by Chapter one :: OOPS :: Chapter One
Amaterasu wasn’t a man of deep feelings but he’d be telling a definitive lie if he claimed he didn’t miss the Mist village and its inhabitants. Albeit, most of that population were brute, bossy idiots but he had became a bit too attached to a few of the ninja that had stood out among the miscreants. That was one thing he could not stand about that swamp invested, insect buzzing, disgusting fog of a city. Not only were they portrayed as ruthless and cold hearted but they all had seemed to take it upon themselves to fit the description to a tee.
This was why the very first step to purifying Mist had been getting rid of the man who tainted them all.
With a sneer, Amaterasu turned his gaze to slowly lock onto his mentor, beat beyond compare. He still couldn’t believe how much the man had changed, how evil his heart had become. There had been times were Amaterasu had stared at him and saw someone he didn’t even recognize anymore. He no longer felt proud about being taught under him, but revolted.
Yes, he thought absently, kneeling down beside the body, Jose was better off dead.
As if on cue, Jose groaned.
Of course, that didn’t mean Amaterasu could build up the resolve to deal to him what he deserved.
“Master Amaterasu, what are we going to do with him?” Shiro spoke as he walked up, hands in his pockets.
Amaterasu stared at the figure, lying limply on the cold ground. Up until now, he had carried Jose on his back as they fled the village. And, even now, he wasn’t sure why. He had told himself the reason was his fear of being found out if Jose told, which he definitely would have, but Amaterasu knew it had something to do with his heart. Like it or not, he had grown up with Jose and he didn’t want to let the past go just yet.
But they hadn’t gotten very far- both because they had wanted to lay low and Shiro had complained about his legs hurting. They were now lurking around in the forest and Amaterasu knew that, with the extra baggage of Jose, they wouldn’t make it to their destination before someone spotted them. He reached out his hand towards the hurt man, flashing back to the time he had fallen and Jose had lifted him back up, before quickly retracting it and cursing at his worthless memories.
Amaterasu stared at him for a moment longer, realizing a little too late that he was about to break the biggest rule Mist had ever taught him which, in theory, didn’t matter because he was no longer apart of it anyway.
“Leave him.”
With that, he took off. Running and jumping onto tree limbs with the speed of light. Hoping, and trying, to run away from his past. Maybe fortune would shine on him and Jose would bleed out before anyone could help him.
“HEY! I thought we were gonna rest! Master Amaterasu!” Shiro whined, hurrying to catch up before he was left behind.
***********************
When it came to being pretty, Mist lost horribly. It couldn’t hold a flame to the beautiful crystal-like structures occupying Glacier.
If you wanted to experience real hospitality, Mist was not the place to go. Storm’s friendly, caring, funny atmosphere topped Mist’s deadly, terrifying environment.
Looking for an ally? Well, don’t try Mist! Everyone knew both Mountain and Inferno were the coup de gras at strategics.
Strength-wise? Sand had Mist by a land slide.
They couldn’t even win at being the scariest village; Shadow took that crown what with it’s, creepily masked populace.
But, when it came to loyalty, the people of Mist ranked the highest. Which was why, at this very moment, Destinykil – the temporary Mizukage - was organizing search parties to locate the missing Amaterasu- the Vice Kage – and Jose – the actual Kage – even though they would have rather been doing much better things. Like, for instance, setting their eyeballs on fire or bashing their skulls against a rock.
It was no secret that the very same people Jose commanded hated his guts. Whether you voiced your disdain out loud however was a different subject. He was a dictator. He made ridiculous rules, held celebrations that show cased execution and showed no mercy to the defenseless. It was a wonder the entire village hadn’t tried to overthrow him.
Then again, he hadn’t always been that way. No, there had been a time where Jose had been a smiling, polite young man. But that had been so long ago; nearly no one could even recall it.
