Since a reviewer asked about characters and personalities and such, I will outline the details of the rookie nine (plus team nine)'s children.

If you do not wish to read this section, it is recommended that you skip over to the actual chapter.

Pairings: Hyuuga Neji/Hyuuga Hinata, daughter Kairiki, son Raikimaru

Uchiha Sasuke/Yamanaka Ino, daughter Tameo, son Raiske

Uzumaki Naruto/Haruno Sakura, son Rio

Nara Shikamaru/Temari, son Shiro

Akimichi Chouji/OC, son Goku (doesn't that sound like a reference)

Inuzuka Kiba/OC, son Tsume

Aburame Shino/OC, daughter Tohru

Rock Lee/TenTen, no children

Miscellaneous: Hyuuga Hotaru, son of Hyuuga Hanabi and OC

As for personality and appearances, I do not wish to elaborate. Hopefully, one day I will actually sit down and draw the new rookie nine. Meanwhile, read the story and develop your own ideas about the personalities of each character. (seriously, I don't even have a clue)

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto.

3333333333333

Monster: Chapter 7

3333333333333

He was running through the woods, his sweat sticking his shirt to his back and his teal eyes wide and fearful as he stumbled blindly. Deep kunai wounds marred the boy's thin back. His clutched fists were soaked in blood, and his black ponytail was caked with dried blood. The child panted harshly, and tore off his forehead protector.

"Rio…."he gasped into the leaf symbol. "I've got to go back."

Suddenly, the dark trees moved. The raven-haired boy growled in frustration and tied his forehead protector back on. He murmured something, and threw two explosive notes.

Brilliant red fire filled Ino's vision.

Something was shaking her. Ino blinked warily, almost forgetting what was scaring her so much, before she bolted out of her husband's hands and ran to the farthest room down the corridor. She felt the nearly nonexistent thump as Sasuke followed her, but ignored his silent question. Pulling open the screen door roughly, she breathed a sigh of relief when the large teal eyes of her son turned towards her.

"Mother?" he inquired politely, flipping the page of his book. Ino hung against the doorframe for a small moment before Sasuke ghosted into the doorway.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

Ino watched as her son's gaze went back to his book. "I couldn't sleep, Father. I hope my reading did not disturb any of you."

Ino drew in a shaky breath, and walked towards where Raiske was leaning against the back of his bed. A guilty pit in her stomach wondered when she ever did such a motherly thing before. Raiske looked up again, his eyes impassive when they met hers. She tentatively raised her hand, and Raiske looked at it cautiously.

"I'm…sorry," Ino whispered, running her hand through her son's silky locks. They felt different from Sasuke's, whose hair was coarse to the touch and unfavorable for fondling. She bit her lip. Raiske used to make his father so scared. But the wide-eyed boy she saw in her dream was not the icy Itachi who had assaulted Konoha years ago, despite his looks and habits. How much this child has suffered…

Raiske lightly jerked his head out of his mother's stroke. "What for," he said dully, not even intending for it to be a question.

Sasuke watched nonchalantly from the doorway, and his hearted twisted uneasily.

Ino stepped back quickly, many things on her mind, and pulled Sasuke back to their room.

"Protect him on his next mission," she commanded.

33333333

Kairiki's POV:

I. Am. Beyond. Stunned.

Shiro sighed at me, and patted me on my back.

"We are what?" Rio asked incredulously. Raiske was also slightly wide-eyed. I swear, that boy has lashes longer than a giraffe's.

Lee-sensei gave a brilliant smile that blinded me for a moment, much as the flash from a camera would have done. "Yes, young ninjas. By a new rule from the Hokage, team 5 and team 7 has a A-ranked mission on their first day!"

I pinched Shiro.

Rio punched the side of Raiske's face.

Raiske stepped on Tameo's foot.

Tameo extracted the chip bag from Goku's mouth.

Shiro sighed.

Shikamaru sensei suddenly poof-ed into the doorway. "This is indeed very troublesome," he sighed. He and Shiro exchanged lazy waves, and then he made his way to the side of the room where Lee-sensei was beaming at everyone.

"A point in this mission must be made clear now," he said. "It is a protection mission that frankly…doesn't deserve the rank it has been given."

