked, but it felt off to me.
He's completely unconcerned. Even if they hate each other, like Deidara and Sasori, if the other was killed they knew they were in trouble. Yet he's unaffected. Something's definitely up. I watched as Kakashi went to kill Hidan, but caught movement from Kakuzu and quickly threw my kunai towards him; it just barely skimming past Shikamaru's head. Just as Kakuzu stood and delivered a kick to Kakashi, I focused my chakra and flashed to the kunai that had just gotten behind Kakashi, catching him and keeping us from hitting the dead tree by focusing chakra into my feet and grey chakra into my hand, forming a claw that dug into the dirt and stopped us—hiding the grey chakra before the dust could settle. Kakashi looked over at me in shock, spotting the mask and quickly shutting his mouth before he could give me away, which I appreciated.
"Who's that?!" Choji shouted, looking at me wide eyed.
"That's not important right now." I said, loud enough that they could all hear me.
"My feelings exactly." Hidan said, unzipping his cloak, throwing it off to reveal numerous stitches and four masks on his back, which burst from him and formed four creatures behind him.
"How? I hit his vitals…" Kakashi muttered out as I released him and stood up.
"It's rumored that the two of them are both immortal." I replied. "Perhaps those masks have something to do with Kakuzu being such."
I glanced down where Hidan was and frowned behind my mask as Shikamaru reached his limit and his shadow returned to him. Shikamaru is low on chakra too. This is going to be difficult even if I'm here. It's still five against five, but Shikamaru's low on chakra and Ino is primarily a healer. Kakashi will be reaching his limit too with his sharingan out… but we have to hold out. At least until Naruto and the others get here.
"Kakashi." I said, catching his attention without taking my eyes off the enemy. "We can't each take one. Shikamaru's low on chakra and Ino is our medic, not a fighter. We need to separate Kakuzu from Hidan. In Akatsuki, the pairs are chosen for a reason. They work well together."
He nodded as one of the creatures groaned and appeared to melt, the only one with the broken mask.
"Hey, hey, hey! One of them is dead! You suck!"
"I was right." I murmured, catching Kakashi's attention once more. "Each of those masks is its own life. And he can probably take in one of the masks should he lose his own life. Five lives in total…"
"Hidan. Stand back. I'll take care of this." Kakuzu said.
"The hell I will! I've been waiting for this moment ever since I've been getting caught out!" Hidan smirked, tilting his head up. "Let's do the usual."
"Hmph."
Kakuzu suddenly did some hand signs and Kakashi and I prepared ourselves, but were barely able to dodge when Hidan attacked, swinging his scythe at us. I noticed something come up behind him though and both our eyes widened. Grabbing a hold of Kakashi, I focused my chakra and felt a tugging sensation just as the creature attacked with a huge wind release.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Everyone was pushed back, though they were still a bit away from where I had flashed Kakashi and myself, cringing because I hesitated just slightly and one of my hands caught some of the damage, now bleeding through my bandages a bit.
"You alright?"
I nodded. "It's nothing. But…" I glanced at him, eyes soft behind my mask. "Don't let them know it's me. I need to keep it hidden for as long as I can."
He nodded. "Fox then?"
"Yeah… Shall we?"
He smirked under his mask and we hurried back to the others just in time to see the lightning attack headed Shikamaru and Choji's way. Kakashi stopped one with his Raikiri and I stopped the other, deflecting it around Shikamaru and myself with my sword—that was covered in lightning.
"Sensei!"
Kakashi's glove burned off from the sheer amount of power behind the attack, whereas I winced, the edge of my shoulders having come into contact with the lightning due to the thinness of my sword. I'm getting hurt all over today. Best keep my guard up a bit better now.
"Kakashi. How many elements has he shown so far?"
"Three. Earth, wind, and lightning."
I frowned. But there was five creatures. If we figure that each one has a different element, then the last one is either fire or water.
"Sensei, are you okay?" Ino asked, having jumped to our sides.
"Yeah… Somewhat."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at me, cautious and I spoke up, if only to ease some of the tension between all of us.
"The Hokage sent me. I'm Anbu. Just… call me Fox."
I looked away, but kept Kakashi in my sights as he nodded to Shikamaru and the others. "He can be trusted."
I felt my lip twitch up in a smirk at that—and the fact that he, like Yamato, went along with changing my gender—and focused my attention on Kakuzu and his creatures, not worried about Hidan for the moment. That's usually how it works. They either work together to attack, or Kakuzu tries to create an opening for Hidan to do his ritual.
