Another chapter here, hope to get some reviews this time, but I expect Im writing in a niche market here, OC's and all. lol. Can anyone answer a question though for me, what does the sharingan do in regards to genjutsu? Does it let them see through it without fail?! Or let them cast it without words? So many different accounts . . .

Chapter 4

__________________________________________________________________ (refusing to allow a line here -_-")

It was almost two weeks after their graduation when team 9 interacted once more with the other teams from their year. After a rather brutal training session in which they had been ordered to assassinate an unsuspecting Kazu Yumi (which had gone badly as expected), they had decided to retire together for food. Perhaps it was their aching bodies or the faint smell of sweat they gave off, but they decided to forgo a normal restaurant and instead have some ramen from Ichariku's. Taking a small table against one wall they each ordered their food and relaxed, massaging limbs in the hopes of getting some feelings back.

"Well well well… if it isn't some more fellow rookies!" The loud boisterous voice called out from beside them. Feeling too weary to be surprised Shinji glanced up to see the smiling face of Inizuka Kiba, standing beside his team mates and also two members of team seven.

"Good afternoon Kiba-san." Ayame replied with a friendly smile, apparently surprising the otherwise incorrigible boy into looking away and blushing. Shinji nodded in greeting as well, while hiding a grin. It was impossible to be anything but kind to Ayame, she was just too genuine.

"So…" Kiba salvaged, grinning once more, "It's great to see another team passed their test. Who's your sensei?"

"Our sensei is Kazu Yumi, dog-breath. How bout you?" Hana answered, standing up and giving the young Inizuka a high-five. Shinji wasn't even surprised to find they knew each other, both had such similar personalities.

"Ugh… Manami Hana…" A disgusted voice spoke out, drawing all eyes to the pink haired girl who was looking at their tall companion with undisguised loathing. Shinji surprised himself by feeling some small anger at the girl. He was too shy to do anything however… and if there was anyone who needed protecting less…

"And you Haruno?" The tall swords-woman snarled with an irritated expression, "still chasing after your precious Uchiha you worthless excuse for a kunoichi?"

"Hey!" The blonde boy shouted angrily, stepping forward in a threatening manner towards Hana. Shinji found himself blocking the way before he could fully think his actions through. He realised his stance was probably exasperating the situation.

"This is senseless." The resident Aburame commented, though he went ignored.

"Sakura-chan is a great kunoichi! We're the strongest team!" Uzumaki shouted out in his usual loud manner, pointing at Shinji angrily, as if it were somehow his fault. Not that he felt worried, Uzumaki-san wasn't exactly skilled in tai or ninjutsu. Shinji was fairly bad in close combat, but he was confident he could disable Naruto, he had in spars in the academy in fact.

"Oh really dead-last!?" Kiba shouted out, joining the building brawl by grabbing Naruto by the collar of his jumpsuit, drawing the tanned boy close to him as he and Akamaru growled.

"This is quite a situation. Tea Hinata-chan, Shino-san?"

"Thank you Ayame-san." Shino answered, sitting in the seat Shinji had vacated and accepting the steaming drink offered to him. The Hyuuga was apparently too worried to hear her.

"Maa maa, perhaps their training needs to be increased if they have time for this." A lazy voice commented, making Naruto, Kiba and Hana shout out.

"Who asked you!?" Right before their faces paled. Shinji looked mortified also.

Though the mask covered his face one could clearly see the raised eyebrow and neutral expression of the grey-haired Jounin standing before them. Flanked on one side by Kurenai and Asuma, and Shinji's worst nightmare on his other side. Kazu Yumi.

Shit.

"You may be correct old man." Yumi spoke out, her voice dead of any emotion, Shinji felt himself shrink as her eyes looked over them. He missed the annoyed twitch of Hatake Kakashi.

"Why do we find our teams almost in battle here?" Yuhi Kurenai grated out, a faint blush on her face, perhaps from shame. Shinji tried to think of something to say before deciding it might be best to let someone else take the plunge.

"Kakashi-sensei they called Sakura-chan worthless!" Naruto shouted out angrily, his eyes squinting together in fury. The tall silver haired Jounin ran a hand through his hair as he let out a deep sigh.

"Shut up Naruto." He commanded sharply, making the blonde boy flinch back.

"We were here from the start." Kurenai commented.

