Here is the update. I hope you will like this chapter and remember, when jutsu's are in english it means i thought they did not exist in the naruto world so it is my own. if it is already used by kishimoto, i apologize...
Oh yeah, it seems that people are still confused with 2 of Maki's custom abilities. Alright, so i will explain once more.
1. The moment his custom kunai gets a drop of the enemy's blood, it will automatically create a shadow clone. Think of Hidan needing the enemy blood to do the ceremony. Unlike Hidan, Maki just needs his kunai to have the enemy's blood it will create a clone. note that the kunai can only create 1 shadow clone and even if Maki gets blood again, the kunai will not work to create a shadow clone.
2. The second skill is when Maki misses his attack and if the kunai is stuck into a tree, wall, etc. When the kunai is in the tree and Maki says "Kai" it will create a shadow clone on where the kunai is. Hope I cleared you guys confusion.
So, please, enjoy this chapter and REVIEW!! hehe.
CHAPTER 10: HIDE AND SEEK
The sun is slowly rising but it is still not yet high in the sky. It is still in the morning, around ten in the morning and it is not so hot yet. It is a good weather to be lying down on the ground and looking at the clouds above.
Two ninjas, wearing dark brown vest that signifies that they are both pass the Genin rank. Their vest is darker compared to the sand village vest which is light brown. Theirs are darker in colour. The two of them are in an alley as they just completed their mission, looking at the dead man in front of them.
The two Rock ninjas along with their other team mate were assigned to take out this mist ninja. However, it seems that this mist ninja does not have much skill in fighting. So why was it so important to take this guy out? The superior one, a Jounin bends down and starts to inspect the dead body.
His subordinate, a Chuunin level asks, "What are you doing?"
"Don't you find it strange," The Jounin replies, "That Raikage-sama tells us to take out this mist ninja when this person does not seem much to have skills in defending himself."
"So what are you trying to say?" The Chuunin asks.
"This guy must have something important with him." The superior answers, checking the dead man's pouch.
The Rock Jounin then stops his inspection when he feels something in the back pouch. It feels like a scroll and it feels rather small than the normal scrolls. The Rock Chuunin notices that his superior officer has stopped.
"What's wrong?"
The Rock Jounin did no answer and takes out the scroll. He inspects the scroll, feeling every part of the scroll and then tries to open it but is unable to do so. He sees a seal that is keeping the scroll locked.
"It looks like this mist ninja is carrying something important. Whatever is in this scroll, Raikage-sama will be interested in this." The Jounin says, standing up and facing his team mate.
"You can't open it here?" His team mate asks, surprise that a Jounin cannot do so.
The Rock Jounin snorts, "Of course I can you fool! But we don't know what is inside it and is best that we give this to specialised sealers back in the village. Besides, this might be something important for only Raikage-sama to see."
The Rock Chuunin nodded, "I'm sorry. So, let's get going."
"Where is the other idiot? He is supposed to just scout the village, not explore and enjoy himself!" The Rock Jounin says in frustration.
His subordinate shrugs, "You want me to and find him?"
The Jounin jumps on a roof and looks down at his team mate, "Yeah. I will wait at our camp outside the village. We have to get back to the Rock village soon anyway."
The Rock Chuunin nodded his head and points at the dead mist ninja, "What do we do about him?"
"Just leave him there," The Jounin answers, "The villagers will find him and bury him for us."
With that, the Rock Jounin disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving his subordinate below in the alley alone. The Rock Chuunin covers his head with a cloak and leaves the alley, trying to find their other team mate.
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In a room, four Konoha ninjas are resting inside the room. The leader of the group is sitting on a chair, looking outside the window, lost in thought. He is thinking of the incident earlier and is troubling him deeply.
Naruto is lying on the bed with his head resting on the pillow. He is also lost in thought but he is thinking of a certain pink haired girl. It has only been a day since he left Konoha and he is already starting to miss her. He is lucky that he listened to Maki and said goodbye to her. 'I wonder what she is doing right now.' Naruto thought, sighing heavily.
As for Sasuke, he is sitting on the edge of the bed, brooding. He is furious that he only got to fight with one bandit. He needs to fight more experienced warriors, like ninjas or missing ninjas. He should spar with Naruto more since the two seems to be able to fight the bandits with ease.
