Chapter Eleven
Miyako sighed as she walked towards the training field where Sasuke was a month later. He had forgotten his lunch – again – and this time Miyako decided to drop it off for him on her way to do her own training. She grinned when she saw the raven haired Uchiha, sitting underneath a tree with a glare on his face as Haruno Sakura chatted away, and a blond-haired boy glared at him.
"Sasuke!" Miyako called, making all three genin look up at the voice.
A look of relief flashed across the Uchiha's face as he saw the bento box in the girls' hand. Sakura sighed, pouting when she realised that – once again – Sasuke's attention was being taken away from her by her own cousin.
"Hn," Sasuke greeted as Miyako reached the genin and handed Sasuke his bento box.
"Honestly, Sasuke, you need to stop forgetting your lunch. I'm not always going to be around to bring it to you. You know that right?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke nodded as the blond boy shot up, pointing to Miyako.
"Hey, hey! Are you Sasuke's girlfriend?"
"Hmm? Oh no, I'm Haruno Miyako, his parental guardian," Miyako replied and the boy frowned.
"Are you related to Sakura-chan?"
Sasuke snorted. "Of course, she is. They're cousins," Sasuke stated as he sat down and began eating his food, enjoying the taste of the teriyaki chicken with rice.
The boy stared in surprise as the purple haired girl smiled. "I'm assuming your Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet the final teammate of Sasuke's, and he's rival."
Naruto's grin widened. "He talks about us? What's Sasuke like when it's just the two of you?"
"More talkative, but that's really about it," Miyako replied as she saw a silver-haired male walking up to the group. "You must be Kakashi-san."
The man studied the young teen in front of him. "You're Haruno Miyako correct? Sakura's cousin, and a Jōnin?"
"That's right. It's nice to meet you, Kakashi-san," Miyako greeted with a bow.
"Hold up, this girl – not much older than us – is a Jōnin like you Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned. "Are you sure she's related to Sakura?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sakura growled, glaring at the now frozen blond as he realised, he just made a big mistake in what he just said.
"He means, you're pathetic," Sasuke stated and Sakura fell to her knees on the ground, depression coming off her in waves at the raven's strong words.
"Sasuke! What have I told you about being civil with others?" Miyako snapped, her hands on her hips as she glared at the twelve-year-old boy in front of her. "I feel sorry for you, Kakashi-san. This team seems to be a handful."
"Understatement of the year," Kakashi muttered as he flipped a page of his book.
"Anyway, I better get going. I'm going to do some training in the next field over. You and your team are welcome to join me if you want," Miyako offered with a kind smile.
"It's fine. We have another mission to complete," Kakashi replied and Miyako nodded before waving to the group and heading towards the nearby training field where she prepared to spend the next few hours training.
...
Miyako's training sessions have become more vigorous as the years have gone on. She didn't make Jōnin by training like a chunin – or worse, training like a genin. She made sure to always fir training in whenever she had free time. Her training schedule was always the same:
First hour – warms up, which included running around the training ground a few dozen times, push-ups, sit-ups, stretches, and star jumps.
Second hour – throwing weapon training. Her goal was to have a near perfect aim, a skill that very few shinobi ever develop. Followed by a thirty-minute break to cool off before going into her third hour.
Third hour – training with her ninjato – which is a sword like a katana only shorter. She was becoming very skilled with it, though there was much room for improvement (considering she chose it as her weapon only a year ago).
Fourth hour – practicing her jutsus. This was the hour she ended up the most exhausted and often took the longest. Her focus right now was Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage, and she knew it will be her last B-rank jutsu before she moves onto the A-rank jutsu she picked for herself to learn.
Sometimes, there was another hour – between warms-ups and throwing weapons – where someone would spar with her. Usually it was Takeo – who took the chance to practice his healing jutsus when the two got injured. Though sometimes it was Tsuneo or his fiancé Aya. Lately, she's also been training with Gina, helping her become a better fighter.
Today, just as she finished training with her ninjato, an ANBU appeared. Miyako stopped her training, giving her full attention to the masked man.
"Lord Hokage wishes to speak to you. Now," the ANBU stated simply before vanishing.
Sighing, Miyako put her ninjato away and headed towards the Hokage tower, wondering what her wanted of her this time. She reached the building and knocked on the door before entering. The Hokage smiled as he saw her.
"Thank you for coming here so quickly. I need to be a liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. The chunin exams will be held here this time, but the Kazekage wishes to be present as his children will be competing this year. I want you to deliver scrolls to Sunagakure when needed. Do you understand?"
"Of course, Lord Hokage. Do you have a message for me to deliver now?" Miyako questioned and Hiruzen nodded, handing a bound scroll to her. She took it from him and placed it in her travelling belt that she always wore for cases like these. "Before I leave, I was wondering if you could inform Sasuke for me?"
"Sasuke won't be a problem. He has gone on a c-rank mission with his team to the Land of Waves. I suspect they won't be back for at least two weeks to a month," Hiruzen explained and Miyako smiled.
"Thank you, sir. I will head off now then."
...
A week later, Miyako was given the second scroll to take to Sunagakure. She was excited to visit the Land of Wind. The last time going there was two year ago on am escort mission. This time she was going to the ninja village, instead off a small village in one of the many oases in the desert that make up the Land of Wind.
