Chapter 9:
"Look who decided to join us after all these hours of doing who knows what." Megumi-sensei said the moment I opened the door to our hotel room.
"You look horrible." Kyoske said, a bright red popsicle in his mouth as he lounged on the sofa, his head dangling over one of the arms.
"Where have you been?" Hideki called from his work station of endlessly wired computers. He had set up his workspace the moment we had touched down at the hotel. Wordlessly and seamlessly, he had connected wires to ports and plugs. He had finished it all in an hour and it looked just about as complicated as it sounded. Just looking over at him was enough to make a distant pain start at the back of my head.
"I was getting information." I answered calmly, shutting the door behind me.
"With Uchiha." Kyoske said, pressing his lips together. "You were getting information with Uchiha…all night?"
I glared at him, putting as much venom as I had into it. "Don't start."
Megumi-sensei chuckled without any ounce of humor and slid off of the windowsill. "Enough, we have bigger things to move onto now that we're all here."
"What happened?" I asked, still glaring at Kyoske who was eating his popsicle, unaffected while he watched me.
"We found out who they are." Hideki said.
I tore my glare away from Kyoske and looked over at Hideki, my body tense. "Wha—Who are they?" I looked at Megumi-sensei. "He's talking about the Sound ninja right?"
"Their profiles are finally up." Hideki said. "They're plenty suspect alright and they're skilled too."
"Not that that means it'll be any harder to take them down." Kyoske said. "We're just barely acknowledging their skills."
"But that's not all." Hideki said and his eyes shifted over to Megumi-sensei who had her arms crossed.
"We found one of his hideouts." Megumi-sensei said. "It looks like a rundown compound but my intel said that's not the case. They saw the place get a shipment just the other night. So someone is in there."
I smiled, my hands in tight fists at my sides. "That's great! So what's our next step? Are we splitting up or are we—"
"We're going to the compound." Kyoske cut me off.
"But we're not going alone." Hideki added just before the excitement could reach my face. In its place, confusion hit and that was when Megumi-sensei swept in.
"Intel says the compound is being used. The Leaf caught word of a mysterious building just outside it's walls and it wants to send a unit out to investigate, but they're a little tight on shinobi right now." Megumi-sensei explained. "Plus with the Chunin Exams, Genin are busy training. So, they reached out to the Daimyō and he offered our services."
"Okay?" I said slowly, still confused. "So who else is coming?"
"The Hokage said that it wasn't necessary to send us in so he reached out to their ally." Megumi-sensei said. "A group of four that just so happens to be in town for the Chunin Exams."
I closed my eyes and eased back against the door. "The Sand."
"Yup." Kyoske sighed.
"They agreed of course, said they didn't need to practice for something they're going to win." Hideki said.
"Words I like to believe slipped out of Kankuro's mouth." Kyoske added.
"So they're coming?" I asked.
Megumi-sensei nodded. "The only thing is, they don't know what we know. They don't know about the shipment. They're just going to investigate the building."
"And what are we tagging along for?" I asked.
"The ride." Kyoske said, earning a look from Hideki.
"We're going to need to split up when we reach the area and find something that can get us proof that Orochimaru's been there." Megumi-sensei said.
"Or someone working for him at least." Hideki added.
"Okay...so when do we leave?" I asked.
Megumi-sensei looked at the clock on the wall. "In an hour."
…
White Fang was waiting for us by Konoha's main gates and he wasn't alone. Team 7 stood right beside him and they didn't seem to sense the tension chipping away at their sensei's shoulders. Sakura was scolding Naruto, who was arguing with Sasuke over the smirk on his face. Sasuke had his eyes closed, arms crossed and looked just about as uninterested in the conversation as Kakashi was aware that Sakura was about a second away from clocking Naruto on the head.
"Well, well, well." Kakashi said as we drew closer and suddenly all eyes were on us. Sakura blinked at us while a slow smile spread across Naruto's lips, turning excited when he looked at me. Sasuke's eyes met mine briefly until they flickered over to Megumi-sensei who took a step forward. She was amused at the mere sight of Kakashi and she placed a hand on her hip, jutting it out slightly, giving her side a slight curve.
"Heard all about me and had to come and see me for yourself, huh?" Megumi-sensei asked. "Missed me that much, White Fang?"
"I got word you were in the Chunin Exams." Kakashi said. "And heading out on a mission."
"A mission?" Naruto piped and then his eyes widened, as he stepped forward, concern in his voice. "You guys know the exam starts in a week right?"
