THE WILL OF FIRE: 2. The Phoenix (A Naruto Fanfic)

The Phoenix, Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

“You betrayed us,” Anko said and swatted my hand away from her. Blue Spikes and Not Blue Spikes were still unconscious so I could heal and bandage them in peace. Anko was another story.

“I did not,” I said simply. “I had a plan.”

“You’re just saying that! How do we know you’re not a double agent or something?”

“You can check with Naruto when we get back. Now, you only have my explanation, if you’ll allow me that.”

She pondered it in her head and gave a brief nod. “Fine. Let’s see what you got.”

“There was only Uncle Orochimaru inside the hideout, no sign of Kabuto. If Kabuto would’ve been there, we could’ve made him talk and our plan would’ve gone as smoothly as we hoped. But Uncle Orochimaru is a different story and you know it. So I pretended to switch sides, hoping he’d reveal any part of their plan to me. I would’ve carried out the plan if you guys hadn’t charged the scene! And if you still don’t believe me, I saved your asses. I pre-planned all of this if we needed a really quick getaway. Now, can I please just heal your wounds?”

She nodded and I got to work. “It was a risky move on your part,” she said after a while. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

“It’d be taking one for the team. But you guys need to learn the secret code!”

She growled but didn’t say anything else. I finished bandaging up her wounds and sat back.

“We should plan ahead,” I said. “Our mission is to monitor Uncle Orochimaru’s actions but I believe he’ll be the one hiding, attacking when he saw the moment and right there in the front lines.”

“But this expedition’s been a waste,” Anko said. “We’re at zero!”

“Not entirely,” I said, reaching for my backpack. I pulled out the smaller scroll and set it on the ground. She raised an eyebrow. “It’s the secret to the face-stealing thing he does.”

“You actually got that?”

“That was my plan, after all. If I’m able to crack the seal and unsolved the mystery, we might be able to recognize it when we come across it.”

“Gotta hand it to you, kid, you’re smarter than you appear to be.”

“I don’t appear smart? Well, that’s just an insult.”

She simply laughed it off and I started working on the seal while we waited for those two to wake up. Once they did, Anko gave them a brief explanation on what’s going on.

“So, what’ll we do now?” Blue Spikes asked.

“We wait,” I said simply.

“Wait for what?”

“Wait for Uncle Orochimaru to make a move. Whatever he’s doing here isn’t relevant to our mission, that much I’m sure of. We wait for him to move, which he will, and we simply follow.”

“But his sensory skills are pretty sharp,” Non Blue Spikes pointed out.

I rolled my eyes and left the seal alone for a moment. I rummaged through my bag and found four round gray balls. “You really shouldn’t doubt your Captain,” I said and handed them each one ball.

“What’re they?” Anko asked.

“Under-the-radar chewing pills,” I said. “I invented them myself. You start chewing on one and your chakra level is disguised. You basically go under the radar of even the most skilled sensory types. They’re just prototypes and I’ve been waiting forever to test them out. As long as you’re chewing them, your chakra is undetectable. But the moment you stop, even just for a second, you’re spotted.”