Chapter 12 - Episode 11: Beauty, Brains and Brawn!
Last time, on Kitsune no Shoujo, everything was calming down in preparation for the storm ahead and with Kakashi too worn out to do any real protecting for Tazuna, he instead decided to teach his three Genin the tree-climbing chakra exercise. Though when he left the three of them, things ended up being a little awkward, and Narue decided to ask Shikamaru to teach her how to play Shogi. How will Narue's patience hold up while being educated in this game of wits and strategy? Today on Kitsune no Shoujo, we find out!
Disclaimer I don't own Naruto. My knowledge of Shogi is courtesy of Wikipedia.
"Okay, are you paying attention Narue?" Shikamaru asked, looking to his so-called student in strategy. Currently, Narue was staring off into space so it was pretty clear to Shikamaru that she wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. How troublesome; "Oi! Narue, you're the one who wanted to learn how to play so at least look as if you're interested."
Narue turned to him, scratching the back of her head,
"Yeah, sorry about that lazy-ass." She nodded, and leaned forward, "So, how does this board game thingy work?" she asked.
Shikamaru heaved a sigh, and began, "Okay, so the basic idea of Shogi is that to win, you need to capture the opposing team's 'King'. This piece here," Shikamaru pointed to his King piece, "You and your opponent alternate in taking turns, with the black team playing first. I am currently 'black', and you are 'white'. You understand?" asked Shikamaru.
"Yeah, I get it. So my white pieces have gotta kick your black pieces' asses!" Narue nodded.
Shikamaru agreed with a grunt, "And take them captive," Shikamaru added, "In each turn you can either move a piece that's already on the board and potentially promote it, or capture an opposing team's piece, or both. If you want, you can also 'drop' a piece that's already been captured onto an empty square of the board. Each game can potentially last 9 hours, at least that's—" Shikamaru was cut off.
"Say what!? Nine hours, are you kidding me!?" Narue burst out, outraged at the length of time.
Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah, nine hours. For this game you need patience, Narue. Something you lack." He answered and Narue growled, folding her arms.
"Okay, so teach me already!" she said impatiently, glaring holes in the board.
"Nn. Okay, like I was saying, it's usually just my games with my dad, or his friend Asuma-san which take that long. Sometimes you can get extra time for the Meijin title match. There's also the byoyomi, the second counting. That means that if ordinary time has run out—"
"And nine hours isn't enough?" Narue cut in, incredulous.
"—No, it isn't. If ordinary time has run out, the player has a certain amount of time to complete every move he makes from then on. If you run out of time, you lose the game. That's that." Shikamaru rubbed his head, "Narue, from now on you've gotta try your best not to interrupt me okay? I know it's hard for you—"
"It's not hard!"
"You just interrupted me there, Narue." Shikamaru said, not amused. Narue just folded her arms, stepping back into thought.
-Did you get anything that Shikamaru said to you?- Yon asked.
"Ah... Some of it, I guess. The rest just went out the other end of my ear. Something about Byoyomi and Meijin... And black and white, or something." Narue thought.
-You're hopeless… In a nutshell, you use your pieces to capture the opponent's pieces. It's like using your kagebunshin to take out some of Zabuza's water-clones until you can get at the real one, which in Shogi, will be Shikamaru's 'King' piece.- Yon explained.
"Oooh! I get it!!" Narue thought, hitting her palm with a balled-up fist. Yon only sighed.
"I take it you understood. That's good." Shikamaru nodded, "Better than having to explain it to her all over again. Man, this is such a pain." He thought, and coughed, "Next I'll explain how you capture an opposing piece. If the piece you seek to capture is in a legal destination for one of your own pieces, it can be captured by removing it from the board and replacing it with one of your own. In other words, it's like a cuckoo bird that removes eggs of other birds from a nest, replacing it with its own. Understand?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Narue from across the board, his hands on his knees as he sat cross-legged.
