Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sounding in the Dark ❯ Year 2: The Hunter and the Hunted ( Chapter 4 )

Yosh! I'm finally back with a new chapter. Now, I think something is wrong with the hit counter for all my stories, because I haven't gotten any new hits at all for the last few days, but I have gotten new reviews. Strange, no? I wonder where I can report a glitch…anyway; here is the newest chapter for your viewing pleasure!

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; if I did, Sasuke would have died a very painful death early on…maybe Zabuza could have skinned him or something?

 

Thoughts

*radio transmition*

 

Chapter 4: Year 2: The Hunter and the Hunted

 

A white flash flies through the forest; it moves with cold purpose as it stalks its prey. The hunted is oblivious to the peril that it now finds itself in. The hunter takes a cold look at the man before drawing his weapon. Silently, he creeps down from his leafy perch focused on the kill. He moves with grace, cleanly slicing though his intended target's neck with his weapon; his face set in a cold white mask. The sound of kunai impacting on a wood is the only thing that the masked hunter is rewarded with, however, as another figure leaps away in the trees at a frantic pace that the hunter failed to notice.

 

“Damn it! Kawarimi no jutsu, I really hate that jutsu..." the masked boy mumbled. He looked around for his prey only to find he had already fled.

 

*Hey, idiot! Did you complete the objective yet?* came a familiar female voice. The hunter sighed and answered back into his headset.

 

“No, the prick used a Kawarimi on me and ran.” he said as he hurriedly moved the headset away from his ears, knowing what was coming.

 

*YOU IDIOT BASTARD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?-! GO AFTER HIM BEFORE HE TELLS THE ENTIRE THUNDER COUNTRY WE`RE HERE!* the voice screamed. The hunter could hear several other voices in the background telling her to quiet down. Once he was reasonably sure she was done ranting, he put back on the headset and took to the trees.

 

“Don't worry about! No way he knows where I`m from. I`m wearing my mask, remember? He`ll just head to the village and assume I was some random bandit or missing-nin. He`ll stay there where he thinks he`ll be safe.” the boy said as he dashed through the trees.

 

*Uh....won't he though?* was the confused response he got from the other side of the line.

 

“Heh, no one is safe if they betray Orochimaru-sama. Wait for me outside the village; I'll be back tomorrow morning.”

 

*WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN `TOMORROW MORN---* the transmition was cut short as the boy turned off his headset.

 

“So loud...” he mumbled before heading towards the Hidden Cloud and his target...

 

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Flashback

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“So, our mission is to kill some guy named Kainashi?” one half of the set of twins asked. The entire group was on the road all disguised under a Henge. They had left the “Snake's Den” several nights before hand and were heading to the Hidden Village of the Cloud. Kimimaro had gotten the mission straight from Orochimaru and had only given the students a few hours before they left the Den to start their mission. It was a class A, something that Kimimaro said was above his students, but the snake sannin had insisted on it. Now that they were less than a day from their objective, he was having each review the plan before things got hectic.

 

“Yes. Our objective is to assassinate a former spy of lord Orochimaru-sama.” Kimimaro answered.

 

“A spy? Like Kabuto-san?” Naruto asked. The older boy cringed at the mention of the medic-nin's name.

 

“Yes. Kainashi was one of our spies in Hidden Cloud. It seems that he has his own ideas and has severed all ties with our group, we can no longer overlook this as he is a potential security risk.” Kimimaro replied.

 

“So....what's the plan? I don't wanna run into another mission without a plan! You bastards almost get me killed every time I go on a mission with you.” the redhead sneered. Kidoumaru rolled his eyes.

 

“That whole bandit thing happened over a year ago! You didn't get hurt so what's the problem? If I remember correctly, you were the one who ran into the middle of their camp without a plan...” the young multi-armed boy said. The girl turned and glared at him.

 

“I was talking about the mission last month when the dumb bastard” she pointed to a glaring Naruto, “decided to break the mission objective and clean-out the house! We were only supposed to kill the clan head and leave! You almost got us caught by the guards when you decided to poke around the house's library looking for their jutsu scrolls.” she huffed. Said `dumb bastard' scoffed and calmly flashed the redhead a not-too-friendly gesture that sent her seething.

