Ninja chase part 3

Kenji collapsed on her knees. "Argh! I don't get it, every time I get away from her she ends up finding me again in minutes." she exclaimed and stood back up. "I can't go home either and if I'm caught in Jiji's office the council will no doubt be offended."

"Argh!" Teruko stamped her foot into the fence. "I don't get it! Every time I catch up to her she worms her way out." she yelled. She put her foot down and kicked the dirt. "Chikusho!" she cursed. "I wonder what happened during the past few years? I give her credit for being a good ninja but you can't run on your own from me." she thought.

Kenji was hiding in foliage, she used her Rinnegan to look through the forest. "It doesn't look like she's coming." she thought. Then she looked at the river nearby, "Naruto-kun? I thought I didn't see him in the training grounds, looks like he's working hard." she thought and jumped out of bush holding a kunai knife.

When she was sure the coast was clear, she straightened her knees and put her knife away. She took two steps and a tree grew out of the ground. It grew quickly to the point where Kenji's feet were stuck in the roots and her body was caged in the trunk. "Uh oh. . . HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" she yelled.

"Eh nani?" a man came out through the trees. He kneeled down next to Kenji.

"Who's this guy?" Kenji thought, she looked him up and down. "I've never seen anyone like him in the village."

He had a lot of spiky, white hair and his clothing didn't look local or modern. "Don't tell me you're stuck in a tree." he laughed.

"Gotcha!" Teruko said. She started running toward the location. "The Rinnegan has a certain range of vision. But I put clones all over to be my eyes and ears and pass information." she thougt ht. "She walked into my best trap. Once I enter her range she'll notice me but there's no way she can escape my trap!"

! ! ! Kenji gasped. "She's coming! Kuso, I've been had." she started struggling and twisting to get out.

"There's no more running!" Teruko said and continued to head to the location.

The man knocked on the tree trunk. "This tree is flowing with chakra. Which means this isn't a normal tree, it's a jutsu!" he thought.

Kenji was still struggling, "Is this it? Ever since I started my ninja training, all I wanted to do was be strong. But I had nothing, when I became a Genin I made comrades, friends. I had the chance to protect something precious again." she thought. She started remembering Squad 7. "And I did protect them," she remembered the fight on the bridge and in the Forest of Death.

"But then they surpassed me. Those two, they went and marched ahead in victory." she pictured Naruto and Sasuke's faces. "But I failed, and was left in the dust humiliated. They had so much more potential than me."

She clenched her fists, "But I can't die! I have to catch up to them, to face them!" She continued to try and move her limbs in the wood. "I want to stay beside them forever!"

Then a part of the tree was pulled off. Kenji saw the guy's hair look more wild and dangerous. Then it went back to normal.

Teruko stopped, "What!?"

Now that there was a big gap in the tree Kenji was able to get out with only a little trouble with her head. She stepped out of the roots. "Arigato, ossan." she said and stretched her arms.

"You're a shinobi aren't you?" the old man said. "You're not wearing a headband but you do look the part. Also," he said spotting another detail. "That's the crest of the Senju clan. . ." he thought looking at her collar.

"Your body looks tough enough to fight an army. The youths of Konoha know how to train themselves." he said.

"He's just like someone else I know. . ." Kenji thought. A bunch of names spun around in her head and stopped on Might Guy. "There's no mistake he's just like Guy-sensei." she thought. "Omae wa dare?" (Who are you?) she asked him.

"I'm glad you asked." he said and stood in a kabuki pose. "I am a great sage who defeats all, the one women swoon for! I am Jiraiya-sama!" he introduced dramatically.

"Jiraiya? Jirai. . . ya?" Kenji said.

"Oh, even the young people know my name." Jiraiya thought.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Kenji pointed her finger at him. She took off.

? Jiraiya was confused.

Teruko slammed her fist on a tree. "Kuso!" she cursed. "Why is it so hard?" she thought. Kenji was walking through the village her feet were covered in dust and dirt. It was dusk and she was exhausted.

"So~ how's it going?" Kakashi asked her.