"You're the first ones to survive that, Fox, Kakashi Hatake… You saw it coming with the sharingan and somehow managed to escape with your reflexes… How about this one?"
Kakuzu did a hand sign and one of the creatures launched a fire ball out, creating a barrier of fire that launched out at us. Kakashi jumped one way and the rest of us jumped our own ways before meeting back up where we were not a minute ago, Kakashi having been attacked by Hidan when he jumped.
"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?" Choji asked.
"Yeah…"
I could tell he was thinking about his options, what with him having used three of his four Raikiri already and his sharingan still active. I too, was trying to think up something and frowned. Kakuzu is smart. I'm betting he'll combine his creatures soon and that won't be good. Especially since I know first-hand what sort of destruction the elements combined can do.
"Their teamwork is good." Ino commented, whereas Choji narrowed his eyes.
"Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri earlier, hit its mark for sure. So why isn't he dead?"
I took over speaking, giving Kakashi time to try and think up a strategy. "Each mask has a life of its own. Kakashi killed one of them, but there were four masks and his own body in total. So there's four left. Each one has its own elemental attribute; lightning, fire, wind, and himself, earth. I'm assuming that the one Kakashi destroyed before was water."
Shikamaru nodded. "Earlier when he took out the shadow imitation shuriken and escaped, it was the same. The arm that was separated from the main body had something like a heart attached to it. It moved on its own."
"So what does that mean?"
"He has five hearts. Five lives." I said. "We need to kill him five times, but Kakashi already killed one. So four more to go."
"So you figured it out." Kakuzu said. "Each of those hearts were taken from shinobi who I previously fought with. They're replaceable… with your hearts."
I suppose there were truth to those rumors after all.
"Shikamaru, Fox… how do we fight them?" Kakashi asked, glancing back at the two of us.
"We need to get Hidan away from Kakuzu and fight in two teams." I said clearly, earning a nod from Shikamaru.
"First, we stop their combined assaults. Then we concentrate the attacks on the one we can defeat if we kill him four more times."
"That means we need someone to stop that Hidan guy." Kakashi said, following Shikamaru's logic.
"I'll do it." Ino said. "I'm the one who's conserved the most chakra until now… besides Fox. Plus, I'm no use in simple combat. Using the mind transfer jutsu—"
"No." Shikamaru interrupted. "To begin with, the mind transfer is part of a combo jutsu used only after I've stopped the opponent's movements with the shadow imitation. If you miss, you won't be able to return to your body for several minutes. The risk is too high."
Ino bowed her head, understanding what he was saying.
"You need to do it, Shikamaru." I said, earning a surprised look from him. "Capture him with your shadow imitation and move him elsewhere. That's probably the only way."
He nodded, but Kakashi brought up a valid point. "But how are you going to capture him. Either way, you're going to need a distraction."
"Then I'll be the bait." Choji said.
I shook my head. "No good. A close ranged attack won't work on him. It would need to be long ranged and Shikamaru's the only one who can do that safely."
"He's right. If he attacks you and gets even a little of your blood, then it's all over for you. It's out of the question for us to go in and attack him ourselves. Choji, conserve your chakra so that you can destroy the masked one later with Kakashi-sensei and Fox."
"What the hell are you whispering about?!" Hidan suddenly shouted. "Let's do this already!"
Shikamaru faced the front, eyes determined. "I'll capture him by myself and I'll be the one to do that part."
I smirked, turning my eyes towards the enemy once more. Asuma… you've certainly raised a smart kid. Shikamaru moved to the front and soon began using his shadow to try and go after the enemy.
"That again! Are you that afraid of my powers and my scythe, huh?!" Hidan shouted, him and Kakuzu jumping away from the quick moving tendrils. "Attacking like that from far away. It's pathetic!"
Kakuzu went to move in, but Kakashi and I jumped before him.
"Too bad." I hummed, drawing my sword and covering it with lightning.
"We're your opponents!" Kakashi called out.
It wasn't long before Shikamaru managed to trap Hidan in his jutsu and get him to leave his scythe and run off into the forest, leaving the rest of us with Kakuzu, who seemed unperturbed.
"None of you are going with them? You're underestimating Hidan. That kid Shikamaru could have had a large bounty on his head one day, but he's going to die today… However, your judgment was correct. I am strong… there's too much of a gap in the battle experience between you guys and myself. When I look at your forehead protectors, it reminds me of the first Konoha shinobi I fought with… the First Hokage."
I raised a brow, but basically understood what he was saying without all the shock that the others around me were presenting.
"You're truly immortal…" Kakashi said in shock.
