Well, due to many reviews telling me NOT to put this fic on hold, I've decided to listen to you guys and so here's another chapter of this fic (finished it just today)… it may get you confused, but everything in it has it's reasons, trust me on that… and an encounter to a fight is here as well (this is action/adventure and there wasn't that much action lately, was there?).
Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! It gives me the power to try even harder on making this fic enjoyable for you all!
Not too many questions in the last list of reviews, but I caught one concerning Sasuke and his Mangekyou Sharingan… well, to start of: yes, Naruto is still Sasuke's friend (the best one for that matter) and yes, Sasuke does have the higher level of Sharingan already… how did he achieve it? Well, there is an explanation planned for that, however I'd prefer to keep it a secret till that time (the explanation itself will take place WAAAAAAAAAAAAY later on though)… if some of you REALLY want to know, I can send you an e-mail or something explaining it, but some surprises in later parts of the story will be ruined for you that way.
I think that clears everything up this time around. I still have a lot of work (I've even started helping my friend out with writing a "One Piece" fic… if you want, I can give you details about it) so I'll still continue only popular fics… to put it simple: you want this fic to keep rolling, tell it to me… also, if you think some things can be improve, tell me as well, readers satisfaction is my top priority.
Now without further delays:
Chapter #33: On Enemy Territory
Title Page (yeah, finally remember what's it called): Kai is laying exhausted on his stomach on a tree branch, smiling, with a kunai stuck in the tree right next to him
"Well, they're guarding it pretty well…" announced Ibuki as she got back from scouting the area. "Each wing has about five guards and they're patrolling the dojo in a way that there are only ten-second holes during which we have to get pass them, otherwise we'll have to wait for another chance… not to mention that we still have no idea how to find the scrolls…"
"Simple…" replied Kai with a smile and all his teammates looked at him surprised. "We'll just bust in there, kick the guard's asses and look for them…" and at the same moment Kumiko hit him on the head:
"And here I was thinking that you might have thought of something… How stupid are you? Didn't you hear the rules? We're not even allowed to get spotted!"
"So what do you purpose?" asked Takaru.
"I don't know…" admitted Kumiko. "I was hoping Ibuki will spot some clues when I asked her to go on a scout, but now things got complicated… the scroll is probably quite small, thus can be hidden almost anywhere… without any idea where to look, we'll be only wasting time… Ibuki should be able to move unspotted, however she alone won't be able to cover the whole dojo in search for clues… we need to figure out where would be a good place to hid the scroll or at least to leave a clue where it is…"
"Look, Saiken-san, isn't that Konoha brats?" they all heard a voice coming from above and as they looked up, they noticed a team from Kumori Gakure: four wearing hoods and one with a headgear on his head. "It seems we carelessly ran into them…"
"How regrettable…" sighed another, hooded member with a female voice. "Guess it can't be helped… I'll take care of them…" and with that she held her right hand from under her cloak. The leaf-nins eyes widen as they saw a metal glove on it, with claws in stead of fingers and small spikes all over it.
"No, let me, let me…" begged another hooded figure with a psychopathic tune in his voice. "It's been a while since I get to had any fun… my bones are starting to get rusty…"
"They forgot about the orders completely…" the third, hooded figure, who was standing on the tree branch upside down (A/N: holding to it with his feet that is) sighed as something moved under his cloak. "I knew those two will only make the mission more problematic…"
"Raina, Fuma, stop it…" ordered the one wearing a headgear, Saiken. "There's no point in fighting them… we should conserve our strength for the coming exams… listen brats, we'll make you a deal: let us through without a fight and we'll give you one of the scrolls that we collected…" and with that the one hanging upside down held out his hand, which was holding four scrolls.
"What?" Takaru's eyes widen. "But the exam started about fifteen minutes ago! How did they collected ALL the scrolls already? That's not possible!" and with that thought he looked at Saiken. "And this guy… there's something strange about him…"
The one standing upside down threw the scroll at the rookie gennin. Kai caught it and the moment he raised his head to look at the shadow-nins, he noticed they weren't there anymore. "Huh? Where did they go?"
