Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The original characters belong to me.

Chapter 23: Different Ways

1 day ago, somewhere on the Train Mountains, Team Menma's location

Team Menma, having just assumed that falling into the darkness would be their deaths, had actually managed to land on a river, which was running very far below the surface and the sun couldn't even be seen. Nevertheless, the team had used their chakra to land on the water without splashing and getting soaked wet.

It was difficult, but the trio eventually discovered some shores of sand from where they stood on the river, and they immediately headed over there to gather their strength. They really felt like it, considering that they had almost been eaten by a giant snake, or melted by some dangerous liquid.

But as they sat down, Takeda and Nashiko were having a discussion as usual. But this time, they clashed with each other, while Shunsuke only sat alone to think of what just happened. Arata was lying next to the raven-haired boy, as he didn't want to get sucked into a conflict involving his partner.

"Why couldn't you have done anything to help the situation we were in?" the pinkette asked the brown-haired boy with long hair.

"Why are you blaming me? It was your idea to take a midnight bath to begin with!" he countered her statement. "Oh and as far as I know, I discovered the kunai bombs before you even did!" he added.

Nashiko only crossed her arms in disapproval of him. "You're way over your head, Takeda! We all discovered the kunai bombs, even me!" she claimed.

Takeda only shrugged his shoulders and walked away from this confrontation. "You're just like Minami: a girl who appears as sweet and innocent, but in reality is a big pain in the ass!" he explained how he felt about her, much to her anger.

"At least Minami isn't some lazy and self-centred loser like you! Hell, you are nothing like her!" she hit back before walking away. The brown-haired boy actually started to regret ever saying something to anger her. Arata, who noticed that the conflict was over, slowly followed Takeda to a hill of sand, where he sat on the top with his back against his teammates.

It was getting darker and Team Menma was too tired to continue their search. Therefore, they would need some sleep. As he could see his teammates putting their sleeping bags far from where he had chosen, Shunsuke was starting to feel ashamed, ashamed of not being able to hold the team together. He felt lonely and helpless, especially by thinking to what happened with up in the trees.

The raven-haired boy let tears stream from his eyes, but he refused to cry. He thought what would happen if he failed the Chuunin Exams? What would happen to his relationship with his father? And what about his desire to defeat Itachi in a duel? There was something that Shunsuke always had wanted, since the first day he was badmouthed due to him being a son of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Damn it!" Shunsuke cursed while the tears ran. "I wanna show them…I wanna show them that I can be a shinobi!" he said in distress, and began sobbing.

"Shunsuke?" the kind voice of Nashiko could be heard, as the young pinkette stood by him, her faced filled with worry. "Are you crying?" she asked lowly.

The raven-haired boy immediately dried his tears and pretended to not sound so sad. "Oh it's nothing…..Nashiko" he said while sniffing.

The pinkette sat beside him, something which made Shunsuke's eyed widen in surprise. "I know by looking into your eyes, you are sad. So don't fool with me" she explained to him.

Shunsuke was surprised that she could point out his feelings. He then sighed in defeat and faced her as best as he could. It felt weird to tell something to a girl as sweet as Nashiko. "All these years…..I've always wanted to prove everyone that I'm capable of being a ninja. Once the villagers back in the Leaf sees this, they will no longer consider me unworthy of becoming a shinobi" he explained to her.

Nashiko raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't get it. Why are you so focused on passing the Exams? I'm also interested in winning, but I'm not that focused on it" she asked while pointing out her way of doing things.

Shunsuke could feel irritation boil inside of him, and he faced her with anger. "You don't get it! While all the people of the Leaf tend to speak highly about your family, they all speak negatively about mine! Even mother gets insulted for marrying dad. And you know what? Even I don't get it either! It's all messed up" the raven-haired boy spoke up with anger to begin with, but with sadness at the end of his words.

These words affected Nashiko and she remembered back in the early days of their childhood, when she used to hang out with both Shunsuke and Inojin. But they were often the target of badmouthing and physical abuse by villagers and other kids. The pinkette forced a touching smile on her face.

