By RequiemofDementia
Chapter Seven: Two Down...
To say that Riki was confident would be an understatement. He could fight people and find people 'til the cows came home, so to speak. He stood before the Hokage calmly, waiting for his instructions, as her eyes passed him over.
Clearly, this was a man prepared for combat. Just from the look of him, one could tell that he knew his way around the battle field well. How, then, should the Hokage test him? A small smile passed over her lips, as an idea came to her.
Chie and Airen showed the nervousness that Riki did not, worried about what was to be asked of him. Shinzui sat further back, his eyes also on Riki. Deep down, he too was worried. He had known that the Hokage would try and play against each of his student's weaknesses. Airen, her greatest weakness being her close combat skills, had been pitted against a close combat expert. Shy little Chie had been sent into a town to ask people where to find someone. And now, what would she have in store for Riki?
"Natsume Riki, you are given a mission of the utmost importance." Pausing slightly, for dramatic effect, Tsunade grinned. "In the town of Konoha there are three very important children, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi."
Riki simply nodded. He would wait until the Hokage was finished explaining before asking any questions.
"You are to baby sit them for the rest of today."
Riki walked slowly, following the guide that would take him to where he would find these children. He could still hear the laughter that had come from Airen and Shinzui as they had realized what it was the Hokage was ordering Riki to do.
He was baffled. He was supposed to baby sit? How did babysitting show the skills of a ninja? How was he even supposed to deal with a bunch of snot nosed little punks? Perhaps the Hokage had decided to get him to do this because she was after some more unorthodox babysitting techniques?
Arriving at their destination, the guide opened the door to the house, and ushered Riki inside, rather quickly closing the door behind him. To Riki, the door closing sounded ominously like a lid sealing on a coffin.
He was not amused. Riki stood over a sink in the house where he had found the children, running water over his right hand to wash away the deposit that Udon's nose had left behind. Riki was used to having Chie sitting upon his backpack, but having three squirming, pinching children climbing you like a tree, and leaving unpleasant reminders that they had been there, was new territory to him. And already, he could hear another commotion breaking out.
Shutting the faucet off quickly, he rushed out, to find two of the children grasping onto a ceiling fan, the third trying to make the fan spin faster. "What are you doing?" he barked out angrily. The one at the fans controls looked over at him sheepishly, a long trail of unpleasantness dangling from the child's nose.
Moegi and Konohamaru were not quite so easily distracted from their small game. The two children still grasped the fan, leaving Riki to try and think of a way to distract them. How anyone could do this kind of thing for a living baffled him.
Riki raced through the house, chasing after Konohamaru, Moegi still sitting on his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his neck. Udon clamped around one of Riki's legs, which made the running far more difficult, giving Konohamaru the time he needed to run amuck. How was he supposed to do this?
Ahead of him, Konohamaru overturned a coffee table, and then continued laughing, Moegi's fists starting to beat against his forehead. Riki's patience was beginning to wear thin. And he had only been here an hour.
Chie looked over air Airen, grinning a little from under his new forehead protector. Airen had tied hers to her forehead instantly, but Chie had tried a few different places for it. First, he had tried to wear it like a belt, but Airen had told him that it looked silly on him.
Secondly, he had tried to wear it around his neck. But the only way that it would fit would be if he wore it like a tie, and that just looked odd.
So, Chie had learned the hard way why they were called forehead protectors. Because the only place he could find to put it was his forehead.
After discovering that the house had no rope with which to tie the children down, Riki began to worry. If this kept up, the house would be a ruin by the time the Hokage came to see how well he had done. Both Airen and Chie had passed their trials. He would not allow himself to fail where they had succeeded. How was he going to get the children to listen to him?
He sat himself down slowly, that action in itself drawing the curious eyes of the children. Why had he suddenly stopped chasing them? They began to creep closer.
Riki's eyes were closed, and they looked at each other. Had he fallen asleep? With mischievous grins, the children continued to advance. They did not notice the hands in Riki's lap, slowly moving through hand symbols.
The Hokage arrived at the door, and slowly opened it. Inside, the house was spotless, and laying upon the floor, rolling in hysterics, were the three children. Riki stood over them, his hands ready to perform Chie's Tickle no Jutsu once again. His eyes came up slowly, as the Hokage entered, and then he straightened.
"Mission complete, Hokage," he reported calmly.
Author's notes.
This chapter was a lot of fun to write. Riki has started to evolve from a broad shouldered goon to an actual character, who is person like, with feelings. It's great.
I also introduce Tickle no Jutsu, my favorite home made jutsu. Or was that introduced in the other chapter? (It was, but it has an important part in this one, so I consider this it's introduction). Keep an eye on Tickle no Jutsu, he is a rising young star in the world of Naruto.
Or something.