Chapter 13:
"Naruto, don't!" Sasuke protested as he watched his comrade lunge for the hooded woman on the tree branch. But Naruto would not be swayed. He came directly at Sayomi with his blade held high but once he was close enough, she surprised him with an attack of her own.
Moving with such unexpected speed, Sayomi leapt off the branch and met the Genin halfway in the air; she then grabbed the hand that he was using to hold his Kunai while taking hold of his orange shirt with the other before she neatly threw Naruto back away from her to prevent any physical collision with the boy. Sayomi then dropped silently to the ground, while Naruto when his feet touched the forest floor, skidded back a foot or so.
Clicking her tongue in disapproval, Sayomi softly shook her hooded head, "Tisk, tisk…" she stated as she eyed the yellow haired boy in front of her, "With that kind of tactic, you won't get far as a Shinobi."
Anger flashed behind Naruto's blue eyes before he took up a solid fighting stance, "What did you just say?" he asked.
Sayomi rolled her eyes behind her hood before she brought her arms up to cross them over her chest, "You heard me." She answered coolly before she started to turn away. "But whatever, I'm done here." She then added with a bored sigh.
"Hey, just where do you think you're going?" Naruto demanded as he watched her face away from him before she slowly started off.
"I've got better things to do then waste my time with a bunch of ignorant kids." She answered back over her shoulder.
Enraged at her words, Naruto took a step forward before making another lunge at her form.
But that was exactly what Sayomi had been expecting; in fact she had been counting on it. So just when Naruto was about to collide with her and land his blow, she gracefully side stepped the attack at the last minute, letting Naruto pass right by before she spun about and landed a quick kick to his rear that sent him sprawling to the ground. Sakura and Sasuke who stood off to the side watching intently were now just as shocked as their blonde haired comrade.
"Nice try, but you'll need to try a bit harder than that." Sayomi stated knowingly. Growling, Naruto scrambled to his feet. But before he could make a comeback, his two comrades quickly intervened; grabbing him from behind before he could make another move against her.
"Let me at her, guys!" he exclaimed in protest as he struggled against their holds.
"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura answered. "Chill, you loser." Added Sasuke.
Sayomi watched the trio of Genin argue back in forth for a few brief seconds before deciding that the fun was now over; she successfully had ruffled some feathers and with that in mind, she could turn and walk away feeling satisfied. She had barely taken three steps however when she sensed a forth presence enter the area. The scent was unfamiliar and whoever it was hardly made a sound; but when an ANBU Black Op appeared out of nowhere in front of Sayomi, she was not in the least surprised.
"Sayomi…" the ANBU addressed in his low, monotone voice. Sayomi turned her hooded head to stare over into the ANBU's masked face that resembled a kind of green bird.
"What is it?" she replied coolly.
"You have been summoned by the Third Hokage." He informed. "He wants to see you immediately."
At the mention of her old teacher, Sayomi straightened up and nodded her hooded head, "I'm on my way." She answered. With those words exchanged, the ANBU disappeared from the scene as quietly as he had entered. And then, there was silence.
Noticing the sudden stillness around her, Sayomi turned her head slightly, and found the three Genin were watching her with utmost bewilderment. One would think that they had never seen an ANBU before by their faces.
Snorting softly at their expressions, she turned away and took off into the trees at great speed, vanishing from their sight without another word.
Blinking silently, the three Genin all shared a quick glance with each other while the same question filled their heads at the same time; who was that woman?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Third Hokage stood at his office window, looking down onto the streets of his village; his hands were clasped behind his back in deep thought. After a few more moments of silence, he felt a presence enter his office. Without even sparing a glance behind him, the Hokage opened his mouth and spoke up, smiling softly, "I see you got my message." He stated.
"Always do." Sayomi's cool, feminine voice answered.
Nodding his head in agreement, the Hokage then turned around to see the young, hooded woman standing in the center of his room , "Well, now that you're here, we can get down to business." He stated. "I want to talk to you about something."
Sayomi arched an unseen eyebrow up at the serious quality to his words, "I'm listening." She answered.
"Good…" he started, "…because I have a request. I want you to be a part of the Chunin Exams coming up at the end of this month." He informed.
Both of Sayomi's brows now rose at the Hokage's words. Crossing the room in few long strides before taking a seat on the edge of the Hokage's wooden desk, Sayomi's head inclined itself to the side as she stared over at the old man, "Hiruzen…" she finally spoke, purposely dropping the formal title of his name since she found it unnecessary to address him so since they were in private, "I think I've outgrown the standards for that kind of test, don't you think?" she returned.
The Hokage chuckled, "Indeed." He answered with a warm smile, "Which is why I'm not asking you to be in it, dear girl. I want you to help out with it."
"What do you mean?" she asked as she propped her arms up behind her and leaned back on them, "…like a proctor?" she asked while she smoothly crossed her legs in a very lady like manner.
