Naruto couldn't help but grin when he came upon a beaten up and irate looking Jiraiya grumbling at Gohan about interrupting his "important research". Once he and Iruka had calmed down and finished eating, Naruto, having nothing better to do, excused himself and set out to find Jiraiya and Gohan, hoping for some training or at least something to take the edge off his boredom. His grin broadened as an idea occurred to him on how he could annoy the self proclaimed super pervert.
"Oy Ero-Senin, did you get caught peeking again?" Jiriaya's eye twitched at the barb.
"Stay out of this brat, it doesn't concern you!" Naruto just laughed at his expense.
"Ha! As if! Those women probably heard you giggling a mile away!" Jiraiya suddenly developed a very dangerous looking twitch in his left eyebrow and stomped over to Naruto with the intent of pounding some respect into the boy, but Naruto had other plans.
"Pervert!" Jiraiya looked like he was about ready to laugh at the blond.
"That's not going to work Naruto, Gohan already..." Jiraiya was cut off as the same angry mob of women from before came stampeding back out of the hot spring and began to once again pummel Jiraiya within an inch of his life. Naruto snickered and beckoned Gohan over to him. When Gohan got close, Naruto leaned into his ear and began whispering.
"I know a technique that'll make him do whatever you want. It's how I got him to train me in the first place. Are you interested?" Gohan brightened at this and nodded fervently. Naruto grinned as they separated and he went through the hand seals necessary to perform a henge. There was a puff of smoke and where Naruto once stood there was now a beautiful and very nude blond vixen with clouds covering her in just the right places. She winked at Gohan and spoke in a very flirty tone.
"I call this my oiroke no jutsu. It's good for distracting perverts if you have to get away and for making Ero-senin do whatever you want. What do you think Gohan-kun?" She giggled and winked at him again. Now, if you were to really think about Gohan and how his life has been up to this point, it wouldn't be very difficult to understand why he reacted the way he did. Most people would probably say that he's no longer innocent after having seen death so many times and having fought through life and death battles, but innocence is not measured by just one factor, rather there are several factors that determine how innocent one is. While it is true that in the matters of life and death Gohan could no longer be considered innocent, as far as matters of the opposite sex goes he was probably more clueless than anyone else his age, having never really been around any females of his age that he could develop any kind of a crush on. And so, it should come as no surprise that upon witnessing such an...exotic technique, Gohan's face lit up enough to resemble a tomato as all the blood in his body rushed to his head which lead to his pulling something Hinata would be very well known for. Son Gohan fainted.
As soon as Gohan's head hit the ground, Naruto dispelled his technique and stared at the half Saiya-jin in confusion. Something like that was the last reaction he would've expected. To be honest, everyone else he'd ever used the technique on had gone through one of two different reactions. The first reaction would obviously come from the perverts, as this usually entailed a lecherous grin, then uncontrollable giggling, and then a sudden eruption of blood from the nose that would usually send said pervert flying several hundred feet through the air. Of course, this reaction varied depending on the pervert as some would skip one or both of the first two and go right to the blood explosion, or would control it better and only get a small trickle that could be easily cleaned up. This reaction usually came from men, though to Naruto's occasional horror some women would also fall prey to such a response. Of course, the second reaction always came from those with a higher moral standing, or from repeated victims of pervertedness. Now, the second reaction could vary widely depending on the person and even more so the gender of the person, though one factor always stayed the same, and that would be the righteous fury at such a despicable technique being used. Usually, if it was a man the technique was being used on they would get annoyed or give Naruto some type of lecture, but if it was a woman, well, let's just say that Naruto would be lucky to come out in one piece. But this...this was something he never would've expected to happen. So it was to the scene of Naruto staring blankly and confusedly at an unconscious Gohan that Jiraiya came upon once he managed to get away from his latest peep victims.
"What the hell happened to him?" It took Naruto a moment to register Jiraiya's presence, but when he did he broke out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter at the sannin's roughed up appearance. Jiraiya scowled at him but repeated his question, hoping to get the topic away from himself. Naruto once again took on a look of confusion.
