"I'm Sarutobi Asuma, the captain for this mission. Any questions?" The scruffy looking Jonin asks.
"Uh, yeah," the scrawny, pasty boy beside me says, "Why are we babysitting a kid on this mission?" My face twitches in some combination of amusement and irritation.
Asuma sighs, "I assume you're talking about the girl beside you?" At the boy's affirming nod he continues, "Yoruka passed the Chunin Exams, so she can go on this mission." I yawn in agreement.
Asuma waits for a moment then sighs again, "Aren't you three going to introduce yourselfs?"
I wave a hand, "Nara Yoruka."
The pasty boy scowls, "Mitsuharu Toru."
The black haired boy who so far hasn't said anything looks up, "Uchiha Sora."
Asuma pinches the bridge of his nose, "let's get going then." As we take off Toru glares at me. This is going to be a long mission.
I shoot a bemused look at Uncle Shikaku, "Shadow Sewing?"
He nods, "It's basically just another way to use the shadow solidification technique, and you already have that down for your Shadow Blade." I'm going to regret this. I know I will.
After our weekly training, Itachi invites us to dinner. "What do I need to wear?" I ask.
"Casual," is Itachi's response.
Hana scoffs, "With your family that could mean from anywhere between training clothes and a full blown kimono."
Itachi considers for a moment, "I'd say go with a yukata." Hana and I groan simultaneously.
When I get home, I go to the fashion expert in the Main Nara Household: Aunt Yoshino. "Aunt Yoshino," I call, "I need a yukata for dinner with Itachi."
"A little last minute, don't you think," she says, emerging from her room.
"Don't you have anything?" I whine.
Aunt Yoshino sighs, "I'll go check." She motions for me to follow her.
She pulls out a dark green yukata with a cherry blossom pattern, holds it up to me, and nods. "This should work," she says as she places it in my hands. She gives me a light green obi to go with it.
I look down at the finery and sigh. How troublesome.
I arrive at Itachi's house unarmed, besides the three kunai I managed to slip beneath my obi. Mikoto answers the door in a beautiful dark blue yukata, and suddenly I'm very thankful Hana asked about dress code.
She smiles at me, "Come on in Yoruka, Hana is already here." I nod and walk through the door to see Hana wearing a crimson yukata with dogs lining the bottom. She's also scowling.
I go and sit by Hana, "I had to borrow this from Aunt Yoshino," I whisper. She snorts.
"I had to borrow this from my mom," Hana whispers back. Sasuke chooses this moment burst into the room with Itachi and Shisui on his heels.
"Are you here to push Shisui through another wall?" Sasuke asks with way too much glee. Shisui winces.
"No one is getting pushed through a wall again at this house," Fugaku enters next, catching the tail end of that conversation. Madara following him, looking slightly amused.
I whisper conspiratorially to Sasuke, "He said this house. He just have to find another wall to push him into." The kid lights up.
About halfway through dinner, kunai come flying out of the shadow. Reacting instinctively, I throw up a shadow barrier, a variation of the Shadow Sewing Jutsu. The barrier catches the Kunai, then I let them drop.
A black blur leaps from the shadows in the direction of Fugaku and Madara. I embed lightning chakra into a kunai I pull from my obi and throw. It only grazes the assassin, but the shock from my kunai leaves him stunned.
Fugaku uses this opportunity to pin the assassin. I still. The shinobi is dressed like ANBU, but instead of an animal mask, it's blank. So, Danzo is making his move. I notice Shisui pale out of the corner of my eye as he too catches sight of the mask.
"ANBU," Fugaku growls. "Why would the Hokage decide he wants me dead, huh?" He asks viciously.
"That's not ANBU," my voice was shaky, "I don't think ANBU uses blank masks."
"The girl is correct," Madara interjects. "Tobirama specified that no Konoha operative would wear a blank mask. Whoever this is has a military force within Konoha ANBU."
Suddenly, the Root Agent jerks and goes limp. Fugaku swears and checks the agent's pulse. "Dead," Fugaku snarls as he throws the body away from him. He looks up at me, "Send one of your summons to the Hokage. Itachi, go get me a pen and paper from my office," he instructs. Itachi bobs his head in affirmation and leaves.
I nod and summon Arashi, he's a bit more respectable than Rai. Itachi comes back and Fugaku quickly scrawls out a note and hands it to Arashi. Arashi then leaps out of a window and into the night.
Hana and Mikoto are comforting Sasuke, not that the boy needs much comforting, but it's a cover to be in arms reach should Sasuke get attacked. We wait in tense silence, the only noise being the occasional tap from Shisui's foot.
Arashi arrives in his typical fashion, nonchalant in the face irritation and danger. "The Hokage is sending two of his most trusted ANBU Agents to escort you to the tower, and putting the rest of his guards patrolling the Uchiha District," he yawns irreverently before he unsummons himself.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, two actual Konoha ANBU showed up in a burst of shunshin. We all tensed until we saw the familiar masks. Hound, who most people in the room know is Kakashi, and another man in a bird mask.
Hound takes one look at the masked shinobi laying on the floor and sighs tiredly. "This situation," he drawls, "is above more than half of the people in this room's clearance." Then, as if Hound jinxed it, the sound of high powered, destructive ninjutsu in the distance fills the air.
The next time in Ashes to Shadows
Danzo makes his move and Yoruka and company attempt to foil his plans