"But you and Inojin had friends, friends like me" she said while putting a hand on his shoulder. Shunsuke could face her and he was feeling he really needed comfort from her. To the pinkette's surprise, her raven-haired teammate hugged her tightly. Although she was surprised by it at first, she happily returned it.

But as they were done with the hugging, something hit Shunsuke in his head and this made him convinced that he needed to tell Nashiko. "Nashiko….I have something to tell you" he said lowly.

The pink-haired girl fixed a curious look on her face, as if she was interested to hear it. "What is it about?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure how to say this…but I think…I think I'm…" but before he could say anything further, they could hear someone say ahem from behind.

They soon realized that it was Takeda standing with Arata around his collar. Interestingly, he had fixed a smile on his face, and this even surprised his teammates. Shunsuke smiled by seeing this, while Nashiko only eyed him with confusion.

"Sorry to interrupt you or anything, but mind if we could join you? Me and Arata feel bored by just sitting for ourselves" he kindly asked them. Shunsuke only nodded his head as a yes and showed him where he could sit. As the long-haired boy took his place, he began facing Nashiko with a hint of regret on his face. This made her eyes widened. "Look, about what happened between us…sorry for my rude comments" he apologized while lowering his head in shame.

This made Nashiko smile and she viewed him with sympathy. "I think you also deserve an apology, Takeda. Sometimes, I can have a big mouth and I fail to notice it" she said with a similar tone. "Sorry for not controlling myself properly" she said while lowering her head in shame.

Shunsuke was smiling by what he saw. His teammates were starting to see how pointless this bickering of theirs was. The raven-haired boy could notice that Takeda was reaching for something in his pockets, and it made both him and Nashiko curious.

"What are you doing with your pockets, Takeda?" Shunsuke asked in a friendly manner.

Suddenly, Takeda got hold of what he was looking for and showed it to his comrades. They both got surprised by what they saw. Hanging from their brown-haired friend's fingers was a key. It was just the thing they needed in order to enter the ruined city of Shimbala.

Takeda grinned by seeing their reactions. "Surprised, eh? Well, I guess I can't blame you" he remarked with a low chuckle.

"Takeda…how in the world did you…" Nashiko was out of words, not knowing what to say.

The boy with the bright eyes began patting Arata's head. "Well it's all thanks to this so-called stupid mutt that I found this key in the pile of sand. Apparently, it had been lying there for a long time" he answered them.

Shunuske smiled by what he saw and so did Nashiko. They also decided to pat Arata on his head to show their appreciation for finding them a key.

"Then it's all settled. Tomorrow, we leave this crack and search for this Shimbala" Nashiko exclaimed to her teammates.

"But which way do we go?" Shunsuke asked her. "I suppose the only option is to walk on the water until we reach the ocean or…." The raven-haired boy stopped speaking once he noticed Takeda nudging him. The brown-haired boy pointed his finger towards a stair made of rock carved into the wall of rock. This made him surprised.

"It doesn't' matter wish way we go. All that matters are that we find a way back into the jungle or whatever the heck there is on this island" he explained.

The next day, in a narrow path between mountains

Konohamaru and his team were striving to push through a narrow path which was located in the middle of a mountain. They had to force their way through the narrow spaces. The sun was shining, but powerful winds blew above them. This made the jounins even more wary about taking this path.

Konohamaru turned around and fixed a cheeky smile on his face. "This is it, folks! All we gotta do is to finish this path. We should be able to reach the outskirts of Shimbala by then" he told them while continuing walking.

The majority of the jounin didn't know whether they could trust Konohamaru to guide them, but they followed him anyway. But as they walked slowly through this narrow path, Shinichi began sniffing in the air. The other joinins noticed this with confusion.

"What the hell is that Sound jounin doing now?" Hideki asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shinichi continued sniffing before facing the others. "This path looks dangerous. I suggest we pick up the pace before it gets worse" he suggested to them wary before facing the skies once again.

Menma was sounding interested in what he was saying. "Are you saying that you can small dangers? Now that's unique!" he remarked with a smile.

But Shinichi faced him with a serious glance on his face. "No. I am only checking out the winds that blow above us. They sound angry and rough!" he noted grimly.