"No." I said, face slowly etching into a frown as a dark evil laughter started echoing in my head.
"I'll become immortal one day, mutt. And with you at my side… hn hn hn… I'll be unstoppable."
"Oh?"
"There's no such thing as immortality."
"You're right… Have you figured it out already?"
I felt my lips turning up into a snarl as I practically growled at the man. "You stole other people's hearts and replaced your own… postponing your death."
He let out a chuckle. "Good. You're as smart as that Shikamaru kid… The number of hearts I can stock is five, including my own. Kakashi, the heart you destroyed, I'll replace it with yours and if not… well, I'll take Fox's heart instead."
I felt my dark chakra riling up inside me, but held it back for now, knowing I couldn't blow my cover just yet. It was then that I noticed the fire and wind creatures combining and my previous thoughts came true as the two of them launched a combined fire and wind attack at Kakashi and myself. Kakashi used Water Formation Wall in an attempt to block the attack, but I knew it would do nothing but create steam; the combined power of fire and wind being too much for a simple water technique. I went to grab him and pull him out of there, but black tendrils suddenly appeared to my right and from below him and I quickly threw a marked kunai his direction, him catching it as I created a clone who flashed him to my other kunai, myself being grabbed by the tendrils and slammed into the ground; my breath being thrown from my lungs by the impact.
"Fox!" I heard Kakashi shout.
"Your heart is mine now." Kakuzu said, stabbing a number of tendrils into me to hold me still.
"N-Not… quite." I breathed out, going to gather my dark chakra, but I didn't have to before Kakuzu began clutching at his chest.
"Kuh… C-Can't be…"
"Oh yes, it can." Kakashi called out from behind me. "We used your blood. Shikamaru knew your partner used blood for his technique so he prepared a blood capsule beforehand."
"Impossible… When… How did you get… an opening?"
I smirked now, understanding what happened. "When he punched a hole through your chest… You guys are underestimating Shikamaru… there's no way the information Asuma died to get would go to waste once he has it."
Kakuzu collapsed and I sat up with a grunt, reaching over and pulling the tendrils from myself as Kakashi and the other two hurried forward.
"Fox! You alright?"
"Gently!" Ino scolded. "I'll treat you with the medical ninjutsu immediately."
I shook my head. "No. We're not done yet."
Sure enough, the two creatures left over charged towards us, Choji hurrying to the front and using his expansion technique to slam them both into the ground.
"Good one Choji!" Ino called out, but I knew it wasn't over yet.
"Not yet!" I shouted, standing quickly and making sure everyone was within arm's reach. "He's combining them with himself!"
"You… how dare you…" Kakuzu said, standing up now that his stitches were bursting and he combined with his two creatures. "It's been a while since someone's destroyed two of my hearts."
The two masks appeared and before I could so much as flash everyone away, black tendrils grabbed a hold of the four of us, keeping us still. But I don't need to make hand signs to move to my kunai. I just need to touch them. Straining myself against the tendrils, I ignored the feeling of them tightening to near bone breaking point just as Kakuzu shot out his combined fire and wind attack. Just before the attack could hit though, I barely caught four familiar scents as someone stopped the attack and cut the tendrils holding us all, making me relax now that reinforcements were here.
"Sorry we're late." Naruto said; him, Sai, Sakura, and Yamato standing before us as Kakashi sighed.
"Good timing…"
"Sakura, Sai, and Naruto too…" Ino said after.
"Ahhhh, reinforcements. We're saved."
Yamato gave Kakashi and I a glance. "This is the first time I've seen you both look so un-cool. This opponent must be really strong."
I rolled my eyes under my mask. Says you. He should try hiding his identity while fighting this guy. It's harder than it looks.
"Another weird one's here." Kakuzu said. "And already beaten up too."
Naruto turned around, looking at Choji. "Where's Shikamaru?"
"Fighting the other Akatsuki." I said, bringing his attention to me, at which his eyes widened as he pointed childishly.
"Ah! You! Fox!"
I had to grit my teeth to keep from responding with my usual lazy wave and instead stood there stoically, though I could see Kakashi hiding a smile at my struggle.
"Would two of you go to Shikamaru's side?" He asked. "A long distance type and medical is best."
He then summoned Pakkun, who took Sai and Sakura to Shikamaru as Naruto glared down our opponent.
"I'll take it from here."
"Did he complete it?" Kakashi asked.
"No. It's about 50%."
"Hm." I hummed.
"However, just watch please. He's a completely different person than before."
