The Struggle-Part 3. [P]

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Shikari had finally got orders to met his group that he was going to be located with. The Frost country was seriously weaker and outnumbered by the Cloud village so they needed classed information to be able to win this war. The ANBU and intelligence squad was going to have to show how strong they truly are. They needed to capture and be able to attain as much information as they could, so they would be able to formulate battle plans which would eventually win the war. The jonin and councilmen knew that the war would be difficult but they had enough confidence to be able to pull through. The boy had his map out and needed to report to one of the recon squads that was just inside The Fire Country. 'Shinto' knew he would be able to just waltz past them and go home, but the fact that he had two other chunin that would be in his squad that he would be able to capture. Even after all this, Shinto was willing to risk his life again. He proudly would enter the battlefield in search of information that would help prevent causalities on the side that he truly belonged to. That was very honorable and noble of him, something that made him much better than another shinobi. Even for his young age, he was bound for glory. Already having some experience in battle and such enduring hardship. Being behind enemy lines was nothing that The Academy showed him to do. He never truly had a sensei to teach him what to do in the situation, but he knew in his heart what to do. That was that he belonged on the battlefield. He was born to do this, almost like he was destined. Though, he wondered what his classmates were doing at this point.

On one of the path ways were two people. One was a male and the other was a female. They were in their shinobi gear but more civilized. They didn't wear their headbands and had satchels instead of ninja pouches. On one of the male's pouches was a medical insignia and the Shikari wasn't able to figure out what the occupation of the female was. Shinto was dressed similiarly, having his shinobi gear underneath a coat, the other two also had coats also. They did seem rather plain and like travelers, this truly seemed to be the easiest way to navigate around The Lighting Country and seemingly the most efficient way to get close to Kumogakure. Shinto walked up to the two. "Sama Shinto. The best will proceed." He said as he bowed that phrase was code to let them know that he was the new member. They both nodded their heads and walked into a small cottage that served as their rendezvous. The cottage had a small living quarters, a small eating section and then a study. The study served as their battle room.

Once the three were inside the building, they were safe...for the most part. Shinto really was surprised about how organized the military was. Their force and intelligence was truly being put to the test, and they were doing good. Shinto dropped all of his belongings into the bunk that he would sleep in. There was only two, so he just laid them in the middle between them. Once they were all settled in the battle room, they would begin to introduce each other. The female was the last to sit down as she grabbed tea for each of them to drink. She seemed the friendliest, which might prove to be a problem to Shinto. "I am Yuki Uka." She said with a smile. Her voice was very pleasant and smooth but it did seem strong. Very naturing and motherly, Shinto nodded his head to her. "Heijo Kane." He didn't seem to nice and always had his eyes on Shinto, just like if he didn't trust him. His voice was harsh but he seemed older, he must have been in his late 20's while the girl must have been in the middle 20's. Shinto was certainly the youngest one here, which was something that he feared. He wouldn't have had as much battle experience then the other two chunin, but he was confident. If he could gather enough information on the two, he would be able to get the upper hand.

Kane pulled out a map from one of his pouches and unfolded it on the table. Shinto was surprised on how detailed the map was, maybe Kumogakure should be doing more to prevent this. Then entire time, Shinto believed that he was apart of the village and it started to feel really awkward for him. The sudden realization of how he got there was an incredible story. He was a genin that was sent to drop off a couple of letters. Now he is in a debriefing room in friendly territory but in a hostile uniform. Kane pointed to a couple of key locations, which showed other cottages and vantage points. There wasn't a lot, but it was concerning for the boy. There was to telling what else the village knew or what they had in plan. After a short debriefing, they decided that they would much rather wait until tomorrow...to hide under the rain.

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Uka was in the cottage alone with Shinto. Kane was off with an ear piece radio connected to Uka. They had scheduled scout and guard duties. The shifts would be by two hour intervals until their mission was to start. He wasn't sure why, but that squad was chosen to try to get as close to the gates as possible. They all must have known something about stealth, which made Shinto a bit nervous. Eating from a ration, he was sitting across the table from Uka. "So..Uka? What happened to your last comrade?" The girl looked down at her food as her face went into a deep frown. Shinto knew something bad had happened to him or her, maybe his perspective was wrong?

"His name was Pakku. He was one of the strongest suiton ninjutsu user that I have ever met. He took down a couple guards but he was over powered. Kane and I had to let him go for us to escape with the intelligence that we gathered. We all know that is what is expected of us, but he willingly stepped up. It was worse...because a Nara made him commit suicide."