Kazue was stuck dumbfounded by his explanation. "And you expect us to believe in what you say?" she asked as if she felt offended. "You honestly are out of touch with reality, Sound ninja" she expressed her disdain for him.

But they all snapped once they could hear something crunching high above them. They looked up to see what it was. It came from one of the walls of mountains. High above them, they could see a large rock falling downwards and it was headed for them.

"ARGH SHIT!" Konohamaru cursed. "JUST WHAT WE NEEDED!" he added with anger.

"THE WALLS OF THE MOUNTAIN ARE UNSTABLE! WE BETTER SCRAM FROM THIS PLACE!" Ayumu suggested to his teammates.

But before they could run, Shinichi jumped towards the large rock and drew two claws from each of his furred sleeves. He gritted his teeth like a wolf while facing the rock.

"TWIN IRON WOLF CLAWS!" he shouted and he used his claws to slice the rock into two large bits. He landed in front of Konohamaru and the other jounins, who were amazed by what they just witnessed.

"Woah…" Menma, Ayumu and Konohamaru said awe of Shinichi.

Kaito grinned to show his amusement of what Shinichi just pulled. "I must admit that you amuse me, Shinichi Yamaguchi" he remarked while commending his abilities.

But the man dressed in fur only snorted in return. "I will gladly accept those as compliments" he said in return, but not before sniffing in the air once more. "But this is not over! There are more rocks falling from the walls!" he exclaimed with seriousness.

They all looked up and could see another giant rock falling towards them. Kaito smirked while holding his hand near his sword. "This will be a nice warmup" he thought while seeing it. He then jumped up towards it, shocking the other jounins.

"What is that madman thinking!?" Kazue expressed her outrage at this.

Fortunately, Kaito had managed to draw his sword in time and he managed to cut the rock into smaller bits. He did that in a fast pace and the jounins were amazed by how fast he was. As the rock was shattered into many bits, the Mist jounin landed on the ground, with his sword covered in chakra.

He faced the jounins while sheathing his sword back into its spot. "Mark my words, friends. Never underestimate the power Yoarashi possesses" he told them sternly.

Konohamaru assumed the post of leading the jounins and they followed suit. "We must hurry! This whole passage could be buried in rocks at any seconds!" he told the other jounins as they followed him.

But as they reached the passage's end, they could see a wall of rock was blocking it. This made them all stressed out, and they stopped before the blockade.

"How are we gonna pass through this!? I could use the Rasengan and….." Menma and the other jounins were interrupted by the loud voice of Hideki. They turned around and could see him gathering chakra and lighting all over his body.

"OUT OF MY WAY! I SHALL BRING THIS WALL INTO RUBBLES!" he shouted as the chakra gathered all around his body. He also closed his eyes before opening them again. "Kaminaraigan!" the back-skinned man activated the same Kekkei Genkai that Hisoka had used.

Konohamaru's eyes widened after noticing this. "So that's it. That's the Kekkei Genkai used by members of the Sado clan. And that technique…it's no ordinary lightning-based technique. That's the Cloak of Lightning!" the brown-haired man exclaimed in surprise.

With this power, Hideki charged towards the wall of rock while roaring in fury. The jounins immediately stepped aside, not wishing to be caught in his attack. As he landed his right fist into the rocks, the whole thing collapsed. The sun could be seen over Hideki's head, as they were now at the narrow passage's exit. Without wasting any time admiring Hideki's move, the team ran straight through the opened exit, thus making them free from any falling rocks from above.

At Team Hideki's location

Team Hideki stood by a tree that had been burnt while noticing some large snake tracks around the area. In addition to that, they could also spot holes in the large log that acted as a bridge over the deep gorge near their location. Each of the teammates took their time to study this picture.

"I can smell the stench of fire in the air" Kimiko noted while feeling disgusted by it. "All this indicates that there has been a battle here" she added while studying some of the fallen branches lying in the jungle.

"Obviously someone must've fallen down through this log" Guy noted while studying the three holes on the long thing. "I can't see a thing down there, just darkness from the gorge" he said with fear by looking through the holes.

