-1Chapter 6 Part 1
Everyone awoke and met outside, early in the morning. "These Chunin Exams are taking forever!" Oiyoba exclaimed. Then Gaara made his trademark appearance in a sand cloud. "The final match of the preliminaries will begin today. A few of you who may have lost may redeem yourselves in the third test." He announced. Kankuro was gone now, as well as Hayate's teacher. Saratobi slowly raised her hand.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Kazekage. There's something I've been meaning to ask…" she started. Gaara glanced at her.
"Go ahead." He muttered.
"Uh, I just wanted to ask about our senseis. Where'd they go?" Gaara lowered his head.
"They're all fine. Two nights ago, right after the Hokage was assassinated, every Hidden Leaf jonin was sent on an insanely difficult mission. They succeeded, in case you wanted to know." He replied.
Kiyuta raised his hand and blurted out, "They what about my sensei?"
Gaara noticed Kiyuta's waterfall headband, "I have no idea. What is his name?" Kiyuta lowered his hand, fearing for his teacher.
"His name is Hakamaru." He said. Gaara shrugged.
"Oh, him. He went with the Konoha jonin just to scare you. At least that's what he said…" he lied. Then he motioned for everyone to read the final names on the screen.
"Hitomi vs. Hoashi Saratobi." Daisuke said. Saratobi gulped and turned around. The bird girl grinned.
"This will be easy!" she cried. Saratobi whined like she knew she'd get hurt.
"Go for it, Hitomi." Hayate told her.
"And go easy on her…" Ryu added, holding an ice pack to his head.
"Before you start," Gaara interrupted by saying, "On a side note: after this you will all head back to the village hidden in the leaves, where the current Hokage, Tsunade, is waiting." Saratobi nodded, and rushed in to attack Hitomi. They both punched eachother in the face, causing them to fall over.
"I want to go home! I'm sick of your sandy village!" Saratobi cried, getting up and making a hand sign, "Bloody Eye!" Hitomi's vision became red, and she couldn't see anything because the sand had also become red.
"I'm blind!" she yelled. Saratobi drew a kunai and ran behind Hitomi. She got her in a hold and put the kunai up to her throat.
"Give up or die!" Saratobi threatened. Hitomi stopped struggling and giggled.
"You don't have the guts to kill me." She said. Saratobi gasped. "If you think you can do it, then try me! Go on! Kill me!" Hitomi continued. Saratobi didn't move.
She thought back to Elli's words, "Kill or be killed." Hitomi grunted and was about to throw Saratobi off, when Saratobi shrieked and slit her throat. She fell to the ground. Hayate and Ryu looked away.
"I knew she'd get herself killed." Hayate whispered.
"Very quick final match. It ended with a pointless death, too. How unexciting." Gaara said as Saratobi walked quietly back to stand by the Kashime brothers.
"Saratobi! I didn't think you'd ever kill someone!" Daisuke exclaimed.
"I didn't kill her…" Saratobi said, looking back up. Then Hitomi coughed out a chunk of something and got to her hands and knees. Four Sand jonin appeared out of nowhere and teleported away with her. Gaara raised an eyebrow.
"Well…I guess you will all go back to Konohagakure now." Then he disappeared as well. The genin all moaned.
"More traveling? Geez, what a waste of time." Gaku said, heading for the exit.
A few hours later, all the genin met back at the gates of Konoha. A large-chested woman walked out of the village as the students arrived. "Welcome back. My name is Tsunade, and I am the current Hokage." All the guys stared at her as she led them back into the village. They walked back to a large coliseum style arena. "In there is the final test," said Tsunade, facing them, "Before we begin, let me explain the rules. Now, I'm sure you're tired of this, but the third test is more one-on-one combat." Everyone fell over, exhausted. "But there is an added twist…" the Hokage continued, "The fight itself isn't very important. These fights are all about style. Flashy moves and clan skills, if available, are what will pass you. A few judges will be watching, and the goal is to impress them while fighting someone else. Winning or losing isn't a big factor, either. Just technique. Score enough points, and you'll become a chunin. From there on, you'll be taught more advanced techniques, and possibly teach the cadets to become a genin, like you are now. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?" All the genin began chattering amongst themselves, about all the great things chunin can access. Tsunade waited a minute until she yelled, "SHUTUP!" Everyone stopped talking, but Hayate finished his sentence after everyone stopped.
