Hello people! Sorry for not updating in such a long time but some time and health as well as technical issues kept me from writing. I finally managed to make enough time and although I'm still ill I'll try to update as often as I can between my meds and my naps (no sarcasm whatsoever here). On to a lighter note, the poll to decide whether I should write a sequel and/or prequel is still up so if you haven't please vote. So far it looks like I'll have my hands full writing both.
Anyways, thanks to Gravenimage, Valinor's Twilight, Tateno Atsukino, Eterna1, Madeline Cullen, Avonda Alleyne, Yoosha, , EggrollPerson, The Memories of Old, .Hitachiinx3, and unknown player for reading and reviewing and thanks to all those who alert and favorite me and my stories. Please review if you have the chance and please enjoy the story. Now on to the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the lovely Rei and the lazy Jin. Credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto –San for his brilliant characters and dialogue, some of which I will be using to preserve the tone of the story.
Chapter Sixty-Three
It was early in the morning after Rei and her master had arrived in Konoha and the house they now occupied was completely silent. Jin was asleep in the room that had been provided for him mumbling every now and then about lazy brats. Said lazy brat was nowhere in the house.
At the moment, Rei was sitting before the gravestone in the training grounds. A serious look was on the girl's face as she sat there staring at the names engraved on the stone. She had been sitting there for a long time, trying to clear her mind. The sun had just risen and she had actually been up to see it. She sighed as she closed her eyes and got ready to leave. With a quick goodbye to her father she stood up and walked off towards the Hokage's building.
She was glad she didn't run into anyone she knew. She really didn't feel like chatting at the moment. Besides, Tsunade was probably waiting for her, that is if she wasn't asleep. She grinned a bit at the thought of the oh-so-powerful Hokage drooling on some important document.
She climbed up the stairs and walked down the long hallway to the Godaime's office. Rei already knew what the woman would say and she really wasn't in the mood to hear it. It was bad enough that her own friends and teacher tried to stop her from going after Sasuke. With a quick knock on the door and a soft sigh of resignation she entered the spacious room to stand before the Tsunade. She was mildly surprised to see her fully awake.
"Good morning, Lady Tsunade."
"From your look I wouldn't say it's too good." She said with some humor.
Rei managed to raise a brow at the unexpected joke in the otherwise serious situation. Tsunade sighed and leaned over her desk with her hands folded beneath her chin.
"I suppose you want to get right to the point."
The girl nodded in agreement.
"I allowed you to leave Konoha because it was important for you, as well as for your teammates, to become stronger. However, now that you're back I can't allow you to go after Sasuke, at least not unless you give up your desire to kill him."
The young girl before her didn't flinch at the stern tone in the woman's voice. She cocked her head t o the side and looked at Tsunade with cold eyes. When she spoke it was with an even tone that betrayed none of her emotions.
"Lady Tsunade, I have no intentions of either lying to you or of giving up. My goal remains the same."
Tsunade looked down.
"Although…"
The Hokage looked up and saw a look of hesitation on the girl's face. For a moment she thought she saw remorse, but the expression flashed across so quickly that it was too difficult to distinguish.
"Naruto-kun and Sakura-san, as well as Kakashi-sensei, they have trained and grown a lot just so that they could get Sasuke back. That's why I think I can at least give them a chance to fix things in their own way."
"Are you saying that you won't go after Sasuke's life?"
"For the time being, at least."
Rei was sure that she saw uncertainty in the Hokage's face but she merely curved the corners of her mouth, barely enough to make the small smile visible.
"Don't worry, Hokage-sama, you'll know when their time runs out."
Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. Dealing with the girl could be exhausting at times, but she knew she would keep her word.
"Oh that's right!"
Tsunade looked up at Rei and was unfazed by the sudden change of expression on her face. A moment ago she had been serious, almost solemn, but now she resembled her usual self. Apparently she had just realized something and her face lit up at the thought.
"I wanted to ask you about Jin-sensei."
Tsunade blinked recalling the man that had arrived with Rei the previous day.
"I was wondering if he could stay here though I'm not really sure for how long he'll be here…" She trailed off thoughtfully.
"That's fine, just keep him out of trouble."
"I will, maybe he could even help out with some missions since he's pretty good at ninja stuff." She said cheerfully.
"I'll think about it. I'll send a message if either one of you is needed."
"Alright then, I should go now."
Tsunade nodded and the girl left.
Rei arrived home and grinned at the sight of her new teacher with his sleeves rolled up and his hair tied back as he swept the porch.
"Good morning Jin-sensei!"
The man turned and glared at her. The small twitch on his left eye did not go unnoticed and only served to widen her grin.
"Where have you been?" He asked with annoyance clear in his voice.
"Ah, well, I had to take care of some business…You missed a spot there." She said pointing to said spot.
Rei bit her lip to prevent the laughter building up inside her from bursting at the sight of her more than annoyed teacher.
"I'm kidding!" She said quickly, putting her hands up as Jin's grip on the broomstick tightened dangerously.
"Anyway, since you've been working so hard let's go get some ramen."
Jin sighed and slumped forward.
"Fine."