Which was why Keya didn’t understand why exactly they were making this big show of trying to act overly concerned about Jose. Him vanishing off of the face of the Earth was a sheer blessing. There would be no more random assaults on the innocent, no more lying awake in bed for fear of being brought up for charges and punished. Destinykil had already done away with the whipping post Jose had placed in the town square. And no one had any intent of letting him reclaim his spot as Kage ever again.
Now, Amaterasu was another story. She had actually been his friend, liked him. If they had been allowed to vote on anything, she would have voted him all the way into the Kage position. His disappearance was the only real thing Keya could honestly say she cared about.
“Okay,” Destinykil was saying, running his eyes along the ninja he had summoned that stood before him. “Are you all clear on your orders?”
Someone raised their hand.
“Yes?”
“Yeah uh….” The person spoke up. “I don’t know about anyone else but…..I don’t want to find Jose because I don’t want him to come back.”
Everyone started to snicker and Des sighed.
“Listen. I know a lot of you don’t like Jose-“
“NONE OF US DO!”
“-but you have to understand: He’s one of us. He might be arrogant-“
This coming from the head of arrogance, Keya thought dryly.
“-and crazy and callous and not nearly as good looking as me but he’s one of us. We can’t just abandon him. I’m sorry, I won’t allow it.”
However idiotic it sounded, Keya had to agree. He might have been the person she hated most in this small world but he was apart of Mist and they never left someone behind. Never. It was their motto, the first rule every academy student learned.
“Besides, “Destinykil continued, shrugging. “Jose isn’t the only one missing, remember? Ama’s out there somewhere and he might be getting tortured by a kidnapper and waiting for us to help him and not being as good looking as me either. We gotta go after them.”
There were muttered words passed along before they all agreed that Amaterasu was worth looking for.
“Okay, good. Now be gone. I have work to do.” When they had all left Des alone in his office- God that sounded good. HIS office- he pushed his chair back and brought up a mirror. “Look at you,” He smirked, addressing his reflection. “It should be illegal to look that good.”
“Des?”
He yelped, tucking his mirror away and glancing up. “What do you want? I’m very-“He stopped mid-sentence, laying eyes on the beautiful face of Dancing Mist. She had her eyebrow raised in question and a smile playing on her lips.
“Why are you in Jose’s seat?” She drawled out.
Destinykil was momentarily caught off guard and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion – Hadn’t she heard the news? – But then he remembered that she had been sent off on a mission a couple of days ago. She didn’t know about anything that had happened since then. For some reason unbeknown to Des, Jose had shown a sincere liking of Dancing Mist. She had been his right hand of sort, always the first person he turned to when he wanted a job done right. In contrast, she didn’t return the feeling. She hated doing his bidding, hated being around him and hated being liked by someone of his character. All her resentment was channeled into her work and she never let it interfere, leaving Jose oblivious to her true opinions. After all, voicing such thoughts aloud would have only gotten her severe penalties. “Take a seat, DM.” Destinykil smiled, motioning to a seat. “There’re some things we have to discuss.”
*****************
“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Keya muttered, yawning lazily. There had been three search parties deployed, pairing two ninjas together each. That’s all we can afford, Des had offered up with a sigh and they all had known he meant that Mist was severely lacking when it came to the elite ninjas- the only ones he would dare send out on an occasion like this.
The first group was Temari and Kugutsu_Kokuo, who had been assigned to go east.
The second: Shugo and Spyke going west.
And the last consisted of Ureshii and her, heading north.
“Can’t we eat first?”
Keya turned to Ureshii, thinking that wasn’t such a bad idea. She was leaning against one of the many trees covering the forest floor, looking mighty bored. Among the members of mist, Ureshii had to be one of the most friendliest and down to Earth. She didn’t eat meat, wouldn’t hurt a fly and actually enjoyed helping others. Keya sometimes found herself wondering why exactly she decided to join Mist but knew better then to ask. Everyone had a past and she didn’t liked to delve in other people's business.
“We’ll eat after.” She said, walking off. “The sooner we get this done, the better.”
