Now What Have I Gotten Myself Into? ~Enter Konoha's number one knuckle head

21

Chapter 21

Night had long since fallen by the time I felt Kakashi break formation and jump down out of the trees. Making my way to him I felt the others do the same. Converging on one location again on the ground. Without a word Kakashi walks into a large hole at the base of a huge tree. "Why are we stopping?" Kiba asks as I follow Kakashi's lead.

Without a response I hear Kiba sigh and come into the tree as well. I find a spot in the back of the little cover and sit down leaning against the wood. Kiba however stays just inside the opening looking out. "Kakashi Sensei, is it really the right time for us to be kicking back and taking it easy?" Kiba asks turning towards Kakashi. I close my eyes and lay my head back.

I feel Kakashi, Hinata, and Shino sit down in a circle. "We can't do anything until my insects locate the enemy, we might as well rest up."

"He's right Kiba. And Kira most of all." Hinata speaks up and I could feel nearly all of them look in my direction. Except for Kakashi who ended up sitting in front of me.

"Yeah." Kakashi says. "Until we find out exactly who they are and where they are, there's no sense in us jumping the gun. Beside's there's that crystal jutsu. Until Pakkun gets back with word from the Hidden leaf, we've got to move with caution, and keep our strength up."

*

In the morning Kakashi decided we should continue on. Though this time he wanted Shino to keep his insects beyond my 2 kilometer limit and leave it to me to watch within that threshold. That way we could cover more ground. I couldn't argue with his train of thought. That was the best plan he could come up with from the information he has. In a way. I am thankful. His bugs were really starting to get on my nerves.

We have been moving along the trees in a tighter formation then we were previously through out this mission. To make it harder for the enemy to spot us. Kicking off a tree as the others stop I land beside Hinata. "Getting anything Kiba?"

"No not a whiff." Kiba calls back to him.

"Kira?" Kakashi asks and I shake my head in response to his question.

"I can't find anything with my byakugan either." Hinata pipes up as Kakashi looks over at her. She then gasps turning her head in one direction as a bat flies over our heads. "A bat?"

"There are some signs." Shino says in a tone that just reeked of being annoyed from Kakashi not asking him. I couldn't help but smirk behind my coat collar.

"Huh?" Kiba asks turning to him as Shino lands next to Kakashi and stands. Pocketing his hands in his coat. "Where?!"

"I'm talking about one of my insects. Don't get so excited."

Kiba slouches forward as he drops his head and hangs his arms a lot like Kakashi had done. He groans in disappointment. "Just your bugs. Don't do that." Kiba then stands up straighter looking at Shino. "Last count you had something like ten thousand of them, ok? The fact that you found one, isn't really that surprising."

"But this one came in contact with the enemy. And the fact that it survived makes it an asset to us." Shino explains as he turns his head more in Kakashi's direction.

"What kind of asset?" Kiba asks as the rest of us stand. Hinata and Kakashi looking at Shino.

"It presumably got hit by the enemy's jutsu. Yet it's still here."

"What are you saying?" Kakashi asks him. "It's developed some sort of immunity?"

"Could be." Shino says now looking directly up to Kakashi. "And my insects have a short lifespan A few hours at most. It wouldn't take long to breed more of them that are immune."