"I don't know. I just showed him my oiroke no jutsu and he turned red like Hinata does and fainted. I wonder if she got him sick. Jiriaya shook his head and chuckled in amusement at Naruto's naivety.
"Maybe." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small grey bag. He held the bag in front of Gohan's nose for a moment before the boy shot awake.
"Now, what was it you wanted from me Gohan?" He asked, his previous anger at having his research interrupted forgotten in light of amusement at Naruto's usual obliviousness and Gohan's previous situation.
"Actually, I was going to ask if you could help me with my chakra control. Kakashi-sensei already taught me tree walking, but I was hoping that maybe you had something more advanced." Jiriaiya raised an eyebrow at him.
"So I take it you've already mastered tree walking?" After receiving an affirmative nod, he led Gohan over to a nearby bridge which allowed people to cross over the stream that led into the hot springs.
"What I'm going to be teaching you now is an advanced chakra control exercise called water walking. Water walking is much more difficult to master than tree climbing, as instead of releasing a set amount of chakra you must release a constant flow to balance yourself on the water, or else you'll sink. I'll demonstrate it for you before you begin your training." He stepped up to the edge of the water and gathered chakra in his feet and slowly took several steps out on the water, giving Gohan enough time to observe the technique in detail. Gohan's eyes widened in surprise when Jiraiya didn't immediately sink into the water. Sure, he'd believed the toad hermit when he'd explained the technique to him, but to see it in action was another matter entirely. He grinned in excitement as he gathered chakra into his feet, all the while thinking of all the impressive techniques he'd seen so far, until his thoughts were rudely cut off as he immediately sank underneath the water, only to come flying out of it seconds later red as a tomato. Jiraiya grinned mischievously and chuckled at his antics. Oh, how payback was sweet.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that this water is what feeds the hot springs? Silly me. Well, you may want to figure it out quickly or you'll be boiled like a lobster. Now, you'd better get started unless you plan on wasting the day away like that." He sat down to observe Gohan's training and was impressed when it only took him three hours to stop sinking to the bottom. Not to say that he had mastered it, but the boy was already able to keep himself at least partially afloat, which was saying a lot by itself. After about another hour, Gohan had finally gotten to the point where he could walk on the water without sinking. He looked over to Jiraiya and twitched in annoyance to find the man sleeping under a nearby tree. Utilizing a trick he'd learned from his father during their training before the Cell games, Gohan concentrated on the water around him and used his energy to lift a good portion of it out of the main body. Sweating at the massive amount of concentration this required, he slowly guided the water over top of Jiraiya's sleeping form and released it, causing Jiraiya to jump awake, sputtering and turning red from the heat of the water. Gohan inwardly laughed at the sight but outwardly just rolled his eyes.
'Serves him right for going to sleep when he was supposed to be training me. This is supposed to be one of the strongest ninja in the world? Psh! How irresponsible. It's a good thing I was with Naruto at that motel or who knows what might've happened.' Gohan slowly made his way over to an irate yet oblivious Jiraiya and put on an innocent face.
"Are you alright Jiraiya-sensei? What happened?" Jiraiya just growled irritably.
"I was paying too much attention to your training and not enough enough to my surroundings and somebody snuck up and dumped water on me." He failed to mention the part where he was sleeping, not wanting to further irritate the boy lest he be put through more physical pain. Gohan just brushed the comment aside and informed Jiraiya that he'd mastered the technique. This caused Jiraiya to sweat a little as it signified that Gohan knew he'd been sleeping, but relaxed when no immediate retaliation presented itself. Jiraiya told Gohan to show him, so he walked out onto the water and ran a couple laps up and down its length. When Gohan returned to him Jiraiya nodded his approval.
"Good. Normally I wouldn't do this, but since you seem to be a promising student if you show up here again tomorrow at the same time I might teach you a ninjutsu or two. For now though I've got research to conduct." Without another word he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Gohan stared at the spot he'd been standing in for a moment.
"I've gotta learn how to do that." Having nothing better to do, he went to search for Naruto, who'd left complaining of boredom after the first hour of his training. He hardly got two steps when an ANBU with an eagle mask on appeared before him.
