Chapter 10: The Third Wheel

*Ugh…my head…what the hell happened?* I think to myself as I awake in a daze. I slowly regain my vision and begin to look around. From what I can make of the scenario…I'm in an alley. *What the hell am I doing here? D-Did I get drunk? No…no, that can't be it. I haven't gotten drunk since…* My train of thought is interrupted by Saiko shouting in my ear behind me.

"Hi Arashi! Oh Good, you're not dead! Haha!" exclaimed Saiko. I turn around only to see that he's hanging upside-down from the edge of the roof of the building next to me.

"S-Saiko…get down! Sheesh, what happened?"

"Oh, you got beat up by some guy with an electric sword or somthin'. I believe his name was…Sasuke Uchiha or something. Hehe, his name makes me hungry…"

"W-What? Hungry? Why does that make you hungry?"

"Dunno', haha! You wanna grab a bite? Huhuha!"

"In a minute, I have some questions for you."

"Okayyy, lay 'em on me! Haha!"

"First of all, what the hell am I doing in alley way on some staw?"

"Oh, haha, that…well, since I didn't have any money I couldn't go rent a place to put you, and since I didn't know where you lived here I built you this lovely bed here! Haha!

"You do realize that I have money right?"

"Yeah, I did, but I didn't wanna' steal from ya'. Haha!"

"Right…well anyway, second question…did you see where Sasuke and whats-his-face went?"

"Hmm…I think they went into this village…but I've haven't seen him since, he probably high-tailed it out of here a long time ago."

"Oh…that's a shame. *slams my fist against the wall*"

"I believe the other guy's name was Suigetsu…If that means anything to ya'. Haha."

"Humph. Well…c'mon, let's get some dinner, we could both use a little somethin' right now."

"Okeydokey! Haha!" After all that had been said and done, we make our way over to the local restaurant. The place was surprisingly packed. It was filled with some unruly looking people, both in and outside of the shop, all accept for one person who was playing Shogi with one of the unruly fellows outside. He had white hair and a brown vest covering a green shirt. He also wore brown pants that looked an awful lot like mine and sandals. I hand Saiko 300 ryo and say to him.

"Go order something with that, I'll be right back."

"Okayyy, haha!" I see Saiko run up to the counter and ask to order something. While he's waiting, I make my way outside to watch the white-haired man play Shogi, there were also a few other people watching him. He was playing with somebody else this tiem. *Wow, did he beat that other guy already?*

"Divine Wind." Said the white-haired man. "Told you I'd win." said the white-haired guy.

"What? Impossible." yelled the man across from him.

"What do you mean impossible? It's clear as day right in front of you, or are you blind?"

"Shut up you little...Gah! You wanna' go asshole?" growled the man

"If you say so."

"Why you…ngh, I'll make you pay for that!" He stands up and moves to the open street so the wouldn't cause any collateral damge to the restaurant. The white-haired man followed slowly behind and stood a good distance away."You ready punk?"

"Not really…but if you insist." said the white-haired man as he made a hand sign. Then all of a sudden feather's form slowly around the other guy he's fighting. He instantly begins to start falling asleep.

*The Feather Illusion Jutsu? ...Interesting.* I thought to myself as I watch the spectacle take place

"Heyyy, what is this...s-some kind of...*yawn*...trick?" the man said as he fell to the ground, asleep.

"Whatever...jeez that was annoying."

*I have to follow him!*

"Hey Arashi, I'm all done!" shouted Saiko's voice. I turn around and see Saiko's face covered in barbeque sauce.

"Damn, I forgot how much of a messy eater you were. Anyway, c'mon, we have someone to catch up to."

"Who?" Saiko asked.

"Dunno' yet, c'mon." I move quickly behind him. We follow him quite a ways until we are looking at him standing by one of the city's many waterfalls. He seemed to be thinking about something, considering his eyes were closed.

"How long are you going to sit there?" he asked out of virtually nowhere. "You've been spying on me for the past half hour, now come on out, seriously."

*But…how did he? Crap, whatever, guess there's no point in staying hidden.* I step out from behind the trees and Saiko follows. I walk over to him and ask.

"That was an impressive display of skill back there."

"Oh, that, it was nothing. I really detest fighting to be honest."

"Mhm…well, I'm…"

"I know who y'all are."

"W-What?"

"Yup. You're Arashi Setsudan, famous and world renouned bounty hunter from the Village of the Clouds. Your friend there is Saiko Tōketsu. He's mentally insane and was sent to the Cloud Village Insane Asylum when he was 15."

"Uhh, well…damn, that's right."

"Of course it is. Anyway, what do you want really?" he said with a curious look on his face

"Oh well uhh, I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming along with me and Saiko?"

"Hmm…well, I don't know." He replied, closing his eyes, pondering at my question

"What do you mean?"

"Well your friend there is a total nutjob, how will I know that he wont stab me in my sleep?" he said, with a somewhat sarcastic tone in his voice.

"I'll keep him in check, besides he's my best friend, he knows his limits when he's with me. Right, Saiko?"

"Huhuha, you bet Arashi! Hahaha!" said Saiko, laughing his ass off.

"Well...I still don't really know you guys that well." he said, giving us a sort of wierd vibe

"You sure seemed to know alot about us..." I say curiously

"Well that was an epic duh. I mean that I don't know you guys on a personal level, you should've figured that Arashi."

"Well uhh...yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does. No need to guess. Oh and since neither of you have had the courtesy to ask, the name's Kyusei Tatsūmaki."

"...Cool, I guess." *I hope this guy doesn't get on Saiko's bad side with his attitude.*

"Huhuha! I like this guy Arashi! He seems cooool, haha!" blurted Saiko

*Well that's a relief* "Good."

