Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Weather man ❯ Coins, Mines, and Vegetas ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ok my friends, and welcome to chapter 5! *sigh* this is truly a breaking moment for me. Normally, in my fics, I can work myself up to chapter 3, and 4… hardly ever 5… OK! WE NEED A CELEBRATION!!!!! COME ON! CHEER!

Disclaimer: I wish I may, I wish I might, Own Naruto for tonight. *Crickets chirp*HEY! Does that mean I own it!!!!!! YES!!!!! *lightning bolt strikes me* o_o *coughs smoke*

Amanda: *makes peace sign* don't get too cocky now, you still don't own it.

Me: aw….

WARNING: I'm listening to Goldfinger while typing this Chapter. If there are any weird moments involving insecurity, Integrity, or other annoying things they try to employ at school, you know where it came from. I'm also pulling ideas from Emily Rodda and her Dragons of Deltora, Deltora quest, and Deltora Shadowlands. Be forewarned.

~*last time*~

He put one arm around her, leaning on his elbow so his face was close to hers, “I can't tell you, But…” He kissed her softly, “I can show you”

~*now*~

Taylor blushed, green eyes wide and lips parted in shock. Is… Is Kakashi k-kissing me?!

Her hands instinctively slid across his thinly clothed chest, fingers tracing the grooves of his muscles. What am I doing?! She thought, alarmed.

Thank god her body never listened to her brain and it responded. She tilted her head to the side, responding into this kiss and making it deeper. Her eyes closed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She could hear Kakashi growl, and pull away from her.

The sudden loss of his body heat and weight left Taylor very cold. She felt deprived of warmth, like she was going to freeze to death. She cracked her eyes open, her emerald gaze searching for her lost puppy.

`My puppy'!? Hm… not bad, I like it…

Her puppy was right near her, but he was missing something.

His mask…

She drew in a quick breath at the handsome face, before it descended upon her and captured her lips within his own.

The heat was back and Taylor felt like she was on fire. Cold to Hot, something told Taylor that wasn't exactly good for her body…

She'd have to check on that later… Right now there was something far more deserving of her attention. Kakashi had his arm snaked around her waist, pressing her gently to his chest.

Oh man… Taylor thought, her eyes closing once again. Don't tell me I have it for this guy…

Well guess what Taylor???? You TOTTALLY have it for that guy!!!

Kakashi couldn't believe what he was doing.

One moment he was thinking about his strange, growing attachment to his subordinate. One moment later he was pinning said subordinate under him.

Okay…

The problem with this situation was not that he was sharing saliva with his slightly crazy underling, it was that he was enjoying ever second of it.

He was loving the feel of her body pressed firmly against his. Her long legs intertwined with his own. He loved the feel of her breath hitching. Her chest rising and falling in rhythm with his own heaving chest. Her fingers weaved in his silver locks, bringing his head closer to her own, letting what started out as a simple kiss escalate to new heights

Unfortunately they had to part when a familiar presence approaching brought them both out of their bliss ridden fantasy land. They broke apart, panting. Kakashi, reluctantly disentangled himself from Taylor, replacing his mask and hitai-ate, getting read to kill the person who interrupted with a one eyed glare.

Bianca (the culprit) came back, a reluctant Amanda trailing after her.

“Hey guy!” She began cheerfully, trailing off when she caught the looks she was being sent from both Taylor and Kakashi, “Hey… What's eating you two?”

Amanda simply snorted, a sly grin spreading on her face, “Were you two having a moment? Hope we didn't interrupt anything!” She wiggled her eyebrows as though to emphasis a point.

Taylor shot the short girl a beady glare, growling, “Thou shall not trend on dangerous ground young one, or thine life shall end early.” She flashed Amanda a pointy toothed grin, sinking back down to the ground, head resting on her miniature head-cleaver.

Amanda shrunk behind Bianca, a wide eyed look on her face.

