Previously.
For several minutes there was silence until she nodded slowly "fine, I'll go" she replied. The Raikage smiled "arigato. I'll get the paperwork done while you go pack, Kirabi. Go with her to make sure nothing happens" the man nodded and they left. Arashi ran a hand through his hair and the Raikage smirked "busy huh?" The genin let out a single chuckle
"I haven't seen my bed in over two weeks. Im over due back at Konoha by three days and now I'll have to explain why im with a strange woman to my girlfriend...that'll go well" he joked as the Raikage smirked at him.
And now.
So this was how Arashi found himself running towards Konoha at full speed with Yugito beside him both upset that she had to leave her family but excited that she could have a life not filled with fear. All because of one person. They were suddenly surrounded by four ANBU "Senju Arashi?" One of them asked.
"That's me...guess I need to explain why im four days late" he said sheepishly.
"Quite, come with us straight to the Hokage" another one said leading the way. Yugito moved a little closer to Arashi as they ran.
It took ten minutes to reach the office where they were lead straight in to see a frantic looking Kurenai with a slightly better faring Tsunade and Shizune. "Where the hell have you been?..and whose this?" Tsunade demanded looking at Yugito. Arashi could see suspicion in Kurenai's eyes as well and sighed before dropping into a seat. "Ok, its like this. Yugito is from Kumo but the Raikage wants to transfer her to Konoha...I have the paperwork here actually" he said pulling it from a pocket and passing it over to the man who skimmed through it. "He says there is a reason for this transfer and that you could explain" he said looking up to Yugito who nodded and sighed
"I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nibi. The villagers and ninja of Kumo hate me. The shinobi, on several occasions, have tried to rape me but they were all stopped...thankfully. I was sent to intercept a genin carrying rare herbs from Kiri to Konoha. That was Arashi obviously and he wanted to speak with the Raikage about my treatment. He suggested this transfer and I accepted so here I am" she explained briefly.
An hour later and they left the Hokage's office, Yugito sporting a Konoha hitae, and walked down the street a little. "There's a spare house in the Senju estate Yugito. You can stay there" Tsunade told the woman who blinked twice "oh, I really couldn't intrude" she tried. Tsunade gave her a stern look "its not intruding...and I wasn't really giving you a choice" she added. Arashi leaned closer to Yugito "its better to just agree with her" he whispered. Tsunade heard and smirked a little as Yugito nodded "arigato" she said bowing her head. Tsunade waved her off
"Shizune, can you show Yugito to the estate?" The woman nodded and lead Yugito off. "Arashi, you have twenty minutes. You're behind on your hospital work" Tsunade told him before leaving as well. Kurenai breathed out slowly "for a minute there, when you came in with Yugito, I was a little worried" she admitted. He smiled and took her hand. She smiled back happy that they could do that in public now. "There's no one else for me Kurenai" he assured her. She smiled some more before smirking slightly "the Mizukage?" She asked. He rolled his eyes
"about that...did you perhaps think I wouldn't have problems about 'being shared' with another woman?" He asked sternly. She looked a little sheepish
"I did think you'd have a small problem with it but she explained to me how she felt...I thought it was needed. Are you angry with me?" She asked nervously. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair "truthfully?" She nodded "I wanted my first time to be with you when we were both ready for it" he told her. She blushed but looked down at the ground
"gomenasai" she said quietly.
"Hey, I didn't say I was angry with you Kurenai but maybe you could talk to me about such things first?" He suggested. She nodded and kissed him lightly
"arigato" she whispered pulling away. He smiled at her before sighing a little
"oka-san is right. I have a lot of work to do and not a great deal of time to do it in. I probably won't make training today, maybe not tomorrow either, but I'll try" he assured her. She nodded and smiled "Hinata has been training very hard Arashi and she still won't tell us what she's working on" she told him. He chuckled and gave the woman another kiss before heading to the hospital. Kurenai smiled a little before leaving for the training grounds.
