Chapter 16: Time to Leave
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It is soon time for the twelve young ninjas to embark on their training vacation. The hunters give up for now.
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Ron glared out his window, looking out on the village he has come to despise even more. He crumpled up the letter he received from the Hokage an hour ago. He did not look back as Nina walked in and placed a hand on his shoulder. She saw the letter and pulled it from his hand. She walked to the small table in the room and flattened out the paper on the table. She read over it, frowning.
Woe-san, I have talked to the boy as I said. He has told me it was a fox he summoned and had it return back to the village to get something he forgot. He said he let it wander around after it returned to him, then of sending it home. It ran out of time and returned its home when you were looking for it. I am sorry again that this has happen. I am still extending my offer of paying for you stay at the hotel you are in. I hope you have a good time while in our village.
Godaime
She looked to him. He stared off into the sky as light filtered pass buildings. She let out a sigh as she walked back to him. She hoped the man did not snap at her.
"I believe what she has to say. It showed intelligence, different of a wild animal. It could have attacked us, but it did not. It did not even fight against the lead much."
He looked at her, causing her to flinch.
"Don't you think I know about what a summon is. I have seen many. Tell me why it did not puff away when it woke up. Why did it choose to run, then going away?"
She looked down and shrugged. She spoke up, hoping to get him to calm down, before he did anything brash.
"It could have been curious about us, or it was doing a task, not knowing we were the wrong targets to watch."
The man snorted at her.
"How would they have come up with a plot of using a worn out fox, injured for their plans. I doubt they would have injured it on purpose or it truly allowed them."
He looked outside, his anger rising. She glanced up at him, wondering if they were going to stay here any longer. She jumped when he spoke.
"Gather the others, we are leaving. We will be back at a later time. I will not let this matter rest. We will hunt five days from here, making up lost time. Once we receive news from the others about the job, we will head off."
She nodded and watched the man walk to his bag and started to pack his belongings. She stepped out to do her task and pack. She frowned, knowing the man will be angry for many days. She cursed the people around her as she went in search for the others.
-FOXED-
Naruto looked at Sakura, horrified. He shook his head no and bolted from her. She crossed her arms, watching his retreating from.
"Wimp."
She turned around and jump, finding Kakashi was behind her. He was watching Naruto race off. She rolled her eyes, seeing the men with his book open.
"What scared him off?" Kakashi asked
She shook her head and spoke up, glancing where Naruto ran off.
"I suggested for him to get a haircut and to have it cut short. He did not like it and ran off."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he brought his vision back to his book. Sakura rolled her eyes as he giggled. Sasuke stepped back from her, hoping to escape, before she grabbed him to help her with her shopping. She turned around and watched as he disappeared, leaves circling him. She placed her hands on her hips and let out a snort.
"You know that is not lady like." Kakashi said
She turned around and shook her head, watching as a cloud of smoke disappeared.
"Men are the cowards when they are in front of angry women." Sakura said out loud, quoting what Naruto said on their trip "Naruto you are smart in one subject."
She walked off to get some shopping in, before Kakashi said they would need to leave.
-FOXED-
Naruto glanced at the stalls he was browsing from. He threw a smirk at Sasuke, who was behind him. He picked up an apple and paid for it. He moved on to a new stall, looking at all the little trinkets. He frowned, not finding anything he wanted and moved to a new stall. He sneezed many times as he moved from the spice and perfume stalls. He threw a glare at Sasuke as the boy smirked at him. Naruto let out a sigh as he bit into his apple and pushed up his sunglasses. He stopped in front of a stall with an elderly woman. He knelt down and looked through her small baskets of precious stones. He smirked when he found a large sapphire. He looked to the women as she carved on a piece of wood. He looked back to the stone and put it back down. He gave the woman a smile as he looked through the other small baskets. He smirked when he found a pink stone. He tilted his head, seeing it looked like a cherry blossom leaf. He looked to the women as she still worked on the wood, a shape forming as each cut was made.
"How much is this?" he asked
"I will let you have it for five dollars."
He nodded and pulled out his money. He handed over the amount and stood up. He walked off, rubbing the stone with his thumb. He stopped at another stall and found a leather worker. He got a strip of red died leather and tied it to the stone. He held it up to Sasuke and he snorted at him.