I decided to take a rest for now and sat down on the ground, cringing at the amount of pain I was in and beginning to heal my own injuries as Kakashi explained the situation to Yamato and Naruto summoned clones and charged in. He was easily stopped, but I smirked when I realized what he was doing. He's learning how many clones it takes to distract him. Smart. Naruto summoned more clones then and began creating his newest attack, making me cringe as my sensitive ears ached from just the sound it was producing. I was barely able to open my eyes as I covered my ears, glancing up to see his Rasengan take the form of a shuriken.
Choji and Ino went to charge in as well, but Yamato stopped them, knowing just how much raw power was behind this attack. Meanwhile, I felt warm liquid slip through my fingers that covered my ears as I struggled to stay conscious and keep the memories at bay.
"Her ears are sensitive to all sound."
"Perfect. It'll make keeping her under control better… How does the whistle work on her?"
"Heh, I'll show you…"
The noise from Naruto's Shuriken Rasengan seemed to echo the loud whistle from my past and I felt my dark chakra getting more and more agitated as it tried to slip through my seal. Already, I could feel myself slipping, being swallowed by the beast inside me and just as I thought I was gone, a voice slipped through all the noise.
"Fox!"
"Mutt!"
That's not me. That's not my name.
"Hey, stay with me! Fight it!"
"Do as I say! Kill them!"
No… I can't. I won't…
"Yamato!"
"Kabuto! Now!"
I was suddenly hit square in the chest by something, launching me back into a tree and holding me there as I felt my energy slipping away. The anger, the noise, the fear, the pain. All of it just fading, leaving me slumped over the wood pillar that had hit me, breathing hard with a consistent ringing in my head as a single tear fell down my cheek. No more… Please… No more pain…
"…Hey…"
I felt the fog in my head lift slowly, a single voice pushing through.
"Come on… Get up."
Slowly, I shifted, though pain seemed to radiate through my head, pounding behind my eyes.
"…Shi…" The voice whispered, quietly. "Wake up."
I somehow managed to open my eyes, blinking my blurry vision away to see Kakashi kneeling before me looking a bit beat up, but rather relieved.
"Took you long enough." He teased. "You missed out on everything."
I lifted my head and looked around, seeing a rather large crater not far away and Naruto being carried with the others off to the side, before looking back at Kakashi.
"Seems I did."
Kakashi grew serious though, checking behind him to make sure no one had come over within hearing range.
"Do you know what caused it?"
I nodded, wincing as my headache flared at the movement and placing a hand to my head before allowing Kakashi to help me up.
"It was the noise of Naruto's Shuriken Rasengan." I muttered, reaching up and touching just below my ear and pulling my hand away to find blood on it. "My ears are too sensitive and… before… with him… whistles and loud noises were used to… Sorry. I should have mentioned it before."
Kakashi sighed, draping my arm over his shoulder so he could help me over to the others.
"No. I understand. No one expected something like that to trigger it. For now, let's get you healed up by Sakura." He said, calling Sakura over so she could heal my ears and my bleeding hand.
Oddly enough, she didn't suspect that I was, well, me. I thought she would've, what with my hand injuries matching what she had helped heal in the hospital, but I guess she just didn't notice it. Or if she did, she didn't say anything. Once that was taken care of though, we headed back to Konoha and were all gathered into Tsunade's office to give her our report.
"Great work, everyone. However, the Akatsuki is still out there, so don't let your guard down just yet. For now though, you can all take a break. You deserve it."
Everyone went to go, but I was to stay behind to give my own report due to my little episode while there.
"I see. Is it possible to have it occur again?"
I reached up and took off my mask with a hum. "Hm. Don't know really. Now that I know what I'm dealing with, I should be able to control it. It was just… a momentary lapse of control."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at me, fingers interlocked in front of her mouth. "I will trust you on that. However, I have a task you need to do."
I sighed, pulling a hand through my hair. "Another mission?"
"You are the quickest one we have and are probably the only one capable of tracking Jiraiya."
"You're kidding." I deadpanned.
Tsunade smirked, shaking her head. "Word has it he's dug up some information that we need. You're the one who's going to bring it back."
I reluctantly gave in. "Do we have an idea where he's at?"
Tsunade nodded, digging through her desk and pulling out a scroll, scanning it and handing it to me. "This is the message I received from one of his contacts saying that he should be around Kusagakure where Orochimaru's last hideout was."
I nodded, pocketing the scroll in my pouch and leaving to go to my apartment and pack. When I flashed there, I had to take a step back because Kakashi was right there waiting for me, a large smile on his face under his mask.
"Yo."
I let out a sigh and unlocked my door behind him. "Sorry, Kakashi. I can't stay. I have a mission."