 

“Hey, I didn't get caught did I? Besides, they knew some good jutsu's and I did share them with you! You're so ungrateful!” he snarled. The two were on the verge of coming to blows when they felt several killing intents being directed in their direction.

 

“You mean to tell us that you two managed to get the scroll!-? Were you planning on sharing it with the rest of us or just hoarding all the secrets to yourselves?-!” said an irate Sakon. Kidoumaru was also glaring at the pair and even Jiroubou looked annoyed; Kimimaro just rolled his eyes and continued on.

 

“N-n-n-now guys...they weren't all that great! Really, you wouldn't have liked them, RIGHT Tayuya?” the white-haired boy poked her in the side, willing her to answer with his eyes.

 

“Er, yeah! They totally sucked ass! I wouldn't be caught dead doing any of them.” she added, trying to stay clear of suspicion. It didn't work. Luckily, before the two thieves could get the beat down of their lives, Kimimaro spoke up.

 

“Alright, we're here.” he had led the group to the outskirts of Thunder Country so as to avoid the boarder patrols. “Now, the plan is for one of us to sneak in and deal with him. The target is on patrol today, so we shouldn't have too much trouble. Naruto...” he turned to the boy, “You will go into Thunder Country and ambush him. Tayuya will be your operations manager over the headset.” he said as he tossed a pair of headsets to the two pre-teens.

 

“Why the hell do I have to stay behind!” yelled the redhead. “No way in hell I'm going to be left behind while this dumb bastard gets all the credit.”

 

“Tayuya, Naruto's sound-reducing jutsu`s are perfect for this assassination. The rest of us will be sitting this one out so you should be thankful you even have a part in the mission.” the older boy said without emotion. The redhead gritted her teeth but snorted and put on the headset. Naruto snickered for a bit, but also donned the tech headgear before putting his fox mask on over it.

 

“Alright, here's a picture of him.” the older boy said as he handed Naruto a worn photo. “Now, lets take care of this quickly so we can report back. Orochimaru-sama is planning a large operation soon so we can't waste manpower here, understood?” the white-haired boy nodded before leaping off though the trees to stalk his prey...

 

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End Flashback

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The young boy made his way closer and closer to the boarder of Hidden Cloud. The patrols were lax for a ninja village and the guards weren't even ninja. The boy put on a Henge in the disguise of an elderly ramen peddler and was waved though the gate. Once inside, he dropped the illusion and tailed his soon-to-be-dead mark, no way he was going to let him get away again...

 

Later...

 

A masked figure crawled up the wall to the second story of Hidden Cloud's barracks. A calm, collected demeanor was what was projected through his masked eyes as the shinobi crouched just inside a window. He was wearing a hunter-nin mask that was in a definite canine shape as a stray bolt of lightning illuminated his face. He crept into the room, kunai drawn as he looked at his surrounding. He was in a storeroom of some sort, far away from his objective. He took to the halls of the building dodging patrols and random ninja as they roamed the halls. The ninja continued to search until he found the door he was looking for. Picking the lock, he slipped inside. It was dark except for the random flashes of lighting that illuminated the room through the window. Asleep on a bed in the corner was what he had come for. Reaching his kunai he crept towards the bed and the sleeping figure there-on. He was about to end the man's existence and his mission when he felt another presence in the room. He whirled around and came face-to-face with a short white-haired ninja wearing a fox mask. He regarded this newcomer and stole a look back at the man sleeping on the bed before turning back to the other ninja.

 

“Well...this is a first...” the dog-masked ninja whispered.

 

“What the hell? Damn it, I'm here to kill that guy so don't get in my way, got it?” the fox-masked ninja hissed. He held his kunai ready to strike. The other ninja chuckled slightly as he lowered his weapon.

 

“Seems we both want the same thing, doesn't it? I thought I was the only Konoha mission on this mission, where is your ANBU team meeting?” the dog-masked man asked. The smaller ninja stiffened at the mention of Konoha.

 

“Uh...outside the village…we just took this job last-minute but…I really just want to get this over with.” the fox-masked ninja lied. He put away his kunai and slinked back to the door. “I'll watch for guards, you finish up.”

 

“...” the dog-masked ninja shrugged before heading back over to the bed. He took one look back at the other ninja before slitting the man's throat with surgical precision. The sleeping occupant let out a gurgling sound as his sheets were stained red.

