Chapter 256: Akatsuki Spotted
Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 256: Akatsuki Spotted
"Sensei, we need to request backup. This mission has increased drastically in difficulty."
Asuma glanced at Shikamaru for a moment before resuming his movement. "I know."
"By the description those villagers gave us, we are dealing with Akatsuki," Shikamaru added.
Their serial murder investigation had led them to a village in the far northwest of the Fire Country. According to the witnesses they had spoken to, they saw two men dressed in cloaks that matched those of Akatsuki members.
"But they said that the men were traveling further north. So they went to the Waterfall Country, right?" Chouji asked.
"Do we have permission to go near another Hidden Village?" Ino was the one who asked this time.
"The Waterfall Hidden Village is an ally of Konoha. If Akatsuki members are going that way, I can already guess what they want from there," Asuma said.
"Is there a Jinchūriki in that village? I thought only the major villages had them," Shikamaru said.
"Waterfall was the only exception. They have the Seven-Tails, although I'm not very familiar with the identity of the Jinchūriki. All I know is that it's some young girl," Asuma explained.
"We should go warn them of the danger then!" Chouji exclaimed.
Shikamaru shook his head. "It's too late. It's been over six hours since they were seen. By now, they've had time to go into the village and get what they wanted. If we go there th-"
"So we should do nothing at all?" Ino frowned. They couldn't just stand by and let Akatsuki kidnap a Jinchūriki. She moved her hand to her belly, thinking of him.
'Perhaps I should call him now, even if it's just to inform him of what's happened.' Ino thought for a moment, understanding how important the Bijū were to him.
"If the Waterfall Village has already been attacked, then they must have sent a report to Konoha asking for help. In that case, we need to find a place in this area to set up a camp and wait for the reinforcements that will surely come," Asuma suggested.
As they moved north, toward the border between the two countries, the group spotted some old ruins ahead.
During the First Ninja War, the Fire Country had a large fort near the border with the Waterfall Country, which it used to access the Land of Rice. After being destroyed by the enemy, it was never rebuilt, and over time, only these remnants were left.
"That's a good point to stop. We can take a break and send a message back to Konoha, just in case the ninjas from the Waterfall weren't able to do so," Asuma said.
"We can also set a perimeter, in case o—"
"Shhh! Silence." Ino was the first one to notice it. There were shadows moving in those ruins.
"Hide, quickly!" Asuma commanded his team.
There was no lack of places to hide, at least. Countless large pieces of debris from the broken walls littered the area.
The team took refuge behind one of those and observed their surroundings in more detail.
"There… just three hundred feet north of here, near that collapsed gate," Shikamaru whispered after spotting them.
"It's them!" Chouji recognized the cloak. His face became paler as he understood the danger they were now in.
Under the shade of a large piece of broken gate were two men wearing black cloaks. They seemed to be relaxed and chatting about something. At their feet, they could see the vague shape of someone else lying on the ground, not moving at all.
Taking advantage of their moment of distraction, the group got slightly closer, now just two hundred feet away from them.
Now they could see their physical attributes a bit better and perhaps identify them.
One of the Akatsuki members was a tall, lean man with slicked-back silver hair that fell to his shoulders. He had a very intimidating aura around himself and was making a deranged expression while speaking with his partner.
The other one was a broad-shouldered man with a rugged and imposing presence. His face was almost completely covered by a mask, and they could only see a pair of bright green eyes that almost seemed to glow.
"Do we have any information on those two?" Ino asked, wanting to know more about the enemies they were dealing with.
"I don't know the masked one, but the other one resembles the description of the Akatsuki member that Naruto and Lord Jiraiya encountered near the Cloud Hidden Village," Asuma commented.
"Shouldn't that one be dead?" Ino asked. She recalled hearing the story from Naruto himself, so she couldn't be wrong about that.
"Maybe he had a twin brother?" Chouji suggested.
"The real question is… do we know what those two are capable of?" Shikamaru asked. "Because if the answer is no… then perhaps we shouldn't be this close to them."
"They shouldn't be able to detect us from this dist—" Asuma's eyes sharpened. Without saying a word, he grabbed Ino and moved her out of the way as a hand emerged from the ground and tried to grab her.
Asuma's eyes darted back to the place where the two Akatsuki members had been talking just an instant before. The silver-haired one was looking straight at them with a smile on his face. The masked one was no longer there.
"On your guard! We've been found out!"
"Tsk… how troublesome. This is what I was talking about." Shikamaru prepared himself to use his family's jutsu the moment someone approached them, while Chouji stood close to his friend to protect him.
Asuma landed and placed Ino back on the ground. "Go with Shikamaru and Chouji, hurry!"
Now they no longer had a choice… they had to fight and hope that reinforcements were already on the way.
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