YAY! Finally, the third

Part of my fiction! This is so

Exciting! Anyway, in the last chapter,

Iruka-sensei finally started to announce

The new rules. What could they be?

"Now listen carefully, everyone!" Iruka continued, "The new rules consist of traumatic changes that could make all of your lives totally different. Are you ready? The new rule is four-man cells that will only exist between these four groups of Konoha ninja!"

What? Everybody thought. "And now, here is the 5th Hokage to adjust the four-man cells," Iruka introduced Tsunade.

"Good morning, everybody! We're all terribly sorry to have pulled you out of bed this early, but this is an extremely important event. I hope that you all got to know these young, new ninja from the Tanaka clan," Tsunade continued, "If I could get some hands up for questions, please!"

The first to raise his hand was Kiba. "Yes, Kiba?" Tsunade called. "If the rule is setting four-man cells, then will we all be separated from our original adjustments?" Kiba questioned.

"No, you won't be separated, but I will insert either one of these four," Tsunade referred to Kirei, Hiroki, Rekai, and Hikari, "into a cell. And as Iruka said, this will only apply to these four groups. Is that understood?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yes, ma'm!" everybody answered. "Good! Now, let's begin!" Tsunade cried. "First up, Tanaka Hikari, Kurenai Cell Number 8," Tsunade motioned Hikari to walk toward her new teammates, "Next, Tanaka Hiroki, Guy Cell Number ," Hiroki did the same, "Tanaka Rekai, Asuma Cell Number 10, and last but not least, Tanaka Kirei, Kakashi Cell Number 7!" Rekai walked to his place, depressed, and Kirei shined as she walked to her new cell.

Ino glanced at Sasuke and noticed that he had is arm around Kirei's waist. Huh... So it's true... I don't blame him for being close to her! Ino thought.

"Now that the arrangements are done, you may go about your business!" Tsunade called, "And by business, I mean missions and stuff like that!"

With that, Kakashi ordered his cell to follow him. "Where are we going, sensei?" Sakura asked. "We're going on a mission," he answered, "A mission that I arranged to be done a long time ago, before Kirei joined us." Kakashi looked at Kirei. "What sort of mission, sensei?" Kirei questioned. Kakashi looked away, "It's a C-ranked mission."

"Another one? What is it this time?" Sasuke asked. "I'll explain later, but for now, let's get to our destination," Kakashi replied.

Isn't that getting a little often now? I'll explain later... It's a little suspicious, don't you think?

Anyway, when they got to their destination, it was about 5 hours after Kirei had joined them. They were about to cross a bridge when Kakashi paused and turned around. "Alright, we're here!" Kakashi said. "We can tell," Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kirei said. "We have to capture an item for the old woman who lives in this area," Kakashi explained. "What's the item?" Naruto asked.

"It's a golden necklace that has been passed down by her family from generation to generation. And it has been stolen from her by a dangerous criminal," Kakashi explained.

"So, that's it?" Kirei asked. "Yep, that's it!" Kakashi smiled, "Now, let's get across this bridge to meet the criminal." Kakashi walked step by step across the bridge, his students following him. After Sasuke crossed the middle of the bridge, one of the boards cracked and fell, and about five boards behind fell after it, leaving a gap between Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke and Kirei.

Kirei stared at the gap between her and her teammates. Think, Kirei, think! she cupped her head in her hands. She looked up as she finally got an idea.

The sides are still up... If I could just get a small running start so I could jump onto the ledge and run across the gap, then I could make it to the other side, I hope... Kirei thought.

So, as she had planned, she backed away about 1 foot and ran toward the left side of the bridge, jumped on, and ran the rest of the way through. She made it to the other side, but before she jumped back onto the bridge, she tripped and almost fell through the gap.

Luckily, Kakashi grabbed her arm before she fell. Kirei looked down at the huge fall she could have been part of. She looked up at Kakashi and smiled one of those smiles like a little kid would if she would have been caught doing something wrong by an adult. Kakashi quietly laughed and patted Kirei's head, which made her smile like a little girl. "That could have turned out horribly!" Kakashi told Kirei, "Quite a little stunt you pulled off!"