"Yes, I guess that is good, well whatever, I guess there'd be no harm in tagging along with you two." He closes his eyes for a moment and then continues. "For now..."

"Uhh...well...okay then, I guess we're a team then."

"'T' 'E' 'E' 'M', what does that spell, TEAM! Haha!"

"Ooh, a swing and a miss." Kyusei retorted to Saiko's outburst.

"We should be Super Bounty Hunters! Ya' know, 'cause we're very...super. Haha!"

"Yeah, let's...not...do that." said Kyusei."

"We're the Supreme Bounty Squad." I said, smiling under my bandages.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Kyusei.

*How the hell did he know that?* "How the hell did you know I was smiling?" I asked.

"Oh, the stretch marks on your face and the dialation of your pupils changes to the position of someone who was smiling, it's quite simple really."

"Oh...well, I'm just gald we have a third wheel on board with our mission."

"What...mission, persay?" Said Kysei. I pause for a moment before replying,

"We're going after someone that got away from one of my hunts. He has light blue skin, a deep blue jacket, and is from the Mist Village. Oh, and he has gills." I said. Kyusei paused for a moment,

"Hmm...interesting..." he seemed to be thinking really intently.

*I wonder if he...* "Do you...know something about him?"

"Hmm, well...the description doesn't match the only blue-skinned person I've researched. I'll have to look into it some."

"You'd do that?"

"You kidding? I'm a natural at getting the facts."

*Well, well. Looks like I've got the perfect people for this after all.* "Awesome. Now...since you're gonna' be a part of this team, I think it's only fair that me and you duke it out a little. You know, to test your abilities. I saw your Feather Illusion Jutsu earlier, but thats clearly not all you can do."

"I'm surprised you had to point it out, it should've been obvious. Where to?"

"Hmm...I know just the place." Saiko, Kyusei, and I all start walking throught the village a bit. We pass by many shops and houses. Saiko, bieng him, pointed out all the shiny things he saw. He urked me at times when he asked me for money to go buy "that shiny thing" constantly but oh well. After about a half hour of walking we arrive in an open field near my home at Gale's Rock. "That's my house over there by the way."

"Obviously." said Kyusei.

"Umm...okay. Well, now that we're here…are you ready?"

"Sure am."

"Allright, let's go. Saiko, you stay back, okay?"

"Aww c'mon Arashi, can I fight him, huh? Pleaaaase!" asked Saiko

"Sorry Saiko, not this time."

"Oh pfft, fine. I'll be climbing those trees then! Yayyy! Oh how I love trees! Haha!"

*Wierd* "Anyway...Go!" I say as I begin forming some hand signs. *Wind Style. Severing Wind Blades.* the swirls of air form in my hands and I dash towards him. He makes a few hand sign and then launches hundreds of mini fire bullets at me, I think fast and react. "Gale Force Jutsu!" I make the bullets disperse and I launch towards him with my kunai. *Secret Technique. Tempest Weapon Cloak.* My kunai is quickly enveloped in a scourge of black wind and lightning that makes it look like ten times its size. I slash him with my kunai as he blocks the attack the best he can. He makes some more hand signs and then launches a swell of water that comes crashing into me as I'm in the air and I go flying into a tree. "*cough* *cough*" Just as I get situated, three more huge swells of water come at me. I had to think fast. *Wind Style. Dynamic Wind Punch.* I get my stance ready and I pull back my fist along with a mass of air, and then punch forward launching the fist-shaped pulse of wind smashing a hole through his waves of water. I jump through the hole I created and rush at him with my kunai and stop right near his heart.

Just as I think I had him beat, he forces his palm into my stomach, which appeared to be...glowing, causing me to fly back and hit the ground hard.*Ngh...what the hell was that?* I rush toward him again while forming a few hand signs of my own. *Wind Style. Tornado Wall.* I blow violent winds out my hands causing a wall of tornadoes to appear in front of him. The sky begins to turn black as I summon these natural disasters as I proceed to my next step. I launch myself into my own tornado while charging my kunai with the wind from them. Being unable to spot where I am, Kyusei is probably confused. *Time to stike!* I launch out of my tornado towards Kyusei at unbelievable speed. He then pulls out some shuriken that are glowing blue just like his hands were. I block each one, which ends up throwing me off balance a little but I still keep within range. He then pulls out a glowing blue kunai and dashes up towards me. As our kunais collide, sparks and wind start dispersing from the core, right before it creates an incredible pulse of energy that sends us both flying back onto the ground. I get up and walk towards him again with my kunai held up, and he did the same. As we get close enough, we push our kunai together, but not with force, we just hold them there.

"Do you think I'm capable now?" He asks with a cocky sounding attitude.

"Humph, damn straight. You put up a good fight."

"Of course I do."

"Yeah."

"Now...before we set off, I need to head to my house to get something of mine, okay?"

"Wait, why?"

"Do you really need to ask why? I mean you obviously had us fight here 'cause you needed something from your house as well. So its only fair."

*I hate when he's right* "Oh, okay, yeah, sure." I run into my house and grab some food and junk for the road. I come back out in about 15 minutes.

"Took you long enough."

"Yay! Arashi's back! Haha!"

"Okay so...off to your house then?"

"Yup."

"Okay." I began to notice something about Kyusei that I hadn't noticed before. His eyes were perhaps the palest blue I have ever seen. Like, all the pigment in them had been drained or had faded out. It's almost as if he was... *Hmm…I wonder…* "Hey uhh…Kyusei…are you—"

"Before you ask, yes, I am blind. I thought you would've noticed a lot sooner."

"Oh uhh..okay. Just wondering…" *He sure took that well...*

"Pfft. Yeah, whatever…" he said, seeming somewhat annoyed…or offended, I couldn't tell which. "Let's get going." We then started heading towards Kyusei's place, hopefully without any more distractions along the way.