"Son Gohan, Hokage-sama has requested your presence in her office."
"Alright, thank you." The ANBU merely nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Immediately after the ANBU was gone, Gohan took to the rooftops and headed for the Hokage tower at top speed, wondering why she would want to see him so soon after he'd left. Once he reached the Hokage's office, he was further confused by the presence of Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru. Tsunade greeted each of them with a serious expression.
"Good, you're all here. I'm sure you all are wondering why you've been called here, so I'll ask Shikamaru to explain the details of your mission. The young Chunin sighed in annoyance as he began explaining what they'd all been called to do.
"As troublesome as it is, we've recently received word by messenger bird that one of Orochimaru's experiments has somehow managed to escape captivity and wants to give us some information on the location of at least one of his bases and also some of his plans for the near future. Basically we're to rendezvous with this guy at the border to rice country at a place called the valley of the end and escort him to Konoha. Due to the potential threat of being attacked by Sound nin, this mission is considered to be A-rank. Are there any questions?" Gohan tentatively raised his hand. Shikamaru nodded in his direction, motioning for him to speak.
"Um, doesn't this sound a lot like it's a trap? I mean, from what I've read about Orochimaru he's pretty sly and extremely cautious. The fact that this person escaped alive and somehow also managed to get access to a messenger bird seems pretty suspicious to me. Also, I'd like to know why you picked me for this mission since you don't really know what my skills are." Shikamaru smirked at his questions. This guy was pretty observant.
"Actually, that's why we've gotten such a large squad. We're just as suspicious as you are, but this is a trap that we need to spring, if only to put even a small dent in Orochimaru's forces. Who knows, we may even get lucky and if the person does turn on us we can capture and interrogate them. Now, I won't lie to you about why you've been placed on this team. As a "gesture of goodwill" our client has given us a bit of information that indicates that Orochimaru has taken some interest in you. This is also why Sasuke has been chosen, as Orochimaru has already expressed interest in him during the chunin exams. So, what it all boils down to, is that you're bait for our own trap, which is hopefully to lure the snake out of hiding." Gohan nodded, indicating that all of his questions had been answered, but something still bugged him. The whole thing was just too obvious. 'If Orochimaru is as much of a genius as his reputation suggests, then I don't see how he would make such a sloppy trap. Either he's extremely arrogant and foolish or there's more to this than what we're seeing.' His other half chose this moment to speak up.
'Very true. Don't forget what that Kabuto guy said before though. This must be his master's way of meeting with you.' Gohan agreed with his Saiya-jin half. It made sense, as the supposed captive could've given up much more important information than Orochimaru taking interest in someone. It became clear to Gohan that this was a double layered trap. He didn't say anything though, as he figured it couldn't hurt to hear the man out, and he certainly wouldn't get any other opportunity to meet with him. He returned his focus to the real world to notice Tsunade looking each of them in the eye in turn.
"Are there any more questions?" When no one spoke up she nodded. "Very well then. You have one hour to prepare for this mission. After you've gathered your supplies and prepared, meet up at the west gate. Pack for an over night mission. Now get moving!" They all nodded and headed their separate ways. After the room cleared out, Tsunade pulled a bottle of sake and a small dish out of a hidden compartment in her desk. After downing her first dish she sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about this mission. I hope they make it back alright."
One hour later, Shikamaru had everyone triple checking their supplies. After it was confirmed that everyone was ready he motioned for them to gather around him. Once he was certain he had everyone's attention he began explaining how they were going to be traveling.
"Alright, we're going to be traveling in a single file formation. Sasuke, with your sharingan you should be able to detect any genjutsu or traps that we might walk into so you'll take point. I'll be next in line so that I can grab any enemies that come from the front with my kagemane no jutsu, and I'll also be checking for enemies from the right. Gohan, you'll be placed behind me so that I can aid you quickly if any enemies try to concentrate on you. Also, you'll be responsible for watching our left flank and the rear. Naruto, you'll be next in line so that you can take care of attacks from any direction with your kage bunshin, and also you'll be Hinata's main backup as she'll be the rear guard since her byakugan will allow her to easily detect any ambushes from behind. Any questions?" Once again, it was Gohan who spoke up.