"I think Sakura-chan will like this."
He smiled when Sasuke nodded. Naruto looked around and let out a sigh. He already has been everywhere. He stuffed the stone in his pocket and pouted when his stomach rumbled. He glanced to Sasuke, before taking off to the ramen stand. He ordered a bowl and sat in quiet. A small smile crossed his lips as he thought of presents for the rest of his friends. He smirked, thinking of food coupons to Choji's favorite place to eat would work. Shikamaru, he thought the travel shogi set he saw would work. He frowned when he could not think of something for Ino and he knew anything that had a mention of her name, he would be hit. Sakura he had her present and Sasuke he was not for sure, but he thought of some weapons. He nodded his thanks to the cook as his first bowl of ramen was set in front of him. He broke apart his chopsticks and began to eat. He snorted at the thought of Lee getting a makeover. Neji, he was not for sure as well as TenTen. He snorted again at the ideal of getting Kiba cleaning products. Shino, he was not sure about the bug user or even about Hinata. He ordered a seconded bowl as he thought of what presents he could get the others. He let out a sigh as he pushed his empty bowl away. He took off, looking around the area again, hoping to find something.
-FOXED-
Kakashi walked into their hotel room. Sakura was busy packing her purchases in a new bag. Sasuke was setting at the small table, waiting for his return. It was the next day, late in the morning. Kakashi looked to the corner of the room and found Naruto still fast asleep. He walked to his own bag and slipped in a scroll. He glanced to the small bag of Naruto's and it looked like it was about to bust open. He moved to the boy and nudged him with his toe.
"Naruto time to get up, we're leaving."
He chuckled to himself, watching the blonde roll over and covered his head with his blanket. Kakashi knelt down and spoke in a bored tone.
"Naruto we can do this the hard way or the easy way. It would not have come to this if you went to bed like you should have, then of playing pranks on the constable."
Naruto turned his head, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, but some one eyed lazy perverted ninja asked me to do the pranks."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He moved his hands into a sigh and Naruto quickly shot up. He kicked his futon in the corner and shouldered his bag. Kakashi stood up and let his arms fall to his sides.
"Now that you are up, we can go. I want to try and cover as much ground as we can so you three can complete more missions. If I am correct, we will be heading to the main capital of Fire, before moving on to the area we will be training at, if not, the other way around."
He glanced to Sakura, watching her smile at the prospect of shopping. He moved to the door and turned around to the three.
"Now come on, we're leaving." Kakashi said
Naruto frowned.
"What about breakfast?" he asked
Kakashi reached into his pouch and threw a bag at the boy. Naruto open it up and pouted at seeing pastries with red stains on it.
"You should have gotten up earlier. You can eat that on the run."
Kakashi turned around and Naruto pulled the food out, quickly devoured the four inside. He threw away the bag and quickly caught up with the others. The three followed him out and into the crowded streets. Naruto titled his head, watching the constable of the small city walk by, covered in orange paint. The man stopped, his eyes widen when he saw Kakashi. The man quickly walked off, not wanting to confront the man. All three genin looked to their sensei, wanting to know what happen to have the man feared, but found the man immerged in his book. Kakashi took off at a causal walk, with the three following him. They talked quietly among themselves, trying to come up with plans of seeing what was under his mask or stealing his books.
-FOXED-
Two days passed and Naruto took off from the group, running to the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Kakashi shook his head, following the boy. Before Naruto could order a second bowl, Kakashi grabbed the boy by his collar and dragged him off to the Hokage's office. Naruto tried to get free, but found the man was determined. He sulked and growled when the man tugged on his collar to follow. Naruto shot a glare at his teammates, coming up with more pranks to pull on them. Kakashi lead them to the mission room and let go of Naruto. He walked up to Tsunade and handed her three scrolls.
"Mission to take scroll and bring back reply, no problems. Mission to take care of the bandits, a success."
He ignored the snorts from his team. Tsunade nodded and looked at the four.
"I have no mission for you till tomorrow. You are free to do as you wish."
Kakashi turned around, but found his team already left. He scratched the back of his head and took off for his home. Team seven ran to the area filled with restaurants. Sakura and Sasuke grabbed Naruto and lead him to a different restaurant. He gave a cry of protest as he was lead away. They sat on either side of him, making sure he did not make a break for it.