"Hmm... Yeah, sorta," Narue nodded, "Why's he talking about birds, now? He doesn't need to use things like birds and eggs to explain it to me. This is pretty straight forward." she thought to herself.
-This coming from the girl that had to be given the example of kagebunshin and mizubunshin, for her to understand?- Yon sighed.
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen to Shikamaru, here!" Narue mentally retorted, and snorted in annoyance, "What else, lazy-ass?" she asked Shikamaru, who shrugged.
"You're not allowed to hide the pieces you capture, since they're crucial to the game. Kinda like a fair-fight, you're not allowed to hide your ace in a hole from the opponent incase you have an unfair advantage." Shikamaru added, and began to go through the rest of the rules with Narue.
Sitting by himself, watching them from the patio was Sasuke. He looked vacant, as if he were somewhere far away. Unlike Narue and Shikamaru, he was thinking just a little bit more about the fall during their training than they were, and it annoyed him.
"It doesn't affect me. I don't care about that blond idiot. I have other things to focus on, and her and Shikamaru don't seem affected by it at all." Sasuke thought, and glanced at the confused-looking Narue being taught by the apathetic Shikamaru, "I don't care about anyone or anything other than my goals." He thought to himself, and nodded, "Humph." He grunted, and got up to get something to drink.
Kakashi stepped out from on the patio, watching Sasuke walk away. His visible eye slid closed into an upward arc, smiling, and he chuckled,
"Kids…" he thought, and went over to see how Narue was doing.
Later that night, Narue was pulling on her light turquoise pyjama bottoms up, almost ready for bed. Batting the elastic waist of her trousers, she began to look around as Shikamaru came in, rubbing the back of his neck and yawning.
"Oi, Shikamaru! Have you seen my night-cap anywhere?" she asked Shikamaru, who looked at her nightwear with raised eyebrows, before shaking his head.
"Nah. Why use a night-cap anyway? It'll just muss your hair." Shikamaru said.
"You're one to talk about hair, pineapple head!" Narue retorted, shaking a fist at him.
"You put it under your pillow." Sasuke said, coming into the room wearing a baggy black shirt that covered some of his thighs as well. Narue blinked, then rummaged under her pillow, triumphantly bringing out her black night-cap in all its ridiculous-looking glory.
"You're right!" Narue said, "Thanks," she said to Sasuke with a cheeky grin.
"… Whatever." Sasuke sighed and said after a short pause, going over to his bed. Narue snorted, and climbed into her bed, as did Shikamaru. They lay in silence, not noticing that Kakashi didn't come to bed either, and pretty soon, they all fell asleep. Not soon after, Narue found somehow she couldn't get to sleep.
Narue scrunched up her face, growling quietly, "What the hell? Why can't I sleep!?" Narue thought.
-Rise and shine, Narue.- Yon replied calmly.
"Argh! So it was you!! What do you want!!" Narue mentally yelled at him, grouchy.
-Get up and go to the lake. You have training to do.- Yon answered.
"At midnight?!" Narue protested.
-Stop complaining and get up. I'm going to teach you an important jutsu.- Yon said.
Narue instantly sat up in her bed, "A jutsu? What kind of jutsu?" Narue asked excitedly.
-An important one. I'll tell you more, once you're dressed and at the lake. Make sure nobody notices you're missing.- Yon said and Narue nodded, getting out of bed as quietly as she could, and sneaking out. Yon then sighed; -She's not getting changed, is she..?- he thought.
On the roof, Kakashi watched calmly as Narue ran across the board-walk excitedly, "Where does she think she's going? Should I follow her? Hmmm.." Kakashi thought to himself, "Nah." He whispered, and lay back on the roof to watch the clouds roll by. He briefly wondered if the calming effect it gave was why Shikamaru enjoyed watching them so much. Then, he looked behind him slightly, "So you heard her leave, hm?" he asked Sasuke, who sat nearby.
"I was already awake. She didn't notice that I was gone." Sasuke answered.
