EDIT: too tired to think of something, so yeah, it's just another chapter edited.
Shang: Hey guys! I'm back from my vacation and...
Takaru: No one cares about that crap! Listen up, I have better things to do then play 'answers and questions' but Kumiko's doing her make-up or whatever and Kai's busy so I'll be asking you questions readers were interested in. Now, lets get this over with. First off: one of the readers was interested in pairing. Will there be any and if so, what will they be?
Shang: Well, romances are planned but I dislike giving pairing. I prefer for the readers to find out on their own. But, in case you guys would like to know, inform me and I'll give the pairings to you.
Takaru: Your story seems to be evolving like the original one. Any comments on that?
Shang: Well, this story was planned in the way to make it seemed like a deja vu. But, I can promise you guys that once the Chuunin Exam begins, the story will take a different course. And, more importantly, this mission was requiered for the storyline. I won't say why... for now.
Takaru: Yeah, right. So, mind telling the readers who the five shadows were? Some of them want to know that.
Shang: Sorry guys. You'll read, you'll see.
Takaru: Okay, final question: did you did anything during those two weeks when you were away or didn't you just seat on your butt doing nothing?
Shang: Don't worry, I was able to think of few chapters and even more, I thought up a new 'Naruto' fanfic. That one will also be an action/adventure one though I'm still not sure when I'll release it, since this is still mostly an idea. But I'll let you guys know for sure.
Enough of that. On with the story. Hope you'll find this chapter worth waiting for.
Chapter #10: Protecting Miss Daisy?
Title Page: Takaru's with one of his hands surrounded by flames is sweat dropping as in front of him Kai is holding a marshmallow on a stick right above the fire
They were just two days marsh away from the Stone Country capitol. The five days that they spend traveling were, probably, the worst they had till now.
Deji kept demanding this and that and Kai was getting more and more pissed. Moreover, Kusari was totally annoying with his 'I love you, Deji-sama' crap, which, for some reason, Kumiko couldn't stand (A/N: could this be love?). Neither Takaru nor Ibuki seemed to pay any attention to the woman, but a little that Naruto didn't know was the fact, that the idea of killing the Rock princess in her sleep was not dropped by them… actually, it was slowly evolving.
To put it simply: Deji's company had proven to be a big pain in the butt.
"… and today I got a cold breakfast!" announced the princess, during her everyday morning complaining. "Just wait until my father hears about this!"
"By the love of ramen…" Naruto thought to himself. "Isn't there a way to turn her mute off?"
They've reached a small town on the outskirts of the Stone Country capitol. The village wasn't anything special, but the Kyuubi vessel was able to find a place to stay for the night (A/N: if he wouldn't, you can count on Deji to scold him).
"Okay, Deji-sama, you, Ibuki and Kumiko will sleep in that room…" with those words he pointed plain, wooden door with the number five attached to them. "… and me and the boys will take the room on the other side of the hall, in case my assistance will be required."
"Wait a minute" interrupted Deji, sending him a glare. "Why should I, the princess of the Stone, share room with those two?" and saying so, she flipped her head in the girls' direction.
"For protection" replied jounin simply. "In case you'd be attacked, they'll protect you until I'll come. Besides, I believe you'd prefer the company of other girl rather then guys…"
"This is not fair" announced Ibuki with a face of a scold dog.
"You can't leave us alone with her" Kumiko supported her teammate, not bothering to whisper. "It's inhuman!"
"Alright, but in that case, we'll have to at least eat some normal food in stead of that, whatever it was we ate during the last, few days!" demanded Deji, ignoring the two.
"Arguing with her would be even worst then if the ramen prices would increase" sighed Naruto. "It's a deal" he replied, this time out loud.
The town they stopped in had only one bar, so the choice wasn't too wide. As they sat to their table, the waiter came forward to take their order: "You wouldn't have ramen, would you?" the Kyuubi vessle asked hopefully, but the answer was a 'no'. "Then I'll have a steak…"
The others made their orders as well and the waiter went to the kitchen to inform the chief of the new order. Everything seemed to be normal, but the whisker-marks was too experienced to know better that nothing is what it seems.
Suddenly, two men who were sitting at the table next to theirs, picked out daggers and charged right at Deji. The jounin was about to react, when he noticed that Takaru has already taken action. With that, he decided to leave it to him for now.
The son of Tsunade spun around with the chair to face the attackers and in an instant he bended over, propping himself with his right hand. Both assassins slowed down a bit surprised, when the scar-faced boy placed his left hand across his right one, which allowed him to spin around once more, this time with his hands on the floor.
When his feet were finally aimed at both attackers, he launched his legs at their heads. Both kicks were so powerful, that the assassins had to take few steps back, just to keep their balance. But after they saw what happened next, it'd have been better for them, if they'd just allow themselves to fall on the ground.
