A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long and this being so short, but I was having a hard time figuring out how to progress this up to the Exams. Next chapter the Exams begin!
The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 8: Prelude to Disaster
Disclaimer: Ah don't own Naruto! If ah did, then ah wouldn't be writin' fanfiction, see?
A/A/N: From now on Naruto (Akahana) will simply be called Akahana unless addressed by another character
Konoha
It was a bright day when Akahana walked through the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and yet she still couldn't help the sinking feeling in her chest telling her that what she was about to do wasn't right. Luckily for her Roshi had been with her to calm her down otherwise she might not have made it. And Han had been surprisingly friendly as well, something that he had never been before.
She looked around in wonder at the village, It was quite different from Iwa, especially considering that the buildings weren't made out of stone. She had been forced to have the henge put on again if she wanted to leave and reluctantly agreed, seeing as she really wanted to get out of the village and not be stuck in isolation, which was her other option.
They walked a little bit further until Deidara pulled them to a halt and told them he was off to fill out the paperwork to have them registered for the Exams and that they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.
Wandering around the village Akahana's eyes were everywhere. This was her home village, the place where her parents and sibling lived. She couldn't help but be in awe of the beauty all around her. While she was walking, the villagers watched her with narrowed eyes.
They all saw a boy with an Iwa Hitai-ite on his forehead and couldn't help but be suspicious. They had fought against each other in the Third Great Shinobi War and even though they had signed a treaty with them the villagers still didn't trust them, and had no reason to for that matter.
The Hokage had told them that his own daughter had been kidnapped by them and that the treaty was a farce. So while they wouldn't say anything about it to the shinobi, they would be on the lookout for their missing princess and free her from her captors. But first they had to figure out who was their lost girl and that wasn't going to be easy as she could be anyone if she was disguised, and they were told she was, as if she was her true self they would spot her in an instant.
\/\/\/
Akahana was walking through the village when she heard what sounded like yelling. Running toward it, she saw a few ninja and a kid being held up by his scarf by a guy wearing a cat suit and make-up. But she somehow missed the pink haired girl…
So, jumping down from where she was hiding, she ran to the end of the alley behind the cat-man and who she could only assume was his teammate, and shouted, "Hey, let the kid go!"
This of course sent the guy whirling around to face her and in the process lost his grip on the kid, who promptly scrambled behind the ninja on the other side of the alley. He started to open his mouth but when he caught sight of the stranger's hitai-ite he paled and stammered out an apology, only to stop and start shaking when a new voice cut in.
"Shut up Kankuro, you are a disgrace to our village."
Everyone turned toward the new voice and found him standing upside down on a tree branch who quickly shunshined to the ground by who must be his teammates as they all bore the symbol of Suna on their bands.
He had messy red hair and piercing jade eyes and the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead. With a giant gourd on his back he cut an imposing image. But what clinched it was the way his body screamed "I have killed before and I am not afraid to do it again". So really he cut an intimidating image.
Akahana looked at him with narrowed eyes. She had heard dark stories about the jinchuuriki of Suna, and didn't like them. She knew from Kyuubi that she could have been that, if she hadn't been taken from Konoha and her parents had died.
Back to the moment at hand, Akahana watched her fellow jinchuuriki (for that was what Kyuubi said she was) making sure he wasn't about to summon the sand that the Ichibi was known for.
"G-Gaara, they started it. I mean the brat ran into me and…" He stammered out, but was quickly cut off.
"Silence. You are acting like a fool, and you know what I do to fools." He punctuated this with a small stream of sand coming out of the gourd on his back, effectively silencing whatever argument Kankuro might have had.
He turned to me and said, "I am sorry for my brother. My name is Gaara, what is yours?"
Akahana swallowed the phlegm that had gathered and gave her false identity, "Naruto Sensui."
He inclined his head. Turning his neck ever so slightly, he said, "We're leaving." As he passed her, he whispered, "You smell nice. You should probably use unscented lotions."
She froze at his words, shocked that he caught her so easily.
Gaara smirked as he kept walking. He knew what she was, and while he didn't understand why she was there, he wasn't about to let the fools who destroyed his life do the same to her. He shook his head at the strange thoughts running through them. His mother was crying out for him to spill her blood but also warning him away. Most curious. She also kept screaming about the Kyuubi, but he shook it off. After all, wasn't it well known that the beast had been sealed into a child? And that said child vanished never to be seen again? But then again she did look an awful lot like the wife of the Hokage, so maybe there was more to his mother's cries than he gave credit.
/\/\/\
Akahana made her way back to the hotel her team was staying in and went inside. Upon entering, She found herself face-to-face with her sensei, who was not happy if the expression on his face was anything to go by.
"Where have you been?" he hissed angrily.
Akahana took a step back, her eyes wide. She had never seen him this angry before, except for that time back in Wave but we'll forget about that right now.
"I-I was just walking around. You said we had time," she stuttered nervously.
He continued to glare at her. "When I said that, I meant the boys could walk around. Not. You. You aren't to leave my sight except for the Exams and even then I won't be far away. Do you understand?"
She nodded her head quickly.
He smirked, and suddenly she was even more terrified then when he was glaring. But something he said had caught the desk manager's attention.
He said boys, as if the kid wasn't one. And this is the only team from Iwa that we've seen so far, so that means that there is a strong possibility that that blond boy is really a red-headed girl. It pays sometimes to be a retired shinobi. So, bringing out a register, he started to write down a coded message to the Hokage waited for the next "customer" to walk through the doors.
He didn't have to wait long as the regular Anbu to pick up the list of customers as usual to see if there is anything suspicious about them.
Deidara barely flicked his eyes in their direction as he dragged Akahana up to their rooms.
\/\/\/
When the report came to Minato Namikaze's desk that afternoon, he was shocked.
"Ku-Kushina!"
His wife barged in with a concerned look on her face, "What's wrong, Minato?"
"Look-look at this and you'll understand," he said indicating the paper in his hands.
Shrugging her shoulders, she walked over to his desk and took the paper from his outstretched hand and began to read. When she was done, she looked up at her husband with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
"Minato, do you know what this means? We could finally have our baby back! I will finally be able to hold her in my arms." Her eyes teared up, and Minato got up and walked around his desk and wrapped his arms around her.
Resting his head on hers, he sighed, "I know that now that she is with our reach I would like nothing more than to Hiraishin over there and rescue her, but we can't without risk of war. She needs to be unveiled in front of the other villages as well, so that if Iwa does retaliate, we won't be alone in our struggle."
Kushina nodded tearfully and simply pressed her face into the crook of his neck.
He ran his fingers through her hair, "We will save her as soon as we can. I have faith that our shinobi will come through in the end and provide the opportunity."
Sighing in acquiescence, she just hugged him around his middle.
/\/\/\
Meanwhile back at hotel, Jinsoku was looking on with a blank expression on his face as Deidara tore his charge a new one. He sighed mentally. While he might understand why Deidara is upset, he never said that she couldn't go around the village, and didn't even bother to stop her when she went her merry way.
As the apprentice to the Tsuchikage, Deidara was the second most important person in Iwa, but that didn't mean he was the second strongest.
No, that title belonged to Quicksilver Sensui, the swiftest shinobi in Iwa.
Please tell me what you think! As long as it is friendly, of course. Flames not appreciated.
Quicksilver Sensui: Jinsoku Sensui's primary title