Bianca just grinned and pushed the younger teenager in front, ignoring her spluttering protests. “Well! Amanda-kun has decided to join our little adventure squad!” Bianca smirked, slapping the girl on the back, “Isn't that great?!

Amanda looked sullen, Taylor looked oblivious, and Kakashi looked irked.

“And I take it you said it was alright?” Kakashi muttered quirking an eyebrow at Bianca.

She nodded, green eyes crinkled in a smile, “Trust me on this Kakashi, please. Just this once kay?!”

Taylor lifted her head, eyebrows slightly raised. Bi-chan knows the word `please'???

It was a shocker considering the manners were almost non-existent in the small girl.

Kakashi, not knowing Bianca for nearly as long as Taylor had, seemed to already know this. He nodded once, looking at Taylor. “We'll talk about it as a group. We'll have a vote.”

After much debating, yelling, threatening, and prying anything sharp from Taylor's hands, the group (all five people) agreed on letting Amanda join.

“Aside from trying to kill us, that was a pretty cool trick what you did with the net!” Taylor laughed, grinning at Kakashi. “I bet Kaka-Cake still has those burns!”

Kakashi looked at Taylor, “Yes, I have them”

However, he didn't make a move to show his battle scars to the group.

The group was sitting in a half-circle around the fire. They were going to play `show and tell', going over key points of the mission that they as a group had discovered and not had a chance to discuss yet.

Taylor cleared her throat, deepening her voice to that of an announcers, “For those of you who are just tuning in.” She began, looking at Amanda “We've been trying to prove that the village hidden in rock are mean doo-doo heads!”

The shorter girl nodded, edging closer to Sasuke who was sending her pointed glares.

“Tsunande-same realized that Rock had figured out what we were up to, so she sent me in as back up.” The stoic boy muttered, dark eyes flicking towards the girl inching her way towards him.

Their team leader put his dirty little orange book down and gave Sasuke a scrutinizing look.

“You're saying, it's safe to assume our positions have been given away to the enemy.”

Sasuke nodded, his look turning rather dark, “They know who we are.”

Neji stretched out one leg, shifting the sand around his foot to the left, “That explains why Bianca and I were attacked earlier.” He put in, looking at said girl.

Bianca didn't say anything, only exchanging looks with Amanda.

Taylor noticed, green eyes twitching in irritation and eyebrow ticking. “Something you two would like to share?” She growled pointedly, obviously not liking being out of the loop.

Neji nodded, catching on just as quickly. “You've been quiet ever since we left that information building.”

“And that's not normal.” Kakashi put in flatly, returning to his Icha.

Bianca nodded, pulling out the coin she had been carrying, along with the two scraps of smoldered paper she had taken from the `library'.

“First, the Documents.” She began, clearing her voice to boost her moral up a bit. “It's a brief history of Rock, containing a small list of the artifacts that they hold dear.”

Kakashi took the paper, grey eye scanning it, automatically picking out the important details. “All of these `artifacts'” He noted “Are weapons used for war.” He passed the paper to Taylor.

She looked it over and tapped a finger to her chin, “It looks like they've been planning something like this for a while…” She passed it to Neji.

He took it and fingered the charred paper thoughtfully, “Most of these weapons are outclassed by now though,” He turned it over and examined the other side, “Almost all of them are unethical to use now, too heavy and inaccurate.”

Sasuke took the paper and flipped on his sharigian eyes, committing the paper to memory. “Neji's right, the designs are way too old, they wouldn't be able to last in a war for more then 5 minutes without being abandoned on the spot, then used against them by the enemy.”

“Weapons like these were spiked when you were forced to abandon them” Kakashi broke in, “It basically destroyed the ability to use the weapon.”

“I can just imagine what it would be like to have to haul heavy metal cannon thingys around for hours on end, then having to destroy it…” Amanda muttered, taking the paper and looking over some of the designs, a look of contempt on her face.