"…Then I'll eat them all." He ended with. Tsunade shook her head. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Then she looked over them all. "When I was gone, the Third Hokage died. To all of those who remember him from when you were children, try not to think about it."
They all gathered inside, where a giant crowd of cheering people awaited them in the stands. "Wow. Didn't see this coming." Oiyoba said, observing the coliseum. It had the symbol for every hidden village around its walls, and it was very large. Isshinta, who had woken up the previous night, looked around at the people. He almost broke down again, but Saratobi grabbed his hand and lead him to the center, where Tsunade stopped.
"To everyone here this evening! Welcome to the Final Test of the Chunin Exams!" she announced. The people roared.
"There's more here every year." Said a familiar voice. Daisuke and Korosu turned around to see Gensai.
"Sensei!" they cried.
"S'up!" he replied.
Then Tsunade continued, "We have some very strong shinobi with us today! Allow me to introduce the foreigners first! From the hidden sand village, Kusen Ryu, Hitomi, and Hayate!" The three simply nodded to the crowds cheers. "They're the top contenders this year. Moving on; from the village hidden behind the waterfall, Inouye Oiyoba and Hiroshima Kiyuta!" They both waved to the crowd, who didn't cheer as much, due to the size of the hidden waterfall village. Fuu, who was with them, lowered her head. She hadn't made it into the final part of the exam. "Now we have our locals! First, taught by the famous Hajime, Hyuga Setsuko and Shimasu Satsuma!" Setsuko did nothing, but Satsuma turned and gave her brother a hug. "Next up is Bakufu Zawato, Sausuke Isshinta, and Mikazaki Fey!" The three all celebrated. "And by himself…Watashi Gaku!" Tsunade continued. Gaku fell to his knees and yelled happily. "And our last team, from the famous and loved Kashime clan, Kashime Daisuke and Kashime Korosu!" Only a few people cheered. Not many knew who the Kashime clan was.
"Not very 'famous', are we?" Daisuke muttered. Saratobi's eyes began to water.
"You mean after all that, I have to try again next year?" she asked the Hokage. Tsunade glanced down at her and turned back to the audience. "And Hoashi Saratobi! Give it up for her!" The Tsunade walked back to a small judge's stand with a few other important looking people in it. Gaara was there, as well, although nobody noticed him. A small group of men in black robes with red clouds on them stood in the crowd.
"Do you know those two?" a red-eyed man asked.
"Yes, I do. A long time ago, I taught them to use Henshin." A tall male with long black hair replied.
"Well, make sure they don't see you…." The red-eyed person said. Then he looked around through the crowds. "I think the Jinchuuriki is hiding here somewhere…" The taller man pulled out a shuriken and touched it. His hand glowed, and the weapon turned into a small insect. "Go find him." He commanded. The bug flew away and searched the crowd.
"Remind me which demon this one has inside of him." The Kashime said. The red-eyed man continued to look over the people.
"The Jinchuuriki's name is Saote, and he holds the six-tailed panther demon named Shueisha."
He replied from memory, "It seems Gaara's here." The Kashime nodded.
"Yes, he's the Kazekage, remember, Itachi?" he asked. Itachi shook his head. Then another man in a black robe covered in red clouds appeared out of nowhere.
"Masters Itachi and Katsuhiro! The search bug has found the boy!" he stated. Katsuhiro grinned.
"Now I guess we can cause chaos?" he wondered aloud. Itachi shook his head again.
"Let's let the Exams go on first. Then we'll capture the Jinchuuriki."