"Yeah, when can we expect to meet up with this prisoner? Nobody really mentioned it in the breifing." Shikamaru was seriously considering playing shogi with Gohan at some point. He was clearly asking questions that most genin and even a lot of chunin might not even consider, though it would certainly be convenient information. He couldn't help but sigh in frustration though.
"Well, the message didn't give any clear indication of when the prisoner would be arriving, no doubt in case the message were to be intercepted, so we're giving them until tomorrow night to show up." Naruto opened his mouth to protest but Shikamaru cut him off before he could begin yelling. "Yes, I know it's troublesome but we've got to work with the information we have. Believe it or not, there are many A and S rank missions where little to no information will be available, so we should be grateful we were even given a specific area to meet." Shikamaru waited a second, and when no more questions came ordered everyone to get into formation. At Shikamaru's order they took off at a brisk pace, as he wanted to have ample time to set up traps and devise possible strategies should this indeed turn out to be a trap.
For the first hour of travel everybody remained silent, each one lost to his or her own thoughts. Surprisingly, even Naruto had kept quiet, though nobody really bothered to notice. Thus, after about another half hour of travel Gohan was a bit startled when Naruto was suddenly running alongside him with an expectant look on his face.
"Did you say something Naruto?" Naruto sighed as he repeated himself. This confused the half Saiya-jin as Naruto's entire demeanor seemed to have taken a complete one-eighty from his previous experiences with the boy.
"I asked if you'd thought of something the rest of us haven't on this mission. You had a pretty thoughtful look on your face during the briefing." Gohan's eyes widened in shock and fear. Had he been that obvious? He mentally cursed himself for not hiding his thoughts better when Naruto chuckled.
"What's so funny?" He asked defensively. Naruto just waved him off.
"It's nothing. It's just funny how surprised people get when I say something smarter than what they expect. I'm not as stupid and hyper as I let everyone think I am. I'm no genius like Shikamaru, but I'm sure as hell not an idiot either." Gohan struggled with what he wanted to say for a moment before words came to him.
"But...why are you telling me this? You've known the others a lot longer than you've known me, so why are you telling me this instead of one of them?" Naruto studied him closely for a moment as he formulated his answer. He was forced to put his answer on hold however, when he noticed that the others were beginning to realize how quiet he'd been.
"We'll finish this discussion tonight after we've set up camp." He then turned his attention to Shikamaru and put on his biggest grin. "Oy Shikamaru! How much longer till we get there? I'm bored!" Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and sighed, grumbling about troublesome blonds under his breath.
"We've still got about another two hours and fifteen minutes at this speed.." Naruto took on a look of frustration.
"Well can't we go faster then? I could be using this time for training instead of running!" Shikamaru just groaned out his annoyance.
"Don't be an idiot Naruto. We have to be able to keep a watch out for enemy traps and genjutsu. If we just rush in at top speed we'd be putting ourselves at an unnecessary risk." Naruto puffed his chest out in pride as he ran.
"Ha! I won't let any traps get in my way! Let 'em throw everything they've got at me and I'll still kick their asses!" Naruto's tirade was abruptly cut short when a look of surprise came across his face and he tripped and fell face first to the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke on contact and revealing it to be a kage bunshin. Shikamaru smirked and was hard pressed not to chuckle at Naruto's antics. When he first saw Naruto running side-by-side with Gohan, his first instinct had been to scold him for breaking formation but he'd kept silent when he caught sight of another Naruto still in position in his peripheral vision. A light chuckle from Sasuke drew his attention forward.
"Smooth move dobe. You can beat anything the enemy throws at you but lose to a rock?" Shikamaru's hands were already covering his ears before Naruto had the chance to retort.
"What was that teme?! Why don't you come back here and say that to my face?!" If they hadn't been on a mission right now, the two probably would've been glaring daggers at each other by this point.
"Will you two please quit being so troublesome and give the rest of us a break? I think all the yelling is giving me a migraine." Needless to say, the rest of the journey went on in uninterrupted silence, though the atmosphere was now less tense than the initial hour and a half had been.