"I have a bad feeling about this…" announced Kusari as he kept staring at the place Kumori shinobies were just a moment ago. "I mean, why did they gave us the scroll just like that?"
"Coz we're stronger, of course" replied Kai, proud of himself.
"That's not it…" Kumiko disagreed. "Even though they said they do not wish you waste their strength before the next exam, why did they even show themselves to us? They could just go right pass us unnoticed… since Ibuki didn't sensed them, I doubt any of us did…"
"So you're saying that they drew our attention to them on purpose?" asked Takaru.
"That's my guess…" nodded the tactician.
"But why would they do that?" demanded Kusari. "And why did they let us by? Since they collected all the scrolls in such a short time, defeating us would most likely present no problem to them…"
"That's what I'd like to know…" responded Kumiko. "I may be wrong, but with all that, I believe that their intension, from the very beginning, was to give one scroll to us…"
"You gotta be joking!" yelled Kai. "They're not even from the Leaf! Why would they care whether we pass this exam or not?"
"They most likely have their reasons…" announced Ibuki calmly. "But whatever they may be, we should use this chance and get straight to the exit… since they collected all the scroll, it means stealing one is the only way for the two, other teams that entered the area with us to pass this test. As soon as they find out about that, they'll go after us since we're physically weaker then those shadow-nins. Unless we hurry and get out of here, we risk getting attacked by them…"
"Right, lets get out of here first, then we'll think why they did this…" Takaru agreed and a second later they all headed towards the gate, unaware of the fact that they were watched from the nearby bushes.
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Hinata and Naruto were both eating ramen at the Ichiraku when Neji quietly walked inside the restaurant. The moment he reached the both jounin backs, the whisker-marks greeted him: "Nice that you dropped by… it's been a while, Neji…"
"Naruto… Hinata-sama…" the ANBU member bowed to the kunoichi.
"Neji-niisan, I told you not to address me like that…" reminded the girl as she turned around with noodles still in her mouth. "But why did you came? An ANBU leader surely have more important things to do then chat with jounins…"
"Yes, I did came here for a reason…" nodded the white-eyed man. "Naruto, I have a message from Hokage-sama… it seems that it involves one of your subordinates…"
"He's back then…" said the blonde, lowering his head a bit.
"That is what we think…" confirmed the ANBU.
"Neji, I have a request then…" announced the whisker-marks. "I know this is much to ask, but can you make your team have a lookout on the exams? Tell them to not effect its results only take action if something unusual happens…"
"I'll take care of it personally…" replied the white-eyed man.
"Thanks… Hinata-chan, forgive me, but I need to cut this short… I have to see Kakashi-sama right away…"
"I understand…" responded the kunoichi. "But you owe me a dinner…" the blonde only smiled and went on his way to the Hokage Tower.
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Kai and his teams were jumping from one tree to the other, heading towards the exit when suddenly tree branches started to block their way just like they were alive. Before anyone knew it, they heard Kai's yell, who was the most behind: "What the hell? Those branches are trying to imprison me!"
Everyone turned around and saw their teammate being capture by lianas and thinner tree branches. "What's happening? The forest is attacking us?" thought Takaru as he performed a quick set of hand seals and with the last symbol called out: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Instantly a huge fireball left his mouth and burnt some of the branches in front of him. "Hurry, while the path is cleared!" he called to his teammates as all of them, except Kai who was still trapped, escaped the trap.
"Impressive…" announced Kusari. "When did you learned the jutsu used by Naruto-sensei and that ANBU guy from the Stone Country?" the son of Tsunade only smirked.
"This is no time to be impressed!" yelled Kai. "Get me down from here dammit!"
"Okay, okay…" replied Ibuki as she prepared her shurikens. "Just hold still…"
"I can't move an inch, even if I wanted too…" responded the blonde.
The young assassin aimed her weapons, but before she could throw them, roots shoot from under the ground and started to circle around her, imprisoning her hands and then her entire body. "What is this?" yelled Kumiko surprised as she jumped into the air along with Kusari and Takaru in order to avoid roots that were coming after them too.