"Indeed." Kakashi continued. "Sakura, you shouldn't have let your dislike of Manami-san show, you had no right to speak to her like that. Naruto, stop acting so brashly on your emotions. Would you have struck a fellow leaf nin over a dispute of words?" The two of them looked away, Sakura ashamed, though Naruto angrily, he seemed to ignore the rebuke.

"Kiba… must you always get involved in a fight?" The tall woman asked exasperatedly, the dog boy looked down sadly and Akamaru whined in apology.

"Hana. Harsh words solve nothing. Shinji…. Though I'm pleased to see you so quick to defend your team mate, I'm disappointed in your methods." The two of them looked down as well, though Shinji couldn't help but wonder that her criticisms didn't seem to suggest they not start fights in the future.

"That sounded a little unlike a dressing down." Sarutobi Asuma echoed with a small smile.

"You say something cancer-statistic?" Their sensei replied with a bored expression, making Hana and Kiba choke back laughs. Shinji couldn't stop his eyes widening as their sensei casually insulted a famous shinobi. Said famous man simply shook his head and sat down on a nearby table, the other Jounins following suit. In the end they were all sat across four tables, in a small circle, discussing recent happenings. Except for Naruto who was mostly pouring ramen down his throat in a rather disturbing manner. The young Hyuuga seemed to find this endearing for a reason Shinji would never understand. Their own sensei wasn't getting involved in any conversation, but instead seemed to be working her way to a hangover. Yumi-sensei drinks?

"I hear the Chuunin exams are taking place in a few weeks." Kurenai brought up after her bowl of ramen, "it seems so soon." The other Gennins started listening closely at this, each secretly hoping they would be allowed to compete.

"I will probably enter my team." Kakashi admitted with an eye-smile, ignoring the surprised expressions on the other Jounin's faces. His blonde student leaped into the air trying to shout in glee, though was promptly hit back down by his pink-haired teammate for spilling his ramen near her.

"I was considering it for team 10," Asuma also admitted, ignoring Kurenai's shocked expression. "I don't expect them to be promoted, but it's experience you can't gain outside of war."

"It's pathetic." Yumi replied with a quick swig of sake. "Idiots being forced to show off in front of a crowd, flashy jutsu and posturing. An empty arena also, it's not balanced at all. Tai and ninjutsu users have all the advantages." Hana raised an eyebrow at Shinji at their sensei's comment, she had sounded almost bitter.

"Except for Suiton users." Kakashi added with a laugh, referring to the lack of any water source in Konoha's final arena. "You've never liked the exams Yumi-chan, how long did it take you to advance?" If looks could have killed then Kakashi would have been carted away in a basket but as it was he simply leaned back and sweated a little. Even among Jounin Kazu Yumi was unpredictable. This wasn't the Mitarashi Anko unpredictability, you knew what to expect from her. . .

"Two times." She finally gritted out, her eyes flashing dangerously as emotion finally flooded her voice. "The first time in Kumogakure, I won the competition." There was surprised silence around the table before Hana shouted out.

"And they didn't promote you?!" Even Naruto had stopped eating to listen to them, an expression of some concern on his face.

"They claimed I hadn't shown enough skills to be promoted. I defeated my foes using stealth. I was held back because I hadn't shown off enough, despite that this is supposed to be what true shinobi never do." The angry woman took another long drink of sake before slamming the dish down, pouring more into it. Shinji began to wonder if they would need to carry their sensei home. He hadn't suspected her a heavy drinker.

"What happened the second time?" Hinata asked in a timid voice.

"I remember when she was promoted actually. She fought against me." Asuma interrupted with a grunt, ignoring Yumi's stern gaze. "It was a little strange. Aspiring stealth specialist starts a fight by kicking me into a wall and unleashing katon and raiton jutsu on me." He rubbed his head at this, as if massaging some imaginary injury.

"You beat me in the end." Yumi added with an annoyed expression.

"You weren't fighting as you would normally though." Asuma comforted, placing a hand on Yumi's head and ruffling her hair. The members of team 9 had terrified expressions on their faces as they waited for Yumi to kill them all. Perhaps it was the alcohol for she didn't make any threatening moves at all.

"Rest assured statistic, if I attack you it will be while you're asleep and you won't feel a thing." The strange thing was that she said the words in a voice that could only be called jovial. Even as the smoking man carefully removed his hand with a somewhat cautious expression.

"I don't understand sensei!" Naruto shouted out, earning a baleful glare from the woman descending into drunkenness. "You're ninjutsu, Kurenai is genjutsu and Asuma is taijutsu. Yumi is stealth? That's not a jutsu."