"Leave me alone." she groaned.

"Teruko was mad about what you did to her." he told.

"Yeah? She chased me all the way to the trap field." she said.

"You should go home, your chakra is chipping away by the minute."

"I would if she hadn't grown a tainted vine house through my bedroom." Kenji told him.

"I also came to talk to you about Neji." he said and Kenji stopped in her steps.

"You owe him an apology." Kakashi said.

"Heck to the no! That fruitcake got what was comin'!" she yelled in anger.

"Kenji, you almost cut the guy's hands off. You were being cruel." Kakashi scolded her. "Not to mention you crushed his headband."

"Did you not know he was slandering me?" she asked.

"Yes, but he never tried to cut off your body parts did he?" he asked and Kenji gritted her teeth. "Since you've already got some personal problems to deal with, you don't have to apologize now. I'll let you settle things with Teruko first." he said and vanished.

"Settle things? How am I gonna do that?" Kenji thought. "After all I'm at the top of her hit list." Later she was walking up a tree and she sat down on a high branch. She got a perfect view of the moon.

In the morning, Kenji was still on the tree branch. "Ugh, I was so paranoid that I ended up not getting any sleep." she said. She jumped down from branch to branch to the ground. "At any rate I just have to keep moving." she thought and walked on.

Kurenai and Asuma were talking with each other in a dumpling house. "So, how's that Neji kid?" Asuma asked.

"He hasn't fully recovered from his broken bones but otherwise he's fine." Kurenai answered. "Asuma, have you seen Senju Teruko?" she asked him.

"That girl who beat the Suna ninja puppeteer? Yeah," Asuma smoked his cigar. "I think she'll become a chunin." he said.

"She's was asked by the Council to assassinate Kenji." Kurenai said.

"Huh, last time I checked she was still alive."

"I know. Kenji's been running from her, I saw her being chased earlier. But eventually her chakra will run out and it'll be the end for her." Kurenai told him.

"Not really."

Kurenai and Asuma looked outside the shop. "Kakashi!"

"Yo!" he waved. "It's true at some point Kenji will be caught but I don't think she'll die." he said.

"What do you mean?" Asuma asked.

"Teruko wouldn't kill her." he said. He shocked Kurenai and Asuma. "It's totally optional, she doesn't have to kill Kenji if she doesn't want to."

"Why wouldn't she kill her?" Asuma asked.

"Well, it's hard to tell but. . . Those two are very close." he said.

"Achoo!" Teruko and Kenji both sneezed. "Man, I thought I'd be able to find her in her home by the end of the night." Teruko complained.

"Because of her I stayed up with paranoia. Heck I literally got stuck in a tree!" Kenji said.

"She's just too much of a hassle!" they said in unison.

! ! They noticed each other. Kenji threw a shuriken at her. Teruko ducked from it and growled. Kenji made a run for it again. "Oh no you don't!" Teruko said and chased her again. "You got lucky the first couple times! But there's no way you're getting away his time!" she said.

Kenji was panting, she turned around and faced her. She brought her hand back. "Tensei!" she extended her palm towards her. A repulsive force came speeding from her hand.

? Teruko saw the shops and people reacting to some sort of quick, wind like thing. "What was that?" she thought. She stopped and the Shinra Tensei was coming right towards her. She turned herself 90 degrees and the Shinra Tensei flew right past her. The attack blew her hair and she saw a building get smashed. Some of its parts fell to the ground. "Oi! What happened here!"

"So it was an attack that you can't see but if I got hit I'd probably be roadkill." Teruko thought.

Kenji turned her head forward and kept running. Then a tree root grew in front of her feet. She tripped on it and had a rough fall on her stomach. She put her hands on the ground and pushed herself up.

! She gasped. She saw Teruko's silhouette and her burning red eyes looking into her soul.

She could hear her own heartbeat and she started sweating. Teruko kneeled down and reached her hand out. She put her hand on Kenji's head.

"Huh?" she thought. "Ngh!" Teruko ruffled her hair.

"You gave me a hard time y'know." Teruko said to her.