Meanwhile, in a small house outside of Konohagakure, Muchu and Korosuke planned their next attack. "What will we do next?" Korosuke asked, "Tell me what our next move will be." Muchu thought for a while. Soon, Korosuke noticed she wasn't paying any attention. "Miss Muchu!" Korosuke cried, getting her to concentrate on the matters at hand.
"We should gather the Jinchu Five." She said. Korosuke said nothing, for he didn't know who they were.
"Tell me, Miss," he whispered, "Tell me what it is you're trying to accomplish by taking out your brothers? Why must we kill them? What have they done to deserve this killing?" Muchu glared at him, causing him to flinch.
"Did I make you into one who asks questions like that?" she scolded. Korosuke lowered his head.
"Yes Miss. I will refrain from that kind of statement. I won't say anything like that ever again…"
Flashback… "Hey, guys! Want to go play by the river?" Muchu asked. Daisuke stood up, although he was exhausted.
"Nope! We gotta continue training with Katsuhiro sensei!" he replied, his voice very energetic. Korosu pushed up his oversized glasses and nodded, out of breath. Muchu fell silent. "What's wrong, sis?" Daisuke said. She turned away and started running. Daisuke and Korosu followed her to a big tree by the river that leads to the village hidden in the leaves.
"You guys don't have any time for me or our parents anymore!" she sobbed.
"Yeah, that's 'cause Katsuhiro sensei works us really hard!" Daisuke exclaimed. Korosu nodded again.
"But nobody else in this stupid town had to spend weeks at a time learning something most boys learn in a few months!" Muchu continued, "They won't even let me learn it!" Daisuke put his hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry…" he whispered, and then he and Korosu walked away. Muchu stared into the water for about an hour. Then a young woman walking by saw her sitting there.
"Muchu? What's wrong?" she asked, making her way over to the girl. Muchu didn't move. The woman continued, "I remember when you were known as 'the first child of Mayor Daisuke I'. But when we saw you here a few years ago, staring at nothing like you are now, we knew we'd call you 'Muchu.'" Then Muchu violently attacked the woman. She wrung her neck and threw her in the river.
"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die! Die!" Muchu screamed. Soon the woman was killed and Muchu let her float down the river into Konohagakure. "I will learn Henshin…and I'll be the best at it."
Back to the present… Katsuhiro looked at a large clock across the stadium. "It's time for me to head down there anyway," he said. He spun around and a new, white cape appeared in its place on his back. On the back of the cape was the Kashime clan symbol. Then he walked down a flight of stairs, leaving Itachi and a few other mysterious looking men.
"Now, if I may say something very important!" Tsunade called from the middle of the stadium. "The genin all get one full month of advanced training before the exams continue! So why are you here!" The crowd stopped cheering.
"I paid good money for these tickets!" a random person cried.
"The tickets are free! Come back in a month!" the Hokage announced. Tsunade then turned to the genin.
"The shinobi who will teach you is someone very advanced. Follow me to the back room where a collection of ninjas are waiting." Then she began walking towards a door. Everyone followed as the angry crowd got up and left.
Itachi slapped his forehead, "We have to find that guy now, before he gets away! Who said the exams were going on this month?" When the genin stepped inside the back room, they were shocked. A small group of very tough looking ninja were standing in a line.
"Most of these shinobi are beyond the jonin class in skill. Each will step forward and announce who they will be teaching for the next month." Tsunade said. Then Kankuro stepped forward.
"My name is Kankuro, and I'm teaching the entire Sand group." Hayate, Ryu, and Hitomi all walked behind him, where he grinned grimly at them all. "I hope you aren't afraid of puppets…" Kankuro whispered. Then a man with six wings stepped forward.
"My name is Inouye Yukinari, and I'm taking Oiyoba under my wing. Pun intended." He said. Oiyoba smiled.
"Awesome! Someone from my clan!" he cried happily. Then an incredibly tall man wrapped in bandages from head to toe shuffled forward. He slowly pulled down some of the wrappings from his mouth.
