Chapter Nine

1

The conjoined squads, which consisted of Keiji, Yasuo, Kurizu, Ichiro, Azumi, Yutaka, and Takeshi, all returned to the Hidden Leaf Village the day after they successfully transported the two caravans to the smaller village which had been raided by bandits. As it turned out, the village had been raided by a small group, one in which all of the members had bladed weapons protruding from their bodies. The man who had appeared to be the leader had bandages covering his entire face. These matched the descriptions of the bandits who Keiji and the team had encountered on their trip. Yasuo and Keiji had both taken down the leader, who had happened to also be Yasuo's father, so the bandits probably no longer posed a threat to the smaller village.

Takeshi had performed some quick healing on Yasuo, Keiji, and Yutaka when they escorted the caravans to the smaller village. They were the ones who had been the most injured during this entire ordeal. Yutaka's injuries were probably the most severe, Yasuo's injuries following right behind Yutaka's, and Keiji's being placed last in seriousness. Yutaka had been impaled with a sword in the chest, but his jutsu had prevented him from feeling any of the pain. Takeshi didn't know this. No one except for Azumi, Ichiro, and Yutaka's family knew about the technique. It was a forbidden technique, so it was best that it was kept a secret from as many people as possible that Yutaka knew the technique.

Once they got back to the Hidden Leaf Village, Takeshi had Yasuo and Yutaka get checked up on at a hospital, just in case there was any internal damage done to them that Takeshi was unable to heal or notice.

Kurizu had been concerned about his friends and what had happened to put them in this state. He and Ichiro had to stay behind to help Takeshi guard the caravans in case any more enemies showed up to attack it. Kurizu had no idea that the man with the bandaged face, Zaku Arai, was Yasuo's father. He had no idea about anything that had gone on. Kurizu decided that while Yasuo was incapacitated, he would resume his Medical Shinobi training under Takeshi.

Takeshi didn't have too great of an understanding of everything, either. Keiji had told the both of them that he and Yasuo found the bandaged man and beat him up, but Takeshi suspected that there was more to it. Yasuo seemed to be a lot more different after the ordeal and Takeshi had picked up on it easily. He was almost positive that something more had gone down than what Keiji had told him.

Upon returning to the village, Takeshi mostly spent his time either training Kurizu, checking on Yasuo's condition, or going about his normal day. During the course of all of this, there were a few things on his mind. For one, the Chuunin Exams were coming up and Takeshi wasn't entirely sure that his squad would be ready for them when the time came to test them for it. Keiji was way too reckless and Yasuo, during the most recent incident with his father, let his emotions guide his actions. What's more, Keiji clearly has some kind of latent power that he pretty much relies on. That kind of thing would cause a definite stir, especially if Keiji was unable to control the power completely. There was the chance that Keiji might accidentally kill some of the other participants if he unintentionally let his power go wild.

The other thing that was on Takeshi's mind for most of the time involved how he would prepare them for the Chuunin Exams. He knew that he would have to do something a bit extreme to force the lessons into the boys, but determining what he could do was complicated.

Azumi, upon returning to the village, decided to do a little research. At Zaku's base of operations, Azumi had gotten her hands on a sheet of paper which linked Zaku Arai to an organization called Joka. Mostly out of curiosity, Azumi wanted to find out what Joka was and how Zaku Arai was affiliated with them.

On the day that Yasuo had gotten hospitalized, Keiji had gone and visited him. The two of them talked for a decent amount of time, a part of the conversation mostly being Yasuo complaining about the situation that he was in. They avoided talking about anything that was too serious and instead talked about other topics regarding a variety of different things. Keiji had to leave at about 6PM, which was only a few hours after he had gotten there.

After Keiji had left the hospital on the first day, he proceeded to do some solitary training out in the Third Training Grounds. He trained under the influence of the Juubi's chakra, using the chakra to manipulate his Suiton techniques in different ways. He found that he was able to freely manipulate his initial Suiton technique in whichever way that he wanted to. He could make the water sphere form into a spiked water sphere, he could make the sphere expand, he could alter the density or the temperature of the water, and he could completely change the shape of the water sphere if he wanted to. The Juubi's chakra allowed him to create any number of new techniques branched directly off of his initial technique, Suiton: Todoroku Nami. The amount of chakra that gets consumed varies depending on the strength of the technique created.