"Maa Naruto. Yumi-chan is an assassination specialist." There was silence around the table as they all considered his words. Shinji's eyes met Ayame's and then Hana's as they all came to the same conclusion. An assassin specialist? Probably ANBU at one point, a lot of things were suddenly making sense now.

"So what cool jutsu does she use!?" He asked with a confuse expression on his face.

"There is more to being a shinobi than jutsu Naruto." Kakashi responded, casually ignoring Yumi's muttered "coming from you old man?" "Yumi-chan's skills lay in infiltration and elimination. I'm sure she knows many ninjutsu, but probably won't use them unless she's already been discovered."

"Old man, how do you know so much about meee?" Yumi slurred, taking another long drink of sake immediately after her words. The young Gennin all turned to look at Shinji and the two girls, who blushed at their Sensei's unusual behaviour.

"… Despite that we all hang out together and go on missions together . . . You're in the bingo book Yumi…" Kurenai answered for Kakashi, a small sweatdrop on her forehead, though she was used to dealing with her close friend Anko.

"What!?" Yumi shouted outraged, causing many other people to look at them. "Who the hell did I leave alive!? I'll kill them!" There were more sweatdrops around the tables as everyone watched the woman stagger to her feet and sway for a little, before apparently deciding the effort wasn't worth it, and sinking back down.

"Someone must have spotted you Yumi-chan. You've been listed as an A-rank shinobi for two years now."

"A-rank!?" Kiba shouted out in a surprised voice, mirroring the thoughts of many of the Gennin.

"Ignore that." Yumi grunted out. "The ranking system's worthless. More than half the Jounin in any village are A-rank, and every sensei is." She tried to take another drink before noticing that it was empty. "There's a whole wealth of skills in A-rank. The old man here is high A-rank, I'm low A-rank. Same letter, but he would crush me every time. No challenge." There was some silence before Kakashi spoke.

"As Yumi-chan says. The ranking system is a little useless. It's only of any use when you know someone is ranked above you, running is your only choice."

"But we beat Zabuza-teme!!" Naruto shouted suddenly, catching the attention of the Jounin in the room, as Kakashi sighed.

"Zabuza?" Asuma enquired with a frown, "Momochi Zabuza? A-ranked missing nin!? When did you face him?" All eyes turned to Naruto as he answered.

"We had a C-rank mission that went A-rank, but we managed to beat Zabuza and save wave country from Gato. We were amazing." He was quietened as Kakashi's hand clamped down on his head, closing his mouth for him.

"We were lucky." He answered the others, "It was their idea to continue the mission after that."

"A C-rank?" Yumi muttered quietly.

"But surely you should have cancelled the mission if the man lied to you!?" Kurenai pressed, making Kakashi squirm.

"I didn't expect someone of his calibre, I would have been able to handle most Jounin. My bad I know, I've been lectured by Hokage-sama." He did look a little embarrassed at his choice, though from the sounds of it, everything turned out for the better in the end.

"A C-rank??"

"How did the Gennin perform under the pressure?" Asuma asked, stroking his beard. Naruto started boasting to Kiba and Hinata but most people watched Kakashi for his answer.

"They worked together well, they learned tree-walking there too." He looked proud, though Shinji noted that they had mastered tree walking a few days ago as well, they had soon been told to move onto water walking

"A C-RANK!?" Yumi shouted, suddenly grabbing everyone's attention as she shot to her feet a Kunai in hand. "I'll kill him! He won't escape me!" Everyone watched with shock as she began to walk away from them, kunai in hand. Shinji bit back a wince at the sound her body colliding with the floor made.

"Hmmm…. I wondered when that would happen." The grey haired man spoke, walking up to her and bending down to pick her up. "I will take her home. Goodnight all." He gave a quick eye smile to them before vanishing in a puff of smoke, taking their sensei with him.

"Asuma-san." Shinji asked quickly, "Will Yumi-sensei be okay with him?" He had no reason not to trust the well known Jounin, but one could not be sure.

"Relax Karoshima-kun." The man answered between puffs of smoke. "They go back a way. Despite the teasing they're pretty close."

"Dude." Kiba grabbed Shinji's attention, "Your sensei is weird." Shinji nodded in agreement even as his cheeks coloured. He simply could not believe Yumi-sensei had embarrassed them like that before their peers. Could barely believe she would do that anyway! She seemed a lot more . . . calm, or stern, than to get drunk.