"Want to talk?" Kakashi asked again, and Sasuke glared at him, "Okay, okay. You're choice." He shrugged, and turned away from Sasuke.
"There's nothing to talk about." Sasuke said, frowning.
"Sure there isn't." Kakashi shrugged, smiling to himself, "Kids… Honestly. Was I like that?" he thought to himself, thinking back to the time he was Sasuke's age.
Meanwhile, due to her excitement, Narue was already half-way to the lake when Yon stopped her.
-Narue, stop here.- said Yon and Narue skidded to a halt.
"What?" Narue asked, looking around. She was in the forest from her training session earlier on with Shikamaru and Sasuke, trees encircling her. She was dwarfed by their breathtaking heights.
-Before we begin on your technique, you have to scale one of the trees around you using the technique you used earlier on today.- Yon said.
"Eh? Doesn't it make more sense to conserve my chakra for whatever it is you're gonna teach me?" Narue asked, furrowing her brows and squinting her eyes shut.
-True in most cases. However, I want to test the lengths of your stamina.- Yon answered. Narue hummed, mulling it over for a moment, before nodding and turning to a tree, ready to start.
"But wait! I don't have a kunai with me." Narue said and was greeted with silence for an answer, "Oh fine! It's not like I need it, it's just holding me back." Narue snorted, and ran towards the tree with her hands together in a hand seal.
And so, the preliminary stages of her training began that night. Dashing up the tree several times and crash landing at the bottom several more, Narue stuck at it for hours on end, though cursing all the way. Yon watched on calmly through the same eyes as she, smiling thoughtfully to himself.
-She reminds me a lot of Obito... so full of spirit. I wonder if Kakashi thinks the same...- Yon thought.
"Haha... I-I-I made it..! What do you say to that, Yon-sensei!?" Narue asked, clinging for dear life at the top of a slightly-swaying pine tree, her fingers digging into the bark and panting like a dog.
Yon nodded, -You look exhausted.- he pointed out bluntly.
"Ha!! It'll take a lot more than this to take me out!" Narue replied mentally.
-Good. Now climb back down, and head for the lake if you're feeling so cocky. We'll begin on the actual training session, now.- Yon said and Narue unconsciously gulped. After wandering wearily towards the lake, she finally arrived and bent over to let out a harsh breath.
She then stood up straight, and cracked her knuckles, "So what're you gonna teach me, Yon-sensei...?" she asked in a loud whisper, sweat dribbling down her face. Her blond hair was plastered against her cheeks with her own sweat.
-The water-walking technique.- Yon answered.
Narue creased her eyebrows, "Sounds cool!" Narue nodded enthusiastically.
-Oh, it is cool… If you can master it, that is. The water-walking technique applies similar techniques to the ones you used for tree-climbing today. Only this time, instead of applying a set amount of chakra to your feet, the flow must be continuous. You see, in the tree-climbing technique there's a steady surface beneath your feet which you can apply your chakra to, whereas with water the surface is always changing so you need to think fast and be able to adjust your chakra control.- Yon explained.
"A continuous flow of chakra, to my feet?" Narue mumbled, and at hearing Yon answer 'yes', Narue grinned, "Okay! I can do that! It'll be no problem for the future Hokage." Narue said, and ran towards the water with chakra flowing to her feet quickly.
-Future Hokage, huh…? I wonder where that came from. Heh.- Yon thought to himself, then he slapped his forehead as Narue fell into the water, having not applied her chakra evenly enough. -Perhaps I should have left it at making her master the tree-climbing technique...- he thought with a sigh.
"Argh, damnit!" Narue yelped, coming to the surface and swimming to the shore. She pulled herself over, and spat out a mouthful of water, "I'm not gonna give up." She muttered, and stood up, preparing her chakra once more.