Ureshii groaned loudly, pushing herself off the tree and following after with a lazy gait. “You better buy me anything I want.” She mumbled angrily, kicking at the dirt.
This was going to be a long day.
***********
Temari wasn’t sure what irritated her more; searching for a man she despised or doing it with Kugutsu_Kokuo singing the entire time. Not only that, but he slowed her down. It wasn’t his fault, she knew. She had achieved her speed through training and lots of stress and he was but a child but that didn’t mean she liked being out here with him. Temari had not signed up to babysit.
The sun had begun to go down and she stopped, staring at it. They had pretty much scanned the neck of the woods they had been assigned and she was ready to head back.
She was just about to call out to Kugo but a noise sounded and she instantly became alert. The woods were her place. In actuality, anything that involved solitude was her place. Mostly because it allowed her to heighten her hearing. Temari couldn’t count the number of times she had sat in a tree and focused in on the noises of the forest, birds singing, bugs buzzing, a leaf falling.
She could have told you that someone was walking behind her from ten miles away.
Which was why Temari was confused as to how she could have missed the footsteps behind them until now. Most likely, Kugo’s singing had muffled a portion. Unfortunately, he still hadn't stopped.
“Kugutsu, shut-“
Something zoomed by and Temari acted. Within minutes, she had Kugo down on the ground, her body covering his. Whatever the item had been, it hit the tree behind them hard, creating a resounding THUMP.
Kugo blushed and smiled uncomfortably, pinned underneath her. “Uh….haha, if you wanted a hug….”
Temari gave him a no nonsense face. “Shut up.” She growled angrily. “If you would have been paying attention, you would have heard-“
She was abruptly caught off by something else whizzing by and she grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him behind a tree as a cover.
“What was that!?” He yelled out hysterically.
“I don’t know but someone’s attacking us.” Temari said, daring to poke her head around the trunk. She flicked her eyes every which way but saw and heard nothing. Where are you, where are you? She chanted mentally, pulling out a kunai.
“Temari!” Kugo screamed before his body hit the ground lifelessly.
She spun around just in time to feel something hard press against her temple.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” A woman’s soft voice said from behind her. Temari couldn’t see her but she was absolutely certain that her assailant had a bow in her hands. “Drop the kunai.”
Temari hesitated before doing so. She saw Kugo out of her peripheral, lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing permanent or fatal.” It was a man’s voice this time and Temari heard heavy footsteps as he approached. “But he’ll be asleep for a while, I’m afraid.”
“I’d be more concerned about yourself.” The woman chided, her tone as quiet a whisper. “I suggest you take your friend and leave before I put this arrow right in between your eyes.”
Temari assessed her situation. She could do as told and take Kugo and flee but she had a sneaky suspicion that the duo attacking them would not let them leave alive even if they claimed so. She could run and abandon Kugo but she believed in morals way too much to do such a thing. They had a motto in Mist. Never leave a comrade behind. So, her last option was to fight.
She spun around with lightning quickness, bringing out another kunai and throwing it with precision at the woman behind her. Her attacker grunted and she knew she had hit her target but didn’t stop there. Bringing out two more, Temari sent her kunai into the man she had determined to be just a few foot to the right of her. He, however, had caught on and easily dodged the weapons as if they were simply flies.
Temari felt something at her neck a second later and she was forced back into the trunk of the tree, blackness licking at the corner of her eyes. She fought to stay conscious but whatever was being pushed against her throat was depleting her level of oxygen. She could barely see the wide, dark eyes flashing angrily at her. The short black hair of the woman, the black mask covering her nose and mouth. “You’ve made a fatal mistake-“ The woman stopped in mid-sentence then, squinting at her. Then there was an “Oh crap.” and suddenly, the pressure was released and Temari fell to her knees, coughing and gulping in air. She glanced up to see the woman, sword in hand, staring down at her, looking embarrassed.
The woman drew down her mask and Temari’s eyes widened.
“Yoyo?”
Toshiro~ ^_^ x3