Everyone was in awe when they finally reached the valley of the end. What they saw before them wasn't much more than a regular valley, complete with cliffs and a waterfall that fed into a rather large lake. What really brought attention to the area though was the presence of two massive statues depicting men getting ready for battle. The statues brought a sense of power and majesty to the area that suggested that something earth shattering had taken place here. Even Shikamaru couldn't help but gape at the sight. They were so caught up in taking in the scenery that they almost missed Gohan's question.
"So this is the valley of the end huh? What are those statues for?" All eyes turned to Shikamaru. If anybody had an answer to this he would. He narrowed his eyes as he recalled what he knew of the area.
"Those statues represent the Shodai Hokage and Uchiha Madara. I don't think there's anybody alive that knows what really happened here but I've heard stories. As I'm sure you all know Konoha was founded by three people, those three being the Shodai Hokage, the Nidaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara. From what I've heard, the First and Madara, despite being best friends had a disagreement on what the laws of the village should be and the Uchiha tried to leave. The First followed him here and tried to stop him, but he wouldn't go willingly so the Hokage tried to force him to go back. Supposedly, their battle was so fierce that it carved this valley out, and so these two statues have been erected here in remembrance of such a massive battle. The only one not astonished at the idea of witnessing such a destructive battle was Gohan, as he'd taken part in battles just as destructive and one in particular that had been even more so. The story wasn't quite over yet though as Naruto had one thing bugging him.
"So who won?" Shikamaru took a long look at the statues.
"Well, it's said that Madara lost and escaped with his life, but was never seen or heard from again. Some say that he died shortly after the battle, but others think that he's still alive to this day. Nobody really knows." After several minutes of staring at the statues, Shikamaru mentioned that they should get camp set up, so they each went off to search for a suitable location. In the end they decided on a spot between the lake and the forest so that they'd be close to fresh water and also cover were they to fall under attack. After everyone had set their tents up Gohan and Naruto volunteered to go get the firewood they would need should their informant not come till the next day. Gohan didn't argue when Naruto offered help, despite not really needing it. He got the feeling that it was about the conversation they'd been having earlier, and so accepted Naruto's help with a nod. And so, the two genin disappeared into the forest in search of a more private place in which to speak. They traveled for several minutes into the forest before they found a fallen tree which they sat on, confident that they were far enough away from the camp to avoid being overheard.
Naruto and Gohan both stared down at the ground for a moment, each wondering what it is they should say but Gohan was the first to speak, deciding to just pick up where they'd left off last time.
"So...why is it that you've decided to trust me? Like I said before, you know the others a lot better than you know me." As he had when asked that same question earlier, Naruto took a moment to stare into Gohan's eyes, but this time he nodded as though he'd found something he'd been looking for.
"It's because when I look at you I can tell that you're different like I am. I want us to be able to trust each other, but you also need to know that I'll do anything to protect my precious people, so if you're hiding something that could cause trouble for us later I'll make you regret it." Gohan took a moment to contemplate his thoughts, trying to decide what he felt safe talking about at this point. One thing was certain though, he had to get Naruto to trust him.
"Don't worry Naruto, I won't hold back any information that I think might be important. I just have a lot on my mind right now." Naruto studied him for a moment but eventually accepted his answer. After that they set about gathering up firewood which didn't take long as Naruto nearly tripped over a fallen tree which they cut up and took back to camp. By the time they made it back Sasuke, Hinata and Shikamaru's tents were already up and Sasuke had gotten enough fish to feed everyone. Gohan immediately set to arranging the firewood in such a way as to minimize the amount of smoke while also making it easy to put out at a moment's notice should the need arise. After he'd lit the fire Hinata offered to cook the fish and Shikamaru, who'd been cloud watching got up to go set up some traps around the perimeter of the camp. After about an hour and a half they were all sitting around the camp fire eating their fish as the sun began to sink towards the horizon and night slowly began taking its hold over the land.
"So Shikamaru, how are we going to be doing the night watches?" Gohan asked between bites of fish.