 

“Good, I'm out of here then, thanks.” the fox-masked ninja said before heading over to the window, his method of escape. He didn't get far before he felt the tip of a kunai on the back of his neck.

 

“Who are you and why do you have a Konoha ANBU mask?” the man said in a lazy tone. “I know you're not ANBU since you let your guard down and I also know that no other teams were dispatched on this mission.” The other ninja made to reach for his kunai pouch when the dog-masked man pushed his kunai into his captive's neck drawing blood. “I asked you a question. If you don't answer me I'll just kill you.”

 

“Well, I don't think you'll have to deal with me much longer.” the fox-masked ninja said as he drew back up his hand, pointing the palm towards the other ninja. The dog-masked ninja blinked his eye under his ANBU mask at the action and didn't think much of it until a small red stone shone in the darkness.

 

“What are you...” the man started.

 

“Zankuuha!” the fox-masked ninja yelled. The other ninja was tossed back against the wall of the room as the windows exploded from the air pressure. Blood trickled from his mouth as heard several shouts come from the hall outside the room. The other ninja had already leapt through the window and was making his escape.

 

“Damn it!” the dog-masked man hissed before he ran after the other ninja. The fox-masked boy was fast, but stupid. He ran in a straight line away from the building and out of the village, barley dodging a patrol. The dog-masked man followed him until he stopped in a clearing. He seemed to be talking to himself when he noticed the headset. Damn! He has reinforcements? I have to get my answers now before they arrive. The man leapt down from his perch and faced the other ninja. They both stared at each other for a moment before the shorter ninja pulled off the headset and crushed it.

 

“Ah, that was so I couldn't trace who was on the other end of that call, eh?” the dog-masked ninja stated. He lazily leaned against a tree sizing the fox-masked ninja up.

 

“What the hell do you want? Your mission is over, right? Leave me alone or I'll make you pay!” the fox-masked ninja shouted. The other man mentally rolled his eyes. Way too loud for a ninja, definitely not very experienced.

 

“Look, you have a Konoha ANBU mask, at the very least you have some connection to the village so you're going to give me answers. Understand?” the dog-masked ninja said. He sighed when the boy started to form hand seals and pulled a kunai out to stop the brash ninja.

 

“Gekiha Oshi no Jutsu!” the other ninja yelled. The air around the dog-masked ninja seemed to get heavier and he was finding it hard to breath. Damn! I should have used the Sharingan right from the start. The man pulled off his mask to reveal his gray hair and face. His face was obscured by the night, but the fox-masked boy could make out another half mask that covered most of his face. A Konoha hitai-ate was over his left eye until the man pulled it up. The fox-ninja was shocked as the man's eye glowed red and his jutsu broke down.

 

“Damn it! What the hell did you do?” Seeing that the man wasn't going to give him an answer, he started to gather chakra. “That's fine, let's see if you can stop this! Zankuuha!” the boy shouted as a high-power air blast shot out of his palms at the other ninja. As the dust cleared the young ninja saw the effects of his blast. A large trench extended from his outstretched palm to where the masked man was, there was no sign of his opponent. The boy lowered his hands and released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

 

“H-ha…that got you…” the ninja muttered between breaths. Just as he was about to head off to where his companions were, a hand shot out of the ground and grabed his leg. “What the fu…AHH!” the ninja yelped as he was suddenly buried up to his head in the ground a man chuckling off to his side.

 

“Such colorful language for a ninja, eh? You must not be very experienced to fall for that trick; it's a Chuunin-level jutsu. So, let's try this one more time, who are you and why do you have that mask?” the man asked. When the boy stayed quiet, the man sighed and walked over to the head poking up from the earth. “Well, let's just see what you look like then…” he said as he reached down and pulled off the ninja's fox-mask. The face that was behind the mask surprised the man. Looking up at him with a glare that could kill was a white-haired, blue-eyed boy no more than nine years old. The man blinked his visible eye.” A kid this young made me use the Sharingan? Amazing… He was brought out of his musing by a strange feeling. He looked around and saw the forest changing. Genjutsu… He uncovered his eye once again and saw through the jutsu. Several figures were watching him from the trees, one of them still holding her hands in a seal. A man turned to her and spoke for a moment before the girl dropped the jutsu. He then leapt out into the clearing in the forest and met the masked-man's gaze.

