Word count: 4,612

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'Hideo' intrigued me. He acts the same as always, no matter how messed up or extreme a situation is, he never changed. Even after I 'cut' my connections with Danzo, he didn't change.

Not fair. I whined, inwardly. Danzo's got a loyal minion while all I have closest to a sidekick is Gai.

I don't hate the kid, really, his personality's just overwhelming that I can't stand being around him for two hours without needing to 'get fresh air' a couple of times before excusing myself. He's a good friend but... Never mind, off topic.

"Just a few more miles to go." 'Hideo' reassured.

My expression pained. "Do we really need to?" I asked, whispering.

"We don't have much of a cho-"

"We can stop here for the night." A voice interrupted. "When the sun rises we head out."

"Yes, sir." The three of us answered.

Hiruzen is in a state of 'panic' because the casualties were increasing and he wanted to make sure that civilians would get protection 24/7, even if it meant sending a team outside the village to get support/back-up. Our team was chosen to head towards Hacho Village to convince the leader to aid Konoha civilians.

The Hacho village is located at the outskirts of the Land of Fire. If they agree to let some villagers stay then Hiruzen and the Konoha-nins wouldn't need to worry about the civilians anymore. Danzo even added to ask them for some military strength, with Hiruzen's uncertain approval of course.

I didn't want a small village to get involved in this war but, apparently, we have no choice but to listen to the Hokage. Sometimes I question Hiruzen's decisions.

Whenever Danzo is around he always seems unsure, which is smart but it takes away the crowds reassurance. Not a good strategy for a leader but understandable... Well, it's understandable in my eyes.

"Hideo-sensei, do we really need to?" I asked again, whispering.

He frowned. "I know what you're thinking, but it's the Hokage's orders and we need to follow it." He explained ruffling my hair.

I sulked. Not because I can't do anything about the matter but because 'Hideo' confuses me to no end. How is he keeping up his act? And, why do I still, kind of, trust him? ... All right, I still completely trust him. Why?

While 'Hideo' and Shinji-taicho sets up camp, Arashi and I took care of setting the traps. We placed twenty trigger bombs, forty senbon rain traps and about ten poisonous kunai traps.

"These traps are sensitive, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." Arashi answered. He crossed his arms and placed his head on his palm. "I don't think this is enough to kill anyone." He said with bored sarcasm.

My mouth twitched. "I know. I just hope no animals wander in. Our traps won't only be wasted, innocent wildlife might die too." I honestly care more for animals than I do to humans. Animals are innocent even if they sometimes appear like they want to bite your head off.

He nodded thoughtfully and did hand signs. "Genjutsu." He whispered. His chakra spread out and my head throbbed a bit. I hate genjutsu.

"There. Now any person or animal who comes within a 100 meter radius won't notice the camp." He smiled.

I pouted and looked at him unhappily. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I want to do genjutsu too." I whined. It's annoying to see people do something so easily while I, however, don't have a chance at it.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because, I can't concentrate properly and my head hurts when someone nearby casts one." I explained rubbing my head.

"I see... Are you ok? Did I-"

"It's all right, Arashi-senpai." I stopped him.

"You know, calling me 'senpai' isn't necessary." He frowned.

I returned it with a lazy shrug and grabbed his arm. He shook his head in disdain and dragged me back to camp. It's convenient to have someone guiding you when you're practically sleepwalking.

Turns out I had to be carried all day until we reached Hacho. Hiruzen already sent a hawk in advance to tell the village leader of our team's arrival, but when we reached the village people eyed us sceptically. Most of them had worried looks on their faces; I must have given them the wrong impression for limping.

The village is surrounded by mountain ranges, like Kiri actually but less 'misty'. The village is shaped like a circle the land is crescent-shaped covered with blue-roofed buildings and a two small ports were built by the big lake.

Why am I limping? Let's just say we had a few 'technical difficulties'.

"I regret setting traps for some reason." Arashi screamed at my direction.

"I wonder why?" I mocked, lazily. "Maybe it's because we have to dodge all the deadly and poisonous weapons then store all of them back in the scrolls. But, since we have the ability to accidentally kill people when doing anything that involves seals Shinji-san has to store them." I said while holding two kunai to deflect the incoming barrage of needles.

"Arashi-senpai, stay away from the right side." I warned.

"I know!" He yelped, jumping away from the 'landmine' and barely landing on a tree branch.

I'm glad he casted that genjutsu. If it weren't for that our campsite would have been the center of attention.

I groaned. Remind me why we put up so many traps.