He raised a brow as he followed me in. "Another one? You just got back."
"But I'm the only one who can track down Jiraiya at the moment and he has some information to pass along."
"That's odd." Kakashi said, as I began packing. "Doesn't he normally bring the information to Konoha himself?"
"Apparently, his contact says he's in a tight spot and can't leave but it's vital he passes along the info now." I said. "I can't say much more than that."
I went into my bedroom to grab some clothes and came back out to see the burnt remains of my scarf lying on a small end table, causing my face to fall. Kakashi spotted this and came over, blocking my view of it as he hugged me, chin atop my head.
"How long are you going to be gone?"
"Few days, a week at most." I murmured, closing my eyes and taking in his scent; the smell of pine and the pomegranate soap he uses relaxing me. "Shoji will take me up towards the border of the Land of Earth, I'll get the info, and then come back. Shouldn't be any longer than that."
"Hm." He hummed. "I'll miss you."
I scoffed a bit. "Sure you will."
He pulled away, looking down at me as I glanced up with a lazy look.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You'll be too busy reading to miss me." I joked, earning a smile from him.
"Cute." He said sarcastically. "Try not to get into trouble though. Alright? I'll even bring you a present when you get back."
I furrowed my brows. "Why?"
He gave me a closed-eye grin. "Because~"
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my things, letting him follow me out the door where I summoned Shoji, who pawed at the ground.
"When do I get a break?" He complained as I hefted a thick blanket onto his back and smoothed it out.
"When I get one." I said, as Kakashi stood by and chuckled.
"If you get one." He commented, making me turn to him with a frown.
"Hey."
He laughed, stepping forward and brushing a hand over my cheek. "Be careful."
"You're awfully… touchy today." I complained, using a finger to push his hand away.
He gave me a long hard look. "I just have a bad feeling about something."
"Mhmm." I hummed, the two of us standing not inches from each other in silence, until something unpredictable happened.
Shoji knocked his head into my back, knocking me forward into Kakashi, my lips meeting his through his cloth mask. I pulled away, face red and gave Shoji a glare as he turned his head away innocently and Kakashi laughed some more.
"It's not funny." I said, turning back to him.
"It is when you make that face." He said, making me turn redder and turn away.
Oddly enough, Kakashi grabbed me suddenly and turned me around, covering my eyes with a hand and pressing his lips to mine, only this time, there was no cloth mask to get in-between. When we separated, his hand was still over my eyes and my mouth was open in shock, already feeling the heat crawling up my face and to my ears even. I felt Kakashi begin to pull his hand away, but quickly reached up and held it there.
He chuckled. "What's wrong, Shi?"
It was like my throat suddenly closed up and I couldn't breathe, but I somehow managed to stutter out a response.
"N-Nothing…"
"Really?"
I could hear the mocking tone in his voice and pulled his hand down to glare at him, his mask already back up.
"Shut up."
He laughed and I let him go, climbing up on Shoji's back and hanging on to his mane, ready to go, when Kakashi placed a hand on my knee.
"Seriously though, Shi. Please. Be careful."
I sighed, seeing how worried he was and nodded. "I'll do my best."
With that, I turned Shoji towards the direction of the gates and headed off at a trot, dodging the occasional bystander who took their time moving out of my way. Though Shoji was doing the dodging. I was too busy burying my face in his mane after what I had just experienced. Kami… what just happened?
After a while, I had calmed down and focused on where I was going. Two days passed of me traveling with the occasional rest before I wasn't too far from where the message said Jiraiya was last seen. Odd thing was, the whole way over here I hadn't caught a trace of his scent and that had me slightly on edge. Something's wrong… Kakashi was right about the message and there's no way to confirm that this message actually came from one of his informants. For all we know, this informant could've been caught and this is all a—I was startled out of my trace when the leaves in the trees above me shifted and I was suddenly attacked.
I could hardly keep track of what was happening, even with my quick reflexes and before long, I was knocked off Shoji with a hard hit to the head, disorienting me as a sharp pain radiated through my skull and shoulder; which was probably broken in the fall. Shoji began panicking and I got up as quickly as I could, feeling my dark chakra flare out as I growled lowly and scanned the forest around me. Problem was, I had to keep blinking because the hit to my head continued to leave spots in my vision and catching sight of my attackers was harder than I expected. I caught sight of a flash though and charged towards it, sword at the ready when I tumbled to the ground, not realizing what had happened until I felt pure agony shoot up my spine.
