Chapter 88

"Can I go inside his head, Asuma-sensei?" Ino asks, frustration dripping from her tone. She's done with another early morning training with Chouji and Kamaru and as usual she smells like burnt powder.

The man chokes on his cigarette at the suddenness of the inquiry although he should have foreseen it "Why?" he inquires, tapping his chest with his fist, willing his coughing fit to subside.

"He's holding something up," the blonde answers, "something important."

"Ino, if you're wondering, why don't you just ask him straight or better yet," pauses Asuma meaningfully, the glint in his eyes clearly teasing, "just ask Temari."

Ino glowers at her sensei. "I will only speak to her when she come see me."

"You shouldn't hold such petty grudge at your childhood friend."

"She started it."

"Women," intones Asuma, not daring to go there and embroil himself in the two girls rivalry. Shrugging and drawing another drag of smoke from his cigarette, he steers the topic back to the original one. "What is it that bothers you about Kamaru anyway?"

"His jutsu," Ino replies sullenly, "Even after two months of training together, both Choji and I haven't seen yet the true form of his jutsu. For an intelligent strategist, he always predictably targets the trees with kunai attached with explosivetags before he attacks us as if he needs the resulting soot confetti for his jutsu. I don't understand it at all. I mean somehow...I feel like he's restraining himself." Frowning, she draws a deep breath as she thinks of the things she has also noticed so far. "And then there's that Icha Icha book everyone's been gossiping about! Have you read that too?"

At Asuma's nod, Ino continues, "Do you believe it?"

The older nin merely draws from his cigarette, his expression giving a noncommittal answer.

"I didn't really read it..." Ino blushes, her stance getting defensive. "Well, I merely browse through the pages and skipped some—you know. Really that book is stupid and sexist. It makes it sound as if Temari—I mean the heroine is too weak and too in love to notice that the guy is draining her powers by sleeping with her!' Voice dripping with sarcasm, she adds, "Oh please if it's really Temari then Temari would never allow such a thing to happen!"

"So you don't believe Jiraiya's book?" Asuma returns the question.

"Of course not!" Ino huffs indignantly.

"Maybe you should," proclaims Asuma, "Afterall, it's still written by our former Hokage who excels in gathering information."

Ino can't believe that her sensei is saying those words. Raising bewildered eyes to meet Asuma's, she reiterates, "There's something really fishy about Kamaru's jutsu and that book proves it!"

Asuma merely shrugs his shoulders.

"I'm sure, Kamaru's hiding something," sulks Ino.

Asuma, scratching his bearded chin thoughtfully, chooses his words carefully. "If, for example, you suddenly get married to a foreign nin and live in his village, do you think you would let everyone else who lives there know you could read their minds?"

Ino hastily answers, "No."

"Then there's your answer."

"Yes, but..." grumbles the blonde kunoichi, "...aren't you just a little bit curious?"

"I am a whole lot curious about Kamaru," Asuma utters as he watches the spiral of smoke from his cigarette, "But not enough to let you do what you have in mind."

"Oh well, it was worth a shot," Ino replies, not bothering to cajole her sensei to change his mind. She already knows he wouldn't. He likes Kamaru...Sometimes, she thinks her sensei likes the foreign nin more than he does his old team.

—o0o—

Two months previously, Kakashi had actively suggested to everyone to be more vigilant with border patrol and even came up with a suggestion to Tsunade-sama for additional groups to do it. One such group is just the two of them—one Konoha sensei and one Suna nin. They are currently patrolling the boundaries on the northern field while the sun does its damnedest to bake the earth.

"Ino asked me for something stupid today," Asuma mutters, passing the time with idle talk as they trudge along the border, but his eyes remain alert as he looks at their surrounding for anything suspicious.

"Stupid?" Shikamaru asks nonchalant, giving a sweeping look towards his left. The lone building ahead looks abandoned and everything seems quiet. These patrol duties are such a drag but with the danger looming ahead he can't afford to slack off. His eyes squinting, he tries to see if the building is really unoccupied.

Asuma gives the boy a sidelong glance, seeing his attention is on the building at the distance. "Yep. So remember to thank me someday."

Shikamaru returns Asuma's look, a brow raised in mild curiousity. "So it wasn't stupid afterall—"

All of a sudden, both Kamaru and Asuma stop on their tracks, highly alert as they swivel simultaneously to their right, watching closely the woods. True enough a stranger whose three bladed scythe clearly identifies him as an enemy appears before them,

"Oi!" greets the strange foreign nin with the slicked back hair and wearing a robe on on one shoulder and off on the other. "Did you find out who is Konoha's jinchuriki, Kamaru?" he adds the Suna nin's name leeringly.

Asuma, standing next to Kamaru, clamps his teeth on his cigarette upon hearing his student's name.

With his peripheral vision, Kamaru sees Asuma tensing upon hearing the strange nin's implication about him. Fighting to stay calm, he drawls as he addresses the new arrival, "Whoever you are—"

The strange man guffaws. "Didn't your old man inform you that he's sending me over?"

Kamaru's fists clench on his sides, fighting the temptation to turn to face Asuma to defend himself to him, to explain that whatever is going on, he's not involved in that way. The time to do so would be later. He couldn't afford to take his eyes off the enemy before them. The strange nin who claims to have been sent by his father, the Kazekage, is of unknown quantity. He must be very strong.

More so, this also means that his old man has now started to move. Damn it, Shikamaru grunts to himself. He should have heard about it beforehand.Tch, afterall, he did spent a fortune on spies.

—o0o—

Three days ago

"Matsuri's awake," Gaara speaks as soon as he has made sure that no one else is listening in.

"Finally," rumbles Kankuro. "What did she say?"

"She is still very weak."

"Yes but she must have said something—"

"I already sent a warning to Kamaru-niisan," concludes Gaara. "Let's hope it isn't too late."

TBC

—o0o—

~3 24 14, 4 4 14A 14~