Everyone in the room froze. I was puzzled. What was Shikamaru-sensei trying to go with this? An A-ranked mission must be difficult, right?

Lee-sensei pulled out several sheets of mission information from a nearby desk. "Well, we are escorting the lord of Lightening Country back to his homeland," he said, and frowned slightly. "Oh…." He looked at me. "Well, young students, I certainly see the cause of disappointment."

Cause of disappointment?

Before I had a chance to inquire, Shikamaru took the mission papers.

"The first part of this troublesome mission is that the Lord has brought his family, including a wife, a daughter, and a son."

Kids?

"The second part," Shikamaru continued, "Is that the children are your age."

Oh great. Snobby teenagers.

"The third part," Shikamaru drawled lazily, "Is that each member of the house held special requests for their bodyguards."

"Requests?" echoed Rio.

Lee-sensei took the papers from Shikamaru sensei. He looked less than happy now.

"The Lord of Lightening Country states that he will not tolerate women as his bodyguard," Lee-sensei said angrily. "He wants the youngest, toughest, and most chivalrous youths." At this, Lee-sensei shook his fist at the paper. "The Lady desires a girl who is soft-spoken and womanly, yet is strong and persistent. The Royal Daughter wants a strong youths with a laid-back personality and…" he paused. "…sense of humor." Rio coughed something that sounded strangely like 'maniac'.

"And lastly…" Lee sensei said. "The Royal Son wishes for a young sword-wielder who can hold their own against any foe."

I have a very very VERY bad feeling about this.

"As you can see, your profiles were selected carefully and matched to the Royal families' demands," Shikamaru said. "This is why all of you will be split up."

I bit my lip and looked around. Goku looked very left out, his slightly puffy cheeks dragging down into a light frown.

At this moment, Lee turned to him and laughed. "Of course, there will be one ninja alternating between groups along with the jounins." He gave a wink to a traumatized Goku.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "The Lord had picked Uchiha Raiske and Uzumaki Rio out of the profiles. The Lady had chosen Uchiha Tameo. The Daughter had selected Nara Shiro, and the sword wielder, obviously, is Kenshin Kairiki."

"This dangerous mission will last roughly three weeks," Lee-sensei said, suddenly serious. "Many enemies are after the Family, and it is your duty to protect the client you are assigned to. Shikamaru－sensei and I will not interfere unless the circumstance demands it."

I was stunned by his moody words. How much peril will we face, if even the grinning Lee-sensei had sobered?

"Of course, this will most definitely still be a VERY youthful journey for us all!"

Never mind.

3333333333

Rio's POV:

And so, I found myself walking at an explicably slow pace besides the horse-drawn carriage, weapons in hand, along with a bastard. No need for me to clarify who said bastard is, right?

Of course, the 'honor' of being chosen as one of the 'youngest, toughest, and most chivalrous youths' faded as soon as I saw the Lord of Lightening country, a man whose voice can best be described as womanly. I remembered Inner Rio gasping and shrieking "It's one of THEM!", and Uchiha-teme staring. I swear, that boy has lashes longer than a giraffe's.

After an eternity of inspection, pampering, (for the royal ladies), and reassurances that Lee-sensei's eyebrows will not come alive and devour our party, the Lord made sure that the bastard and I had on our most intimidating look, our kunais and shurikens at ready, and then stared at us with beady eyes until we were in our positions. He also told us, with a girly voice, to make sure our faces stayed as dangerous as possible, and then retreated to whatever shaded luxury was offered inside his little tent.

Three hours later, my jaw was ready to fall off from frowning. Of course, bastard probably did alright. He was born with a wrinkled brow and extra tendons pulling the corners of his mouth downward. I couldn't see him at the moment though, because we were on either side of the carriage, thank (insert name of god). And no, I am not mocking anyone. I am non-religious.

I actually feel kind of sorry for Shiro, now that I think about it. Walking at a snail's pace with a frozen face and useless weapons while hearing sounds of grapes being eaten inside the carriage that contained the girly man I was supposed to protect was nothing compared to his situation. The Royal daughter turned out to be a senseless nine-year old brat who clung to Shiro like glue, and I could hear her yelling from here, a good fifty meters away.