My ankle had been caught in some sort of bear trap, breaking my leg and tearing through my pants, holding me in place as I blindly slashed out at empty air with a pained howl. Laughter echoed from around me and then came the noise. A high pitched ringing hand me dropping my weapon, struggling to keep myself under control as I covered my ears, shouting at Shoji.
"Shoji! Run! Go back to Konoha! It's a trap! R-Run!"
I heard the galloping of his hooves before he silenced them and the whistling stopped. A group of people came towards me, sending some of the people after Shoji, before one man came too close and I gathered enough dark chakra to lash a clawed hand at him, slicing through his throat and killing him with a menacing growl.
"Back off."
I shook my head a bit to try and clear my vision, but that only made it worse, so I began gathering dark chakra in the hopes that transforming into that would get me out of this situation. I could feel myself losing it to the beast, when pain radiated from my back. Multiple swords had been stabbed into my back, stealing my chakra as blood pooled beneath me and I began to lose consciousness. But not before I heard the other group return.
"The animal escaped."
Shoji… please, get help.
Tsunade sat quietly in her office, staring out the window at the town, paperwork still stacked up on her desk waiting to be finished. She had this nagging feeling that something was off, but couldn't quite place it. It has to do with Shi. I know it. But what? She furrowed her brows, arms crossed over her chest as she thought. With the mission perhaps? It was odd that Jiraiya's contact would get a hold of us as opposed to the man himself, but that man is unpredictable. Who knows what he's been up to lately? She sighed, putting the thought off for now and turning back to the work on her desk with a grimace. Too much paperwork. Her eyes shifted to her top desk drawer though and a slow smirk made its way on her face as she sat down and opened it. Good thing I have this though. She reached in and pulled out a sake bottle and cup, setting the cup on her desk and pouring the drink and setting the bottle down, bringing the cup to her lips and drinking.
"Wah!" She called out, a big grin crossing her face and she poured more. "That's some good sake!"
Just as she brought the cup to her lips again though, a man burst into her office, causing her to choke.
"Hey there, Tsunade!"
"J-Jiraiya?!" Tsunade coughed out, the man waving with a grin.
"Calm down there, Tsunade! You're going to hurt yourself." He said with a smile.
Tsunade though, wasn't having it, and stood up pointing at him. "You! You're not supposed to be here!"
Jiraiya raised a brow. "What are you talking about, Tsunade?"
"Where's Shi?!" She shouted at him, not liking what this could mean for the woman she just sent out on a mission to find the man standing before her.
"Tsunade, I don't know what you're talking about!" He replied. "I just got into Konoha and came right here. I haven't run into anyone."
Tsunade sank back down into her seat, digging through her desk quickly before pulling out a scroll identical to the one she gave Shi days ago.
"Did you or one of your contacts send this?"
Jiraiya looked confused, but took the scroll, scanning it over before frowning. "This is my contact's writing, but I never asked them to do this nor would I allow it. I send all information personally for a reason but…" Jiraiya looked closer at the scroll, before placing a hand on it and focusing his chakra, causing a few characters to glow revealing a single word: Trap.
Jiraiya immediately turned to Tsunade showing her the scroll and she dropped her head into her hands. Suddenly though, the door was slammed open and she lifted her head to greet the intruder with a glare.
"What do you think you're doing barging in here?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, but an injured animal just showed up at the gates!" the man said, looking a bit worse for wear.
"And what do I care about some injured animal?" She said, frustrated.
"B-But, Tsunade-sama, I-I-I think it's a summon. It had a headband around its neck."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes in confusion. "A summon? On its own?"
The man nodded frantically. "I-It's wounded as well. I'm surprised it took as many of us as it did to keep it from running into the village. The animal's in a panic and if it can speak, it doesn't look like it will until it calms down, but we haven't been able to get that far with it yet. No one knows what to do. We're not used to dealing with such an animal."
Tsunade frowned. "Describe it."
"W-What?"
"The summon! Describe it! What does it look like?!"
The man flinched. "I-It's tall. A good foot taller than me. Strong. B-Black. I-I think it's a-a-a horse?"
Tsunade's eyes widened and she quickly stood, putting on her robe. "Shizune!"
"Y-Yes!" Shizune appeared in the doorway, looking a bit confused.
"Summon Kakashi to the front gate. Immediately! And put together a tracking team to go with him."
"Tsunade—"
"Now!" Tsunade snapped, heading towards the door. "Shi's been taken by Orochimaru!"
"O-Of course! Right away!" Shizune sputtered out, quickly rushing out as Tsunade and Jiraiya headed to the front gates, the shinobi leading the way.