Kyoske scoffed. "We know Naruto."
"We wouldn't miss the exams for the world." Hideki said. "Something just came up."
"Will you all be back in time?" Sakura asked.
"Of course." Kyoske assured her and then shot me a glance.
I knew they wanted me to say something, anything really, but just looking at Sasuke had reminded me of this morning, when I had slid out of Sasuke's bed and left his apartment, praying that he had been asleep but knowing full well that he hadn't gotten a wink of it all night just like I had.
"You know it's funny." Megumi-sensei said, her head cocking innocently to the side. "I heard you were in the exams as well." Her eyes drifted over to the students beside him, an amused smirk lighting her lips that made Sasuke's lips press together tightly. "I heard you put your little rookies in the exam and that you're not the only one."
"Rookies?" Naruto repeated. "Lady who you calling rookies?!"
Kakashi seemed to smile under his mask which made Megumi-sensei narrow her eyes.
"They're capable." Kakashi said. "Just as capable as your students are."
Megumi-sensei shrugged. "Never said they weren't." She looked them over again. "Just saying you better hope they're stable enough for the job."
This seemed to strike something in Kakashi, whose body tensed beside Naruto. He had no comeback and I could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what Megumi-sensei was subtly hinting at. I remembered suddenly the red cloud rising above the thick mist in the Land of Waves, the slight crack of a Jinchūriki's power and the weight of it in the air.
"Megumi." Baki's sharp voice cut through the air and made us all stiffen until we looked back and saw the Sand ninja walking toward us.
"Baki." Megumi-sensei said with a delicate smile. "Are we ready?"
"Wa-wait you're going on a mission with them?" Naruto asked.
"Oh you've all met?" Megumi-sensei said, feigning surprise.
"Let's go already." Gaara growled as he walked toward the front gates.
"Wait you're leaving now?!" Naruto asked.
"Miyu—" Sakura stepped forward just as Temari wrapped an arm around my neck, making her freeze, Naruto tense, and Sasuke set his lips into a harder line.
"C'mon Miyuki! We have a long way to walk and a lot to catch up on." Temari said with a wink, steering me away from the Leaf shinobi and after Gaara.
"Get off." I growled under my breath, making Temari chuckle.
"Why so you can give that Uchiha a longing look?" Temari asked. "You'll see your little boyfriend when we get back."
I flushed. "He's not my boyfriend."
Temari stuck her tongue out at me. "Could have fooled me."
She released me when we reached the gates and skipped off to Gaara's side. I looked back and saw Kankuro walking beside Baki and Megumi-sensei and Kyoske and Hideki a few steps in front of them. Hideki was watching Gaara and Kyoske seemed to be in the middle of telling him a story. Just behind everyone I could still make out Team 7, watching us walk away. The slightly horrified look on Naruto's face, Sakura's concern knitting her brow together, the glare aimed at Megumi-sensei coming from Kakashi. Then there was Sasuke, standing apart from the group, his arms crossed, his eyes fixed into what I was sure was the darkest of glares.
I jogged back to my teammates, shooting them a smile. "So where is this hideout? Do we know the coordinates?"
"It's about a half an hour walk, depending." Hideki said.
I nodded. "It is pretty close to the Leaf."
"Yeah." Kyoske yawned. "How these people didn't notice a building being built just outside their walls, I don't know."
"It's probably hidden." I said. "Probably looks like a relic too if it's as rundown as they say."
Kyoske shrugged in response and Hideki looked back at Megumi-sensei and Baki who looked like they were in the middle of conversation.
"What do you think they're talking about?" I asked, absently.
"Who knows." Kyoske said.
"I'm more worried about the Sound ninja." Hideki said.
"What are their names?" I asked.
"Dosu, Zaku, and Kin." Hideki said. "They call themselves Team Dosu."
"Pictures?" I asked.
"I'm not too trusting of the Sand either." Hideki said, ignoring my request. He glanced back at Kankuro who was now walking ahead of our sensei's, his hands locked at the back of his head, his eyes trained to the sky above.
"They've always looked seedy." Kyoske said, following his glance.
"I don't think they would work with Orochimaru though." I said. "They're a lot of things but that…that would be crossing a line."
"Why else would they be here then?" Hideki asked. "Them of all Sand shinobi?"
"What's that Hideki?" Temari called. We all looked over at her and found that she was closer than before. Gaara was a few steps ahead of her too.