Although, he is also happy at the same time that he is now being trained by Hatake Kakashi. The masked man still did not reveal to Sasuke how he knows so much about the Sharingan but did not push the man. As long as someone can help him unlock and train him in the arts of the Sharingan, he is already happy. He can tell that Kakashi is a strong ninja since he is fast in moving when he is still holding back.
As for Ino, she is in the bathroom taking a bath, hoping to relax her tired body from the walk. She is also trying to get rid of all the guilt she is feeling for taking a person's life. Her father must have taken lots of life and brought a lot of people's mind to suffer in the interrogation squad. So, if her father can do all that without feeling guilty, then she should be able to do so like her father.
Ino realize that she is taking too much time in the bath so she decides that it is time to get out. She dries herself and then ties a towel on her body and another towel on her head to help dry her long hair. She is still feeling uneasy that she has to share a room with her team when she is the only girl in the team. Even though Sasuke is with them, it is still embarrassing to be sharing a room with the guys.
She opens the door a little and pops her head outside, "Can anybody help me get my clothes?" She asks shyly.
Naruto and Sasuke turn to face Ino and since her head is outside, they can see her shoulders a little and thought that she is naked. Naruto is blushing hard and hits himself mentally for betraying Sakura like that. Even Sasuke is blushing and quickly turns back, trying to stop his nose from bleeding. Maki looks at his two male students and seeing that they are both perverts, decides to help.
He hands Ino her outfit and when Ino closes the toilet door, he stands in front of his two male students, his hands on his hips.
"You two have got to stop those thoughts from entering your minds. Yes, she is a girl and she is undress but all you guys took saw is just her shoulders and you guys are already blushing." Maki scolded them.
"That is easy for you to say, sensei," Naruto replies, "But it is much more difficult for us since our stupid hormones are active around this age."
"You guys are just twelve!" Maki tells Naruto.
"Well," Naruto to think of an excuse, "Our hormones are starting to act crazy already."
"You are just a pervert, idiot." Sasuke said, facing his blonde team mate, "So why don't you just admit it."
Naruto snorts "Look at who's talking."
Sasuke gives a confuse look, "What do you mean?"
Naruto is already trying to contain his laugh and Sasuke looks at Maki, trying to find out what he means. Maki has a hand on his forehead in disbelief. He can't believe that the last Uchiha in Konoha is probably a bigger pervert than Naruto. Maki uses his hand and points it at his nose and Sasuke reaches for his nose.
Sasuke can feel dried liquid on his nose and he realizes that the blood has dried up, telling Naruto that he had a nose bleed earlier. Sasuke clench his fists hard and had to fight the urge to beat Naruto up.
At that moment, the door of the bathroom opens and Ino comes out with a towel still wrapped around her head. Ino is now wearing a purple top that still reveals her flat stomach but she is no longer wearing a skirt. She is wearing dark purple tights that stop after the knee. Ino ties her headband to her waist and tosses the towel on her backpack. She looks at her team and realizes that all of her team mates are looking at her in silence.
"Is something wrong?" She asks, confuse written all over her face.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong!" Both Sasuke and Naruto says quickly and turning away.
Ino is now even more confuse and glances at Maki who is shaking his head. She shrugs and starts packing her towel properly into her backpack.
"Now that Ino is out, I can tell you guys now." Maki said suddenly, catching the attention of the three Genins.
All three of them look at him and Maki continues, "We have about," He looks at the clock in the room, "An hour and a half before noon so I am going to train you guys before we head for lunch."
The news cheers Sasuke up, "What kind of training?"
"Chakra control." Maki answers and starts to make his way to the door. The three kids immediately start to follow their leader, scrambling to their feet.
They run outside the inn to find that Maki is already waiting for them like as if he has been waiting there for hours. Ino is impress that he can get here so fast but that is expected of a Jounin anyway. Maki nodded and then jumps on a rooftop, urging them to follow him. They followed and everyone in team seven are currently jumping rooftop to rooftop until they are finally out of the village.
"What are we doing in the woods?" Ino asks, looking at her surroundings.
"This is where we are going to train, Ino." Maki responds.
"Now," Maki begins to explain, "Sasuke, Ino, you will have to pay attention for the exercise. You are going to climb a tree without using your hands. Before you ask how that is possible, you do that by gathering chakra to your feet. You have to gather at the right amount of chakra. You put too much chakra and you will jump off the tree and if you put too little, you will fall of the tree."
Sasuke is not impressed, "How does this help in our ninja careers."
