Paths of Divergence

Blood Omen

Picture above was drawn by BurntRaizen

Chapter 37
-Blood Omen

The purple haired girl sits in the corner of the tiny cafe, examining her notes carefully. Several times over she reads the reports, checking the authenticity of them. For far too long the target has evaded her grasp even going so far as to murder one of her men. This mission was no longer one done out of the kindness of her heart. Now, it was personal.

    Itachi had murdered her comrade. Vowing to herself, she promises she will do all she can do to help the only person she knows capable of killing the monster. Shizake Uchiha.

Sasuke too probably but I have no clue of his whereabouts, the purple haired girl thinks to herself. If anything, the best outcome would be to bring the both of them together to fight him.

And as if the stars and planets had magically aligned, in walked a raven haired boy with a purple obi tied around his waist. Accompanying him was a white haired boy with shark like teeth and a water bottle hanging from his side.

      Azumi's eyes went wide. How lucky... or unlucky could she be. Internally she began to panic, unsure of what to do. The notes in her hand began crumpling as she gripped them white knuckle tight.

I have to think of something. Keep cool Azumi, she thinks to herself. I-I need to get word to Shizake as soon as possible.

The girl begins to frantically scramble her note on a small piece of paper. She rolls it up tightly before taking a small capsule from her pouch and sealing it in there securely. Azumi then sneaks out the back for a brief moment, taking a deep breath as she pushes her back against the cafe wall.

She begins making hand signals before whispering, "Summoning jutsu."

Out of the small poof of smoke appears a brazen falcon with soft brown and white feathers. The falcon, sleek and built for speed, looks up at her while clacking it's beak. The girl ties the capsule around the bird's leg before nodding to it. A gust of air rushes by as the falcon swoops into the sky and soars off in the direction of the leaf village.

        Azumi bites her lip out of anxiety before regaining her composure and heading back into the cafe. Immediately she feels eyes locked on to her. She looks up and to her unfortunate surprise notices Sasuke staring right at her. Her eyes dart back down to the table and she internally screams as her face goes pale.

       The Uchiha reverts his gaze back to Suigetsu whom is blabbering some nonsense about one of the swords of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. Suigetsu flags down a waitress, asking her for some information about the Great Naruto bridge.

      After being fan-girled over by one of the waitresses, the two of them leave the cafe. Much to Azumi's dread she realizes what must be done. Having to track them until Shizake arrives is her one and only priority it seems.

The girl conceals her chakra and begins trailing Sasuke and his team wherever they may roam.

*

The note arrived as quickly as it could. Shizake read it's contents over and over as he stood alone in shock. Sasuke was found and it appeared to be he was tracking Itachi. The Uchiha left the village as quietly as a mouse, informing no one of his abrupt departure. The note mentioned Azumi would leave a trail for him to find her.

Thus, the boy began searching for that lingering thread. As tough as it was he eventually caught Azumi's trail - threads of chakra she nestled in various flora and rock formations. At times they were near impossible to find but Shizake was always able to pick up the trail once again. He was thankful for Azumi and her efforts but all that consumed him was an ever flowing river, rapid with rage and revenge.