Shikamaru woke up, pulling himself into a sitting position with a huge yawn, stretching his arms up then patting his mouth lightly out of reflex. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to his left to check up on Narue and Sasuke, only to find Sasuke packing up a few kunai in his satchel, and Narue not even in the room. Shikamaru quickly glanced over to see if Kakashi was in bed and sighed seeing that he was inevitably the last to wake up. It's not like he cared if he was, though.
"Hey, where's Narue? Usually she's last up." Shikamaru asked Sasuke.
Sasuke was silent a moment, closing his satchel and attaching it to his belt, before glancing at the pineapple haired boy,
"She went out training last night at midnight. She's still doing that." Sasuke said, and stood up from his crouching position leaving a bewildered looking Shikamaru sitting beneath his sleeping bag sheets.
"Seriously...?!" Shikamaru asked, pulling his covers off his legs and getting up slightly.
"Seriously." Sasuke nodded, "I'm going to drag her stupid ass back here, if she's still alive that is. Then I'm going training. You should too." Sasuke said, and left the room.
Shikamaru wearily brought a hand to his head,
"Troublesome... Everyone's working hard and I'm snoozing the whole time. Even Narue's working hard! I know this is how I've always been, but if I don't start now, how am I going to fair should Zabuza come back?" Shikamaru thought. He went over to his bag, and began digging through it, finally producing two kunai knives.
"Hey… Wake up." a voice said, pulling Narue out of her dream world. Narue groaned, the sun blazing in her eyes. She brought a hand up to protect her eyes, and a shadowed body came over her. "Are you alright?" the person asked, as Narue focused her eyes. Narue gasped.
"What a pretty girl…" she thought, looking up to the brunette with kind, chocolate brown eyes, and long hair that hung freely. 'She' wore a pink yukata, and had a straw basket near 'her'. "Um… Who are you?" Narue asked and Haku only smiled.
Little did Narue know that despite his feminine appearance, Haku was most definitely not female. Haku never did mind about the mistakes made about his gender. He'd gotten used to it.
"I should be asking you the same thing. What were you doing, sleeping beside the lake? You could have rolled over and fallen in." Haku asked.
"Heheh! Training!" Narue said, a bit embarrassed that she'd passed out from chakra exhaustion like that.
Haku blinked, "If she was training that hard… Has she improved enough to stand up to Zabuza-sama? I highly doubt it, but…" Haku thought, and smiled to Narue again, "Ah… So.. Are you a kunoichi? You're wearing that head-band." he said, looking to the head-band around Narue's head. Out of her excitement, Narue had only managed to bring her forehead protector but forgotten to change out of her pyjamas.
"Do I really look like one?" Narue asked.
"Of course. I know a ninja when I see one. We don't get many around here, though. Since the land of waves doesn't have a ninja village." Haku replied.
"Really? Then I'll protect everyone here, since nobody else can. I'll especially protect you, since I owe you for saving me." Narue said, grinning at the 'girl'.
Haku laughed lightly, "I'm honoured." He nodded, "I'm not the one who needs protecting. You should focus on your charge." He thought pointedly, looking Narue right in the eye. "I should be going. I have to finish collecting these herbs." He said, getting up and picking up his basket of herbs.
"Ah! Want some help?" Narue asked.
Haku looked over his shoulder to her, surprised, "Help?" he asked and Narue hopped up to her feet.
"Yeah! I'm an excellent weed puller!" Narue said proudly, pointing to herself.
Haku shook his head, "Herbs aren't weeds. They're used for medicines. But I suppose I could use some help. Thank you very much." Haku bowed his head politely. Narue nodded happily, and pulled herself up, scrambling after Haku.
"Uzumaki Narue, at your service!" Narue said happily to Haku, who laughed quietly.
Haku took her to an opening filled with different herbs that grew there in the wild, and the two sat down beginning to collect herbs. As Haku mutely tugged the herbs from their roots and put them in his basket, Narue found her eyes fixated on those long, slender fingers. Slowly, Narue looked to her calloused fingers that plucked the herbs from the ground indiscriminately (whether they were herbs, or just plain weeds), and sighed quietly. She glanced once more at Haku's hands.