Maki smirks, "This training helps increase your chakra control. If your chakra control is bad, you will use too much chakra for a jutsu and your jutsu will not be as good. If you have good chakra control, you will use less chakra and the damage will be even greater."
Sasuke is dumbfounded and looks at the tree. He is now interested in the training and starts to gather chakra to his feet. After a few seconds, he starts to run up the tree but after he runs a quarter of the tree, he slips. He luckily lands on his feet and looks at the tree again. 'This is harder than I thought.' Sasuke thinks to himself.
"Don't worry, Sasuke," Maki assures him, "Most males in the ninja world have band chakra control. It is the females that have better chakra control since their chakra capacity is smaller." Maki then turns to Ino, "Ino, why don't you try now?"
Ino nodded and starts to gather chakra to her feet. When she has gathered the right amount, she looks at the tree she is going to run. Taking a deep breath, she starts to run up the tree. She is surprised that she is running higher than Sasuke and when she is about to reach the top, she jumps off the tree for using too much chakra. She curse softly and lands on her feet also.
Sasuke is staring at Ino, unable to believe that she is better than him. He calms himself down when he reminded himself that Maki said that males have poor chakra control.
"Hei, Maki-sensei," Ino said, and Maki turns to look at Ino, "How come Naruto is not required to do this exercise?"
Maki laughs softly, "He has already done this with me about two years ago. I am his personal sensei since the Hokage assigned me to."
Ino and Sasuke turn to look at Naruto, who is grinning from ear to ear.
"Now," Maki said suddenly, "I want the two of you to continue doing this exercise until you think you can go no further. I want to find out what your specialities are."
"Specialities?" Sasuke and Ino said together. Ino blushes lightly when she realised that Sasuke asked the same thing.
"Just do it." Maki orders them and they obeyed, running up the tree again.
"Eh, Maki-sensei, what about me?" Naruto whines.
"Of course Naruto. You are weak in Taijutsu so I am going to train you in that."
Maki scratches his head, "How?"
Maki then moves into a defensive stance, looking serious, "Attack me with everything you've got."
Naruto is shock. He never expected to fight his sensei as training but then again, this is Taijutsu so this is the only way. Without wasting time, he runs forward to fight his sensei and the uncle of his crush.
Maki can already see his mistake. 'He is charging forward.' Maki thought. He sighs as he sees that the first thing that Naruto do is a mistake. Sure, you can do this if you are far stronger than your opponent but not when you are an equal or weaker than him.
Naruto uses his right arm to try and punch Maki's forehead but Maki easily grabs Naruto's wrist and tosses his away. Naruto is soaring in the air and tries to land on his feet but Maki's throw is too strong and so, he lands on his back. Naruto clench his teeth in anger. 'I have been training with him for two years and I am just tossed away just like that?' Naruto thought angrily.
"Never charge straight ahead on your enemy when you are far weaker than him." Maki said still in his defensive stance. It is as if he never moved.
Naruto instantly stands up and runs to Maki, his anger all in his fist. Maki can sense the boy's killer intent. The boy swings his left arm but Maki easily steps back but Naruto continues, punching left and right but hitting nothing but air. With each miss, it only increases Naruto's anger and killing intent.
Sasuke and Ino can feel his killer intent and has stopped their training. The killer intent is so large that it can actually bring fear to those who do not know him at all. The strange thing is that Maki seems to be not disturbed at all.
Naruto is getting fed up and uses his right leg to jump in the air. When he is falling down, he raises his right leg to charge up for the attack and when his leg is within each of Maki's head, he sends down his right leg. Maki without breaking a sweat moves his head to his left. Naruto misses and his right leg is grabbed tight by Maki's right hand. Maki once again tosses Naruto to the ground.
"Never let yourself be consumed by rage. You may have increased your power in your attacks but it blinds your attack. You were fighting like an amateur." Maki said to Naruto with anger in his voice.
"A ninja must always be calm, even in the direst of situations. You must never show your enemy your moves and your emotions. Your moves can let the enemy know how to beat you and your emotions will be a huge disadvantage if your enemy can read it. If you are in fear, your enemy will know that your body cannot avoid attacks easily and can finish you off with just one blow. With anger, he can tell you will make mistakes and will just wait until he sees the opening. These are the two types of emotions that must never be shown in a fight." Maki advices his team, hoping that they will learn something from this short lecture.
"I'm sorry, sensei." Naruto apologise, bowing low.
