>>>--THIS JUST IN!-->
Sorry for theextremely late update! Man, life's been really busy for me lately… We're gonna be migrating to Canada in about a month and there's a lot of work to be done… Uhm, my apologies to those who got a bit confused in the last chapter. Here's a short summary to help explain things.
Chapter 5 summary - Sasuke and Neji come back to Konoha in critical condition. Sasuke appears to have suffered a fractured leg, while Neji is unconscious and is immediately admitted into the hospital. Tsunade, upon learning of what happened, calls an emergency meeting of the Leaf's ranking officials and jounin. In the latter part of the story, Tenten (sorry, I didn't make it clear that it was her) cries for Neji as she watches him sleep.
Anyway, here's the follow-up to the last chappie. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: If I could choose to be any guy in the world, I'd choose to be Masashi Kishimoto… Know why? 'Cuz he owns Naruto, and I don't. So there.
Chapter 6: The Trap
Another new day had begun without the brilliant rays of the sun. Dark, massive clouds covered the horizon, illuminated only by passing streaks of lightning. A steady shower of rain fell unceasingly to earth, for almost three days now. The monotonous patter of rain on rooftops filled the whole of Konoha. Those who were adept at recognizing omens knew that this couldn't be anything good. It seemed that the gods developed a habit of using the weather to warn living mortals of impending danger. Although in this case, you needn't watch the skies in order to tell that something was definitely wrong.
Word was out. War could break out at any minute, and everybody was preparing for the eventuality of it. Status was heightened to red alert, and teams of twenty-four hour sentries were posted at each of the four walls of Konoha. Chuunins and Jounins resumed rigorous training, while classes for Genins and Academy students were suspended. Shops and stalls were closed down, the merchants choosing to leave while they still had the chance. Nobody wanted to be caught in the crossfire.
However, one place in Konoha did not seem to be affected by the chaos and confusion of the town. The area was quite secluded, and was located near the testing grounds for the second phase of the Chuunin exam. Eerie little headstones dotted the landscape, soaked by the pouring rain. In the middle of the burial ground, a woman in her sixties was sitting in front of the monumental tombstone that marked the grave of the First Hokage. She had been there for almost a day, her lips slightly moving, as if she had been talking with her deceased grandfather. She realized that every life in Konoha depended on the decisions that she would make. With eyes already puffy, Tsunade began crying anew. She had already made a tremendous mistake, and another person was paying for it dearly.
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"Gaaah!" A gray-haired man cried as an enormous fist slugged into his lower abdomen. A punch of that magnitude could easily have felled an ox, because of a bloodline limit used to broaden the fist and reinforce the knuckles. It would have been as painful as getting hit with a sledgehammer. He had been held captive there for only two weeks, but every single day there seemed like an eternity. Depleted of his strength and most of his chakra, he collapsed onto the cold granite floor of the cell, coughing out mouthfuls of blood.
"Is this all you Leaf jounin are made of?" His tormentor mocked, digging his boot into the injured man's side. He coughed again, and struggled to crawl away, writhing in agony.
"Teme, I thought you guys were the best…" His comrade added, "Especially you, Copy-ninja Kakashi. I didn't think you would fall into our hands so easily."
The two Mist ninjas continued ridiculing the Sharingan user and his abilities. The latter simply ignored the insults. There was enough pain in his limbs to keep him distracted anyway. With his back turned to them, Kakashi scowled, his heart racing. He knew what his tormentors had come for today. They wanted the secrets of Konoha- its strengths, weaknesses, and possible openings. It was no use telling them that he was a stranger to these things, for he had a reputation that preceded him as one of the Leaf's most feared shinobi. For every day that he refused to tell them, he would lose a part of his body. Kakashi grimaced, looking at his right hand.
He had already lost a fifth of his fingers.
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"Aaah!" Sasuke screamed, waking up with a start. He jerked out of bed, landing upright on the floor in his regular fighting stance. Looking around him, he saw that he was in a hospital room, in loose, white cotton robes. Almost instantly, he felt a sharp pain coming from his left leg. Groaning, the Uchiha prodigy sat himself back down. It had all been a dream.