"It's over here!" He said, and already one could hear the loud whinnies of Shoji as he panicked, hooves hitting the ground hard enough to be heard from a distance as well.
Tsunade quickly understood why the shinobi had been so panicked upon entering her office, the scene in front of her surprising her far more than she expected. Shoji was swinging his head around wildly, large gashes on his flank, shoulder, and neck dripping blood down his sweaty coat as he bucked and reared. Even the shinobi were having a tough time controlling him and a good number had already been thrown around by the horse. Just then, Kakashi appeared at her side, looking over the scene with wide eyes and turning to Tsunade.
"What's going on?"
"We need to get that animal under control." Tsunade said, jaw tight. "It's believed that Shi may have been taken by Orochimaru."
"What?!"
"I will explain the situation later. Right now, we need him taken care of. He's the only one who can lead a team to where she was taken. I summoned you here because I believed you could do it faster than we could."
Kakashi nodded and headed over, shooing the shinobi around Shoji back to a safer distance as he approached the tired, injured animal.
"Hey there, buddy. Remember me?" Kakashi said, voice calm and hands up, approaching slowly.
Shoji's head hung low as he breathed hard, legs quivering as he watched Kakashi come closer.
"Relax. I just want to help you. You, and Shi."
Shoji raised his head a bit at Shi's name and Kakashi got a bit closer.
"We need to find out what happened to her, but we need you to stay calm and get your injuries looked at."
Shoji snorted, but lowered his head, allowing Kakashi to reach a hand out and pat his neck, to which he responded by tucking his head into Kakashi's chest. Everyone seemed to relax and Kakashi led Shoji over towards Tsunade with a hand on his neck.
"It was an ambush…" Shoji breathed out. "A large group of men… One knocked her off me with a hit to the head… they seemed to know her weaknesses…"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she stared at the horse. "Can you take a team to where she was?"
The horse nodded with a snort. "Unlike her, I'm good with directions."
Tsunade nodded, ordering one of the shinobi to take him over to Hana Inuzuka in the hopes that she may be able to help heal Shoji's injuries until a team could be assembled. The only problem was, the team wasn't able to find any traces as to where Shi had been taken and days passed with no word or hope as to where she could possibly be found. This put Kakashi into a depression and, though he did his best to hide it, even Guy could tell that Shi's disappearance was having an effect on him. And by this point, the whole village was aware of what had happened, though Naruto was the single person left out of the loop, as Tsunade ordered. To her, knowing how close they were, Naruto would do something reckless and she didn't need him going off after her when the Akatsuki were out looking for him. Needless to say, Tsunade couldn't risk losing someone else. Let's just hope she's still alive by the time we find her…
I couldn't move without agony ripping through my veins. I wasn't in the best shape at all and, despite being captured by Orochimaru's men, I had yet to see the man or Kabuto and instead had to deal with his sadistic scientists. This didn't change the torture I was put through, but it did change how they treated me and how I treated them. I couldn't tell how long I'd been in this darkened cell, but the scientists were quick to learn how many locks and chakra seals they needed to keep me in control. This frustrated me greatly and every chance I had, I tried to escape, but it was useless and I was slowly beginning to lose hope.
No one knows where I'm at. Even if Shoji made it back, there's probably no way to track me here. And I can feel myself slowly losing it. The beast is getting stronger and these experiments they're doing on me only make it worse. I glanced up, body slumped against the cell wall and hands cuffed in front of me with chains around my ankles, hair shading my murderous eyes. I'll do it. I'll kill the next person who comes through that door. Oddly enough, the noise outside grew louder and after a long while, it suddenly grew quiet. I heard the sound of keys and footsteps come closer and tensed, but they stopped outside of the door across from me and I cringed as my wounds ached in protest as I relaxed slightly. I felt my eyes begin to slide closed then, tired from everything, but just before they closed my whole cell shook and I quickly lifted my head to see a small bit of light peeking through a tiny hole in the wall.
To do that much damage to a wall that thick… it wasn't a scientist who came to the door across the way. It was someone else… Someone stupid, or ridiculously strong… I felt my lips twitch up in a snarl and forced myself to stand, keeping all my weight on my good leg as the other dragged behind me limply and I made my way to the small hole. I hadn't yet forgotten the chakra stored in my arm seal and as I began releasing that dark chakra into my arm, ignoring the pain and suffocating feeling from the other seals around the cell, I slammed my chakra laden fist into the wall where the hole was, blowing a big enough hole that I could climb out of. Sensing four presences, I immediately transformed, growling and snapping at the three as I destroyed the hallway with my thrashing.