The next few weeks passed without problems. Yugito had been placed as an assistant instructor to the current genin teams and was very good at it. Hinata's taijutsu style was improving in leaps and bounds. So much so that she could use it in full on combat effectively but still needed to master it. All the teams went on several C-rank missions, with Arashi going on most of them, and his own training with Naruto was improving them both steadily.
However it was now one of the rare days that teams seven, eight and ten all had off and found the ten of them, even Sasuke who had mellowed out a little after realising that he needed the others to be strong, sat around a long table in a barbecue restaurant. Arashi had gotten to know each of them quite well being shifted around the different teams so often. Normally the group having dinner together was not a problem, not until Ino pulled out an empty bottle and put it down on the table sideways. "Ino...aren't you a little old for spin the bottle?" Shikamaru asked sounding his usual bored self. Ino smirked "you're never too old...besides, this is a great way to get to know your team mates. Kurenai-sensei was the one who suggested this to me" she informed them. The promise of knowing team mates better, and thus increasing team work, appealed to a few of them so they reluctantly agreed. All of them for that matter which was surprising as Arashi was certain that Shino and Sasuke at least would say no. Ino smiled and span it around. Unknown to most of them their jounin instructors were sat in the next booth listening in. Arashi was the one who knew they were there. Naruto hadn't bothered checking since they were only eating. The bottle landed on the blonde haired shinobi and Ino smirked "truth or dare Naruto?" She asked.
"Truth" he said unconcerned.
"Who do you have a crush on?" Was the question. Naruto blinked several times before shrugging
"Yugito-sensei" he said without hesitation. In the next booth Yugito blushed slightly and the others smirked at her, with the exception of Gai who decided it was time for a 'youthful five hundred laps around Konoha' and left.
The game went on for some time before finally landing on Arashi. Kiba grinned widely being the one who span it. "Truth" Arashi said dismissively before being asked. The Inuzuka grinned even more "ok, have you had sex and if so who with?" He asked. Sakura blushed but strangely Ino and Hinata looked interested. The guys of the group also looked intrigued which was a surprise to him. Arashi finished his drink "this is a stupid game" he muttered.
"Quit stalling" Sasuke called over smirking at him. He had been subjected to a similar question. Rolling his eyes again Arashi said "hai, I have" but didn't elaborate.
"Who?..Kurenai-sensei perhaps?" Ino suggested with a smirk. In the next booth Kurenai blushed a little as the other jounin eyed her with smirks. "Nope" Arashi replied. That got some confused expressions "then...who?" What made that question doubly surprising was that it was interested and it came from Shikamaru. Arashi sighed to himself "the Mizukage" he said tonelessly. Eyes widened in both booths. "The Mizukage?..but, we didn't meet her until after you started going out with Kurenai-sensei...are you cheating on her?" Hinata asked suspiciously. He held his hands up
"not at all. She knows about it" he assured them. The jounin raised eyebrows towards a brick red Kurenai who nodded once. Kakashi chuckled a little behind his mask. "I almost expected you to say Yugito-sensei" Shino pointed out. Yugito blushed.
"Yugito? Well, no offence to her but she's not my type...that reminds me, can anyone tell me where I can find a giant sized scratching post?" He asked. Yugito's eye twitched and she let out a low growl that Arashi heard and smirked at. "Or a really big ball of string" he added thoughtfully. Naruto smirked with him. Yugito's eyes narrowed as the other jounin stifled their laughter. The genin just looked confused "does she have a cat?" Chouji asked. Arashi smirked
"something like that" he said. Ino smiled
"you could always get one of those weird mice things on a string. Our cat used to love that" she suggested. Arashi nodded slowly "that could work" he said.
"Ok, that's it!" Came Yugito's voice as she marched around the separating wall at him. He waved
"hi Yugito-sensei. Weren't eavesdropping were you with the other jounin?" He asked. She paused in her tracks and looked around at the other genin, several of which were now crimson facedhaving admitted to liking their jounin instructors. There was a chuckle and Kakashi leaned around the wall to wave at them "hi, how long have you known?" He asked.
