Back to the seven legendary monuments carved within the stone of the Hokage great rock that overlooks the entire village with the seven faces of the previous Hokage's carved upon it. The steady features of their faces didn't seem to get slightly affected by the enormous changes and incidents that occured on the village along the time since they passed away. Some of those seven Fire Shadows were even considerd as gods by the villagers...
The most recent face was added to the monuments over than fifteen years ago but for some mysterious reason, the Eighth and Ninth Hokages faces weren't added to the although the Ninth Hokage ''Kyuudaime" had been assigned officially as Hokage and started doing his responsibilities over than ten years ago.
Inside the Hokage's residence where the Hokage spends almost his whole time drowning in paperworks, A pale skinned man, wearing the Hokage's distinctive cloak, sat behind his office table and rested his elbows calmly upon that ancient desk which was never substituted across the time. The man was staring with etched look forward from behind his dark circular glasses. Some of his brown, spiky hair was revealed from the red Hokage hat that he wore over his head. His thin eyebrows were lightly scowled like if he was trying to concentrate on certain idea regarding someone or something. However, with these superficial features, he was easily identifiable to any person from the village or around it, especially through his signature dark glasses but not sure if his identity was already revealed to our readers...
Two males wearing the standard ANBU masks on their faces and the ANBU's formal attires, were kneeling each upon one knee next to each others in front of the Hokage's ancient desk that even some type of worms considerd as a suitable house to settle within it's slits. The ANBU member's heads were slightly shifted in the Hokage's direction as they stood still with respectful manner
"..."
The ANBU member who knelt to the right of his comrade shook his head lightly as he began to utter with low but clear voice.
"... Hokage sama, unfortunately, the ANBU squad that you ordered to stop the Chunnin named Kyuseishu from leaving the village... had failed..."
The other ANBU male added almost immediately with some hesitation.
"... He defeated the leader of the squad and... three other members were found slaughtered upon the west gate of the village... The rest of the squad members were unable to track him down or determine the direction he fled in..."
He paused for some air and tilted his head down slightly while looking away a bit before resuming.
"The leader of the squad didn't provide us information about the Jutsus the boy used because he was carried to the hospital right away and he is still unconscious until this moment... I personally think that a Shinobi who can beat down half of an ANBU squad members all alone has to be at a higher level than a ordinary chunnin and needs to be considerd as a serious threat to the village."
The ANBU member finished speaking and the Hokage eventually entwined his fingers together, supporting his shaved chin with them while he arched his back slightly forward, displaying a concerned expression.
"... I see... Kyuseishu was his name... Now I remember he successfully passed the chunnin exams two years ago along with his both teammates... He could be a real threat if we leave his case unchecked though."
The Hokage murmured calmly. The ANBU member who spoke first nodded his head slightly while the other ANBU member started to speak after few seconds.
"That kid must have developed a sort of advanced Jutsu before he was put under your surveillance... You, yourself Hokage sama, were accusing him for his attemps to rediscover some of the secret Ninja Arts which have been sealed right after the ultimate Shinobi war..."
The Hokage sighed briefly. It wasn't like this is the first time that a reckless shinobi abandons the village but this time, it kept bugging him for some reason which made him put up even his personal concern into this issue. But ironically, His icy facial features were showing no hint of interest while he spoke about the essence of this issue.
"... Regardless on what he is really trying to achieve...He is the pupil of the best Taijutsu master in Konoha, so no wonder that he is a skilled person and the likes of him can represent a serious menace on the whole village. In short, leaving him by his own now will cause more troubles."
The 1st ANBU member planted his hand on his right hip.
"We're waiting for your orders, sir."
He whispered lowly. The Hokage stood up a bit off his chair and suddenly smacked his palms down against the table harshly.
"I DECLARE ARASHI KYUSEISHU A MISSING-NIN AND ORDER TO SEND FOUR ANBU SQUADS IMMEDIATELY TO TRACK HIM DOWN AND CAPTURE HIM ALIVE!"
