Chapter 1 – Infiltration
The compound was quiet at night. There were very few guards normally, and not many more in wartime. Three guards walked past a deserted corridor, not even glancing to see who might be lurking there. It was hot and humid in Iwagakure, the Hidden Rock village. The guards didn’t want to work; they simply wanted to go home. But this was to be their mistake.
There was the faintest of sounds from the deserted corridor. A slight tapping sound and a small breeze were created. Both were gone in a split-second.
A teenager, no older than sixteen, leant up against one of the walls. He was breathing heavily, but taking the greatest of care not to make much noise. He was of average height – roughly five foot eleven, and had wild brown hair that hung limp from the top of his head. He was quite well built, and would have been handsome had it not been for the many cuts littering his face, many fresh. His loose black shirt was ripped in many places, as were his black trousers. He wore kunai holsters on his left and right leg, and had a pouch tied around his waist. He put a finger to his right ear, lightly touching the communication device that he was wearing.
“I’m in.” His voice was cold and sharp, yet shaky.
He looked down at the exploding tags clasped in his hand, and then down the corridor.
---
Elsewhere, many bodies were piled atop each other. Blood tricked from the pile, all of the bodies dead. Two guards stood around the bodies, quaking in fear and facing a shadowed figure. One of the ninja dropped a kunai with a loud clang, and backed away.
“W-what are you?” one cried, barely able to keep the terror out of his voice.
The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a pale face with blue eyes and a pointy nose. Frizzy dirty blonde hair hung long over his forehead and one thick strand hung across his right check, hiding a wide scar. He took a step towards them, and his Konoha headband gleamed in the little amount of moonlight.
“Rena,” he said, holding his right hand and clenching it into a fist. Chakra erupted around him, all swirling to one point in the centre of his palm. He began to run towards the Iwa guards.
“Karyu Heikou!”
---
The corridor was deserted. Not a guard was to be seen. A single figure ran down the dark, narrow corridor. Small splats of blood dropped at intervals, leaving a faint trail from the window at where he had entered to where he was currently.
The ninja suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“I didn’t think this’d be so easy.” He sighed, and allowed his body to slip into a fighting stance: feet slightly apart, his right arm outstretched and his hand clenched into a fist, his left by his side, palm parallel to the floor.
Three ninja, each of them wearing a headband with the symbol of the Hidden Rock village, grimace at the boy’s haste.
“Rather hasty, aren’t we? There’ll be plenty of time to deal with you.” He glanced at the boy’s headband.
“Ah, a Konoha ninja.” Another piped up. “They send a child to do their dirty work? Who do they think we are, genin? Hah!”
The boy smiled, and leapt forward. However, before he had even taken two steps, he had stopped again and a smile had crossed his face.
“It took you a while.”
The guards had suddenly become motionless, and their eyes became eerily blank. All of them fell to the floor, limp and lifeless.
The boy relaxed his stance, as another figure protruded from the shadows; a girl. She wore a loose navy blue t-shirt, and a matching blue skirt. Her hair, slightly longer than shoulder length, was straight and elegant as though they were not in a war, they were back at home.
“I thought you could use a hand, Kuro,” she said simply. Her voice was sweet and warming.
“But you know better than to worry about me, Hana.” Kuro’s face broke into a smile – the first time he had smiled since entering the compound. “Where’s Heikou?” He continued.
“He went ahead, we should probably catch up or he’ll blow this place on his own!”
The pair continued down the corridor, towards the sounds of screaming.
---
Heikou looked at his hand, watching the thick blood trickle down his hand and onto his burnt forearm. He wiped it on one of the dead man’s shirts. He flexed his fingers, feeling the strain on them after using that technique. He frowned, and looked up as two familiar figures ran towards him.
“Where have you two been?” asked Heikou, quickly shaking his sleeve down so that it covered his wrist and the burn marks.
The two figures stopped running, and smiled at their team mate.
“Cleaning up.” Kuro started towards Heikou, and his eyes flickered towards Heikou’s wrist. “What happened?”