The last message she delivered last week was to the boarder, so she hadn't actually stepped foot in the Land of Wind, much to her disgust.
Miyako wasn't rushing the mission. She didn't need to be at Sunagakure for another three days, and she already a quarter of the way there. She was still in the Land of Fire – which was as different to the Land of Wind as the night is to day – and wouldn't reach the Land of Wind until she was a little under half-way to Sunagakure.
Keeping Miyako company was peregrine falcon named Akemi. Akemi was Miyako's favourite summoning among the falcon summonings. She learnt to summon the falcons a year ago after saving a young falcon from a wolf. Akemi wasn't a fighting falcon; she was a surveillance and messenger falcon. Right now, her job was to keep Miyako company on the long trek to Sunagakure.
"Do you think Sasuke-san will be doing the chunin exams this year?" Akemi questioned Miyako, speaking for the first time since they started their walk a few hours ago.
"I'd prefer if he got more experience first. But, knowing Kakashi-san, I wouldn't be surprised if his team was put up for the exams," Miyako stated and Akemi giggled.
"You're so protective of him. Do you think he's ready for the exams?" Akemi questioned her summoner, who frowned in thought.
'It's not that I don't think he's ready. Skill wise, he was ready when he graduated from the academy. But experience wise? Sasuke isn't a team player, preferring to work on his own, he needs more experience working with his team before he's truly ready for the exam," Miyako stated. "Besides, Sakura-chan is on the team, and she's not ready at all. Whilst her knowledge on the ninja world is among the best in her age group, her skills are among the worst. She spends too much time focusing on boys and looking good and not training enough. I've tried to get her to take training seriously, but it hasn't sunk in just yet."
"What about the other kid on the team? The nine-tails host?" Akemi questioned and Miyako frowned.
"I don't know. I heard he was dead last at the academy, but he can use the multi-shadow clone jutsu. That's something that most Jōnin wouldn't even know. He's a wild card," Miyako replied and Akemi nodded in agreement.
"So, do you think–" Akemi stopped mid-sentence, eyes narrowing as she sensed a dark chakra appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
Miyako, sensing the change in her summoning, stiffened, put her hand on her ninjato, ready for an attack. She sent her kekkei genkai out further, but she got no thoughts at all. She could sense the chakra – which was strangely familiar – but couldn't find a voice it belongs to.
"Akemi," Miyako ordered and the bird nodded, shooting up into the air to get a birds-eye-view of the area, whilst Miyako stayed scanning the ground.
She heard a rustle of some leaves and spun around, pulling out some shuriken and throwing them at the bush, only for a blurred figure to jump out of the way and land in front of her. She studied the figure, who stood taller than her by almost ten centimetres. The figure was a male, wearing a dark grey, hooded cloak, and mask moulded into the shape of a wolf.
Miyako stood, ninjato in front of her, prepared for an attack as she realised that the muddled thoughts were of the person in front of her. She frowned, watching as from behind, a male, grey and brown wolf stepped forward, bent down and prepared for a fight. Akemi shot down and landed on her summoners shoulder, eyeing the wolf wearily.
"Who are you?" Miyako ordered but got no response from the male in front of her. "What do you want? You clearly know who I really am, so you must want something."
The male in front of her shifted, his clothes rustling. "You've grown," he responded, tilting his head to the side. "You're stronger. You may be of use to my sensei's plan later on.'
"Who is your sensei?" Miyako questioned and she heard a chuckle from the man.
"I'm not telling you that. Yet."
"Who are you?"
"You can call me... Ookami. For now. I will see you again," the male stated and vanished along with his wolf.
Miyako remained tense, ready for a fight, until she was sure she was alone. Relaxing only slightly, she put her ninjato back, and turned to continue on her path to Sunagakure.
"Are you going to tell Lord Hokage about this?" Akemi questioned and Miyako nodded.
"I will write him a letter later, once we set up camp for the night. I'll send you to deliver the message," Miyako stated and Akemi seemed to frown.
"Are you sure that's wise? What if this Ookami comes back? He may attack you whilst you sleep."
"I will summon Masaki to keep watch. Does that make you feel better?" Miyako questioned and Akemi nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it will."
...
Early the next day, Hiruzen was sitting at his desk completing paperwork. He hoped for a calm day, but that hope died when there was a tapping at his window. He faced the window and saw Akemi sitting there with a scroll attached to her back.
He was surprised to see Miyako's summoning, so – with a frown – he opened the window and let the falcon in. He was worried that something had happened to her.
"Lord Hokage. Miyako-sama and I had a run-in with someone. She explains it all in here," Akemi stated and Hiruzen took out the scroll and read it.
Concern flitted across his features as he read the scroll. He placed it down, knowing the whoever this Ookami was didn't come with good intentions. Hiruzen turned to face Akemi.
"Thank you, Akemi. Tell Miyako to keep an eye out for him. I will inform the others to also keep an eye for the man."
Akemi nodded, bowing her head to the Hokage before flying out the window.
(OMG I would like to thank you all - as usual - for the reviews, favourites, and of course following the story. You have no idea how happy all this makes me. I would also like to ask that if you ever see any spelling/grammar errors/mistypes to let me know (preferably by private message and not in the reviews. Just tell me the chapter and the mistype/error so I can edit it :D). I can't thank you all enough! So, thank you (again) and I hope you stick with this story until the end.)