A/N: Another chapter, hurray! Next one due out by next Thursday!
Episode 10: The Surprise at Lake Mizuumi!
"Well it's about time you got here kids..." Ken said with a smile on his face. "I was just about to go looking for you."
Ken was sitting against a tree, his eyes closed. Had he not just spoken to them, Team 4 probably would've thought him to be asleep. Uu was pacing back and forth, looking anxious.
"Well it doesn't look like you were about to come get us..." Anko lifted on eyebrow, putting a hand on her hip. She wasn't in the best of moods.
"We could've been killed; do you not care about us?" Shikari frowned.
"I have my reasons..." He said silently, getting up. "We'd best be going."
"They probably would've been killed if it wasn't for me!" Renku exclaimed. "Let me tell you all about it."
As they all began their walk again, Renku explained how after he left, the girls immediately charged while he stayed in the background observing the ninja's fighting style. He then went on about how they got beat up and came begging to him to defeat the opponent. Then he went on about how he easily defeated his opponent and how he was so high above the genin level. The girls, although they weren't conscious for everything, knew he was lying.
"He's lying sensei." Shikari said.
"I am not!" Renku snapped.
"Who would believe such a bullcrap story anyway?" Anko asked him, poking him.
"Well sensei would, because it's true!" Renku yelled, looking to Ken. "You believe me, right?"
Ken nodded his head, to which Shikari screamed a "What!?" Ken then turned to her, making sure Renku wasn't looking, and shook his head. Shikari sighed in relief and looked to Anko, smiling. She really didn't seem to care. As long as she knew it wasn't true, she was fine.
"So how much longer?" Renku asked, putting his hand behind his head. It had been almost an hour since they had started walking again, and the mission was getting boring again.
"I must agree, this mission could be a bit more eventful." Anko said.
"What, so I could save you again?" Renku asked playfully.
"Shut up!" Anko yelled. "It was a fluke!"
"Just give him credit will you?" Shikari joined the conversation, but uninvited.
"Who said you were in this?" Anko sneered.
"I did!" Shikari retorted.
"Oh would you kids stop bickering!" The old man yelled. "That's all you three do! It's hard to believe you're a team!"
The three all shut their mouths at that. And then the silence began again.
"He's right you know." Ken said. "You three should act more like a team."
"We fight like one, I think that's enough." Anko said snidely.
"Whatever you say..." Ken gave up. Maybe another time.
"Anyways, we're almost there. Probably another five minutes." The old man chirped. Sure enough, five minutes later, they were there.
Lake Mizuumi. It was a beautiful place, with sparkling clear water and fish swimming all over. The bank was covered in high grass and had a lot of picnic tables. It was large and circular, and had a large fishing island in the middle of it. There were boats at the banks that could be used to take people there. It was a wonderful site...on clear days anyway.
For some reason, the lake had a thick fog lingering over it, so none of the sights could be seen. Fortunately, nobody was there for the sights. Uu walked over to a boat, hopping in.
"I need you to take me to the fishing island." He said, pointing across the lake.
"Alright then." Ken smiled. The mission was almost over.
"Kids, these boats don't fit many, so I'll just let you guys stay here. Don't beat each other up too bad."
"Don't worry," Shikari assured him. "I'll keep an eye on them." Anko glared at her for this.
Ken gave the three a thumbs up as he peddled the boat deeper and deeper into the fog, until they could see him no more. Now it was just the three of them, until he got back that is.
"No one here..." Ken thought as the boat came to a gentle stop at the island. He looked around; it was quite foggy and very hard to see. He looked back to the old man, who was stepping out of the boat.
"The person I'm meeting will be here shortly." He said, adjusting his hat. "Then you can go."
Ken nodded, looking around some more. He could see no assassins, and could sense none either. Plus, if one came, he'd most likely hear them. Then he heard three other thuds. Who came out of the fog was definitely not who he was expecting to see.
"So you guys don't think I'm weird or anything?" Shinku asked timidly, twiddling her thumbs.
"Why would we?" Miharu inquired.
