Here's the next update! Thanks everyone who went to our website! We've got about 41 hits last time I checked, so keep it up! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The next day was relatively nice with warm breezes passing by every several minutes. Everyone met on-time in front of the gate, all ready to go. What the group of shinobi was guarding was several delivery carts with boxes upon boxes of supplies. The carts were to be pulled by two horses each, one on each side.

"Hey Naruto-kun…" Midori said uncertainly, "Do you really think you should be teasing the horses like that?"

"Like what?" Naruto asked as he did a jig in perfect view of the horses. However, he found himself being pulled backwards when he turned around to shake his rear. The horse had a tight grip on his backpack. "OI! Leggo!"

Before the horse could chew Naruto's backpack off, the head supervisor of the delivery coaxed the animal into letting go. He was a tall man, probably around Gai's height and had messy brown hair and dark, sleepy eyes that hid behind a pair of sunglasses. A rugged beard traced his mouth and chin.

"We ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, Nemuru-san," Marieke nodded. "Forgive my subordinate's monkey behavior."

"Monkey!" Naruto earned himself a punch to the noggin. "Ow…"

"Why, oh why did you request him, Hokage-sama?" Marieke muttered under her breath.

"I can hear you!"

The group traveled for hours without taking a break until Nemuru felt like the horses (and himself) needed a rest. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, much to about half the team's disappointment. But this gave the group some time to have a peaceful lunch.

"COUGH! COUGH! GACK!"

"BREATHE!"

WHACK!

"GAAAAACCCKKK!"

Well…semi-peaceful.

"Chew your food, Naruto-kun…" Midori sighed. "Why do you have to eat so fast? It's not like we're going anywhere until everyone's done."

"Well, I can train while everyone's still eating then! Hey Midori-chan, you're done already, how about you train with me?"

"Me?" Midori flushed.

"I'll go easy on ya," Naruto winked.

"Yeah, Midori, how about it?" Kyoko grinned.

"You can totally take him on," Nami teased.

"Sensei…?" Midori said uncertainly.

"I'm not stopping you," Marieke shrugged. "Actually, sparring with Naruto would be good training for you."

Midori nodded and stood up. "Okay, Naruto-kun. You're on."

Naruto jumped up energetically and got into a fighting position. "Alright! The rules of the game is whoever's pinned to the ground first loses! And just for you, I'll throw in a no-lethal jutsu rule!"

"Thanks for your kindness."

"Three! Two! One! RUMBLE!" Nami shouted, throwing her fist into the air.

"This isn't boxing…" Kyoko said.

"And your point is?"

The girls' conversation was quickly cut short as the sound of impact was heard. They turned to the spar to see Naruto's fist had collided with a bright layer of light that hovered just before Midori's arm. Midori snapped her arm up, causing Naruto's hand to move with it. She swiftly aimed her chakra-powered open palm into his gut, but Naruto was quick to avoid the attack by jumping high into the air. Forced to lean forward, Midori was helpless for a split second.

Naruto flipped in midair and brought his leg down on Midori who created a thin field of chakra above her head. This stopped Naruto's kick long enough for an opportunity to get the heck out of the way.

"That was close, Naruto-kun," Midori praised.

Naruto flashed a grin and made a hand sign. "Let's cut it even closer then…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And just like that, five Naruto clones were hurling themselves in Midori's direction.

Midori narrowed her eyes in concentration then charged towards the lead clone. Looking as if she was going to do a cartwheel, she held her arms out. When the Naruto clone was close enough, she jumped in the air and vaulted herself onto him, hands on his shoulders. With a strong thrust, she threw him over her body and into another clone, making them disappear into thin air. She landed on her hands then spun with her legs spread, performing a spinning kick (isn't there a name for that?) and propelling the other clones out of existence.

"Midori's been practicing her taijutsu…" Nami remarked.

"Of course," Marieke said. "You don't think she stays home all day after training, do you?"

Her students stared at their sensei oddly. Then…

"YOU'VE BEEN SECRETLY TRAINING HER, HAVEN'T YOU?!" they screamed in perfect harmony.

"No, no," Marieke said, putting her hands up. "I don't play favorites."

