Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 6
"It's not that hard to understand. Neither of us is a genjutsu, neither of us was a genjutsu the last time you saw us, you have been getting farther from where you saw us last, and you aren't dreaming. Daisuke told you he would help out if anyone fell behind, and he did just that."
"And just because I don't want to reveal my methods just yet doesn't mean we're lying to you. If not me, you should at least trust Tenten."
"It's not that I don't trust the two of you, it's not youthful to not trust those who are close to you. I just wish to know how you moved so far so quickly so that I might use it myself and teach it to students I have now and will have some time in the future."
Daisuke sighed as he looked off into the trees as if there was something interesting he could see. "It's not that I don't want you to know, it's that even if I told you, you'd probably be unable to do it. Hatori is very proud, and probably wouldn't like you. No offense intended, I'm just speaking my honest opinion."
Tenten, Gai, and Lee all looked at him in confusion and spoke at the same time. "Hatori?"
"Tenten, I thought you'd remember him. I understand Gai and Lee being confused, they haven't met him. He just lent us a hand, and you forgot him already?"
"You mean the bird had a name?"
"Yes, and he'd probably wish to harm you if he ever heard you insulting him like that. He doesn't like being called a 'bird', nor does he like it when people don't acknowledge him of sentience. Call him a falcon and you'll get along with him just fine."
A look of recognition flashed across Gai's face, as though he had just had a major realization. "That's how you two did it! The path one with flight takes is shorter than that of a land-based traveler such as myself. And a falcon is one of the fastest birds, so it stands to reason that you two got here before us. Daisuke, your decision to increase the speed of travel was a youthful one indeed! Might Hatori be willing to take all four of us to our destination? It would certainly save us time and..."
A fifth voice joined the conversation, this one deep and regal, yet light and airy. "That would depend on the location of your destination and what you have to offer." Gai's entire team realized the voice came from the treetops, and leapt up the branches of the trees to find who the voice belonged to.
Daisuke was the first up the tree. "Hatori, I thought you had left. What keeps you here?"
"Judging by what I had heard from your conversation with the girl, I knew you would ask for my help once more. For you, I'd take you without question. I trust the girl as well, since you seem to have put much trust in her. These other two, I don't trust quite so much. Especially not the younger one."
A surprised look came to Daisuke's face, and he stared at Hatori with wide eyes. He calmed himself down for one last statement as he climbed onto Hatori's back. "Gai, Tenten, Lee, wait here for a moment, Hatori and I have something to discuss."
Hatori took off at an astounding speed, and landed again a few hundred meters away. "What is it, Daisuke?"
"You said you don't trust the younger of my other two teammates, why is that?"
"It was a feeling I got when I first saw him."
"Explain it, if you would, I'd like to know what you think."
------------------------------------------------------
"What was that all about?"
"I have no idea, Gai-sensei."
"Why doesn't Hatori trust either of us?"
"Again, I have no idea."
"They're coming back though, I can sense Daisuke's chakra approaching. That was a fast talk."
Tenten and Gai turned in time to see Daisuke and Hatori land on the trees.
Tenten's curiosity getting the better of her, she rushed over to Daisuke while he got off Hatori's back.
"What was that all about? Were you talking about me?"
Daisuke knew she was kidding, and smiled. He saw Gai and Lee approach soon afterwards. Jokingly, he replied, "Well, of course. You're the only girl in my life right now. Who else would I talk about?"
"I figured you wouldn't have made Gai-sensei and Lee stay behind if you didn't talk about them too." Then, she became serious. "What did you two talk about?"
Avoiding the question with striking grace, Daisuke replied, "Hatori is willing to carry the four of us to our destination. Which, I might add, I still don't know."
Gai stepped forward slightly. "I'll have to tell Hatori for him to take us there, so now is the best time to tell the rest of you. Deep within the Lightning country, there is a village that had escaped the notice of the Leaf village for some time. We're to find this village and discover if it is a threat. We would normally do this with multiple teams consisting mainly of Jonin level ninja, but we could not do so without catching the attention of nearby villages."
Hatori looked to Daisuke. Daisuke nodded and Hatori spread his wings, ready to fly. "Alright. Then we'll be off shortly, everybody, get on, and try not to fall off."
Daisuke was the first onto Hatori's back, and he lent Tenten a hand as Gai and Lee found their own way up.
As soon as the whole team was ready, Hatori took off. The initial takeoff happened so quickly, it almost knocked most of the team off Hatori's back.
Gai was helping Hatori navigate, as Gai knew where they were headed, and Hatori only knew a general location. Daisuke could've sworn he heard Gai find a way to work the word 'youthful' into the conversation multiple times. Lee and Tenten were watching the ground go by. Daisuke was watching Lee carefully, but trying to make himself look lost in thought. He knew he succeeded when Tenten waved a hand in front of his eyes. "You've got to see this. We're almost over the biggest body of water I've ever seen. Maybe it's an ocean or..."
"It's just a bay. Oceans are much larger. Once we get to the other side of this bay, we'll officially be in the Lightning country."
Daisuke's statement was followed by a silence.