Something sharp slashed across my sensitive nose, making me even angrier as I tried to take a bite out of the white haired, shark toothed man only for him to turn into water and slip through my gnashing jaws. So I turned to the others and attacked, causing the woman of the group to let out a scream as she ducked behind one of the guys, one I recognized even in my half-crazed state. Sasuke? My muzzle was stopped by an orange haired man standing in front of him who had grabbed a hold of it, but I quickly tossed him aside and glared down my nose at Sasuke with a snarl.
"Sasuke."
He seemed slightly surprised, a hand on his sword as his eyes narrowed at me.
"You know me."
"Far more than you realize… Where is the snake? You smell like him."
I took a sniff, blowing back the hot air in his face.
"Dead." He replied, still tense.
"He was mine." I growled out, watching as Sasuke's hand clenched tighter around his sword.
"You were a bit late." He commented, making me scoff.
"Heh, no point in trying to joke, Uchiha. I can smell your fear." I moved a bit closer with a sneer, before pulling back and sighing. "It's a shame I'm in such bad shape. Naruto would be pleased if I brought you back."
"You're from Konoha."
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him and the others with him, jumping up through the ceiling and cringing when my injured leg slipped. I glanced at him from over my shoulder though and huffed, sending him some words of advice.
"You'll find that you'll need Naruto one day, Sasuke. Try not to kill too many people before then."
With that, I headed off the roof of the building and jumped down to the ground, landing with a yelp as my body crumbled. I went back to my human self and, with the last ounces of my chakra, went to summon Shoji. Oddly enough, he wasn't the one who appeared, but another horse. A larger horse.
The horse was a dark brown color with a long white face and white furry legs with a black mane and tail, but it's sheer mass was twice that of Shoji's and he was far taller than Shoji as well. I could tell without even getting up off the ground that I wouldn't even reach the top of the horse's shoulder, but I was fading fast and I knew I might not make it back to Konoha if I didn't get on the back of the horse soon.
"W-Where's Shoji?" I gasped out, picking myself up off the ground and nearly falling over if it weren't for the horse holding me up with his head.
"Resting. Enemy did a number on him. Name's Masashi, by the way."
I nodded, Masashi helping me onto his back where I clung to his mane and he turned around to face the direction of where I assumed he knew Konoha was.
"We going for speed or comfort?" Masashi asked, pawing the ground with his large hoof.
"Both… if you can… I don't know how long I can stay… conscious…"
He bobbed his head in a nod. "I'll do what I can."
Once that was decided, he headed off in a gallop, hooves thundering as he galloped with me hanging on as best I could on his back. It hurt to be riding him, my injuries screaming in agony with every bump and step. I did what I could to stay conscious though, only passing out once, and open dirt soon gave way to grass and forests. As we traveled, Masashi kept checking up on me, but otherwise we stayed quiet. I only spoke up when I smelled something, silently giving him the order to stop as I sat up. Small group of men… Not familiar… not Orochimaru's… low chakra, civilians… but I smell blood… that must mean they're—I was cut off as something hit me in the back, knocking me off Masashi, and men hurried over and surrounded him; not giving me a glance.
Masashi was quick to retaliate, rearing and kicking out, knocking the bandits back before one seemed to spot me and came over and dug through my pockets. They had hit me with an arrow, it having gone straight through my shoulder and I was beginning to grow frustrated with the man who was digging through my pockets for stuff to steal. Needless to say, Masashi took care of him before I could get a chance and the bandits ran off empty handed and beaten as Masashi helped me onto his back once more, the arrow having him worried about my health and he quickly picked up his pace as we hurried to Konoha. By the time we reached there, it was well after dark and I wish I could've seen the guards' faces when this monstrous horse pounded right through the gates and towards the hospital. When we reached there, I wasn't surprised to see a group of ninja standing by—the guards having alerted them, no doubt—but to see Tsunade, Kakashi, and Jiraiya show up was a bit surprising.
Some of the ninja began to move closer, but Tsunade immediately stopped them by holding a hand out and she was the one to approach as Masashi turned to the side to reveal me hanging limply on his back. Her and Kakashi immediately rushed forward, pulling me off his back as gently as they could as Tsunade sent someone to get more medical assistance and Masashi disappeared. Tsunade was doing her best to heal me as a group of nurses and doctors brought out a stretcher and I was placed on it on my side. I struggled to keep my eyes open as I was wheeled in, but even that was difficult and I soon slipped into black, hearing Kakashi's voice urging me to hold on.
"Just hold on, Shi… hold on…"