Hisoka had still his Kaminaraigan activated in his eyes. The black-skinned boy was searching for clues on the ground. He was studying the large tracks, and he could tell that those belonged to a snake. "These tracks were made by a snake, but where they made by a giant snake?" he wondered in his head. "From what I know, a snake at THIS size does not exist on the Train Mountains" he added while recalling something he had read on a book about the island they were on. He began tracing the tracks and noticed that they were headed towards the snowy tops that could be seen, considering that the area around the gorge was open.

Both Guy and Kimiko noticed that their comrade on to something, so they decided to stay where he was. They also studied the tracks. "This is ONE heck of a beast if you ask me" Guy noted while studying the tracks.

Kimiko was sceptical of this. "I don't think there exists a snake to leave tracks such as these on this island" she stated while studying them.

Hisoka stood up and faced the snowy tops. "I know. I just discovered that fact" he said to both of his teammates. "From what I can gather, those who were here had obviously been using a summoning jutsu" he said, thus surprising his teammates.

"You mean that one of our competitors is capable of using a summoning jutsu? That's unbelievable!" Guy expressed his surprise. "But who do you suppose would be that advanced?" he suddenly asked Hisoka.

The black-skinned boy was still eyeing the snowy tops. "I don't have an answer yet. But I admit that I suspect that one of the non-Leaf participants is doing this" he came up with his suggestion.

"If you boys are so interested about finding out who the team is, then why don't we follow the tracks?" Kimiko suggested to them. "I mean, that team could be in possession of a key for all we know so….." she was unsure about their motives, until she and Guy noticed Hisoka start walking slowly to follow the trails.

Guy smirked by seeing this and followed suit, as he didn't want to be left behind. By seeing her teammates follow the trails, Kimiko sighed deeply.

"I just CANNOT shut up when I'm confused" she said to herself while slumping in defeat.

Team Menma's location

Nashiko and her teammates had walked up the stairs and had stumbled upon something unusual. They had arrived in a tunnel standing in the wall of rock. This meant only one thing: it was the only way up to the jungle again. Thus, they entered it, even though they were uncertain if they would ever come out alive from it.

They were now walking in the tunnel of earth, where they could see the roots from the giant trees. All of this indicated that they were indeed underneath the jungle.

"So these are the roots of the trees?" Takeda asked while studying them. "Woah….they are are big" he remarked.

"There must be a way up at the end of this tunnel. Then we can return to the surface" Shunsuke said while eyeing forward. "But we better take caution when we're there. If we stumble across those Sound ninjas again, we're definitely screwed" he added to his teammates.

"Don't you worry, Shusnuke" Nashiko assured him with a smile. "The next time we met their smug faces, I'm gonna start getting serious by punching their smug looks" she exclaimed confidence while cracking her knuckles. Shunsuke chuckled at this, while Takeda and Arata only dropped sweats in return.

But they stopped once they noticed that the path was changing. The area all around them was no longer surrounded by earth. Everything, including the roof was made of ruins. This made them interested, while at the same time, making them wonder if they were nearing the stairs to the surface. They took their steps slowly, making sure there weren't any deadly traps on this path as well.

"Hey look! There's a hole in the wall at the end of this path!" Nashiko exclaimed while pointing her finger towards the end of the path, which was technically a dead end. She rushed to get a better look at the hole. Both her teammates followed suit.

They could see that the path they had chosen ended at this place, but the hole in the wall indicated that there was a continuation of the way back. Nashiko leaned over to check out what was inside the hole, while Takeda and Shunsuke were unsure.

"Well this is just great!" Takeda remarked with sarcasm. "Have we been walking straight towards a dead end?" he wondered loudly while crossing his arms.

Shunsuke, who could see Nashiko leaning through the hole, decided to back her up in case of something could happen. So he stood beside the pinkette and took a look by leaning.

"You see anything here, Nashiko?" the raven-haired boy asked her while looking.

"All I can see is there are lots of moss in this hole. But when I get a better look at this, this almost looks like one of those water slides you usually see in a water park" she said while observing it.

