Chapter Two
Old Face, New Face
"What are we doing here sensei; this is a waste of time. Besides you know just as well as I do that they won't let us in because we are Ninja from a different Hidden Village."
"Yes, yes I know all of this, but just because we are Ninja, doesn't mean we have to look like ones. If we don't wear our headbands and we don't cause any attention to come our way we should be fine."
"But what is the point of coming here. I've never been here and neither have you to my knowledge, this is totally stupid and you know it."
"Last time I checked you were the student and I was the teacher. There is a reason we come to Konoha and you will be wise not to question me again."
"Yes Sensei." The younger female Ninja responds sullenly.
"That is more like it Kurai, I don't like being harsh with you, but sometimes you give me no choice. You know we are more than just teacher and pupil, I love you like the little sister I never had, and I consider you my closest friend. I wish that I could tell you why we are here, but it would jeopardize our mission."
"Mission? This is a mission Tamara Sensei! Why didn't you tell me that first, I wouldn't have made such a fuss if I had known this."
"I was instructed to not tell you until we were actually here. I hated having to lie to you but it was of utmost importance. I still can't tell you much just that you need to be prepared for ANYTHING."
"Yes Sensei, you know me I can handle it."
"NO, you must NOT go into this mission with that attitude. This will probably be the hardest mission you have ever or ever will be assigned to."
"OK I'm sorry I didn't know it was this important. I will be aware and prepared sensei you can count on me."
"Good that is more like it. Let's get going." As they approach the gate four Jounin appear, blocking the way.
"State your business in Konoha."
"We are mere travelers passing through the area and looking for a place to rest for the day." Tamara says as she feels Kurai tense next to her.
"Welcome to Konoha and we hope you enjoy your time while here." They all respond moving aside. Kurai stares in amazement at the utter honesty in their voices. She had heard that the Konoha Ninja were the fiercest of them all when it came to battle, yet these four seemed genuinely kind.
"Thank you for your hospitality. Enjoy your days." She says bowing slightly. Maybe she had been wrong about the Konoha Ninja. As they walk down the streets people call out greetings and warm welcomes. I think I like this place, the people here are nice. Not like back home. Everyone there treats me different, a person that cannot be trusted. Sometimes I feel like a monster, but they will all respect her when she becomes the greatest Ninja ever from the Village Hidden in the Lightning.
"Is there something that I can help you with ma'am?" Someone asks from her right. She turns and is greeted by a Konoha Jounin. He is one of the most handsome men she has ever seen with raven black hair and large white eyes.
"What?" she asks having not been paying attention.
"I asked if you needed help with anything."
"Oh… No I'm fine thank you."
"Ok well then good afternoon." With that he disappears in a puff of smoke.
"By the looks of him he belonged to the Hyuga clan, known as the most powerful clan in Konoha still intact. Kurai put your eyes back in their sockets we are not here to stare at all the handsome young men."
"EH! I wasn't staring at him I was just caught a little off guard." She says defensively, but a slight red glow has touched her cheeks. Tamara smiles slightly at her close friend.
"Ok then lets keep moving or we are never going to accomplish anything, and let's hope we don't run into any more handsome men." Kurai folds her arms in anger, but says nothing.
They continue to make their way through the town, Kurai still doesn't know what it is they are doing here, but she is on guard nonetheless. As they work their way through the city Kurai sees several other Ninja, Chunin, and Jounin mainly, but there are a few Genin here and there. Most of the young male Ninja were just as attractive as the Hyuga man was. One was even more so he was a young man with brown hair and red fang like markings on his face. He was riding one of the largest dogs she had ever seen.
"KIBA! Hey Kiba wait up!" The man on the dog turns and smiles. He is even more handsome smiling she thinks to herself. A beautiful black haired woman with the white eyes appears, followed by a strange man all in a trench coat with the hood up and sun glasses on. She listens carefully and finds out they are going to train.
"Tamara Sensei, I'm going to check out this squad to see what we might be up against in case we have to fight any of them."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that gorgeous brown haired man would it?" Tamara asks smiling, and Kurai blushes.