Before they noticed, Kusari was already on the table with his chains released. He threw the ball end at them and before they could react to that in any way, the guy on the young Hagane's right was already hit in the stomach with the metal ball.
To his surprise, the chain started to coil around him and before he knew it, Kusari was already flying towards them, using his chain as the launching mechanism. The guy that got hit with the heir of Hagane's chain received another hit, this time on the face, from the boy's elbow and the one that wasn't attacked with the gennin's weapon got kicked in the kisser by the rookie ninja.
Both of them felt on the floor, as Kusari released the guy from his chain.
As soon as they felt the floor under their heads, they sensed cold steel at their throats. It was Ibuki, who held kunai in her hands, ready to stab their necks if they'd make a move.
"Nice job, you guys" Naruto complimented them with a smile. "And a pretty good teamwork… I doubt it was on purpose though" he added to himself with a sweat drop.
"And you're a jounin?" Deji snapped after a moment of silence. "Those brats are better then you! What kind of protection is this suppose to be?"
"I could have taken them out in an instant, if that would be required" the whisker-marks replied calmly. "But, as you see, my students have taken care of those two themselves, so there was no need for me to interfere…"
"Bullshit!" accused the Stone princess. "You're just a wimp! I'm telling my dad!"
"I know that we're her bodyguards…" Kumiko whispered to Kai, who was sitting right next to her. "But I really wouldn't mind if Takaru and the rest would allow those two to get their kill…"
The blond just nodded.
"Well, well, well…" thought a mysterious character, observing the whole scene from the roof. "Looks like those brats can fight. Not that it was anything special to knockout those two idiots, but still they have some skills. This may be more interesting then I thought…"
-That night-
The full moon shone on the night sky, which was completely covered with stars. All lights in the town went down and only a person with a great eye could tell that in the capitol few lights were still on. The village has gone to sleep.
Kumiko felt asleep almost immediately, she was tired (A/N: mostly of Deji's complaining). Ibuki on the other hand stayed awake until the Stone princess got to bed.
Both Kusari and Takaru were already sleeping, but Naruto decided to stay up a little longer. After all, he was the one responsible for Deji and the young gennins' safety. Kai, who got unluckily and became the last one using the bathroom, which was located in the hall, outside the rooms, left the apartment in order to brush his teeth and such.
With sleepy eyes, he kept moving his toothbrush back and forth, slowly falling asleep because of the monotony of this 'exercise'. He stayed awake only thanks to splashing his face with water. He wasn't even motivated enough to change into his pajamas.
When he left the bathroom, the whole hall was completely dark, so he decided to wait a moment, until his eyes get used to the darkness. Only thanks to that, he saw the door to the girls' room opening and Deji walking quietly out of it.
"And just where is she going to?" he thought to himself suspiciously.
Kai stood still to not draw her attention. As soon as she disappeared behind the corner, he followed. Tailing Deji wasn't hard, especially since she wasn't even looking around. After a little while, she left the village and entered the nearby forest. The blond went after.
The 'chase' ended at a small brook. Deji sat on the big rock, near the water, picked up few, smaller rocks and started throwing them into the 'river'. The young gennin observed the whole scene for a while and finally decided to show up:
"You shouldn't wonder off. After all, you're the most important person around, Deji-sama" he couldn't believe that he actually said that, especially since the way the princess acted pissed him off even more then Takaru did.
"And just what do you care?" she shoot back instantly.
"Hey, I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, ya know? Course I care! How it'd look like if the future Hokage failed his first, important mission?"
"Leave me alone" ordered Deji, this time much quieter. "And stop with that Hokage bullshit. Guess you really have no idea what it means to have a high position…"
"Course I do" replied Kai with a smirk. "When I'll become Hokage, everyone will start respecting me!"
"You really think that's all there is to it, don't you?" she asked sadly.
"What do you mean?"
"With every power, comes responsibility" announced the princess, lowering her head. "And by the look of things, I can tell that you have no idea of that."
"Oh?' responded the blond sarcastically. "And I suppose you do? Especially since you think so highly of yourself…"
"Of course, I do, since…" she pause for a moment, flapping her mouth slightly. "Since I've lost my free will in order to serve my country" she finally finished, looking away.
At this, Kai closed his mouth and looked at her confused.
Neither he nor the young princess noticed a pair of eyes that observed them from a nearby tree: "Two little lambs have separated from the rest" though the owner of the mysterious pupils. "I guess it's my lucky night…"
-it's coming!-
This concludes this chapter. Hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think of it (criticism can be helpful as well).
Also, I have a suggestion. It's something I thought of during the two-week holiday. What would you guys say if I were to give you chapter covers for every chapter? (if you know what I mean by that). This is just a proposal, I'll leave the choice to you, so inform me whether you want me to do something like that or not.
I believe that's all.
Take care and till the next update (hopefully).