Hiya! I see the story got some hits...but no reviews...hm. I don't mind too much, but some input from the audience would be appriciated, you know?

Okay, this is a spolier alert. There is a spolier from the Naruto Shipuuden manga later on in this chapter. It's one of those spoilers that I can simply tell you to read over 'cause it's a part of the story. For those of you who already know, read ahead. For those who don't know but don't care about being spoiled, read ahead. And for those of you who don't know and don't like being spoiled...read ahead, anyway. I've put in so much stuff you'll probably not know what the spolier is even if you read it six times.

Oh, right...Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will. I own Reiko.

Now, on with the second chapter of Naruto: Tsumujikaze!! Please review!!

The warm summer sun shone onto the face of Hokage Mountain, brightly accenting the carved faces into the mountainside. The latest addition to the collection of chiseled stone heads was the one of the young man who had for so long wanted the village to look up to him – Rokudaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto. After years of working hard to gain the approval of everyone in Konohakagure, Naruto finally proved it by saving the village from certain destruction. It was shortly after that, Tsunade had stepped down from the charge of Hokage and gladly passed it down to Naruto.

He was the youngest Hokage ever when he started, but he did a good job of taking care of his village. Even after all these years, Naruto still had that impulsive drive for mischief inside of him. But rather than take said impulse out on the Hokage monument like he had so many times in his youth, the older Naruto satisfied his craving for mischief by running out of the office – it drove his advisors crazy.

I simply can't be expected to sit in that stuffy office on a day as beautiful as this one, he thought. He stood on the railing directly under the carved stone, admiring the tribute to Konoha's great leaders. It really was humbling to sit and stare at them for a while. But not for too long, Naruto decided. He heard the quick steps of people down in the office. Looks like they've found out I'm gone…

A smile crossed the blond man's lips as he easily bounded from the railing onto the street. He heard the door to the roof burst open and one of his advisors, it sounded like Yusuke, call to him. Naruto was already on his way down the street.

Honestly, Naruto had been waiting all day to leave the office. Masaru started his actual ninja training today. Remembering his own first trail down the path of the ninja, Naruto was curious to see how his son would fare. He was still laughing at the thought of Hatake Reiko being assigned as Masaru's Jonin instructor. Destiny, as Hyuga Neji had said once (and only once, mind you…and he vowed never to say it again) can be a funny thing.

"Cutting work again, Naruto?" an amused voice called from the side.

"Not cutting, more like taking a longer than average five-minute break," Naruto returned. "You would know a little something about that; wouldn't you, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well…" the Jonin trailed off. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked alongside Naruto. "Going off to the Academy, weren't you?"

"You know me too well," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I'm just a bit curious to see how Masaru's doing on the first day of training. It was a bit of an eye-opener for me back then."

"I remember that day," Kakashi mused. "You three were still wet-behind-the-ears." He stared up into the blue sky, and sighing deeply, "Boy, how time has gone by. When you think about it, it's kind of overwhelming."

"You sound like an old man, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto taunted. It wasn't like his teacher at all to reminisce like this. "It hasn't been all that long."

Kakashi smiled through his permanent mask, "When you have a lot of time to think about things, you realize otherwise. It's been eighteen years since I was appointed your instructor, Naruto. Eighteen whole years."

"Really?" Naruto said. "It hasn't felt like eighteen years to me. I mean, between the final battle with Orochimaru, Sasuke coming back, becoming Hokage…it's been like a blur to me, you know?"

Kakashi laughed, "If you had told me back then that in eighteen years I'd have a sixteen-year-old daughter and be living with Anko, I'd have died laughing. It's funny how wrong you can be about the future sometimes."

"Speaking of Reiko," Naruto said with a sly smile. "You're on the way to see her right now, aren't you?"

"At least I'm not cutting work to do so," Kakashi replied. He nodded to the Academy building up the road. "I'm interested to see just how many of my teachings she's taken to heart."

"If she's your daughter," Naruto said, a worried sort of voice coming over him. "Then she's probably taken those teachings to heart and made them even harsher. Truth be told, I sort of feel sorry for Masaru."

"If he's anything like you, then I'm sure he'll be able to pull through," Kakashi said with a smile. "If he's lucky, that is."

"I'm going to score that goal! Just you watch!"

Masaru came charging down the field, a determined look on his young face. "There's no way I'll end up eating ramen!" His resolution rang out across the field with a fierce sense of promise.