Deflecting some needles and dodging the rest I started to think of a plan. I jumped and flipped between the trees. If it weren't for the fact that a bunch of deadly weapons are being bombarded at me this would look really good in an action movie.

Hideo extinguished most of the flames and Shinji calmly collected the weapons while Arashi and I dodged for our lives.

It's like dodge ball but with life threatening, weapons and land mines.

"Hideo-sensei." I turned to him, a hopeful gleam present in my eyes. I have an idea but I need some help.

"Sorry I can't help you, Shinji-san here thinks you two should learn how to take care of this. We won't be doing missions together all the time and someday you might be assigned to go on a mission, alone. So it's best if you learn through experience... Under supervision of course. I'll step in when things get out of hand." Hideo said cheerfully. A lesson in the middle of the forest. Seriously?

I sighed. "Arashi-senpai, I might have a plan." I said, yawning afterwards. I did not appreciate waking up in the morning.

"Whatever it is, just do it! Anything's fine with me!" He demanded, rapidly moving from tree to tree.

I made my way over to him as fast as I can, avoiding land, and stopped behind him. "Be the meat shield for a while, please. I need a few seconds."

"Fine." He unhappily agreed. Frowning, I thought, He'll thank me later.

I focused and did hand signs. Horse. Snake. Rabbit. Bird.

After getting enough of chakra to merge with the leaves I controlled them and covered all the traps, which I remembered, and kept the small, dome-like structures in place.

"Ninja Art: Jail Sphere." I whispered, shakily. Saying the move's name is unnecessary but it helps me remember.

Panting, I turned to Arashi. "I'll hold some in for a while take care of the others."

He nodded and murmured a quick 'Thanks' before moving to the other side. The traps were still wasted but at least no one got hurt.

I felt a sting on my thigh. Looking down I saw five senbon sticking out of my clothing. I winced in pain. Just be glad they're not the poisonous kunai.

Explosions continued to go off but the damage stayed inside the domes. Before it stopped I released the jutsu, my chakra was almost drained. I felt tired and my lower left side was numb.

Someone landed beside me. "Finally." He said. "It stopped."

I pulled out the needles one by one. "Damn." I dropped the senbon and poked my thigh. Wake up, we still have a couple of kilometres to go.

"Need some help?" Arashi asked.

"Yes." I answered, truthfully.

Now that is some serious case of backfire.

It actually sounds ridiculous now that I think about it. Arashi and I had the honour of waiting outside the office doors of the village leader while 'Hideo', Shinji-taicho and the leader talked.

"Arashi-senpai, don't you think it's a bad idea to involve a small village?" I asked him.

"Are you really going to ask about this again? Didn't Hideo-san talk to you about it already?"

"He did but-"

"Look." He stopped me. "The Hokage gave us this mission and as Konoha-nins we have to follow his orders. So unless you're planning on going rogue you have to follows his orders. I know sometimes Hokage-sama's decisions seem... Surreal but he's the Hokage for a reason. Learn how to trust, everything will seem easier if you do... And stop asking questions."

Trust his decisions sure, no problem, I can do that. "Sorry. I'm just concerned they might get attacked."

"That's why they're discussing the matter. I'm sure Hokage-sama wouldn't let that happen." He said. "Stop being a pessimist and try to be more optimistic." So I'm actually a reincarnated indecisive pessimist?

"Op-ti-mis-tic... Positive thoughts." There's hardly anything positive happening, really.

"Yeah, it's not that hard. Maybe, instead of thinking about getting attacked you can just be happy for the civilians. They'll be safe here."

"But Shinji-taicho and Hideo-sensei haven't convinced the village leader yet." I pointed out.

"Stop that." He snapped. "What did I just tell you a few seconds ago?"

I frowned. "It's not as easy as you think." Especially if you know what's going to happen... And if you're being watched by everyone who has the ability to kill you.

He knitted his brows and gave me a look that said. What do you mean?

Before he could verbally ask the two jonin walked out of the doors, one smiling the other confused.

"It's creepy to see Shinji-san smile." Arashi whispered.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling as confused as 'Hideo'.

"Gin-san agreed to let some villagers stay but he said they didn't want to join the war."

That doesn't make sense. If they didn't want to join the war then they shouldn't have accepted the citizens. Oh, wait... "Right, war has a different definition here."

"War has a different definition here?" I jumped.

Akashi kept looking at me and waited for an explanation.

"Hokage-sama would be happy to hear this. We need to get back as soon as possible." Shinji-taicho said.

"Yes, sir."