Taylor grinned, “A lot of men died from heatstroke LOOOOOOOONG before they even reached the battle field!” She cheerfully stated, smiled planted on her face.

“But what does this have to do with us?” Neji asked, returning his pearly gaze to Bianca,

“These documents date back to the 1860's…”

She nodded, and took the paper back “It'll make more sense when I show you the second article.”

And with that, she pulled it out and passed it around.

Kakashi took it, starting the process off again, holding the brittle parchment with ambidextrous fingers.

He scanned the paper, running fingertips across the page. He held the page up against the yellow light of the fire, and grimaced.

“This was written recently.” He muttered, passing the charred edged paper to Taylor.

“What makes you so sure???” She asked, repeating the same thing Kakashi had done, her brow knitted in confusion.

“Because it looks like it was written with a ball point pen.” Bianca prompted, indicating to the lack of smudge marks and the incessant breaks of the hand strokes

Taylor mouthed `Oh' before frowning and looking back at the page. Green eyes flicked back and forth over the design. A crease beginning to form.

“But… this…”

Neji took the paper, allowing his azure eyes to scan the page before a similar look crossed his face. “This had been written recently.” He muttered, letting a long finger trace the marks with care. “The designer of this weapon must have been studying the other models before it and made improved modifications.”

The grim tone in his voice caught Amanda's attention; she stood up and walked over towards him, peering over his shoulder. “So this new weapon that Rock has drawn up, it's pretty dangerous huh?”

She took it and tilted it side to side, turning her head this way and that way. “But why write it on such crappy paper???”

Sasuke pried the fried paper from her grip, looking it over himself. “Probably so it wouldn't be bothered by civilians passing by, alone and tucked away in its own dusty little corner of the library.”

“And that's exactly where I found it!” Bianca exclaimed, annoyance lacing her voice, “But there's something even MORE important about this page…” she growled, pointing a finger at the designs.

Kakashi looked it over and nodded, “Indeed,” A metallic tone crept into his voice, a tone he used in his days of ANBU, “This is a compact weapon, easy to handle, easy to carry, and easily able to wipe out a village.”

Silence

If someone dropped a pin right now, people in Australia would have been able to hear it with a clear and defined ring.

Bianca nodded, “Kakashi is right, it could easily wipe out a village the size of Konoha and have spare energy to knock off a couple of hidden villages here and there.”

Taylor frowned, “How though?!” She exclaimed, “A weapon of that size has gotta pack a REALLY powerful punch, it would need a constant energy source!”

A murmur of agreement passed through the circle, before Bianca frowned and cleared her throat.

“Ladies and Gentlemen.” She coughed in her hand. “I present to you, the power source”

She threw the silver coin down for them to see.

Neji bent down next to it, examining the silver object carefully.

Bianca knelt down across from him, brushing her hand across the surface of the cool metal before smirking at the older teen.

“The coin, if you look at it closely, had an inscription on it.” She began, stretching a piece of clean paper on it tightly, smoothing it out.

Taking ash from the fire, she traced over the writing with her fingertips. The digits moving in small circles, dipping and curving into the grooves of the coin.

When she was done, she stood up and backed away, letting the others get a better look at the paper.

“What does it say?” Kakashi asked, grey eye drifting towards it,

Amanda by this time, had finally finished her `Get closer to Sasuke' mission, had stopped moving and was now sitting still.

Purple eyes looked at the coin, lips moving wordlessly, a strange look crossing her face.

“It says `VH', being inscribed with the characters of lightning from Greek times.” Bianca recited, “From the way it's written, and the emblem that is shown, I'd say this deeply connected to a family.”

She continued, not pausing, her tone becoming stern, “I believe Rock ninja's had been guarding this when Neji and I found it.”

“That would explain why you were attacked” Taylor supplied, “But why?”

She thought for a second and rephrased her question, “I mean, how is that important, Why do they need it?”

Amanda jolted; apparently she had been in deep thought. Worry seeped into her lavender orbs.