"My name is Zanza…" he muttered. His mouth was very shriveled up, "And I'm going to train Hiroshima Kiyuta…" Kiyuta cautiously walked to Zanza, who also had the bandages over his right eye. His left eye was stitched shut and covered in ash. The man next in line didn't step forward, but stayed hidden in a veil of shadow that only seemed to surround him.
"Our name is…not important, but we are the new teacher of Sausuke Isshinta." He whispered hoarsely. Isshinta froze, but Saratobi pushed him to the man. Then Gensai appeared out of nowhere.
"S'up! My name is Kishimoto Gensai, and, Saratobi, I'm going to be training just you." He said. Saratobi sighed in relief, but then thought about spending a full month with him.
'S'up, s'up, s'up, s'up…' she imagined.
Then an incredibly normal looking fellow with an unfamiliar headband stepped forward, "I am Karoli Raien, and I'm training Zawato and Satsuma." The two genin looked at eachother, confused, and stepped behind this foreign ninja. A woman with white eyes fiddled with her fingers.
"Um…my name is Hyuga Hinata, and Hyuga Setsuko is my trainee for the next month." She said quietly. Setsuko glared at her, causing her to step back in fear. He scoffed and walked around her. Finally, the last man in the room stepped forward.
"I'm an enigma, and the ones called Gaku and Fey are my pupils." He said quickly. As the two walked toward the enigma, Daisuke and Korosu stood confused.
"Are you teaching us, Hokage?" Daisuke asked. Tsunade shook her head and tapped her foot impatiently.
"No, but the buffoon who's supposed to is late. Then the door swung open.
"Grand entrance!" a voice cried. "Name: Kashime Katsuhiro!" he continued, diving in the room. "Idiots: Kashimes Daisuke and Korosu!" The brothers' jaws dropped.
"KATSUHIRO SENSEI!" Daisuke exclaimed, shocked. Katsuhiro winked at them.
"Hey boys. Long time, no see." Daisuke pointed to him and turned to Tsunade.
"What the hell is he doing here!" he asked chaotically. Then Katsuhiro kicked him in the face.
"Idiot. I'm here because I'll be training you for the next month." He said. Daisuke jumped up with a bloody nose.
"I know that much!" he cried.
"Then shut up. That's all the information you'll get." Katsuhiro replied, making a hand sign, "Meet me back where your house once stood. Training will begin immediately." Then he disappeared. Everyone just stood in confusion.
"I guess you know him…" Kankuro said, rubbing his chin.
"He never even showed up at last night's meeting. Weird guy." Gensai added. Then he took Saratobi by the shoulder. "We should go now, too. We're going to have to do a lot of work to get you to these guys' levels." Then they walked out the door. The Kashime brothers followed them, talking under their breath. Yukinari took a step outside as well.
"Well, you maggot," he said to Oiyoba, "Let's see how long you can fly. We're going all the way to Hokage mountain!" Oiyoba looked up at the towering monument to the Fire Shadows.
"I thought we'd head back to Waterfall first…" he said.
"Good idea!" Yukinari exclaimed, "Let's fly there instead!" Oiyoba groaned and took to the skies. Everyone else in the room stood quietly.
"Uh, Kankuro sensei?" Hitomi asked quietly. Kankuro looked down at her.
"What?" he replied, still standing idle.
"What are we waiting for?" Kankuro then sat down on a couch behind him.
"Night," he answered, "But I don't want any of you to move till it comes." Hinata giggled at him.
"Kankuro…you're so mean…" she whispered.
"Yeah, yeah." He replied.
"By the way, man, you know about the Aburame clan. Where are they?" Hayate asked, without moving.
"Shino!" Hinata cried. Hayate looked at her excitedly, and Kankuro threw a pencil at him.
"Turn around!" he commanded.
"Shino was in my cell when I was a genin," Hinata said, "He was very quiet, like me. But he wasn't shy like I was, he was just mysterious." Hayate tried to move his head again to look at her, but Kankuro threw another pencil at him.