Keiji's body is not able to withstand more than one tail's worth of the Juubi's chakra at a time, at the moment. Any more than that could cause his body to deteriorate from the sheer power of the chakra. This drastically limits how far he can take manipulating his jutsu, as making it too powerful or too different would require more chakra than he can access.

The Juubi explained all of this to Keiji during the solitary training. It had noticed the effects that using its chakra was having on Keiji's body. Keiji himself had noticed that he had gained a single black streak in his hair since the first time he used the Juubi's chakra. Apparently, according to the Juubi, the chakra is actually dangerous to use, which is something that it had no way of knowing until observing Keiji under the influence of its chakra.

If you use too much of the chakra at one time, it causes your body to gradually deteriorate. I've noticed signs of this from inside of your body... It has been happening less and less often, however, the more you use the chakra. My guess is that your body can build up a tolerance to the chakra, so you can withstand using more of my chakra at one time. The Juubi had communicated to Keiji mentally after the solitary training. I think that the chakra can also corrupt you... You were a different person before your first unintentional use of my chakra... You were confident in your own abilities, sure that you could take down any opponent on your own. Now, you're heavily dependent on a power that is not your own.

Keiji had not noticed that anything regarding his personality or attitude had changed from the use of the Juubi's chakra. He didn't entirely care about a physical change as minor as a black streak in his hair, nor did he care if his personality changed slightly. He knew that the Juubi was right, though.

Juubi. I'm not gonna let your chakra ruin me. You don't have to worry about me. Keiji thought.

Just make sure you know that I won't always be with you to lend you my chakra. Once I gather enough strength to exist in the world outside of your body, I will leave. If you rely on my chakra too much-

Yeah, yeah, I get it. Keiji thought, crossing his arms as he communicated this to the Juubi. The Juubi remained silent after that and Keiji proceeded to head home. He fell asleep within an hour after he got home and he woke up the next day early in the morning.

The first thing that he did after getting all ready was visit Yasuo in the hospital. Even Keiji knew that Yasuo shouldn't be that badly injured, so his visiting was mainly done because he knew that Yasuo would get very bored. When he got to the hospital to visit Yasuo, they talked for most of the few hours that Keiji stayed. Yasuo told Keiji that he would probably be let out of the hospital tomorrow and that he should probably tell Takeshi-sensei and Kurizu.

Keiji hadn't spoken to either Takeshi-sensei or Kurizu much since they returned to the village. After leaving the hospital for the day, Keiji went to go tell Takeshi and Kurizu about Yasuo's upcoming release from the hospital. He found Takeshi and Kurizu almost as soon as he left the hospital. Takeshi and Kurizu were both walking towards the front doors while Keiji was exiting the hospital. Apparently, Kurizu was spending these days training under Takeshi. They were on their way to the hospital not to visit Yasuo, but to observe several different kinds of medical procedures. Regardless, Keiji passed along Yasuo's message to the two of them and proceeded to head home.

When he returned home, Keiji helped his dad with work around the house for the next few hours. After the work was finished, Keiji went straight to bed. He fell asleep thinking about the conversation he had with the Juubi the previous day. The next day, as Keiji was on his way to the hospital to visit Yasuo for the last time, Azumi intercepted Keiji.

2

There were six figures in a dimly lit room. The room contained a couch, a table that was directly in front of the couch, a counter with a sink, a refrigerator, and several chairs. Two figures were sitting on the couch, three figures were sitting in the single chairs that were scattered around the room, one figure was by the refrigerator pouring a drink into a glass, and one figure was by the only door in the room.

"That's an interesting report. Apparently, the Hidden Leaf Village has two Jinchuuriki instead of one. Not knowing this before we executed our plan might have complicated things. Who are the Jinchuuriki in the Leaf, Cobra?" the man by the door asked. He was looking at the figure standing by the refrigerator.

