Second Chance

A/N: I would like to thank the few people who are still reviewing my story. I know I was gone for a long time and some people lost interest in this story. I will not stop writing until the story is complete, but as no one is dying for me to hurry, I will no longer update on a time frame. When I finish a chapter I will post a chapter. Thank you again to loyal reviewers!

WARNING: Nothing really, just a little blood.

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After three days of sprinting through forests and deserts the group arrived at Suna. As before, they were allowed directly in and led to the Kazekage’s office. Everyone in sand knew that their leader trusted Leaf ANBU almost as much as he trusted his own. The group walked in and approached the Kazekage’s desk. Each bowed respectfully and was acknowledged silently by the stoic redhead.

Stepping up from the back of the room was Gaara’s ever-present advisor, Daisuke. “I’m sure you’re all very tired after such a speedy journey. I will show you where to rest while the Kazekage speaks with your Captain.” Daisuke moved to lead the group out of the room. Yuzuki looked back in question but Chiinu waved her off.

Once the door closed Gaara spoke. “I see you still have a rat in your presence.”

Chiinu nodded and assumed a more relaxed stance. “You know what they say about keeping your friends close but your enemies closer. Though I did bring one more friend to stack the odds.”

“The clone.”

Sasuke smirked at the label; he would have to use that one for the brunet, Naruto wannabe.

“Naruto still doesn’t believe you that his favorite pet is a threat,” Gaara observed more than questioned. The Captain’s hands flexed and he knew he had the right of it. “That man… seems to have he unnerving habit of loving people blindly.” Gaara’s one non-existent brow rose slightly when he saw the Uchiha’s almost unnoticeable twitch. He thought that’s the way it was. “Humanity in general. And sometimes it’s a good thing, he can change people.” A small non-maniacal smile formed on his face, stunning the raven, before reverting back to serious. “But sometimes it’s discerning, and I fear for his safety.”

Chiinu straightened to his full height and spoke evenly, “I’m his personal guard. I would give my life for him.”

Gaara nodded solemnly. “I aware of your position.” He paused and looked into the black eyes behind the mask. “But do you think he would let you give your life? You are as big of a weakness as an asset to Naruto. I watched him chase you for years, and I tried to convince him to stop many times.” Chiinu’s eyes hardened and Gaara smirked. “Who do you think was his best friend then, it sure wasn’t you. I despised you and his unhealthy obsession. But as I said, he changes people. You and I are alike; he changed us for the better.”

Gaara nodded thoughtfully to himself. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked back at the Captain and continued, “But still, I’m worried you might be holding on to something that could hurt him later.” Chiinu silently questioned him with a tilt of his chin. “Your clan,” the Kazekage elaborated.

Chiinu readjusted his feet as he glared at the other man. This guy really was a nosy bastard, and he appeared to know more than he really should. Just how much contact did the two kage’s have with each other? Biting back his pride, he answered the accusation, “The clan no longer matters. I will do anything for my Hokage.”

Gaara’s head cocked thoughtfully, “As your Hokage, or as Naruto?”

He wanted to shake at the gall of this man, but he understood his reasoning. Lifting a stiff hand to his face, he removed his mask and looked directly at the seated man. “Uchiha Sasuke would do anything and give everything for Uzumaki Naruto.”

Another small sane smile fixed on the Kazekage’s face as he looked at the furious Uchiha. “Good. That means I will do anything to help you. Now, replace your mask Chiinu-san and we can get down to the mission.”

Gaara stood and moved toward the map on the wall. “A group of missing-nin have begun to collect here,“ he pointed to the map. “No one wants a repeat of the Akatsuki.”

Chiinu stepped forward to examine the location. “Why river country? There’s nothing there.”

“Maybe for obscurity. We only noticed them because of the traffic between our two villages. They attacked one of my Jounin on his way back from Konoha. They thought they killed him and let his body float down river. He was found downstream by a villager. Lacking our medical expertise it took two months before his return. The time gap must have reassured the band of their secrecy. My ANBU were able to locate them and gain data. I need your team to go in and assassinate this man,” Gaara said, handed him a file with a picture affixed to the front. “This is their leader, Kain, from the village of Rain. My Intel believes that if he is removed, the unit will fall.”

“Were there any more attacks or other incidents?” Chiinu asked, leafing through the file.

“No, as they have caused no real trouble so far, you only need to kill Kain and any missing leaf-nin.”

“Sand?”

“My men will be targeting the three missing sand-nin we located.”

Looking back up from the file, Chiinu inquired, “Anything else?” Gaara handed him an additional file and he nodded at the less in-depth reports of other missing-nin from the group.

“I’ll take you to your room. You can rest, then brief your unit.” Gaara walked him down the hall in silence. Sasuke wasn’t surprised; seeing as the mission report was the most he had ever heard Gaara speak before.

Reaching the room, Chiinu opened the door but was stopped from entering by the smaller man with a hand on his wrist. “Naruto seemed happy the last I heard from him. Make sure he stays that way. That’s not a request.” Gaara turned and left the hall in a billow of white robes.

Goddamn, fucking redhead. One minute Sasuke was getting used to the creepy man, next he wanted to punt his decapitated head. He was going to have to talk with Naruto when he returned and find out how much and what information he was giving the Kazekage. If he didn’t know Gaara had a thing for Matsuri he might be suspicious of something between the two kages.

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“I hope you all have great hearing,” Chiinu said as he tossed each of his ANBU a communication device. They each attached the straps to their necks and fit the speaker in one ear. “You need to turn it down till it’s almost inaudible. Torikkusuta, this will be your first mission regarding missing-nin. You’re a good shinobi, or you wouldn’t be on my team. But remember, no matter how good you are someone is always better. You can’t afford to be cocky.” After receiving a small nod from the boy, he turned his attention to Hiroshi. “You were brought for strategy,” he said gesturing for action.