Sasuke glanced down at her, his brow knitting in his own thought of concern (which surprised him faintly, for he is an Uchiha! And Uchiha's don't SHOW concern!). He intertwined their fingers giving them a gentle squeeze. His lips curving into a half smile, half smirk.

She looked at him in mild surprise, eyes widening fractionally at the curve of an almost smile on his lips. His oh-so kissable lips…

She tore her eyes away, breathing in and sighing.

“It's a key…”

The group was stupefied. Stupefied mainly because they had no REAL idea what was going on.

Except maybe Amanda.

“A key to what?” Neji cut in, straight and to the point.

Amanda stared at him bluntly. “If I knew that, we wouldn't be here now would we?”

A collective sigh followed that comment.

“So we're back at square one.” Kakashi muttered.

It was nighttime. Mainly everyone was asleep (or halfway asleep) except for Amanda.

She stood up, creeping away from the campsite, thoughts of relieving herself of her bodily fluids imprinted on her mind.

Half running, half trotting, she ran to the dry shrubs, stepping over cracked twigs and other random assortments.

“Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap” She repeated, craning her neck in many uncomfortable positions, looking for a proper place to relieve herself.

When she got rid of all her excess fluids she stood up with a flourished sigh.

“Ah… that's much better!” she said in a whispered cheer, buckling up her pants and turning.

She was about to exit the forest when she froze. She had felt a familiar presence flare behind her, an almost sinister chakra force swirling around her.

She turned, hand already drawing a kunai in hand, lettering her chakra flow into it, she was half a mille-second too late though, a rough hand catching her charged hand in mid-stroke.

The owner of the hand pushed her small frame against the catching bark, a smirk gracing his features when she grunted and winced.

“Been having fun, Ai-chan?” The owner rasped, yellow eyes gleaming from the hood of a shabby cloak. H smirked, a grubby hand pulling the hood down.

Amanda gasped, purple orbs narrowing in anger. Her legs kicked out from under her, trying to wiggle herself free from his grip. “YOU!”

The man chuckled. “Yes, it is I.” He had long brown hair, yellow highlights flicked at random places, giving it a soft glow. His ember eyes were narrowed, a wicked smirk alighting his face with malice. “I think you have something that belongs to me…”

Amanda spat, landing a nice gooey glob in the man's cheek, “I don't have anything that belongs to you, Vegeta!”

She smirked, glad to see the scowl growing on his face. Almost immediately regretting it when he striked her, hard, across the cheek.

“Don't speak to your father that way….” Vegeta hissed, drawing his hand back to strike her again.

The hand stopped, a loud cracking sound replacing what could have been the cracking of Amanda's face.

Vegeta, Amanda's father, turned around, yellow eyes glinting in fury. He was met with an equally furious look. Ruby eyes staring coldly into the ember depths.

Sasuke Uchiha was standing there, Vegeta's fist in his own, slowly crushing it. His Sharigian flashed, narrowed to slits.

“Let…” His grip tightened

“Her.” Vegeta's eyes narrowed fractionally.

“Go.” Vegeta complied

Both men faced each other. Death promised on both of their faces. More rustling noises behind him, alerted the three ninja's to more people coming. The older man glared.

“We're not through here.” And with a flash of electricity, he disappeared, leaving a smoldering section of wildlife in his place.

Sasuke looked at Amanda, eyes drifting back into a dark lead color.

Just as the group was coming back, he muttered.

“You have some explaining to do.”

“HE'S YOUR WHAT?!?!?!” Taylor roared, grabbing the smaller girl by her shoulders. “AND HE TREATED YOU LIKE THAT, SOME FATHER!!!”

The group was silent, watching the two girls in mild amusement. Taylor swinging Amanda around, who was slowly turning a nice shade of purple.