The boy looked down, he was a Nara. She probably would have a reserve hatred for all Nara for the rest of her life. It seemed to the boy that he wasn't just a teammate maybe more. "What was his last name?"

Tears started to drop down into her food, she didn't care and she just let them go. Her mouth started to shake as you could tell she wanted to stop herself from completely letting herself go. "Yuki." She said as she ran to the sleeping quarters, dropping herself onto one of the beds, she cried into the pillow. Shinto felt sorry for her, he felt some of that pain. He lost a younger brother..right? He started to emphasize with the enemy, that wasn't good for the sake of the human but for the sake of his humanity and sanity, he didn't know what to do. In the name of honor and glory that he could feel, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it. He needed to be strong as a shinobi, but it required strength much stronger than most men could comprehend. Being so close to the enemy, he understood that he was also seen as the enemy. Maybe all this shinobi stuff wasn't for him. This was a conflicting part of him at this point. He walked up to the sobbing girl and sat on the bed. He placed his hand on her back and pulled out a picture from his chest pocket. "I lost both of my brothers...my mom is all I have left." Showing the picture to her, she known she wasn't the only one that had felt pain.

An arrangement of knocking signaled that Kane was done with his shift. It was supposed to be Uka's turn, but Shinto would be pick it up for her, hopefully in exchange for his own. Shinto opened the door to let Kane in as he slowly walked in. "Anything?" "Nothing but the same old stupid clouds and rock that surround this place." Frustration was filled with his voice and it was obvious he didn't want to be there anymore. "If I could get my hands on a Nara!." Shinto let his head hang, "I am taking her shift, tend to her in the sleeping quarters." He slowly walked out and closed the door behind him. Of course, Kane went to eat first.

They were miles away from the village and gathering information proved to be inefficient and took forever, but the cottage tactic did have progress. Walking down a trail to see for anything, he suddenly saw two Kumogakure shinobi. He knew them and they were both couriers and jonin level ninja. As they walked past him, one stopped and looked behind him again. He looked at his partner as Shinto walked past. He didn't need his cover blown and didn't want to chance anything. He didn't want to set an alarm for the other spies, so he needed to stay in character. He turned and kept walking away. Looking at each other, one said to the other. "That looked awfully like Nara Shikari. The blue hair, the stature and even his face." The other jonin looked back and nodded, "But he was pronounced dead a couple days ago? The sick Yuki ninja took the finest courier ninja we had.

Shinto overheard, but kept walking.

Spoiler:

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The boy walked in to see both of the shinobi standing in front of the door. "I have great news!" His emotions changed though, the man was angered but the girl was confused and hurt. He was puzzled, and hoped for the best. Kane stood with his hands behind his back and Uka trying to be strong, stood next to him. "Explain! NOW!" He said as he threw down items from his bag. Items such as a Nara necklace and the Kumogakure shinobi headband. Shinto gasped and was scared that he was caught, but maybe he could play it off. He knew anger reacted to anger, but sadness calmed down the anger..sometimes. Maybe he could trick the enemy by setting a fake story and selling fake emotions. He hung his head down, and pulled out the picture that he showed Uka. "I too, have lost. I too, have lost to a Nara." Handing over the picture to Kane, his eyes widened. He felt that he was wrong and he shouldn't have gone through his stuff. His emotions were nulled as he just stood there. Shocked, he thought that he knew! He thought that he was right, but he was dead wrong. "I am the only son that is still with his mom. Those are my little brothers, that I failed to protect, they too committed suicide by the Nara." The memory sent Kane into a state of sadness, also sending Uka away to the room once more. "No! No! THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE THESE?!" Kane grabbed Shinto by his collar and pinned him to the wall. The pinned boy did not retaliate. Looking deep into the eyes of Kane. "These are all that was left of him...these bring me peace for my brothers." Kane frustrated, ran out the door for some time to think.

He sighed in relief, that was close. He knew it was close. He walked over to Uka in the room that she liked to stay in the most. "I found a closer better place to hide. Help me pack." The girl slowly started to pack as Shinto started to do most of the work. By the time Kane came back with the signature knock, they were already done. Uka answered the door and Kane walked over to Shinto. "I am sor..." Shinto brought his hand up and waved it off, he didn't want that apart of his burden also. "We are moving out. Get your things. I didn't touch them." Kane looked down as he walked to pack his stuff, Shinto was now the self pro-claimed leader. The youngest looking one was right in the place that he wanted to be in. The three finally made it to a small opening in the forest near the village. This was a place that the navigator usually hid in. Many people didn't venture to deep in here and it was safe from wild animals since it was surrounded by fire lilies, a plant that animals won't go near. Being a Navigator, Shinto knew his way around the forest and his two chunin followed without question. Once they made their way into the small cave that was made by the navigators when they needed a break. Only a true Kumo courier would know of this place.

