Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Sakura's more likely to kill herself than force Naruto to surrender just to save me and Itachi," Sasuke spat. Ruiizu-chan made a face as she wiped the spittle off her cheek.
"It's rude to spit," she pointed out childishly, reminding Sasuke that, despite her mannerisms, she was still only a child.
Chapter 25 – Assassins of the Dawn
"Itachi," Naruto said, walking into the Uchiha mansion. They both looked at him.
"Which one?" they asked in unison.
"Both of you," the Hokage said. "Can I talk to you in private?" They nodded and stood, following Naruto to his house. Hinata greeted them in her gentle manner as they walked past her.
"I know that the two of you are going to be training alone tomorrow," Naruto said. "But I'm so sure if that's a good idea. I know you are fully capable of looking after yourselves, but I'm worried about Akatsuki. Just the two of you on your own would make you prime targets if anyone attacked. I've made some arrangements and, if you agree, Tonton will be present and Shizune won't be too far off so that if you're attacked Tonton can fetch her. Of course, that'll only happen if you two agree, but it would make me a lot more comfortable with the situation."
The two Uchihas looked at each other and nodded.
"That's fine." the older one said.
The first two squads walked tirelessly towards Konoha. By nightfall they weren't far from the gates.
"There's a good clearing here," Eisuke commented, his grey eyes scanning the area. The others nodded in agreement and started to unpack their meagre belongings.
"We should probably stay here until we complete our missions," Taiga commented.
Io finished unpacking first.
"I'll go gather firewood," she said. The others watched the six-armed girl fade into the night, her black hair with its dusting of silver cobwebs helping her fade into the surroundings. Kurai was next to finish, volunteering to be on watch. His piercing amber eyes searched the black and white (as his wolf eyes saw it) world for any signs of unfamiliar people.
Half an hour later, they were all sitting around the fire, every so often lazily throwing twigs into the flames.
"What do we know about the targets?" Aina asked, her half blue, half white hair shimmering in the firelight.
"The older one used to be part of Akatsuki," Io said.
"Members of their clan all use Katon jutsus" Eisuke added.
"Their kekkei genkai is the Sharingan, which is very powerful," Aoto said. The eight year olds startling sapphire eyes and long black hair made him similar in appearance to the Tsukiko twins.
"Their genjutsu skills are said to be extraordinary," Aina said.
"The older one's said to be a true prodigy," Jiyuu said.
"The younger one's no pushover from what I know," his twin, Naoki, added.
"The older one's was ANBU," commented Taiga.
"The younger one's just graduated as a Jounin," Kurai said sourly.
"So we know quite a bit about them," Aina summarised.
"So who's going into the village to meet her?" Io asked.
"It needs to be someone who's not too memorable," Taiga said.
"Aoto from our squad then," Jiyuu said. "He's so small they won't even notice him. Anyway, Io stands out too much, and Naoki and I don't exactly look ordinary."
"Aina from our squad," Eisuke said. "Taiga stands out, Kurai has been there before and she gives me the creeps."
"OK, then," Aina said. "Aoto and I it is, then. "We'll go tomorrow morning."
Just then, Yanafu appeared. They scrambled to their feet in respect for the higher-ranked ninja – they held her in great regard.
"Ruiizu-chan has just informed her of your missions. She will be waiting for two of you tomorrow morning. Do not forget to do as she says as she knows the targets better than we do. Who is going?"
"Aoto and I," Aina said.
"Here are some fake IDs. I will check up on your progress until you are ready. Then I will go to the other two squads, who are at the moment a day behind you." They nodded. "Do not rush this mission." With that, she disappeared.
The next morning, the two squads rose at the crack of dawn, as was their custom, to pay their respects to the akatsuki that their mistress's organisation was named after.
After they had eaten breakfast, Aina and Aoto gathered up some of their belongings and headed to the gates of Konoha.
"What's our cover story?" Aoto asked.
"You're my cousin and we're visiting a friend," the kunoichi replied.
"Halt!" an aging shinobi said a couple of minutes later as they walked past him.
"State your names and businesses," his partner added.
"I'm Masao Aina and this is my cousin Masao Aoto," Aina said. "We're visiting a friend." She showed them the fake ID cards.
"Sure," one of the guards said. "Go on in." Kotetsu and Izumo often did gate duty rather than active missions due to their age.
The assassins walked through the gate and into the bustling streets of Konoha. They looked round for the luminous green hair that belonged to Ruiizu-chan's favourite spy and soon located it.