Reiko shook her head at the boy's rash move. Mistake number one. She braced herself for the goal, not really worried that it would be coming at all. Behind Masaru, the equally-determined Sasori caught up with him. And this is where it gets interesting.

Without blinking, the girl stuck her foot out in front of Masaru. The ball sailed to the left, where Satoshi passed it back to Sasori; Masaru tripped over the girl's outstretched leg. The surprised boy could do nothing but fall flat on his face as Sasori passed him with the ball dribbling at her feet.

"That's cheating!" Masaru's angry cry rang out. "You're cheating, Sasori-chan! You can't just trip people because you want the ball!"

"A ninja's gotta be willing to do whatever it takes to reach the objective," Sasori called coolly as she ran off toward the goal.

A red flag went up in Reiko's head at hearing the girl's words. Hm…she's defiantly Uchiha Sasuke's daughter. I'm going to have to implement some of Pop's teamwork speeches into this little exercise…on top of everything else.

Out of the corner of her eye, Reiko noticed the Uchiha boy. Satoshi was standing quietly in the middle of the field, his face reflecting deep thought. What the hell is that one doing all the way out there?

"Better pay attention over here, sensei!"

Mistake number two. Reiko knew which way the ball was coming from without even having to take her eyes off of Satoshi. Exerting the merest of effort, Reiko deflected the ball and it settled in her hands. For a moment, she considered ending the practice here, but decided that it was too early to call the match just yet. She heaved the ball back onto the field without a word.

It sailed over the head of all three Genin. Masaru ran after it with Sasori in hot pursuit. Being the slightest bit taller than Masaru, Sasori's longer legs carried the girl toward the ball faster than Masaru's did him.

"You're not getting away with it that easily." Masaru warned. He sped up, passing Sasori. "Take this!" He formed his fingers into a familiar hand-sign. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" In a cloud of smoke, three exact replicas of Masaru appeared on the field. "Go, Bunshins!"

Two of the three replicas turned, tackling Sasori into the ground and holding her fast. "Hey, now that's cheating!"

Masaru cleared his throat loudly, "A ninja's gotta be willing to do whatever it takes to reach the objective, Sasori-chan." He ran past with the ball between his feet. "That goal is mine. Yeah!"

Reiko watched the small episode unfold in amusement. Masaru's Bunshin technique was nowhere near as impressive as his father's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, but it wasn't bad for a newly-graduated Genin. She gave the boy points for clever use of the technique.

"Here's my shot. Double Uzumaki Kick!" Masaru kicked the ball to his remaining clone and shot up the field. "Now!" The clone kicked the ball high into the air, where Masaru jumped to meet it. He did a small back flip, kicking the ball downward toward the goal at a high speed.

"Nice try, kid," Reiko said. "Your hit has power and speed, but no technique. I can see through it like glass." Sure enough, the ball sailed straight for her, so all Reiko had to do was block it. She caught it with both hands, a bit surprised at the strength behind the kick.

"It missed?" Masaru asked. "But it was such a strong kick! How did you block it so easily?"

Reiko twirled the ball in her hands. "Strong kick, yes…but here's a little tip: It doesn't matter how strong a jutsu is if it's as easy to see through as that. Attacking head-on is proof that you're underestimating your opponent. You're wasting chakara when you do this. All that energy wasted on a move that was easy to stop…not the smartest thing to do. You'll waste all your chakara and die before the battle even gets started."

"Don't you know anything?" Sasori came up behind Masaru. She lifted a finger in the air. "Chakara control is one of the most important things to remember in battle. My mom taught me that; and she's a great medic-nin, so she'd know."

"Yeah, yeah, 'you can't just run in there guns blazing,' my dad tells me that all the time," Masaru wiped the sweat off of his face with the back of his hand, and smiled widely. "I guess I just forget."

"Well, well, you've taught him a thing or two, after all, Naruto," Kakashi said. Naruto sat in a tree overseeing the soccer field. From here, they could see both sides of the field perfectly, and were pretty sure that they were undetectable by anyone on the field level.

"Of course I have," Naruto called from the branch he was sitting on. "It's a pride sort of thing. Unfortunately, I'm not the best that ever existed at chakara control, so Hinata helps him with that, mostly. We can't all be good at everything, right?" He rubbed the back of his head and smiled in that sheepish manner of his. "Reiko-chan's not half bad, either, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi, stood, leaning against the trunk of a tree opposite Naruto, crossed his arms and looked out at the field. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but you ain't seen nothing, yet."