"We'll each take a two hour watch so that we each get eight hours of sleep. I'll take first watch, Naruto can have second watch, then you Gohan, followed by Sasuke and then Hinata. Anybody have a problem with that?" When nobody spoke up he nodded and dismissed them all for the night.
Four hours later Gohan was startled awake when he felt something poking him. He looked up to see that Naruto had been nudging him with his foot. It didn't take Gohan more than a moment to wake up and seat himself by the fire as he and Naruto bid each other goodnight and Gohan began his two hour watch. Gohan decided to pass the time in meditation. Not only would it exercise his mind but he would also be able to focus better on his senses which would allow him to keep a higher level of awareness to his surroundings. Half an hour into his meditation he felt a tug on his senses, but to his surprise the energy was already within five miles of the camp! Gohan quickly got up and made haste to wake Shikamaru up, who then instructed him to wake the others up. It didn't take long before the fire was put out and they were hurriedly discussing what needed to be done.
"Alright guys, we're going to have to meet up with him before he possibly wanders away so we'll have to make this quick. I know we've already discussed this before we left but I'll stress it again, we must be ready for anything. Naruto, I want you to create a few clones and send them to hide in the forest in case this turns out to be a trap. Naruto nodded and a hand seal and puff of smoke later five clones were hidden from sight and keeping an eye on the camp and the area around it. Shikamaru nodded his approval and turned to the others.
"Don't forget, keep an eye on this guy but don't seem too suspicious. If this guy really is what he says then you could scare him off and we could lose a valuable information source. If you see something suspicious use the code word snake. That will be the signal to apprehend him." Everyone nodded their understanding so Shikamaru leapt up into the trees with the others following in their preset formation with Gohan leading them to their client with his sixth sense. After several minutes of traveling Hinata signaled that she'd spotted the client, so on Shikamaru's signal they all dropped down out of the trees in front of their client. Shikamaru immediately began sizing him up, hoping to catch some indication of his intentions, though it was for naught as the man kept his emotions well hidden. He wore a grayish robe with a white undershirt and what appeared to be a large purple rope tied around his waste. His most prominent features however were the two red dots that adorned his forehead and his pale skin. He approached them with his hands in the air in a placating gesture. Though he spoke to them, his face betrayed no more emotion than his demeanor, seemingly even less so if that were possible.
"I assume that you are the Konoha contingent that has been assigned to meet up with me?" At Shikamaru's nod he took a step forward and brought his arms down.
"I am Kaguya Kimimaro, and you are?" Shikamaru sighed at having to put in the effort of introducing himself, but did so anyways if only to make their guest with an unknown allegiance more comfortable with them.
"I'm Nara Shikamaru and these troublesome people are my team. He motioned for them to introduce themselves. Gohan was the first to go and gave a polite bow.
"I'm Son Gohan, it's nice to meet you Kimimaro-san." Hinata went next, also giving a polite bow.
"I...I'm Hyuuga Hinata." She looked like she wanted to say more, but her shyness overcame her and she kept silent. Kimimaro put on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Ah, the Hyuuga heiress. I'm honored that such an important figure has been sent to ensure my safety." Hinata could only blush and look away at such a compliment. The next person to introduce themselves was Sasuke, who grunted with annoyance. Something unidentifiable briefly flashed through Kimimaro's demeanor when he caught sight of the Uchiha but it was gone as quickly as it came and those that caught it made sure to take special note of it.
"Uchiha Sasuke." He said no more which led to Naruto grumbling something about bastards and acting cool before realizing it was his turn. He grinned at Kimimaro and gave him a thumbs-up.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'll kick anybody's ass that tries to get you!" Sasuke coughed but the word "baka" was left a little too obvious for even Naruto to miss. He turned on Sasuke and raised his fist.
"What was that teme?!" He shouted at the top of his voice, prompting Sasuke to clean his ear out with his pinky and pretend as though he hadn't heard a thing. This raised Naruto's ire even more and he got in Sasuke's face. The two glared daggers at each other for a few moments before Shikamaru cut in.
