Double Team Mission.

[SORAbear]

Seven thirty a.m.

"WOOHOO!!" Yuki howled, pumping a fist in the air and practically bouncing off the fences. She was, in a word, excited. "Yes! First A-rank mission!!"

"Yuki-chan, calm down," Kiba chuckled, watching the girl hop around.

Kurenai-sensei had stopped by each of their homes, and instructed them to meet her at the magezine shop at eight. She gave them little information. All she had told them was that they were going on a collaborative A-ranked mission with high pay. No other details.

Shino stood in the shade, watching his teammates stoicly. Hinata peeked around the door frame, having hidden herself inside.

"What if I don't wanna? This is the first mission I've been able to go on in forever!" the purple-haired asthmatic produced a scrunchie from the pouch she had just recently plunged her fingers into. With a grin, she pulled all of her long purple hair into a perfect pony-tail, save for the bangs. "So let me be excited!"

Warm fur brushed up against her leg, sending chills up her spine and creepy-crawlies under her skin. Without so much as a second thought, she leapt into Kiba's arms, throwing her own around his neck as she stared at frightening little perpatrator. A sly grin from Kiba, and an amused bark from the white bundle of fur on the top of his head.

----
oh, she SO pulled a Shaggy and Scooby. XD well, she's excited so you can't blame her. >.<
----

"Dammit, Akahana! Don't do that!" Yuki yelled, prying herself out of Kiba's seemingly surprised and very suggestive grip. She glared at her dog partner, taking in the size of which she hadn't noticed. A small shreik could be heard from the shop. Ignored. The purple-haired kunoichi pat her hip, pretending that her little episode hadn't happened, motioning for her partner to come.

And the black furball barked happily, kicking off the dirt ground to race to her master. One last sprint and then a graceful leap into Yuki's white jacket, scrambling up to poke through by the collar, comfortable in 'mommy's' air. A smile from the girl.

"Y-yuki, Akahana's gotten bigger," Hinata's tiny and shy voice chimed from inside.

Yuki sighed, gazing into the sky painted with reds and oranges and pinks and purples. It was definitely a beautiful morning. She breathed in the comforting aroma of home: The Sweet scents of the early preparing bakeries, the delicious onslaught of meats and ramen floating by from down the street, the perfect pre-summer scents of heat and grass and sweat and rain. Home had a very unique smell.

"Hello? Earth to Yuki!" Kiba said, chuckling a little as he waved his hand back and forth in front of her eyes to bring her out of her trance. Another amused chuckle. "Houston, we have a problem."

Those tanned fingers snapped and Yuki blinked, none too sure of what just happened. "Wha...?" Akahana squirmed slightly. "What I miss?" She was being very...friendly today. Less serious, more joking. Kiba hated to admit it, but he liked it better when she want so serious like Amaya all the time.

"You kinda spaced. Whatcha thinkin'?" he asked, throwing in fanged grin.

"Um--"

"Judging by how she inhaled, I'd say that she was breathing in the smell of Konoha," Shino replied blankly, cutting the girl off.

The two dog lovers blinked, glancing at each other and back to Bug-boy numerous times. "That was...creepy."

"Why?"

"Because that's exactly what I was doing," Yuki explained, nervously playing with the ends of her long purple hair.

'Hey, Mommy? When does your teacher get here? I wanna play already!' Akahana barked, tilting her head back so that she could stare into Yuki's also bi-colored eyes.

"Ehe..." she mumbled, exasperated. "At eight, Akahana. She'll be here soon."

"Fifteen untill eight," Hinata muttered, loud enough for her team to hear but still quiet.

And then a huge puff of smoke appeared in front of the four.

"What the--" both Kiba and Yuki hissed, covering their faces with their grey and white jackets. As the stinging smoke cleared, they caught sight of Naruto. First, anyway.

"Oh, hey, Naruto, what's up?" the Inuzuka welcomed, his surprised open-mouth turned grin.

If Naruto was there, then wouldn't Sakura, Kugomi, Vell, and Kakashi be there too?

[opasars]

Naruto grinned after coughing and waving away smoke. "Hey, Kiba, Yuki-chan!" Ignored Shino. "Sorry about that - a smoke bomb fell out of my pocket...."

