Chapter Two
Naruko POV
I headed deep into the forest, where nobody else dared venture, a few miles away from the Raifuteika's territory. I found a clearing, where only the most skilled tracker would be able to tell I had trained in.
About to draw my katana and begin my practice, I paused.
I sensed somebody.
I jumped up into the tree closest to me and concealed myself.
Can you tell who it is? I asked Kurama.
It seems to be three inexperienced ninjas, most likely genin, judging from their chakra, a jonin, and a civilian. Probably on a body guarding mission from their village.
And how far away are they?
About a quarter mile.
I nodded. Probably nothing to worry about, then, if they were just genin, but you couldn't be too careful.
I waited concealed in the tree, prepared to fight if necessary.
Shikamaru POV
I didn't see the point of this stupid mission.
Sure it was C-rank, which the rest of my team had been whining for, but what was the point of guarding some old guy going to visit the Land of Earth- or what had been the Land of Earth, it was now combined with the Land of Wind.
I supposed there might be some assassins we'd have to fend off, since the Shi no Kage, the name many people had started calling the Raifuteika, was notorious for hiring many deadly assassins to do his dirty work. Although I had no idea what they'd want with an old man who just wanted a vacation.
But so far there had been no sign of danger.
And it had been a very annoying trip.
Sakura had been trying to flirt with Sasuke, or, as I called him in my mind, Sasgay, for the entire time.
Kakashi, our teacher, had just been ignoring us for the most part, occaisionally making small talk with the old man, but staying silent most of the time.
Sometimes I wondered if putting the people in our genin team together was a good idea.
Sasgay was talented enough, even if his attitude wasn't the best, and if he ever got over this whole 'revenge on Itachi' thing, he had the potential be a very skilled ninja in the future.
Sakura, though?
She was completely and utterly useless.
The only reason she'd passed the test was because me and Sasgay had been able to successfully use teamwork to get the bells from Kakashi in their test.
She had kind of just been there, and hadn't done anything to help.
I wondered why she had been allowed to become a ninja.
Hopefully Kakashi would either send her back to the Academy or give her a good talking to about getting serious about training.
I was interrupted from my thoughts when we reached a clearing in the woods, and Kakashi signaled for us to stop.
"Let's set up camp here," he said, looking sideways at the old man, who seemed to be a bit short of breath.
Sasgay nodded in his usual emo way, and we began to prepare to spend the night in the woods.
Naruko POV.
I looked down on the three genin, an old man, and a Jonin.
Judgin by their headbands, they were from Konoha.
Do you recognize any of them? I asked Kurama.
He was silent for a moment.
Yes, he said. I recognize the jonin. His name is Kakashi Hatake. He was one of the students of your father.
I nodded. If he was jonin, he would be tough, should he decide to attack.
He also may be able to sense me, since I hadn't fully learned how to hide my chakra. It was a lot bigger than most other people's, due to Kurama, and it was possible that Kakashi would be able to sense me.
I kept still, waiting for an opportunity to leave undetected.
Shikamaru's POV
We set up camp pretty quickly.
Kakashi seemed even more on guard than usual, but that was to be expected, since we were pretty close to the Shi no Kage's territory. We were in a forest a few miles away from it.
Our jonin instructor suddenly did the summoning technique, cutting his thumb and slamming his hand to the ground.
Pakkun appeared.
I had only seen him once before, and he had said if we did a good job on our mission he'd let us touch his paw pad.
"What do ya want?" He asked, scratching his ear.
"I just want to make sure there's nobody around," Kakashi said. "This is near the Shi no Kage's territory."
"Ah." Said Pakkun. "Well, in that case, you'd better get the hell out of here. I can sense a large amount of chakra close by."
Kakashi's visible eye widened, and he gave the order for us to get in a defensive circle, with the old man at the center. (I didn't know his name, it was too troublesome to remember.)
"Show yourself!" He called out.
Naruko POV
They had noticed me.
Should I reveal myself? They may cause some trouble if they recognize me.
It should be fine. Just make sure to give no hints as to your true identity.
I nodded, and silently dropped down from my tree.
It took them a moment to notice me.
"Who are you?" Asked Kakashi, moving his hand up near his face, ready to reveal his Sharingan eye if needed.
"That does not matter. I will do no harm to you if you allow me to pass peacefully."
Kakashi narrowed his eye.
"Are you an assassin hired by Shi no Kage?" He asked.
"I have done work for him before." I answered.
His grip tightened on his kunai. "Then how do I know you will not attack us?"
You need to get out of here as soon as possible. The dog may notice my chakra.
"I will not attack you, and if you do not believe me, then that is not my problem." I turned to leave.
"Wait." Said one of the genins. His hair resembled a duck ass.
"What is your name?" He asked.
I kept my back to them.
"I already told, that does not matter." I said, and jumped into a tree, heading back to the Raifuteika's territory. I doubted they would follow me.
Shikamaru POV
"That was strange," I said, relaxing my stance as the others did the same. "She looked like a ninja, but didn't have a headband."
Kakashi put away his kunai. "Many assassins are former ninjas who either left or were kicked out of their villages. In either case, they usually want nothing more to do with their village, and dispose of their headbands. Depending on their skill, they either seek work as assassins or try to live as civilians."
I nodded. "And do you have any idea of what village she was from?"
Kakashi shook his head. "There's not really any way to tell, and I doubt we'll see her again."
I looked off in the direction she had gone. "She looked about our age. She must be pretty skilled to avoid your detection," I said.
Kakashi nodded. "She was undoubtedly very skilled. In any case, we should be extra cautionary from now on. There are many assassins around here."
I sighed. How troublesome. I wished I was a cloud.
A/N- Well, there's chapter two. Sorry it's so late.