Hiroshi nodded before crouching down and drawing in the dirt. “The group is located here,” he said, pointing to an x marked by the wavy lines of the ‘river’. “Torikkusuta and I will circle around the north. Yuzuki and Chiinu will proceed slowly from the south.”

“I will go north with you,” Chiinu interrupted. “Torikkusuta will pair with Yuzuki.”

Hiroshi gritted his teeth and nodded before continuing. “Yuzuki, we’ll be relying on you to keep an eye on things as we approach, to avoid any guards. Once we are all in position, we will locate the leader and see if we can’t separate him from the group. If this occurs without any interference, we will return to take care of any traitors. After destroying the bodies, we will have to observe to see if they will in fact disband after their leader does not return.” Hiroshi swiped at the dirt to erase the marking before standing and dusting off.

Chiinu nodded, then looked up at his unit. “Are we all clear? Good. Hiroshi and I will head out now. Don’t get too close before our say so.” Everyone nodded and the Captain quickly took to the trees with Hiroshi close behind.

As Torikkusuta and Yuzuki began their leisurely stroll down the forest road he turned toward her, “Why do you think he would want to subject himself to Hiroshi?”

“I’m sure he has his reasons,” the tiger answered quietly. “Did you notice how Hiroshi glared at the Captain when he said traitor?”

Torikkusuta shook his head but then lifted his chin thoughtfully. “He did call the captain a traitor when he first got command. How long do you think he’s going to hold on to that hate?”

“At this point, I’m not sure if he ever will. The Captain seems to have everything Hiroshi ever wanted. We’d better keep a close eye out for the Captain. Nothing is worse than getting too confident around a dangerous animal, just because it hasn’t bit you yet.”

Torikkusuta scrunched his face at her choice of words but nodded in agreement. He understood that an enemy in your ranks could be far more dangerous than one from the outside.

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Everything had been going fine. Both groups easily snuck up to the camp and were looking out for the leader, Kain. That’s when the trouble started. They could not locate Kain anywhere in the camp, even with Yuzuki’s Byakugan. They had moved in closer to determine which tent belonged to the leader and that’s when all hell broke looks.

The group of missing-nin had apparently received a new recruit, whose sense of smell rivaled the Inuzuka clan. He smelled a new female in the area and proceeded to investigate.

Yuzuki scanned the area again, no Kain. But… Yuzuki jumped and flipped to the left as a blur tore through the branch she had been standing on.

Elsewhere, Chiinu and Hiroshi tensed as the sound of a crash encompassed the camp. They flattened themselves to the ground behind a tent, as the previously relaxed missing- nin stilled. Someone yelled for the readying of battle and Chiinu cursed as the camp weaponed up. It was only a matter of time before they were discovered, if they hadn’t been already.

Yuzuki touched down on the ground and eyed the wild-looking shinobi that emerged from the settling dust. 

“My, what a nice looking bitch,” he growled, as he began to circle.

Yuzuki circled as he did, not giving him a stationary target or exposing her back. Hands held out in front and poised for weapon or hand to hand, she assessed the enemy.

The wild man smirked in appreciation, as she circled gracefully while remaining low to the ground. “Where’s your mate, bitch? I can smell him on you.” She remained quiet and he growled in frustration. Sniffing the air, he smirked again. “He smells young, maybe you’d like a more experienced mate. I’d be willing to consider a bitch as fine as you.” He crouched low at the ready when she slowly raised both hands to unsheathed two katana.

“I’m no one’s bitch,” she growled dangerously.

“We’ll see, when I have you bent over and screaming under me.”

It was the final blow and his grin widened when he saw her muscles clench. Drawing her hand back in anger, she threw one of the katana carelessly at him. He dodged it effortlessly and moved to attack the anger blind kunoichi. A loud pop sounded behind his back and he turned in time to see another masked shinobi bury a kunai deep into his chest. He coughed and a dribble of blood ran down his lip as faltered backward, trying to figure out what had just happened. The shinobi before him carried the same scent that had been on the female. Hitting the ground hard, he could already feel the warmth leaving his body.

“Who’s the bitch now?” Torikkusuta said as he leaned over the fallen nin. Removing the kunai, he let the blood flow freely from the man’s wound. “It sure isn’t Yuzuki-san. She’s too great of a woman for a dog like you.”

Said female walked calmly next to the boy, and the last thought that passed the missing-nin’s mind was that the bitch’s anger had only been a ruse. Truly a worthy female to mate.

Heedless of the enemy’s last breath, Torikkusuta turned to Yuzuki a with a scowl, “Why didn’t you let me come out earlier?”

“The plan worked perfectly,” she stated flatly.

“But I hated hearing him tell you those things,” he raised his voice exasperated.

“The purpose was to incite anger. You must not let yourself react to such things.” Torikkusuta turned sharply and crossed his arms over his chest. She could tell the boy was pouting behind his monkey mask. Smiling softly she walked up and ruffled his brown hair. “Let’s find the others and see what the damage is, Tori-kun. This isn’t done.”

He sighed and straightened his back, “Hai, Yuzuki-san.”

“What have I said about being so formal,” she scolded lightly.

“Yes, Yu-san.”

Yuzuki sighed and shook her head as she moved to locate the Captain and the target. Someone, if not everyone, was bound to hear the commotion they had caused. They had to hurry and regroup before they were discovered, being as they were horribly out numbered it was better not to be separated. And she still had a dreadful feeling about Hiroshi being alone with the Captain.
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Hey everyone,
The MPreg is still in the works, some of you think I'm just teasing but experimenting takes time. Tsunade and Jiraiya are still working on the how to but it will happen.
Till next time,
Tereshi