"When did you sit down?" Was Arashi's reply. Kakashi eye smiled before spying four empty seats
"mind if we join you? I think Kurenai has some embarrassing questions to ask" he said. Arashi nodded "its ok by me...guys? And girls?" he added. They nodded and the jounin moved around. Naruto moved up to let Kurenai sit next to Arashi. Sasuke apparently couldn't help himself "Kurenai-sensei, are you really not bothered by what Arashi said about the Mizukage?" He questioned. She shook her head "no, I knew about it the whole time" she assured them. Before they could start again Shizune and Tsunade appeared with Jiraiya. The three spied them "oh? Having a party or something?" Jiraiya asked with a grin.
"Something apparently Jiraiya" Arashi replied indicating the bottle.
"Oh...fun" Shizune said moving forwards. Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded before the slug princess gave Arashi a look. He rolled his eyes and made a ram seal creating three more chairs for them to join the group at the end of the table. "Have we missed much important?" Shizune asked with a grin as Tonton oinked from her arms.
After the three had been filled in on all the embarrassing details the game started again. Arashi was somewhat surprised that his oka-san didn't raise hell about Mei but realised that she must have understood the problem to begin with. It only took a minute to land back on Arashi and Sasuke, who had spun it, grinned before asking "how was it?" Arashi blinked twice before looking down at the now half full glass he was holding. "Don't even think it" Kiba said knowing what was going to be said. "You know what I meant" Sasuke told him. Arashi rolled his eyes
"the lot of you are perverted" he muttered. "Im sat at a table with my oka-san and girlfriend and you want me to say how sex with Mei was?" He asked incredulously.
"Hai hai" was the chanted response. Tsunade smirked at him as Shizune giggled behind her hand. He sighed "it was..." he started quietly. Everyone leaned forwards eagerly "...none of your business" he said with a smirk. Yugito clapped him on the back of the head
"that's not an answer. Come on, you've already admitted to the embarrassing part" she said smirking. He rolled his eyes "fine, it was four hours of sweaty fun" he muttered blushing a little. Kurenai blushed also as the others laughed and smirked at him.
It was ten minutes later when Shino had his turn and it landed on Jiraiya. This was the only serious question asked that night after the man said truth "Jiraiya-sama. After yourself and Tsunade-sama, who would you say is the strongest at this table?" He questioned. The genin, and jounin, fell silent expecting the man to say Kakashi. Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a moment "honestly?" Shino nodded "Arashi" he said. People span around to look at the unconcerned looking genin
"but...what about Kakashi-sensei? Or Shizune?" Ino asked confused. Jiraiya smiled
"no offence to either of them but Arashi would beat them...hell, I'd think twice about fighting all out against him. I know Tsunade would as well" he added. The woman nodded her agreement. Yugito raised an eyebrow "actually, saying that I wouldn't want to either. I tried to fight him when I first met him and got my butt whooped. It felt like getting hit by a mountain" she said rubbing her forearms. Jiraiya chuckled "correct me if im wrong Arashi but you have never fought all out have you?" Arashi glanced around at the others before shaking his head
"no, not really. The closest i've come is my spars against Naruto but I still have to pull my punches a little" he said. Naruto nodded
"and arigato for that" he added with a smirk. Kakashi then shuddered a little
"can you imagine if Gai heard this? He'd challenge Arashi to a fight on the spot" he said. Jiraiya nodded "and I'd laugh my ass off when Gai was beaten". Shino raised an eyebrow
"out of curiosity but who would you rank after Arashi?"
"Naruto, without a question...and if you're curious still after that I believe Kakashi, Asuma, Yugito then Kurenai and Shizune" he forestalled the obvious next questions. The genin looked between Arashi and Naruto with even more respect then normal. Jiraiya grinned and span the bottle which landed on Hinata "truth" she said. He smirked
"what is it you've been working on with Arashi all this time?" She smiled sweetly
"I think I'll call it a night there. Goodnight everyone" she said standing. Jiraiya pouted having attempted to find out for several weeks but always being discovered. "Night Hinata" was chorused. Tsunade smiled "keeping some secrets huh Arashi?" She asked. He smirked
"hai hai" he replied simply. Kurenai leaned closer to Naruto and whispered something to him making him blush a little and his eyes darted to Yugito then away again. Arashi smirked again "im going to call it a night as well" he said standing after Kurenai kissed him goodbye.