"Most likely we're being attacked by grass-nins…" announced the chain user. "Those shinobies are known for mastering those sort of jutsus… however, it is surprising that someone on the gennin level is able to use such skills…"
"Thanks for flattering me, but this won't help you…" they all heard a voice and before they knew it, a large branch 'grabbed' Takaru in a way he couldn't perform any hand seals. As both Kumiko and Kusari jumped off the trees, the chain user flew carelessly right at lianas that started to circle around him, making him trapped just like Kai was.
Kumiko landed on the ground safely and looked at her teammates. None was able to move in any way. "Though luck…" she heard the voice again and just then a group of five grass-nins walked out of the bushes. The one who spoken and seemed to be the leader, was a boy only few years older then her. He had messy, brown hair and green eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with green waistcoat on that, along with a large scroll attached to his back. "Looks like you're on your own, mermaid…"
The other, four Grass shinobies laughed loudly at their leader's words. "Give us the scroll and we won't kill you…" announced the Grass team leader calmly as he walked closer to the kunoichi.
Kumiko backed away a few steps and reached to her hostel for a kunai. "What to do? What to do?" she panicked. "I'm not a warrior type and it's five against one… by the looks of things, if I fight, I'm as good as dead! But the scroll that Takaru has is the last one that's left in the area… if we give it back, we'll fail the test… what… what should I do?"
"I can tell just by looking at you…" announced the Grass team leader as he kept getting closer to the girl. "That you're not the fighter… you even seem to be the weakest in your team… you see the odds, I trapped all your friends, so what chances do you have against me… and keep in mind that my four teammates will join the battle the moment I'll start loosing if that were to happen… you can't do anything…"
"Of course she can!" yelled Kai as all eyes turned to him. "You pinheads picked the wrong team to mess with! Kumiko, usually I'd say 'free me and I'll kick their butts' but this time… just wipe the floor with them and then get us out of those branches, will ya?"
"Kai…" the Leaf kunoichi stared at her teammate in shock. "I'm supposed to…"
"The idiot does have a point…" Takaru agreed with the blonde. "There is no 'weakest' in this team… Kumiko, you're as strong as anyone of us… just finish this quick and get us out of here so we can advance to the next exam…" Kusari and Ibuki and smiled and slightly nodded (A/N: as much as the roots and lianas allowed them too).
"You… you all…" Kumiko hold back tears that were gathering in her eyes, before lowering her head. "I will fight!"
"Boy you guys are loud…" sighed the Grass team leader. "But reality bites…" with that he turned to the free leaf-nin and saw her smiling.
"You know, that jutsu you sued on my teammates…" began Kumiko as her smile widen. "It's very impressive… guess it's some sort of Mokuton… but that's not important… use the enemies strength for your profits… that's one of the basic ninjutsu rules… and guess what, I've found your weak spot… better get ready, coz your ass is grass…"
And for the time being that's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
No jutsu encyclopedia this time, coz there weren't any jutsus really (at least none that you wouldn't know anything about), however there is a bonus… I was asked (a chapter ago if I recall) to make character profile of two characters so I'm doing the first one of the two NOW! If you want any, specific of my OC's to be described, tell me and it'll be posted ASAP… anyways, here we go:
Name: Hyuuga Hitomi
Name Origins: I never really found any meaning behind her clan's name, but 'hitomi' means 'pupils' which is allusion to her bloodline limit… and also it's somewhat a bow to a character created by a friend of mine to her story (you won't find it on this site however)… also, she has nothing to do with the character of the same name in my "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire"
Age: currently 14 years old (just for the record, Kai and other rookies are 13 now)
Birth Date: 9th of May
Blood Type: 0
Height: 154,7 cm
Weight: 46,3 kg
Favorite Food: no data
Village: Konoha (Hidden Leaf)
Current Rank: gennin… duh
Bloodline Limit: Byakugan, Jyuken (then again, Gentle Fist isn't really a bloodline limit)
Family: parents: Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Tenten, cousin Hyuuga Hinata
Techniques (used so far): Hakke Rokujuu Yonsho (Sixty-four Point Hands)
First Appearance: 27th chapter
And that's really that for this time.
Best wishes and till the next time, hopefully.