"I'd get some rest were I you," Kurenai said to team 9, "Knowing Yumi, tomorrow you will be going on a C-rank…. For all our sakes I hope you do anyway…"

"Team 9 under Kazu Yumi respectfully requests a C-rank mission Hokage-sama." The tall woman intoned with a wave of her hand. Her three Gennin stood aligned behind her, not wishing to interrupt the conversation before them. Their sensei was in a foul mood today, though they all knew why.

"Now Yumi, let us discuss this reasonably." The elderly Hokage soothed, taking the pipe from his lips. "Do you truly believe they are ready for such a mission? You know what a C-rank can entail…"

"I do, Hokage-sama, they will not grow unless they are allowed combat experience. D-ranks are intended to foster teamwork, which my team has perfected to a far greater degree than any others. Particularly team 7, yet they were granted such a mission." Despite the respectful tone and words, there was obvious reproach in her voice, and this would have surprised Shinji. Except that he was slowly becoming used to her breaking his expectations.

"My apologies Yumi-san, there are politics involved in team 7." This didn't appear to please their teacher, though it intrigued her three charges. Politics in team 7? Perhaps referring to the last Uchiha and the blatant favouritism he received from the council and shinobi alike. It was something his clan complained about regularly. To little avail.

"A C-rank, please." She answered. The team didn't really know what to think of the situation. They all hated the D-ranks, they were a waste of time and seemed to do nothing but annoy them all and disrupt their training.

"Very well Yumi." The man picked up a few scrolls, quickly reading through them and apparently looking for something in particular. "Here is one that should be suited to your team's speciality." The old man commented, throwing the scroll at their sensei. She opened it and began reading, even as the Sandaime continued. "A small group of bandits has taken residence outside a nearby town in Hi no Kuni. They are ambushing merchants bringing food into that village and thus putting it under siege. You are to infiltrate the camp, learn of their numbers and if possible what has caused them to become active recently. If you think it possible you are to demoralise and scatter the bandits, at no risk to yourselves. If the situation is beyond the group report back and ANBU will be dispatched."

"We accept this mission Hokage-sama, we will end the threat they present to the village." Yumi responded with a bow.

"Only at no risk to your team Yumi."

"There will be no risk to my team Hokage-Sama."

They left the village only an hour after that meeting, Yumi giving strict instructions on what they were to bring. All held storage seals containing their sleeping equipment as well as survival gear. Only Shinji and Yumi could create the seals, her from experience, and he from his family's training in explosive tags and simple seals. Once they were created they could be used by anyone. Hana and Ayame were instructed to learn to create them in their own time as well.

Locating the bandit camp had been quite simple. They were either foolish or arrogant, to not move from where they ambushed the merchants. Using what stealth skills they had learned from Yumi the four of them circled the fortification, inspecting it from all angles. A rough palisade wall surrounded the enclosure, which was little more than tents and campfires. In the centre lay a single wooden building, two stories tall and not unlike an inn. All in all there looked to be as few as fifteen bandits, maybe twenty.

They gathered in a small clearing outside voice range of the bandit camp, the three of them crouching before their sensei with barely disguised nervousness and excitement. Shinji was partly frightened, and yet at the same time, he was desperate to test himself, and see how far he had come.

"Team." Yumi began with a serious voice, earning nods from them all. "We will defeat these bandits and make sure they cannot cause problems for people again. I have a strategy already made, but I want each of you to provide one to me now for possible future use." Despite himself Shinji smiled, feeling that he was beginning to understand their sensei somewhat, these tests of hers were regular.

"We could have Ayame henge herself as a merchant and take the road." Shinji began. "When she is captured and taken to the enemy leader she will be in a perfect central location to use a wide scale genjutsu. From there we could break into the main building unnoticed and set explosives. What wouldn't be killed could easily be rounded up once the flames die down." It was what had come first to his mind, Ayame would surely be able to protect herself against simple bandits.

"Or…" Hana began, "We could have Ayame cast a sleep genjutsu across the camp and sneak in through the gates, from there we could have Shinji drip some blood on each tent as we make our way to the main building, get the information, set up some bombs, get out. Then watch it all go up." Yumi nodded to her though Shinji's face was a little pale. He would have enough blood for all that, but he would be feeling a little sick afterwards maybe. Each tent would require a decent sized covering to be fatal."

"Alternatively we could poison their food and water supplies and watch them die." That coming from Ayame was a little worrying, but he supposed it was a valid plan.