The start of the next day was quite entertaining in Arashi's eyes as when he arrived at the training spot he saw Naruto there talking with Yugito who was assisting Kurenai today. Moments later however she pounced forwards kissing him and tackling him to the floor at the same time. Snorting a little Arashi rolled his eyes and turned to the other three. Hinata was smiling, Kiba was smirking and Shino...well no one could really tell but Arashi would bet anything that the Aburame was amused. "Ok Hinata. Lets go" he said to the Hyūga who nodded. Kiba pouted
"you're really not going to tell us what you've been doing?" He asked. Arashi smirked
"that would ruin the surprise Kiba" was the answer as the two walked off to the private, and hidden, training spot. As they went Yugito stood up and smoothed her hair down leaving a thoroughly dazed Naruto twitching on the ground with a huge grin. "Shut up" she muttered playfully seeing Arashi smirk at her. "Down Kitty" he teased. She growled at him but smirked a little as well as she went to start training with Shino and Kiba. Naruto was still out of it on the floor so they just let him be, the teasing later however Arashi was not going to miss.
The pair finished their training with Hinata out of breath but smiling widely. Deciding it best to rest for a few minutes Arashi sat leaning against a tree and Hinata did the same next to him. "Arigato for this Arashi-kun" she said gratefully. He smiled
"not a problem Hinata" he replied before "are you going to tell him?" Even without seeing her he could see the massive blush she was now sporting "tell who what?" She tried. He smiled
"Kiba, that you like him. He likes you too you know. He's always talking about you and how much you've changed since the academy. I think it'll boost your confidence. Talk to him about it" he told her. She nodded slowly "I'll try". It was then Kakashi appeared via shunshin in front of them. Flashing a peace sign he said "the Hokage has a C-rank mission for team nine" he said to Arashi who nodded and stood "hai hai, you good Hinata?" She nodded
"hai, I'll tell Kurenai-sensei" she assured him. He nodded and both he and Kakashi shunshined away. Hinata let out a content sigh before getting to her feet and heading back to the training grounds.
Upon arriving she saw that Kiba was training hard as usual. Smiling to herself she moved over to their instructors side "Arashi-kun is going on a mission with team nine" she told the woman who nodded "arigato Hinata. Hows your training going?" She asked. The Hyūga smiled broadly
"very well. Arashi-kun is a very good teacher" she said brightly. Yugito sidled over to them
"seems like it" she said idly. Hinata nodded then smirked very slightly
"did you enjoy yourself this morning Yugito-sensei?" The Nibi jinchuuriki grinned at her and nodded. "I think Naruto is still dazed" she said. Kurenai smiled as well.
Arashi arrived in the Hokage's office feeling a little irritated. Most of team nine was fine but Neji was a complete jackass. The Hyūga in question glared at him as he entered before saying "Hokage-sama. Why does he always accompany us on C-rank missions? He's a rookie genin" he said to the old man who nodded slowly. "Hai, in rank only Neji. He's the only med-nin in your age group. Plus you'll be going to Kirigakure and he is a close personal friend of the Mizukage" he added with a tiny smirk. Tenten looked around at Arashi interested "you are?" He nodded
"hai" was all he said not elaborating. "What is the mission anyway?" He asked looking back to the Hokage. "There has been reports of a large band of bandits near Kirigakure. They are still recovering from the bloodline wars so their ninja count is lacking" he explained. Arashi nodded and shuddered slightly "bloodline war...what a waste" he muttered. The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that reaction so Arashi explained briefly "oka-san, Shizune-nee-chan and I helped out a few times during the war patching up the injured" he said.