"They should be in your weapon pouch, genius," Sakura noted with fond irritation as she jumped down from the roof, along with Vell.

"Well, I can't remember every little detail about what's supposed to go where," he defended.

Vell turned to Yuki, refusing to talk to anyone else on her team. "Kakashi's on another mission, so it's just the three of us tagging along. And why Kurenai couldn't have gotten me while she got you I'll never understand," he added to himself. Akahana barked at him from Yuki's shirt in greeting, but he returned it with a hard stare.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "So, the mission...what's it about?"

"We're supposed to be informed when Kurenai-sensei gets here," Sakura explained. The way she said it would make one think she'd explained it more than twice.

Vell inhaled sharply at a familiar scent. Akamaru's and Akahana's ears perked in recognition as well, but the teen did not look as pleased. "You're not supposed to be here, you disobediant little troll."

The tree above Shino rustled, but he didn't move as Kugomi poked her head down beside his to glare at her former sensei while upside down. "Like I said before - screw you! I'm going." She hopped down, giving Shino a weird look before stepping up to Vell to properly chew him out. "I haven't been on one solitary mission since we got to Konoha and you're going on an A-ranked mission? Bull crap!"

"It makes a difference whether you're genin--" he touched his forehead protector, then jabbed the blond girl's forehead "--or an academy student. Kiba, be usefull and make sure she doesn't follow us when we leave."

"I vote she goes!" Naruto declared, running over and slinging his arm around his sister's shoulders. They both grinned at Vell, who looked like he would be sick.

"My God, I can NOT be on a mission with the two of you...." He turned to Yuki. "Tell her to stay HERE. She listens to you, at least," he said, a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

[SORAbear]

Yuki blinked at her uncle. "You're going too?" she grumbled, pretending to not have expected that. With a sly grin, she waltzed over to the Uzumaki twins, slung an arm around Kugomi's shoulder, and grinned wider. "I vote Kuhomi-chan goes too."

"And I'm not doing anything for a neko-boy," Kiba growled, his cocky smirk still intact. He, too, padded over to the two blonds and purple-haired trio, throwing his arm around Yuki's shoulder. "Hell, I vote Kugomi goes, too."

"Still trying to redeem yourself, I see," Yuki chimed.

"Shut up..." the Inuzuka boy mumbled, his face mocking distress.

The purple-haired asthmatic kunoichi stepped away from the group, adjusting her white jacket a little. It felt...crooked. Taking the zipper in hand, the other supporting Akahana so that she wouldn't slip out, she quickly unzipped it. She placed her hands around her dog-partner and set her on her head. And she immediately felt stares.

'It's best to ignore it, Mommy,' Akahana barked. Yuki nodded, straightening her white strap-less mini-dress and black shorts, re-tying her red sash and red summoning scrolls, readjusting the bandages around her torso, et cetera. As soon as she had finished she started, she zipped up her pretty white jacket and straightened that, allowing Akahana to poke out again.

"You so pulled a Kiba," she heard Sakura say.

That kinda chopped her perfect mood into tiny little pieces. "What's her--Why does she--Be the end of this--Grrr!" Yuki slapped her forehead, turning around to face everyone. She reluctantly stepped over to Vell. "After this mission, is it okay if I kill her?" she mumbled, nodding her head in the direction of Sakura.

"That wouldn't be very nice. Now would it, Yuki?" Shino replied out of nowhere, quite blankly.

She snarled. "I ref--"

A very bandaged hand slapped down on her shoulder. "Calm down. Save all that irritation for the mission, Yuki-chan."

Kurenai.

"Ehehe...Sumimasen, Kurenai-sensei." Yuki quickly shied away from the woman's firm grip, finding herself wading through the tense atmosphere towards Kiba and the two Uzumakis.

She gave them all a slight smile.

"So... What's the mission about, sensei?" Kiba asked, curious, after shoving his hands in his pockets, after his girl linked her arm with his.

Kurenai nodded her hello's to the rest of the group, unable to find Hinata. She shrugged to no one in particular, regarding her student's question. "We're going to Yukigakure."

