A/N: Sorry this took so long, I got some serious writers block writing this. But I finally got it! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Nine:
Sunagakure
Baki stood over the map I handed him with me and Sakura trying to answer any questions we had. Kakashi and the others stood behind us, awaiting orders.
"This doesn't look good," Baki finally said, after a long moment of silence.
"I was afraid you'd say that," I said. "I was really hoping we misinterpreted that."
"Me too, kid, me too," Baki said. He walked around the table, leaving the map there. He looked at Kakashi. "Who are your best trackers?"
"Well, I've got my dogs," Kakashi said. "And Kiba, Shino, and Hinata are the best tracking team we have."
"Alright, then. Send out your dogs, and you three," Baki said, turning towards Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. "I want you three to go outside our walls. I want you to split up, and I'll send a Sand shinobi with you so you don't get lost in the dessert. I want you to look for any suspicious activity, and report back as soon as possible. I want to be ready for anything. If we are attacked, I suspect it'll be before the Chunin exams end. More specifically, before Gaara returns. If Orochimaru is actually going to attack the village, he'll want it to be in chaos before Gaara gets back. He'll think it'll be easier to deal with Gaara that way, and it probably will be. So get out there, and see what you can see."
Baki walked over to an intercom, and said into it, "Kiri, Shoto, Kaze, report to the Kazekage's main office immediately." He snapped the intercom off, and we waited, but it wasn't long until three people entered the room.
There was a woman with sandy blonde hair pulled into a bun, a man with buzzed, sandy blond hair, and the third man had buzzed, black hair.
"You called, Baki?" The woman asked.
"Yes," he said, "Kiri, I want you to team up with Hinata. Shoto, I want you to team up with Shino. Kaze, you'll be teamed up with Kiba. You will be their guides through the dessert, and I want you to help them gather Intel on possible movement from Orochimaru or his men."
"Yes, sir!" The three said. They split into pairs, and were on their way.
I grabbed Kiri's arm before she could leave. "Keep an eye on Hinata. Please. We have reason to believe Orochimaru wants information on the byakugon."
She nodded, and hurried after Hinata.
"Kakashi, I want you to send out your dogs," Baki said.
Kakashi nodded, performed the necessary hand signs, and cried, "Summoning Jutsu!" His team of ninja tracking dogs appeared. He gave them orders, and they were off.
"Now, everyone except Sakura and Darcy, I want you to report to Shiki," Baki said. "She's in charge of the defense of the wall. Tell her I sent you, she'll give you orders."
"I'm assuming she's already aware of the situation?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes, everyone is. Well, everyone who needs to know, knows. I don't want to inform the civilians unless I must."
Kakashi nodded, and he and everyone else hurried off.
"Do you have a safe place for the civilians to hide if needed?" I asked.
"Yes, but I hope it doesn't come to that," Baki replied.
I nodded. "If it comes to that, I'm ready. I'm not afraid of Orochimaru."
"You should be," Baki said. "He's a legendary Sanin."
"I know that, but I'm still not afraid. Twice I've taken on Hidan, an S class criminal," I said. "I know this isn't my village, but I would still die for this village."
Baki laughed. "Gaara would be furious with me if I let you die. We won't let it come to that."
"I know, I'm just saying," I said with a shrug. "It's a ninja's job."
Baki looked at me. "Konoha is a lucky village."
Sakura spoke up just then. "What do you need us to do, Baki?"
"I've been thinking about that," Baki said. "Sakura, I want you to stay here with me. You know Tsunade better, which means you know which decisions she would make. Darcy," he turned his gaze on me. "You'll be the wife of the Kazekage soon. For now, I want you to patrol the village. Talk with the villagers if you want or need to, but don't let them know about the situation unless you have to." He took out a map of the village, and showed me where to take the villagers if anything happened. "Of course, there will be other Suna ninja around to help you. I want you to keep an eye out for any trouble."
I nodded, and made my way out the building.
As I walked through the village, villagers looked at me curiously, while shinobi wandering the streets looked worried. They knew what was coming. Or, what might be coming at least.
Without meaning to, I found the training fields. It was completely deserted except for one boy, probably about six or seven, I would guess.