Eventually, Gai pointed in one direction. "The village we're looking for is in that direction. I expect we'll look like no more than any other bird from this height, so we'll have a good cover. Once we've seen the village, we'll land nearby, and work our way in. Hatori, I'm very sorry, but there really is no place for a speaking bird in any group that hopes to avoid attention. We'll all have to take off our hitai-ite before we land, we'll be incredibly suspicious if we're bearing Konoha's mark. Daisuke, upon arriving at the village, you are to create some sort of diversion, so Lee and myself will be able to get in unhindered. Make it a diversion that you can use to get in as well. Once you're in, Tenten will approach the gates, claiming to be meeting a friend. Daisuke, you'll see her, and wave. The guards will think that you're the friend she was meeting, and will let her pass. The two of you will walk away chatting happily. Lee and myself will meet up with you afterwards."
Daisuke thought about Gai's plan for a moment before making his opinion known. "Or, we could just remove our hitai-ite, and disguise ourselves as a family. The gate guards would ask us a few questions and we'd get in guaranteed."
"I like the simplicity of it. The your youthfulness has once again showed itself, Daisuke. The plan is brilliant."
Tenten motioned to Daisuke and Lee. "Does that mean I have to be their sister? I like them well enough as friends, but I don't think I'd be comfortable with them as brothers."
"It's either that, or Gai's second wife." Daisuke stated in an offhand manner.
"Sister it is. But why would I be his second wife?"
"You're younger than him by quite a bit. Even with a disguise, we can't mask that. We could say he remarried after his first wife passed away."
"Alright, so if I'm your sister, how can you explain why we were born within a year of each other?"
"We could explain that by saying I was adopted, we could say we're twins, or I could make myself look a little older and you could make yourself look younger."
"And Lee?"
"He's already a year younger. If anyone says he looks my age, I'll act indignant and take it as an insult that they would suggest that he's my age."
"One last problem. How are we going to disguise ourselves if we aren't going to use jutsu, but we don't have anything to change into?"
"We're going to be a family of eccentrics. We train everyday with Gai. Gai, Lee, you two don't really need to lie, since you actually do. Tenten and I will act as though we do. We'll be arriving from a long run, and we'll only be going into town for a rest, then we'll be moving again. That's our story. I'm seventeen, Lee, you're sixteen, Tenten, you're fifteen, and Gai, you can be in your upper thirties. Tenten, pick out a name for each of us."
"Hai. Give me a minute."
Daisuke turned to Gai. "As much as I don't want to say this, you do carry spare outfits, correct?"
Gai thought for a moment, then held out a few versions of the outfit he was wearing. Most were smaller than him, and were meant for his pupils. "I have a few spares of the standard training outfit Lee and I wear. Otherwise, no."
"Perfect. Matching outfits for an entire family. We'll really look like a bunch of oddballs."
Tenten looked at Daisuke, shocked that he would even consider that she would wear that outfit. "There's no way I'm wearing that. I'll stay behind, I'll infiltrate the village on my own, I don't care. I'm not wearing that."
Daisuke moved closer to Tenten and whispered something in her ear. She blushed, and quickly walked to Gai and took one of the outfits, then walked off into the trees. Daisuke laughed once she was no longer in sight.
Gai was thoroughly confused. "What did you say to her? I've tried multiple times to get her to try one on, but nothing has ever worked before."
"It doesn't really matter." Daisuke took an outfit from Gai. "I'll be right back." He headed off into the trees, the opposite direction from Tenten.
Some time later, Tenten returned, dressed in an outfit resembling Gai's. It was tailored specifically for her, since Gai had tried nearly everything to get her to try one. He had one made for Neji, too, but Neji was even more stubborn then Tenten.
Daisuke came back moments after Tenten. He was dressed in a spandex outfit as well. Tenten openly stared at him. He was well built, but the clothes he usually wore were baggy and hid it.
Gai couldn't help but remark on their appearances. "The both of you are looking so much more youthful! Do you now see why it is the favorite of both Lee and myself?"
Daisuke was stuffing his previous clothing into his backpack. He took off his hitai-ite and pushed it down below everything else in his backpack. The rest of his team did likewise. "Alright. That's out of the way. Tenten, what names have you come up with?"
"Why can't we keep our own?"
"Tenten, your name is an unusual one in our village, it will never go unnoticed in this one. Lee's name is too out of the ordinary as well. Gai can't keep his, or else someone might recognize him as one of Konoha's Jonin. And I have quite a reputation myself, so I can't very well keep using a name that is famous."
"Oh... Alright. Lee, you're name will be Kouki. Gai-sensei, you're name will be Masaru. My name will be Yuzuki. And Daisuke, you'll be Yuuto."
Gai was ready to leave, and after checking to make sure his three students were ready as well, he turned to leap off into the trees. Before he did, Daisuke stopped him. "We're not supposed to be shinobi. From here, we have to run, or we'll blow our cover before we start."
"I had forgotten that for a moment. Kouki, Yuzuki, Yuuto, let's move on."
After nearly half an hour, the four had arrived at the gates of the village.
The four ran to the guards and paused, looking as though they were rushed and hoping to get in as soon as possible.
A guard approached and eyed them strangely. "You're not dressed in any style I've seen around here. Where are you from?"
Daisuke was quick to speak up. "If we were here for a social visit, we might have dressed differently. As it is, we're on a run, and we're stopping through here for a small rest. Then we'll be on our way."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Gai put a hand on Daisuke's shoulder and chuckled a bit. "Pardon my boy for getting ahead of himself. We're from Kumogakure."
"Your names?"
Gai pointed to Tenten and said, "This is my youngest, Yuzuki," He pointed to Lee, "This is Kouki, the middle child," Then he pointed to Daisuke, "And this is Yuuto, my eldest. And I'm Masaru."