"Alright Naruto quit acting stupid. It's time to head back to camp so we can decide on what to do next. We'll follow the same formation we've been using except that Kimimaro-san will be between Gohan and Naruto. They all nodded and were back in formation within moments and on their way back towards their camp. Along the way Naruto tried a few times to start a conversation with Kimimaro but was only met with a wall of cold indifference. This annoyed the blond, but he decided it was best to just keep it to himself as he'd just end up being scolded by Shikamaru and laughed at by Sasuke.
Once they got back to camp Sasuke relit the fire and Shikamaru motioned for everyone to gather around it. Kimimaro made sure to stand next to hinata, "accidentally" bumping into Naruto when he tried to take the spot he wanted. He apologized to Naruto, but Shikamaru had noticed the exchange and narrowed his eyes for a moment. In the end he said nothing though he did use a hand sign to signal to the others to be on alert. Such a thing was suspicious but not enough to warrant hasty action. Kimimaro saw the sign but pretended not to notice. After all, to them he was nothing more than an escapee, even if they were suspicious of him. Shikamaru cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Well, now that we've caught up with our client we have to decide if we should head back to Konoha now or wait until morning. I say it's best to leave now but I'll let you guys have your input as well."
"Shikamaru-san, Gohan-san looks tired so maybe we should wait until tomorrow." Gohan was about to speak up and say that he wasn't tired until a sudden wave of exhaustion fell over him that nearly brought him to his knees. Shikamaru stared at him for a moment. Something wasn't right. That was just too sudden for his liking.
"What about your pursuers? Aren't you worried about them catching up with you?" Kimimaro gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but still it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Do not worry yourselves about my pursuers. I managed to lose them not long after I sent my message. No doubt they have caught back on to my trail by now but I managed to get a good head start on them." Shikamaru frowned and looked Sasuke directly in the eyes before flitting them to Gohan, indicating he wanted him to check on Gohan with his Sharingan. The exchange only lasted for a split second before Shikamaru continued his exchange with Kimimaro, hoping he hadn't caught the subtle gesture as he'd tried to make it look more like an exasperated roll of his eyes.
"Your message seemed to be a lot more urgent than that. Are you sure something like that would be safe? I mean, Gohan could probably make it back to the village as he is. There's no reason to take an unnecessary risk after all."
While Kimimaro was distracted with his conversation with Shikamaru, Sasuke quickly activated his sharingan and wasn't too surprised at what he saw. Gohan was indeed being influenced by a genjutsu, though the source did not seem to be Kimimaro, so who could it be? He took a quick look around but could see nothing out of the ordinary. Even so, it was time to end this charade.
"Hn. I don't think it would be a good idea to camp here tonight." All eyes turned to Sasuke, waiting for an explanation.
"I just saw a snake in the grass, which means there could be more around." At the mention of the word snake Kimimaro saw everyone around him springing into action so with a speed none of them expected he got behind Hinata, pinned her arms to her sides with one arm and grew a single sharp bone spike out of his fingertip before putting it to her throat and jumping back several feet. At that moment one of Naruto's clones came out of the forest from the opposite side of Kimimaro with a panicked expression on his face.
"Hey! We were ambushed! I'm the only one left!" Naruto stared at the clone for a moment and frowned. He'd just felt his clones get dispersed the moment Kimimaro had grabbed Hinata. There shouldn't be any left unless...
"You're not a clone! Show yourself you coward!" The clone put on a sadistic smirk and licked his lips before being engulfed in a cloud of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Sasuke and Naruto tensed out of fear, Shikamaru cursed, Hinata tensed and Kimimaro smirked.
Well, that's it for this chapter. My apologies for taking so long but with me now working 50 + hours a week on top of a computer virus that messed up my internet and took nearly a month to get rid of and having to rewrite parts of this chapter it's been difficult for me to do much. Hopefully now that my computer isn't sick anymore I'll be able to have more time to write but I can't make any promises. BTW, as I'm sure you all have noticed I intend to make Naruto a little smarter in this story than he is in cannon. Please note that he will not be super smart, he will just be a little more thoughtful about what he does.