We almost made it back to Konoha but instead of safely returning 'home' we were attacked and was forced to redirect the attacking Iwa-nin. We are outnumbered but we worked well with combo techniques.

My clones took care of the others who tried to get close to Konoha using Ninja Art: Leaf Detonation. I usually didn't last very long in a fight due to my below-average stamina but the adrenaline is taking my mind off the fact that I'm about to collapse.

Horse. Tiger. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." Arashi blew a ball of fire that left a mark on the ground. Horse. Sheep. "Wind Release: Wind Blast." I added wind to enhance the assault.

"Dust Cloud Ignition Technique!" We attacked with wind enhanced fire. We got a few ninja's burned and some trees.

A bomb erupted beside us. "Hideo-sensei, we need to put out the fire or else none of us will survive this."

"Go left." He commanded.

Dragon. Tiger. Hare. "Wild Water Wave," I blasted water at the area in flames to prevent the small forest fire to spread.

Horse. Snake. Rabbit. "Ninja Art: Jail Dome." Leaves swirled around four Iwa-nins and trapped them. Taking out a bomb kunai I threw it at their direction and took them down, injuring some who were in range of the explosion.

Bird. Rat. Despite feeling tired I conjured hand signs and continued my assault. I am not dying here. How many did I manage to get?

"Tree Leaves Swarm," The trees were deprived of their leaves and the large pile turned into sharp kunai-like weapons. I controlled the leaves to slice any enemy nearby. I watched as a few of them fell to the ground with a thud. I am not dying here. Not yet! I clenched my fist. But I never killed this many before.

A kunai whistled past my head and embedded itself on the ground behind me. Before I could get away it exploded throwing me off my feet. The leaves fell to the ground and wilted. My ears rung from the explosion and didn't notice the Iwa-nin holding a katana.

He said something I couldn't hear then I felt pain on my right shoulder when he slashed. I probably yelped or screamed I wasn't sure. But I felt the pain, it was horrible.

Rolling aside I was again thrown off when the 'ground' I stood on suddenly threw me off. I concentrated chakra to my feet to prevent further damage. I hissed, eyes widening when someone appeared beside me. I braced myself for an attack but found a shadow looming over me. "Earth Release: Earth Style Wall."

I grabbed my arm, trying to get rid of the pain. "Thank you, Shinji-taicho."

He nodded, keeping his eyes on the enemy and threw a bottle of Blood Increasing Pills at me. He was gone before I could thank him, shaking it off I took one out and ate it. It tastes like iron. Hideo threw kunai bombs and scalded some, before finishing them with water release techniques.

"Arashi, take Takeshi and go, I'll hold them off. Report to Hokage-sama as fast as you can, we need to protect the village," He ordered with a stern expression.

Before I could protest Arashi grabbed me by the waist and ran away. "Arashi-senpai, we can't just leave Hideo-sensei." He was silent. "This isn't the way to Konoha." I argued. He didn't respond for a moment. Suddenly, he halted, dropping me harshly.

"Leaf-nins," She smirked. Instead of Arashi a woman several feet taller than me stood in his place. If she's an enemy...

I automatically returned her smirk. "I didn't know Iwagakure had acting classes for men." Speech control skills, don't fail me now.

She chuckled. "That won't work little girl." She shot back with her annoying high-pitched voice.

I gave her a disapproving look. "Apparently, 'adults' are only physically taller and are allowed to know more 'information'. Inside you're still children." Finishing my sentence I threw a kunai bomb at her direction.

She saw it in time and jumped away. "Charming, aren't you? Come with us and we will leave the others alone. What do you say?"

It's weird how the 'bad guys' in the Naruto-verse are so talkative. I glared and threw senbon her way. No wonder they usually lose.

"I guess that's a no, Kinju." She smirked.

I forced myself to remain impassive. Monkey.

"Ninja Art: Leaf Animal Puppets." Snake. Sheep. Bird. "Forest Chameleon Technique,"

I distracted her with a group of leaf monkeys to head over to my team.

I saw Arashi, who almost got turned into a human splat, from the corner of my eyes. With an abandoned tanto from an Iwa-nin, I slashed. No matter how disgusting it looked it had to be done. The area looked as horrible as my genjutsu. The ground crumbled. "Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm." Several Iwa-nins slammed their hands to the ground. How many more are there?

"They're trying to bury us alive." Arashi said, panicking.

"I can see that. Jump!" I told him. "How many more are left?" I asked, reaching for the branch.

"Less than ten... Thankfully," Hideo answered, wincing.