That piqued someone's interest. "Say no more, let's go!" Yuki had the biggest grin possible on her face. It was...radient but odd in a way. Big smiles didn't quite fit her. She didn't care if she looked weird smiling though. All she cared about was the snow. They were going to the Land of Snow and Yuki always wanted to go there. Always.

She started speed walking. In the wrong direction. Dragging a dazed Kiba along.

"Not so fast, Yuki." Kurenai sighed, amused by the girl's rare enthusiasm. "For one, you're going the wrong way. Two, I haven't told you all the details yet."

"Always gotta make me look dumb, huh, sensei?" she said, stopping dead in her tracks, with a pouty face.

"Shes got a point though, Yu."

"Youre not helping!" howled both Yuki and Kurenai.

"Sorry, jeeze..."

Ignore. "Anyways... Continue with the briefing, sensei," Yuki said flatly, still standing perfectly still a few yards away.

"Our target is a rogue ninja believed to have been working with Orochimaru--" Kurenai began, fishing through her pouch for the scroll containing all the information she had been instructed to give to the two teams she would be leading. Wrapping her bandaged fingers around that familiar cylinder, she jerked it out. Gold, red, green, and white. But before she could continue, Yuki had a question.

She cocked her head over her shoulder, staring at her sensei with curious eyes. "Who's that?"

"Are you saying you've never heard of Orochimaru?" Kiba questioned, standing up straight and grabbing his partner by the shoulders, spinning her around to face him. He looked disbelieving. But amused at the same time.

An uncomfortable chuckle from Kurenai. "Orochimaru is one of the legendary Sannin. But just because he has a cool title doesn't mean that he's good. He once obliterated a whole clan, save for a couple survivors."

"You mean like Sasuke's?" the purple-haired girl inquired, totally lost.

"Well, not exactly. Orochimaru didn't kill off any Uchihas. But he did wipe out a clan from Sunagakure. Again, save for two survivors. One of the survivors had run away prior to the attack, whilst the other was pretty much taken under his wing."

Yuki thought about that, and thought hard. She didn't know who's clan Kurenai was talking about. 'Mine, Ami's, or Sasuke's? I'm so confused.' Shrugging Kiba's hands away, she pivoted her body to face her sensei. "Gimme their surname..."

Kurenai hadn't realized what she had done, so she went along. "Kusanagi."

"Great. Fucking wonderful..." Yuki growled, feeling two arms slip around her in a comforting embrace, and two puppies lick her neck and cheek. All just to comfort her. But the girl sighed a distressed sigh and pulled away again, her hand at her forehead as she looked down, thoughts of the past ringing through her brain. She almost looked like her skin was getting clammy. "Can we just go then?"

The sensei regarded her student's behavior. "We still need to talk about our target," she replied, finally realizing what had just put the girl down.

"We can talk about it on the way. Let's just...go," Yuki grumbled, beginning to pad over to the rest of the group.

[opasars]

Kugomi's big goofy Uzumaki grin aimed at Vell with a proud, smug sort of triumph. "Looks like I got voted in! How do you like that?!"

A vein pulsed on Vell's head as he looked at the four smiling shinobi, perturbed. "It doesn't matter how many vote you in, you--"

"I-I think she should...." Hinata yelped before she could finish at Vell's glare that he gave her when she started to speak on the blond's behalf. He really scared the living daylights out of her - how could anyone look so angry all the time?

"Oi! Leave her alone, you bully!" Kugomi scolded Vell while Naruto looked over curiously.

He blinked. "Oh, Hinata, you're here too huh?" He squinted when she gasped and hid back were she was into the magazine shop. 'Jeez...I say one word and she ducks away. It's not like a glare at her like Vell does....'

The subject of his thoughts sighed. "Kurenai is the one who has to clear it. It makes no difference if you want to go or if others want you to go or what. It's Kurenai's call. And I don't think she's going to okay letting a student tag along on an A-rank." Blue eyes stabbed into him but he ignored them.

Presently he felt someone standing next to him, and he looked down with surprise to find Yuki there. "After this mission, is it okay if I kill her?" she murmured, jerking her head in the direction of a certain pink haired kunoichi.

Vell grimaced ever so slightly but his composure was regained immediately. "What the hell are you asking ME for? I don't give a flying...."

