(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Twenty Sixth Chapter everyone is using the full month to train for the Third portion of the exam. Well, mostly everyone. Kuroda is playing a dangerous game of tag with the Stone Village ANBU. The Chunin Exams continue! What will be the outcome? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
One uneventful day Kuroda is running around the village and happens to stumble across Tousen Nohana. "Oh, excuse me, Tousen-sensei, I didn't see you there," says Kuroda.
"Oh, I think I'm in love!" responds the robust, blonde-haired ninja.
"Umm…I don't understand, Sensei," says Kuroda, curiously.
"Oh, Kuroda, I didn't see you there. How are you today? Hey, shouldn't you be training for the third exam? That Shun of mine is going to be tough to beat!" babbles Tousen as he fiddles with his grey combat vest.
"I decided to take the day off today," replies Kuroda, slightly amused, "Speaking of Shun, shouldn't you be helping him to train?"
"Well, you see, I ran into that guy Kenji Takimasu," explains Tousen.
"You mean the second exam proctor?" asks Kuroda.
"Yeah, that's the one. He told me about this great place where I could meet the most gorgeous ladies. They were all really nice and friendly, we had a great time," explains Tousen, as he slaps the younger ninja on the back. Kuroda looks behind Tousen and sees the he had just exited a brothel. The door swings open and he catches a glimpse of Kenji walking out.
Kuroda thinks to himself, "No wonder Rame Tsu and Naoko are always calling him a pervert."
"I have decided that I am going to speak to the Hokage about getting one of those in our own village," announces Tousen.
Kuroda senses that the Rock Ninja following him have finally caught up. "Well, Sensei, you really should be helping Shun to train. I mean Kayo-sensei has been spending all her time helping all of my team train for the third exam," says Kuroda.
"My dear Kayo! Oh, what kind of man would I be if I did not follow her excellent example? See you later, Kuroda," he says as he runs off merrily to find his students.
Kuroda shrugs and spots Kenji again as he walks into a nearby bar so he decides to follow. Before entering the establishment Kuroda pays a man for his cloak and covers his head with the hood, and he also goes a step further by using a Transformation Jutsu to make him appear as a young dark-haired girl with rosy red lips. Kenji goes near the back of the establishment and sits down in a booth alone, so Kuroda takes the one next to his and orders a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea.
After a while a familiar female joins Kenji in his booth. "It's nice to see you again, Chiaki," says Kenji in a low voice that Kuroda is barely able to pick up.
"Don't start with that sweet talk of yours, Kenji. I don't want to hear it and that's not why I'm here," she responds, rather harshly.
"Chiaki, you don't have to have your claws out all the time. I remember when you used to be a gentler woman," he replies, taking a sip of his tea.
She picks up a fork and twirls it in her hands, "That was a long time ago."
"It's not as long as you think, I remember when..." he starts to reminisce.
Chiaki stabs her fork into the table, "I have no interest in taking a look back at our past relationship, Kenji!"
Kenji reaches his hand over and gently brushes her cheek with his fingers, "It doesn't have to be the past."
At first she is touched by the moment, a peaceful aura surrounds her, almost as if she is different person, but quickly her attitude changes back to the violent nature it usually bears. She grabs his hand and squeezes down tightly, "I said I wasn't here for that."
"Ok, ok, as you wish, but can we talk about it later?" he asks.
Chiaki gives him a look that only lasts for a second, but her answer is clear. She releases her hold on his now blue hand, "Now, what was the outcome? Were you able to get any useful information?"
"No," answers Kenji.
"Nothing at all?" questions Chiaki, her eyebrow raised.
"Well, I did learn a lot, just nothing about the kid. Nohana has been on a limited amount of missions with him, and nothing significant happened on them," explains Kenji.
"Damn, we haven't had any luck with this at all," curses Chiaki.
"I admit that I thought he would talk more, especially after I took him to that brothel," sighs Kenji.
"Yeah, I thought we might be able to get this one, especially since he is such a pervert," says Chiaki, biting her lip in dissatisfaction.
"We still have Yoshikuni Dosu and if we want to risk it, Kayo Yuhi," suggests Kenji.
"I don't believe we would get anything out of either of them. We would just alert them to what we are up to. Damn, now I have to go back to the Tsuchikage and report that we haven't learned anything. He's not going to be happy especially with all the other bad news," says Chiaki.
"Other bad news?" asks Kenji.
"Yeah," she answers, "It seems he's been giving his tails the slip."
"What? He has been able to get away from our ANBU trackers?" exclaims Kenji, surprised.
"Yeah, but I don't get it," she says, "How could a Genin be doing this? I hear that one minute they are right behind him, and then the next minute they receive reports that he is halfway across the town."
"Wait a second I just remembered something," interjects Kenji.
