Once Nagato has managed to excuse himself from hanging out with Naruto and friends, he heads back to the house where he is staying with his apprentice and her mother. Once inside, he bursts into the room the two girls are sharing and shakes them both awake. It is a pity he has to wake them up. They make such a cute pair all snuggled up together.
"Wake up!" he says urgently as the two ladies try to ignore him. "There is a team here from the Hidden Leaf, and they are after the Sacred Scroll! They just got permission to enter the temple! We need to get the scroll before they do!"
Mei Terumi gets it. She sits up and pokes her daughter in the cheek. "Come on, get up and get your gear on," she say. "And be quick about it."
"I'll be back," says Nagato, turning to leave. "I'll bring some breakfast." By the time he is back with breakfast, Mei and Namiko are nearly ready. Mei is brushing Namiko's hair while Namiko pulls her sandals on. Mei, of course, managed to be fully suited up and kitted out in the five minutes it took Nagato to find and bring back food. "I have food," says Nagato, holding up the bag of soup and pancakes.
"Good," says Mei. "How close are the other team to getting the scroll?"
"They are only just starting breakfast," says Nagato, who saw the rest of the Leaf ninjas and Arashi, plus two extras, in the breakfast bar. "We should have a few minutes."
The three of them get stuck into their breakfast. Namiko is last to finish, and while she is still chewing on her pancakes, Nagato goes to see how their enemies are doing. It seems strange to think of Arashi, Iruka and Naruto as enemies, but right now, that is what they are. Nagato has a world to save and he needs that scroll to do it. If they get in his way, Nagato will have to fight his friends.
The Leaf crew are getting close to finishing, but they, too, have a little girl with them. She is keeping up with the others a lot better than Naiko kept up with him and Mei, and Nagato estimates they will all be finished very soon. He heads back to his sidekick and her mum.
"We need to go or the Leaf guys will beat us to the scroll," says Nagato urgently.
"But I'm not finished!" complains Namiko.
Mei picks up her daughter, shoves the rest of the pancakes into her hands and jumps out the window. Nagato follows them, wondering how they will explain to the locals what they are doing.
"Is there a back door or something we can sneak around to?" Mei asks as the run to the great maze.
Nagato remembers hearing something about a back entrance from his parents. "Yes," he says. "Let's use that." They head into the forest and sneak through the trees and bushes, making their way around the back of the maze. Namiko is finishing the last mouthful of pancake as they reach the back entrance to the maze. Nagato wishes the kid would eat faster but, to be fair, she is only five.
"Right," says Nagato, once they reach the entrance. "Namiko and I will both go in to prevent any of the other team entering the maze. Namiko, when we arrive at the centre it will snow for you and blow a blizzard for me, so be prepared for that, okay?"
"Okay," Namiko nods firmly, a serious frown on her chubby little face.
"Good, let's go," says Nagato, turning towards the entrance.
A man in a mask appears before the entrance, accompanied by a swirl of leaves. "You are not going anywhere, Nagato," the masked man says. "I am here for the scroll and the rinnegan, and you will give me one of those things. The Leaf shinobi, who already walked into my trap, will bring me the other."
"You cannot have either," says Nagato, gathering chakra for an attack.
Mei puts Namiko down on the ground and starts weaving the hand signs for her lava style.
"Almighty Pull!" Nagato pulls the masked man to him and grabs him around the neck. Then he slams the masked man into the ground. The man vanishes in a puff of smoke. "A clone! Stay sharp, he's still out there!"
More clones appear, only to be instantly destroyed by Mei's lava style. Nagato inches closer to the maze. Mei, pushing Namiko along in front of her, heads for the maze. Another three clones of the masked man emerge from the trees and attack. Mei pushes Namiko into the maze.
"Almighty Push!" Nagato knocks down the three clones and makes a break for the maze. This masked man cannot have his rinnegan. The barrier throws Nagato back, sending him flying across the grass. Nagato lands on his feet, staring at the barrier. He grabs at the ground to slow himself down, and skids to a stop near the tree line. The masked man's clones attack Nagato from both sides. "Almighty Push!" Nagato dispels the clones easily.
And then a branch erupts from Nagato's chest, blood spurting out of the new wound. Nagato stares at the branch in disbelief. Where did it come from?
Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru, Choji and Ino are hanging out in Yakiniku Q because their jounin senseis gave them the day off.
"We just did the Tora mission," Shikamaru is whining. "It was such a drag."
Hinata laughs. "Tora wouldn't escape if he didn't get squished every time he is home."
"Maybe someone's paying him to run away so they can send helpless genins on a horrible mission," suggests Choji.
"That would be just like Lord Third," sighs Kiba, poking at his piece of meat listlessly. "I wish we could have something exciting too."
"Speaking of exciting," says Hinata, angrily chewing on her own piece of meat. "Naruto and Neji are off on a super exciting mission with Shisui and Iruka sensei. I wanted to go, but Kurenai sensei said no."
"Lucky sods," Kiba growls, feeding Akamaru some meat. "Why do all the interesting things happen around Naruto?"
"Because Naruto is a trouble magnet," says Shino, adjusting his glasses. "Did you hear that Sasuke will be released from hospital soon?"
"Nope," says Kiba. "Because unlike you, Shino, I don't have a MASSIVE CRUSH on Sasuke!" He points at Shino with his chopsticks as he says 'massive crush'.
"OOOH!" Ino's eyes light up as she zeros down on Shino. "You have a crush on Sasuke! Since when?" Then Ino turns serious while Shino turns red. "You do realize childhood friend equals friendzoned, right?" Ino asks, urgently. "Oh, you poor thing!"
"I think Sasuke and Shino would be cute together," says Choji, shovelling down some slices of pork.
"Hello, children!" Jiraiya appears at the end of their booth with Kimiko half-hiding behind his legs.
"Oh, hi Jiraiya," says Hinata, gobbling down some meat before anyone else can get it. "What's up, Kimiko?"
Kimiko gives a tiny wave and about three-quarters of a smile.
"I haven't met all of these kids before," says Jiraya, peering around at the little gathering.
"Oh, these two are my teammates, Kiba and Shino," Hinata tells him. "And these three are Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. We all have the day off."
"That's probably because our senseis are on a romantic date together," says Ino, grinning.
"Definitely," agrees Shikamaru.
"Kurenai sensei and Asuma sensei don't think we know about them," grins Kiba. But it's sooooo obvious. Kinda like Shino's crush on Sasuke!"
"Oh, young love is in their air!" crows Jiraiya, grinning and squishing himself onto the seat beside Hinata. He lifts Kimiko onto his lap. She looks a lot younger than eight next to Jiraiya. "Have you all met my kid, Kimiko?"
"Nope!" says Kiba, accompanied by a bark from Akamaru.
"Hey kid!" grins Ino, pushing some meat in Kimiko's direction.
"Speaking of young love, though," says Shikamaru, thoughtfully. "Isn't it more likely that Naruto and Sasuke will be a thing? I mean, as Ino said, childhood friend equals friendzoned, so sorry Hinata, you're out of luck. But everyone knows that if a girl and a boy fight a lot as kids they will be much more likely to fall in love when they are older."
Hinata's blood freezes in her veins. Naruto and Sasuke…? Naruto did go on a road trip just to save Sasuke… And they do argue a lot...No. No no no no! Hinata doesn't want to believe it.
"Aw, come on!" says Jiraiya. "Sometimes the rules don't apply!" he slaps Hinata on the back. "Don't look so down! The rules hardly ever apply to Uzumakis, after all! I mean, Minato married the girl he stalked, and she was an Uzumaki! Maybe you should try stalking Naruto!"
Hinata is not convinced.
The door to Yakiniku Q bangs open and Lady Tsunade marches in followed closely by Madoka, who looks as if he got run over by a train. "I'm gonna need a round of all you can eat and a bottle of sake!" Lady Tsunade orders, pushing Madoka in front of her to find a table.
As they pass Hinata and co's table, Kiba calls out, "Hey pinky, if your hair gets any longer, people will start thinking you're a girl!"
Madoka punches Kiba through the wall yelling, "SHANNAROOO!"
Hinata, Shino, Jiraiya, Kimiko and Team ten all stare at the Kiba and Akamaru shaped hole in the wall.
"My apprentice is coming along nicely," says Lady Tsunade, grinning triumphantly.