"That wouldn't be very nice. Now would it, Yuki?" came one of Shino's many rare and unexpected comments. This issued a snarl from his teammate.

"I ref--" A hand wrapped in gauze clapped Yuki on the shoulder and made her words catch in her throat.

Kurenai looked down at her student with a frown and an perfectly arched eyebrow. "Calm down. Save all that irritation for the mission, Yuki-chan."

"Eheheh...Sumimasen, Kurenai-sensei," Yuki said nervously, sliding away from Kurenai to shuffle over to Kiba, Naruto, and Kugomi. The blond girl scratched her temple with confusion. She'd never really worked with Kurenai before, so she didn't exactly know what to expect. But if Yuki was nervous around her then the kunoichi must be someone with terrible wrath.

She was promptly knocked lightly upside the head, and she gave Vell a frustrated look. He simply gave her a stern look. "Pay attention if you want to go."

"I am!" she insisted, though when she turned back to the conversation Kurenai and Yuki (who had a submissive Kiba by the arm) were yelling at the Inuzuka simultaneously:

"You're not helping!"

Naruto leaned to whisper in his sister's ear. "Man, I feel for Kiba. He's gotta deal with those two almost every day!"

"Yeah. I'd hate to be in the middle of that," Kugomi agreed, making a face. Her brother nodded sagely. Vell growled under his breath.

'I think I might go insane. It'd be better than listening to these bumble-heads yaking in my ears all day. Fuck.' And going to the Hidden Snow Village to uncover info about Orochimaru was not the most ideal mission in the world. Especially since he wanted nothing more than to make Kugomi stay in the Leaf Village while that kind of danger was just oustide the village. 'The little idiot will probably get killed in the first confrontation,' he thought bitterly, or at least, trying to sound bitter. 'Why couldn't I have lied when she asked where I was going?!'

"Vell-san, we're leaving." He looked up to meet Sakura's green eyes. He could see everyone else walking ahead, Kugomi and Naruto meshing with Kiba and Yuki with concern on their faces. Wasn't he the hypocrite, not listening to everything Kurenai had said. Embarressment was covered up by annoyance.

"I know that! Jesus, I'm not blind - mind your own damn business," he declared, striding past the bewildered, pink haired genin to catch up with the others. But as he walked he suddenly noticed Akahana looking back in his direction, bi colored eyes big with wonderment. She wasn't staring at him, though. She stared at something on the ground to his left. Raising his eyebrow at the puppy he glanced down, and gasped.

His shadow was folding and rolling like waves in the light of the rising sun. 'Oh fuck, Shadow!' he thought with irritation. He knelt down and grabbed a handful of the little creature, who immediately regained his pudgy, chibi state and blinked at him with big red eyes. "Don't look at me like that, like you're innocent. Don't draw attention to yourself. Only Kugomi knows you exist, moron," he growled under his breath, barely audible.

The little demon only half listened to what he said before his antennae perked at the sight of Akahana, who was still staring, whining quietly. Yuki had stopped to ask what was wrong, the others going on ahead. Shadow's antennae flattened now and he wiggled playfully as if preparing to pounce.

Vell looked at Shadow, looked at Akahana, knew the creature's plan. "Shadow! Stop. No. The dog doesn't want to play with you--" before he could speak Shadow slipped out of his hand and glided across the ground towards his potential playmate, excited.

[SORAbear]

okay, you should know what Yasuo and Midori and Dad look like.
Yasuo: i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb128/nayora_wolf/normal_yubinbasya_cloud_orange_flam.jpg
Midori: i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb128/nayora_wolf/07057739.jpg
Dad: i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb128/nayora_wolf/d3f77f47.jpg

I sorta forgot their dad's name. >.>
-----------

"Hey, Akahana, dou shita no?<what's up?>" Yuki questioned, still a little shaken by the small tidbit of what Orochimaru had done. All of her attention was trying it's hardest to concentrate itself on what her dog partner's alerted state was about. "Is it Vell? Again? Sheesh, you always freak out--"

Something must have tackled her because she now found herself on another collision course with the dirty ground. Whatever or whoever it was had enough strength to knock her down. Akahana had wriggler out of her jacket before hand, growling at something in the shadows. With an irritated hiss, Yuki shoved herself from the ground and dusted herself off, a snarl held firmly on her lips. "Alright! Who the fuck did that, huh?!"