They kept walking and finally came upon the criminal's hideout. There was a problem though: there was no way to continue walking because the ground was gone. The only thing that led to the huge building was a pipe.

"Hah! The big building gives the hideout away!" Naruto smirked. "Hmm..." Kakashi sighed. "What's wrong, Master Kakashi?" Kirei asked. "Well, it seems that there's no way to get in if the ground is gone... We'll have to retreat and find a way through," Kakashi explained. Kirei looked at the pipe and finally said, "We shouldn't have to... There is a way to get in." Kakashi looked at her and then at the pipe, "You're not seriously thinking about---!" "Yeah…!" Kirei interrupted.

Kirei stepped back as before and ran, jumped onto the pipe and ran across it. Pretty brave of her, huh? As she kept running, the pipe followed her path and broke. She kept running and saw a ladder that was coming closer and closer to her. As she approached the ladder, she jumped off of the pipe and grabbed the ladder. She hung from it, looking down into the endless fall she could have plunged into.

"Whoa, Kirei, that was awesome!" Naruto cried. Kirei smiled at Naruto and she climbed up the ladder. About halfway up the ladder, her hand slipped as she grabbed one of the rungs. Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke looked on in horror as Kirei looked into the eternal fall with one hand on a rung.

Kirei lifted her hanging arm and placed her hand on the next rung. She lifted her body up and continued climbing at a pace that no other great climber could master. "Look at her go, guys!" Naruto was amazed. And he wasn't the only one who was. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura looked at how fast Kirei was climbing the ladder in disbelief.

She finally made it to the top and climbed through the window at the top of the ladder. Once she got through the window, she ran to a window where she could hang a rope from the window to pull her teammates and her teacher into the building.

When everybody was inside, Kakashi started explaining what to do, "Alright, here's what you have to do, so listen carefully! Kirei, Naruto, you go and check on the culprit and try to find that necklace where he's at. Sasuke, Sakura, you and I will check where he's not at, got it?" "Got it!" they said quietly.

Naruto and Kirei walked quietly towards the criminal's room. "Hey, Kirei, how do you know where his room is? I mean, you're just walking straight through the building like you've been here before," Naruto questioned.

"There are hints everywhere, Naruto. Look on that wall over there. There's a sign that says My Room and another that says Bathroom..." Kirei explained.

Naruto looked at the obvious signs and smirked. "Hah! This guy's so dumb, that he needs signs to get around his hideout!" Naruto laughed. "Could you do me a favor, Naruto? Crawl toward that door and stay behind me. When we reach the doorway, carefully poke your head out a little bit into the doorway so you can see with at least one eye, okay?" Kirei instructed. "Okay!" Naruto agreed, quietly though.

They crawled toward the door as they agreed and peeked through the doorway. They were shocked when they saw that the robber was asleep. Kirei looked at the robber. How sad… That criminal's very young… He looks like he's Kunahi's age… The robber had short, brown hair, and he was holding a book in his hand, which was dangling to the side.

"Oh, Naruto!" Kirei quietly said. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked Kirei. "… That's not the criminal… That boy's trapped in the real criminal's jutsu…" "What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "I've heard about this guy--- he's bad news…" Kirei explained, "His specialty is using a jutsu that lures young people into his lair and taking over their minds and bodies. He wants you to think that the child is the criminal so that when you're trying to outrun the kid, he runs up to you and snatches you. What does he do to you? He locks you in the basement of this building, so that when the kid he's using gets old, he can use the next kid in line…" "… How horrible!" Naruto looked at the boy. "The criminal is known as Okugai," Kirei informed Naruto.

"Well, robber or not, we've gotta get past this kid to find the necklace, right?" Naruto asked. Kirei looked at a dresser in the room and saw a purple plant sitting in a pot. There was something shiny hanging around the stem of the plant--- the necklace!

Well, whaddya know! They finally found the necklace after 17 paragraphs of nonstop talk! BOOOORRRRING!

Kirei slowly entered the room. "What the heck do you think you're doing, Kirei? Get back here!" Naruto scolded Kirei. "How else are we going to hope to pass this mission?" Kirei reminded.

