Little Monster [An alternate storyline]

Preparation

~~~~~

"Try it again, Kana."

Kana groaned, staring at Kakazu's mud wall with hate. Her water bullets still couldn't penetrate the wall. She needed to find the right balance of chakra, otherwise, the jutsu could drain her and blow up in her face.

Her cheeks swelled as she prepared to fire her jutsu again.

"Watet style: water bullets jutsu!"

Three condensed shots of water smashed into the wall, toppling it on the third shot.

"Very good, next we will be working on the lightning bullet." Kakazu smirked, watching as Kana's shoulders sagged.

"But first, it's time for taijutsu training." Itachi said, stepping out of the dark.

"She's all yours, Itachi." Kakazu yawned. "I got things to do."

Kakazu stalked out of the room, leaving Kana and Itachi alone.

"For training today, I want you to be able to touch a part of me with any part of yourself. You may use kunai, shuriken, and your kodachi if you wish." Itachi said. "Ripped clothing or hair that you may manage to cut counts as a tag."

"Alright, I got it." Kana nodded, taking a low stance.

"Then you can start whenever you're ready." Itachi replied.

"Are you going to use genjutsu?" Kana asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Not today, no." He chuckled.

Kana huffed, but slipped her kodachi out of the sheaths, flipping the knives before letting them rest in her palm. She grinned and then vanished, whipping around the room. She pinballed off of whatever she could; the wall, the floor, the ceiling. Itachi stood calmly in the center of the room, completely still. Kana silently moved in for a strike but jumped back before she could hit him. His eyes whipped open, revealing his sharingan. 

"That's not fair!" Kana complained.

"Shinobi don't play fair," Itachi shrugged. "Now come at me."

Kana shot off the wall and at Itachi, her first knife strike being dodged when Itachi stepped to the right, but she was quick to use the follow-up strike to try and tag him. A kunai shot out of Itachi's sleeve, knocking one of Kana's kodachi away and into the floor. Kana scowled at him, watching as he smiled at her mockingly.

"Fast," Itachi chuckled, another kunai coming from his sleeve. "But not fast enough."

~~~~~

"You alright Kana?" Haku asked, preparing some coffee for the Akatsuki.

"I'm good, I had some bruises but they've healed already." Kana replied, sinking further into the sofa.

"That was fast." Haku hummed. "Do you know medical ninjutsu?"

"No, it's a bit hard for me because my chakra control isn't the best." Kana chuckled. "I thought bruises just healed fast."

"They aren't supposed to." Haku replied.

Kana shrugged. "Neat."

"How's your training going?" Haku asked, pouring two cups of coffee.

"Pretty well, I need to up my speed a bit, but I'm doing good with my kodachi, kunai and shuriken. Kakazu is going to start teaching me lightning style soon. Tomorrow probably." Kana replied, taking a steaming cup of coffee. "I'm decent with taijutsu, but I can't land a hit on Itachi."

"I mean, he's a bit like a ghost." Haku giggled. "He's always very quiet and sneaks up on you when you least expect it."

"Are you making tea as well?"

Haku flinched, slowly turning to face Itachi. "Ah, hello Itachi. I wasn't planning on making tea, but I can. What kind would you like?"

"Ginger, please and thank you." Itachi replied, gliding to a chair on the other end of the room.

"Ghost." Haku whispered.

~~~~~

"Azumi!"

The girl with short blue hair turned around, facing her former sensei who was running to approach her.

"Tsubaki-sensei?" She replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I really have to talk to you about something, can we go get some food or something and talk?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'm fine with that." Azumi shrugged, closing the umbrella that rested on her shoulder. "I know there is a decent sushi place around here."

"Lead the way then." Tsubaki smiled, falling into step next to her student.

Azumi lead the way silently, pushing a few short strands of hair away from her icy blue eyes. Her raincoats hood stayed firmly over her head and her rebreather always remained over her mouth and nose. She had a few scrolls strapped to her belt, along with a very short blade that hung at her waist. A tanto.

"So, sensei, how have you been?" Azumi idly asked, breaking the somewhat awkward silence.

"Fine, but very busy." She chuckled. "I'm trying to get some changes for the academy, but Pein-donno is a bit hard to get a hold of."

"No kidding," Azumi scoffed. "I've tried to contact him, directly and through those strange people who I see wandering around."

"They wear those matching cloaks, but I have no idea what they call their group, or even what they do," Tsubaki sighed. "All I do know is that I see them hanging around Okami-hime a lot and that they are rouge."

"Okami-hime? Isn't that the white-haired girls who always wanders around with wolves?" Azumi asked, flagging down a waitress.

"That's her," Tsubaki nodded. "I recently passed her, she's a genin of Amegakure."

"So will she be going to the chunin exams coming up?" Azumi asked.

"Hopefully, she does have one other teammate, but they need a third teammate," Tsubaki grinned. "One who has skills that they don't, such as genjutsu, sealing, and maybe a fancy bloodline?"

Azumi scowled at her, her eyes narrowed threateningly.

"You want me to go to the chunin exams with Ame's Okami-hime and some other guy who's probably working for... them?" Azumi asked, rolling her eyes.

"That'd be great!" Tsubaki grinned. "One more thing, you're scheduled to meet your temporary teammates soon and you'll be leaving for the exams in two weeks."

"Wonderful," Azumi growled.

"Um, are you guys going to order something?" The waitress akwardly asked, just standing there.

"Oh yeah," Tsubaki smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

~~~~~

"Zetsu, I'll be frank, I'm a bit worried." Pein grumbled.

"Worried, about what?" Zetsu growled back.

"With the people that are expected to be at the chunin exams, how well will Kana and Haku do?" Pein asked with a sigh.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," White Zetsu chuckled, his darker half then cackling. "You could always step her training up even more."

"Yes, I think it's about time that Kana and Haku began sparring, she did convince me to let him stay because he would be a good sparring partner." Pein smirked. "In the meantime though, I must go meet with someone, and I'd like you to inform me of when powerful people start arriving in Konoha. Anyone with lots of chakra or anyone suspicious."

"Who are you meeting?" Zetsu asked.

"That's none of your concern, just get on your mission." Pein replied.

"Fine, fine, stickler." Zetsu sneered before vanishing through the floor.

Pein glared at the spot he once stood in.

A/N

I find it funny that the chapters name is 'preparation.' Like Kana is getting ready for the chunin exams, I'm getting ready for my birthday. Two days away!