He was a couple feet from a target and he was throwing kunai at it. He'd been doing this for a while, by the looks of it.
"Hey there!" I called, making my way over to him.
He jumped, and looked over at me. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? A leaf shinobi? You're in the wrong village!"
I was taken aback by his hostility. "I'm here on a mission. A… peace mission, you could say. It's just for better relations between our two villages."
The boy still glared. "We don't need you here!"
"No, you don't need me here," I agreed with him, even though I was sort of lying. It was better that he thought I wasn't needed here. His face softened. He was surprised I agreed with him. "But, none the less, I have my orders. A ninja must follow orders. But, I bet you already know that."
"Huh? Why would you think that?" He asked.
"Well, you seem really skilled," I said. "Of course, your throwing technique could use a bit of work, but you've certainly got potential."
His shoulders slumped. "No I don't. I'm the worst in my class."
"I would have never guessed!" I said. I didn't really mean that, but I did see potential in this kid. "What's your name?"
He hesitated.
"My name's Darcy," I offered him.
"It's… Eren," he finally said.
"Well, Eren, how about give you some pointers?" I offered.
"You'd do that? Even though I'm not from your village?" He asked.
"I don't see how someone's village matters. So long as two nations are at peace, we can get along just fine."
"Okay," he said. "Tell me what you know, Sensei."
"Sensei?" I asked, surprised. "You can just call me Darcy, if you want, Eren."
He just shook his head. I shrugged.
"Okay, well," I started, and I delved into a lecture and demonstration on how to throw kunai properly. But only half my mind was on the lesson; the other half was paying close attention to any potential danger.
After a good hour of training, Eren had made noticeable improvement.
"Hey, let's go eat. My treat," I offered.
He gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah!"
We made our way into the village, and he led me to his favorite restaurant. We sat there eating, and I noticed a group of shinobi who kept looking at me. Finally, one motioned for me to come over.
"Hey, Eren, I'll be right back," I said.
He nodded, and kept shoveling food into his mouth.
I walked over to the group. "What?" I asked, not rudely, but curiously.
"One of Baki's scouting groups just got back. Well, part of the group," one man said.
Cold fear sunk into my stomach. "Who came back?"
"Kiri," another man said. "She said Hinata was captured."
I slammed my fist onto the table. "Dammit," I muttered. "What's the news."
"She says she thinks Orochimaru will attack sometime today. If he can make it through the desert. She went back out to find the other groups, said something about setting traps in the desert to try and stop him."
"There's no stopping Orochimaru," I said, shaking my head. "Thank you." I turned and headed back to my table. Eren looked up smiling. His smile quickly faded when he saw the look on my face.
"Sensei, what's wrong?" He asked.
I threw some money on the table for the bill, more than I needed to, but I didn't care. "We need to leave. I have to tell you something." This could be a huge mistake, but I would tell him as little as possible.
We got somewhere deserted, and I knelt in front of him. "Listen to me Eren, and listen good. I lied to you. There's a reason why I'm here. We think… we think someone might attack your village."
Worry and fear crossed his face. "Who?"
"We're not sure yet, but whoever it is, we think they'll attack sometime today. I want you to go home. If trouble arises, you need to get yourself, and your family, to safety. Can you do that?"
He looked close to tears, but he nodded.
"Good. Go home. Now." I stood, and started to walk.
"Wait! Where are you going?" He asked.
"I need to talk to Baki," I said
"C-can you walk me home? Please?" He begged. I looked back, and sighed.
"Yeah, sure, lead the way, Eren," I said. He perked up a little, and we made our way through the village.
We hadn't gone too far when there was an explosion, just down the road in front of us in the wall. Probably ten feet away. Instinctively, I grabbed Eren, and stood in front of him.
"Eren, go! Get somewhere safe!" I called. I didn't have time to make sure he listened, though, because Orochimaru himself stepped out of the smoke of the explosion and looked directly at me. "Eren, go!" I shouted again, this time pushing him.
I rushed forward with a few other Sand Shinobi, and we faces Orochimaru.
A/N: Haha! Cliff hanger! What do you say to them apples?
Well, at any rate, I hope you liked it! Review please!