 

“You…have one of my students.” the white-haired man deadpanned. He was dressed in simple white robes with no visible weapons but gave off the air of danger. The masked ninja just looked back at the man with his lazy eye and shrugged.

 

“Eh, seems I do. This kid had a Konoha ANBU mask on and I'd be very interested to know how he got it. It's an international incident if you guys killed one of our men.” the masked ninja replied.

 

“…you are the famous Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi, are you not? You…can not beat me, I strongly suggest you leave.” Kimimaro said as he moved closer to the two. The masked ninja, Kakashi, looked at the teenager with surprise.

 

“Now how would you know that? Since you know so much, I really can't let you guys go now.” Kakashi said as he pulled another kunai. Just as the two were about to jump at each other's throats, a white arrow flew by Kakashi's head. A boy with several arms leapt into view setting up another arrow.

 

“Now, Naruto!” he shouted. Kakashi then realized his mistake; he had taken his eyes off of boy at his feet. He looked down to see a hand pointed up at him, a red stone was pulsing in its palm.

 

“Zankuuha!” The copy-nin was sent flying into the night air, his vest tearing in places. He hit a tree with a resounding thud when he descended to earth. The spider boy was quickly coming up to him with his bow armed. A quick bolt shot through the older man's chest but all that was hit was a log. Kidoumaru cursed as he re-strung his bow only to find that Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

 

“I didn't need your help you know…” Naruto mumbled as Jiroubou pulled him out of his earthy prison. Tayuya dropped from her treetop perch and cracked him on the back of his head with her flute.

 

“You prick! What the hell were you doing?-! You would be dead now if it wasn't for us coming to drag your worthless ass out of Hidden Cloud!” she yelled. Kimimaro looked over the area and walked back to the boy.

 

“Was your mission a success?” he asked in monotone. Tayuya shot him a glare for being interrupted and threw her arms up in a huff.

 

“Yeah, the target is lying in his bed with a slit throat. It was that Konoha ninja that did it though, I ran into him inside the barracks and I guess he followed me.” Naruto said as he dusted himself off. “So, what do we do now?”

 

“We head back. Orochimaru-sama has other jobs for us to do and we can't dwell on this one loose end. He doesn't know much so don't worry, I'm sure he can't recognize you from your old village.” Kimimaro said as he walked off. Tayuya glared at the boy one last time before she sighed and followed. Naruto was about to leave also when something orange caught his eye. He walked over to where Kakashi had landed after he was hit by the Air Cannon and picked up an orange book. Huh, guess that Copy Ninja guy dropped it. He thumbed through it before tossing it back into the forest with a flushed face. What the hell was that?-! Perverted Kakashi! Naruto slapped his face to get the blush out before heading off after his comrades, fox mask in hand.

 

Later: Back in Konoha…

 

“…so that's when I ran into the boy. I was in the room of the target when we had a confrontation. He was wearing a Konoha ANBU mask and he said he was with a team. I didn't buy it though and when confronted he attacked me. I think he had a blood limit because my Sharingan couldn't copy that air technique he used on me. I caught him in the forest surrounding Hidden Cloud and managed to subdue him. I took his mask off and saw his face; he had white hair, blue eyes, and odd markings on his cheeks. He couldn't have been more than ten years old, either. He knew some pretty advanced techniques too. His group was just as strong as he was, especially their leader. Anyway, I let my guard down and the kid hit me with that air attack that got me pretty good as you can see. The mission was a success, so the Raikage doesn't have to worry about that spy anymore…I guess it's a mission complete.” Kakashi said as he finished up his report. The Third Hokage puffed his pipe behind his desk. The Raikage himself had asked that Konoha assassinate the spy in his village due to the fact he didn't know who in his forces he could trust. This development that another ninja team had been sent to kill him as well was disturbing to the aged Hokage.

 

“Very well, Kakashi. I suppose we will just have to watch this development more.” he said as he shuffled through some files. Kakashi turned to walk out of the office when he hesitated.

 

“Hokage-sama…are you certain the Kyuubi vessel was killed?” the man asked without turning around. The question caught the old man off-guard. He thought for a moment before answering in a low voice.

 

“…yes.” was the sad answer. Kakashi nodded before heading out of the office. Naruto…I'll have to watch out for him in the future…