Shunsuke chuckled lightly at her words. "Maybe, except for the fact that there is no water running here and the slide is just made of ruins" he said in return.

Nashiko didn't care about what he said and had her attention focused on a giant moss hanging above her. She so wanted to take it off and touch it. Therefore, she put her right knee on the slide and she immediately fell on her stomach. "WHAT THE…WOAH!" she cried and was taken by the slide, much to her raven-haired friend's distress.

"NASHIKO! NO!" Shunsuke cried as he managed to grab her boots, but he was also sliding with his teammate.

They both attracted enough attention to Takeda, who was too late to grab Shunsuke's sandals. "Damn it! Hang on tight, pal! We're going down!" he said to Arata while he was hanging around his collar. The brown-haired boy followed his teammates, hoping to see where this hole would take them to.

At Team Kazue's location

Team Kazue had decided to seek shelter inside an icy cave, only to be sent down to an ice slide once they were resting. After going through this unexpected event, the three comrades had ended up in a ruined hall where they could see two empty pools. The area was covered in moss and plants while the roof above them was made by rock, probably because they had arrived in the deepest bowels of the mountain. They took their time to study this place, and had even spent the rest of the night in this unfamiliar place.

"I still don't get what place this is" Minami said while staring into one of the large pools in the hall they were in.

Ochinko was sketching the hall, as he found the ruins to be interesting and worth drawing. "These ruins must have existed for generations. I wonder if those are related to the ruined city of Shimbala" he wondered while sketching.

Saburou was letting his bugs crawl freely on the floor of stone. He too, was wondering about this place, but he knew that his team would have to focus on finding themselves a key. That's the reason he was letting his bugs to some searching while he also did the same thing on his own.

"Any luck with finding a key, guys?" Minami asked her teammates while Riko was tagging along. She slumped once she noticed Ochinko drawing. "C'mon Ochinko, loose the sketchbook and brush! We need to find a key somewhere in this hall" she said while expressing her disapproval of Ochinko sketching.

The teal-haired boy lifted up his head to face her. "But we searched this place when we first landed here. If you ask me, we are only wasting time staying looking for a key in this place" he countered in a casual manner.

Minami rolled her bright eyes in return. "Geez, you're starting to sound like, Saburou" she said, loud enough for her blonde-haired teammate with sunglasses to hear.

Saburou fixed his stern look on the blue-haired girl and took a few steps towards her. "Are you still miserable about what happened yesterday?" he asked her, much to her irritation. But he changed the subject. "Nevertheless, Ochinko may have a point. We should move immediately. I seriously doubt we will find a key in this hall" he said.

But all of a sudden, the team could hear screaming coming from one of the holes in the hall. They got cautious, wondering if there was a competitor. As they got closer to the hole, they were stunned to see who it was.

Out from the hall and landing onto the floor of moss was Nashiko and her friends. They landed safely, although painfully. Minami and her friends were really surprised over seeing them here. And it didn't take long before the pinkette noticed her.

"Minami? What are you three doing here?" she quizzed with a surprised look before noticing what place they had arrived in. "And where the heck are we?" she added while looking around.

"I could ask you three the same thing" Minami said, not knowing how to answer her question.

As Team Menma got up on their feet, Takeda immediately began lashing out against Nashiko, and the two started an argument. "You always gotta have something you see, do you?" he asked her. "Well nice going, dimwit!" he added with sarcasm.

Nashiko faced him with anger. "If you're so smart then why did you follow us in the slide, huh?" she asked him. "You're the dimwit here, muttface!" he hit back at him.

But when Saburou made a coughing sound, they both ceased their argument and faced their friends from the Academy. Shunsuke smiled at them, and so did Nashiko. Taekda however, was frowning by seeing his twin sister and her teammates. In return, Minami and Ochinko were happy to see Team Menma, while Saburou only gave them his stern look as usual.

"What a surprise seeing your three here" Shunsuke remarked while seeing Minami and Ochinko.

Ochinko nodded his head. "We thought you had perished once you fell down to the gorge" he said, making the team raise their eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean by that? Are you telling me that you have spied on us?" she asked while sounding offended.