Naruto turned his attention back to the match, where Masaru and Sasori were still fighting each other over possession of the soccer ball. Satoshi was chasing after them; he seemed to be trying to tell the other two something, but neither Masaru nor his sister was in any mood to pay attention. Reiko lingered in the goal, a bored and amused look on her face.

Masaru's Double Uzumaki Kick was the closest anyone ever got to scoring a goal. For the next fifteen minutes, Naruto and Kakashi were treated to something short of a slug fest between Masaru and Sasori. They were tearing away at each other for the ball, using all sorts of ridiculous combinations of the Bunshin no Jutsu to succeed in their goal-scoring task. All the while Satoshi followed his teammates around the field, trying to get a word in, only to be cut off.

"Masaru's not really one to listen, is he?" Kakashi taunted. "Satoshi's been trying to tell him something for the past twenty minutes."

An embarrassed scowl was stretched over Naruto's face. "Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei, where we that unimaginably bad?"

Kakashi laughed, "Well, sort of."

"This…is painful,"

"Be patient, Naruto," Kakashi said. "You can't expect them to be perfect on their first day out of the Academy. Give them some time to get used to working in teams."

"I think Reiko's had enough, too. She's about ready to put an end to this." Naruto pointed out. Kakashi turned. Reiko twirled a kunai around on her finger a few times before flipping it and closing her hand around it. "She looks a bit angry."

Reiko gripped the kunai tightly before throwing it out into the field. It pierced through the air and stuck into the soccer ball, and ended the match. Kakashi groaned inwardly, "Hey, that soccer ball cost me good money."

The kunai flashed in the bright sun on its way toward them. There was barely enough time to register what was going on before a sharp noise cut through the air and the soccer ball deflated.

"Eh?" Masaru looked up at Sasori, ready to call her a sore loser for popping the ball like that, but the baffled expression on the girl's face convinced him that she had about as much idea that the ball was going to pop as he did.

"That's enough!"

Both students turned. Reiko was walking toward them with a disappointed look in her eyes. "Reiko-sensei?" Sasori asked. "You did that?"

"What, are you crazy!? That could have sliced my foot off!" Masaru cried hysterically. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"I'm another shinobi," Reiko said in a hard voice. "That's reason enough to attack you." There was an air of menace around her as she strode toward them, accented by her fierce eyes. Masaru felt his legs start to shake. "In this shinobi world, the simple fact that you're alive is reason enough to be attacked."

"Why did you stop the game?" Sasori asked, trying to get her mind off the morbid subject Reiko had brought up. Her teacher stopped in front of them, hands in her pockets.

"Why did I stop the game?" Reiko threw it out like a scoff. "That wasn't a game. Hell, it was supposed to be a game, a little contest, if you will. But you two were killing each other over who got to kick the ball. Now, while your little stunts did little to emphasize the point of this training, it did help me realize something."

"What's that?" Masaru asked.

"Your teamwork…is virtually non-existent," Reiko said in a condemning tone. "You three were supposed to work together to score that goal."

"But there's only one lunch, and that goes to the winner," Sasori said. "The rest of us have to eat natto and ramen. I don't like natto, so I decided-"

"Exactly," Reiko cut her off. "You decided. But you forgot, or decided to ignore the fact, that you're not alone; have two teammates. But throwing that out the window, you decided that it was in your best interest to score the goal and get the lunch so you wouldn't have to eat natto – Am I right?"

Sasori stood quietly, knowing she couldn't disagree with the truth. She only nodded in response. She wished Reiko hadn't put it so harshly.

"Then there's you, Masaru," Reiko continued. "You also took the one-man team approach. I dunno what was going on in that little blond head of yours, but ­you decided that there could only be one winner, and that just had to be you."

"I was –!"

"Fighting for control of the ball with one teammate and ignoring the other one," Reiko finished for him. Masaru opened his mouth to argue, but closed it when nothing good came to mind. Damn it, Reiko was right.

"Lesson number one," Reiko began. "On missions, it's not about who completes it, but that it actually gets done. A ninja should complete a mission no matter what the outcome of that mission may be. Missions aren't about kicking ass and looking cool to get praise and rewards; they're about carrying out important tasks that, more often than not, could affect the safety of the village. I never want to see such selfish behavior during a mission again. Out in the real world, this could be the difference between life and death in your team."