"You would have been only six or seven though" Iruka said slowly. Arashi nodded
"my first time actually healing anyone. Good thing I have such a good teacher" he said with a smile. The Hokage nodded and passed the scroll over to Gai who said "one hour to get your things ready for a two week mission at the longest". The team, and Arashi, nodded before leaving.
They regrouped an hour later. Each of them had a bag of some sort. Arashi's had several more compartments as well as slots for more scrolls then the others as he was carrying medical supplies as well. Neji scowled at him but said nothing as Gai arrived "lets go!" He said "full speed!" He added taking off in a dust cloud. Tenten slumped slightly as Lee ran off after him. Neji's eye twitched. "You know...I think I would go nuts if they were my team mates" Arashi commented idly as the three set off as well, at a much more moderate pace so Tenten could keep up. Frankly Gai's speed wouldn't have been hard to match for Arashi but decided against it. "Why do you hold back so much?" Tenten asked as they travelled. Neji raised an eyebrow as Arashi shrugged
"no real reason. Its just fun to see Neji believe he's stronger then I am" he said with a smirk towards the Hyūga whose eyes narrowed at him. "What do you mean?" He demanded. Arashi rolled his eyes "do you really think I could be trained by two of the Sannin and not be stronger then genin? I'll put it this way. The only person on your team that would give me a challenge to beat is Gai-sensei" he said bluntly. Neji scoffed but said nothing as Gai and Lee dropped back.
It took them a day and a half to reach Kirigakure where Arashi was not surprised to see Mei waiting for them. She however seemed surprised to see him "Arashi? Have the teams been switched around?" She asked curiously as they landed. He shook his head
"no, im the only med-nin in my age group so I get placed on the teams doing the hardest mission at the time" he explained.
"Oh, well that does make sense" she agreed. He nodded before looking her over. She smirked a little "no injuries this time Arashi" she assured him. He nodded once
"good" he replied. She lead the team into the village.
"We are sure that the bandit camp is thirty miles to the south east. They number around a hundred. We have ninja who can help but I don't wish to put them at risk against those numbers which is why I requested help" she explained to Gai who nodded. Then he gave her a thumbs up with a huge grin
"no worries Mizukage-sama. My youthful team and I shall see it done!" He said loudly. She blinked several times before glancing at a sweat dropping Arashi "just don't ask Mei" he said after a moment. She nodded slowly with a raised eyebrow at Gai. "Anyway" she started "Chojuro will show you to the camp later tonight" she said as they entered the tower.
"How is Chojuro anyway?" Arashi asked.
"Quite good. He continues to tease me however about your last visit" she said with a slight blush. He rolled his eyes and they went into her office. The swordsman in question was stood there as usual and smirked at Arashi as he entered. "Hello again Chojuro" he greeted.
"Hi...new team?" He asked glancing around. Arashi shook his head
"no, just different team. Their jounin instructor Maito Gai" he introduced the man who gave another thumbs up "Hyūga Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten" he finished. Each of them gave some kind of respect to the man. "Chojuro" Mei started "can you show the team to the hotel room reserved for them?" She asked. He nodded yet as he moved forwards Mei said "Arashi? Do you have some time to talk?" She asked. Chojuro smirked a little as Arashi smiled
"sure, I'll catch up later" he said to the team who nodded and left. Mei wasted no time in kissing him before leading the way to the bedroom.
It was almost two hours later when Arashi walked into the hotel room. Tenten looked around from her place on the floor as she checked her weapons. "That took a while. What did you talk about?" She asked curiously as he took out his scrolls to check his supplies. The table in the living room was free for just that purpose as he didn't want to put his supplies on the floor for obvious reasons. "Nothing in particular" he replied casually. He was also very glad he showered at the Kage tower with Mei. "I did get a little information about the bandits though" he added. The others focused in on the conversation as well. "It seems that they have at least minimal training. They can use chakra to a small degree" he told them "Mei also believes there may be a more experienced ninja leading them but they haven't had any proof of such yet" he added. Gai nodded
"suggestions?" He asked. They knew he already had a plan but it was for their own experience.
"We should let Neji scout it out first to find numbers and he should be able to tell if there is an experienced ninja among them" Lee said. Arashi shook his head
"no" they turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Neji demanded.
