The small task group of foreigners stealthily traveled amongst the foliage of the Land of Fire. The tension was high as everyone kept their eyes peeled for potential allies and hostiles. The group leader and mission representative found it ironic how under the circumstances, their allies were the ninja of Konoha, while the hostiles were their own kin. At their mission's onset, the Raikage swore to use any and all possible means to prevent the Lightning Lord's peace initiative from bearing fruit. No one doubted the conviction of the near psychotic but powerful Kage of Kumo. Earlier today, a small force of Kumo ninja actually crossed the border and tried to ambush them inside the Land of Fire. The attack was repulsed with little difficulty, but it did keep everyone on edge.
"Honored Elder, perhaps we should rest for the night?" the elderly statesman looked at the risen moon and shook his head.
"No, we must continue. I must meet the Hokage before—"
"Elder, someone approaches!"
The diplomat's samurai escorts and two personal shinobi immediately tensed. A lithe figure of medium height and clothed in dark ninja wear appeared before the entourage.
"Identify yourself!"
"Yugito Nii, kunoichi of Kumo." At the mention of the word "Kumo," the entire group readied themselves to attack.
"Wait, I wasn't sent by the Raikage." The samurai warriors paused but did not lower their weapons.
"How can we trust you?"
The statuesque female drew to her full height and cocked a look at the impatient speaker.
"One would think that the Raikage wouldn't send someone he so distrusted and despised to assassinate his foes. He and I are hardly keen towards one another." A touch of cold bitterness entered the young woman's words.
"Indeed, Yugito-san." The Elder motioned his guards to back off, but not stand down.
An old dog of the Land of Lightning's political scene, he was very much privy to such news as the Kumo leader's frequent disputes with the resident demon hostess. Like most folks, he held a healthy dose of fear regarding his country's beautiful but deadly demon container, but it was far from the borderline psychotic paranoia that the Raikage exhibited.
"May this old man ask why you're here, deep inside the Land of Fire, if not to prevent my mission?" An expert reader of people, the elderly diplomat knew the mask-less female was being truthful about not having been sent by her Kage.
Yet something felt off. Yugito's subsequent silence also did not help. When she reached inside her robes, several bodyguards leapt forward menacingly.
"Easy, it's just a scroll detailing why I'm here."
"Wait! We'll take that." One of the shinobi quickly snatched the scroll before retreating from the kunoichi's presence.
Yugito assessed all this with a hint of an amused smile, a smile which others noticed. Perhaps that was her trap, to make them feel excessively paranoid and stupid and beyond all else, to make them feel safe .
The scroll exploded without warning, engulfing the shinobi holding it in a cloud of liquid heat and momentarily blinding his companion. Augmenting her movements with chakra, Yugito retrieved her hidden ninjaken and lashed out at the nearest samurai. Two fell in quick succession, one dead, and the other wounded. To their immense credit, none of the survivors panicked as they moved to engage. Using their expert sword skills and the longer reach of their katana, they quickly cornered Yugito. One brief moment of overextension; one brief instant of exposure was all it took. The blade of one keen samurai whistled through the air as it raced towards the kunoichi's exposed sternum. But instead of meeting flesh and bone, the blade merely produced a loud "thud" as it lodged itself into a log.
"Raiton: Raigeki no Tama!"
The samurai barely managed a squeak before their bodies were fried to a crisp. That was not all, however. The remaining survivors had bigger worries in the form of three stumping, trashing, ugly demons. The elderly diplomat could only watch as his bodyguards slashed furiously at the gigantic beasts, but all in vain. Horrific cries of pain and terror filled the air as one of the beasts grabbed a man and literally ripped him in two. The monster then tossed the two halves at the Elder's feet, showering the shocked diplomat with a spray of blood. By this time, the battle was all but over with all of the Lightning samurai dead or dying. A calm and detached Yugito confidently strolled across the bloody landscape, only to stop a meter away from the Elder.
"H-how, but why, why do this if the Raikage did not order it?" the doomed diplomat asked. The blonde's feline-like eyes squinted in dark humor.