As I was saying, Kirei slowly entered the room and started tiptoeing toward the plant. As she got closer to it, she noticed that it was no ordinary plant. It was one of those dangerous man-eating plants. You know, man-eating plants. Man-eating plants! Like from The Fairly Oddparents when Timmy gave the seemingly dangerous plant to Trixie… And in Super Mario Bros. when Mario has to jump over the pipes in order to not get eaten by the giant man-eating plants.

Anyway, Kirei inched closer and closer to the plant. And then, suddenly, the boy snorted and Kirei stopped cold. Naruto wanted to jump in there in drag Kirei back outside the room, but he knew that she really wanted to try.

The boy went back to sleeping normally and Kirei went back to trying to grab the necklace. When her hand was a millimeter away from the necklace, the plant hissed.

Kirei pulled her hand back and gaped at the plant. It grew at least five inches taller and it opened its mouth to hiss at Kirei again. Kirei gulped and touched the bottom of the pot that contained the plant as it continued to hiss at her.

"Mahou no Te…" Kirei whispered. Naruto stared on as Kirei's fingertips lit up a small, white light. The plant fell asleep and Kirei grabbed the necklace carefully. As she removed her fingers from the pot, the plant woke up and gave a bloodcurdling screech.

The boy's eyes peeled open and he stared at the ceiling angrily. Kirei and Naruto covered their ears as they watched the boy slowly stand up to meet Kirei's eyes. Kirei stared back at the boy's blank, brown eyes. Kirei clutched the necklace, "Naruto, run!" "What about you!" Naruto asked. "Don't worry about me! Just get Master Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura out of the building, fast!" Kirei commanded. Naruto looked at Kirei and wondered if she was going to be okay. "Go, Naruto, run!" Kirei yelled. Naruto nodded and raced to meet his teammates and sensei. I wonder if I made the right decision… I left Kirei all by herself with that weird kid…! Sasuke's gonna kill me! Naruto thought.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura left the room they were in and closed the door carefully. "Well, it's not in there either…" Kakashi said. "That's the seventeenth time you've said that…" Sakura complained. "I wonder how Kirei and Naruto are doing… I hope they're okay… Especially Kirei…" Sasuke worried.

"Are you worried, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. "About Kirei, yeah," Sasuke explained, "Naruto… I'm afraid he'll blow our cover…" "KAKASHI-SENSEI, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" "You're right…" Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto slowed down to gasp for air. "What is it now Naru---" "Where's Kirei?" Sasuke demanded to know. "I left her, but only cause she told me to! She's with a kid! We have to get out of here, now!" "RRROOOAAAARRRR!" scream flows throughout the building

"Kirei!" Naruto and Sasuke ran upstairs towards the room. The door slammed open and what Sasuke and Naruto saw scared them stiff.

Kirei was lying on the floor in front of a huge monster. "HAH, HAH, HAH! ANOTHER VICTIM FOR MY COLLECTION!" the creature hooted. "Oh, no, you don't!" Naruto and Sasuke threw their kunai at the monster and managed to make him, or it, bleed. Sasuke scrambled onto the floor to check if Kirei was still alive and breathing.

He was horrified to find a huge puddle of blood coming from her mouth. He lifted her up and carried her to the doorway. The monster screamed in pain as Sasuke checked for Kirei's pulse. Suddenly, Kirei coughed and opened her eyes. "Sasuke…" Kirei said, "What happened?" "You weren't breathing…" Sasuke hugged Kirei. Kirei looked at her hand and saw that she was still clutching the necklace. "Sasuke, I still have the necklace!" Kirei told Sasuke. "What?" Sasuke questioned. "Oh, yeah, forgot to tell ya! She grabbed the necklace!" Naruto explained.

The monster roared again. "Where are Master Kakashi and Sakura?" Kirei questioned. "They ran outside, just like you told me to tell them!" Naruto explained. They looked at the monster. "Sasuke, Naruto, you've got to run! I'll run somewhere else so we can keep him confused," Kirei said. "You can't do this! You're hurt very badly!" Sasuke commanded. "Don't worry about me- I'll be fine!" Kirei leaned forward and kissed Sasuke once on the lips. She pushed both Naruto and Sasuke out the door and ran opposite the direction they were running, which was upstairs. "You think she'll be okay?" Naruto asked. "……Yeah…" Sasuke answered.