Heikou frowned before replying. “You know what happens, idiot.” Heikou’s eyes opened wide, and he knew he had been taken for a fool before the words had even left his mouth.
‘Kuro’ had jumped and drawn his right foot back, while ‘Hana’ drew a kunai from her right leg holster – but she was left handed. ‘Kuro’s right foot swung at Heikou’s head, but before it could make contact the impostor was thrown against the nearby wall. He slid down and crashed to the floor, leaving a small crater in the wall.
Before ‘Hana’ had any chance to react, she had been propelled into the air. She landed on the floor, knocked out cold. There were two quiet ‘poofs’ and smoke surrounded their bodies. ‘Kuro’ was now a surly, bald man with a scar running the length of his face and ‘Hana’ was a young konouchi, not much older than Heikou was. Her red hair was matted with blood.
“Idiot.” A familiar voice sounded once again. Heikou turned, raising his fists at the newcomer. Kuro dropped down from above, and Hana followed suit behind him.
“Wait!” cried Heikou. “How can I know it’s really you?” His hand instinctively reached to the kunai in his right leg-holster.
“I see you’ve been using that technique.” Kuro nodded towards Heikou’s now partially covered wrist.
Heikou relaxed his body, and began to feel his wrist aching. He clutched at it, and dropped to one knee, the pain becoming almost unbearable. Kuro and Hana ran over to him, crouching down.
“What do you think, Hana?” Kuro turned to his team mate, who was bent over Heikou’s wrist, examining it.
She frowned, and then sighed. Finally she came to a judgement, and crossed both of her hands over Heikou’s.
“You shouldn’t be using that jutsu. You heard what Sensei said, your body can’t take the strain. How many times did you use it?”
Heikou grimaced, but didn’t move. He had felt pain before, but none compared to this. Perhaps this was what jounin go through every day, he thought. And now I’m one of them, he reminded himself.
“About… three, I think.”
Hana gasped; a loud, sharp sound that echoed throughout the corridor. Kuro’s hand shot out, covering her mouth so that she was incapable of making any sound.
As the echo subsided, Hana removed Kuro’s hand with one of her own. She replaced her hand upon Heikou’s, and closed her eyes.
“Shousen!”
A green aura surrounded her hands. Heikou could feel the pain easing up, and the burnt skin began to heal. All remained still and silent for a while, nothing heard except for the faint humming of the Shousen jutsu healing Heikou’s skin.
Heikou flexed his wrist as Han brought her hands away. He stood up, Kuro and Hana following suit after exchanging nervous glances.
“Thanks, Hana.” Heikou breathed deep.
Kuro reached into his pouch, and drew out a glove. It was jet black, and had a flame superimposed on the palm. The flame glinted in the pale moonlight.
“Here. I got this as a present. You know, for becoming jounin and all.” He handed the glove to Heikou, who put it on immediately.
“It’s fireproof,” continued Kuro. “So now you might not need healing every time you use that move.”
“Thanks…” He clenched his fist, and felt the material sticking to his skin as though there was no glove there at all.
“I don’t know how we’ve got this far.” Heikou glanced up and down the corridor. “How far until the central room?”
As soon as the words had left his mouth, he had taken out two kunai – one in each hand. Kuro had moved into a taijutsu stance and Rena had formed the tiger hand seal.
“**** it, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.” Hana sighed.
The nine Hidden Rock ninja surrounded the trio. Six held a kunai in each hand, the other three were unarmed. The largest of them, presumably the leader, took a step towards them and chuckled.
“Heh, it looks like we’ve got some Konoha bugs to squash.”
[Reviews - 0]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Author's notes: I decided to write a Naruto fan-fic. Sue me. I've come up with a plot that I think can work, and I'm going to give it a try. And this time, I've taken caution with my writing. Comments are appreciated, and the pole is for a few chapters in, once you actually get to know the characters better..
Background information: This story is set during the period around Kakashi Gaiden, where Konoha and Iwa are at war. This follows the actions of one team during these wars.
Enjoy!