"Yes, Hokage sama!"
The two ANBU males replied at the same time before disappearing in puffs of smoke.
|| In the Konoha's hospital
Utter darkness was everywhere... A tiny silver of light began slowly to lit up from within the bottom of darkness, blowing away gradually the darkness from the boy's brain. He finally opened his eyes wide, only to watch Sakura's deep green eyes eying him calmly. Kyuseishu had almost lost all the sensations on his body like if he was never alive, nothing materialized around him could even prove that he was not just dreaming. Maybe only Sakura's cute facial features were able to represent a proof for his existence in this world at this particular moment of time. He'd fainted while staring at her emerald eyes and now he reopened his eyes again on them. Some weird sentiments tickled him from time to time on the very few occasions when he got a chance to stare at Sakura's face for brief moments in the past.
"Uuu..."
He mumbled faintly as his dark eyelashes winced at the sudden impact of the pale light on them. The light was coming from the electric lantern stuck on the room's ceiling just above his head. He rolled his eyes back slowly in the direction of Sakura as he hardly started to recognise the place and partially remember what happened before he fainted. But he parted his swollen lips and stuttered robotically with weak voice.
"W-where am I!?"
Sakura's eyes gleamed with a smile but Katsumi, who didn't move an inch from her previous stance, tensed up suddenly as Kyuseishu stuttered. She was waiting silently as Sakura had ordered her until she gets done with the healing operation.
"..!"
Katsumi rose her eyebrows surprisingly and shifted her gaze in Sakura's direction with perturbed concern.
"Is he awake!?"
"No."
Sakura replied as she shook her head and blinked twice repetitively without moving her eyes away from Kyuseishu.
"...He still needs to rest."
She added and sighed lightly as she rested her hands on her hips. Her hands were entirely stained with blood and some tiny blood drops were slowly trickling off of her fingertips down to the floor.
Kyuseishu's eyebrows were now arched slightly as he continued to stare up at Sakura with lifeless gaze. Even though he haven't regained his full consciousness yet but He slowly started to feel the presence of his limbs and his other body parts.
"...Uhh"
He mumbled lowly but he somehow started to feel relaxed by watching Sakura smiling to him with her eyes. It made him remember everything in details. Katsumi arched her eyebrows suspiciously. She was confident that Kyuseishu had regained his consciousness but she couldn't feel comfortable with what Sakura was currently planning to do.
"..."
Without hesitation, she stepped forward closer from the couch where Kyuseishu was laying and stood next to his feet before staring at him closely with unsure expression adorned her face.
"...Kyuseishu."
She whispered then slowly reached out her left hand and gently patted his leg over the white, cotton blanket that was covering his entire body.
"... I'm glad that you're awake... How do you feel?"
She murmured but she winced as Kyuseishu snapped up suddenly and sat on his rear while looking around with sharpened eyes.
"I am all fine!"
He shouted and snickered like an Ox, feeling a nasty explosive energy overwhelming within his body. Katsumi blinked rapidly as she rose her eyebrows surprisingly without removing her hand off his leg.
"Huh!?"
She was believing that he won't be able to move for a while at least after this horrible operation casted on him but now she was left stunned again for his ability to recover quickly. Sakura allowed a heavy sigh to exit through her lips and crossed her arms under her chest as she glanced rigorously at Kyuseishu.
".. You are not fine. Stay where you are!"
She exclaimed. Kyuseishu pulled his right leg back under the him and shifted a little to his side as he looked up at Sakura with dumbfounded look.
"Why not? I think I am able to stand again and walk... Thank you anyways... I know simple words won't be able to return the favour but... I honestly wasn't expecting that you'd cooperate with us... Can I know what changed your mind?"
"Kyuseishu..."
Katsumi muttered as she glanced sternly at him before moving her gaze back in Sakura's direction with worrisome filling her facial expression.
Sakura rolled her eyes to their corner slowly and unfolded her arms as another light sigh escaped her smooth lips.
"... I am done healing you... You better don't make me regret what I've done."
