"Bingo, search for this scent, alright?" Bingo nodded.
He was the most normal-looking one and was the leader.
"I found him." He Replied in his deep and soft voice.
"Ryuu, he has many fresh scents around the land of fire, I think we should work together with Kakashi's hounds to find the real one."
"Bingo's having trouble smelling someone? That's a first, who are we hunting?"
A soft and snotty voice asked.
He was the youngest out of the seven, but he was also the smartest and made all the plans and the brattiest, he behaved like a child sometimes and hated it when someone corrected him.
"Don, this isn't some idiot we're hunting, it's Orochimaru, he's leaving the village." Don sat down.
"Surprise surprise, Bingo got something right for once, we should work together with Pakkun and the rest," Don spoke with a bitter response.
"Yeah, Don! He's so right! Let's get Pakkun and the rest!" Kai bit Kakashi's finger.
"Ow!"
"Do the thing Kakashi! Pleeease!"
Kai had incredible reflexes and was insanely fast, able to compete with Shisui's body flicker to some extent, he had the most childish personality and he was as energetic and chaotic as he looked. Kai had short, shaggy black and golden fur.
"Hey, Kai, what did I say about biting Kakashi?"
"Sorry, Kakashi, I won't repeat it."
"That's what you said last time." Kai smiled, revealing his sharp teeth.
Ryuu blinked and found Kai sitting on his legs.
"Summoning jutsu!"
*Poof!*
Kakashi summoned his pack.
"What's up, Kakashi?"
Pakkun, the leader and the smallest, asked.
He looked beside him and saw Ryuu's hounds.
"Oh, hey, guys." Pakkun greeted them, he had a deep and scruffy voice.
"Listen up, we're on a mission and we need your help!"
The dogs turned their attention to Ryuu and Kakashi, who spoke simultaneously.
"Orochimaru is planning to escape the village, I've already told Bingo and now he'll lead the hunt," Ryuu said.
"However, if you find any sign of Orochimaru, come back to us as soon as you can, do not engage, alright?!" Kakashi added.
"Yes, sirs!" They all nodded and then scattered.
The night passed and still, there weren't any signs of Orochimaru.
But at least they found something else…
Ryuu and Kakashi found a kid wearing a mask and had weapons with him.
They identified him as the kid with wood release and followed him.
Ryuu's Mangekyou was on.
And Kakashi had activated his Sharingan.
"Tell your hounds to back off, I'll do the same." Kakashi nodded.
Ryuu called off his hounds, and so did Kakashi.
They snuck into a hideout inside a tree and listened to what they were saying.
'Interesting…' Ryuu said to himself after copying the Kekkei Genkai.
There was a mist moving around unnaturally.
"Kakashi, that mist, that's not a regular mist, someone's inside."
"What?"
"That's a Kekkei Genkai, it allows someone to transform into smoke, much like my Mangekyou ability, but unlike my Mangekyou, this one is uncontrollable." Kakashi nodded.
"Let's move closer so that we can hear better," Kakashi said and moved closer.
They were using a transparent jutsu enhanced with Ryuu's ash.
"Who are you? How do you know about this place?" A man spoke from inside the mist.
The kid turned around, looking for a body.
"Danzo-sama sent me here, I've come on urgent business regarding Orochimaru-sama." He replied.
A body of a man formed out of the mist.
He circled the kid, inspecting him and sniffing him.
Shortly after, multiple other people came in and transformed.
"Here, this is from Danzo-sama." He gave him a scroll.
He opened it and read the content.
"There's no mistake, this is Danzo's seal alright."
"What? Orochimaru-sama?! Konoha!" After he finished reading it, he transformed back to normal.
There stood a man with a mustache and short hair.
He and the others all wore poorly kept clothes and poorly made clothes, it was obvious that Orochimaru didn't bother with that part.
"Give me the details.
I am Gotta of the Iburi clan." He looked at the kid, hoping to get his name.
"Oh, well my name is Kinoe-"
"Tenzo?" another voice asked, it was a girl's voice. Ryuu looked at the one who spoke, but he didn't see anyone apart from the mist.
"Yukimi!" Gotta yelled.
The pink mist transformed into a small girl, she had maroon hair with freckles on her face.
"Tenzo! Welcome home."
"If Danzo-sama or Orochimaru-sama were able to find themselves in unforeseen circumstances, it was previously agreed upon that they would come to this place for help." Tenzo stated and ignored her.
"So, Orochimaru-sama will come here?"
Gotta asked.
"Most likely."
The other clan members started whispering, they seemed excited…
Apart from that one girl, Tenzo glanced at her.
