by Immaculate Devotion with Abundant Complications - Chapter 2
Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Yami, Neji, Tenten, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata stood in front of the 5th, awaiting their orders. They all knew that Shikamaru would head this group as he was the highest-ranking ninja there but nobody had any idea what they were about to face.
Nara Shikamaru was a bright young man, average in height, black eyes, with short jet black hair on his head, coming out the top in a tiny ponytail, wore tight shirts worn with an olive green vest covering it, his forehead protector on his right sleeve, black pants, and was often chosen to be leader of teams. His best friend, Akimichi Choji, was a short, plump young man with short brown hair sticking out in two tufts on top of his head, green eyes, and spiral circles on his cheeks who seemed to always be eating, wore his forehead protector as part of his hat, often wore a green jacket and a yellow shirt that had the same spiral circle design as his cheeks. His hat looked kind of like a black piece of underwear upside down on his head, his blonde hair coming our wear the legs would in a piece of underwear. The last member of their original team, Yamanaka Ino, was a skinny, pale girl of average height with light blonde in a top ponytail hair ending at her waist and blue eyes. She wore her forehead protector like a belt around her waist and often wore a long purple jumper. Her ex-best friend and long time rival, Haruno Sakura, had bright pink hair ending at the shoulders and blue-green eyes, was about the same propotions as Ino, but wore a red jumper with a white circle at the bottom of it, and her forehead protector was worn as a headband instead of a belt. Her only teammate left was Uzumaki Naruto, a young, shorter man with too much energy, a demon-fox trapped inside of him, blonde hair sticking out of his head in a messy blob and bright blue eyes, who wore an orange jumpsuit and his forehead protector on his forehead.
Hyuga Neji also wore his forehead protector on his forehead, hiding the curse seal that he’d received when he was little. Neji was average in height, had creepy purple eyes that he used for the Byakugan, wore a cream colored shirt and black pants, with long black hair ending in a ponytail at the small of his back. His teammate, Tenten, was a tallish young-looking girl, of average weight and black eyes, who wore a pink tank top and black pants, her forehead protector on her forehead, her dark black hair parted into two buns on either side of her head. A new addition to the genin, Nekozumi Yami was a girl of smaller hight (a little shorter than Gaara), jet black hair often done into pigtails making her look 5ish, bright green eyes resembling a cat's, triangular ears toward the top of her head, and dark tan skin from training in the sun too much. She wore her forehead protector on her wrist like a bracelet, the same black pants as the other teamates, and a netted baby blue shirt with the Nekozumi clan symbol (a pair of yellow-green cat eyes in a black upside-down triangle) on the front. She was skinny from all the exercise but had an appetite to rival Choji's, and always had her multi-colored cat, Itchi, with her. The last member of the team was Hyuga Hinata, a shy average young woman who wore her forehead protector around her neck, had eyes that served the same purpose and looked like Neji’s, and wore a soft hoodie and dark blue pants.
“I want all the girls to stand on one side of the room, and all the boys to stand on the other.” Tsunade finally said, after they had stood in front of her for several minutes, “then, I will name three ninjas I want to stand in the middle.” The ninjas went to the respective sides of the room and Tsudane announced, “Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto step to the middle” they glanced at each other in surprise, but did what she said. “You three will accompany Gaara on a mission, Temari will accompany the boys, and the girls will listen to Kankaro, understood?”
After receiving the appropriate reaction, she continued, “within these groups, there will be a second-in-command. This is a B-class mission. Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino, please stay to receive further instructions. The rest of you are dismissed to get ready. You leave as soon as the Sand ninjas are ready.”
With that, all exept Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino left. The remaining three lined up in front of their Hokage awaiting further instructions. Ino and Sakura seemed surprised that the 5th would’ve picked them but steeled themselves to whatever task lay ahead.
“Good.” Tsunade said, “Shikamaru will be the main leader of all three groups, we needed Yami on this mission so you could all communicate as you won’t be able to use the normal forms of communication. Sakura! Hinata will be your main source of information and Gaara your main leader. He’ll let you know what to do. Remember that you are the only medi-nin on this mission! You are dismissed!” Sakura left looking rather stupefied. “Ino! You will be under Kankaro’s command. Yami will be an intrigal part of every team, I leave her to you. Remember that this is her first mission without a Jounin to watch over her. She is key to the success of this mission as you won’t be able to talk to the other groups. That will be Yami’s responsibility though I’m certain you’ll find her usefull in other areas as well. She will be looking to you for guidance and I expect you to give it to her! Dismissed.” With that, Ino left looking determined, Tsunade assumed that she went to find Yami and discover what else she could do.
“Shikamaru.” Tsunade went on less sternly, “I don’t need to tell you how important Neji is to this mission nor do I need to tell you that Temari will be resistant to your lead, nor do I need to tell you what a dangerous mission this is. What I do need to tell you is the reason for this mission, that not even Gaara knows what I’m about to tell you, and that Yami has special considerations you need to know about.” Shikamaru’s only response was to mutter “How troublesome” and drop to his thinking stance.
Tsunade watched him drop to a croutch and put his hands in his lap in an upside-down circle, his pinky fingers closes to his body. “Good, I’m afraid you’re going to have to think like that a lot on this mission.” She said approvingly. “Now, listen carfully. Yami has an older sister that disappeared on a mission years ago. Rumor has it she’s serving as a ninja for the country of the Mist. Seeing as you have to pass through this country to get to you destination, you may run into Yaouri, and/or her cat, Chatte. Yami will recognize them immediately but can’t be allowed to talk to her, understood?”
Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Yami, Neji, Tenten, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata stood in front of the 5th, awaiting their orders. They all knew that Shikamaru would head this group as he was the highest-ranking ninja there but nobody had any idea what they were about to face.
Nara Shikamaru was a bright young man, average in height, black eyes, with short jet black hair on his head, coming out the top in a tiny ponytail, wore tight shirts worn with an olive green vest covering it, his forehead protector on his right sleeve, black pants, and was often chosen to be leader of teams. His best friend, Akimichi Choji, was a short, plump young man with short brown hair sticking out in two tufts on top of his head, green eyes, and spiral circles on his cheeks who seemed to always be eating, wore his forehead protector as part of his hat, often wore a green jacket and a yellow shirt that had the same spiral circle design as his cheeks. His hat looked kind of like a black piece of underwear upside down on his head, his blonde hair coming our wear the legs would in a piece of underwear. The last member of their original team, Yamanaka Ino, was a skinny, pale girl of average height with light blonde in a top ponytail hair ending at her waist and blue eyes. She wore her forehead protector like a belt around her waist and often wore a long purple jumper. Her ex-best friend and long time rival, Haruno Sakura, had bright pink hair ending at the shoulders and blue-green eyes, was about the same propotions as Ino, but wore a red jumper with a white circle at the bottom of it, and her forehead protector was worn as a headband instead of a belt. Her only teammate left was Uzumaki Naruto, a young, shorter man with too much energy, a demon-fox trapped inside of him, blonde hair sticking out of his head in a messy blob and bright blue eyes, who wore an orange jumpsuit and his forehead protector on his forehead.
Hyuga Neji also wore his forehead protector on his forehead, hiding the curse seal that he’d received when he was little. Neji was average in height, had creepy purple eyes that he used for the Byakugan, wore a cream colored shirt and black pants, with long black hair ending in a ponytail at the small of his back. His teammate, Tenten, was a tallish young-looking girl, of average weight and black eyes, who wore a pink tank top and black pants, her forehead protector on her forehead, her dark black hair parted into two buns on either side of her head. A new addition to the genin, Nekozumi Yami was a girl of smaller hight (a little shorter than Gaara), jet black hair often done into pigtails making her look 5ish, bright green eyes resembling a cat's, triangular ears toward the top of her head, and dark tan skin from training in the sun too much. She wore her forehead protector on her wrist like a bracelet, the same black pants as the other teamates, and a netted baby blue shirt with the Nekozumi clan symbol (a pair of yellow-green cat eyes in a black upside-down triangle) on the front. She was skinny from all the exercise but had an appetite to rival Choji's, and always had her multi-colored cat, Itchi, with her. The last member of the team was Hyuga Hinata, a shy average young woman who wore her forehead protector around her neck, had eyes that served the same purpose and looked like Neji’s, and wore a soft hoodie and dark blue pants.
“I want all the girls to stand on one side of the room, and all the boys to stand on the other.” Tsunade finally said, after they had stood in front of her for several minutes, “then, I will name three ninjas I want to stand in the middle.” The ninjas went to the respective sides of the room and Tsudane announced, “Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto step to the middle” they glanced at each other in surprise, but did what she said. “You three will accompany Gaara on a mission, Temari will accompany the boys, and the girls will listen to Kankaro, understood?”
After receiving the appropriate reaction, she continued, “within these groups, there will be a second-in-command. This is a B-class mission. Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino, please stay to receive further instructions. The rest of you are dismissed to get ready. You leave as soon as the Sand ninjas are ready.”
With that, all exept Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino left. The remaining three lined up in front of their Hokage awaiting further instructions. Ino and Sakura seemed surprised that the 5th would’ve picked them but steeled themselves to whatever task lay ahead.
“Good.” Tsunade said, “Shikamaru will be the main leader of all three groups, we needed Yami on this mission so you could all communicate as you won’t be able to use the normal forms of communication. Sakura! Hinata will be your main source of information and Gaara your main leader. He’ll let you know what to do. Remember that you are the only medi-nin on this mission! You are dismissed!” Sakura left looking rather stupefied. “Ino! You will be under Kankaro’s command. Yami will be an intrigal part of every team, I leave her to you. Remember that this is her first mission without a Jounin to watch over her. She is key to the success of this mission as you won’t be able to talk to the other groups. That will be Yami’s responsibility though I’m certain you’ll find her usefull in other areas as well. She will be looking to you for guidance and I expect you to give it to her! Dismissed.” With that, Ino left looking determined, Tsunade assumed that she went to find Yami and discover what else she could do.
“Shikamaru.” Tsunade went on less sternly, “I don’t need to tell you how important Neji is to this mission nor do I need to tell you that Temari will be resistant to your lead, nor do I need to tell you what a dangerous mission this is. What I do need to tell you is the reason for this mission, that not even Gaara knows what I’m about to tell you, and that Yami has special considerations you need to know about.” Shikamaru’s only response was to mutter “How troublesome” and drop to his thinking stance.
Tsunade watched him drop to a croutch and put his hands in his lap in an upside-down circle, his pinky fingers closes to his body. “Good, I’m afraid you’re going to have to think like that a lot on this mission.” She said approvingly. “Now, listen carfully. Yami has an older sister that disappeared on a mission years ago. Rumor has it she’s serving as a ninja for the country of the Mist. Seeing as you have to pass through this country to get to you destination, you may run into Yaouri, and/or her cat, Chatte. Yami will recognize them immediately but can’t be allowed to talk to her, understood?”