The figure who had been referred to as Cobra had shoulderlength dark red hair, black eyes, and wore an entirely white outfit with a blue design on the back of the shirt. He took a single sip from the glass in his hand before responding.

"I watched the entire ordeal between the kids and Zagi from the shadows. One of the Jinchuuriki is a twelve year old girl named Midori Sarutobi. She is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and is primarily a clone user, just like all of the hosts before her were. During the fight with Zagi, she had made contact with the Kyuubi for, what I'm assuming is, the first time." Cobra explained, moving over to the couch. He motioned with a hand for one of the two figures sitting on the couch to move over. When they moved over, Cobra proceeded to sit down. He placed the glass on the table before him and let out a sigh. "The other Jinchuuriki is a white haired boy named Keiji Jakunen. He fights using a kusarigama and, as far as I can tell, knows at least one Suiton technique. He is the new tenth Jinchuuriki. I have no idea what Bijuu he is the host of."

The entire room was quiet after this information had been spoken. The man by the door spoke up and broke the silence.

"They're both kids. As long as we initiate the plan at the proper time, this tenth Jinchuuriki should not be able to get in our way."

"Speaking of the plan, Wrath... How is it coming along?"

The man by the door let out a small chuckle and turned away from the group, now facing the doorway. Wrath wore a gray cloak with the hood up and had a strange mask that concealed his entire face. The details of the mask couldn't be seen with the dim lighting in the room. He wore a plain white long sleeved shirt underneath the cloak and a pair of matching white pants.

"It's coming along well. In just a few short months, we'll be able to launch the attack." Wrath said. "Zero. How is your training going?"

There was a boy, probably fourteen or fifteen years old, sitting in one of the single chairs in the room. He had short blond hair and wore an outfit similar to Cobra's. There were purple markings on the boy's arms and neck.

"Really well. I'm really starting to get the hang of controlling my power." the boy, Zero, said with a grin. Most of the other members in the room let out a sigh as the kid spoke.

"Wrath. I don't understand why you let a kid join our organization. We haven't even seen what this kid can do... You're the only one w-" a woman sitting on the couch started to say.

"Zero was accepted into the organization because he possesses a unique ability that can support our cause. I merely helped awaken his ability. You'll all get to see what Zero is capable of once his training is complete." Wrath explained before the woman could finish speaking. "I'm going to head back to the Hidden Cloud. There's still much that needs to be done before we can execute our plan. Cobra... You're in charge until I get back."

Wrath proceeded to walk through the doorway that he was facing and left the group with his final order.

3

"Azumi?" Keiji asked, looking at the female Uchiha who now stood in his way. He had been walking alongside the road leading to the hospital when Azumi had stopped him. She looked slightly concerned. Considering how she had taken it upon herself to seek out Keiji, it had to have been important. "What's up?"

Azumi was panting a bit. She probably caught sight of him down the road and had to run to catch up with him.

"I did some research on Zaku Arai and the organization Joka... the information that was on the sheet of paper I found at the underground hideout..." Azumi began. "I found out some interesting things... I was going to tell Arai himself, but... he made it clear that he wasn't interested in learning anything more about the man. I thought I'd tell you instead..."

Keiji was amazed that Azumi had managed to find some answers in the few days since that incident. Keiji told Azumi that it was alright if she shared the information with him, as long as she could do it while they walked. Azumi agreed to Keiji's terms and pulled a scroll out of the beige pouch on her waist. She opened the scroll and started to read the contents to Keiji. She looked up at Keiji, realizing that she should probably explain to him how she came across this information first.

"I asked the Hokage about Zaku Arai, saying that my sensei needed some information on him regarding this recent incident we had with him... The Hokage provided me with a journal that had been procured when they raided Zaku's base about a decade back. I read the journal and found several instances where the name Joka showed up..." Azumi explained. "Apparently, two men who went by the names Cobra and Rage made contact with Zaku and offered him a proposal. They apparently knew about Zaku's research regarding human weaponry and thought that Zaku might make a good addition to their organization. The two men explained their goal to Zaku and offered him a great deal of funding for his research in exchange for his service. Something about their goal intrigued Zaku... He didn't care much for the money. This is where it gets interesting..."