If we use a combo attack we could win this. Water. Wind. Lightning. Where's Shinji?

I slowly limped over to Hideo and checked his pulse. I sighed in relief when I felt a slow pulse. It's still there. Before the fight ended Hideo got stabbed and is in terrible condition.

I examined his wound. It looks... Bad. I carefully took off his flak jacket and sweater to look closely at the wound. Grabbing the medical kit Nono gave me and a water bottle I proceeded to clean his wound. I poured water over the area. He responded with a wince but didn't wake up. Good, he's still alive.

When everything looked clean enough I brought out the anesthetic and carefully poured some over the wound. This time he groaned in pain his eyes opening a bit before closing again. This will numb it for a while. I'm probably not helping much but if it stops the bleeding, then I suppose that's a start. I owe Rin and Nono for this.

When I finished wrapping his torso with bandages I looked at him. That should do it for a while. I observed while taking out a Blood Increasing Pill and throwing one in my mouth. Still tastes like iron. Taking out another one I tried my best to make Hideo ingest one. After managing it I glanced at the eerily quiet battlefield.

There were too strong and too many, 15 chunin maybe? They had tons of bombs and the ground wasn't safe at all.

Looking around I saw parts of the area looking like it's been trampled by a machine. My scrunched up as the smell of blood hit me. I need to report this to Hiruzen. I took out a piece of paper and a pencil.

[Hacho Village agreed but doesn't want to get involved in the war. Iwagakure might attack. Be on guard. Hacho Village might also need some protection.]

[~Team Shinji]

Rolling up the paper I did hand signs and created a white-throated needle tail. I untied my forehead protector off my neck and tied the letter tightly at one end and the other on the bird's leg. After making sure that the letter is secure I let the bird go and it disappeared in a second.

The fight must have attracted attention. "Takeshi?" I heard someone call.

Turning around, I saw 'Arashi'. I took out two kunai and ran as fast as I can. I tackled him two the ground with one kunai hovering above his chest and the other ready to slit his throat.

"WH-what are you doing?!" He stuttered.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not an enemy." He argued weakly.

"How do I know you're not an Iwa-nin using henge?"

"I'm-"

"What if you're just pretending so I would take you to Konoha with me? Did you really think I was that-?"

"What did I tell you about this? Really! You sound like a lunatic with your conspiracies and unbelievable predictions. Why can't you just think like a normal kid?!" He screamed. So he is the real one. His eyes widened. "Damn. I didn't mean it like that. I-"

"Sorry..." I said with a frown and got off him. A normal kid, huh? I can't do that... I'll mess things up even more. I walked to Hideo and checked on him. Still alive.

"Hello, hello, Takeshi." I heard a different voice whisper. My eyes widened as I saw a lighter shade of green on the ground. What. The. Hell?! Why is he here? What if-?

I whirled around to see Arashi with his head down being held by someone, or something by the arm. "Uh... Zetsu-nii... How did you...?" I shook my head clearing some thoughts away. Looking skeptically at the spiral-faced one I asked. "Who are you?"

"Guruguru," Zetsu answered with a smirk.

I scratched my head. "Nice to meet you? Dang, that was fast... Won't he question me when he wakes up?"

"Loosen up Takeshi-chan; you can lie to a whole village. He won't be much of a problem." He said, waving the matter off. "Did you decide to change your look? I almost didn't recognize you." He said.

"It's a bloody shirt over a mesh shirt and don't say it like that. You sound like a weirdo."

"Fine, what I really meant to say was you're really 'embracing' Konoha, aren't you?" He said crossing his arms, still amused.

I looked down at myself. I finally decided to cut my hair. I wore a chunin flak-jacket over my shirt, sweat pants, open-toed shoes, and goggles that hung around my neck. "Bloody and covered in sweat...? And again don't say it like that."

Zetsu grinned in amusement, which looked creepy seeing that he only had half his face and spikes were coming out of his right side. "Madara-sama wanted me to tell you something."

"What is it?" It took me a moment to realize. They didn't. "Don't tell me you di-!"

"Whoa! No, no. Not this. We didn't do anything. We're good boys!" Guruguru interrupted shaking his head at maximum speed.

"Good boys?" I questioned.

"Yes, yes. We're good boys, right Zetsu-nii?" He childishly called the other.

"Sure."

I turned to Zetsu. "Why are you here?"

His smirk widened. "Well it's something about that fellow over there." He said pointing at Hideo.

"I know already, he's a member of Root. That's why Danzo isn't pestering me; he has 'his eyes' on me."