Bianca coughed, not being able to stand the look of desperation Amanda was sending her, “Uhm, Tay…? Can you… y'know… let her go now..? She's dieing…”

Taylor paused and considered it, “Nope!”

The group sweatdropped, watching Taylor sweep Amanda around in a 360 degree circle.

“It's what she gets for not sharing this with us!!!!” She grinned, setting her down and smushing her face. “We're one step closer to figuring this out!”

Kakashi pulled Taylor away from the shorter girl, propping her up against his hard chest. “If we kill her first, we won't be any closer then we were…” He growled, letting her know to stop manhandling the poor girl.

Sasuke had been silent until then when he finally looked up, eyes dark from concentration, “Was Vegeta after the coin…?”

Amanda nodded, her throat red from the abuse it had suffered from Taylor. She rubbed it in irritation. “Most likely,” She paused and thought for a moment. “It has our family emblem on it… I don't know why he'd want it though”

Kakashi coughed, drawing their attention. “Didn't Bianca mention it was a power source of a kinda…?”

The group nodded unhappily. They didn't know how something as simple as a coin could power something as massive as a weapon of war.

With this knowledge that drove them in a full circle they couldn't get rid of the feeling that somehow they had lost control of their own destiny.

Dawn was breaking when the group set out. Kakashi in the lead, followed by a straggling line consisting of Taylor, Sasuke, Amanda, Bianca, and Neji.

Kakashi crouched in a large ditch. Taylor and Amanda trudged beside it. Sasuke and Neji kept them in view, but didn't venture close enough to be noticed by and outside force. Bianca was behind the group, hanging out on the side of a dry tree, silver earpiece plugged securely in her ear. Every one of the members had their own ear piece, contributing to the sparsely spread out area.

Kakashi turned to Taylor, cocking his head to get her attention. “We're dividing the village into sections; we're going to go in pairs and try to gather information that way.” As he said this, he relayed the message to the other.

From across the barren waste land, where the dead sleeps, and the cultures pick at the bones of small animals that had fallen… you could hear Amanda's extremely loud voice claiming Sasuke as her partner.

Kakashi turned to Taylor. “There's no arguing with her.” He pinned her down with a look with his visible eye. “You're paired up with me; Neji will have to put up with Bianca.”

Taylor nodded a shiver of reluctance and excitement ran down her spine. “When are we going?”

He looked at her, a vulture screeched overhead, hoping that the group would suddenly drop dead.

“Right now.”

The gravel slide and crumbled under Sasuke's boot, covering the black leather with a filmy white dust. Amanda was straggling behind him, her voice a mere whining noise mingled with the wind.

The pair was approaching an old mine shaft. Judging by the old sign, the heat-baked road, and the rusted track, the mine had plainly been abandoned many years ago.

However…

Sasuke noted that the mine was not sealed up. No warning notices had been nailed to keep the citizens away and possibly injured. In fact, besides the fact that the rails were old and most likely dangerous, there was a brand spakin' new cart perched half way in the mine and halfway out.

Out of view, but easily accessible.

He could not help the irritated growl the wormed its way through his voice box, back when he was a genin, young and inexperienced, he would have had the exact same reaction as he had now.

Whoever left this behind was an idiot.

Amanda shuffled behind him, her feet sinking into the semi-soft ground. She grunted and strained, but not being able to free her feet from the grey sticky mass. Sasuke looked at her dryly, obviously a little irritated at her clumsy movements. But he helped her none-the-less, pulling her close to him and sliding his body upwards against her slight frame.

There was a loud squelching sound, followed by amanda's feet being freed from the grayish sludge.

Sasuke's coal eyes' narrowed, The ground was unusually soft for not having rained in a week.

Unusual….

He turned his cold stare back to the mine shaft, the opening stretching like a monster, willing to swallow their two-man cell group.

That made him feel SO much better.

Chapter done. This one I'm not impressed with. But next chapter… oh… *rubs hands together* so MANY ideas… so little time… HAHAHAHA!!!!!