Don't Fear The Reaper
Chapter 2
Ah, Mornings
I don't own Naruto.
Mornings are not a pleasant time for anyone and a certain ninja squad from Kirigakure was no exception.
Here's a quick summary;
The three of them had risen before 5 am this morning in order to be completely ready for the first exam, which starts at 8 am. Takeo and Mitsu had fought tooth and nail over the bathroom and while they weren't paying attention Kumiko sauntered in. Mitsu had then pushed Takeo into the door which had made the door slam open to reveal a half naked Kumiko in only her bra and sweat pants that she had worn to bed. To make the morning better Kojuro-sensei had chosen that moment to enter the room with a grave look on his face.
That look quickly changed to shock.
His star pupil was half naked and staring blankly at his only male student, who was lying on the floor in an awkward position and turning cherry red while his other female student looked on trying to keep herself from laughing uncontrollably. This little incident, since it was not witnessed from the very start by said sensei, will provoke a little sex-Ed chat between said sensei and his only male student.
"Um. I know this looks, erm, real bad but it's not-" Takeo started, jumping away from the half naked Kumiko, who merely sighed and pulled her green t-shirt bake over her head.
"What is it Kojuro-sensei?" She asked. Kojuro was trying to ignore the fact that he had just seen more of Kumiko then he had hoped he ever would. He hastily cleared his throat.
"Ah, um…" Awkward… he thought. "Well. I have some bad news." Suddenly all three of his students were completely alert. Usually Kojuro-sensei barely converses with them unless it's very important. One time the genin squad leaders (Kojuro-sensei included even though he's Anbu) were told to inform their squads of a possible attack against the village.
He never did.
They found out after the attack from another genin squad's sensei (he was disbelieving that they weren't told).
"We have been recalled to the village."
"Wh-what! But it's the first day of the exams!" Mitsu protested. Kumiko narrowed her eyes and Kojuro braced himself for questioning. "Why? On what grounds?" Kojuro sighed as he glanced away from her catlike pupils that were changing size with subtle outrage. God they're creepy…
"Fine. Here's how it went." He caved. "Yesterday night at exactly 11:45 pm a messenger from Sunagakure arrived. He warned the council and Mizukage that they, being Sunagakure and Otogakure, were planning on attacking Konohagakure sometime during the third part of the exams. They gave us two options. Remain neutral by removing our genin from the exam or we could keep our genin in the village and join in on the attack."
"So we chose to remain neutral…" Kumiko mused to herself.
"Yes." Kojuro nodded. "I apologize you two. I wish you could participate."
"You…two?" Mitsu questioned.
"Yes unfortunately. The council realized that if ALL of our genin pulled out of the exams before they even started it would one, look bad on the village, and two, raise suspicion. If we all left Konohagakure will figure out that we knew about the attack, label us as traitors and accomplices therefore loosing what little peace we have with them. Also, the Mizukage is interested in seeing how this plays out. So they decided they would compose a team of our strongest genin to stay behind. They negotiated with the Sunagakure and Otogakure who agreed that it would raise suspicion and decided it was a good idea; however the team is not to engage in combat. That team is composed of Kumiko Hanadeka, Kyoia Satoshai and Toshi Nekonasai." Kojuro finished and had to stop himself from flinching at Takeo's extremely pissed of exclamation at the mention of 'Toshi Nekonasai' his rival.
"What! Toshi the bastard gets to stay and participate!" Kojuro-sensei groaned.
"Congrats Kumi!" Mitsu yelled jumping randomly on her. "Kumiko. You'll rendezvous with your new team in…" Kojuro checked his watch. "10 minutes for breakfast at this location." He handed her a piece of plain lined paper that had been folded neatly.
"Thanks. Bye guys…I'm sorry…" Takeo sighed but nodded and Mitsu just smiled back encouragingly. Kumiko glanced at them one last time before returning to the bathroom, making sure to lock it this time.
XXX
Kumiko emerged from the bathroom. Her team was gone. Huh, must be leaving the village when the Konoha shinobi switch their gate patrols so no one sees them. She sighed and brushed her fingers against the fate pendant that clung to her neck.
A present from Matsuro after she had spent a year here. It was something she used when she did some of her 'special' jutsu, that require her reaper energy. If it weren't for that pendant she wouldn't be able to perform most jutsu at all because she had to use it to create chakra.
"Tch…" She let air escape from between her teeth as she tied her forehead protector loosely around her neck, but tight enough that it hid her pendant. Another minor thing Matsuro hadn't mentioned was how every time she turned around she needed to fight.
Oh how she wished she was back in her 'birth dimension' as most reapers put it. Kumiko, however, like to refer to it as 'hell before lower hell before this new hell'. It made no sense to anyone else, but it did to her and that's all that matters. She glanced cautiously at her watch.
"Five minutes." She said in a blunt monotone. She stood there for a moment as 'five minutes' sunk into her brain…
"FIVE MINUTES!"