Minami stepped forward. "I think we have some explnaining to do, considering that we have ended up at the same spot" she suggested to them.

And so, each team began telling their stories, about how they had ended up in this hall. Ochinko told them how he had used his ink rats to get a glimpse of the fight Nashiko and her teammates was involved in and they were amazed. Team Menma told them about the deadly traps being laid around the jungle, as well as the Sound ninjas' scheming.

"So you're saying that those Sound Village-freaks are laying traps throughout the jungle?" Minami asked them in disbelief. "Those rotten bastards! I knew they were trouble from the start!" she said with anger, while Riko began growling by what he heard.

"Why in the world would they do that?" Ochinko asked them. "They do realise that there are ANBU-watchers spread across this island, right?" he asked them, although he could see that they didn't have concrete answer.

Saburou adjusted his glasses while hearing this. "Based upon what you are telling us, it is clear that those Sound ninjas are not respecting the terms requested by Lady Tsunade and your father" he noted while facing Nashiko, who nodded in agreement. "They are up to something, and they are hiding it from everyone" he added.

"Ochinko, did you manage to catch a glimpse of where they were heading?" Shunsuke asked the teal-haired boy. "We fell down to the gorge, so we didn't get to see if they were fleeing the scene or not" he added.

Ochinko closed his eyes while thinking and he memorized what he had seen. "From what I saw through the ink rat's eyes, they were standing by the burned tree for only a brief moment, before heading towards the snowy tops" he explained. "I don't know whether I just saw illusions but he area above was clear and you could see them" he added.

"Then they must be headed towards the snowy tops. But what could they possibly be after? Are they seeking to eliminate the competitors up there?" Nashiko asked.

"That is a possibility. There are other teams searching for a key up in the mountains so it could be true" Minami said.

"Wait. Did you catch a glimpse of any of the teams heading up to the tops?" Shunsuke asked her.

The bluenette fixed a concerned look on her face before replying. "Actually, with the help of my Byakugan, I managed to catch Inojin, Shikaien and Chouta heading up north, with those Mist ninjas not far behind" she answered.

The raven-haired boy was stunned once he heard his twin brother's name begin mentioned. Nashiko, Minami and Ochinko could notice him, while Takeda and Saburou was feeling confused about this. Shunsuke faced the ground while thinking about his twin brother, wondering whether he and his team could be in danger. But he could see Nashiko putting her hand on his, and she gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about Inojin. He's strong enough to face challenges, as are Shikaien and Chouta" the pinkette said with encouraging words, making him smile slightly in return.

"I hate to interrupt this moment. But I would like to question you three something serious" Saburou suddenly said while facing them. "Have you found a key?" he asked them sternly.

Takeda crossed his arms while facing him. "Of course we haven't! Didn't you just hear our story!? We almost got our asses handed to us by those Sound ninjas!" he denied while raising his voice.

Saburou only huffed in return. "I think my bugs have a different answer to that" he said while pointing his finger towards one of Takeda's jacket pockets, where bugs were crawling out. The brown-haired boy was filled with outrage over seeing this.

"What the hell are you doing, planting bugs in my pockets!?" he asked while gritting his teeth. But he soon calmed himself. "So what if we have a key? We won't hand over to ya!" he said with a declaration.

Suddenly, Takeda was held by both Nashiko and Shunsuke, while Saburou was held by both Minami and Ochinko. This made the two boys confused.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" they both demanded from their respective teammates.

Minami faced her twin brother sternly. "Swallow your pride, Takeda. Since we are technically stuck in the bowels of a mountain, we have better things to do than to fight over some stupid key" she told him while Riko growled, making Arata growl in return. "We must leave this place" she added.

Saburou twitched in anger. "Are you saying that our teams are now cooperating!?" he demanded to know. "You are all insane! Have you forgotten the rules in this test!? Cooperation could lead to our disqualification from the Chuunin Exams!" he pointed out.

"I know, right?" Takeda agreed with the boy with sunglasses. "But seriously guys, this is getting ridiculous. Let go of my arms" he told his teammates while they were holding him.

