Chapter 2
The Slow Tuesday Morning
The morning is young, and so was the air of that very Tuesday. The birds sang cheerfully; the village people started to emerge from their cosy homes. A new day had begun, and so it was good to get up to catch the fresh morning air. Some of the villagers get up as early as now for work. They never miss the young and fresh morning. The air is still rather chilly, and there is a light and calm breeze coming from the east.
Sakura slowly opens her eyes to the early morning. She lazily gets out of bed and stretches. She faces her desk, which is neat and organized. At a corner of the desk, there is a framed photograph of herself with Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and their sensei, Hatake Kakashi. She smiles at the thought of her team; especially at the thought of Sasuke, who she admires so much. Then she looks at Naruto – her face turns slightly sour, yet determined. 'Naruto-kun... I envy your strength,' she thinks to herself. Sakura remembers the moments when Naruto was being the cockiest. Then she remembers the moments when his cockiness gave him strength and will power. To believe consistently in yourself and in something so unbelievable can give you strength to achieve those beliefs, she thinks. She nods to the thought, and gets up to get dressed and ready for the day.
As Sakura is getting ready, Sasuke is already up and wondering the streets of Konoha. He walks down the street, head down, his hands in his pockets and at a slow and steady pace. Birds fly over the awakened village and the wind has calmed. Stalls were now open and some still in that process. Sasuke thinks of training up before meeting up with the rest. The thought of the 'rest' spreads a smirk on his face. Sasuke, who is still walking down the street, heads for the forest, where he usually trains at. As he walks out of the village on reaches the outside of the forest, which is nearby a river, he hears footsteps from behind. Was someone following him? Sasuke walks on, knowing that he was being followed. 'I'll keep walking and see if this guy keeps following,' thinks Sasuke. He grins and begins to plot ahead. The footsteps become faster and faster. Sasuke keeps his walking pace and grins. He reaches for his kunai in his pouch; slowly reaching down to pull it out...
Kakashi was long awake. He sits at the Jounin centre, reading 'Come Come Paradise', where Asuma smokes away beside him. 'Hey, Asuma, don't you ever get sick of those?' says Kakashi in a cool voice, still reading the porn novel. Asuma laughs and says, 'Hey, Kakashi, don't you ever get sick of "those"?' He points at Kakashi's book. 'OK, fair enough,' Kakashi replies. Kakashi sighs and stands up from the bench. Asuma looks up at him and smiles, 'Going for a walk?' Kakashi doesn't say anything, but nods. Asuma blows out the smoke in his mouth and grins. He says to himself, 'As always, Kakashi.' Kakashi walks out of the Jounin centre and walks down the streets of the village. 'I should visit them...' he thinks to himself, as he walks towards the forest.
All Sasuke had to do was flip the pouch open to draw his kunai. Instead, he keeps walking and grins at the ignorance he could smell from the stalker. 'Oi! Konohamaru! Wait up!' 'Gik...' Sasuke stops and relaxes his hands and himself. He turns around and finds his stalker to be little Konohamaru, who was dressed in his usual clothing – a cape around him, a fake ninja head band and the familiar looking goggles. Sasuke recognises the goggles and knew the kid as Naruto's little friend. Sasuke grins at Konohamaru, who looked shocked, but disappointed. Behind Konohamaru were his two friends, running and shouting at him. They, too, as Sasuke observed, were wearing similar clothes to the one facing him. They, too, as he observed, were wearing goggles. All those goggles were exactly like Naruto's. Sasuke stares into Konohamaru's eyes. Konohamaru, who looked worried, tried to stare back without looking hesitant. 'Hey! Konohamaru! Did you catch him?!' they shout, as they slow down the pace as they reach Sasuke and Konohamaru. They looked exhausted from running. Sasuke then thought that they weren't supposed to be here and that Konohamaru didn't want them to follow him. 'Hmph,' says Sasuke, who grins at Konohamaru, turns around and walks away from them. Konohamaru is shocked to see the great Sasuke turn away from him. 'H-Hey! Come back! I'm not through with you yet!' he shouts at Sasuke, ignoring his two friends' presence. Sasuke, who was walking away from them as cool as a cat, refused to turn around and starts to laugh. 'But I am,' he replies. Konohamaru looks disappointed. He was hoping to be friends with him. Sasuke is now roughly twenty miles away from the three kids. Konohamaru doesn't think and runs after Sasuke. He stops and catches a breath. 'Well, just because you're so strong,' says Konohamaru, who was panting, trying to catch his breath. Sasuke grins away, as Konohamaru continues, 'Doesn't mean I'm not good enough to talk to you!' Sasuke suddenly stops. Konohamaru stares at him, hoping for a bit of cooperation. Sasuke turns around and stares at Konohamaru, who had a very determined face. Konohamaru's friends were far behind him, just watching him looking shocked. Sasuke looks into his eyes. 'What does this kid want?' he thinks. Konohamaru glares back at Sasuke, who suddenly looked slightly hesitant.
Sakura walks out of her house, to find the stalls all up and ready. She looks to her left and sees a ramen restaurant. There were people there, but not anyone she would've expected to see. 'That's odd. Naruto should be there. He's always there on Tuesday mornings,' she says to herself, looking around the ramen restaurant. Outside the restaurant, there was a sign board. It read: TUESDAY SPECIAL! BARBEQUE PORK RAMEN! TUESDAY SPECIAL! 'Where the hell is this Naruto?' she whispers to herself, looking at the sign board. She walks over to the restaurant, looking for signs of Naruto's presence there. The man behind the counter recognises Sakura's face, as Naruto's friend and team mate. 'Good morning! Can I help you?' he says. 'Yes. Err... Have you seen Naruto around here this morning?' asks Sakura. She leans on the counter, to smell the barbeque pork being cooked. It smelled delicious, as Naruto would comment during every Tuesday lunch break. The man behind the counter looks down as he thinks, and then gives a slight grin, which quickly turned to a frown. He looks back at Sakura, who was looking at the lady behind the counter cooking the barbeque pork. 'Oh my goodness! Those barbeque pork slices look SO GOOD!' said her 'inside' self. 'No, sorry. I haven't seen him around here since last night,' said the man behind the counter. Sakura snaps out of a small trance and says, 'Strange... He's usually here every Tuesday morning.' 'Yes, I know. It's like a weekly tradition, really,' he replies. They both sigh. 'WOW! I can hear the meat sizzling in the pan! WE GOTTA HAVE SOME OF THIS!' says her 'inside' self. Sakura grabs a seat at the counter and says, 'I'll have the Tuesday special, please?' The man behind the counter smiles at her and says, 'Right away!' 'YES! YES! YESSSSS! MUAHAHAHA, NARUTO! I'm gonna have the special before you do!' says her hungry 'inner' self.
The forest seemed very peaceful and still. Though, the trees swayed from side to side. The breeze was just right – nice and cool. Kakashi stands before a huge rock, which was a memorial for those who had died in the line of duty as a ninja. The flat surface of the rock was engraved with the names of those ninjas. Kakashi scans the list, and finds one particular and familiar name. He looks up at the sky and wonders. There were birds flying over the forest; some singing, some playing and some just soaring in the air. 'Sigh...' He looks back at the stone and remembers his past. 'It's been a while,' he thinks to himself. His mind starts to throw flashbacks at Kakashi; flashbacks, he doesn't really want to remember. Flashbacks of his past only brought him down in regrets, but pulled him up in strength. Kakashi couldn't let his team down, just like he did before. He thinks of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura; the only team that passed the test to becoming his students. He smiles and walks away from the memorial. 'I will not let my team down... Again,' he thinks. 'Sigh, right. Better get back to the village. The others should be awake by now.' Kakashi slowly walks away from the memorial and heads up to his usual training ground. His hands are in his pockets and he looks up to the clear sky.
Konohamaru tries to keep up with Sasuke's strength by keeping strong eye contact. He remembers a time when he saw Sasuke's power and compared him to Naruto. The difference was big, by the looks of it. 'Naruto's in trouble,' he says. Sasuke's face lightened on Konohamaru, which gave Konohamaru a sign of relief and permission to carry on. 'I don't know what's wrong with him, so I thought I'd find you or the red haired girl to help,' says the hesitant Konohamaru. His two friends walk up to his side and nod in agreement. Sasuke nods and says, 'Right, take me to him.' Konohamaru leads Sasuke and his two other friends into the forest.
The trees of the forest hover above the below, where the smaller plants are trying to reach for the sun. There are dapples of sunlight on the ground, as the leaves only allow so little light in. The trees act as a high canopy, protecting the body of Naruto, who was leaning against a dead stump beneath. He seemed to be unconscious. It was last night that knocked him out for good. He had too much fun at the ramen restaurant, where he had ten bowls of ramen. That wasn't it though. The man behind the counter had offered Naruto some hot sake, a Japanese alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. Naruto, being the mischievous and daring boy around, accepted the drink and finished it all in a go. After he had finished ten bowls of ramen and a few shots of hot sake, he had walked home drunkenly. As you know, drunken people sometimes lose their mind and are usually in a state of confusion and dizziness. Naruto stumbled into the forest and left Konoha without a trace. Now, this morning, he sleeps there under a canopy of large trees, against a dead stump. Suddenly, somewhere in the bushes, there's a rustling sound. A man walks out from the darkness and sees Naruto, heavily unconscious. The silhouette of the man grows larger and clearer as he moves closer to Naruto. The man was tall and seemed to be wearing a hooded cloak. The hooded man pulls a kunai out from his slightly oversized cloak.
Outside the town of Konohamaru and through the forest, there is a desert- like place with deep valleys and cliffs. It was the perfect training spot, as Kakashi knew. He always trained there. Kakashi was there, hanging from a ledge of a steep cliff. He had one hand on the ledge and his other behind his back. Kakashi slowly concentrates a reasonably good amount of chakra to his hand on the ledge, and then lifts his heavy self up. His hand quick moves up to grab the next ledge. This exercise was straining, but it was an excellent technique to control chakra. Before Kakashi could make it to the next ledge above him, he sensed something. His eyes widened, and sensed danger in the forest. 'Naruto,' he says. He jumped off the cliff's face without hesitation and quickly did a technique in midair. Suddenly, out of nowhere, leaves started to surround him and there was a small gust of air moving around him. Kakashi disappears into thin air, and the leaves fall from the sky to the bottom of the valley.
Sasuke runs after the hurried Konohamaru through the forest, which was getting darker and darker. They were suddenly running under the very same canopy of trees that protected the still unconscious Naruto. 'He's here, somewhere!' shouts Konohamaru to Sasuke, who was easily keeping up with the little boy. Konohamaru's two friends were far behind Sasuke. Sasuke abruptly stopped and called out to Konohamaru. 'Hey! Stop,' he shouts. He holds up his palm to Konohamaru, who stopped immediately and turned to Sasuke. 'What is it?' says Konohamaru, panting heavily. 'Shh...' Sasuke says quietly, holding up his other palm behind him, getting Konohamaru's two other friends to stop. Sasuke looks around the very still forest and observes the environment. 'He's no further than here. I can sense Kakashi- sensei's presence here...' he thinks to himself. 'What would he be doing here, in a place like this? Something must be up. Someone must be in danger.' Konohamaru starts to get impatient and before he says something, Sasuke says, 'Naruto, he's in danger.' Sasuke jumps to the trees on his right and starts leaping away towards Naruto's direction. Konohamaru and his two friends try to follow, but lose sight of the swift Sasuke.
'BURP!' Sakura finished her second bowl of barbeque pork special ramen and pulls out some money from her frog shaped purse. 'Thank you, sir,' she says to the owner of the restaurant, who was smiling pleasingly at her. 'HEHEHE! NARUTO-KUN! I HAVE NOW HAD TWO TUESDAY SPECIALS!' said her inner self. Sakura slowly walks out of the stall and moves down the street of the busy morning Konoha. 'That was one of the best meals I've ever had...' she murmurs to herself as she looks up to the sky. There were two eagles flying up there, chasing each other around happily. 'Hmm... Sasuke-kun, why do I think of you during the strangest times?' she wonders.
The cloaked man was now clearly visible. He had a white mask with red marks on it, and it looked like a cat. He brings up the kunai to his chest, as he moves closer and closer to Naruto. Naruto was still unconscious, but he was twitching a little. Suddenly, there was a loud rustle in the bushes behind the cloaked man. He turns around and looks towards the direction of the noise. He waits for something to come out, and only finds a rabbit. As the man turns his head back to Naruto, a gust of wind gathers leaves a fair distance away from Naruto. The man quickly turns his head to that direction and only sees a small gust of wind with leaves swirling around in it. He keeps his eyes on it, being as observative.
'It's over.'
The cloaked man turns around to the direction of the voice and sees none other than...
TO BE CONTINUED!
The Slow Tuesday Morning
The morning is young, and so was the air of that very Tuesday. The birds sang cheerfully; the village people started to emerge from their cosy homes. A new day had begun, and so it was good to get up to catch the fresh morning air. Some of the villagers get up as early as now for work. They never miss the young and fresh morning. The air is still rather chilly, and there is a light and calm breeze coming from the east.
Sakura slowly opens her eyes to the early morning. She lazily gets out of bed and stretches. She faces her desk, which is neat and organized. At a corner of the desk, there is a framed photograph of herself with Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and their sensei, Hatake Kakashi. She smiles at the thought of her team; especially at the thought of Sasuke, who she admires so much. Then she looks at Naruto – her face turns slightly sour, yet determined. 'Naruto-kun... I envy your strength,' she thinks to herself. Sakura remembers the moments when Naruto was being the cockiest. Then she remembers the moments when his cockiness gave him strength and will power. To believe consistently in yourself and in something so unbelievable can give you strength to achieve those beliefs, she thinks. She nods to the thought, and gets up to get dressed and ready for the day.
As Sakura is getting ready, Sasuke is already up and wondering the streets of Konoha. He walks down the street, head down, his hands in his pockets and at a slow and steady pace. Birds fly over the awakened village and the wind has calmed. Stalls were now open and some still in that process. Sasuke thinks of training up before meeting up with the rest. The thought of the 'rest' spreads a smirk on his face. Sasuke, who is still walking down the street, heads for the forest, where he usually trains at. As he walks out of the village on reaches the outside of the forest, which is nearby a river, he hears footsteps from behind. Was someone following him? Sasuke walks on, knowing that he was being followed. 'I'll keep walking and see if this guy keeps following,' thinks Sasuke. He grins and begins to plot ahead. The footsteps become faster and faster. Sasuke keeps his walking pace and grins. He reaches for his kunai in his pouch; slowly reaching down to pull it out...
Kakashi was long awake. He sits at the Jounin centre, reading 'Come Come Paradise', where Asuma smokes away beside him. 'Hey, Asuma, don't you ever get sick of those?' says Kakashi in a cool voice, still reading the porn novel. Asuma laughs and says, 'Hey, Kakashi, don't you ever get sick of "those"?' He points at Kakashi's book. 'OK, fair enough,' Kakashi replies. Kakashi sighs and stands up from the bench. Asuma looks up at him and smiles, 'Going for a walk?' Kakashi doesn't say anything, but nods. Asuma blows out the smoke in his mouth and grins. He says to himself, 'As always, Kakashi.' Kakashi walks out of the Jounin centre and walks down the streets of the village. 'I should visit them...' he thinks to himself, as he walks towards the forest.
All Sasuke had to do was flip the pouch open to draw his kunai. Instead, he keeps walking and grins at the ignorance he could smell from the stalker. 'Oi! Konohamaru! Wait up!' 'Gik...' Sasuke stops and relaxes his hands and himself. He turns around and finds his stalker to be little Konohamaru, who was dressed in his usual clothing – a cape around him, a fake ninja head band and the familiar looking goggles. Sasuke recognises the goggles and knew the kid as Naruto's little friend. Sasuke grins at Konohamaru, who looked shocked, but disappointed. Behind Konohamaru were his two friends, running and shouting at him. They, too, as Sasuke observed, were wearing similar clothes to the one facing him. They, too, as he observed, were wearing goggles. All those goggles were exactly like Naruto's. Sasuke stares into Konohamaru's eyes. Konohamaru, who looked worried, tried to stare back without looking hesitant. 'Hey! Konohamaru! Did you catch him?!' they shout, as they slow down the pace as they reach Sasuke and Konohamaru. They looked exhausted from running. Sasuke then thought that they weren't supposed to be here and that Konohamaru didn't want them to follow him. 'Hmph,' says Sasuke, who grins at Konohamaru, turns around and walks away from them. Konohamaru is shocked to see the great Sasuke turn away from him. 'H-Hey! Come back! I'm not through with you yet!' he shouts at Sasuke, ignoring his two friends' presence. Sasuke, who was walking away from them as cool as a cat, refused to turn around and starts to laugh. 'But I am,' he replies. Konohamaru looks disappointed. He was hoping to be friends with him. Sasuke is now roughly twenty miles away from the three kids. Konohamaru doesn't think and runs after Sasuke. He stops and catches a breath. 'Well, just because you're so strong,' says Konohamaru, who was panting, trying to catch his breath. Sasuke grins away, as Konohamaru continues, 'Doesn't mean I'm not good enough to talk to you!' Sasuke suddenly stops. Konohamaru stares at him, hoping for a bit of cooperation. Sasuke turns around and stares at Konohamaru, who had a very determined face. Konohamaru's friends were far behind him, just watching him looking shocked. Sasuke looks into his eyes. 'What does this kid want?' he thinks. Konohamaru glares back at Sasuke, who suddenly looked slightly hesitant.
Sakura walks out of her house, to find the stalls all up and ready. She looks to her left and sees a ramen restaurant. There were people there, but not anyone she would've expected to see. 'That's odd. Naruto should be there. He's always there on Tuesday mornings,' she says to herself, looking around the ramen restaurant. Outside the restaurant, there was a sign board. It read: TUESDAY SPECIAL! BARBEQUE PORK RAMEN! TUESDAY SPECIAL! 'Where the hell is this Naruto?' she whispers to herself, looking at the sign board. She walks over to the restaurant, looking for signs of Naruto's presence there. The man behind the counter recognises Sakura's face, as Naruto's friend and team mate. 'Good morning! Can I help you?' he says. 'Yes. Err... Have you seen Naruto around here this morning?' asks Sakura. She leans on the counter, to smell the barbeque pork being cooked. It smelled delicious, as Naruto would comment during every Tuesday lunch break. The man behind the counter looks down as he thinks, and then gives a slight grin, which quickly turned to a frown. He looks back at Sakura, who was looking at the lady behind the counter cooking the barbeque pork. 'Oh my goodness! Those barbeque pork slices look SO GOOD!' said her 'inside' self. 'No, sorry. I haven't seen him around here since last night,' said the man behind the counter. Sakura snaps out of a small trance and says, 'Strange... He's usually here every Tuesday morning.' 'Yes, I know. It's like a weekly tradition, really,' he replies. They both sigh. 'WOW! I can hear the meat sizzling in the pan! WE GOTTA HAVE SOME OF THIS!' says her 'inside' self. Sakura grabs a seat at the counter and says, 'I'll have the Tuesday special, please?' The man behind the counter smiles at her and says, 'Right away!' 'YES! YES! YESSSSS! MUAHAHAHA, NARUTO! I'm gonna have the special before you do!' says her hungry 'inner' self.
The forest seemed very peaceful and still. Though, the trees swayed from side to side. The breeze was just right – nice and cool. Kakashi stands before a huge rock, which was a memorial for those who had died in the line of duty as a ninja. The flat surface of the rock was engraved with the names of those ninjas. Kakashi scans the list, and finds one particular and familiar name. He looks up at the sky and wonders. There were birds flying over the forest; some singing, some playing and some just soaring in the air. 'Sigh...' He looks back at the stone and remembers his past. 'It's been a while,' he thinks to himself. His mind starts to throw flashbacks at Kakashi; flashbacks, he doesn't really want to remember. Flashbacks of his past only brought him down in regrets, but pulled him up in strength. Kakashi couldn't let his team down, just like he did before. He thinks of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura; the only team that passed the test to becoming his students. He smiles and walks away from the memorial. 'I will not let my team down... Again,' he thinks. 'Sigh, right. Better get back to the village. The others should be awake by now.' Kakashi slowly walks away from the memorial and heads up to his usual training ground. His hands are in his pockets and he looks up to the clear sky.
Konohamaru tries to keep up with Sasuke's strength by keeping strong eye contact. He remembers a time when he saw Sasuke's power and compared him to Naruto. The difference was big, by the looks of it. 'Naruto's in trouble,' he says. Sasuke's face lightened on Konohamaru, which gave Konohamaru a sign of relief and permission to carry on. 'I don't know what's wrong with him, so I thought I'd find you or the red haired girl to help,' says the hesitant Konohamaru. His two friends walk up to his side and nod in agreement. Sasuke nods and says, 'Right, take me to him.' Konohamaru leads Sasuke and his two other friends into the forest.
The trees of the forest hover above the below, where the smaller plants are trying to reach for the sun. There are dapples of sunlight on the ground, as the leaves only allow so little light in. The trees act as a high canopy, protecting the body of Naruto, who was leaning against a dead stump beneath. He seemed to be unconscious. It was last night that knocked him out for good. He had too much fun at the ramen restaurant, where he had ten bowls of ramen. That wasn't it though. The man behind the counter had offered Naruto some hot sake, a Japanese alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. Naruto, being the mischievous and daring boy around, accepted the drink and finished it all in a go. After he had finished ten bowls of ramen and a few shots of hot sake, he had walked home drunkenly. As you know, drunken people sometimes lose their mind and are usually in a state of confusion and dizziness. Naruto stumbled into the forest and left Konoha without a trace. Now, this morning, he sleeps there under a canopy of large trees, against a dead stump. Suddenly, somewhere in the bushes, there's a rustling sound. A man walks out from the darkness and sees Naruto, heavily unconscious. The silhouette of the man grows larger and clearer as he moves closer to Naruto. The man was tall and seemed to be wearing a hooded cloak. The hooded man pulls a kunai out from his slightly oversized cloak.
Outside the town of Konohamaru and through the forest, there is a desert- like place with deep valleys and cliffs. It was the perfect training spot, as Kakashi knew. He always trained there. Kakashi was there, hanging from a ledge of a steep cliff. He had one hand on the ledge and his other behind his back. Kakashi slowly concentrates a reasonably good amount of chakra to his hand on the ledge, and then lifts his heavy self up. His hand quick moves up to grab the next ledge. This exercise was straining, but it was an excellent technique to control chakra. Before Kakashi could make it to the next ledge above him, he sensed something. His eyes widened, and sensed danger in the forest. 'Naruto,' he says. He jumped off the cliff's face without hesitation and quickly did a technique in midair. Suddenly, out of nowhere, leaves started to surround him and there was a small gust of air moving around him. Kakashi disappears into thin air, and the leaves fall from the sky to the bottom of the valley.
Sasuke runs after the hurried Konohamaru through the forest, which was getting darker and darker. They were suddenly running under the very same canopy of trees that protected the still unconscious Naruto. 'He's here, somewhere!' shouts Konohamaru to Sasuke, who was easily keeping up with the little boy. Konohamaru's two friends were far behind Sasuke. Sasuke abruptly stopped and called out to Konohamaru. 'Hey! Stop,' he shouts. He holds up his palm to Konohamaru, who stopped immediately and turned to Sasuke. 'What is it?' says Konohamaru, panting heavily. 'Shh...' Sasuke says quietly, holding up his other palm behind him, getting Konohamaru's two other friends to stop. Sasuke looks around the very still forest and observes the environment. 'He's no further than here. I can sense Kakashi- sensei's presence here...' he thinks to himself. 'What would he be doing here, in a place like this? Something must be up. Someone must be in danger.' Konohamaru starts to get impatient and before he says something, Sasuke says, 'Naruto, he's in danger.' Sasuke jumps to the trees on his right and starts leaping away towards Naruto's direction. Konohamaru and his two friends try to follow, but lose sight of the swift Sasuke.
'BURP!' Sakura finished her second bowl of barbeque pork special ramen and pulls out some money from her frog shaped purse. 'Thank you, sir,' she says to the owner of the restaurant, who was smiling pleasingly at her. 'HEHEHE! NARUTO-KUN! I HAVE NOW HAD TWO TUESDAY SPECIALS!' said her inner self. Sakura slowly walks out of the stall and moves down the street of the busy morning Konoha. 'That was one of the best meals I've ever had...' she murmurs to herself as she looks up to the sky. There were two eagles flying up there, chasing each other around happily. 'Hmm... Sasuke-kun, why do I think of you during the strangest times?' she wonders.
The cloaked man was now clearly visible. He had a white mask with red marks on it, and it looked like a cat. He brings up the kunai to his chest, as he moves closer and closer to Naruto. Naruto was still unconscious, but he was twitching a little. Suddenly, there was a loud rustle in the bushes behind the cloaked man. He turns around and looks towards the direction of the noise. He waits for something to come out, and only finds a rabbit. As the man turns his head back to Naruto, a gust of wind gathers leaves a fair distance away from Naruto. The man quickly turns his head to that direction and only sees a small gust of wind with leaves swirling around in it. He keeps his eyes on it, being as observative.
'It's over.'
The cloaked man turns around to the direction of the voice and sees none other than...
TO BE CONTINUED!