Clash 2: The Wolf and the Desertstorm - a collab with Amaterasu

Chapter 2

Taryn strolled across the mountain trail. So far she hadn't found any traces of a hide out, but that on its own wasn't very surprising. He had always hidden himself well. Even when she had been with him, he had been secretive. But that might have to do with the fact that he didn't trust her.
Still, she was one of the few people that had inside information and that was why Gaara had, albeit reluctantly, sent her on this solo mission.

Not long ago, there had been rumors about suspicious characters in this region. A man matching the description of Kabuto had frequented the villages in the vicinity. It was enough to convince Gaara to take matters seriously. After all, he hadn't forgotten who had deceived Suna and killed their father.

Taryn sighed and carefully scouted the area. Orochimaru wasn't the only one she needed to look out for. This mountain range formed the border with Iwa and Iwa had a longstanding feud with Suna. If Iwa scouts found her here, it would not only compromise her mission, but also put her in danger.

She sighed again and frowned. What would Orochimaru want here? What was he planning? She could never figure the man out, not when they were in Akatsuki together, nor after he had left and she had gone with him. It frustrated her greatly. Normally she had no trouble reading an enemy.

Silently she followed down the trail. It would be night soon. She would need to either find a village or find a shelter here in the mountains. It would be a cold night tonight.

A small breeze played with a few strands of her hair and she moved her hand to brush them away from her face when a sudden change in atmosphere made her freeze.

She stood and tilted her head.

There it was again. Something sent chills down her spine.

Carefully Taryn activated her Byakugan and searched the area. It was laden with chakra.
But not just any chakra. She had sensed this particular chakra before and it had sent chills down her spine then too.

It had been similar to the chakra of Hisayo Nakamura whom she had met last year in Konoha.

Similar, but not the same.

No. This particular chakra she had sensed even before she had met Hisayo.

It was something to be wary of.

And with the rumors about Kabuto it could only mean one thing.

'There's a bucket load of trouble heading our way.'

***

She was drawing near, she knew. It wasn't like her to push herself at high speeds through the forest or on missions unless it was absolutely necessary. She felt that this was one of those times however that she needed to. She could rest up a few moments after she made it past Fire's border and into the lands of Iwa.

'Things won't turn out like last time...I won't let it.' She pursed her lips tightly together and picked up more speed.

If Ookami were involved anywhere at all, then Akio could be in trouble again. If Satoru was involved, then she was afraid that he wouldn't keep Akio alive if he caught him again. There was no guarantee of anything with that crazed man. He could be calm and collected one moment, then off his rocker the next—she had the personal experience to know that about Satoru.

A sudden tinge of cold, quiet air hit her. She skid to a halt with chakra laced feet and took in her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she realized that not a single sound was being made from any wildlife. Even the breeze seemed to become dead quiet as they had ceased.

Understandably, she was on edge with the stressful situation happening, but she considered that she was possibly being paranoid as she tried to come to a conclusion as to why every piece of life seemed to disappear. It could have very well have been her very own presence that caused it. She wasn't exactly an unthreatening presence. Her blood was a reminder of such a plain fact. It would be understandable that animals would be afraid or nervous of her aura.

She slowly began to relax, but kept a discreet guard up. She took a step forward, about to proceed again, when her sharp ears caught the whirling sound of shuriken.
She spun on her heels, drawing on her kodachi and swiping the projectiles away.

A second volley came at her from another direction. She charged her blades with lightning as she found the next round to be more numerous than the first. She leapt back to use the trees for more cover. Her eyes widened and a cry left her as her back hit into a familiar wall of burning energy. It pitched her forward as it repelled her forward, back into the range of projectiles.

Gritting her teeth, she let lightning surround her body as she brought her blades up. The lightning affected the shuriken that drew to close, throwing off their projection to miss her, while her blade took on the ones that still managed to fly straight at her.

She landed on a branch with a few pants and glared over her shoulder at the now, invisible wall. She suspected that was not the only one, but couldn't tell where other were exactly unless she ran into them as she just had.

She quickly looked down as the sudden rumble of earth caught her attention from below. She quickly leapt away in direction away from the nasty reflecting wall. The rising earth continued to shoot skyward, taking out the branches of the trees. Her back hit another wall and shot her forward. Panic was starting to set in as she dodged another sudden attack only to hit yet another wall that shot her forward.

She was being corralled by her hidden attackers—and she knew from the first wall of attacking energy, who they were.