"No." He answered, "…I need you for a much bigger role actually. I need your…abilities to keep everything in check as the event goes on."
Sayomi drew her brows together in slight confusion, "Is it not against the rules for any outside help to be given during the Exams?"
"You're not allowed to lend a hand to the participants that is true," the Hokage replied calmly, "…but that is not why I'm asking for your assistance." He paused for a brief second before continuing on. "It's been a while since the Chunin Exams have taken place here inside Konoha Village and ninja from all over the country are coming to take part in it."
"And?" Sayomi asked, curious to hear what the Hokage had to say,
"And I just want to be cautious. I don't want something drastic to happen during the Exam." He stated, "….though something almost always does…." He added in a soft grumble.
Understanding now what he was asking, Sayomi chuckled softly and slightly shook her head in amusement, "So basically, you want me to act as a spy."
The Hokage stared directly into the shadows of her hood to where he assumed her eyes were, "Yes." He answered seriously. "I want you to be the eyes and ears of this village for me when I cannot do so personally."
After thinking his words over for a couple of seconds, Sayomi shrugged, "Alright." She answered lazily, "…I accept the task."
The Hokage gave another warm smile, "I knew you would. "
"Though I'm curious as to why you've not asked the ANBU for this kind of thing." She added in a slightly suspicious tone; thinking that perhaps there was a catch to all of this.
"Even the ANBU don't have as sharp of senses as you my dear." The Hokage replied, "…You can sense things coming before they're even there."
Not being able to argue with that statement, Sayomi shrugged in response, "Touché." She answered.
In that exact moment, Sayomi picked up the sounds of hushed voices and approaching footsteps that were coming down the hall outside the Hokage's office. When she felt the presences stop right outside the door, she turned her head to glance over at the Third and gave a faint smile,
"You've got company." She stated in a soft voice of her own.
The Hokage raised a white brow in response, "Oh…" he answered as he turned towards the door. "They're earlier than I expected."
"They?" Sayomi repeated but her thoughts were then interrupted by the firm rapping on the office door.
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK. The handle then turned before the door swung open. And the scent that rushed in before anyone else was all too familiar to Sayomi's memory.
Knowing full well who it was already, she shook her head softly before turning away to stare out of the window, "Unbelievable." She murmured to herself as the people outside the office door strolled on in.
"Hey Old man!" Naruto obnoxiously exclaimed as he, followed by his two comrades, entered the room.
"Well won't this be interesting…" she thought to herself as she listened intently to the sounds of the three Genin's feet crossing the floor. One of the pairs of feet she noticed from hearing froze in mid step while the others continued on to stand in the center of the room; she already had an idea why.
"Wait for it…" she told herself quietly.
"YOU?" Came the sound of Naruto's disbelieving voice as he spotted her sitting casually on the wooden desk.
"Yup. There it is." she finished with quick roll of her eyes. Deciding to humor herself for a biref second, Sayomi turned her head around to stare the boy down; and though he couldn't see her eyes, Naruto must've felt the intensity of her gaze because she saw him take a tiny, unconscious step back.
"Me." she replied in an uninterested tone.
"Wat are you doing here?" he demanded as his blue eyes narrowed into slits that showed his suspicion.
"Is that any of your concern?" she threw back.
Naruto took a challenging step towards her, "I can always make it my concern." He replied.
Sayomi was about to respond when she just barely had the time to sense a sudden sixth presence before another figure walked right into the room.
Sighing, "Now, now, Naruto…" the figure disapprovingly stated in a smooth masculine voice as he entered the room and moved to stand behind the three Genin. "None of that." He finished as he looked down on the yellow haired boy.
At once, Sayomi turned her complete attention onto the new face. And instantly she was shocked speechless for this face was not new at all. In fact it was the last thing she had ever expected to see.
"Oh…." Sayomi thought to herself, "…my….God." she finished as her eyes naturally took in the man's details from head to foot. "No way is that…..."
But there was no mistaking it.
He had gotten taller, a lot taller; and his body looked lean and very well muscled compared to his build 12 years ago. The clothes he wore were the typical outfit for a male Shinobi; sandals, black pants, shirt and a green vest. And as Sayomi let her eyes flicker up past the broadness of his shoulders, trailing across the black mask that still covered his face from neck to nose, moving past that single half opened ebony eye before landing on his full head of unruly looking silver hair, she just could not believe what she was seeing. Physically, he had changed a great deal since last she saw him but no amount of time could truly alter this particular face.
"Late as usual, Kakashi." Came the Third Hokage's voice.
Sayomi tensed at the sound of his name. "Kakashi Hatake." She stated inside her mind with a soft shake of her head. Almost like he could read her thoughts or perhaps he just felt her intense gaze upon him, the Jounin's silver head turned; and though she knew full well that he couldn't see her face from behind her black hood, she could still feel his one eye now directly upon her. "We meet again…."