"Something good?" asks Chiaki.
"I couldn't get much out of him, but Tousen did mention that they were on a mission in the Land of Tea, and something happened," explains Kenji.
"Something? That's it?" she asks.
"That's all I could get out of him," he answers.
"I guess it is worth looking into, I think I'll take a trip and check it out," she says.
"You'd better make it quick, the third exam is only a few weeks away," he warns.
With this the disguised Kuroda gets up and starts to walk out. But when he passes by Chiaki and Kenji's booth he stops and turns to them. He whispers, "If you're looking for information on that boy, you are looking in all the wrong places."
Kenji and Chiaki both take out kunai under the table. "So you were listening in on our conversation?" asks Chiaki.
"I thought that's what you had been doing, and I was going to capture you and question you about it when you left," adds Kenji.
"I guess I wasn't being as sneaky as I thought," responds Kuroda.
"So who are you? You don't look like you're from around here," says Chiaki.
"It doesn't matter who I am. All that matters is what I know about the boy," he says.
"Are you saying you have some information on him?" asks Kenji.
"I know everything there is to know about him," Kuroda responds as he pulls up a chair to their table. He leans back and crosses his arms across his new, curvaceous, chest. His face is obscured by his hood, but his glistening red lips are still visible.
"So what do you want then?" asks Chiaki, moving into a more relaxed position.
"Before we begin, I want to talk about you," says the transformed Kuroda.
"So it is an information exchange then? What do you want to know about our village?" inquires Kenji.
Kuroda's female lips change into a smile, "Cute and smart, I can see why you like your boyfriend so much."
"He is not my boyfriend," quickly states Chiaki, "We are just working together on this assignment. I have no other relation to him."
"Really? I'm sorry I just assumed because of the way you two were acting around each other," says Kuroda, with a devilish smirk, "And from that look you gave him."
"I have no idea what you are referring to," denies Chiaki.
"Let's move on from this topic," adds Kenji.
"Oh, it seems I've stumbled onto a sore subject," comments Kuroda as his lips curve upwards even more, "Care to share what happened between you two."
"It really is not any of your business," replies Kenji.
"You are mistaken, we have no connection beyond our allegiance to this village," stiffly denies Chiaki.
"Such a shame," sighs Kuroda, "You two do look really great together. It saddens me to see such an obvious passion denied because of some past mistakes."
Sick of the current subject, Chiaki changes the topic and asks, "What do you want?"
"What do I want?" repeats Kuroda, falsely acting confused.
"Yes, what do you want in exchange for the information?" asks Kenji.
"It is very simple, I only want three things," says Kuroda.
"Three things, and what would those be?" asks Chiaki.
"For starters I want a kiss," reveals Kuroda.
"A kiss?" asks Kenji making sure he heard correctly.
"Will that be a problem?" asks the disguised Kuroda.
"I still cannot fathom why every woman seems to be attracted to you, Kenji," sighs Chiaki, "Well, go ahead and kiss her already."
"You seem to be confused. I'm sorry I should have been more specific. I don't want a kiss from him I want one from you," reveals Kuroda as his red lips form a devious smirk.
Taken aback by the request Chiaki stutters, "I'm really not into that sort of thing."
"I guess you really don't want the information," teases Kuroda.
Kenji intervenes, "Listen, isn't there something else that..."
"No," interrupts Kuroda, "I want a kiss from her or I won't tell you anything."
After a moment of indecision Chiaki leans forward, "Fine I will do it."
She leans in towards the cloaked girl and slowly inches toward her face. But when she is only a few centimeters away Kuroda says, "Just kidding! I can't believe you were actually going to do it!"
Chiaki scowls and sits back. "Oh, don't look so disappointed, we can do it next time," teases Kuroda.
"Okay, you have had your fun, now what are the other two things you want," insists Kenji.
"I just wanted to tell you two things. The first thing is that I'm only going to tell you one thing about that boy. The second thing is..." says Kuroda as he lowers his hood revealing the female face of his transformation, "I am that boy." A cloud of smoke appears and Kuroda is transformed back into his normal form. Then he quickly darts out of the restaurant. Chiaki and Kenji pursue him outside, but then he disappears in the middle of the street.
"Damn it! It was him the whole time," says Chiaki, hands balled into angry fists.
"He is good," admits Kenji, "How the hell did he know we would be meeting there?"
"Just who is that boy, that Kuroda Taishi?" wonders Chiaki.
Tousen Nohana walks out of the forest and sees two figures in combat by a stream. One figure is a girl in a white dress with blue borders and designs and pink hair. The other is a boy with short black hair in a white and grey ensemble. There is also a woman supervising them from the comfort of an old wooden log. Tousen walks up behind the dark-haired woman who is wearing a white blouse.
"Come by to spy on the competition?" jokes Kayo Yuhi.