"Very good. However I am going to factor our state of mind into this. I want each you to kill someone in this mission." This was greeted by a round of silence which seemed to stretch out. "I'm not trying to be cruel to you. This is one of the easiest missions we will have, and I don't want you freezing up later in your career. I want to enter you in the upcoming Chuunin exams, but I need to know you can handle that. Understood?"

Shinji looked at Hana and Ayame, who looked back at him before they each nodded. Yumi-sensei was telling the truth, they would all have to kill sooner or later as Shinobi. Why not start early? When there wasn't a great deal of risk.

"We will start by having Ayame cast a double layered genjutsu on the area, the first to simulate the sounds of rain. The second to blanket the area in a thick Kirigakure no jutsu. The knowledge of the rain will offer a plausible reason for the mist, and alleviate suspicion, as well as cover our sounds. When the mist hits, Shinji will blow a hole in the north wall of the compound, before entering the grounds and hiding himself in the confusion. Hana, this is your cue to kill the gate guards and enter the area, you will secure the gates, which Ayame will hide on top of. From there Ayame will offer kunai support as well as use targeted genjutsu to protect your team mates. Shinji I want as much complete destruction from you as humanly possible, don't let them gain their feet. They should flee towards Hana and Ayame who are to kill them. We enter the main building together when the grounds are cleared. Any questions?"

There weren't any. Her plan though dramatic and loud, would force each of them into combat situations.

The rain began to fall a few minutes later.

Manami Hana waited patiently for her cue to strike. The weak gates that stood before her were closed but had a poorly armed guard stood on each side, guarding it. The rain had continued for a few minutes now, and the first signs of fog were beginning to roll in, sweeping between the trees. Hana had to commend her teammate, there was no indication of unnatural play with her illusion. Probably because of the rain beforehand, as Yumi had instructed. In the close packed forests of Hi no Kuni, sudden rainfall, and deep fog, weren't uncommon.

She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about killing, but knew it had to be done if she were to advance. She couldn't be a shinobi who refused to kill, that was a ridiculous ideal. Instead she was steeling herself by watching the two guards, imagining what evils they may have committed, and just what movements she would make when she dispatched them. Praying she wouldn't hesitate when the time came.

The explosion came sooner than she expected, a sheet of flame roaring up into the sky with more power than she ever imagined. She guessed that was what a demolitions nin could truly achieve outside sparring. The vibrations through the earth startled her into action. Before she could fully understand what she was doing she was before the first guard, slashing her katana across his throat in a gruesome display. Before he even began to fall she was before the second guard, impaling him through the throat whilst covering his mouth with her gloved hand, preventing his scream from alerting anyone. A moment later she was atop the wooden gate, slicing the throat of a man who was asleep at the operating wheel before giving a short bird's whistle. There was a quiet tap as her small friend landed beside her, crouched on one knee with her hand pressed against the floor. In the light caused by the explosions, her eyes seemed to be sparkling a yellow colour, much like she assumed her own were.

"Ready Ayame?" Hana whispered, adrenaline pumping through her body so much that she was shivering. This killing wasn't nearly as hard as she had expected, it was almost enough to make her laugh in fact. The small girl nodded, drawing a brace of kunai before throwing it into the crowd, the muffled sounds of screams being cut off by the sounds of more explosions. Holding her sword vertically before her Hana let herself fall off the gate towards the ground, aiming to cut off three men running towards freedom. They paused as her feet impacted the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Not a chance." She spoke out, before lunging forwards, her katana gleaming in the moonlight.

The screams were weak in his ears as he made his way forwards, his hearing already muffled by the loud explosions and the vibrations having damaged his ear drums. Pumping small amounts of chakra to them as he was trained he was rewarded with the world coming into a little more focus, though still not normal. His foes here would not be skilled, so he could afford to be a little adventurous. Drawing his knife he quickly cut deeply into both his palms, feeling the blood flowing freely from the skin as people ran towards him. This was arrogant of him, he knew. But he was effectively fighting academy students. Plus he wanted to try his hand at his father's personal taijutsu style.

The first man lunged at him with a sharp knife, he deflected the blow with his hands, running them down the man's arm as he tossed him to the side. Immediately he ducked the sweep of a curved sword, hammering a palm into the man's solar plexus before kicking his feet out from under the man. The final man's strike missed easily in the confusion, letting Shinji in close where he placed his hands on the man's shoulders before rolling backwards and kicking him away. Grinning a little in pride at his efforts Shinji turned to face the four men who were climbing to their feet and collecting their weapons, turning to him once more.