Finished with the first half of her Kakashi-esque speech, the Jonin turned to her remaining student – the quiet Satoshi. "And you, Satoshi. What I want to know is why you stood in the middle of the field without doing anything for so long?"

"I guess I didn't have a reason to fight," he said, looking up. "I like ramen and I like natto. There was nothing for me to lose from not fighting. But then I got to thinking that since we were a team, and soccer is team sport, we should be working together."

Reiko raised her eyebrows, realizing what the boy's dilemma had been all along. She plucked the kunai out of the deflated soccer ball, twirling it in her hand casually. "You probably figured out the team work thing pretty early on, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Satoshi nodded. His voice implied he didn't know where Reiko was going with this. "It wasn't that hard."

"Still, you couldn't bring your point up," she walked in a circle around her three students; all the while, the kunai was spinning on her index finger. He didn't know it, but with that small nod, Satoshi had just confirmed her suspicion. Reiko stopped behind Sasori. "I think I know what your problem was."

"Huh?" Satoshi looked up, his legs locking into place at what he saw. Reiko tripped Sasori with a sweep kick, pressing the Genin's arms against her back with her feet. Reiko held Sasori's head down into the dirt with one hand, while holding a kunai to her neck with the other.

"Ah! Sensei, what the-!?"

"Satoshi! Kill Masaru, now! Or I'll kill your sister!"

What? Satoshi's eyes grew wide, and he felt his stomach give a horrible lurch, like he had just fallen out the window of a five-story building. No! Don't make me chose between them!

A smile spread over Reiko's face. I was right. The way the boy stood, frozen in his place with a sickened look on his face was enough to tell Reiko his greatest fear: having to choose between two comrades. "Satoshi…listen to me: there will be times when you have to choose between comrades on a mission. It's one of the worse things that could ever happen, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. I can't tell you what to do in a situation like that, but you're going to have to get over that fear…soon."

"I'll protect my teammates so well, that will never happen," Satoshi said with determination. Even though he was making an attempt at calming down, Satoshi's voice still quivered. "I can't be asked to choose between two people that I care about."

Getting no pleasure out of seeing Satoshi shiver like that, Reiko stepped off of Sasori, once again twirling the kunai around. "I understand what you're saying. But sometimes there's no way out of it."

Masaru noticed a fleeting sad look cross Reiko's face. The expression was gone in the same instant it appeared, but Masaru understood. The way she's looking into the ground like that…she's had to choose between two people before.

Reiko looked back at her students. "Lesson number two: always keep your guard up. I'm standing here, an armed ninja, and you three are standing there are relaxed as if this were a school trip. This won't do for the real world out there. You three all know that the ninja world is on the brink of war - the 4th Great Ninja War. The roads between villages are more dangerous that they have been in years, and you always have to be on your guard. Always. Remember this: anyone could be your enemy, even if they look like your ally."

The three students nodded, sullen looks on their young faces. I might have taken it a bit too far with the sermon... Reiko thought. But they're old enough to hear it – they need to know who things work outside the village gates. Look at me … I sound like my dad.

"Hey, you three, wipe off those long faces. You might not have successfully completed the task, but that doesn't mean you don't get to eat lunch."

"Really?" Masaru asked. His face livened up at the mention of food.

"You have a one-track mind, don't you, Masaru-kun?" Sasori commented, earning the release of nervous, pent-up laughter from her teammates. "You never worry about anything for too long."

"Yeah, I'm taking you three out to lunch," Reiko stuck her kunai into her side pouch and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Training's over for today. So, who's up for ramen?"

"Wow," Naruto said. "Your kid puts mine to shame."

"Don't be modest," Kakashi said. "She's four years older than Masaru and has more years of experience under her belt. Plus, you were her teacher."

Naruto's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Thanks for the compliment, sensei, but you and Anko might have had a bit more to do with the development of her shinobi skills and personality than I did."

"That doesn't mean she didn't pick a few things up from you," Kakashi said.

"Reiko's always been more level-headed than most kids her age…but it's always surprising to hear her talk." Naruto smiled sheepishly at Kakashi. "She sounds just like you."

"Yeah, I know," Kakashi said. "It's kind of scary, actually."

"Well, I don't think Masaru could have asked for a better teacher," Naruto said. He jumped from his perch, landing silently next to Kakashi. "It will be fun to see how this turns out, won't it?"