"Nothing." Kyoske said. "Why don't you mind your business, huh?"
Temari opened her mouth to shoot him back a response but Gaara beat her to it, stopping in his tracks to shoot Kyoske a glare.
"Don't speak to her that way." He grumbled. "Or I'll kill you."
"No one will be killing anyone right now so keep walking and pretending at least while we're still within eyeshot that we're one big happy unit." Megumi-sensei said.
"Appearances matter that much to you?" Kankuro asked.
"Well, when we're with people as shady as you Kankuro, yes." Megumi-sensei said.
"Shady?" Baki repeated as if the word was foreign to him.
Megumi-sensei shrugged. "Just making a point."
"Not really aimed at me, but whatever." Kankuro sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Shut up." Gaara growled, picking up his pace.
I took a good look at him noting that the chip on his shoulder seemed even bigger than usual. It showed he wasn't over our little fight the other day which was fine because clearly neither was Kyoske and Kankuro. Either way, Kankuro shut up and looked away, as a nervous look crossed his face that made Kyoske snicker in response.
"What's up with you people and those Leaf babies anyway?" Temari asked.
"They're our friends." I answered, maybe a little too quickly judging by the look Gaara shot me.
"Friends is a very selective term." Megumi-sensei said dryly. "That's putting it lightly."
"Clearly you don't feel the same as your students." Baki said.
"They are strong shinobi." Hideki said.
"The Uchiha is." Gaara growled. "The other boy and the girl are annoying."
"They just haven't blossomed yet." I said, remembering the red cloud.
"That blonde kid is gonna get them all killed, I'll tell you that much." Kankuro said. "His big mouth in the Forest of Death? Not a chance."
"Or how about during the written portion? That psyche out?" Temari giggled. "He'll sweat up a storm."
"He'll raise his hand for sure!" Kyoske chuckled before I elbowed him in the ribs.
"Oww!" He spat, his hands clutching at the spot I had hit him.
"Don't support them." I growled.
"We'll see when the exam rolls around won't we? Who stays and who goes?" Hideki said. "For such big talk, we're not fortune tellers. We can't see the future. They could switch up tactics, make the forest even deadlier this year. Who knows if we'll even make it out?"
The laughter and chuckles cut short and everyone seemed to look off in different directions, except for Gaara, Hideki, our sensei's, and I. Megumi-sensei and Baki exchanged what seemed to be an amused look while Kyoske looked down at his feet. Temari looked up at the trees, watching the sun filter through the leaves and Kankuro simply turned his head, his jaw clenched, his aura annoyed.
I couldn't help but keep looking forward, a satisfied smirk crossing my lips. Hideki had hit the nail right on the head with that one. When it came to Temari and Kankuro, their confidence often got mixed in with cockiness and in a battle, there could only be but so much. It was unpredictable, just like life. Sure they were strong and notable shinobi, but not everything would go in their favor. Anything could happen, anything at all.
We were silent for the rest of the way and when we were close, Megumi-sensei and Baki stopped us and said they were going to scout ahead. Baki produced headsets and told us to scatter around the area, waiting for their mark in case it was a trap of some kind.
Temari and I scattered east and while she stayed low, jumping through the brush, I took the treetops, leaping from tree branch to tree branch, my eyes scanning the area. It was quiet for the most part, peaceful almost. I reeled to a stop about fifteen minutes in and made myself comfortable on a branch, my eyes scanning the forest depths. I could make out the hideout over the treetops and it looked like a big mud dome, nothing fancy but definitely sketchy especially when it was so close to the Land of Fire's most prized village.
"I am in position, over." Kyoske's came through the walkie and he was sure to make a static-y sound with his mouth.
"Idiot." Hideki said a few moments after.
"You have to say over, over." Kyoske said.
"Shut up." Gaara snapped.
"All of you shut up, how about that one?" Megumi-sensei growled.
"I'm just trying to lighten the mood." Kyoske added quickly.
"Kyoske!" Several voices snapped, making the frequency screech. I groaned and pulled the headset out of my ear almost instantly and that was when I heard a snap from down below and looked down.
I saw a flash of someone walking past the tree I was in and felt my body tense as I heard their soft footsteps in the dirt below. I tried peering through the trees but found no luck. Stealthily, I moved through the trees, trying to be as quiet as possible as I snuck over to get a better look. I was almost at the edge, almost able to catch a peek, when a kunai zipped up through the trees narrowly missing my face but slicing the side of my cheek.