"She has really nice hands... If she were a kunoichi, she'd be amazing with projectiles... like senbon." she thought, and frowned to herself, "Senbon... like the masked kid used." she thought, then shook it off as a useless link. There was no way that this gentle woman could be the same as that mysterious kid, no matter the fact that they were both as quiet and polite as one another.
"You keep staring at my hands." Haku pointed out lightly and Narue's eyes snapped to Haku's face.
She blushed, "Ah, sorry! Sorry! It's just that your fingers, they're so slender... You'd be a great kunoichi!" Narue said to Haku, who feigned surprise.
"Oh really? You flatter me, Kunoichi-san." said Haku and Narue laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. They continued to collect herbs for another few minutes, until Haku spoke up with an unexpected question, "Do you... have special people?" Haku asked her and Narue looked at him again, surprised and confused.
"Eh...?" Narue asked, tilting her head to the side.
Haku murmured a laugh, putting a hand to his lips, "I'm sorry.. It's just that I thought the reason you'd be out here so early was to train. Usually you train so that you can protect those that you truly care about, right? So I was wondering if there was anyone who was special to you." Haku said, and sighed, "When you fight to protect a special person, you will become as strong as you have to be. That's what I believe." Haku said softly, and Narue stared at her.
"I was actually training to rub it in Sasuke's face that I got stronger than him... But... This girl is making a lot of sense." thought Narue. Narue then grinned widely, "Yeah! My team-mates and sensei, and Iruka-sensei too! Them, and everyone in my village! 'cause I'm gonna be the first ever female Hokage, just you wait and see!" Narue said loudly, and laughed.
Haku smiled in return, "I see. That's quite a promise." he said, and nodded, "You will become strong. I know it... But now I have to go," Haku said, getting up and taking his basket with him.
Narue gasped, and scrambled to her feet, "But will I see you again...?" Narue asked him.
Haku stared at her, then nodded solemnly, feigning a smile, "You will." he said, and turned on his way, "I know we'll see each other again... but when we do, it won't be as friends. I'm so sorry." he thought, beginning on his way. He paused, "Oh, and by the way... I'm a boy." he said, not looking back over his shoulder. With that, he went on his way again while Narue let her jaw hang loose.
She took a step back, then wobbled and collapsed backwards onto her bottom, eyes wide,
"No way... Seriously?! I thought for sure..." Narue mumbled, "The world is indeed an amazing thing... But then if he's a boy, it'd probably seem weird that I had been staring at him. Oh god.." Narue thought, as Sasuke found her. Sasuke let her stay blind to his presence a moment longer, raising his eyebrows as he inspected her flushed cheeks.
"I wonder what that boy said to shock her so much?" he thought, and hit Narue over the head, "Oi, Narue, stop daydreaming. You need to head back to at least get a late breakfast and sleep some." said Sasuke, while Narue nursed her head sorely.
"Ow! What was that for, Sasuke-teme?!" Narue snapped, looking up at him with a scowl.
Sasuke smirked, "For sneaking out to train without me. Don't go thinking that because you did, you'll be better than me." he said.
Narue growled at him, and then she smirked, "You have no idea how strong I got Sasuke! I'll kick your ass anytime now!" she said cockily, and Sasuke merely grunted, grabbing her by her pyjama collar and pulling her towards Tazuna's house.
"You gave us quite a scare, Narue. What on earth were you doing out there?" Kakashi asked pleasantly as Sasuke carried Narue inside, piggy-back style. She had collapsed half the way back and Sasuke had begrudgingly picked her up.
"She was training, supposedly. More tree-climbing, then water walking as she said." Sasuke answered and Kakashi widened his eyes; Sasuke turned to Narue, "Are you ready to get off my back and stand on your own yet?" he asked, and without waiting for her to answer he dumped her on the wooden floor. Narue yelled her usual 'bastard' retort at him.