"Aina and Aoto, am I correct?" she asked. They nodded. "Good. Follow me." She led them off the main street and onto a side street.
"I'm lucky," she said, as though having a normal conversation. "I live very close to the Uchiha clan."
"The Uchiha clan?" Aoto asked. "Who are they?" The spy stared at him in (well faked) horror.
"You've never heard of the Uchiha clan?" she exclaimed. "They're only the strongest clan in the village."
"Really?" Aina asked. "How so?"
"Well, Itachi, the oldest member of the clan, is a true genius for one thing, but his nephew, also called Itachi, is about the same standard even though he's about my age. He passed the Jounin exams a few days ago. Of course, everyone knew he would. I mean, he is an Uchiha, and his sensei's Hōzuki Suigetsu from the 'Sound Squad' – you've heard of them, right?"
Aina nodded while Aoto shook his head.
"Who are they?" he asked.
"Three really strong ninja from Otogakure. There's Hōzuki Suigetsu; he was originally from Kirigakure, Hōzuki Karin; no-one knows where she was born, and Juugo no Tenpin," the spy explained.
"If Itachi is trained by him then that means he must be really good," Aina commented, bringing them back to their original conversation.
"Yeah, it's not that his sisters are a pushover. Mikoto's ANBU, and very protective of her younger brother. She's 18. His other sister, Tani, is only 12 but she's inherited her mother's healing talent."
"So how old is Itachi, then?" Aina asked. "And who are his parents?"
"He's 16 – and quite a good friend of mine. I'd introduce you, but at the moment he and the rest of the clan are a bit upset because his father, Uchiha Sasuke, has been captured by some organisation called 'Akatsuki'." They entered a house and the spy made sure that all the windows and doors were shut.
"You want to know about their fighting abilities and things like that don't you?" she asked the assassins, who nodded. "Here's a photo of the older one." She held up a photo of a man of about 40. He had almost black hair which was tied up in a low ponytail and deep, calculating onyx eyes. "And here's the younger one." She showed them a photo of a teenager with raven hair and emerald eyes.
"Cute," Aina commented. The spy nodded.
"Most of the girls in the village fancy him," she said. "I know he's cute, but I'm not all over him like the others are."
"What are their abilities?" Aoto asked, sounding older than he was.
"They both have the Sharingan and Mangekyo Sharingan," the spy said.
"What does that do?" Aina asked.
"It gives them the ability to read your handsigns and copy them so that they can cancel your jutsu out. They can also track your body's movements so if you tried to punch them they'd see it and dodge or catch your hand with little effort. It also gives them unparalleled genjutsu abilities."
Aina whistled.
"That's quite the kekkei genkai," she said. "What are the target's main jutsus?" The spy thought for a moment.
"The younger one uses a lot of Chidori techniques, as well as the clan's Katon techniques. The older one seems to rely on genjutsu from his Sharingan, although he has copied hundreds of jutsus from all the elements and is also proficient in the clan's Katon jutsus."
"A tricky customer then," Aina summarised. The spy nodded in agreement.
"I've been doing some research," she said. "And the best time to get them is tomorrow afternoon."
"Why?" Aoto asked. "What's so special about then?"
"At the moment, the older target is training his nephew and nieces, but tomorrow, Tani and Mikoto are out on missions so it'll just be the two targets. By striking in the afternoon, they will have already used some of their Chakra training and so will be slightly easier to overcome – but only very slightly."
"Where do they train?" Aina asked.
"At a clearing in the forest at the northern boundary of the village. It's perfect for us because you won't have to get everyone in through the gates – you can just 'sneak round the back'. To make things even more favourable for us, Sakura is working at the hospital then, so the only Uchihas in the area will be the targets. No-one else knows where they train."
"So we strike tomorrow afternoon then. What time, roughly?" Aoto said.
"Four thirty. It's an hour before Sakura gets home and neither of the girls should be back until the next day."
"What missions are they on?" Aina asked.
"Tani's genin squad are protecting some merchant who's going to a big town a way away, and Mikoto's going on a solo mission to the Land of Waves to help some old bridge builder and his grandson with something."
"If it's solo, than her teammates will still be here," Aina said.
"Don't worry about them…" the spy said, grinning. For the first time, Aina and Aoto saw her pointed, shark-like teeth. "I'll keep them out the way."
"How?" Aoto asked curiously.
"Just trust me," the spy said, giving him another toothy grin. "We're good friends."
So the spy is good friends with Mikoto's ANBU squad… just who is she? I know, and if you have any guesses, I'll be happy to hear them.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari