By RequiemofDementia
Chapter Two: Missing Nin
Once again, Naruto had his face buried in a bowl of ramen. Kakashi had not noticed, really, as his face was also buried, in the latest edition of Icha Icha Paradise. The only people to be embarrassed by Naruto's obsessive fascination with his ramen were Sasuke and Sakura. To Sakura's disappointment, she had ended up next to Naruto again, and not her treasured Sasuke.
With the screams of Inner Sakura reverberating through her skull, Sakura was also rather distracted from the events occurring around her. In Sasuke's eyes, he was the only one to notice the four strangers that wandered down the streets of Konoha village.
He rose from his seat slowly, only to be stopped by Kakashi's hand on his shoulder. He should not have been surprised that the Jounin had noticed, even with his nose in a book. A simple shake of his head was all Kakashi offered, but Sasuke knew enough now to take such messages from the older man to heart. Instead, his eyes followed the four as they made their way down the street. He wondered, mostly to himself, if they were strong.
Chie's timid voice came slowly, breaking Airen from her train of thoughts. "He is staring at us." Airen looked quickly, and sure enough, a young man at the ramen stand was staring at the four of them.
"Maybe he thinks you're cute?" Airen offered.
As expected, the young man's cheeks flared red, his eyes lowering quickly. Airen always thought it was cute when she could make Chie blush. As much as she did not like to admit it, Chie was very cute, and did draw the eyes of many males. Also, this young man looked to be only a few years younger then Chie.
"You should wave to him."
Chie's blush only deepened, covering all of his face as well as a large amount of his neck. Airen decided to leave it at that, just in case poor Chie was to pass out.
Meanwhile, Shinzui's eyes scanned over the group at the ramen stand. He could be wrong, but in his eyes, three youths and an older man meant one thing only. The thing that bothered him was that the man seemed vaguely familiar; he just could not place him. His eyes wandered from the man slowly, over to the young man that starred. His eyes simply gazed over him, before he continued on.
"I think he is staring at you, Airen-san." Chie's voice was still soft and timid.
"Oh, when you, the beautiful Sen Chie, is standing right next to me?" Airen could not help herself; there was just something about teasing Chie that was so much fun.
Riki just grunted, as he always did. The banter was beginning to bother him.
Sakura straightened, when she finally realized that there were others there. To be on the safe side, Airen and Chie had insisted that Riki sit next to her, a barrier to keep the two smaller ones safe from the strangers. Sakura had not seen someone bigger then this man. He was literally huge. Larger even then Zabuza had been.
Naruto only took a brief notice when Riki ordered ramen for the three of them. His stomach was doing the thinking at the moment. But that was not unusual.
Airen began to complain, as she always did. No matter what kind of ramen was put in front of her, she did not like it. Riki thought it was a general dislike of ramen, which was why he had ordered it for her.
It was also that dislike that drew the attention of Naruto. His mouth half full, half chewed ramen ready to fall, he gaped. How could someone not like ramen? It was baffling. It was so baffling for poor Naruto that he began to choke on the ramen in his mouth.
Shinzui was the only one at the table to ignore all of the antics going on about him. Naruto's choking had even drawn a half amused gaze from Kakashi. Instead, Shinzui continued to watch Kakashi. He did not like recognizing someone and not being able to place where he knew them from.
"Is something the matter?" the Jounin asked softly, his one eye glancing over to the man that stared so boldly.
"Directions. We seem to be lost. Could you tell us where to find the Hokage?"
That drew the eyes of everyone at the table. Sakura and Sasuke were already wondering what these strangers could want with the Hokage, while Naruto was wondering if this man was as crazy as his companion, and not liking ramen. Chie and Riki were a little confused, wondering what a Hokage is, while Airen was searching her memory as to why that name was familiar. Kakashi's calm gaze remained unchanged. His eye remained upon Shinzui's for a moment, before he slowly nodded.
Shinzui straightened slowly, looking towards the people he had arrived with. "Wait here." He began to step away from the ramen stand, and as he did, he whispered to Chie softly. "Keep them out of trouble." Little Chie blushed brightly, as he slowly nodded. He would do what his friend had asked, even if it meant standing up to Airen and Riki.
Kakashi, however, did not need to give warnings to Team 7. He already knew that Sasuke was smart enough to keep Naruto and Sakura out of trouble, if a problem came up. He rose calmly, closing his book and slipping it away, as he lead the way to find the Hokage.
The silence around the two was almost deafening, as they walked through the streets of Konoha. Kakashi was not about to start rambling to a stranger, while Shinzui was still deep in thought, trying to place him. It seemed that the silence would stretch forever.
Finally, it was Shinzui who broke the silence. He knew it was impolite to flat out ask the man who he was, so he tried a different avenue. "I'm Hitomi Shinzui."
Kakashi stopped then, turning to face Shinzui. "Hitomi?" After the other man nodded slowly, Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed. He knew that name. He knew that name well, in fact. "Hatake Kakashi."
Kakashi's eyes had narrowed, but Shinzui's widened when he heard the name. At least now he could place where he knew Kakashi from, and why Kakashi had reacted that way to the Hitomi name.
"How can you not like ramen? What is wrong with you!?" Naruto's tirade had been unending, since the moment Kakashi was out of eye sight. "Ramen is the food of the gods!" His eyes were wide, he was indeed ranting. "RAMEN IS LIFE!"
"Naruto," Sasuke said softly. "No one cares."
Naruto quickly turned his eyes to his team mate, and Sasuke was honestly surprised at the lack of foaming saliva at Naruto's mouth. He was certainly acting rabid. However, he completely ignored Naruto for the moment. "Excuse him. We hit him in the head a few times during training today."
Even as Riki simply grunted once more, to show his eternal indifference, Sakura spoke. "Even though his skull is thick, enough blows seem to get through." As she said that, her fist once more bopped against the back of Naruto's head.
"Ai! Sakura-chan, what are you saying?" While Sasuke's words had stung Naruto, more so because they were true, anything Sakura said drew his attention. She was perhaps the only thing that interested him more than ramen.
Sakura and Airen were both laughing at Naruto's expression, but they were the only ones. Chie was still paralyzed by his shyness, while Riki's indifference stopped him from looking anywhere but at what he was doing. Sasuke continued to watch the other three, almost as if trying to gauge their strength just by looking at them.
Airen spoke softly, more to make fun of Chie then anything else. "Is there a reason you were staring at us earlier?" As she said that, Chie's face flamed red once more. Sasuke, however, did not answer.
Airen was about to open her mouth again, when a voice interrupted her. "The Hokage will see us." The three all looked over, seeing Shinzui standing there once more. There was a moment of silence, each one of them wondering, before he spoke again. "It is probably unwise to keep her waiting."
Riki pushed up from his chair, and began to turn, Chie doing the same. Airen took a moment longer, looking over towards the three strangers, and then offering Naruto her untouched bowl of ramen.
The three of them began to talk softly, once the strangers had walked away. Sasuke and Sakura both wondered about whom the strangers were, and where Kakashi had gone. Naruto, however, took another large mouthful of ramen, pausing only to exclaim that she must be a nice person to give away something as great as ramen.
The four of them arrived before the Hokage, Chie clearly feeling nervous, even though the Hokage had not even spoken yet. Riki, as always, possessed his calm composure, more through indifference then anything else. Airen was difficult to read, excited and nervous at the same time.
"First, who are you?" The question was soft, coming from one of the people sitting at the Hokage's desk, rather then from the Hokage herself.
"I am Hitomi Shinzui, of Konoha's Hitomi clan." Shinzui was perfectly calm, stepping forward to speak to the assembled people. His eyes, focusing mostly on the Hokage, would occasionally glance to another man present. The head of the Hyuuga family. "These three are Hitomi Airen, Sen Chie and Natsume Riki."
This simple announcement brought great commotion to those gathered here. "That is a great claim you make, Hitomi Shinzui." This time, it was the Hokage herself to speak. "The Hitomi were a great clan, slaughtered by bandits."
Shinzui did not show any sign of discomfort, as he continued to speak. "If you believe that mere bandits could stop a whole clan of ninja, then perhaps I was wrong to return." His eyes moved once more to the Hyuuga, before back towards the Hokage. "Our family was slaughtered, yes, but not by bandits."
The head of the Hyuuga family jerked up quickly, his eyes narrowing. "Is that an accusation?"
"I do not need to accuse. Everyone here is already smart enough to know the truth."
The Hokage raised her hand slowly, for silence. Her eyes did not leave Shinzui. "If what you say is true, then both you and your sister are missing-nin."
Shinzui nodded, his voice soft. "We return to Konoha, to ask forgiveness, and to seek reinstatement as Konoha ninja."
The room was filled with startled gasps again. The penalty of being a missing-nin was death at the hands of the hunter-nin that followed you. However, there had been no hunter-nin to follow them. The Hokage considered this, for a moment, her eyes roaming over the group slowly. "And these other two?"
"Natsume Riki was the son of a village police man, trained in swordsmanship by his father. It has taken him some time to learn the other skills of the ninja, but under my tutelage he has come far, very eagerly. Sen Chie was an orphan upon the streets of a village in the Water Country when I found him. Although slight in stature, he has great skill with jutsu's." For the first time since coming before the Hokage, Shinzui was hesistant for a moment. "I ask that they, too, be accepted into Konoha."
The Hyuuga's fist slammed against the Hokage's desk, but before he could begin to yell, the woman raised one hand, slowly, stopping him with his mouth still open, ready. "If the Hyuuga clan cannot teach its members calm, they will have to leave." Her words had a very direct, and very quick result, the Hyuuga calming himself and sitting slowly. "This is very much you ask from us, Hitomi Shinzui."
He simply nodded, his voice soft. "Speak to them yourself, Hokage. They may not be ninja yet, but they have the drive, and the heart."
The Hokage's only reply was a nod.
Author's notes.
Who doesn't enjoy Naruto? Yay! I am not really sure what I was thinking when I was writing this one, but I like to think it came out okay.
Enjoy! :)