"Water walking... But how would she know how to do that? I haven't taught her, and I don't think Iruka did back at the academy. Only high-calibre chuunin and jounin know how to do that; it's rare that a genin does." he thought, and narrowed his eyes, "Narue... Is Kyuubi's presence..? No it couldn't be.. could it?" he thought some more, then realised it was only going to give him a migraine.
"Well, now that you're here, you can have breakfast!" Tsunami said cheerily and Kakashi nodded.
"Since Shikamaru scaled the tree yesterday, he'll protect Tazuna today. Sasuke, you continue to train, and Narue, you sleep-" he was cut off by said blond.
"No way, no way! I'm fine! I'll eat, then I'll go with Sasuke-teme to wipe the floor with him at tree-climbing!!" Narue said.
"You've mastered the tree-climbing technique?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yeah!! Heheh." Narue said proudly, grinning foxily.
"Then you'll rest, and join Shikamaru." Kakashi said, and Narue whined.
"Actually, sensei, can Narue please train with me today?" Sasuke asked suddenly, and everyone looked to him surprise. The surprise being especially evident in Narue.
"Haha! Can't wait for me to kick your ass Sasuke?!" she laughed.
"You wish." Sasuke said to Narue.
Kakashi sighed, "Fine. Sasuke and Narue will train, and Shikamaru will act as Tazuna's body guard as he goes shopping and works." he recounted the roles with a nod, "For now, breakfast." Kakashi added, and everyone nodded in agreement. With that, breakfast was in session.
"Hahahaha!! See!? See?! I told you I'd wipe the floor with you!!" Narue said obnoxiously, hanging upside down from the highest branch of the tree she had scaled, but five minutes into the training session with Sasuke. Sasuke rested at the bottom of his tree, looking up to Narue and panting lightly. His eyes stretched to their limits.
"What the...! How the hell did she get so good at this in one night..?!" he wondered breathlessly, as Narue began to slide recklessly down her tree again, shaving greenery off the branches as she did. When she eventually made it to the ground, and shakily stumbled towards Sasuke with a light pant of her own, Sasuke just stared at her, "How did you-?" he asked.
"-Do it?" Narue finished his question, and laughed loudly, "I trained like heck!! See, now I'm better than you. What do you say to that!?" Narue asked. Silence.
A breeze fluttered by, scattering leaves to the skies. Sasuke's coal black eyes looked right into Narue's azure blue eyes, and then his cheeks flushed as he averted his eyes quickly.
"Tell me how you did it.." he mumbled and Narue widened her eyes.
"Um... What? Sasuke?" Narue asked, raising her eyebrows.
"How did you... get so.." he trailed off, and sighed, ".. strong?" he finished his sentence in a louder voice. Narue gasped, her cheeks barely beginning to stain pink.
And then she grinned like a maniac, "Heheheh! I told you, Sasuke," she said more girlishly than usual, "Because I'm awesome!!" she said.
"When did you say that?" Sasuke asked, frowning at her.
Narue snorted, "I always say it, loser!" she retorted.
"You're the one who's a loser." Sasuke replied.
"Sasuke, you bastard!!" Narue snapped at him, clenching her fists at him, "I'm gonna kick your ass!" she exclaimed.
"I'd like to see you try." Sasuke smirked, and looked away again. "But honestly.. How did you get so strong.. stronger than I am? It doesn't make sense. I don't understand you, Narue." Sasuke thought.
...And what scares me is... That I actually want to get to know you, Narue.
What makes you the way you are?
That night, while Tazuna's family, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Narue slumbered, Sasuke trained until he couldn't train any more. Falling asleep in the forest, he again asked himself why he was so interested in everything that Narue was.