Everyone looked to Shinku, curious. "Well, my bloodline..." She was still dizzy from using so much blood. "Don't you think...?"
"Oh come on!" Fever said, ruffling the girls hair. "You're a ninja! They all have something special about them, and that's yours."
"Thanks." Shinku smiled.
"Now weird, that's definitely me." Fever pointed to himself.
"Yep." All three genins said, plus the old man.
They had been walking for a while, and it was getting quite close to sunset. Fever had said they'd be there by sunset, so they'd be there soon. Fever decided to start some small talk to make the walk faster.
"So what do you guys think about those ninjas?"
"Well at first they seemed like a good ninja team." Miharu said.
"But after Shinku kicked their ass," Sae started, Shinku blushing, "They seemed more like the Three Stooges."
"Yea, they did." Fever agreed. "I always want you guys to work as a team. I examined each of your talents, and when we get back, we're going to work on team based fighting. You guys just all kind of went on your own...not a good idea."
Finally, they arrived at Lake Mizuumi, and just like when Ken's team arrived, it was extremely foggy. All three of the genins were squinting, trying to see something, but they couldn't. Only the bank of the water and a paddleboat could be seen.
"This is Lake Mizuumi?" Sae asked disappointed.
"I heard it was beautiful, but there's nothing to see." Shinku added.
"Well, since we can't see anything," Miharu sighed, sitting down. "Break time."
The other two genins sat down with her. Fever slapped his head, wondering why he had to get the lazy ones. He smiled, looking to the old man.
"What next?" He asked.
"You take me to the island." Gi replied. "Those children can stay here."
"Good job children, you've earned yourself a rest." Fever said, turning to the children. He and the old man then hopped in the boat.
"If you're too anxious to rest, you could head back." Fever said, waving. "I'll catch up."
The three genins turned around and began heading back. The mission was almost complete.
"Well that's not what I was expecting to see..." Fever said with a hint of surprise in his voice, stepping out of the boat.
"You so were not faking it!" Gan yelled to Seiya. "You were out cold!"
"I was not! I was observing, seeing how strong the competition was!" Seiya yelled back. They'd been at each other's throats for about ten minutes now.
"Competition!?" Gan asked. "I'm more than enough for you!" Kuro yipped a bit form in his coat.
"Fine, you can have you stupid strength!" Seiya yelled. "I'll always be faster!"
"You're not faster." Gan laughed. Kuro yipped.
"Alright fine. We'll have a race to Lake Mizuumi. It's right at the end of this path." Seiya pointed down the path, Gan nodding. "Go!"
Both boys took off down the path, and were out of eyesight quite quickly. Kabi just looked on and smiled. "Ahh to be young again." He thought.
Gan and Seiya were running side by side, neither one able to gain the upper hand. From where this race was going, it was going to be a tie, and Seiya didn't like that. He had already admitted Gan was stronger, but if Gan were to tie him in a race?
"I didn't shave off all of my hair for nothing!" Seiya thought, pushing himself. He passed by Gan and ran off a few feet ahead. That's when Lake Mizuumi came into view.
"You know, sometimes those two remind me more of goats then people, always butting heads like that." Rei said to Kabi.
"Oh come on, you don't mean to tell me that you aren't competitive?" the jounin asked. "I sure was. I remember-"
"No, please don't give me a history lesson!" Rei exclaimed, shaking her head.
"Oh come on, I'm not that old." Kabi said. He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "You want old, that old man is old."
"You're both old to me, he's just older." Rei smiled when she saw Kabi's defeated face.
"You are competitive Rei. With your cousin Riku." Gan said. Rei's eyes narrowed evilly.
"We're rivals, at least until I get Hokage." Rei then smiled. "Then she'll be at my command."
"What if she gets it?" Kabi asked.
"She won't!" Riku snapped.
"Whatever, you're still competitive, just like those two." Kabi said, going back to the previous subject.
"Hey look, we're here!" Riku exclaimed, not liking to be wrong.
"So we are..." Kabi said to himself. That walk was quick.
