Chapter 5: From D to A Part I

Chapter 5: From D to A Part I

We landed on top of a building in the village. Everything looked fine except for a few ninjas who ran in various directions. Which meant the village itself was fine. Though, out into the distance, there was a faint smoke trail within the forest outside the village walls.

“Sui, how hard would it be for you to track the source of the explosion?” I said, pointing in the direction of the fading smoke. I barely even saw it as if it was being blown away.

“Not too hard, but we’d have to be a lot closer than this.” Sui said, squinting. “Not even my Byakugan works past 50 meters.”

“What a waste of time. I’m going ahead.” Tayuya jumped past us and started sprinting towards the source of the smoke.

I guess teamwork is going to be hard. I watched her soon disappear into the forest outside the village. “Man, she’s pretty fast for a Genin.” I looked beside me, and Sui was also gone. I scratched my head. Am I the crazy one for wanting to work as a team? I took a deep breath and exhaled. I hoped that using Jutsus would be fine. “Wind Style: Whirlwind Sprint Jutsu.”

I dashed after them entering the forest outskirts remembering why it was called the Hidden Leaf Village. There were just towering trees everywhere that made me feel tiny in comparison. They each were well over 60 meters tall with thick branches that made it easy for me to jump on to traverse the sparsely lit forest.

“Wow, I guess you two are better trash than I thought.” Tayuya said, taking a quick glance behind her.

I had caught up to them quickly and stopped channeling my earlier Jutsu since I didn’t need the attention, nor did I need to waste my chakra. “You know, is trash the only word you use because that’s what you were called or?”

Tayuya pressed her lips against her flute. The same small demon-looking monster appeared barreling into me. I started doing hand signs, but it came too fast. I braced myself only to watch it get smacked down by Sui. Her hand glowed slightly blue.

“Thanks for the save.” I gave her a thumbs up.

“Anytime. But can you please stop provoking her.”

“I wasn’t provoking her. It was a genuine question. She might be projecting and not even know it.”

Sui stared at me as if to say, “really?”

“Fine I’ll—” I jumped ahead of Sui and threw Tayuya back by her choker. “Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!”

I used my fastest technique to intercept the blast. The two fireballs collided and exploded in the center of the trees brightening the forest. I threw out wired kunai spreading it out around the area. My Sharingan active, I searched the tree line looking for the enemy. A shadow flickered. “Sui!”

“Way ahead of you.” Sui landed in front of me, her Byakugan active; she gripped onto the wires. “Lightning Style: Shocking Grasp Jutsu—”

“Wait!”

The voice came as a surprise to both of us. Sui immediately put out her lightning against the tree. It absorbed the brunt of the Jutsu with just some scorch marks on the trunk. A kid and his dog appeared from the shadows, coming from behind a tree. Judging by his dog mask, he was an ANBU, but I knew who he was from his voice.

“Kai… Are you trying to die?” I said, relaxing my eyes.

“The same can be said to you… Wait, how did you know it was me?”

“One, the dog.” I pointed at the wolf-looking dog standing beside him. “Two, your voice. And three, I met your babysitter Kasai last night. We had a pleasant chat about you.”

“I see… My bad. I know Kasai is a bit of a dick, but he means well. Most of the time.” Kai’s dog then barked at him. “I know I was getting to that.”

“What did the dog say?”

“Kabura was just reminding me to ask what you two were doing here?”

“Did you just say two?” I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Tayuya’s gone and is currently about to run into our culprit for this whole thing. Surprisingly the person is a kid about our age, give or take.” Sui, with her Byakugan, was able to see them even through the thick trees by their chakra network.

The all-seeing eye indeed. “Well Kai, I’m assuming you’re also here tracking down the cause of that explosion earlier, so I don’t mind you tagging along.”

“Did he just give an ANBU permission to tag along?” Kai scratched at his mask, directing his attention to Sui.

“Yeah, he’s an idiot, don’t mind him.”

I pulled my kunai back and reeled them in while they chatted. So, she did know him. No wonder she saved him before. They seemed awfully close too… was he her ex? Wait, no, I would have known about him years ago then. Unless she just didn’t tell me…

“It’s decided then. We’re going to stop Tayuya from getting murdered by an ANBU.” Sui said, walking away from Kai.

“Murdered by an ANBU?” I snapped back to reality when she said that. There were more out here? I looked past her and stared at Kai, only for her to get in my face.

“Weren’t you listening to us? The kid who made that explosion, his name’s Kurai, and he’s a part of Kai’s team. He’s also an ANBU, and knowing Tayuya, she’s going to pick a fight with him. Lose and possibly die in the process.” Sui seemed to care more about the fact that I wasn’t listening than the fact that Tayuya might get hurt. Which I agreed with personally.

“I don’t see the problem.” She needed to get knocked down a peg or two.

“Wow, and I thought Danzō was heartless.” Kai said, shaking his head in disappointment.

“No, I understand where he’s coming from.” Sui was trying to find the right words to say, only to put it bluntly. “She… has a bit of screws loose.”

“A bit? She can’t go one second without calling us trash, and this is her second time going off alone!” She can die for all I care. Her and that little piece of shit Doki.

“Sounds like bad team leader skills.” Kai said and received a bark of agreement from Kabura.