"They have watch towers around the camp at a distance of a hundred meters from the walls and fifty meters apart from each other. There is a low level barrier between them covering the whole camp. It would distort your vision and we wouldn't be able to get a detailed review" he said. Gai nodded slowly "what do you think then?" Arashi was silent for a moment
"I can send a Moku Bunshin. The camp is made of wood so he'll be able to blend in. He'll look around before returning which will give us a better understanding of what we're dealing with" he said seriously. Gai nodded "good, do it" he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Arashi nodded and created the clone. After being told the location it sped off at top speed. Then Arashi turned to the team and held out his hand "swallow one of these each" he said. They looked to see four, pale beige, seeds. Tenten picked one up "what are they?" She asked.
"In case we get separated for any reason I'll be able to track you if you have one of those. Plus, if you get injured you'll be able to channel a little chakra into them which will tell me and I'll get to you as quickly as I can" he told them. They nodded and Neji, Lee and Gai took the remaining seeds swallowing them.
It was another two hours when Chojuro arrived. "Are you ready?" He asked seriously. They nodded and got their things before heading out. Arashi ran beside Chojuro. "Are we capturing or killing?" He asked. Chojuro gave him a serious expression.
"Capturing won't do anything. We need to take them out" he replied. Arashi nodded and they fell silent again.
About halfway to the camp they regrouped with Arashi's Moku Bunshin who fell into step beside the real Arashi. He placed a hand on its back dispelling it and gaining its knowledge. It took a moment for him to sort through it all. "Ok, their numbers have almost doubled from Mei's estimate and there is indeed a ninja leading them. Nothing too strong however. A chuunin at the most. There's a weak spot of their barrier that we can slip through. The guards in the towers are changed once every two hours and the next change is in thirty minutes. They are expecting ninja to attack soon so they'll be on guard and looking for us" he reported to his team and Chojuro who nodded.
Arriving at the camp they hid themselves while Arashi lead the way to the weak spot of the barrier. He had an odd feeling about this and came to a stop. "What is it?" Gai asked quietly. He shook his head "I don't like this. Its too coincidental. There just happens to be a single section of a barrier this size that we can get through? No, they knew ninja were coming and bet on us being good enough to see that. Its a trap and the moment we go through we'll be attacked. However if we go through anywhere else we'll be detected instantly". Neji scoffed
"they're just bandits. No threat whatsoever" he muttered. Arashi rolled his eyes
"hai hai, they are just bandits but as already mentioned. They have some training and they number nearly two hundred. It would be foolish to think you could fight your way through them without injury." Gai nodded in agreement
"ideas?" He asked. Arashi had to admit. The guy was creepy but he knew how to train a team. Giving them a chance to plan their own methods then correcting them if needed. "I would suggest that you, Chojuro and myself enter the camp. Tenten, Lee and Neji should stay outside the barrier until we've caused enough trouble to create a good distraction. Then they can move in behind the bandits and we'll flank them that way" Arashi suggested. Gai raised an eyebrow
"why you? You're our med-nin. Surely that's reason enough to keep you out of the fight?" He asked. Arashi rolled his eyes "because, Gai-sensei, you, Chojuro and I are the best fighters here. Hai, im a med-nin but my combat skills are still superior then these three" Chojuro nodded in agreement so Gai conceded. "Ok, Neji. You're in charge until you get the signal. Then move in" he told the Hyūga who nodded "whats the signal?" He asked. Arashi smirked
"I'll send a messenger" he said. Neji raised an eyebrow but nodded and the three moved off.
It was seconds after they passed through the hole in the barrier when three dozen bandits jumped out at them with weapons. Neji, Lee and Tenten watched as they were taken down easily. They moved on into the camp when an alarm sounded. Lee made to go after them but Neji held his shoulder "wait" he told the teen who nodded once.