"Heading back to the office?"

"Yeah, if I stay out any longer, then I think Yusuke will have a heart attack. I don't want to be responsible for an intern's death, you know?"

"See you around, then, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. He was gone in a silent puff of smoke.

"Four bowls of ramen coming right up,"

"Thank you, sir!" Reiko said. She looked to the right, down the small bar in Ichiraku Ramen, smiling at her students. "I'm buying, so be polite and eat what they give you."

"What we do for politeness," Masaru mumbled. He was less than happy to be sitting in Ichiraku, the one place his dad could never get away from. What's so good about ramen, anyway?

As Masaru fumed, Satoshi and Sasori laughed. Sasori had been lucky and gotten out of eating natto, for the time being, that is. Reiko had promised that next time she took them out for something: it would be sweets and natto.

"Stop laughing," Masaru said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not fair. The only reason Sasori-chan got out of eating natto was because Reiko-sensei had to meet a friend here at Ichiraku."

From the other side of the bar, on Reiko's left, a young man waved. "Sorry 'bout that, Masaru-kun."

"Hey, hey, what is he, like, your boyfriend, or something?" Masaru asked Reiko. The question only made the two older teens burst out laughing. Masaru shared a confused look with his teammates. "What did I say?"

"Arashi's not my boyfriend, Masaru-kun," Reiko said through a laugh. "He's a friend, well, my best friend. But, last I heard, we weren't dating."

"Then what are you doing eating lunch together?" Sasori asked in that nosy pre-teen girl kind of way. She eyed them slyly.

"What? Can't two good friends eat together once in a while?" Arashi said. "Or is that considered dating now?"

Ladies and Gentlemen: my best friend, Sarutobi Arashi. Son of Asuma and Kurenai Sarutobi. The kid's the closest thing I have to a brother, and in that sibling sort of way, I love him to death.

He idolizes Nara Shikamaru-sensei, and tends to follow him around like a puppy. Of course, I can't blame him – Shikamaru-sensei is sort of like his father. You see, Asuma-sensei died before Arashi was born, and I guess Shikamaru made Kurenai-sensei a promise that he would be there for their kid. And so far, he has been. Shikamaru-sensei even taught him how to play shoji…and Arashi can kick my ass at it.

Arashi's a year younger than I am, but we get along pretty damn well. He's a Chunin currently, but he's taking the Jonin exam over the summer. Even though his rank is technically 'Chunin', Arashi can whip up some incredible Jonin-level Jutsu. He's one of the Chunin I sometimes pray get assigned to me on a mission, because I know I can count on him.

For as long as I can remember, people have been teasing us about liking each other. It used to piss us off when we were younger, but now we just laugh at people who assume those kinds of things. Sure, he's relatively good looking: he's tall and has spiked black hair and weird eyes like his mom. And he's really a great guy, but…we're not those kinds of friends, you know?

"Here you go," the owner said. He placed five bowls of steaming ramen in front of his customers before going off into the back of the store. "Enjoy. I'll be in the back if you kids need anything."

"Thanks," Reiko said. She split her chopsticks and dipped them into her ramen eagerly. "Eat up, you three. Tomorrow's going to be a tough day." The three Genin began eating, Masaru less eagerly than the Uchiha twins, but he was eating anyway.

"So, your last mission any fun?" Reiko asked through a mouthful of ramen.

"It was okay," Arashi responded. "It went on longer than I would have liked it to go…they told us three days tops; we were there for a week."

"Find out anything good?" Reiko asked. Arashi nodded at Reiko's three charges down the bar, indicating that whatever he had to say wasn't for Genin ears.

"Not really," he said, shrugging. "I did notice that the roads have gotten loads more unsafe. We were ambushed three times before we even made it out of the Fire Country – and it's supposed to be friendly territory."

The curtain went up behind them, and a voice Reiko could have gone another day without hearing rang into the small establishment. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite little bastard." The voice was mean, full of spite.

Both Rieko and Arashi exchanged annoyed looks over their ramen. The owner of the voice, a young Jonin by the name of Kenosuke, leaned into the bar, stepping between Reiko and Sasori. He stared at Reiko and Arashi with mean eyes.

"Bastard, Kenosuke? That got old in like the second grade," Reiko said. She didn't bother to turn around, or even to put down her chopsticks. She turned casually to Arashi. "Do you have any idea why this guy can't get over the fact that my parents aren't married?"