“The team was made literally thirty minutes ago.” I don’t think I’m a bad team leader. Even though we haven’t exactly established who the team leader is.

“Excuses. My team’s been in sync since the moment we formed.”

“Yeah, then where’s Kasai?”

“He’s umm… busy.”

“Busy hanging out with a girl, I bet.” I muttered, remembering Kasai said something about meeting the pink-dressed girl again.

“How did you know…?”

“I saw him coming back from a girl’s house.” I held onto my chin and gave Kai a broad smile. “Does the name Tenten ring any bells?”

“…” Even with his mask on, I could tell he was dumbstruck. If I can’t beat you in a fight, I can pay you back like this Kasai. “Can you not tell anyone about this. We can’t have Danzō finding out he’s doing it again.”

“Oh, an ANBU asking a Genin for a favor.” My smile widened at the possibilities. “Very interesting.”

“You do realize we’re also Genin, right?”

I stared at him stone-faced. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, fine. I’ll keep my lips sealed, but you owe me. Got it?” I said, pretty happy with myself. No matter how he looked, having an ANBU in my pocket would be very useful.

“As long as it’s within reason—”

“Guys, I think we have a problem.” Sui said, interrupting my blackmailing. “One of them stopped moving.”

“So, they fought as expected.” I put my arm around Sui. “Who won?”

“Who do you think won?” Sui snapped back.

I stumbled back, pulling my arm away from her. Did I do something wrong? Then her question registered in my head. Kai and I answered at the same time but with two separate answers.

“Kurai.”

“Tayuya.”

I know I said that the ANBU would clearly win, but with how Sui looked, I had a feeling Tayuya wasn’t all talk. Also, when I pulled her back by her choker earlier, I had this strange feeling. Like, it took more effort to pull her than expected, as if she was already prepared to dodge the fireball. Which didn’t make sense to me. I only knew the fireball was coming because of the killing intent I felt in the air. It reminded me of that Masked Man’s or Itachi’s.

It was probably why Sui didn’t move right away. I doubt she had ever been faced with that real kind of threat in her life, and yet I had a feeling Tayuya already had. Meaning she was definitely stronger than she appeared.

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner. Now let’s get there before she kills him. His chakra network seems to be fading.” Sui took off, leaving us behind.

“You’re joking right?” Kai was still glued in place. His fists clenched. “You’re recent academy graduates. There can’t be killers among you. Nor could they be strong enough to stop an ANBU, especially Kurai.”

“I stopped you?” I said, following Sui. She was only a couple of trees ahead. She looked back a few times to make sure I was following.

“I was off duty.” Kai said, catching up to us fairly quickly. I guess I should give him more credit.

“Sounds like excuses.” I said, paying him back.

“You know… you’re extremely unlikable.” Kabura seemed to bark in agreement with Kai.

“Yeah, I get that a lot. Right Sui?” I said, calling out to her. She slowed down to make sure we were all going at the same pace.

“Yeah. Most of the time, you’re pretty unlikable.”

“You know I was expecting you to say you liked me… considering we’re together and all but ok.”

She gave me a playful punch on the shoulder. “I’m joking. It’s only half of the time, and we just started dating today. Do you have to bring it up every five seconds?”

“Yes, I do.” I said, laughing.

“The world is doomed.” Sui shook her head.

“Wait, you’re dating him?” I really wished I could have seen the look on Kai’s face when he said that but at least seeing his eyes bulge out of the mask was funny. 

A/N: Heyo! (￣▽￣)/ T.K.月狐 here. It’s been like two weeks since I last did one of these, and it’s for a good reason. My commissions for Team 9 are finally completed by a talented artist named Sleepytea, and I love how they all came out. We have Sui Hyūga, Tayuya Uzumaki, and Yuki Uchiha in color! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

The only problem is that some of the sites I post this fic on do not have image embedding. So I’ll have to tell you all if you want to see this fantastic art to check out my Twitter or Tumblr page using the Aldogg9951 handle (link within my bio.) I hope you love them as much as I do, and I can’t wait to get more… once my wallet recovers. (＠_＠)

But with that out of the way, how are you all enjoying the story so far? Since you’ve made it this far, I assume you like it, which makes me happy beyond words. I’ve currently finished one of Yuki’s character arcs, and I hope you enjoy the rollercoaster that it becomes for a bit. It was tough to write, and I still go back and edit it since I want it to be perfect… __φ(．．;) well, as close as I can get.

However, for reading this author’s note to the end, you’re a real champ, and I’d give you a gold star if I could (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ but instead, I’ll give you questions. As a reader, how do you feel about the story as a whole? How do you feel about Yuki and Sui so far? Did you like how I integrated them into the story? Do you like some of the changes I made? Since I know, meeting Tayuya in the leaf village was wild, and my use of chakra natures was very unorthodox. The use of Kunai might have also been a little out there… (￢￢)

If you have any questions feel free to pm me or comment since I do read them and message back without giving spoilers. Ha-ha. Until next time, stay safe and check out my Twitter or Tumblr handle: Aldogg9951 (link within my bio) for character artwork. I’ll try to post there at least once a week… maybe.

ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ=3=3=3

P.S: How do you all feel about the A/N’s should od more? Less? Or they’re fine whenever I need them?