Kirei clutched the necklace as she ran up to the top of the building--- the roof. Kirei ran up one more flight up stairs and looked back, only to see the monster catching up to her, and fast. She looked back up and got a taste of cold, hard concrete as her face met the wall. She rubbed her face and looked back. She screamed as she leapt out of the way of the monster. It too crashed into the wall, and Kirei continued to run up the stairs.

Finally, she ran into the door and slid it open. She closed it shut and ran to the edge of the roof. She looked down and saw Kakashi and the others waiting for her. She heard the door crash down and looked back. The monster was breathing heavily and looking at Kirei coldly. Kirei stepped back but stopped after she almost fell off of the building. She threw kunai and shuriken at the monsters huge, green eyes and arms.

The monster screeched in pain and glared at Kirei. Kirei looked at the ground and finally at the wall below her feet. There was a rope hanging from the building to a tree close to where Sasuke and the others were. If I do this, I risk my life… If I stay here, I'll do the same… Kirei thought. She decided to go for option number 1--- run across the rope to the tree.

Kirei threw one last kunai knife to the monster's left eye and jumped onto the thin rope. Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura stared in horror at Kirei and couldn't believe the stunt she was performing.

Kirei ran across the rope with ease. Then, the rope wobbled violently. Kirei jumped off of the rope and landed about three feet in front of where she had been, almost falling into the shallow, rapid waters rushing below. She looked back and saw that the monster was trying to walk on the rope, but it finally fell off after stepping onto the rope with one foot. It roared all the way down to the bloody impact of its flesh to the sharp boulders below.

Kirei breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to her teammates. I guess those powers are working now… My cat-like instincts are taking over… Kirei thought. As soon as she reached the tree, she hopped off to meet her teammates. When she got down, she got a hug and kiss from Sasuke. And I mean from Sasuke.

"Are you alright, Kirei?" Kakashi asked. "Yeah, I'm fine!" Kirei replied. "You sure? It doesn't look like it… You have a cut on your cheek, arm, and a huge scratch on your stomach…" Sakura pointed out.

Kirei looked at her various scrapes and cuts, "Oh… I'll be fine Sakura." "Kirei, do you have the necklace?" Kakashi asked. "Oh, yeah, I do!" Kirei showed her mentor (sort of) the gold necklace.

"Object retrieved… Now let's go deliver it to the woman…" Kakashi ordered his squad.

After walking for about 2 hours, they finally made it to a small but cozy-looking house. Kakashi softly knocked on the door and waited for a reply. After about 5 seconds, the soft, muffled voice of a kind, old woman answered, "Come in, children!"

Kakashi and his team opened the door and entered the home. "Well, what marvelous, little angels you are!" an old woman was sitting on a chair in the house's main room.

"Are you the ones who were sent on a task to retrieve my necklace?" the woman asked. "Yes, we're here to return your necklace," Kakashi handed the necklace to the old woman. "Ah, yes! My family heirloom… Do you have any idea how long this necklace has been passed down in my family, young children?" she asked. Squad 7 shook their heads.

"This necklace has been passed down for about four centuries," the woman replied. "Wow, that's a long time…" Kirei answered. "Yeah, sure is…" Sakura added. "That is a long time!" Naruto added with his usual loud voice.

"Hee hee hee! You bet it's a long time!" the woman cackled, "My family is one of the oldest in the whole village. By the way, my name is Kanashi Yoru."

"Kanashi? That's the clan my mom was born into…" Kirei was surprised. "But, Kirei, you're from the Tanaka clan!" Naruto pointed out. "Yeah, but my mom's parents were from two separate clans and they loved each other very much, but they couldn't get married. So, they secretly got married and had my mother, my uncle, and my aunt, and they decided to name give them all the Tanaka name," Kirei explained. "So your grandpa is from the Kanashi clan, and your grandma is from the Tanaka clan, right?" Naruto asked a final question. "Yeah… mumbles Something like that…" Kirei answered. Hmm? 'Something like that'? Sakura wondered.