Reaching his hand forward Shinji smirked as he clicked his fingers mockingly. Smiling as he saw the bloody handprints spread across the men begin to glow blue.

"Kai."

Like a commander watching over a battle Kazu Yumi stood upon the main building of the compound, shrouded in her own concealing genjutsu. Her students were performing admirably, and each had made their kills. An unfair task to ask of Ayame, who would almost always act in a support role in the future, and rarely have to kill directly, but at least now she knew she could. Expanding her senses she searched for any foreign chakra nearby, determined to intercept any combatants beyond normal that might threaten her team. There were none.

She smiled grimly as the last of the men fell.

Ayame frowned to herself as she tracked Hana's movements, praying that Shinji wouldn't come to harm while he was separated from them. Another two attackers were falling upon Hana, and Ayame clicked her teeth in annoyance. Using a wide area genjutsu like these was taxing on her reserves, she knew she would lose control of the rain soon. Luckily it had served its task, and Kirigakure no jutsu was continuous, the mist was real, so required no chakra input. A strong breeze would blow it away, and it would slowly dissipate, but for now it was enough.

Forcing a little chakra into her hands she flashed through some seals as fast as she could, before pointing at the two men. The two of them swayed and stumbled to their knees before Hana, one rolling away in self-preservation, though the other was dispatched by her teammate who was striking like a scorpion. Ayame was determined to keep her safe, for the both of them. Focusing her attention on the last man she focused her chakra around his body, watching as he collapsed to the floor clawing at his body. It took more chakra to cast a genjutsu that she did not create herself, such as one that would draw on the victim's own fears. They tended to be much more difficult to dispel however, as the victim's fears could panic them even into death. The man's still body attested to that same fate.

Hana span on the spot as two more men ran towards her, unarmed and seemingly in panic. Cursing her heavy and aching muscles she drew her blade once more and prepared to cut through some more bandits. Such an action proved unneeded however as both men gasped in agony before pitching forwards. Hana noticed large holes in both of their backs and blood spread flowing behind them. Following the trail she spotted Shinji walking towards them, blood dripping from both his hand that were dangling at his sides.

"Hey." The young boy shrugged, his face fairly calm despite both the destruction around them and the pain he must have been feeling in his hands. Judging from the blood the wounds were serious, and considering the state of his enemies, self-inflicted.

"Time to collect the Intel?" Ayame asked as she landed beside them, carefully taking Shinji's hands and beginning to wrap bandages around them. The boy offered her a smile in thanks as he let her work on them. Hana found the scene distasteful, but then what did she know about his family jutsu? There must be a good reason he had to cut himself up like that.

"There won't be any need for that. Well done." Their sensei spoke, appearing before them all for once. She took a look at each of them, noting their expressions and their actions. A smile came over her face. "I'm proud of you all, I collected the Intel while you cleaned shop around here. How is everyone coping?" The question was a strange one Hana felt, though she did feel a little cold and clammy. She was shaking a little too.

Shinji watched with worry as Hana fell to one knee, shaking and looking at the floor around her in some discomfort. Clearly the blood had gotten to her at last, the sight of it, and with so much spilled, the smell. Shinji was no stranger to blood and its smell, not with his family he wasn't. The others didn't have that . . . advantage . . . though. Though I would give it up in a moment . . .

"We killed them all." Hana whispered though they all caught it. Shinji looked away in discomfort at her words and scratched at his arm. He wasn't really bothered … after all… Retching interrupted his thoughts as the small girl beside him emptied her stomach on the dirty floor, clutching her stomach and falling to her knees as she threw up.

"Shinji." Yumi interrupted, catching his attention. "I will talk to them both as we head back to Konoha. You don't seem bothered, will you be okay?" He nodded in response to her question, knowing he would not break down like they had. "Promise me if you feel bad you will tell me." She pressed, to which he nodded once more. It wouldn't be an issue though. It wasn't that Shinji felt himself above those he had killed, nor that he was emotionless.

He had experienced the talk before however.

He had already killed.

Just to clear up, this may have made them seem overpowered but that is a part of the story. After all they have been fighting bandits here, whom, to ninja, must seem like children. Frightened, tired, just-awakened bandits, would be even worse. More a need to introduce Yumi's past a little and show their abilities in combat. I'm a big fan of the shinobi world drawn in the manga, but think it is handled terribly! Too many ninja with one or two moves fighting on in obvious manners, no sneak attacks, or anything!

Review please.