"Don't be, Naruto. You should be sorry if you repeat this mistake again."
Naruto nodded and sits down on the ground, watching his two team mates running up the tree. Maki continues to stand, watching them run up and down. Ino is the first to grow tired, as expected. He can see that Sasuke has finally reached the top after a few tries and then stops, stating that he can no longer continue.
Maki rubs his chin, "Alright, I can see it already. Ino, I can tell that your chakra control is above average but your chakra capacity is low. You will have to continue to do this exercise to improve both capacity and control. Your chakra is perfect for your clan."
Maki then turns to Sasuke, "Sasuke, I can already tell that you are a ninjutsu specialist, as expected from your clan. And with your chakra control, I can tell you are also a genjutsu user and with the help of the Sharingan, you can do powerful genjutsus. Your chakra control is at first, weak but it seems you can improve it quickly. Your chakra capacity is average."
Maki takes a deep breath and looks at his team with a smile on his face, "I am proud to say that my team is perfectly balanced. Naruto here is the support of our team and is more of a close combat ninja since he can use his shadow clones to fight his enemies. With Sasuke as a ninjutsu specialist, he can help Naruto beat his enemy from afar with jutsus and Ino, with your clan's powers, you can grab the enemy's mind when they are distracted by Naruto and Sasuke. This is indeed balanced."
All of the Genins take a quick look at each other and then, smiles. They are happy that they are team mates and Maki is surprised when Sasuke is laughing. 'Perhaps this boy will not be driven with the desire for revenge like I hoped.' Maki thought.
"Come on, let's go and eat." Maki offers.
"Alright!" Naruto cheers and starts following behind Maki.
"You have improved Ino. I am happy that you are my team mate." Sasuke says to Ino, much to her surprise.
Ino nodded her head, her body shaking, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."
The two of them then run together to catch up with Naruto. Ino is so happy that Sasuke is finally talking and perhaps, this is a team where she can finally be herself. She doesn't have to act matured just to impress Sasuke.
As the Genins follow Maki, Maki is busy looking left and right for any signs of the mist messenger of any Rock ninjas. He is also looking for a restaurant to treat his students to lunch also but he has to be extra careful now. He hoped that the training earlier has improved his team's teamwork. They will need that if they are facing Rock ninjas, since the Rock bastards will not be showing any mercy, even to the children of Konoha.
Maki has already used up one of his custom kunai and he used it properly, killing a Rock scout. That scout is most likely with a team and he will have to find the mist messenger fast. He does not know why the Rock ninja are also looking for the messenger but he does not want to wait and find out.
Maki puts a hand in his back pouch to count his custom kunai's. There are still seven of them. It is probably enough to take on a few Rock Chuunins but if it comes to Jounins, he can probably take the most at least five or six of them, and that is only if the Jounins are weak.
"Maki-sensei, are you okay?" Naruto asks, walking next to him.
Maki is brought of his thoughts, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem to be troubled."
Maki chuckles, "No, I'm okay. Hei, how about we eat over there?" Maki asks, pointing at a lovely restaurant. The symbol of the restaurant is a prawn in the water so it is most likely a seafood restaurant.
"Sure, it seems to be okay." Naruto said, turning to his other team mates, "What do you think?"
Ino nodded happily while Sasuke simply shrugs, meaning he doesn't really care. Naruto is smiling broadly since his stomach has been complaining for food. As for Maki, he is happy that he is able to change the topic with Naruto since he does not need to burden Naruto with the thought that Rock ninjas might be the area. Or should he say, excite him.
They entered the restaurant and realized that the restaurant is pretty popular since it is about three quarters full. They took a booth at the right side of the restaurant. The booth is perfect for the team sinceit can only occupy four people. Maki slid in first, with the wall on his right and Naruto follows. Sasuke sits on the other side, facing Maki while Ino sits next to Sasuke, facing Naruto.
A waitress soon arrives, handing them four menus and then leaving to tend to the other customers. Everyone in team seven checked the menu in silence and when the same waitress arrives, they give in their order. Maki is relieved that his team did not order anything that is way too expensive. He checks his wallet and calculates that it should be enough to survive in this town at the most, another day by the way he is spending his money.
"So sensei," Naruto says, facing him, "When do we have to start finding this messenger?"
"Actually," Maki replies, clearing his throat, "I will be going to search alone. I want the three of you to do whatever you want, but whatever you do, do not separate. Stick together."