"No." He said before his smile faltered a bit. "Why are there shinobi heading our way?"

"I sent a message to Konoha." If I didn't they would get suspicious. "Forget that, what do you mean by 'no'?" I demanded.

"Tsk. Guruguru, drop Akumu we need to get out of here." He said with a serious tone. Zetsu, serious? Hmm, I've never heard that one before.

"Yes, sir," Guruguru complied with a salute and dropped Arashi.

"It's Arashi." I corrected.

"That's great! Expect to be kidnapped in a few days~" He said in a sing-song voice and disappeared underground.

"Eh?" I never expected to be warned about my kidnapping.

"Nice meeting you, Takeshi-chan!" Guruguru said cheerfully following after Zetsu.

"O-k?" I blew out air then walked over to Arashi. I grabbed him and tried to wake him up. "Arashi-senpai, wake up." He groaned but didn't awake. I decided to pull him over to where Hideo was.

Moments later Konoha-nins flooded the area some headed straight to Hacho while others searched for survivors.

"Hello, Takeshi."

"Minato-san, shouldn't you be with your team?" I asked even though I already knew why he's here.

"Yes, I should be with them but they insisted that I go with the back-up team. You have good friends, Takeshi. Do your best to keep them." He said with a wink.

The three of them, huh...? I wonder how Kakashi reacted to this. "Did Kakashi explode or freeze?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I would say a bit of both, though he hid it very well."

I nodded. Of course he did.

A ninja landed beside us. "Minato-san, we found five who are still alive. What do we do with them?"

"We'll take them to Konoha for T&I. Clean the area and make sure no harm will reach Hacho Village." Minato answered.

He nodded and went away to lead a team to Hacho.

I turned to Minato and asked. "Do I need to give you information?"

"No. It's too dangerous to stay here any longer than we need to. The Hokage would also like to hear this personally."

"Okay." I immediately sagged. "In that case..." I yawned. "Can I...?" My eyes closed and I was out.

3rd Person's P.O.V.

~(Madara's Cave)~

"Did you tell him?"

"No, not yet, Madara-sama. Shinobi were approaching and we needed to flee," Zetsu answered.

Madara sighed not because of disappointment but because of drowsiness. He tried to get comfortable on his throne.

"But you told him I requested his presence?"

"Of course we did!" Guruguru answered. "Takeshi-chan seems like a good boy. Madara-sama doesn't need to worry about him," the swirly faced clay-man added.

"Good, I need to talk to him as soon as possible," Madara said closing his eyes.

"Zetsu-nii, do we get Takeshi now or tomorrow."

"We need to wait for a week so he can get himself 'fixed' before Madara-sama tells him." Zetsu said with a smirk.

"Yey! Our plan is in motion!" Guruguru said cheerfully.

Zetsu grinned at his only companion while he thought. How much is the Hokage going to reveal after this? That girl was a nice addition to the Iwa-nin that attacked Takeshi and his team. Good thing she did what she's supposed to do. Too bad she had to be killed. Although, killing the taller blonde wasn't necessary, what was his name?

Takeshi's P.O.V.

~(Konohagakure)~

"Takeshi?" I heard a voice I slightly don't like say.

I turned my head to see Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama..." I greeted.

"Is it all right if we have a little chat?" He asked.

I nodded. "Is it about the mission?"

He glanced by the window then turned to me. "I'm sorry." He simply said, bowing.

My eyes widened. Is he finally going to tell me something? Wait... Holy-! The Hokage is bowing!

"Hokage-sama, you don't need to do that!" I bolted up waving my arms around.

"It's necessary child... I haven't been completely honest with you."

"You mean about Sakumo-san? I already know what really happened. He came back from a failed mission and everybody started hating him. He started the war, right?" His eyes widened.

"Konoha-nins are a talkative bunch, aren't they? I heard it from some guys while they were 'walking by themselves'. Don't worry I'm not... Mad, to say the least. I just want to know why they hated him so much." I explained. "And they're saying how could he leave his son, Kakashi? They're the reason he 'left'." I got carried away and presented my frustration.

"You mean to say... All this time you knew?" He asked incredulously.

I nodded. "Why is that a bad thing?"

He stared. "Hokage-sama?" Did I break him or something?

Smoke suddenly covered him. I coughed and swatted away some smoke with my left hand. This is not the Hokage. "Perhaps, I was wrong about you."

"Danzo?" He narrowed his eyes and disappeared. A clone?!

\(- _ - )/

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

~Isaac Isimov