Chapter 1: The Rival
::6 Years Later::
Smiling as he dodged past several well placed punches, Misaru slammed one of his fists into Hiraku as hard as he could. Watching as blood ran down the young boy's face where he had just punched, Misaru calmly removed his hand just in time to see the boy's body erupt in a burst of smoke and suddenly become nothing more than a log.
"Not bad Hiraku, but not nearly good enough if your trying to defeat someone who is as good as I am." Picking a kunai out of his belt, Misaru waited one more second, and then threw it into some nearby bushes. He smiled as he saw the kunai blade fly less than an inch above Hiraku's forehead.
"Man, you beat me again Misaru. I don't think I'll ever be as good as you are." Misaru's calm face once again betrayed a small smile as he realized the irony in Hiraku's words. The boy had no idea that he was most likely going to become the most powerful ninja ever.
"Don't worry Hiraku; I'm positive you'll become an incredible shinobi." Misaru decided to leave out the part on how he hoped Hiraku would become a savior and not a destroyer.
"So what are we going to do now Misaru?" Hiraku placed his hands in his pocket's as he walked closer to his teacher.
"Well, I think we've done enough training for the morning, and so now it's time to go get some lunch." Hiraku's face broke into a wide smile as he heard the word lunch.
"Great, I'm REALLY hungry." Misaru sighed out loud as he heard Hiraku say his favorite fraise. He never had been able to decide how such a small boy could eat so much.
"Well, let's go into the town and see what they have." Seeing Hiraku nodding in agreement, the pair of ninjas walked over to the forest path and began to follow it until it finally brought them to the city's entrance gates. Misaru winced as he saw that two fire ninja chuunin stood guarding the entrance.
"Looks like grandfather has sent notice all over that I have become an S-Class missing-nin. Two chuunin shouldn't be any trouble at all, but if there are jounin in the city, things could get dicey." Carefully going over his thoughts, Misaru decided that genjutsu would be the best way to get past these guards.
Making rapid hand seals, Misaru suddenly formed a powerful genjutsu that would lure the guards into thinking that he and Hiraku were nothing more than ordinary city-goers. Feeling relief swell over him as he saw his genjutsu had worked; Misaru winked at Hiraku and then motioned for the boy to continue on through the gates.
"I never thought an S-Class Missing-nin would be so easily fooled." Misaru pushed Hiraku so hard that he flew twenty yards, and then dropped to the ground to avoid two well placed kunai. Looking up once again, Misaru cursed as he noticed that the two guards appearance had changed drastically, revealing the faces of two leaf jounin that he had gone to school with.
"I can't believe you didn't realize that we had used a genjutsu on you earlier Misaru. I think you've begun to lose your edge." The jounin that had spoken earlier stepped forward with a wicked smile on his face.
"Misaru, you didn't think I would not hunt you down, did you? After all, I've been your chief rival ever since we were boys, this is just a great way for me to show everyone that I am and always have been the best between the two of us." Misaru slowly rose from the ground and got to his feet. He looked at the shinobi in front of him with a small smile on his face.
"So Sensui, you believe that you are better than me? Then why must you rely on another ninja to help you? Are you so afraid of me that you need help to defeat me?" Misaru saw his words had the effect he had wanted them to have on Sensui, and slowly the man's honor got the best of him. He motioned for his partner to back up and then he himself stepped forward.
"This will be a one on one fight to the death Misaru. I trust you understand what I will do to the boy if you die?" Misaru could only imagine the torture Sensui would inflict upon Hiraku if he ever got a chance too. Misaru silently vowed to himself that he would never allow that to happen, even if it cost him his own life.
"Are you just going to stand and talk all day Sensui, or are we going to begin this fight?" Misaru suddenly realized his mistake as he saw that Sensui's partner was no longer standing where he had been just a few moments ago. Turning around as fast as he could, Misaru saw that the other jounin now had a kunai placed gently on Hiraku's neck, ready to kill the boy in less than an instant.
"Oh, and there is one other term Misaru. If you do somehow manage to defeat me, then my partner will still kill the boy. My first priority is to accomplish my mission after all, the fact that I get to fight you is just a bonus." Misaru then had to forget all about Hiraku's trouble as Sensui began to charge at him.