"Can you tell me what he looked like?" Hayate asked, annoyed at his new teacher.
"Shino was very tall. You remember him very well, don't you Kankuro?" Hinata replied. Hayate spun around, surprised.
"Tell me!" he cried. Kankuro threw another pencil at him.
"Turn around! I'll tell you about this guy tomorrow." Then the guy veiled in shadow cackled.
"Very interesting. Young minds are such a mystery…Come, young Isshinta," he said, floating out the door, "We will teach you the true power of the Shinkan Okage." Isshinta followed, shyly. The enigma said nothing but took Gaku and Fey by the ears and walked outside as well. The two genin winced as they tried to keep up with their teacher's giant strides. Then Setsuko coughed, catching Hinata by surprise. Setsuko glared at her, suspiciously.
"Get used to me coughing, because I'll be doing it a lot." He said. Hinata fiddled with her fingers as she looked down at him.
"Why, do you smoke?" she asked. Setsuko raised an eyebrow, although his long hair covered it up.
"No…It's worse." He replied. Then he also left. Hinata franticly chased after him. Tsunade looked at the clock again.
"Well, I'm going home. Feel free to se this room as long as you want." Then she, too, walked away. The only remaining teachers were Kankuro, Zanza, and Raien.
"I wanted to ask you this…" Zawato muttered, staring at Raien. Raien hadn't opened his eyes or dropped his smile since they met him.
"Yes, young genin?" the foreign ninja asked.
"Where are you from? I've never seen that headband before." Zawato said.
Satsuma nodded, "Yeah, they never taught us about that at the academy." Raien turned to them.
"I am from the Crescent country. It makes sense for you to have never heard of it." He replied, making a hand sign. "I'll see you at the gate. I'll take you there now." Then he disappeared. Then Kiyuta folded his arms.
"Excuse me, Zanza sensei, but what are we going to do?" he asked impatiently. Zanza slowly pulled down his bandages again.
"If you want to leave…" was all he said. Then he pulled back up the bandages and, very sluggish, shuffled out the door. Kiyuta followed, having to stop walking a lot to let his teacher catch up. Hayate glanced at the clock.
"We're gunna be here forever…" he complained. Then Kankuro threw a pencil at him.
"Where do you get all those pencils!" Hayate cried.
Training with Kishimoto Gensai
The next day, Gensai got Saratobi up with a jolly "S'up!" at about four o'clock in the morning. She moaned as she followed her happy sensei through the city streets of Konohagakure. "I think I should tell you…I'm a morning person!" he cried. Saratobi rubbed her eyes.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"We're going to grab some breakfast and then we're hitting the books." He replied, speeding up.
"Books? Why books?" Saratobi wondered aloud.
"Outsmarting someone is a big part of being a ninja." Gensai said. Then he skidded to a stop, "Let's have fish for breakfast," he sat on the roadside stools and rung a bell on the counter, "S'up, fish lady!" he said to the waitress.
"Um…we're not open yet…" she replied. Gensai flashed a small card. "Oh! Kishimoto Gensai! I've heard all about you! Here, eat!" Then the waitress got out some raw fish and turned on the stove. Saratobi and Gensai ate quickly and soon hit the road again. "Here's our first stop…" Gensai said, opening the main door to a library.
Saratobi read a sign as she entered, "Shinobi Files."
An hour into the day, and Saratobi had her face stuck in a book. "Master Gensai," she said while turning a page, "All of these tactics are very tricky. Who wrote these?"
Gensai coughed and pointed to the cover of the book, "Look and see." Saratobi glanced at the book's cover and saw that the author was, in fact, her own teacher, Kishimoto Gensai.
"Whoa, Master! No wonder you're a jonin!" Saratobi exclaimed.
"Yes, I know, thank you…" he whispered with an inflated ego. Saratobi continued reading with more interest. Gensai watched her with a grin. "Saratobi, there's a reason I'm making you read my books. Not just to learn, that comes with the territory of reading. But in order to match the strength of your new rivals, you're going to need a few surprises," he explained, "You can be sure everyone else will show up at the third exam with new techniques." She looked up at him.