"Is there something wrong, sensei?" Sasuke asks, looking at Maki with suspicion.
Before Maki could reply, the waitress arrives with four plates and handing them their meal. Maki starts eating slowly, thinking where he is going to find the mist messenger. He also has to find him fast before the Rock ninjas find him. He has to get the scroll and get out of this village before trouble starts with Konoha's old enemy.
The two blondes are oblivious that their sensei is troubled. Sasuke can tell something is wrong and is actually happy that he just might be able to fight a strong ninja. He starts to eat faster than before; almost at the speed Naruto eats his Ramen.
"Hei sensei," Ino said as she places her chopsticks on her now empty plate, "Were you part of the great ninja war?"
"Of course he is!" Naruto said before Maki could answer Ino's question, "He is in his late twenties and the Great War is like, what? Sixteen years ago?"
"I know that!" Ino said to Naruto with an annoyed tone, "I mean, was Maki-sensei a ninja fighting in the front lines or more to the squad war team."
All three Genins of team seven glares at Maki, waiting for his answer. Maki rests his chin on his right hand, thinking back to the old days. It may have been said to be the worst of times for ninjas everywhere, but Maki felt the war is one of the best times of his life. That is because Himura was still in Konoha during that time and after the war, when Kawada died on a mission, that was when Himura left and he feels a part of him is missing.
"Well, I was about twelve years old at the time so I was nothing more but a mere Genin. I was neither in the squad war team or the front lines. I just help in Konoha, like taking of wounded ninjas and all that. Only Chuunins and above are allowed to fight in the war and I became a Chuunin after the war."
"So you never fought in the war?" Naruto asks, disappointed. He wanted to know how it was like in the war.
Maki shakes his head, taking another spoon of his meal, "Ninjas that are talented can start at an early age to join the academy and fight in the war. For example, Kakashi-san joined the academy around four and graduated at five. He became a Chuunin at the age of six and a Jounin at the age of twelve."
"Twelve?" All three Genins ask at the same time.
Maki nodded, "Kakashi-san is really a strong and talented ninja of Konoha. I had to work hard to be an equal with him. You guys can ask him how it was like in the war. However, he does not like to talk about it much as it brings painful memories of his past."
Team seven then continues eating in silence. Sasuke decides to ask Kakashi about the war when he gets back and also, how he knows so much about the Sharingan. No outsider should know so much about the Sharingan.
It took them about twenty minutes when everyone is finally finished with their lunch. Ino then starts pestering Sasuke, trying to ask him to a date when they get back to Konoha. Sasuke finally agrees to a training date, since it will benefit him in a way. Naruto also decided to try and ask Sakura on an official date. 'Maybe I can confess my feelings on the date. Yeah, maybe I should.' Naruto thought.
"Alright, you guys can go now. I'm going to go and pay for our lunch and start my search." Maki says and tells Naruto to move out of the booth so that he can get out. Once he's out, Naruto sits back into the booth.
"Now remember, you guys are to stick together." Maki said, facing each and every one of them.
All three Genins nodded their heads and then Maki left. The last they saw of Maki is handing a certain amount of money to the cashier and then walking out of the restaurant. The three Genins left started talking about nothing important until they realized that they spent too much time in the restaurant.
They finally leave the restaurant after spending almost an hour in the restaurant. It is now about one thirty in the afternoon. They have a lot of time to spend to explore the village.
"So, now what do we do?" Naruto asks, walking in the busy streets of the village.
"Perhaps we can go check the ninja shops here." Sasuke suggested.
"Yeah, but we are not buying anything! The ninja tools here are not as good in Konoha." Naruto said.
"How come?" Ino asks, curious.
"Well, this is not a fighting village so the shops that craft and sell them won't make them as good as the village of Konoha since they do not know what a ninja wants in their weapon." Naruto explains.
"Yeah," Sasuke said, agreeing with Naruto, "All ninja weapons must be properly balanced and sharp."
They spend about another fifteen minutes to locate probably the only ninja shop in the village. The shop owner is sleeping on his desk and since the kids are ninjas, they are able to walk into the shop silently, careful to not wake the man up.
The man is drooling and snoring quite loudly. He can be seen to be a man around his late forties or early fifties. His glasses are on the table next to him and his beard is wet from all his drool. Ino looks at the man in disgust, making sure to keep her distance.