'Mommy, there's a moving darkness. I don't like it,' the black puppy grumbled.

Said purple haired kunoichi glared around, resting her eyes for a breif moment on Vell. "You are so in trouble when this mission's over," she spat, finally flicking her gaze onto the battle-ready pup facing the shadows.

'It has antennae...'

"Akahana, just leave it. It's probably just another one of Shino's bugs. We have a mission, so let's go." A pause. "Vell, you coming or what?" A quirk of the eyebrow and a turn of the body. The annoyed kunoichi began to walk in the general direction her teams were going in, tapping her hip once, twice, signaling for Akahana to follow. And she did; with one final snarl, the puppy jerked sideways and raced after Yuki, bounding up into her jacket, poking out once more.

A slow sigh. 'I'm not gonna let anything else get on my nerves. If I do, I'll blow up on the wrong person. Just keep calm.' Yuki brought her fingers up to scratch behind Akahana's ears. An absent move, but anything to keep her mind off of being frustrated.

"--with nearly white hair. He's as dangerous as it gets so be on your guard." Kurenai's instructions and descriptions barely reached Yuki's ears. She hadn't really been listening. Too many distractions. But NOW she was interested, quickening her pace to reach the group. Squeezing in between Hinata and Kiba, roughly brushing against either of their shoulders, she pricked her ears. "Which means you must keep your smoke bombs, exploding tags, kunai, soldier pills at the ready. Oh, and we're meeting up with a medic at the halfway point."

"Cool. Who's the medic?" Kiba asked, giving Yuki a welcoming grin, slipping his hand around hers. He knew what was on her mind and he'd do anything to comfort her.

"Her name is Mukai Aosora. She'll be accompanying us." Kurenai padded along, leading the two teams through the winding streets.

"Cool beans," Yuki commented, blurting the first thing that came to mind. And she thought about it.

[opasars]

Vell felt sweat slid down his temple as Yuki looked around with stabbing eyes for whatever Akahana was growling at. She glanced at him for a moment, and in that moment he fell back on his default expression - a frown.

"You are SO in trouble when this mission is over," she finally threatened after a heartbeat, glaring down at her ninja hound. After another pause she rolled her eyes. "Akahana, just leave it. It's probably just another one of Shino's bugs. We have a mission, so let's go." Then she turned back to Vell and raised an eyebrow. "Vell, you coming or what?"

"Yeah...." When his niece was fully turned and walking away with Akahana his eyes turned sharp and he stared down at the lump of darkness around his feet. "You're gonna get it worse than the mutt, you hear me?"

Shadow whined pitifully as he sunk back into the ground, looking like a normal abstraction of light. The silver haired teen didn't know why he had been so nervous about her finding out about the reject demon. Perhaps he didn't want the purple haired girl to know how much more of a freak that he actually was. Great. NOW he was worrying about what other people thought of him. And to his younger niece. He growled with irritation and ran to catch up with the group.

Kugomi blinked up at Kurenai. "Mukai Aosora? Who's that?"

"She just told us she was a medical ninja who'll be accompanying us," Sakura murmured, trying to have patience for the female version of her annoying teammate.

"Why's her name 'Blue Sky', though?"

"Why is your name Kugomi?" she returned as an example of how silly her questions were getting. But this hit the blond girl hard and she looked at the ground, sullen.

'Because I am 'Nine-Trash'. I wish Vell-kun would've given me a pretty name like Aosora or Sakura or Yuki....'

The subject of her thoughts joined at her side and she gave him a quick glare. "What?" he asked, blinking. She just huffed and walked quicker to stroll by her brother in front of them. Vell furrowed his brow.

'Great, what'd I do NOW?'

"Oi, is that the lady we're meeting?" Naruto suddenly asked, pointing ahead of them. They were approaching the gate to leave the Leaf Village, and a woman with blue hair was leaning against the right side of the enormous doors.

Kugomi took one look at her and sighed in relief. 'Good. No green eyes or brown hair...maybe Vell-kun won't flirt with her,' she thought hopefully.