I jumped back only to be hit with another wave of kunai and managed to dodge them with a substitution. I barely had time to look at the source of the kunai wave as I landed in the deep brush, cowering behind a thorny rose bush. I pulled a kunai out of my weapons pouch and held it to my side, my heart thumping in my chest. I couldn't help the fast, pulse-pounding adrenaline pumping through my veins and I was ready to strike, ready to drag whoever was throwing weapons at me back to the others.
I counted to three and rose from the bush, my weapon ready to strike when I found a body right in front of me, standing directly in front of the bush, directly in front of where I had been hiding. I was thrown off, stunned for a few seconds as I blinked at the body before me, before I swiped my arm down with my kunai in hand. Suddenly, the body reached forward, and caught my wrist. With one sharp twist, my kunai dropped and before the body, no, this dark haired girl with light red eyes, could break my hand, I wrestled myself free from her hold and reached for another weapon.
"I wouldn't kid." She said, her voice dry and bored, matching her expression which looked just as unamused. She was taller than me and older too. She had a jagged hairstyle, one side longer than the other, the other cut shrewdly, her hair slightly spiky. She had a pair of dark glasses over her red eyes and she wore a black cape with red clouds on it. One of her legs poked out of the capes front, revealing a sandal that stretched over her kneecap and ended just above her mid-thigh area.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
The girl arched an eyebrow. "You try sneaking up on me and you get to ask questions?" Something shifted in her cape and at the same time I was able to pick up my kunai, a hand lifted from the cape sleeve and as it lifted a thin metal pipe-like thing shot from her sleeve. She aimed it at me, the end hollow. It was centered on my face and I stared into the dark hole for a second, my kunai just a hair above the edge of it.
"Who are you?" The girl asked.
I wanted to glare at her, but I stopped myself. Instead, I forced myself to look at her.
"You work for him?" I asked.
She said nothing, just continued to watch me.
"He told you to keep that compound safe? You're his little watchdog, right?"
She blinked at me before arching an eyebrow.
"Kid, I have no idea what you're talking about and I'm about half a second away from blasting your face off if you don't answer my question." She said.
"Orochimaru." I spat and that got a reaction out of her.
She glared at me, a hard, hateful glare that I felt in my bones. Her grip on the pipe tightened as well and I could see her jaw tense.
"How do you know that name?" She growled through clenched teeth.
"You work for him, right?" I asked again, my voice careful.
Her eyes narrowed. "I don't work for that monster." She said.
"Then what are you doing slinking around that compound?" I asked.
"Listen brat!" The girl growled. "You're the one slinking around the compound and uttering his name. You're the one that clearly works for him."
She had a slight point, but I didn't admit it. I kept on staring at her pointedly, hoping that her words had stirred something in my expression. Judging by her glare, it hadn't.
"Don't move." I growled, reaching for my headset.
The girl scoffed and pushed her pipe forward. I gasped, barely dodging it and then rolled to the side, pulling out a string of kunai and launching all of them at her. She twirled her pipe like a baton and the kunai deflected off of it. I jumped back as did she.
"The weapons barrage is getting old, kid." She called out to me.
"You haven't even begun to see what I can do." I said, as I started making hand signs. "Earth Release! Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot!" My hands slammed down on the ground and the moment they touched four sharp stone spikes shot from the ground in the clearing, one coming from behind, in front of and on both of her sides. The spikes ripped out of the ground, overturning tree roots in the process. Her eyes widened for a split second and that was all I saw as the spikes collided, creating a cloud of thick dust. I jumped back even further, the backs of my legs brushing against the bushes as I held my breath, waiting. The Jutsu was full-proof, impossible to dodge. Plus, the look on her face proved she hadn't been expecting it, that she not only knew she wouldn't be able to miss it, but that she was shocked someone like me could even use it.
"Not bad, kid." The girl shouted from somewhere above me. I looked up and saw her balanced on top of a tree branch, her hand on her hip and another part of her outfit under the cape was revealed. A pair of black shorts that were cut super short and super low, covering just enough of her bottom, but enough to show off her flat stomach. I was stunned and looked back at the intersecting spikes only to see a tree log in the middle of it, splinters rising from it like jagged little spikes, wood chips floating to the ground below.