"I…I Thought… that … umm."
"It's ok I think it is a good idea just don't get caught, and if you do just pretend like you are in awe of the great Ninja and wanted to watch them train, maybe even flirt with the brown haired man, but do not be discovered." The flush of embarrassment was still there but she nodded curtly and began making her way to the Konoha squad. Hopefully she will run into the person we are looking for and someone will recognize them together.
"Kiba, you do know that there is a young woman following us right?"
"Yes Shino I know. I've known from the very beginning. She has been following us for quite a while now, but she doesn't appear to be a threat or confrontational so lets see what she does."
Kurai has trailed the squad of Ninja for a little over fifteen minutes now, and she doesn't think they have noticed her yet. Konoha Ninja may be beautiful, but they obviously aren't very strong or they would have noticed me by now.
They reach an open area surrounded by forest. There is a strange monument here and three short poles buried in the ground. Kurai takes up a view point to watch. Another two people show up at the training ground, a brown haired lazy looking man and a larger man with red swirls on his face. They converse with the brown haired man with the dog for a little while and he points in the general area where Kurai was hidden, and then over in the opposite direction. Good they still haven't discovered me yet. Two more women show up, a blonde haired one and a pink haired one they seem to be good friends. Kurai moves closer so she can hear what they are talking about. Another group of three shows up, the black haired man from before, a tall black haired man with thick eye brows, and another woman with brown hair done up in two buns.
"Ok now that everyone is here we can start…"
"Wait!" The black haired and pink haired women say at the same time.
"Go ahead Hinata." The pink haired woman says.
"Thank you Sakura. Naruto is back in town and he should be coming any second. Please wait." Hinata says blushing slightly. Everyone except for Kiba and Sakura react the exact same way.
"Naruto's back?" This Naruto person must be important to these people for them to react this strongly. And he must be handsome for both of those women to get embarrassed when mentioning him.
"Hello everyone I'm back!"
"Naruto! It's great to see you!" Kurai turns to see who this mysterious Naruto is, but is unable to see his face. He has blonde hair and he is tall and muscular. No wonder those two women like him, his is very handsome from what I've seen so far. She notices that he is the only one in the clearing that is still a Genin. He may be handsome, but he obviously isn't strong if he is still a Genin, how unfortunate.
"Hello Naruto. It is good to see you again." The black haired man form early says bowing deep in respect. Why is he bowing to that Genin, he is obviously the strongest of the group? It doesn't make any sense.
"You are still to this day my strongest opponent, one day I hope to be like you." He says softly for Naruto's ears alone.
"Thank you Neji, you are a good friend, and remember you choose."
"I remember that every day, my friend." Naruto turns to face the rest of the group and Kurai is taken back at the strength and determination in his deep blue eyes. He really is handsome, even more than that Kiba guy. No wonder Hinata and Sakura are taken with him.
"What are we waiting for lets train." Naruto says with a huge grin.
"Well we could train, but being as he is missing still we would have uneven teams. Hmm what should we do about this problem? I Know! Miss could you please come out from hiding, we have all known you were here from the beginning. You seem to have some skill would you mind training with us for today.
EH! They all knew? What should I do? I Know! If I train with them I will be able to see their skill level and use that knowledge against them if the time comes. I can say that I was trained by a Ninja, but I am not a Ninja. It's the perfect plan!
"Ummm...I guess that I could train with you, but I'm not a Ninja so I don't know what I will be able to do against any of you." She says standing hesitantly.
"It's ok. How are you with Kunai and Shuriken?" Naruto says smiling encouragingly. What is it with this guy? I seem to relax around him.
"I guess I'm ok, but my strongest point is hand to hand combat. I was a student of a Ninja so maybe I will be able to help more than I thought."