"The Raikage isn't the only one who doesn't want your mission to succeed." Yugito did not wait for a response. Her ninjaken flashed once, and the severed head of the Lightning diplomat was sent flying twenty feet away.
Afterwards, she watched as a genjutsu cover collapsed, and the petite figure of a redhead emerged.
"About fucking time you got here!" the new girl declared with anger.
"Area is clean," another ninja stated as he popped up beside the younger girl. The redhead nodded, deftly drawing forth an elegant flute across her red lips. A short, piercing tune later, her Doki summons vanished into thin air.
"Tayuya, I'm surprised they picked you for this mission." The blonde sheathed her weapon and casually went about redoing her pigtail, which had come undone in the midst of battle.
"Who the fuck else were they going to send? That prick, Jiroubou? I don't think so." Tayuya snorted as she and her confederate moved about planting false evidence on the battlefield. Occasionally, the small redhead would whip out a kunai to slash the throat or chest of a moaning samurai. The girl sure possessed a vicious streak.
"Jiroubou? Why just you and Jiroubou? What about…" Just then, Yugito caught sight of the forehead protector the redhead was wearing. The protector contained not the emblem of her ninja village, but rather a curious music note symbol. The blonde laughed aloud.
"Who's the turncoat now?" Yugito queried, pointing to the younger girl's forehead in amusement.
Tayuya's patriotism and loyalty was legendary. In the eyes of the feisty redhead, traitors, regardless of who they were and what they did, were all lower than dogs. While many shared this belief, Tayuya was, without a doubt, its most vocal proponent. Not surprisingly, this generated great friction between the foul-mouthed genjutsu specialist and double agents like Yugito.
"Fuck you, you pussy! I'm nothing like you! I was ordered to by the Kage."
The blonde said nothing, but the other kunoichi knew what she was thinking. Tayuya scowled as Yugito's mouth curled into a victorious smile.
"Besides, they need someone to fucking lead the expeditionary force."
This piece of information caught Yugito's attention. "Expeditionary force?"
Now, it was Tayuya's turn to smirk. "Can't say. It's a surprise."
The blonde narrowed her eyes in displeasure, but knew better than to press the issue.
"Fine then. But if you're my handler for this mission, how about handing me an exit plan? This entire region's crawling with Konoha ninja."
Tayuya gave one last glare and curse before doing as requested. "Most of Konoha's fucking ninja and patrols are deployed to the east and west. We, however, are operating out of an allied ninja village to the north in the Land of Rice Fields. It's very new, so we should not encounter any problems along the way." Tayuya tossed Yugito a crossed out Konoha forehead protector.
"But wear that, in case we do have to fight the fuckers."
The Kumo nin deftly caught the object, paying no attention to the still wet blood on the side. The three ninja quickly replaced their respective headbands.
"One last thing before we go. We should leave behind a few Konoha bodies to sow confusion and anger. You know how hot tempered these bitches get when provoked."
"I suppose you want me to pick the targets?"
"Yeah, please do. At least that pussy of yours is good for something."
Yugito twitched at the double entendre before smiling deviously. "As opposed to yours?" she fired back.
The temperature and atmosphere suddenly dropped to a dangerous low.
"Just do your fucking job."
The Kumo kunoichi smiled, letting her rival's weak comeback wash over her. Both knew Tayuya lost this verbal spar.
"I can sense two, three, no four incoming ninja. I can definitely sense three weak but distinct entities, the fourth one is more powerful but harder to pin down. They are approaching fast, so I don't think they're a normal sweeper team. I'm going to guess it's a tracker genin team."
Just a single genin team against two elite jounin of their quality? Yugito wasn't the only one who found the prospective match up to be insulting.
"Ha, these fucking Konoha bitches are damn retarded. This is almost too easy," Tayuya laughed as she signaled her subordinate to take cover.
Now, she certainly was not one to indulge in the slaughter of the infantile weak. But if the dumb fuckers wanted to send their greenies to be butchered, who was she to stop them? After all, she was a firm believer of survival of the fittest and all that other shit.
"Let's make this quick. I want to get the fuck out of here."
Yugito silently agreed.