Naruto and Sasuke looks at the kunai's in display. The kunai looks to be okay but they can see that the kunai is not very sharp. The shurikens are also rusting. Naruto pities the man. No wonder he is asleep. He probably does not have many customers. Naruto sighs and drops about two hundred ryou next to the man.
"Why did you that?" Ino whispers to Naruto.
"The man probably does not have very good business. It is the least I can do." Naruto replies softly.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Sasuke said, walking out of the shop.
His two team mates follow the Uchiha, wondering where they should go next. The village is quite big and they have the whole afternoon to themselves.
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He has been looking for hours for that idiot. He is also getting frustrated, walking into every shop to find him. He has searched the entire village and he still cannot find that man. Despite his anger, he is also getting worried for his missing team mate. He jumps on a rooftop and starts jumping from one rooftop to another.
That man may be dumb and not very good in ninja skills, he is still a Chuunin. He should be able to take care of himself but he still has a bad feeling about not being able to find him. That man is a close friend of him since childhood and the man is normally never late for a meeting. He is supposed to meet the team back at camp to report if he has seen anything suspicious.
'Damn it, where are you? You better be okay, you idiot! And when I get my hands on you, I am going to beat you up so bad that you won't think of doing anything like this ever again!' The Rock Chuunin thought.
He continues jumping until he felt three chakra presences. 'What the? There are other ninjas here?' He thinks to himself.
He quickly conceals his chakra to hide himself. He can tell that the chakra is quite small, even when the three are combined. He slowly approaches the chakra signature until he spotted them. 'They are just kids!' He thinks.
They seem to be enjoying themselves. The Rock ninja decided to leave them alone since they are not much of a threat until he spots something that is not very good to be seen. They are wearing Konoha headbands. 'What the hell are Konoha ninjas doing here?' He thought and then it hit him. 'Could it be that they have something to do with that idiot not getting to our camp?!' He starts to get worried.
He decides to tell his superior about this. They will have to kill them of course, whether they are involved in their missing or late team mate. The Raikage has ordered every Rock ninja to kill any Konoha shinobi on sight and this is the perfect opportunity. He starts to increase chakra to his feet to jump faster, unable to wait any longer to tell this to his superior.
As he jumps, he spots something on the roof next to him. He stops and then jumps to the roof. He realizes that it is a dead body and realizes something that is even worse. The man is wearing a Chuunin vest of the rock and the man's face is facing the ground so he can't identify the man yet although he probably knows the answer.
He uses his legs to turn the man and covers his mouth in disbelief. He starts to think back of all the good times he had with his idiotic friend and is unable to stop his tears. He is a man that tries his best to follow the ninja's law, and that is to never show your emotions no matter the circumstances.
"I will avenge you, my friend. I will destroy those three shinobi brats that did this to you." He says silently, clenching his fist.
He jumps off the roof, deciding to head back to camp and report to the Jounin. Then, they will help avenge their dead comrade.
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Maki is rubbing his temples in frustration. He has been looking for the messenger for about two hours and still, no sign of him. He looks inside another shop hoping to find a headband indicating it is from the mist but finds none.
Walking out of the shop, he continues his search until he hears a commotion coming ahead of him. Wondering what is going on, he makes his way to the group of villagers, wondering what can catch the attention of so many villagers.
When he reaches them, he realize that the group of villagers are too many and he can't tell what they are looking at. "Excuse me," He says to the villager next to him, a woman around her twenties, "Do you know what is going on?"
The woman looks at him, "Yeah."
"Well, care to fill me in the details?" Maki asks, not liking the look the woman is giving him.
The woman winks at him, "I will if you will go out with me tonight."
Maki rolls his eyes, "Yeah, sure. So, what happened?"
The woman is now smiling even more, "Someone found a dead body here in the alley a few minutes ago. It seems that the man is killed a few hours ago, perhaps just this morning. The only thing we know is that the man is wearing a headband. It seems he is from the village of grass, I think. I'm not so sure. I can never tell the difference between grass and mist."
Maki's eyes became large in shock. 'Oh no, don't tell me.' He thought. Knowing that he cannot push through the crowd, he disappears in a puff of smoke, much to the dismay of the young woman. Maki appears on top of the roof and just like what the woman said, he can see a dead body down there surrounded by villagers trying to find out more about the man.
Maki jumps down but no one notices him. He pushes a man to the side and inspects the man. Indeed, the man is wearing the headband of the mist village. He curses softly and starts searching for a scroll. It is not on his upper body and searches below, until he reaches his back pouch. He realizes that something is wrong. The back pouch is open and not closed.