"Damned if I know," Arashi said. He shrugged innocently and continued eating his ramen. After an exaggerated swallow, he added, "It could have something to do with the giant stick he has up his ass."

"What was that?" Kenosuke snarled.

"Piss off, Kenosuke," Arashi warned. "We're trying to enjoy our lunch, here."

"And what if I don't feel like it, huh?" He slammed his hand down on the counter. "What are you gonna do, faggot-face? Run home to mommy? Tell her a big kid was being mean to you?"

"Always brining his mother into the conversation," Reiko said, she smirked. "I swear you're obsessed or something." Arashi chuckled beside her.

"Ooh, faggot," Kenosuke teased. "Are you gonna let this girl fight your battles for you? Is that what mommy told you to do? She told you not to fight, didn't she? That's why your old man kicked it, he couldn't fight worth shit."

Arashi's chopsticks snapped in his hands. He tensed up, trying for all the world to ignore the comment. "You wanna run that by me again?"

"Arashi-kun…" Reiko gripped her friend's sleeve in warning. "He's not worth it, man…you know that."

Kenosuke smiled. "Haha…just like I thought. You don't fight back." He turned to leave the ramen bar. "Oh, and bastard, say 'hello' to your slut of a mother for me, will ya?"

In an incredibly hypocritical move, Reiko bolted from her stool. "You-!" She grabbed Kenosuke's shoulder, turning him to facer her, and rammed her fist into his surprised face. The boy groaned and fell backward onto the floor.

"Reiko-sensei…" Masaru whispered weakly. He looked at Satoshi and Sasori for some sort of clarification as to what the hell they had just witnessed. Both siblings sat side-by-side, their faces blank and expressionless; needless to say that neither of them could offer Masaru any sort of answer.

Reiko bent down and grabbed the front of Kenosuke's now blood-stained uniform shirt. "Hehe…you're really one to talk you know that? Listen pal, my mom may not be married, but I know for a fact that she's not screwing everyone who knocks on the door…which is more than I can say for your mother. So don't ever let me hear that kind of bullshit coming out of your mouth again."

"Reiko," Arashi complained.

"You'd might as well," Reiko sighed.

A devilish smile spread over Arashi's face as he stepped on Kenosuke's chest, and leaned down. "You wanna talk about fathers? Yeah, man, my dad's dead…he died fighting some sick bastard fifteen years ago. But for what it's worth, at least he's not screwing the milkman's wife." With a chuckle, Arashi slapped Kenosuke's cheek lightly before stepping over the boy's prone form.

Reiko's fist was still shaking from the sudden rush she'd just gotten. She looked up at her three students; their awestruck faces were staring up at her in something mixed between amazement, fear, and disbelief. She sighed, digging her hand into her pockets. "Right, ninja lesson number…whatever we're on: never lose your cool when an enemy taunts you."

With that, Reiko slapped enough money to pay for the four bowls of ramen on the counter and walked out of the bar. Arashi paid for his own ramen and followed her of the restaurant. "You're so selfish, Reiko-chan…"

"He crossed the line," Reiko said. "That little…" As the pair walked away, their voices faded into the noon crowd.

The three Genin remained at Ichiraku, not sure if they should have spoken up during the encounter or not. Masaru was the first to snap back. "Hey, hey…Sasori-chan, what the hell was that all about?"

Sasori looked from the two empty places at the bar to the unconscious Jonin lying on the floor. "I honestly have no idea what just happened here. But that guy was mean…and he deserved what he got."

"Reiko-sensei really put him in his place, didn't she?"

"Both of them did," Sasori muttered. In a daze, she turned back to her ramen and began eating slowly, almost as if not really taking in the fact of what she was doing. Masaru, seeming to forget for a minute that he didn't like ramen, also continued to eat his meal while his mind wandered.

Satoshi stared quietly at the two abandoned bowls of ramen, steam still rising from them. The way the kid had just started bothering Rieko and Arashi for no reason made him feel kind of sad. It was all violence nowadays, wasn't it? During their training session, Reiko had said that the simple fact of being alive was enough for another ninja to attack you, but he didn't think something like that would happen between ninja of the same village. As he set his attention back to his own ramen, Satoshi sighed sadly, "I think…when you're a ninja, you have lots of enemies."

Alright, so that was that! Hope you liked it. Please read and review!

-Greeneyesstaring