Kazane

Ukai and I tried to question villagers after that... see if we could get any insider information that might help. This task proved more challenging than we'd originally thought though... the villagers were being very tight-lipped.

"Did you get a look at any of these men? Maybe catch a tattoo or any definitive marks?" I asked a middle-aged man.

"No, they were all wearing long clothing, dark capes, and owl-like masks... I never saw any faces and they never speak to each other around us, they always use hand signals so I didn't hear any names either..." The man answered me.

"Ok..." I sighed.

"Was there anything specific they targeted here or... were they just grabbing what they could get their hands on?" I ask another question, scratching the side of my neck.

"They targeted the big joints at the top of the village mostly, don't know what they took though so I can't tell you what they were after..." He explained.

"Kazane!" I heard Ukai call me.

"Thank you, excuse me," I told the man.

He nodded and I walked over to my partner, seeing him looking up at a tree.

"Find something?" I look up at the tree.

"See those leaves," He pointed to the small bunch that hung on a broken branch.

"Yeah," I nodded, not that he could see that, he wasn't looking at me.

"They're frozen," He added.

"What?" I squinted to see the leaves closer.

They were in fact, coated in a thin layer of white ice, the leaves inside the ice still green while the outside ones were dying from the hurt branch.

"Another thing~" Ukai pulled me to his body.

'O-oh~ ok,' I stiffened as he moved me.

"Look," He pointed in front of us.

There was a line of trees going from this one up the hillside, each with broken branches or scratches and ice marks. At the very top of the hill was a large glass building, the stream that ran alongside the village passing by it with frost-covered banks.

"This is the route they used as their getaway..." I conclude.

"Right... and the way to their camp..." Ukai pointed into the forest, though I couldn't see anything from where I was standing.

"How do you know?" I asked looking up at him.

When he looked down at me, his eyes were red, his Sharingan staring back at me.

"Right," I looked down.

'Stupid!' I lectured myself.

"Come on," Ukai pulled me forward, jumping through trees as we made our way to the Byakuya Gang's supposed campsite.

After a few minutes, I paused on a branch, looking at Ukai and opening my mouth to ask if he was sure we were headed the right way when I heard voices. Ukai put a finger to his mouth before silently jumping out of his tree, walking up behind the two cloaked figures. In one swoop both men were on the ground face down.

'Damn...' I stared at the Uchiha.

He waved me over and I joined him on the ground, running to the next set of trees where we were finally able to see a tent set up.

"That's is?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Yeah... come on," Ukai jumped down, me in tow.

We cautiously walked up to one of the tents, slowly opening the flap to peek inside. The interior was littered with stolen goods, ranging in size, value and product.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" A voice sounded behind us.

'Crap...' Ukai and I spun and watched three more hooded figures jump in front of us.

"Now who do we have here? Shinobi... Leaf Shinobi... interesting..." The middle figure sang.

'My forehead protector...' I looked down at the band around my waist and mentally slapped myself.

I heard Ukai pull out his sword and watched as he took a fighting stance.

"This is going to get ugly..." I mumble to myself.

"That it is," A new voice sounded behind us again and suddenly I couldn't move.

"Uh~? What the?" I looked down at my feet and saw they were stuck to the ground with ice.

I looked over to Ukai but he was stuck in the same predicament as me, his face twisted in anger as he looked around.

"Now what business do Leaf Shinobi have in a little town like this?... Stalking us are you?" The man behind us walked forward, and I saw the white-haired male from earlier, a smug smirk on his face.

"You did well... you got this far..." He laughed.

"What exactly do you plan to do with all the goods you've stolen huh? Lugging all that around is sure to bring attention to yourselves..." Ukai questioned them.

"Poetic justice if you must know... thought there is a little more to it than that..."

"Kill them..." He ordered.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" I watched Ukai blow fire at the group before down at his and my feet.

We both jumped away, watching the gang members jump after us.

"Wind Style: Wind Scyth!" I put my hands together before shooting blades of air out at the on-coming enemy.

One of the members, in particular, was shorter than the others, but he didn't attack, he just stood there, watching us. That was before spikes of ice formed around him, hurling toward me. I pulled out a kunai and sliced at the spikes I could. A few making it past my defenses and cutting my arms and face.

"AH~" I fell backward, landing roughly on my side.

"Got you now!"

Ukai then appeared in front of me, pulling his hands up and pushing them out toward the gang members. One member went flying back into the air, a strong wind style being used.

'B-but... I didn't see Ukai do any hand signs...' I stare at him in awe.

The next two members Ukai pulled a mud wall up in front of them, two clones appearing out of it and fighting them. As for the white-haired man and ice wielder, Ukai's right hand sparked and lightning appeared on it in the form of a blade, his left hand hovering next to him with his sword.

"An Uchiha... how interesting..."

More ice was then shot our way and Ukai dropped his sword, one of its shields activating around me as I watched him charge forward, thrusting his lightning covered hand at the white-haired ninja. The ice spikes shattered against the shield around me, making me turn my head away in fright if one got through, but I quickly looked back to watch Ukai fight off the older male.

"Grrr, pull back," He called to his lackie and they jumped away, running off.

I watch Ukai land in front of me, the lightning on his hand diminishing before he turned to me, blinking away what looked like the Sharingan but had a different pattern.

'H-How did you do that...?' I asked him... though I don't think I used voice, I was too stunned.

He moved so fast, using jutsu that needed practice and lots of hand signs like their codes flowed through the blood in his veins.

"Are you ok?" He put his hand through the force field and deactivated his sword, sheathing it and kneeling in front of me.

"..." I nodded, hissing at the sudden pain that shot through my arms.

"Here," Ukai helped me stand, and picked me up.

"I~ I can walk..." I said shakily.

"No, you can't... I don't know what type of Ice that was, and until I'm sure it wasn't laced with any poisons, you will not do anything that could potentially assist it's spread." Ukai told me, jumping into trees to get away from here.

I hugged my chest, watching the trees zoom past with the speed at which Ukai moved. I looked up at his face, locking my eyes onto him. He saved me. I blushed, looking down at my legs and biting my lip.

'Damnit...' I think to myself, feeling my heart race.