"Tch…"

All that extra training with Team Gai sure pays off… Midori thought. "Come on, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto created more kage bunshin and once again bounded towards the girl. One clone threw a hail of shuriken which Midori dodged and deflected. It looked like they were going to have a reenactment of what happened a few seconds ago, but as soon as Midori destroyed a clone, one came up from behind and ran into her back.

Surprised, Midori realized one of the weapons thrown earlier had been either the original or a clone in disguise. Tumbling roughly into a group of gathered clones, she was immediately grabbed by tens of hands. In several long seconds, all but one vanished.

The real Naruto had pinned her down by the shoulders, grinning. "I win."

Midori sighed with a smile, "I guess you do."

Naruto frowned as he helped her to her feet. "What's with the smile?"

"I'm happy you won. Good job."

"Wait a second…Did you let me win?" Naruto demanded.

"Why do you think that?"

"You're not answering the question!"

Midori giggled and started walking back to the group, Naruto still insisting she tell him.

"Now that everybody's done, why don't we continue?" Marieke suggested. "Nemuru-san, we're—" She was cut off by a loud snore from the supervisor.

"He went to sleep?!" Nami exclaimed.

Marieke took a few minutes to gently wake him up, and they were off once more. It wasn't long until some impatient minds decided to voice their thoughts.

"This is so boring!" Nami whined. "Is what we're delivering important at all?"

A drowsy Nemuru was instantly wide-awake when he heard the girl's question. "Of course it is! Why in the world do you think the information wasn't specified? It's because you are genin!"

"If it's that important, why is it C-Ranked?" Kyoko questioned.

"Because…we didn't have enough money to make it B-Ranked…" Nemuru coughed.

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Oh."

"But after this, we'll be rolling in money!"

"Really?" Naruto tried to sneak a peek into one of the carts but instantly felt pain as his ear was tugged by Marieke. "OW!"

"No, no, Naruto," Marieke said calmly as she released him. "That isn't what we're here for."

"It's not like we're doing anything…" Naruto grumbled. Man…I miss doing missions with Sakura-chan already…She wasn't this abusive…

"This mission is stranger than our first," Midori whispered to her friends. "It's a complete mystery."

"And what's new?" Kyoko sighed.

"If it's a mystery then why isn't anything exciting happening?" Nami said.

"It's only the first day, you know," Midori pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah…"

As the sky darkened, they started to set up camp. The area they were currently in had a few trees, fairly tall grass in some places, and more than solid ground. There were two tents: one tent for Team Twelve and the other for Naruto and the men who had been handling the horses and carts. Nemuru insisted on sleeping outside the tent on one of the carts to guard his precious goods. Although Marieke tried to persuade him that if there was any trouble, she'd sense it, he still insisted and soon won the argument.

Nemuru isn't the type to stay awake very long, unfortunately. Once he was fast asleep, Marieke and some of the other men who were still awake transferred him from the cart to the tent. After all, there would be quite a lot of insects flying around ready to feast on human blood like vampires.

A few hours later, Marieke's shift had passed without any trouble and so did Nami's. Soon, it was Kyoko's turn.

"Hey, don't screw up," Nami said sleepily as she got back into the tent.

"Feh…I doubt there'll be anything out here," Kyoko sighed. "It's not worth staying up for…"

"I'm not gonna doubt that," Nami admitted. Suddenly, she got a devious look on her face. "Hey Kyoko."

"What?"

"Wanna go check out the mystery item?"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow, then ginned. "Do you really have to ask?"

Nami returned the grin and said, "Cool. All we have to do is get past sensei and the others."

However, "sensei" wasn't there to catch them at the moment. Some time around halfway during Nami's shift, she had sensed strange chakra nearby. It was faint, and it barely seemed like anything, but she figured that she'd check it out anyway. And here she was now, running through the field and into the woods.

I have a bad feeling about this, Marieke thought gravely. Squinting, she noticed two figures in the distance. She covered all traces of her chakra and flitted behind a tree closer to the figures.

"You've released your chakra freely again."

"It's so troublesome to disguise it. Why should I? It's not like any of these people are important enough to keep alive right? What's a few kills if we get ambushed, huh?"

