chapter three. mysterious figures appear.
"Watch out for that trap." Eriko sped around the tree, quickly pointing out a wire that laid hidden in the ground.
"I'm not blind," Akihiro replied. He assumed Eriko was speaking to him, since it was assumed that the great Itachi would be able to see any trap that was set out.
"Idiot, I'm just trying to be helpful."
Eriko stopped, inspecting the ground in front of her. Her adrenaline raced through her body... she lived for these training lessons. It had been almost a year since team four was formed, and their missions still consisted of everything from dog walking to fence painting to cleaning dishes. The only time she felt like a true ninja was during training. Today, their task was to track down Tanyu, who was waiting for them somewhere on the mountain. They had one hour. Along the way they had to deal with booby traps and shadow clones.
"It's hard for me to tell which direction Tanyu went in." Eriko pointed down to a clump of smashed leaves. "It looks like he went through this way, but he could also have gone through the path over there."
As always, Akihiro and Itachi didn't offer any comments. It frustrated Eriko. Akihiro didn't seem to care at all about training and missions, doing only what he could to get by. Itachi, while focused on any mission that was assigned, seemed apathetic towards anything else.
"Itachi, what do you think?"
Itachi stepped up to inspect the two paths. "He went East."
Eriko looked at the clues, still not seeing it. "Could you tell me why?"
"The pressure exerted on that branch wasn't enough to have been made by a man- it's more likely that it was made by a small animal."
"I see. Let's go east then." Eriko jumped up, speeding in the given direction, when suddenly a force knocked her over. She looked up to see a grey mass- one of the dummies Tanyu had laid in their path and infused with charka. While they were still in midair she spun the dummy around so that she was on top and pushed it to the ground with a swift kick. Unfortunately, the kick propelled her upwards and into another dummy, whose arms twisted around her and rendered her immobile. Both her and the dummy started falling to the ground and she braced herself for the collision when she found herself suddenly free. She twisted so that she would land properly, minimizing the damage of the fall. She looked up to see Itachi decapitating the dummy and then leaping to help Akihiro, who was having trouble of his own.
Eriko really hated having to be rescued.
The last dummy was incapacitated, and the three teammates were assembled in the middle of the clearing where they lay.
"Good job, Itachi," Eriko said.
Akihiro sneered. "Of course. It's always Itachi to save the day, isn't it?"
"Shut up. You could at least be thankful. If this weren't a training session Itachi would have just saved your life."
"Whatever."
"Look, we have to find Tanyu sensei, so-"
"That won't be necessary," Itachi interrupted. "We have already found him. Sensei has been watching us fight from the shadows to your left, Eriko."
There was a chuckle then, and Eriko turned to see Tanyu step out from the dense forest. She hadn't sensed him at all.
"Good job, Itachi." Tanyu smiled at his star pupil. "I'm disappointed in you other two, though. At this rate you won't be ready for the chuunin exam for another year. You're just holding Itachi back, you know."
"What do we care about holding the brat back." Akihiro mumbled it, knowing that it was loud enough for everyone to hear but soft enough for everyone to ignore.
"And at this rate, I might rethink signing the three of you up for your first B-rank mission."
Eriko's eyes lit up. "Really? You signed us up for a B mission?"
"Maybe."
"Wow! A B-rank mission!"
"I don't know why you're excited," Akihiro said, "It'll probably be as boring as all our other missions."
"Shunji Akihiro, sometimes I don't know why you're even a ninja."
Sometimes, neither do I, thought Akihiro. "Why don't you bother the brat for once?"
"Hmph! I bet Itachi's just as excited as I am. Aren't you, Itachi?"
Itachi shrugged.
"See?" Eriko gloated as if she had proven her point, and Akihiro wondered if she were some kind of idiot.
"Ahem." Tanyu took out a scroll, tossing it at Eriko. "This should make you happy.
Eriko eagerly unraveled the scroll and read it, turning to summarize to her teammates. "We're to go to a Shinto temple approximately three days travel from here. The location is marked on this scroll. There, one of the monks will give us important documents that we are to deliver to the lord of a nearby feudal estate. The contents of the documents are sensitive and should not be opened. No adversaries are expected. That's all it says."
"That's simple enough." Akihiro inwardly grimaced. Not only was this a boring mission, it was a boring long mission.
"When do we leave, Tanyu sensei?"
"Tomorrow morning, six am."
Akihiro groaned. That was even earlier than usual.
"Well, if you don't have any more questions, that's it for today's training. I'll see you three tomorrow morning." A puff of smoke and Tanyu was gone.
Akihiro frowned. These dramatic exits were all too unnecessary. He looked over at Itachi, who had already started to walk home. "I'm sure you're happy to have a mission that isn't so beneath you."
Itachi shrugged. "A mission is a mission."
Eriko turned, running to catch up to her youngest teammate. "Ano, Itachi, I have a favor to ask. Will you help me with my training?"
Itachi stopped and seemed to ponder it over. "Okay."
"Sugoi! Can we start now?"
Itachi nodded. "Let's go to our normal training spot."
"Hey Akihiro, do you want to join us?"
"Train with the brat? No thanks."
"Fine. Your loss."
The three ninjas walked off, oblivious to two figures hidden nearby. After the genins were our of earshot, one of the figures turned to the other.
"The lord of a feudal estate? Would that be you?"
"It's a good a ruse as any. Now we'll be able to see what Uchiha Itachi is capable of."