A good ten minutes later Tenten frowned "whats that?" She asked pointing to the sky. Neji and Lee looked up in time to see one of the bandits slam into the tree above them painfully. "Ouch...guess that's Arashi's messenger" Neji said with an amused smirk. Tenten and Lee nodded so the three sped off into the camp.
The scene they came across was utter destruction. Buildings and bodies lay battered and broken across the entire camp and the three were fighting ferociously in the centre of nearly eighty bandits. The three genin joined in from the back with Tenten taking the highest kill count almost straight away by unleashing a barrage of weapons into the crowd.
Fifteen minutes of solid battle later and the bandits were down. The three genin were breathing heavily having not fought for so long in one stretch before. Gai, Chojuro and Arashi however looked like they could go on for days. Tenten sighed to herself but came to a stop feeling a sharp blade on her throat. The others span around as she yelped. A single, bloodied, bandit was holding her with a tanto across her neck. "Unless you want me to take her head off I'll be leaving now" he said in a gruff voice starting to back up whilst dragging Tenten with him. Arashi's eyes narrowed and he discretely made a ram seal out of view of the bandit. A second later and wood vines shot up from the ground wrapping around the bandits arms, legs and throat forcing the knife away from Tenten who ducked away and span around as the vines snapped the bandits neck dropping him to the ground. "Never drop your guard in a place like this" Gai told Tenten who nodded once. Arashi checked the three genin over. A couple of bruises and scratches. Nothing that really needed any attention. "Ok, we need to check in case we missed any. Arashi, you go with Tenten. Lee, you're with me and Neji with Chojuro" Gai told them. They nodded and split up.
Minutes later they regrouped in the centre "no one left" Arashi said. The others had a similar report so they started back for Kirigakure at a slower speed then they came at as the genin, minus Arashi, were tired.
They soon arrived back at the Mizukage's office where she was apparently waiting for them. "Success?" She asked looking between them. Chojuro nodded and she smiled "arigato. They had raided several villages within the last few days alone" she said. Gai nodded and bowed respectfully
"if it is ok with you Mizukage-sama my team and I need some rest" Mei nodded
"of course, will you be staying at the hotel Arashi or here?" She asked. Gai and his team glanced towards Arashi questioningly as he said "I'll stay here" Mei nodded and smiled as Gai left with his team. Chojuro rolled his eyes "goodnight Mizukage-sama, Arashi" he said before leaving as well. Mei smiled again and the two went to bed.
The next morning found team nine by the gates ready to leave when Mei and Arashi turned up a few minutes later. "Please thank the Hokage for sending help so timely for me" she said to Gai who nodded respectfully "team nine, move out!" He said brightly whilst heading off. Arashi rolled his eyes and Mei gave him a parting kiss before he left to catch up with the others.
Once he did Tenten couldn't help herself "just how close are you with the Mizukage?" She asked. The others seemed just as interested. He shrugged "we're pretty close" he said absently. Neji smirked at him "figuratively or physically?" He questioned.
Arashi rolled his eyes "both...do we have to talk about it?" He asked as Tenten blushed a little. Lee looked thoroughly confused but didn't ask.
Upon their return to Konoha Arashi was given three days off from all duties for which he was grateful for. He had a heavy work load at the best of times and the days off would let him get a few things done. Of course, that was just before the Hokage told him that the chuunin exams would start in four days so he was given a rest for that. "Gee, arigato" he had said sarcastically.
Well, a little more back story on Arashi in this one. A couple of people have asked when the wizarding world will make an appearance. It will but at first it will be a fleeting visit. I'll build on it from there.
Another point I'd like to make is about Arashi's age and the relationship he has with Mei and Kurenai. They were brought up in a society that trains people to be killers from a very young age. Some of them making their first kill before ten, such as Kakashi and Itachi who graduated before ten. That same society obviously believes them mature enough to handle that so is it really so odd that they would grow up quicker in other areas?
Final point. I know people might complain about the mission in this chapter but Konoha is just like any other Hidden Village and sometimes they are expected to kill large numbers like that. I've never subscribed to the idea that Konoha is the 'nice' village full of trained killers. That makes no sense what so ever.
Other then that I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review :)