Upon walking onto the misty bank, Ra, Kabi, and Riku, saw Gan and Seiya. Seiya was standing up with a smile on his face, while Gan was sitting in the sand, sadly petting his puppy. Obviously, Seiya had won.
"Don't say anything..." Gan venomously said to Riku. She just smiled.
"I wasn't..." Riku giggled.
Kabi looked around, noticing the fogginess of the Lake. It usually wasn't like this, especially if the rest of the forest was clear. The fog seemed so...unnatural. But he wasn't about to tell his students that.
"Take me across..." The old man said. Gan nodded, hopping in the boat, the old man following suit.
"You kids can explore the lake." He said, his figure fading away into the fog. "It's a nice place."
Gan stood up and began walking down the bank. Seiya and Riku followed, there really was nothing else to do. Plus, Kabi was a jounin. He'd be okay.
"It seems we've been had..." Kabi said calmly, observing the scene at the island.
"C'mon kids!" Marina said, jogging with the old man on her back. "I have this old man yet I'm still running faster than you!"
"It's not fair! You're a jounin!" Zukei yelled. Marina was even purposely jogging slower so that the kids could keep up.
After they had finished the fight, the old man said they'd wasted too much time. Marina decided that running was their only option, and decided why not make it into a conditioning exercise? So now the genins didn't even get a break.
"Just deal with it." Shizumi said, passing Zukei.
"Don't get behind too far!" Rei smiled impishly at Zukei.
The red-haired boy sucked it up and began to run faster. Marina had trained them like this since they had first passed as genins. Zukei, unfortunately, was always the one left behind.
"The old man said we need to go faster!" Marina lied, yelling back at the kids. She sped up, and so did her three genins. They were getting better.
"Oh come on!" Zukei yelled, running out of breath. "Maybe I should have trained while enrolled in the academy instead of being lazy..." He thought.
He was relieved when he saw the signs pointing up the path. They read: "Beautiful Lake Mizuumi, five hundred meters ahead." He smiled, knowing it was almost over.
They had finally reached it. "Beautiful Lake Mizuumi". Unfortunately, it wasn't living up to its name. Today, it was foggy, and nothing but the bank could be seen. Not even much of that was visible either.
"You three can rest!" Marina said, not the least bit out of breath. "The old man said he needs to get to the fishing island."
Marina hopped in a paddleboat, the old man doing so too. In a flash, she was out of eyesight, paddling away.
"Well, I'm going to leave before Marina comes back and makes us run all the way back to Konoha." Riku said, putting her hands behind her head and walking away.
"Good idea." Zukei nodded, following after her.
"You guys are just going to get in trouble and have to do more running..." Shizumi scolded. But they were already gone. "Why am I the only one with sense?" Shizumi asked herself, resolving to go after them and get them.
"Let me guess, you guys followed me because of my good looks, right?"
The three jounin men shook their heads muttering stuff along the lines of "Yeah, right," and "Keep dreaming." Marina glared at them, then noticed that they had old men with them too.
"What is this, the twilight zone?" She asked aloud.
"It certainly seems that way doesn't it?" Kabi asked, still quite calm despite the situation.
The three old men disappeared, leaving only Ra. He walked to the center of the island, and exploded into smoke. Out of the smoke appeared a tall man with a scar under his left eye. He had black hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and a smirk on his face. He was wearing robes similar to ones that ANBU members would wear. On his head was a forehead protector with the Sound insignia on it.
"Sound!?" Ken pulled a kunai from his waist.
"Hold on!" Fever held his hand up to stop Ken's assault. "Let's see what he has to say."
The 8th threw his pipe onto the table, it spilling tobacco all over his papers. He didn't care about that at the moment, he sensed something was wrong. He had sent four of his best jounins on missions with their students, and some of his ANBU members were sent to stop an uprising in a small village to the South. He knew it was a trap now, and cursed himself for not noticing sooner. He reached the door to his office and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Curse my foolishness!" The 8th exclaimed, gas pouring into the room. His eyes closed slowly, and the last thing he heard were a couple of voices.
"Get the Nine-Tails."
A/N: Cliffhanger! BWAHAHAHAHA!