They walked down the streets of Konoha, which grew more crowded as the morning progressed, and soon reached the small ramen shop that had a special place in the hearts and stomachs of most of the population.
"So, what business did you have to attend to that actually made you get up before me?"
"Hey! Are you saying that I can't get up early?"
"I didn't say that, I just said, I've never seen it and that it's highly unlikely. It's kinda like a natural disaster, completely unexpected and rare."
"Watch it you old man or I'll throw you out into the street."
Jin just rolled his eyes, unable to respond due to a mouthful of ramen.
"So why did you go to t he Hokage?" He asked softly, looking down at his noodles.
Rei stopped, with her chopsticks halfway up to her mouth and frowned.
"We should talk about this later."
Jin looked up and blinked in surprise at the girl's cheerful expression.
"Let's just enjoy the ramen that you so generously offered to pay for."
"What? I didn't-"
"Hey, mister shopkeeper, another bowl please, my generous and kind sensei is buying!"
Jin sighed and shook his head.
"Excuse me."
Both Rei and Jin turned to look at whoever had spoken. Rei grinned at the sight of her teammate.
"Hello Sakura!"
"Good morning." She said nodding towards Jin and Rei.
"Our team has to meet up now so please come with me."
Rei frowned and sighed as she got up.
"I guess I'll see you later." She told Jin.
Jin just waved his hand dismissively not turning away from his noodles. Rei's eye twitched and she smacked her teacher on the head before walking off with Sakura.
"So, do you know why we're being summoned?" Rei asked.
"Yes, but we're almost there so we should just wait until we meet up with the others."
"Right."
When they arrived at their meeting spot Rei saw two people that she didn't recognize standing there, one with his back turned towards them. The other looked older and wore the regular shinobi outfit. Before they could get closer they heard footsteps behind them.
"Rei-chan! Sakura-chan!"
Rei turned with a smile and saw Naruto.
"Hello, Naruto-kun."
Naruto grinned and they proceeded to where the other two were. As soon as they reached them Naruto pointed to the youngest of the two in an accusing manner.
"It's you!"
Rei and Sakura looked at each other in confusion before turning back to Naruto The other man ignored them and introduced himself.
"um…from now on Team Kakashi, I'll be taking Kakashi's place as…"
"Naruto, do you know this person?" Sakura asked.
"Sorry about before, I just wanted to see how strong my team member was. I just didn't know how much I'd have to look after you." The black haired boy said.
Rei frowned as she looked at him and realized why he seemed so familiar. She looked at Naruto, not wanting to gaze into the stranger's face.
"What did you say?" Naruto yelled, ready to fight.
"Hey! He's our teammate now! Calm down!" Sakura told him as she held him back.
"…but you're…not that nice…" She said hesitantly.
Their new teammate laughed a bit, but it seemed to be an empty laugh.
"Really? But I like ugly girls like you."
"You what?!" Sakura screamed ready to send him to the hospital with her new strength.
The other man held her back, much like she had done with Naruto.
"Hey, remember what you just said to Naruto?!"
After both Naruto and Sakura calmed down their new team leader began to explain the situation.
"Anyway…from now on the four of us are on a mission….But look at you…there's no time to toss you all into a cage and get you used to each other so introduce yourselves."
"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said as he glared at their new teammate.
"I'm Haruno Sakura." Rei could see a vein throbbing on her forehead.
"Hattori Rei." She said in a much lighter tone than the other two.
"My name is Sai." The boy said with his ever present smile.
"Well, now that that's done I'll explain our mission."
Everyone turned more serious at this and all previous feuds were forgotten, at least temporarily.
"We will got to the Tenchi bridge where we will intercept one of Akatsuki's spies in Orochimaru's organization and bring them back. This is a chance to find out about Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke. We can gain a valuable source of information which may lead to formulate a plan to assassinate Orochimaru and take Sasuke back. So keep focused!"
It was clear from the look on Naruto's face that the last part was unnecessary.
"We will assemble at the front gate in one hour! After sorting out equipment we will depart!"
With that everyone left. Sai and their new leader on their own and the other three as a group.
"I really can't stand that jerk Sai!"
Rei and Sakura turned to look at Naruto.
"Why does he have to take Sasuke's place…? We're enough for Team Kakashi!"
Rei smiled weakly.
"He's definitely rude…but don't you think he resembles Sasuke a bit? His face, his voice…"
Rei glanced at Sakura, who was looking at Naruto. She frowned and looked away agreeing silently in her mind.
"Not a bit! Sasuke's cooler…no…He's just better!" Naruto said.
"You're right, Sasuke is somewhat cooler than Sai." Sakura responded.
"What do you mean 'somewhat'?! Sasuke's way better!"
Rei smiled weakly at Naruto, but she wished her teammates would talk about something else. Even after all the time that had passed it bothered her to talk about Sasuke. Seeing Sai bothered her as well. Though Naruto denied it, there was definitely a strong resemblance between Sai and Sasuke. She guessed she would just have to ignore that since they would be working together. She just hoped she wouldn't act recklessly.
End Chapter Sixty-Three
Hope you guys liked it and again, sorry for taking so long and for making it so short. I promise I'll work hard from now on so don't kill me. Please review if you have the time and vote on the poll.