He tears the back pouch of the dead man and searches for a scroll but finds none. He shakes his head in defeat, ignoring the confuse glares that the villagers are giving him. 'Great, mission failed!' He thought angrily. The first C-rank mission for his team and they fail the mission. The Hokage is not going to be pleased.
He jumps back on the rooftop, wondering what he is going to tell his team. The only things that they did in this village are train and eat here. What else? He decides to find his team to give the bad news. Then, another thought that scares him.
The Rock Chuunin that he killed said they are looking for the mist messenger. 'Were they also looking for the scroll? If they are, they are getting a scroll that is meant for Konoha to receive and that is valuable information going into the wrong hands. What am I going to do?' He thinks, starting to panic.
Suddenly, to his horror, he feels two chakra signatures moving fast. He is lucky that his chakra is concealed. He can tell that the two are Rock ninjas and the bad thing is, one of them is around his chakra level. The other one is lower but can still be a threat. He can probably take the two of them in combat but he will be wounded.
No, he is sure he can beat them. Then, to his horror, he can feel three smaller chakra signatures and the two chakra signatures are approaching them. Then it hit him, 'Naruto! Sasuke! Ino! Shit!' He thought.
Gathering chakra to his feet, he starts to get to his students before those Rock ninjas get to them, hoping that he can save them before he is too late. He takes out his custom kunai, realizing that there is only six left in his pouch.
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It is already three thirty in the afternoon and they have nothing else to do already. They have finished exploring the village and the village is boring. They have nothing entertaining to do. The only thing they have here are restaurants, shops, inns and a run down cinema.
They tried to look for their sensei but could not find him. They did pass by something that the villagers are interested in, gathering at an alley but they ignored them since they are probably watching something that would not interest them.
Naruto yawns loudly, "I am so bored!"
"You're not the only one." Sasuke said, giving a small yawn.
"Man, I can't wait to get out of this village. I thought a C-rank mission will be fun but this is so boring!" Naruto complains, looking at Sasuke and then at Ino.
"Hei, what about we go train?" Ino suggests and the two boys look at her with awe. They are looking at her as if she is an alien and the glare that Sasuke is giving her caused her to blush lightly.
"I never thought of that." Naruto said, looking straight ahead, "Come on, let's go train!"
Naruto runs forward, leaving Sasuke and Ino alone. Sasuke smiles at Ino, "For once, I admit you are thinking with your head."
Ino blushes harder, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She didn't know if she should be offended or not that Sasuke said she used her head.
Naruto continues running, excited that he can train without Maki telling him to be careful not to use too much chakra or he will pass out of chakra exhaustion. Thanks to the damn fox inside of him, his chakra is a lot so there should be nothing Maki has to be afraid of.
While still running, he turns to his two team mates behind, "Come on you guys! You are walking like an old couple!"
As he is running, he did not notice that the ground below him is starting to crack. Sasuke did notice though and shouts, "Naruto! Watch out!"
Naruto heard what Sasuke said and stops, and on time. The ground right in front of him suddenly opens a pit with sharp spikes below. He then sees two men in front of him; one of them has his hands in seals.
"Damn, he escaped my technique." The one said, wearing a headband on his right thigh with extremely short brown hair. He then starts doing seals again.
"Doton! Spike release!"
The spike in the pit then suddenly throws at Naruto, all aiming at him. Naruto grabs a kunai and starts to block the spikes but he could still feel two small cuts on his left arm. He could see the last spike aiming for his head and he is too slow to react.
To his surprise, he could feel someone grab his waist, pulling him to the ground. He lands on something soft and realize that it is Sasuke. Sasuke throws Naruto off of him and looks at the two men in front of them, drawing a kunai.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sasuke eyes, not taking his eyes off the strangers.
"Yeah, thanks Sasuke." Naruto says as he gets up, feeling the pain in his left arm.
Ino reaches behind Naruto, "Naruto! Are you hurt?"
Naruto winces in pain as he feels the cuts, "Just a little. The cuts on my left arm are small but it hurts."
The man that cast the jutsu laughs, "You Konoha shinobi are weak! I don't even know how you killed our partner."
"What? We didn't kill any Rock ninjas." Sasuke yells, not wanting to fight them. He knew that he wish he can fight tough ninjas but these are two high level ninjas.