"So I need to outsmart them?" she asked.
Gensai nodded, "It just so happens that outsmarting is my specialty. That's why I'm going to teach you. We'll begin physical work when you read all of these books." Then he turned and walked out the door. Saratobi brushed some of her hair behind her ear.
"I know all those boys are idiots, so this shouldn't be too hard." She said quietly to herself.
Training with Hyuga Hinata
Hinata was too afraid to wake Setsuko up at a decent time, so she sat and waited for him next to his bed. He slept in a straight line, his eyes closed tight. At about ten o'clock in the morning, he opened one eye slightly.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Hinata jumped up, startled.
"Uh…I-I'm waiting for you…to..." then her voice trailed off and she looked away. Setsuko got out of the bed and put his shirt on.
"If you want me up at a certain time, just wake me. I'm not going to kill you for that." He said. Hinata blushed and turned away.
"Um…let's go train then…" she muttered, walking out the door. Setsuko coughed and followed her to a medium-sized room with a giant yin-yang in the middle. "Setsuko, you know about the Hyuga bloodline, right?" Hinata asked. Setsuko stared at the circular insignia on the floor.
"Actually, no, I don't." he replied. Hinata stepped backing amazement.
"But all Hyuga members should know!" she cried.
Setsuko closed his eyes and sat down, "I was seriously injured a long time ago, so I probably missed the lecture," Hinata sat down next to him. "But please, go ahead and ramble on about it…" Setsuko said sarcastically. Hinata took him seriously and nodded.
"Alright, if you want to know…The Hyuga family is split into two branches," she started, "The Cadet branch, and the Main branch. Both of us are from the Main branch. I guess that may be one reason they picked me to be your teacher; so I could tell you all this. Anyway, long ago, the Main branch passed rules and laws in favor of themselves, so the Cadet branch was always left out. That soon turned into a feud between the Hyugas." Then she glanced over at the very bored Setsuko. "Um…did they teach you how the Hyugas fight?" she asked. Setsuko shook his head and coughed.
"All I know is that the attacks are weak and ineffective." He said. Hinata fiddled with her fingers.
"Well, that isn't true. It's a fighting style called Juken, meaning 'gentile fist.' The point of fighting like this is to attack the inner organs by poking or thrusting the points on the Keirankuei…" Setsuko looked back at her.
"What is that?" he asked, gaining interest. Hinata stopped playing with her fingers and opened up to Setsuko a bit more.
"If you're willing to learn, I can teach you… Have you ever noticed that when you use Byakugan, you can see the inner workings of a person? That's the Keirakukei. It is what flows the chakra through our bodies, and attacking it will cause one to loose their control over it. So if you fix your gentile fist attacks on it, you can practically manipulate your opponent!" she exclaimed. Setsuko grinned evilly.
"That's awesome. Teach me it now so I may use it on the others!" he said. Hinata gulped and nodded. She stood up and took an open-fisted stance, with her arms spread apart.
"I'll show you Juken and the Keiankuei." She said. Setsuko jumped up and got in his closed-fist stance, with his arms close together. Hinata noticed this and ran over to him. "Here, move your arms like this…" she took his hands and placed them in the same position hers were in. Setsuko blushed and Hinata took stance again. "Now, let's go!" Hinata called, rushing at him.
Training with Inoyue Yukinari
"Well, maggot, I'm surprised you kept up with last nights drills!" Yukinari shouted in Oiyoba's face. "Now, what are you, private?" he continued. Oiyoba stood completely still, but he shook in fear. "I said, 'what are you, private'!" Oiyoba shrugged. "You are a worthless pile of garbage, do you hear me!" Yukinari cried. Oiyoba frowned.
"Do you really think that?" he asked.