The two Genin walked side by side as Azumi explained her findings to Keiji. Keiji didn't find most of what Azumi was talking about to be very interesting, but he thought it'd be best to stick it out till the end, just in case she brought up something important.

"In the last of the pages of the journal, Zaku talks about Joka's goal. They wanted to hunt down the Jinchuuriki." Azumi said, drawing Keiji's attention almost immediately.

"They were after the Jinchuuriki?" Keiji asked, thinking about Midori. There were probably Jinchuuriki at the time that were around Midori's age, or slightly older. That means that they would have been okay with killing a kid. "Wait... Zaku was a power fiend. He wanted to make the perfect weaponized human, right? What if he only went along with them because he thought that-"

"-he'd be able to steal the Bijuu from the Jinchuuriki? Yup. That's exactly it. Then he saw the power that the other members of the organization had and he chickened out. He knew that he wouldn't be able to steal anything from them, so he left the organization and went into hiding. Joka wanted to eliminate all of the Jinchuuriki about ten years ago, more or less. Do you think they could still be a threat today?"

Keiji stopped walking, Azumi stopping beside him. Keiji seemed to give everything that Azumi said some thought before shaking his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. If they've been around for ten years, why would they wait so long before making their move?" Keiji asked with a smirk. "Besides, if they ever do show up to hunt Midori down, I'll be sure to kick all of their asses."

Azumi chuckled a bit at Keiji's remark and then looked at him. "Speaking of which, both you and Arai interest me... In the Chuunin Exams, in a few months... I'm hoping that I get to fight one of you."

"I have been wondering how your Sharingan would do up against my power!" Keiji said with a laugh. "If we do fight during those exams, I won't hold back. I'll expect you to do the same." He held out his fist before Azumi. Azumi nodded and bumped her fist against his. Their conversation ended pretty much after the fist bump and Azumi went her own way, leaving Keiji to continue on to the hospital.

When Keiji reached the hospital, he found Yasuo standing right by the front doors. Apparently, he had already been released and had been waiting for Keiji to show up.

"You're out already? Perfect!" Keiji said, bumping fists with Yasuo.

"Just got released maybe ten minutes ago, too, so your timing wasn't too bad. Let's go and get some food. Your treat." Yasuo said with a smirk, walking past Keiji. Keiji laughed and walked after Yasuo.

The two boys walked down the streets without saying much to each other. The thought of food consumed their attention and they both knew of the perfect place to go and eat, too. They both came to a stop in front of a restaurant which has been around for many, many years.

"Ichiraku." Keiji thought out loud, his voice borderline trembling with excitement. Ichiraku used to be a much smaller establishment. Once Naruto had become Hokage, the ramen shop had undergone a complete transformation. To this day, Ichiraku is a full blown restaurant, complete with tables, booths, menus, music, and servers. Even though the restaurant still mainly specializes in ramen, it is still a very popular place to eat.

Keiji and Yasuo both walked through the entrance to the restaurant and stopped in front of what appeared to be a podium. A woman was standing behind the podium, designated with the task of seating customers.

"Just the two of you?" the woman asked. Keiji nodded and the woman seemed to write something down on a sheet of paper that was on the podium. "I'll take you two to your table." The woman proceeded to turn around and started walking.

Keiji and Yasuo followed behind the woman. They both noticed that the restaurant wasn't as busy as it usually was today. Just under half of the tables and booths were taken. It was a bit surprising, but it only benefited Keiji and Yasuo. This would make it easier for them to get seated.

The woman led Keiji and Yasuo to a booth towards the back of the restaurant. The booth was made to seat a maximum of four people. The seats were a dark blue and the table was the same color. There was a spiral design on the center of the table that seemed to slightly resemble a whirlpool.

Keiji and Yasuo both sat across from one another. The woman placed two menus on the table, one in front of each boy, and proceeded to walk away after telling them that their server would be right with them. A different woman showed up a few minutes later and asked them what drinks they wanted. Keiji asked for a simple glass of water and Yasuo ordered a tea. The woman wrote down their drink orders on a pad, even though they were extremely simple, and proceeded to walk away.