"Liar!" The other ninja yells. He has long black hair tied in a ponytail and has several scars on his face, "I don't know how you weak ninjas can kill him but we will avenge him. And also for our fallen comrades in the war!"
The ninja charges at him while the other one with short hair starts to do seals. Sasuke and Naruto prepare themselves, drawing out a kunai while Ino is cowering in fear from the killer intent that is being released by the charging man. The man with the short hair completes the seals.
"Doton! Wave of the earth technique!"
The ground beneath Sasuke and Naruto starts to move sideways, causing Naruto to lose his balance and drop. The ground is like a strong wave; continue to push him to the side. He and Ino are being swept away while Sasuke is concentrate on his footing, still standing.
He concentrated too much on his footing he forgets about the charging man in front of him. The next thing he know, he feels a sharp pain on his left ribs and he falls next to Naruto, grabbing the spot where he was kicked and yelling in pain.
"Damn you!" Naruto yells at the man who is standing about fifteen metres in front of them.
The man ignored Naruto and faces his team mate, "I will take care of them."
The man nodded and relaxes. The man with scars grabs a kunai and charges at them, his kunai ready to kill the three young shinobi. Naruto can only watch as the man is getting nearer and nearer, and waits for the pain to come.
The next thing he knows is a figure emerging right in front of his other team mates, blocking the attackers kunai with his kunai, the sound of metal meeting metal heard. The new comer has long pink and Naruto is so happy to see him.
"Maki-sensei..." Naruto says, relieved.
Without looking back and paying attention to the attacker, he asks, "Are you okay, Sasuke? Naruto? Ino?"
"Yeah. We are okay now." Ino answers.
That is all Maki needs to hear and then he strikes. Using all his might, he is able to push the man back with his kunai and quickly creates a shadow clone. The man, shock to see that Maki can create clones so fast backs away. Maki continues the chase and his clone reaches the attacker.
The Rock ninja blocks the clone's fist and slashes the clone's neck, dispelling the clone. Maki continues on and attacks, his fist connecting with the man's gut, the man coughing out blood. Maki then backs away slightly and gives a hard kick to the man's chest. The man flies back until he crashes onto a wall, giving a big crack on the wall. Maki gives him no chance to recover and charges forward but is suddenly stopped.
He looks down at his feet and realizes that the ground has become some sort of sticky mud. He glances at the Rock ninja's partner and realized that he casts the jutsu on him. He looks back at the Rock ninja is fighting. The Rock ninja, a Jounin, forms seals.
"Raiton! Flash of the sky technique!"
From the palm of the Rock ninja's hand, a flash of light appears and he throws it at Maki. Maki looks on in horror and feels the ball of white flash smashing with his head. Upon impact, the ball explodes in a small radius and although it does not blast Maki's head off, it should blind him for some time.
The Rock Jounin smirks and starts to form seals again when he hears his team mate shout, "Dawari! Behind you!"
He looks at the pink haired shinobi in front of him disappear in a puff of next thing he knows is a fist connecting with his right cheek and the punch is so hard that he lands back next to his team mate, feeling a small amount of red liquid dripping of his mouth.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Ino! Get behind me." Maki orders his students.
They obeyed and stood behind him, looking at the bleeding man on his back and the other ninja sweating slightly.
The one that Maki punched laughs as he wipes the blood off his mouth, "A pink haired Konoha shinobi and he actually thought I can kill him when it was a shadow clone. The power of confusion and pink hair? You must be The Replicator."
Maki took out a kunai and grips it tight, glaring at the Jounin. He is mad as hell for them hurting his students. The Rock Jounin continues to laugh softly, standing up next to his team mate.
"No wonder that idiot died by your hands. I will make sure to avenge him." The Rock Jounin said, taking out another kunai.
"Dawari, are you sure you can beat him?" The Rock Jounin's team mate asks, looking at Maki with fear.
"I will try. This Konoha ninjas are really starting to piss me off." He said with anger.
The street is luckily empty as the four Konoha shinobi's look at the two Rock ninjas. This is a battle between old enemies and only one Konoha shinobi is strong enough to take on the two Rock ninjas. However, Maki knows that they will indeed separate him and his students so he is going to have to take care of the Jounin, fast.
Maki grips his custom kunai hard, preparing for a battle that is starting to worry him. Not for his life, not because he is scared that he will lose. He know that he can beat them but he is worried for his students. 'Let's just hope that all will go well.' He thought, preparing for battle.