Two nurses, having heard the noise, came in and saw that he had finally awoken. They escorted him out, and helped dressed him in his usual clothes. Their orders were to take him to the Hokage as soon as possible.
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Tsunade stood in front of the waiting throng of people, unsure of what to say next. Butterflies were flitting around in her stomach; she could hardly believe what had happened herself. It had been a week of rather frightful developments, and she felt the heat of the congregation's stares. Her neck was on the line here. After a brief word of prayer, she opened her eyes, raised her hands and spoke.
"My friends, as I have informed all of you earlier, the Mist is posing a very dangerous threat to Konoha. The peace that we are now enjoying, which many have worked so hard to achieve, is about to be destroyed." She paused, her eyes scanning the taut faces of the audience.
"Not all of you know, so it would be wise to inform everybody how all of this began." She cleared her throat. "Weeks ago, our spies obtained some information regarding the recent activities of the Mist. It appeared that the enemy was working on some form of kinjutsu with another hidden village. Possibly another alliance formed with the sole objective of defeating us. Our relationships have already soured, so we can almost be certain that whatever they may be up to will not be for the good of Konoha."
She paused again, stopping to pulling out a loosely bound scroll from her robes.
"Still, it would be foolish to jump to conclusions. About two weeks ago, however, we were able to take hold of evidence that fully confirmed our assumptions." She held the scroll up for everyone to see. "Our sentries caught a messenger from the Mist carrying this."
Some faces leaned in closer to get a better look at the document in her hands. Tsunade rolled it open, and passed it around to the audience. Eyes widened and mouths flew open as they read its contents.
True enough, the scroll outlined some plans for a kinjutsu that the Mist has been producing, in collaboration with the hidden Cloud. This much, they were already sure of, but the strength and effects of this jutsu still remained a mystery.
The Hokage spoke up once more. "Upon learning of this, I called together an urgent meeting of the Council, and we unanimously decided to send a reconnaissance team over to the enemy to investigate, knowing that the kinjutsu could have adverse effects if used against us in battle." She looked at the elderly members of the Council, who nodded in agreement. "We had hoped that by doing this, we would at least be prepared for what was coming and hopefully, we could find a way to counter the forbidden technique and maybe use it to our advantage."
The eldest member of the Council stood up and spoke. "We formed a team out of three individuals, who were among Konoha's best and brightest. All three had outstanding academic performance in their schooling years, and had each spearheaded numerous successful missions in the past." He stated. "However, it was not solely based on these reasons that we have made our decision. Each of them possesses a unique skill that is crucial to the purpose of this mission. A bloodline limit, if you will. We all know them as Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke."
"Their abilities have a big part to play here. We need the Sharingan to learn how the kinjutsu works, and the Byakugan to see how they use utilize the chakra and to find out how much goes into each attack."
"Their orders were to gather sufficient information, then leave. Under no circumstances were they to engage in any form of combat." Tsunade said. "However, something clearly went wrong."
The audience was dumbstruck. Gai and Kurenai exchanged anxious looks.
Tsunade spoke. "A few days earlier, that same team has returned to Konoha. They were bruised, battered, and beaten almost to death. The leader, Kakashi, was found missing and is believed to be held captive by the enemy. Let us find out what happened."
Sasuke entered the stage, walking on crutches. A nurse was assisting him, carefully holding his upper arm. Everybody in the room gasped upon seeing the pride of the Uchiha Clan disabled, limping helplessly. His raven hair was disheveled and the look in his obsidian eyes reflected the torment that he had gone through in that ordeal.
"It was a trap," He breathed, eyes glinting with fury, "Those dogs knew we were coming."
>>>--THIS JUST IN!-->
Well, that's it for chapter 6! I hope you liked it, and sorry if I let it hang a bit there… Yeah, I know… I hate cliffies too! . But hey, that's what makes everybody look forward to the next chapter, right? Please write me a review! Thanx:-)