"OK then it is settled. You can train with us. I'll introduce you to everyone then, I am Kiba and my team is Hinata, and Shino," He says pointing to the black haired woman and the man in the trench coat. "That over there is Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru," He says pointing to the lazy looking man, the larger man with the swirls, and the blonde woman. "That is Lee, Neji, and Tenten," He says pointing out the eyebrow guy, the black haired man, and the woman with her hair in buns. "And these two are Naruto and Sakura." He finishes by pointing at the blonde man and the pink haired woman. "Now we will set up the teams Shikamaru's team will stay the same, as well as Neji's, Hinata will be on Naruto's team and you miss will be on my team. By the way what is your name?"
"I'm Kurai." She responds
"Ok then lets get going." With that all the people go to their respective teams and disappear into the forest.
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"Kiba, I have a question."
"Sure Kurai what is it."
"Well I was just wondering about that Naruto guy. Why was everyone so excited that he is back?"
"Well Naruto has an interesting talent. He can become friends with anyone in a very short period of time. He makes others want to believe in him and more importantly in themselves. He is a really interesting guy once you get to know him."
"I kind of got that from what I have seen of him so far, but why does Neji respect him so much?"
"Well…Neji used to be all about destiny. He said Naruto was destined to be a drop out, and that his cousin, Hinata couldn't beat him because it was destiny. He hurt Hinata really bad in their fight. He almost killed her. Naruto made a promise in blood to Neji, he would face him in the Chunin exam and he would come out victorious. The fight came and it was very one sided. Neji was wiping the floor with Naruto and making it look effortless. Eventually he struck all of the chakra points on Naruto's body making it impossible for him to use any techniques. He told the Examiner that it was over. Naruto pushed himself up and said that he wouldn't take back his words; it was his way of the Ninja. Neji asked him why he fights so hard against his destiny. He responded with because you called me a drop out. After that Naruto filled with enormous power and came out on top winning the match. He told Neji that when he became Hokage he would change the Hyuga family for him. Later he, myself, Shikamaru, Chouji and Neji went after Uchiha Sauske. He betrayed Konoha to gain power to kill his brother. We each faced Ninja with extraordinary strength one on one. Shikamaru and I couldn't beat the Ninja we faced by ourselves, Neji and Chouji killed the Ninja they fought and our Sand allies killed the other three. Naruto went after Sauske and he lost. Why he lost to Sauske when he beat Neji I will never know. We don't know about the details of that battle except for what Kakashi sensei told us. The battle was so intense that it changed the appearance of the earth and Naruto put a scratch on Uchiha's headband. He still has the headband to this day. We all respect him greatly for his sacrifice; he is the best Ninja among us." She just stared at Kiba in amazement. This guy! He has gone through so much for one so young. He must have amazing strength, and I underestimated him.
"That is amazing, how could anyone do something like that? He sounds like an amazing person. I think I want to test my skills against him."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You could really get hurt if you haven't had the right training."
"When I said that I wasn't a Ninja back there I lied. I am here with my Sensei on a mission and I wanted to see how strong you guys are, but now that I know there are several strong Ninja in this group I would like to put forth full effort."
"We already all knew that you were a Ninja, we just wanted to see if you would admit it to us." She stared at him in shock.
"How could you have known I was a Ninja I didn't do anything to give myself away?"
"Like I told you Naruto takes his friends very seriously. When he sensed you hiding there he made a shadow clone and had it take something from you." He responds pulling her forehead protector from his pack. "He really is a great Ninja even if he doesn't look it or have the rank."
"Well then if you all know I'm a Ninja I guess I can get rid of my costume." She pulls off the normal citizens clothes that covered her Ninja gear. She is wearing a Ninja vest marking her Jounin. She has on red pants and her vest is two shades of blue. She has blonde hair like Naruto's, but it has black highlights. Her vest is open showing a fishnet shirt, she has a green blue equipment belt, and around her ankles she has extra compartments for scrolls. Kiba stares in amazement. She is so HOT! I can see why she would change her appearance; it would draw too much attention.
"Can I have my forehead protector back please?" She asks promptly. He nods and hands it back to her afraid that if he speaks his voice would fail him. She wears her forehead protector like Sakura does but allows a little more hair in the front to hang loose. The rest of her hair she does in a ponytail that reaches down to a little past the small of her back. "Ok then lets do this."