"No, but I hear that's supposed to toughen you up…" Yukinari said, scratching his head, "Anyway, I guess I should explain to you the secret of the Six Wings of an Inoyuean Seraph, huh?" Oiyoba nodded. "Well, it's like this. You've got two wings now, and I have six. There's a difference in wings, aren't there? In order to unlock your other two pairs of wings, you must beat another Inoyue member at two separate contests. As in, it's very simple to get six wings." Yukinari said. Oiyoba adjusted his kefiyeh.
"How come nobody told me about that? I could have the wings by now!" he complained.
"Don't get your feathers up in a twist. You have to have a certain chakra level to be able to hold these giant pair of wings. They constantly drain your life-force, so I can only have them out for a while at a time." Yukinari replied, "So let's play a game…"
"I have to admit, Oiyoba, you make good puns." Yukinari said that evening.
"Thanks, Master Yukinari. You're puns are instant classics." Oiyoba replied. Yukinari nodded, poking at the fire they were sitting around with a stick.
"Too bad you lost." He whispered. Oiyoba frowned.
"How can I beat those puns? They blew me away...Pun intended…" he said. Yukinari gasped.
"That pun was awesome!" he cried, "I say that one beats me entirely!" Oiyoba jumped up.
"So I get more wings now?" he asked anxiously. Yukinari pushed him back down in his seat, "No, it seems you don't have enough chakra. Looks like I'm going to have to train you more…then you'll have to beat me at another contest…" Oiyoba groaned and fell off his chair.
Training with the Sausuke shadow
The seemingly insane man from the Sausuke clan had been working Isshinta nonstop since they began the first day. It was no the fifth day, and Isshinta had no chakra left in him. Still completely terrified of this nameless man, Isshinta trained weakly. The man hadn't brought Isshinta into his shadow world yet, but Isshinta had to use his quite a lot. Then finally, Isshinta collapsed from exhaustion.
"Get up, boy!" the man commanded. He had been bleeding from his shoulder for almost a full day now. The man felt no sympathy, so he left Isshinta there over night.
When he came back, Isshinta was gone. "Don't try to run, boy!" the man called, his eye darting back and forth. His eye was always wide open and very active. The other eye was covered by his incredibly long black hair. "You can't escape our Shinkan Okage technique!" he cried, releasing a shadow in the shape of his tattoo from his chest. It darted down a path and stuck to a tree. "Hiding in there, eh? Very good, boy! A Sausuke assassin should be able to hide anywhere!" he slowly made his way to the tree with a kunai in hand. "The Sauske clan is split between the workers and the assassins. You were born a worker, but given to us. We're only training you the same way we were, so come out!" Then Isshinta stuck his feet out of the tree. "Good. Come over here, boy." The shadow man whispered. Then Isshinta's legs turned into a shadow and he slithered up the tree. "Trying to escape in the branches? Well, take this! Dokukage! Poison Shadow!" the man yelled. His shadow covered the entire tree and it melted away and left nothing but a burnt log. The man gasped when he didn't see Isshinta there. "Where'd you go now, boy?" he asked. Isshinta's specter of a body crawled up the man's back and entered his mind. "Very impressive!" the man said, forcing Isshinta out with mind power alone. Isshinta solidified and he fell to the ground. The man turned around and grinned. "That was very good, boy. You've deserved a rest. We'll teach you to summon soon, so don't run off anywhere…"
That night, Isshinta ran to Konoha and tried to find the Hokage. As he turned the corner, he bumped into a person and fell over. "Whoa, kid, you look like crap. What happened?" the guy asked.
"Where's the Hokage!" Isshinta asked franticly.
"I don't know. I'm a drifter. What's wrong?" Isshinta started hyperventilating. "Kid, calm down! Who's after you? I know someone's after you." The guy said. Isshinta looked up at him with teary eyes.
"He refers to himself as more than one person! He's insane, and he's trying to kill me!" he cried. The guy got Isshinta up and took him by the shoulder that wasn't bloody.
"My name is…um…Cho, by the way." He said, as he ran off with Isshinta in search of the Hokage.