"But I'm better." She aimed her arms at me and two of those thin pipes shot out from her sleeves. A vicious blast of wind shot from the pipes and it was all so sudden and happened so fast, it didn't give me enough time to dodge. The moment the wind reached me, I was knocked clean off my feet, my screams silenced in the vicious tornado of winds, as my body moved through the wind tunnel like a rag doll until it stopped altogether and I landed, breathlessly on the ground a few feet away. The wind tunnel kept rolling through the trees, losing power and momentum the further it went but leaving a trail nonetheless.
I was struggling to push myself up when the girl landed in front of me before kicking one of her feet into my shoulder. I gasped, gritting my teeth together as I glared up at her.
"Earth Style, huh?" The girl said as she nodded to herself. "Pretty powerful Ninjutsu you got there. What are you? A Genin?"
I bit back my tongue, my mind racing to come up with some sort of plan. The wind had cut me up a little, forced slight rips all over my clothes, tiny cuts scattered throughout my arms and legs. They were small wounds though and while they had all stung a few moments ago, they were fading away, and I was ready to move again, the only problem I had to find an opening of some sort.
"Tch." The girl shook her head at me. "Pretty powerful stuff for a Genin. A Genin from the Land of Water more like it."
"You done?" I snapped.
"Hmph." The girl said, her heel digging further into my shoulder. "Watch it little Genin."
I moved then, reaching up to take her ankle. I flipped onto my back, my hold still good and pulled her leg with all my strength. She slid forward slightly, but that was just the opening I needed to push myself up, staggering her balance. Still holding her ankle, I twisted it quickly, seeing the muscles in her legs tense as her entire body flipped and she landed hard on the ground. I was making hand signs again when she lifted her free leg and pushed me off of her. I skidded back, and inhaled.
"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" Exhaling the massive fireball it was a sure direct hit until I heard those pipes of hers again and the wind picking up inside the hollow end. I jumped out of the way just as my ball of flame backfired, all of it coming back at me with a stronger force. It scorched the trees, leaving their charred remains behind.
I rolled to the side and managed to pull a kunai from my pocket in the process. I rose into a defensive stance as I watched the girl, one full pipe clasped in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
If she was mad before, she was furious now. "Kid, you're definitely in for it."
"Do you know him? Do you work for him?" I continued to demand. "Do you work for Orochimaru?"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY THAT NAME!" The girl shouted before slamming her pole into the earth. A split second later the ground around her exploded in ripples and I barely made it out of the way before the ground beneath my feet crumpled. I was struggling to make it to high ground when the girl shot from the dust with her pole extended for my heart. I dodged her, the pole piercing through a slab of rock instead. It went clean through, no struggle either, and I wondered what exactly the pole was made of. It was hollow yet it could fire powerful torrents of wind with the same intensity as Temari's metal fan. Such a flimsy looking weapon was proving to be deadlier and deadlier the more I fought with this girl.
I jumped out of her way as soon as she freed her pole from the rock slab. I caught a nearby tree branch and struggled to climb to the next one when the girl sent a few kunai at me. They were all close calls but they were sent quickly enough that I lost my balance and that was all the opening the girl needed to aim her metal pole at me once more and I could hear the whistling of another incoming wind torrent. I was going to get hit again and there was so much rubble and debris around, I was sure I'd get hit somehow, or worse, knocked out.
"Miyuki!" Temari's voice sounded distant but close.
"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" One wave of her fan sent several air currents in the mysterious girl's direction and allowed me time to run out of the way. Her attack cancelled out the incoming winds, but barely. Wind still whipped my hair around my face and Temari appeared by my side, helping me to my feet.
"Impressive Sand Genin." The girl called from atop a tree branch. Her hand was on her hip, her leg popping out of the slit in her cape again.
"Who the hell is she?" Temari grunted.
"No idea but I think she knows something about the compound. She was walking away from it." I mumbled.
"Tch." Temari said, steadying her fan behind her. "I don't have time for this."
"She's strong." I said. "Every time I think I have her, she does something different."
"We'll see about that with me." Temari growled. "Alright! Play time is over. Either tell us what you're doing here or we'll make sure you never walk again!"
"Bold words from such an unconvincing mouth." The girl called down to us as she folded her arms over her chest.
Temari's grip on her fan tightened. "Last chance."
"As much as I'd love to stay and chat, you two bimbos have made me late for an extremely important date." The girl said with a dark smile.
"You're not going anywhere!" I shouted, firing off another round of kunai. The girl chuckled and just when my kunai were about to make contact, her body burst into a flock of crows that cawed and flapped their black, leathery wings together as they dispersed into the forest.