"Good idea, maybe I should do that while I am here," replies Tousen, "But I don't see Kuroda anywhere."
"He likes to train on his own," she explains, "Care to join me?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you would join me?" he responds, "Some place a little more private."
Kayo's striking red eyes look up at him and she raises a suspicious eyebrow.
"Just for a friendly conversation between Leaf Jonin," assures Tousen.
Curious, Kayo stands up and calls to her students, "You two take a short break; I will be back in a moment."
"Okay, Sensei," Sakura yells back.
Tousen leads the way back into the forest until they arrive in a small hidden grove. "So what did you want to talk about?" asks Kayo.
"It is about your student, Kuroda," reveals Tousen as he rests against a tree, "I came here to warn you."
Trying to act casual Kayo replies, "You want to warn me about Kuroda?"
"Yes, I think he might be in danger," explains Tousen.
"In danger? What makes you think that?" she replies.
"Even though the Tsuchikage managed to keep the peace, I don't think the Rock Ninja are too happy about what happened to their Genin," speculates Tousen, "I believe his name was Naga."
"That was pretty apparent," comments Kayo, "But what has gotten you so serious?"
"Some of them have started asking questions about Kuroda," reveals Tousen.
"Asking questions?" she repeats, "Like what?"
"Who he is, how old he is, if he is even really a Genin," he says, "At first I thought it was just innocent curiosity, until this afternoon."
"Why did something happen?" inquires Kayo.
"If my memory serves me correctly you are familiar with Kenji Takimasu," states Tousen.
"You could say that," she confirms, "I have encountered him on a few missions before, both as an ally and an enemy."
"Today he invited me out for a few drinks, said he wanted to show his allies the hospitality of the Rock Village," he explains, "But his real objective was to gather information on Kuroda. He was looking for anything and everything: medical history, mission data, and even family records."
"So what did you tell him?" asks Kayo.
"I told him the truth," admits Tousen.
"What?" says Kayo, very surprised.
"And the truth is I don't really know that much about him," he explains, "I have only been on one mission with him, and we didn't really get into any deep personal conversations. Other than that the only thing I know is he is that he is an orphan."
"Yes, that is right," confirms Kayo, "I have never talked to him about it, but from my understanding his parents died right after he was born and he has pretty much been on his own since then."
"Well, then I doubt they will find much information on him if we don't even know a lot," says Tousen, "But it still worries me that such a high-ranking ninja as Kenji is digging for information."
"So far no one has approached me or Kuroda," says Kayo, "So it is likely that the Tsuchikage is the one who is behind the inquiries and he is trying to tread lightly."
"Just be careful, even in our own village there are groups that don't always agree with the leader of the village. And some of them are still holding on to grudges of the past. One of them may act out on their own initiative and attack him. That Chiasa Inuzu for example, she seemed like a real hot-head," he says.
"More like an overprotective mother," corrects Kayo, "Thanks for the warning though."
They make their way back to the training area, and see that Kuroda has joined the other members of Team 3. "Looks like Mr. Popular is back," comments Tousen.
"Unless you really plan on staying and spying you should probably go or else it might look suspicious," advises Kayo.
"If you get into any trouble, you know how to contact me," says Tousen as he strolls off.
"I will," she replies.
As the uniquely styled blonde-haired Leaf Jonin disappears, Jando and Sakura stand and resume their training. Kuroda walks over to join his teacher on the old rotting log. "I didn't think you were that easy, Sensei," comments Kuroda.
"What?" she says confused.
He chuckles and picks a leaf out of her hair.
"Don't be ridiculous," she says when she understands his comment, "He just wanted to talk."
"If you say so," jokes Kuroda, "So what did he want to talk about?"
"About you actually," she reveals.
"Trying to squeeze information out of you?" presumes Kuroda.
"No, he wanted to warn me," she says, "It seems the Rock Village has been asking questions about you."
"Is that all?" he replies.
"I take it that you already knew," she says.
"I've been playing games with their ANBU forces for the past few weeks," he states with a rather bored expression on his face.
"So that is what you have been up to. You should have told me," she criticizes, "You need to be more careful. You are taking too many risks. If the ..."
"Save the lecture for someone who cares, Sensei," he yawns.
"If you were really as smart as you think you are you might listen to what I have to say once in a while," she says, "All the raw talent and intelligence in the world can't make up for years of experience."
"Just because I don't listen doesn't mean I don't hear, Sensei," replies Kuroda, "Now enough of this, tell me how Sakura is coming along with her training."
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The month long training has begun and most of the remaining competitors are working hard to get better. But Kuroda has other plans, just what exactly is he up to? Why did he reveal himself to the Stone Ninja who are investigating him? Who will attain victory in the third stage of the exams and be elevated to Chunin rank? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)