The next morning, Narue lay in her sleeping bag, looking to the ceiling. Last night, after the display of little Inari's flared temper and his proclamation that she was not a hero, Tazuna had sadly told them about what happened to Inari's dad. While Narue sorta understood what Inari was going through, she was still miffed about the whole 'you're not a hero so why the hell are you trying so damn hard to seem like one' argument between she and the toddler. As far as she was concerned, Inari was a coward, just like a lot of the people here. If they'd just stand up to this old fart Gatou, then they would have the right to lecture her about heroism and the like. But still, she understood the pain it was to know that they had no father to look up to, or to be given a pat on the back from. She understood all too well.
Narue sighed, and sat up and stretched her arms into the air, yawning with her mouth stretched open to its limits. Patting her lips absent-mindedly, Narue looked around to either side of her for her team-mates. No Sasuke. No Shikamaru, either. Kakashi was also up. Narue sighed, and got out of bed, getting ready.
On her way to the kitchen table she bumped into Tsunami, who seemed concerned.
"What's up, Tsunami-neesan?" Narue asked her, yawning again.
Tsunami hummed, "Well, your team-mate... He didn't come home last night. I'm wondering if he's alright." she answered honestly.
Narue raised her eyebrows, "Sasuke didn't come home??" she asked incredulously.
At the breakfast table, Kakashi waved his hand dismissively and smiled, "No need to worry about him, Narue, he's a tough boy." he said good-naturedly.
Narue flushed, "I'm not worried about that jerk!!" Narue gasped.
"Suuuure you're not." Shikamaru drawled, stirring his porridge with his spoon disinterestedly. He didn't like porridge, since his mother made him eat it every morning and she put way too much sugar in it, permanently turning him off the breakfast meal. But it wasn't like anybody cared about Shikamaru's home life, or his troublesome mom; Which is why it was left to mere narration, and never discussed out loud.
"I'm not!! Shikamaru!" Narue insisted, glaring at the pineapple head boy. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Narue eyed the door nervously, her eyes squinted shut, "I'm gonna go drag his ass back here, since he did it to me yesterday." she said, marching outside without her sandals, then rushing in to claim them and leaving again.
"It seems they're both in denial." Kakashi laughed and Shikamaru sighed wearily.
"What are you talking about?" Tazuna scratched his head, at a loss for what was going on amongst the leaf ninja.
"Well, once Narue retrieves Sasuke... We'll all head out to work as Tazuna-san's bodyguards. I've recovered enough to do so." Kakashi said confidently, and Tazuna beamed.
"Brilliant!" he said.
"Haku, are you ready to go?" Zabuza asked, as he and Haku sat in a boat that swayed and rocked in the water, mist floating around them. In between the two on the floor of the boat, a radio emitted a buzzing sound of a voice, it belonging to Gatou. "Do get rid of that pesky noise, Haku." Zabuza added.
Haku nodded, plucking the radio from its spot and dropping it over the side of the boat without a word,
"I am ready, Zabuza-sama." he answered his master.
"Then we'll head out now." Zabuza said, and the two disappeared from the boat with a small gust of wind. Leaving the boat to wobble and shake under the sudden movement. The mist got thicker.
With a heck of a lot of training from her two substitute sensei, Shikamaru and 'Yon', Narue managed to vastly improve her skills, surprising even Kakashi, the actual sensei. Confident with her newly honed skills, she, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Sasuke prepare for their first full-team bodyguard-ing session with Tazuna. But what awaits them at the bridge?
(Narue's POV) Next time on Kitsune no Shoujo!... Hey, woah, woah a second here! So, so this masked kid was working for Zabuza!? (Shikamaru: I thought Kakashi-sensei already explained that...) Shut up lazy-ass! This is a serious situation here! If we don't focus like crazy then Zabuza and the masked girl will slaughter Tazuna-san and that won't be pretty! (Sasuke: I'll attack first.) NO WAY, I WANNA PIECE OF THE TURTLENECK LADY!! Here I go!! (Haku: Very well... Narue...)
EDITED: 16/04/08 (spelling and paragraph check)