She murmured with slight irritation and slowly reached for a towel to wipe her hands with. Kyuseishu furrowed his eyebrows as he kept eying her candidly. He knew it won't be easy to leak answers out from her but he decided to try anyway.
"Why you bore the risk of helping us while you're already aware that we have infiltrated the hospital with such vulgarity... You may not even be able to keep yourself away from the troubles too if something in your plan of secretly helping us went wrong and you get suspected... You know the punishment of cooperation with a Rogue Ninja..."
Sakura tilted her head slightly as he said then she shrugged while looking downwards at her feet before glaring at him with a mischievous smirk curled the corner of her lips. She felt that her inner self was about to take over her actions and assault this boy with a barrage of punches until he faints again.
"You sure have a brain to think. But... If you wasn't reassured that I'd agree to offer my help, then why did you seek me personally?"
She realised that she can't afford losing to a kid like him in this psychological fight or her pride will be defiled. Kyuseishu looked down over his knees as he scratched the back of his head with his fingers sheepishly. He decided to stop trying to provoke her because he truly didn't want to see her other horrible side emerging. No, not now and not here.
"... I wasn't confident at all that you'll agree to offer your help. l just ..."
He whispered and tilted his head down a bit, letting his chin drop on his chest.
"... I just couldn't think of someone else that would agree heal us except you... So I quickly took a decision ignoring any terrible consequences that my decision might cause..."
Katsumi remained silent until she felt that his citation only made her sound like if she was just a mere minion to him. She glared at him and grunted, lifting her hand off him.
"... You're such a jerk. You could get us captured by that reckless decision."
She complained with a rigorous voice only to let Sakura know that she wasn't just a minion to Kyuseishu now that she was also able to criticise him, even if it was pointless at this point.
Sakura let exit another heavy sigh and shifted her head to the side as she took one step away from the bed.
"... Long time... It's been a long time since I met a rockhead Shinobi like you... Kyuseishu, you have to feel grateful because I loathe the Hokage. otherwise, you would've been sent to the interrogation room already."
She said with softened voice made Katsumi steal a sharp glance at her through the corner of her vision.
'... This woman... You're still a monstrous creature even if you try to be nice...'
She stuttered to herself before looking back at Kyuseishu as her eyelashes twitched up suddenly, watching him jump off the bed like a monkey before landing on his feet behind Sakura, facing both of them with his back.
"I am thankful for your effort Sakura san. But like I said, only words won't fulfill the grateful feelings I have towards you."
He murmured while fixing his firm gaze on the void of the door before him.
"Well, I guess it's time to get going..."
He added as he wove his hand slowly above his head. Katsumi, although still not convinced by his attitude, received the signal and gazed at him with dull expression for a bit of time.
"Yush..."
She murmured and quickly picked up her and Kyuseishu's coats from the floor before putting hers over her shoulders then she turned to walk towards him slowly with confident steps past Sakura's left shoulder.
"..."
The two females exchanged a slight eye contact for a brief moment but Sakura eventually faced away and turned towards Kyuseishu slightly, planting her hands on her waist as she glared at him sternly while lifting up her chin.
"You are not going anywhere out from here! understand?"
She yelled with aggression which made Katsumi flinch and swallow anxiously but Sakura went ahead on her threat.
"...Unless you tell me first what are you planning to achieve by Leaving Konoha!"
Her voice was confident as she fully turned towards Kyuseishu who his eyes widened a fraction as he heard her blunt threat. But he rolled his eyes to the corner as a malicious smirk crept up into his lips.
"You want to know what I am actually trying to achieve? I never had any special goals in this life but there's only one goal which is crystal clear now before my eyes... I am going to kill the Hokage!"
Sakura kept glaring towards him as her narrowed eyes twitched a bit. She tried her best to remain cool although she had never expected that response to come from him. Just from where did he get the courage to say that in front of her anyways? She just hoped that he wasn't serious but Kyuseishu's determined facial expression said exactly the opposite which made her decide to stay speechless better than unleashing her rage on him.