"How did you find this place?" "I think it found me." he replied quickly, then he felt something. The two courier ninja that he met earlier were on their way through the forest. "Hide! Up!" The two chunin followed the orders of the new leader. The three were up high in the trees as they watched the two jonin walk by. Luckily they weren't sensor like Shinto was. "Clear." The three dropped down the tree and the two were impressed. Making their way back into the cave, Shinto knew many shortcuts through the forest to get into the village. It was the same short cut that these jonin were taking, Shinto was just setting up his frienemies. It started to hurt Shinto, knowing he was going to have to betray the trust of the two but he knew they would kill him on the battlefield. Trying to disconnect himself personally, was hard but he knew he was going to have to do it. Making friends during war time wasn't the best idea, thinking about his relationship in Konoha, he possibly could have screwed up there too.

By nightfall the two were hidden away in the cave. It was Shinto's turn to take the watch and this was his time to capture. He dreaded this day, but he knew it was going to have to happen. He already set everything up, noting the pond that was near the path.

Spoiler:

Shikari then stepped outside of the cave, he was fairly close to it. Bringing his right hand up, a tear fell from his right eye, then the tears of angels cascaded around him as it started to storm.

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The two were sound asleep and didn't seem to bothered by the storm, but something else would. "Dorou Doumu" The earth started to shift and then the front of the cave soon closed up. Shikari was at the end of the cave with his Kumogakure shionbi headband on and his Nara necklace. His left hand was inside the dome as it started to suck out the chakra from the ones inside. The two quickly jumped up to there feet and got into a battle position, they were scared though. Shikari could feel it from inside the cave and they didn't know what was happening. Kane was the first to act as he started to charged with a kunai but was stopped by the wall. Uka was in her brave state, knowing she might die, so she was going to fight for her life. "What's going on?" Kane felt much better knowing that Uka was there, but he also knew he needed to take charge. 'We need Shinto!." Shikari could hear the shouts from outside the cave, it brought more tears to his eyes. It wasn't that he was going to kill them, but the fact that someone would betray that person so much. It seemed almost inhumane and it was going to change the young boy forever. Returning from Konoha would be a shock to everyone from home, his story is so inspiring. It was filled with hardship and suspense, also smiles and laughter. There was even slight romance in Konoha, and he was so young. Now he has grown up and he was forced to. He might look the same, but deep down, he was certainly a changed man. From a boy to a man, if only he was able to prove himself here. Charka was over flowing and he was able to handle all the charka coming into his body. Charka started to flow from his pores, just like an aura.

The two would attack what seemed to be the front, but their lack of direction was difficult to tell what part to hit. Punching the wall, nothing seemed to work. Slowly, they started to feel weaker. Shikari needed to have a constant upkeep of charka flowing through the face of the cave, but since he was gathering up so much charka, he didn't seem effected. The Yuki ninja seemed almost useless in this situation and all of the shinobi knew it. She knew genjutsu and her ninjutsu needed a source of water or ice. Kane knew he was going to have to do something he didn't want to do. "Uka, I will escape by digging underground. I will see what I can do from the outside!"Uka seemed to be in the struggle, just like Shikari was, but she knew she needed to stay strong for once.

Shikari could feel the charka going under the ground, he also heard the plan from the inside. He wasn't going to let himself lose and he knew that when the duo would find out who was behind this, they truly would feel like they were under a spell of a genjutsu. Kane soon jumped out of the ground and noticed Shikari staring at him. Having his hand in the dome, shouts for help were coming from the inside. "NO!" An immense amount of anger and confusion flooded the chunin's heart. Going to his old ways, he quickly charged at Shikari with charka scalpels.

Spoiler:

Kane suddenly stopped, he couldn't move. "It is your turn." There was a shadow connected between the two men. Kane noticed and his eyes were widened. A shadow hand was heading up towards the throat of Kane. "UKA! UKAAA!" His shouts made tears come to the eyes of the user. Choking, he struggled to live, the only person that could save him now was Uka.

Uka was inside, being capable of many other shinobi, this was her showcase. A dragon of ice appeared from the rain and charged toward the enemy, who was in front of the cave. The dragon was intended to break open the cave but it ran through Shikari as it slammed open the cave. Uka saw Kane and her first reaction was to run towards him, to make sure he was alright. Uka helped Kane up to his feet after he was brought to his knees from the choke. Then Kane looked at the cave rubble. Shikari pushed aside some rock as he stood up to face Uka. "No..."