Keiji and Yasuo started to flip through their own menus. There was a large variety of ramen and other sides which took up three of the four pages in the menu. The fourth, and last, page had several deserts listed on it. Keiji and Yasuo both decided on what they wanted to eat and when their server came back with their drinks, they ordered.

"What's Kurizu doing? It would've been cool if the three of us had gone out to eat together." Yasuo said after the server gathered their menus and walked away.

"He's been training with Takeshi-sensei so much, lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was doing that right now. He's been really dedicated to getting stronger." Keiji said, taking a gulp of the iced water.

"You think he's training to become a medic?" Yasuo asked, slightly surprised by this. He and Keiji had both known that Kurizu had been training privately with Takeshi. Neither of them had really thought that Kurizu might have been training to become a Medical Shinobi. For all they knew, Takeshi could have been just teaching Kurizu some combat skills. "If he is, then that will be really good. Me and you... we're both the fighters of this team. We fight in different ways, me more tactical and you more powerfully... We definitely need someone other than Takeshi-sensei to support us. I wonder how much progress he's made."

Keiji shrugged his shoulders and laughed a bit. "If he's anything like us, I bet he's already surpassed Takeshi-sensei." Keiji said, the laugh being extended a bit. Yasuo was already exceptional for a Genin due to years and years of training and Keiji was powerful because he had the Juubi sealed within him. They were both probably some of the strongest Genin that had graduated from the Academy this year.

The server came back to the table carrying a tray with two bowls of ramen on it. She placed one bowl in front of Keiji and the other bowl in front of Yasuo. She then reached into one of her pockets and pulled out two sets of chopsticks, placing one in front of each boy, as well.

"Enjoy your meal." the server said in a pseudo-cheery tone. Yasuo and Keiji both nodded and thanked the woman before she walked away. They grabbed their respective sets of chopsticks and split them apart, simultaneously saying "Itadakimasu" as they did this. Promptly after, they began to eat their ramen.

They still talked between mouthfuls of noodle and broth. By the time they had finished the ramen, Keiji had completely forgotten about his conversation with Azumi before he had met up with Yasuo. He had considered sharing the information with Yasuo, whether he wanted to hear it or not, but he got caught up in the food and the conversation and had completely forgotten about Joka and Azumi's research.

The server came back to the table and took the empty bowls, leaving behind a bill in place of them. Keiji reached into a pocket and pulled out enough money to pay for both bowls of ramen and leave a sizable tip for the waitress. He left the money on the table and both boys proceeded to leave the restaurant.

4

Keiji and Yasuo met up with Kurizu and Takeshi the following morning, meeting them at the bench by the village gates. Kurizu and Takeshi spent a decent amount of time checking up on Yasuo, expressing their concern and relief for his well being. Yasuo didn't even understand why they had worried so much. He had only had slight internal damage. It wasn't something that warranted the worry or concern that they were giving him.

After the group had finished checking up on Yasuo, Takeshi started to talk about some slightly more serious things.

"The Chuunin Exams are a few months away and I don't feel that you three are ready for them yet, regardless of your own personal strengths. You still need some more training if you want to even be able to partake in the exams." he explained. "During these next three months, we're going to be going on a lot of missions and I'm going to be training you three in one specific area: Teamwork. You need to be able to depend on one another if you're going to survive in the shinobi world."

The trio didn't argue with this point that Takeshi had made. They all knew that he was right. Keiji and Yasuo were both powerful on their own. They always tried to fight enemies on their own. The only times in which they had actually worked together were during their fight with Takeshi himself and during their fight with Yasuo's dad. Teamwork was definitely an area in which they needed to improve.

"I've already got missions lined up for us for the next few days, so I want you three to use this day to prepare yourselves."

Yasuo, Kurizu, and Keiji all nodded in response to Takeshi's order. They all thought that this would be interesting, doing missions and training sessions back to back. The squad disbanded at that point for the day and went their own separate ways to prepare for the missions and training that would follow.