Strangely, just as Inner Rio ranted about how my fingers were asleep, the bastard spoke to me.

"Hey."

I blinked. Err…?

I practically heard the vein in his forehead bulge. "Rio," he said more insistently.

"What is it?" I replied lazily, stretching my voice out as Shiro had done.

Yes. The bastard's teeth were grinding oh-so-loudly.

"Have you wondered where Shikamaru sensei is trying to get at with this arrangement?" he asked sullenly.

Wha?

I heard the bastard slap his head. "Stop acting stupid, baka."

Now I'm even more confused. I didn't say anything…

"Yes you did."

Did you just read my mind?

"No."

Yes you did.

I heard a sigh. "Rio," bastard said. "You have just voiced your thoughts."

I did?

I can talk without talking?

COOL!

I heard another sigh. Wait…I really, really, didn't talk…

Inner Rio, get back NOW!

I heard a slight swoosh, and the bastard was looking me in the eye. "Are you sure your don't have a fever or anything?" he asked, a (waxed, it must be) eyebrow rising into his hair.

"No," I managed to say, as Inner Rio grudgingly retreating back to his lair.

"Could have fooled me."

It took me a moment to process that information, and then I leapt upon him with all of the fury of Inner Rio's mighty Taijutsu of Fear. I sent a flying punch towards his pale cheeks, which was blocked by a rigid fist, and he threw away his shuriken to put a left hook right into my stomach. At that moment, we tossed the rest of our weapons, and engaged in what could best be described as Clawing, Biting, CHEWING, Punching, Kicking, Kneeing, Screaming, Rolling, and of course, Cursing.

"WHAT YOU SAY YOU FRICKING BASTARD YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN I'LL BEAT YOUR SORRY LITTLE UCHIHA ASS INTO THE GROUND SEE YOU SAY THAT AGAIN YOU—"

He spat some blood and a tooth into my face. "And YOU ARE A LITTLE FUCKER, YOU! WHAT'S THE DEAL POUNCING ON ME LIKE A MOTHERFUCKING LITTLE SKANK FUCK WHAT'S YOUR FRICKING PROBLEM YOU LITTLE IDIOT!"

I pushed him to the ground and tried to strangle his girly little neck. He kicked me in the stomach from under and I flew about three feet into the air before slamming down with what strength and little body weight I possessed. I heard a muffled choke, before Raiske took me by my collar and pulled, perhaps merely upon instinct.

WHACK.

My mind didn't realize my physical location at first, because my lips were numb from the impact. Then, as an astonished gasp came from the door of the carriage, and all of my nerves went on hyper-speed as I realized that I was kissing the bastard, who was kissing me, and I was sitting on top of him, and he was still pulling me down.

Shit.

I looked at the bastard's face, and saw the reflected horror of my own mind. His crazy large teal eyes were widened in surprise and disgust. Mine were too, I'm guessing. And even though I wanted to move, I was still in shock, and the bastard's fingers were still gripping my turtleneck collar like there was no tomorrow.

"Err…" I felt him say into my mouth.

"Heck…" I mumbled down.

"WHOA!"

At Tameo's surprised outburst, bastard and I sprang apart like startled rabbits, turned our backs, and spat out whatever saliva and taste of the other still remaining in our mouths.

Tameo, contradictory to her personality, burst out laughing. "Onii-san's first kiss is with a GUY!"

I felt my face heat up, and a tinge of pink stained the bastard's.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Girly Lord suddenly said in his voice. "Call the jounins here immediately!"

There was a moment of urgent silence as everyone looked around in vain.

"My, my," Shikamaru-sensei drawled with interest. He suddenly appeared besides bastard and I. "What an amusing replay of the past."

Amusing replay of the past?

Sensing our inquisitiveness, Shikamaru-sensei elaborated. "Would it humor you to know that your fathers had done the exact same thing back when they were genin?"

A tense pause.

"My father KISSED the Hokage?" Raiske-teme demanded.

I whistled, looked around, and stopped.

The Lord was turning rather purple.

We were SO fired.

333333333333333

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, but my own story got me confused, and preparing for high school isn't the most exciting thing either. I dread the day when I must enter its doors.

Shudder.

I'm so sorry.