"We can control the pursuit of the Anbu.
I'll be able to take Orochimaru-sama out of the country without fail."
"Orochimaru-sama gave us the gift of life.
I would do anything for him."
Gotta said with a determined look.
Gotta stood up and looked at everyone.
"Everyone, get ready to welcome Orochimaru-sama!" They all dispersed.
Yukimi stood in front of Tenzo with her hands behind her.
She used her hand to measure his height.
He was nervous, her behavior shook him.
"Come with me, Tenzo."
"Uh, what? But…" She pulled him beside a tree, it had markings all around, markings drawn by her to measure height.
"Stand here for a sec." Yukimi measured his height.
"You see? It's the same." Tenzo looked at the marks.
"Since you were young, I've been making these marks to measure your height."
"Oh, I see but-"
"Yukimi enough! That boy is not Tenzo."
"He is too!"
"But, who is Tenzo?" Kinoe asked.
"He's Yukimi's younger brother.
But he's no longer here, we placed him in Orochimaru-sama's care 3 years ago."
"Orochimaru's care… 3 years ago? But then this… mark is…?"
"Even though we've been apart for such a long time, I remember what you looked like.
You've come back! I just can't believe you've returned from Orochimaru-sama."
Yukimi was smiling, tears rolled from her eyes out of joy.
Kinoe shook his head and looked at her.
Seeing he couldn't remember, she shamefully looked away.
"I'm sorry."
"Yukimi, you should walk around," Gotta suggested.
"Sure."
Yukimi showed Kinoe around, explaining how their powers worked.
"Ryuu, shouldn't we make a move?"
"Yeah, we've learned enough.
Kakashi, stay away from that mist jutsu they use, try using Kamui to get them while I'll use my ash, watch your back, these guys are no joke.
Let's keep the wood release user and his self-proclaimed sister alive."
"I understand."
Ryuu let out a cloud of thick dark smoke from his eyes, it spread out quickly.
"What is this?!" Gotta transformed into smoke.
"Cough!" Multiple people coughed out blood, they coughed out black blood, and they held their chests and collapsed.
"Wood style!" Tenzo controlled the wood from beneath Ryuu, capturing him in a dome.
Ryuu smiled.
He used Kamui and left the dome.
"Wood-style jutsu!"
Giant branches of wood came from beneath Tenzo, taking him by surprise and pulling him to the ground.
'He has wood style? Then that means the other one is Kakashi Hatake.'
Tenzo slowly stood up.
Ryuu removed his mask.
"Why are you here?" Kinoe asked.
"I could ask the same question to you.
Tenzo."
"We're both on the same side, Danzo-sama only wants to protect the village."
"Don't claim you're on the same side as me if you believe Danzo's bullshit.
Danzo only wants power, he desires it and would do anything to get it, why do you think he gave you and others to Orochimaru?"
Tenzo frowned.
"I wasn't a part of that! I came from…"
"What? You can't remember, can you?" Tenzo had an unsure face, he stared blankly, trying to remember.
"You are Tenzo of the Iburi clan, she's your sister, and she was among the others who were experimented on.
Orochimaru experimented on everyone and when they died, he simply moved on to another one.
To Orochimaru and Danzo, they were nothing more than a corpse to get rid of; you were also going to get rid of as well.
That's the side you're on."
"Shut up!" He controlled multiple branches of wood to attack Ryuu.
The branches of wood passed through him.
"Fine, have it your way."
Ryuu made hand signs.
"Kakashi, cover me!"
"Mind transmission jutsu!" Ryuu connected himself with Tenzo and Yukimi.
"You may have forgotten who you are, but she'll never forget."
Ryuu revealed everything to him, he even unlocked the forgotten memories.
"What?! That can't be true!" Tenzo was sweating and tearing up.
He tried resisting Ryuu's mind transmission, but Ryuu's will was too strong.
"Stop! Let me out!" Ryuu stopped his mind transmission.
"You were never Kinoe, you've always been Tenzo, but you have to listen to me if you want both of you to leave safely."
"Tenzo, come with me!" Yukimi grabbed Tenzo and transformed into smoke, taking him out of that cave.
"Kakashi, kill Gotta. I'll follow them."
"Got it!"
Ryuu followed them through the trees.
"Tenzo! Stop!" They kept on going.
Ryuu ran after them, leaving Kakashi behind to fight Gotta.
They left the tree and ran through the forest.
"Oh man, what a drag." Ryuu followed them on foot.
Ryuu entered lightning chakra mode and caught up in the blink of an eye.
"Don't make me force you to stop, I know your weakness."
Yukimi worriedly stopped and transformed back.
"Finally…"