"Don't be careless."

"Heh. Does that mean you care if I chop down a few people or not?"

"It doesn't matter to me what you do. Just get what we came here for."

"Whatever you say, Itachi-san."

I thought so! Marieke narrowed her eyes. Uchiha Itachi…and he has a partner. I've got to take them down fast or else—

"Who do we have here?"

Marieke flinched as a kunai flew at her head. Ducking, she managed to avoid the kunai. She then darted to the side to dodge another attack. Looking up in a crouching position, she was able to distinguish a dark cloak and two red eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi," Marieke spat.

"And just who are you?" Itachi said.

"Hmph. You haven't heard of me?" Marieke said. "I'm offended."

"Kisame-san," Itachi said, glancing at Kisame. "You retrieve the item. I'll silence the woman."

"You always get to do the fun stuff," Kisame frowned.

"Don't waste time."

"Yeah, yeah."

Kisame immediately started to run, and Marieke relocated herself in his path.

"Move," Itachi ordered, appearing beside her.

Marieke had no other choice but to move to get away from the rouge Uchiha. Pushing off backwards, she made several hand signs and put her hand in the shape of a C to her mouth. With a hefty blow, smoke streamed out, creating a fog as she spouted, "Haze Breath no Jutsu!"

Itachi was still, waiting for Marieke's next move. He felt a rise in chakra and then he heard her shout, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Swarm,!"

Suddenly, a mass of moths ten times the size of regular moths flew straight towards him in all directions. Itachi leapt into the air, rocketing out of the haze and making hand seals. At the end of the chain, he murmured, "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu."

The moths disintegrated in the flames and the haze was soon dissolved. Itachi landed gracefully on the ground and looked over at Marieke. "You're going to have to do better than that."

Marieke scowled. "I haven't even started, pretty boy."

Kyoko and Nami had snuck towards the closest cart, darting around, rolling in the grass, anything that seemed "James Bond" to them. When they finally reached one of the wooden vehicles (which took them several seconds more than they actually would've taken due to spy play) they discovered the boxes inside weren't labeled.

"Looks like we're gonna have to pry one open," Nami declared.

"Leave it to me," Kyoko said as she whipped out a kunai and started to skillfully carve against the wood. "I'll have this baby open faster than you can say—"

"I see dead people."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!" Nami and Kyoko screamed as they felt a hand on each of their shoulders. Whirling around brandishing kunai, they swung the weapons blindly only to feel an odd impact. Then they noticed the light green glow.

"Midori!" they choked.

Midori had both her arms up and a thick layer of green chakra leaking over them. Lodged in the chakra were Nami and Kyoko's knives. "What the heck do you guys think you're doing?" Midori hissed, dropping her arms and in the process releasing the kunai. "You know you're not supposed to be here!"

"What about you, huh?" Nami demanded. "You're not supposed to be walking around saying, 'I see dead people'! What's up with that anyway?!"

"I said it because you guys are dead," Midori said darkly. "If Marieke-sensei finds you, you'll be deader than dead."

"Well you didn't have to scare the tar out of us," Kyoko pointed out, patting her chest to calm herself from the adrenaline rush.

"You guys just get scared easily in the dark."

"What?! Just because we get freaked out by some zombie of a teammate in the dead of night doesn't mean we're easily scared!"

"I second that!" Nami concurred.

"If Nami hadn't told zombie stories around the fire you wouldn't be so hyped up."

"SHUT UP!"

"Sh!" Midori clamped her hands against her teammates' mouths. "You guys want sensei to hear you or what?"

"He-llooo girls. What're we all talking about?"

A cold hand seemed to trace down the girls' spines at the same time. Slowly turning around, their eyes widened as an expression of horror and shock fell over their faces.

"S-Se-Sensei?!" Midori squeaked as her hands instantly covered her mouth.

The sight was bloodcurdling. Marieke's face seemed to be peeling, and although it might've been a trick of the moonlight (the girls highly doubted that) it seemed her flesh was a cold, green color. Her bloodshot eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her head at any second and they could easily spot her ribs through her ripped and bloody clothing.