Nashiko fixed a dispassionate glance towards Takeda and Saburou and Minami did the exact same thing. Both boys were confused by this, while Ochinko and Shunsuke only watched this in slight amusement.

"You two are such a pair of downers!" Nashiko exclaimed with dissatisfaction.

"Heh, tell me about it!" Minami said in return.

Takeda faced Shunsuke. "Shunsuke, you realise how serious this is, right? We can't work with them?" he tried to get the raven-haired boy to back him.

Shunsuke shook his head. "I understand that, Takeda. But in this case, after what has happened to us, I am willing to even break the rules" he stated his opinion.

Ochinko began facing Saburou, who was confused by this. "I agree with Shunsuke. I have a feeling those Sound ninjas will continue to act as they pleases while the second phase is ongoing. That is why we should team up against those dirtbags. Since the ANBU-watchers are not doing anything, it falls to us to stop their scheming" he told him while agreeing with Shunsuke.

Both Saburou and Takeda sighed in defeat, knowing better than to throw tantrums about this. Their teammates smiled by seeing this, knowing that they accepted this cooperation.

"Then it's all settled!" Nashiko exclaimed with happiness. "The alliance between Team Menma and Team Kazue is hereby formed!" she added, and Minami began cheering for her. Both Shunsuke and Ochinko only dropped sweats by seeing them so enthusiastic.

Meanwhile, up in the snowy tops

Noburu, Rei and Yuudai ran out of the cavern as fast as they could, having just trapper Team Ayumu inside it. They had been caught, so they needed to get out of here. But it was impossible to run fast on the snow.

"How long do you suppose the earth wall can keep them inside the cavern?" Noburu asked his female teammate.

"Quit asking me such ridiculous questions, four-eyes! It depends on whether they have an ability to break the wall or not!" she answered while panting.

Noburu gritted his teeth in anger by hearing this. "You gotta be kidding me! You claim to be a professional in earth-based jutsu, yet you don't know the slightest how long it lasts!? Goddamn it!" he cursed in frustration.

"Less talking, more running!" Yuudai urged his comrades while they ran. "Hey Noburu, you are so screwed when we're off this island!" he suddenly called out to him.

The grey-haired boy faced his masked teammate angrily. "Look, I didn't know that those blue-eyed bastards were scammers to begin with! I mean, they promised us that we would have the Orb of Asura once we did what they asked us to!" he defended himself.

Rei rolled her eyes by hearing this. "Really? Well, you ou were the one who convinced us to trust them as our business partners, remember that!?" she asked him

But the Sound trio stopped, once they could notice that someone was watching them from a snow hill. They stood still and could see someone standing on the hill in front of them. It was the three Mist ninjas, who were eyeing them with suspicion. However, the orange-haired boy was filled with anger over seeing them.

"Ah shit, more pests!" Noburu cursed under his breath.

Kotone, who stood in the middle, faced them with determination in her eyes. She also held the butt of her blade tightly. "What a surprise in seeing you three here" she said to them. "We were wondering if we were the only ones up here in the tops" she added.

Rei took a few steps forward and cracked her knuckles. The raven-haired girl faced the redhead with seriousness. "Are you looking for a key, tomboy?" she mockingly asked her. "Sorry, but we have none, nor are we interested in getting one" she said.

Kotone only raised an eyebrow by hearing this as she couldn't understand what the girl was trying to tell them. But she remained cautious before those Sound ninjas.

But both she and Aoi were surprised to see Jurou take a few steps towards them while facing them with anger. They both widened their eyes in shock, as they had forgotten all about their orange-haired friend's animosity towards anyone related to the village of Orochimaru.

"Wait…..Jurou" Kotone tried to make him stop.

"You were lucky to avoid death back in the first phase, but this time" he suddenly made spikes grow out of his arms while facing the Sound ninjas with eyes of hatred and anger. "I WILL DESTROY YOU, SPAWNS OF OROCHIMARU!" he bellowed while facing them.

To be continued…

Author's note: That was chapter 23. The next will start with Team Ayumu and how they are doing. We will also see how Naruto and the others are up to, as we managed to get a glimpse of Konohamaru and the jounins, seeing some of their abilities.