"..."
Katsumi blinked, trying to study the pinkette's facial reactions with her eyes over her shoulder. She gulped lightly at the thought of Sakura pouncing on both of them all in a sudden and tying them up to one of the pillars. Her eyebrows shaped into a frown as she looked back towards Kyuseishu with blaming gaze and stepped towards him slowly.
"..."
Kyuseishu eventually lifted up his head and took a step forward towards the door as he kept staring towards the floor blankly.
"Katsumi... Let's get going."
The female instead of nodding, turned her head in Sakura's direction as she stopped next to Kyuseishu and glanced at the pinkette with honest grateful eyes.
"... We will never forget this favour, Sakura chan... I wish you could let us go now..."
Katsumi whispered and bowed her head slightly in respect before starting to walk off alongside Kyuseishu...
Sakura smirked in scoffing manner, watching them quit the room but a slight smile pulled the corner of her lips as she kept gazing up towards the doorstep calmly.
'... This boy... reminds me with...'
She murmured to herself and closed her eyes slowly as she shook her head like if she was trying to blow away the memories from her head.
[ 45 minutes later, Somewhere in Konoha's forest...
Katsumi and Kyuseishu were traversing the forest in the direction of 1 o'clock (North-North East)... Kyuseishu landed on a large tree branch and ducked down as he panted lightly from exhaustion. he tapped the branch with his palms and tilted his head to look down with a firm gaze in his eyes without saying a word. Katsumi landed to his left side upon her feet on the branch and shifted her head in his direction. A wondering look adorning her face as she rested one hand on her left knee.
"What's up, why you stopped all in a sudden!?"
She questioned. Kyuseishu without lifting his eyes, gripped the side of his coat taking it off himself before tossing it aside. He was wearing a grizzly flak jacket underneath.
"I just realized it's too risky for both of us to move in pair throughout a large forest like this one... I guess we were lucky because Sakura chan was nice with us but we have stay aware of any ambushes since we are still not that far away from the village."
He murmured as he started to stand up slowly, never looking at the female who shook her head eventually as she narrowed her eyes against him.
"I know right? we just fled out from the village with relative ease thanks to Sakura's help but isn't it odd that nobody appeared in our way yet?"
She said. Kyuseishu turned his head slightly in her direction with fixed look before starting to speak.
"It could be just a trap to lure us out into certain location within the forest after making us feel safe. That's why I said we should keep our guards up and prepared to fight just in case the worst scenario occurs and we found ourselves surrounded by dozens of ANBU members like what happened earlier..."
He paused and picked a brief inhale of fresh air into his lungs before adding.
"Regardless on the possibility that the Hokage declared me as a Missing-Nin yet or not..."
"But where should we head now?"
Katsumi questioned, interrupting him as she stood upright without moving her concerned gaze away from him. She felt her lips shivering lightly as she spoke when she realised that she had interrupted him unintentionally. She only felt that he was speaking as slow as a robot and that annoyed her to some extent but that didn't prevent her from adding, trying to prove her point.
"No matter how much we attempt, we will get trapped in the end if we just keep running without hiding."
Kyuseishu sighed as he slipped his right hand under the fabric of his jacket and pulled out a small folded scroll wrapped with a white rope from it's middle which made Katsumi raise her eyebrows confusedly.
"?"
She blinked slowly as she watched him unfolding the scroll calmly in front of his chest as he crouched down, revealing on the special characters written with Hiragana on the inside of the scroll. He eventually turned in her direction as he unrolled down the whole length of the scroll upon the branch before his feet.
"Katsumi, Listen... it'd be better if I seal your body now temporary in this scroll... then I will summon you back when I arrive to a safe distance."
Katsumi's eyes widened hearing him say so. She observed the scroll unfolded near her feet for a moment before looking back at Kyuseishu's face with worried expression.
"Are you sure you are going to do alright alone?"
He nodded his head lightly as he looked at her face with a confident expression.