Spoiler:

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"I am Nara Shikari. I am the killer of the Shima brothers and I pledge allegiance to Kumogakure and the Nara clan. I am your worst enemy." It almost brought tears to their faces, someone that was living with them and so helpful would turn and try to destroy them. It wasn't something that was planned for the boy, but none of this planned. Uka turned to Kane, "We can't get close." Kane nodded, then quickly turning to the battlefield. Shikari was pulling the same trick that he pulled on the boat, the last time he was truly faced with death. "Kumogakure no Jutsu." Clouds started to fill the battlefield and they knew what is going to come next, a follow up attack. They were right, they quickly scurried but stood together. Shikari was well aware of the movement because he could sense them move and since he was the caster of the cloud, he could sense movement within. Grabbing several senbons from his back and quickly throwing them, they connected. Spilling through the cloud, they made pierced the skin of the two. They were poison with sleeping poison, but to the fear that Shikari dreaded, he was immune. The girl would slowly stay up and then collapse on the ground. She wasn't dead, but she was asleep.

Kane was out of the cloud, having poison of his own. He threw poison tipped senbons, but Shikari would easily evade them. He started to charge to show his monstrous speed and medical charka. He jumped and landed where Shikari's feet where, on the ground were cracks and Shikari knew he was truly strong. It was medical taijutsu and he knew he had that, which was why he needed to end it now. Still sensing the girl was knocked out, he was distracted. A punch to the jaw would send the boy flying and it seemed to have cracked his jaw. Quickly getting up, he spit out a tooth and noticed that Kane was in the air, coming down with another furious punch. "I have the WILL OF LIGHTING!" Charka formed around his hand in the shape of an eagle. Pushing his fist toward Kane and Kane punching downward...this would surely end the match between the two.

Only one movement could have been heard, the movement was moving toward Uka and the two must have been down for awhile. The footsteps walked with pain and agony, blood was dripping down and it was obvious that he wasn't moving fast at all. The field that the navigator found was now a place of horrible memory. The ground was shattered and the cave had multiple cracks and even the entry was crumbled by the debris. Blood splatter was amount the ground and even weaponry. The rain poured down on the bodies of the three, washing the blood from the damned. Once the man got to the body, he turned Uka over. She was waking up and her eyes blinked open. She smiled and would have hugged the man if she could have moved...."Kane!'

Spoiler:

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Shikari laughed as Uka thought it was Kane. She must have still been under the effects of the poison. Kane was on the ground yards from the two, on the brink of death. Now since the two shinobi were finally where Shikari wanted them to be, Shikari poked his poison into the girl once again. He already put some in Kane before he walked over to Uka, so they will be asleep for awhile. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu !" A 10 foot lizard was going to have to carry the two Yuki shinobi and help Shikari limp his way back. They were less than a mile away from the village so it wouldn't be to hard nor will the ninja awake from the poison. Warden looked around the battle field and was surprised that he wasn't awaken until now. Shikari was to busy during the fight to bring him and he also was to busy to explain now. He was much to tired to even talk and he was in pain. Warden jumped over to Kane and threw his on his right shoulder, which happened to be his stronger one. Then he passively walked over to Uka and threw her over his left shoulder. He was able to carry Shikari about half way, then he was going to have to hold onto his left shoulder also and limp his way back.

The mile seemed much longer than it was supposed to be, but the rain helped. It made Shikari hydrated and he had seemed more energized. The squad would finally make their way within the eyes of the guards. Several guards would rush to their aid, knowing of the headband. Out of the guards were the jonin, they placed themselves there on the watch of the boy. Warden was dismissed from Shikari, as the guards gathered the shin obis. He was quickly transported to the hospital and he was asleep for awhile. The interrogation team would take Uka and Kane, but Shikari wasn't finished with them. Having terrible nightmares, he needed to consult with them. Once he was awake he managed to set an appointment with the two. The duo had nothing to say to Shikari, but the Nara had plenty to tell them.

Also, he was going to show them something that was going to stay with him forever. The scar of the battle of midway forest. He lifted his shirt up to the two and over his right shoulder, was a scar. It took majority of his chest and it was from the ice dragon. Also his jaw had an indention from the punch that Kane received. The duo had casted them out of the group, but Shikari knew that their death was inevitable. Bringing them here, would have been killed but also killed Shikari inside. Bringing no one home would have ceased him from being born a man. He was to forever live with the burden of bringing shinobi to their deaths, even after gaining their trust.

It would be hard for him to trust again, even himself.

-Mission Complete.-