Midori had seen enough. She was the first one ready to let out a hoarse scream until Nami's hand denied her of doing so.

Kyoko, who was about to lay a can of kickbutt on the zombie sensei noticed her friend's actions and stared at her questioningly.

"Drop the act, Naruto," Nami ordered firmly.

"Act?" Kyoko repeated. Looking back at Zombie Marieke, she saw a cloud of smoke replace her and then an amused Naruto in turn. "EH? Naruto!"

Midori flushed.

THWACK!

"Ack!" Naruto clutched his head.

"Naruto-kun, you jerk!" Midori bellowed as she lowered her fist. "What's the big idea?!"

"Heh…you hypocrite…" Nami smirked.

"What was that?!" Midori glared.

"Hey, weren't you the one who said we should be quiet?" Kyoko chuckled.

"What is it, Make Fun of Midori Day?" Midori grumbled.

"Heheh…But these guys are real heavy sleepers if they haven't heard all your screams," Naruto said slyly.

"What're you doing out here anyway?" Nami asked.

"What you guys are doing," Naruto said in a quieter tone. "I wanna see what's so great about these so-called treasures."

"I did not come out here to see them," Midori said stubbornly.

"You're no fun at all, Midori-chan."

"Aren't you at least curious?" Kyoko prodded.

"Not in the least."

"Go back to the tent if you want," Nami said nonchalantly. "But whatever we see, we won't tell you."

Midori narrowed her eyes. "Okay, maybe I'm a little curious."

"Say no more. Crack that baby open, Kyoko."

Kyoko nodded. She knocked her fist against the box twice then popped the lid off. "Ta da."

"Nice."

Nami and Naruto immediately peered into the box while Midori stood in the background with her arms crossed, although glancing over their shoulders.

"Eh? Scrolls?"

"Maybe they're forbidden?" Naruto suggested.

"Why would they be? If they were they'd be placed in a higher ranking," Midori said, watching Kyoko pick one.

"Well whatever they are, they're…" Kyoko trailed off as her eyes darted across the paper. Then a look of utter bafflement crossed her face. "…"

"What is it, Kyoko?" Nami asked. She looked over her friend's shoulder and a look that matched Kyoko's appeared on her face as well. This got Naruto curious, but as soon as he snuck a peek he hollered a surprised cry.

"Eh?" Midori said. But when she tried to see, her teammates shut the scroll. "What?"

"You don't wanna read it, Midori!" Kyoko said quickly.

"Yeah, it's not something your pure eyes should see," Nami added.

Midori raised an eyebrow.

"It's dirty smut," Naruto said. "Almost as dirty as Ero-Sennin's."

"That bad?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then take it away!" she ordered.

"I can't believe how stupid this is." Nami crossed her arms angrily. "I got so worked up over these precious goods? They're probably all pervy and wrong! I'm going back to sle—eep!" Nami shrieked as a large bandage-covered sword split the wood between her legs, causing the cart to tip.

"Nami!" her teammates called as they all were forced forward.

"Who's that?!" Naruto exclaimed. He got to his feet and got into a fighting position.

"I knew it. Just a bunch of brats," Kisame remarked, lifting his sword. "Hold still. This'll only take a few seconds. Eh?" He glanced at Naruto then grinned toothily. "Oh! So it's the little Kyuubi brat! Well isn't this my lucky day? The scroll and another shot at the jinchuuriki."

BTW The sneak peek for next chapter might not be here today (my other computer's being evil) so check tomorrow if I don't get it up tonight! And guess who's here? KYOKO AND NAMI.

HEY IT'S THE NAMSTER! o CRAP! I MESSED UP MIDORI'S STORY! AHHHH! (minutes later) It's all good in the hood!

uh..hi...and now a random update on my life I GOT A KON PLUSHIE!! YAY ME! anouther stuffed animal to add to my collection along with my L plush and Gaara plush...U KNOW UR JEALOUS!

THAT IS MY LINE! GOSHIES I KNOW UR JEALOUS OF ME! BUT DON'T COPY THE NAMSTER! U JUST GOT PWNED!

Um...yeah. THOSE ARE MY FRIENDS. R&R please! Until next time...

-HM