"Don't worry... I know the most safe paths that I should traverse through the forest."
He whispered and gently pressed the opened palm of his right hand onto her chest which brought up a weird shiver into her spine and made her cheeks flush slightly. Kyuseishu eventually lifted the index and middle fingers of his free hand simultaneously above the scroll, forming a half handseal to channel the right amount of Chakra in the determined region of his body.
"... I still got some tricks up my sleeve to avoid any possible trackers. But if I had to face any of 'em anyways and got captured, you will stay safe inside the scroll, at least for a while."
He explained. Katsumi nodded in agreement although she wasn't quite convinced with his plan but she closed her eyes slowly as a steam of smoke emerged suddenly from the scroll and started to engulf her entire body, sucking her down into the scroll in mere seconds without leaving any trace of her body behind.
Kyuseishu pressed his left palm firmly onto the scroll, completing the sealing operation as a special Kanji appeared almost immediately over one of the Hiragana characters written on the opened scroll underneath Kyuseishu's palm. The Kanji appeared to indicate Katsumi's distinctive position among the rest of the Hiragana characters written there.
Kyuseishu then folded the scroll back before picking it up and hid it underneath his clothes calmly as he looked forward blankly.
"I'd better hurry and cross the boundaries of the land of Fire as soon as possible..."
He whispered to himself and jumped off the tree branch to the ground, landing in a crouch before proceeding to run onwards while scanning cautiously with his narrowed eyes the bushes and trees that surrounded him.
...
After several miles of running through the bushy forest, the boy eventually slipped out from a set of trees only to find that he had arrived upon an open field within the forest where he could finally watch the crystal clear sky above him. The open field was relatively large and shaved from grass or any other plants. Without stopping, Kyuseishu slowly turned his head right and left to observe the area, knowing that crossing such an open field could make him an easy target for enemies. He wasn't quite sure where to head exactly because Sunagakure was not an option anymore.
"!?"
His eyes suddenly winced as he immediately forced his feet to refrain from dashing forward, allowing a flying Kunai knife to slash the air one inch across the tip of his nose. Without shifting his gaze from the Kunai that ended up stabbing a random tree trunk to his right side, he figured that the weapon was launched towards him from the left side
"There!"
He shouted as he quickly shifted his head to the side towards the assumed location of the foe, attempting to spot him before he could arrange another assault.
"Hmph..."
He hissed while steadying his feet onto the ground firmly because he almost lost his balance when he halted to avoid the Kunai that roughly missed him with one inch. But he quickly pulled out a Kunai from his weapon pouch and tossed it towards the thick bushes of the tree, which he believed that the foe who targeted him was hiding inside, attempting to force him to show up.
"Get out already!"
He shouted as his ears picked up the sound of his Kunai being deflected by the mysterious foe. But before he could reach for another Kunai, a silhouette of a human being leaped out suddenly from the tree before jumping downwards towards him only to make him feel a bit comfortable because his enemy was a single person unlike what he presumed.
The person's figure was soon revealed. He was a young boy with a piercing glare on his eyes and sporting a standard Chunnin attire consisted of green flak jacket, black Shinobi pants and matched sandals. He was as skinned as Kyuseishu looked...
Kyuseishu narrowed his eyes more while gazing up towards the other young male surprisingly but it took him less than five seconds to realise his identity. He kept his hands down and tried to stay unfazed even though he was certain about the male's intention to land another attack on him.
"...!"
The other male instantly drew out six shurikens with one hand from his Shuriken holster attached to his right hip and tossed them swiftly towards Kyuseishu without landing down on the ground.
"Where do you think yourself going, huh!?"
He shouted but Kyuseishu instantly slid backwards with his both feet onto the ground letting the six Shurikens strike the dirt instead of him but his eyes continued to follow the enemy who eventually landed few meters in front of him and snickered before displaying a cocky smirk made Kyuseishu look dumbfounded.
"...Raph!?"
To be continued...
*Hiragana and Kanji: A Japanese syllablary writing systems...