-FOXED-
The two weeks was up for the four teams of genin. They completed all the missions they could. It was the night before they were to leave. Sakura was already packed; glad Kakashi taught her the container seals. Her pack was still heavy, but it would not give her problems. She went over her list, making sure she had everything. She made sure she had the supplies for Naruto's party at hand. Once she was satisfied, she set her bag by the door and slipped under the covers. She checked to see her alarm clock was set and laid down. Sleep found her quick.
Sasuke was sitting on his bed. He was already packed, but could not find sleep. He looked to his team's picture and looked at his teammates, friends. A smile which was true crossed his lips. Avenger he was still, but he had a different reason to stay alive as long as he could, which he wonder why it took him so long to see. He narrowed his eyes, knowing his own brother and the organization he was with was after Naruto, his friend, his bond brother. The notion of staying with Naruto when he can, will give him a chance to get his brother, with help. He laid down, finally falling asleep.
Hinata and Neji said goodnight. Both helped each other pack for the trip. Like Sakura, both were happy to learn the container seals. Neji laid down, thinking of his fight with Naruto and how the blonde changed his life. He rubbed a hand over his bare forehead, a smile crossing his lips. He had overheard that Hiashi was planning on the removal of the branch house seals, frowning. He had seen the use of the seal on a Hyuga about a month ago and it was performed by a child younger then him, because she did not get what she wanted. He was glad Hiashi was there, or the child would have killed the branch member. He closed his eyes for sleep.
Hinata covered herself with her blanket. Sakura, Ino and TenTen talked to her, trying to get her courage up to talk to Naruto about her feelings. She did giggle with the girls said it would take a near miracle for the blonde to see that she liked him and his dense skull would be cracked if something much harder would hit him, but they said that there was nothing to do. She fell asleep, mid-thought of ways to talk to Naruto about her feelings.
Lee was too excited to go on this trip. He was too worked up and trained for half of the night before going home for a shower and bed. As he went to bed, he wondered about what he overheard from the girls, minus Hinata about a make over for the copy of Gai. He did not know what to think about it, but was a bit afraid once they get their hands on him.
TenTen checked to see if she had all her stuff. She thanked her father for the late night snack he brought, before heading to bed. She was nervous slightly about this trip. She may be a weapons expert, but she was limited on other forms. She hoped she could improve herself. She was glad, since she would be taught by different people. She went to bed, thinking of what she wanted to learn first.
Kiba brushed Akamaru, making sure his partner was free or fleas and ticks. He gave a cry and rubbed his head. He looked to his knee and found a bottle of shampoo. He looked to his door and saw his sister Hana standing there. He curled his nose at her as she walked away. He let out a sigh and picked up the shampoo. He noticed a note tied to it. He took it off, cussing his sister, finding the shampoo was meant for him, even if it was for dogs. He cussed her again, before throwing it to his bag and flopping down on his bed to sleep. Shino was reading a book his father gave him. It was a recorded of bugs his clan collected over the years and he plan to add to it while on their trip. He mentally went over his belongings, before going to bed.
Ino was frantic as she finished packing, deciding what to take. She shot a glare at her father, reminding of her learning to seal. She gave him a pout, saying she was not good. He shook his head and helped her packed. He kind of wondered how he was lucky to have a daughter, and his best friends with sons. He shook his head as he help fold clothes. Choji was still busy sealing up food for the trip. His bed was covered with packaged food, waiting to be next. He has yet to pack any other items. Shikamaru was long done with packing two days ago. He packed little bits each day, saying it would be troublesome to pack in one day. His mother went through it, making sure he had everything and extra stuff just incase.
Naruto was packed and too excited to sleep at all. It looked like he was on a sugar high. He had made sure he had plenty of scrolls hidden of instant ramen. He knew Tsunade and even Shizune went through his bag. He made sure to hide the scrolls under his mattress. He was currently sneaking back in his room, hoping not to get caught from the pranks he set up around the village. He was grinning since Kakashi taught him some of the jutsu seals his father made. He would have like to see them go off, but just the thought of many getting a soaking was good enough for him. He quickly changed into nightclothes and sat on his bed. He knew he would not get any sleep.