"Oh, and one more thing, children…" the woman looked depressed. "Yes?" Kakashi waited. "…I've lost--- someone precious to me…" she answered, "My grandson… He's in that horrible building somewhere!… I'm worried about him, and so are my son and his wife! Please, if you can go find him, I'd be so happy!" The old woman started crying. "Well, we'll do our best…" Kakashi replied. "Oh! Thank you so much! My family will be back together again!" the woman thanked Squad 7 and their sensei.

As they walked outside, Kirei and Naruto remembered something. "Naruto, that boy, do you think that's him?" Kirei asked. "Maybe it is…" Naruto answered, "Kakashi-sensei? There was this kid in the room where we found the lady's necklace… He looked really young, like, teenager young!" Naruto asked his master. "Where did you find him?" Kakashi asked. "I just told you!" Naruto complained.

"Naruto… Look…" Kirei tapped Naruto's shoulder. Sakura gasped. There, right in front of them, was the boy. "It's him, Naruto…" Kirei told her teammate.

"Are you the ones that trespassed into that room?" the kid asked Naruto and Kirei. "Are you the grandson of the woman who lives here?" Kirei asked. "…looks down I am…" the boy answered.

"What's going on out there?" the old woman came outside. "Hitori! Is that really you!" she walked up to the kid. "Hello, Grandma Yoru…" the kid answered. "OH!" Yoru yanked the boy by the shirt and gave him a super-tight hug.

"Kore des hitots no mahou--- This is a miracle! You've found him already! I will pay each of you and your village many wages!" Yoru hugged her grandson one more time.

As Yoru finally finished hugging her grandson, Hitori looked up. "Thanks for helping me…" his voice faded as he shifted his eyes to look at Kirei. "Itoko Steki? Kirei?" Hitori asked. "Itoko Hayai?" Kirei looked at Hitori with curiosity.

Itoko? Cousin? And what's with the names? Steki means lovely and Hayai means fast… Are they nicknames? Sakura wondered.

Hitori and Kirei stepped closer to each other. "…It is you!" Kirei leaped forward and hung around his neck just like she did with Kunahi. Must be a typical thing for her…Sasuke remembered.

"You look so different than when I saw you with Aunt Hae… How long ago was that Hitori?" Kirei asked.

"I think I was 10 and you were 5… Yeah… It was at our last reunion in your village," Hitori answered.

"Oh, right… When you, Kunahi and Itachi each broke your right arms, so you couldn't write down any formulas for jutsu at school," Kirei giggled. What? Oh… That reunion… The one me and Itachi and me were invited to… Sasuke frowned as he remembered.

"So… This guy's your cousin?" Naruto asked. Naruto stayed quiet for a long time didn't he? "Mmm-hmm," Kirei nodded. "How?" Naruto questioned again. "Well, that story that I told you about the Kanashi clan and my aunt… That aunt is his mom," Kirei explained.

"Oh! I get it now!" Naruto finally got the answer he wanted. "I gotta go, grandma'll probably take me to my parents now, so I'll see you sometime soon, right?" Hitori asked. "Course you will!" Kirei smiled.

Kirei hugged her cousin one more time and watched him walk off with his grandmother, who had given Kakashi the wages she promised them. "Well, mission accomplished! Now, we can head home," Kakashi confirmed.

After another 5 hours of walking back home and Kakashi gave the officials the money, Naruto and his teammates walked to the clearing in the forest and saw that Kiba's group, Shikamaru's group, Neji's group, Gaara's group, and Dosu's group were already there, confused and talking.

"What's going on?" Naruto ran in and asked Kiba. "Hey, kid!" Kiba whirled around and greeted Naruto, "Glad you four made it! Lady Tsunade was about to announce something…"

"Ahem!" Everyone looked at the middle of the clearing. "Good evening, everyone," it was Lady Tsunade, "I'm glad you all made it. We're about to start a new contest- just a contest- to see which one of you is the toughest of the bunch… The top ninja!"

To Be Continued…