Okay, thanks for the few of y'all who have been following my FF over the last 2 chapters... I really appreaciate it..
I meant to release this last week but decided to release it with chapter 4.xd
Unfortunately, Chapter 4 isn't complete yet... Anyways here it is... Enjoy.
Oh and thanks Nikkou, your guideline really helped...
***********
CHAPTER THREE
Naruto walked behind his team carrying his back-pack and looking at the floor. It’s just another mission. Nothing to worry about; track a few bad guys, capture and return… simple! He raised his gaze and watched Kakashi walking calmly; watched Sakura and Sai walk side-by-side in a ‘to close for comfor’t manner with Sakura looking through a book Sai must have made.
“Young love, eh?”
Naruto stopped in his tracks for a moment before realizing who had just spoken. He turned and looked at the Kunoichi standing behind him. She seemed to have just floated into his mind and taken a peek at his thoughts. She didn’t quite look like the mind-reading type; actually she didn’t look like any other ninja.
She had a stunning resemblance to Kakashi; which was weird because he didn’t know what Kakashi looked like. She wore dark-blue skin tights that traced from beneath her knuckles to her waist and put towards her face; ending in a mask that, much like Kakashi’s, covered the lower part of her face from her nose down. On top she wore a standard konoha vest with her back-pack’s sling across her chest and what seemed like a pouch on each side of her hips.
Her reddish-brown hair hung behind her; neatly tied together by a ribbon, leaving only a part of her hair hanging down in front of her face covering her right eye. Naruto stared at the covered eye and half-expected to see a Sharingan beneath the small mass of hair should the wind blow across it.
“Are you okay?”
He blinked twice before regaining his composure, dismissing any thoughts of Hokori bearing a Sharingan.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just a bit tired.”
She looked puzzled. “Over what? This is your first A-rank mission in a while!”
“Training!” He smiled at her, hoping she might leave him for a while to ponder his thoughts.
“So, what do you think about them?” She asked abruptly, taken Naruto aback.
She was referring to the two ninjas walking a few feet from them, the girl laughing at her companion’s jokes; jokes Naruto never knew he could tell.
“I dunno.” He shrugged as he placed both arms behind his head and closed his eyes. “Sakura’s has always fancied Sai, even if she never knew it. Everyone had seen it coming.”
Actually, no one had seen it coming. Sai had always been cold towards team 7 from the start and had even bluntly told Sakura she was ugly. But slowly he had warmed up to them and had begun to open up and now it was hard to see the thin line that connected the two Sais.
Everyone’s changed! Especially me!
He had changed quite a lot over the years he joined Team 7 under Kakashi’s care. He had been hated by his own village, had helped stop an invasion by facing off against Gaara, convinced Tsunade to take her role as Hokage, failed to bring back his best friend, and trained under the late great Jiraiya amongst other things.
Oh yes, and there’s Hinata also. He smiled to himself as he though of her again.
“Hey, are we going or are we taking a trip down memory lane?”
She was still there, standing by his right slightly behind him. Like a nagging wife disturbing her husband over pointless matters. Hokori-sensei was different, he though, more like a teenager than an adult.
“Oi, Naruto!”
Standing a few yards from them were four shinobis and a large white dog. Kiba waved at them and got off Akamaru’s back and stood by Shino. Shino was looking different with his hood uncovered and standing with this group of friends he rarely hung out with. Chouji, Kiba and Shikamaru were friends since ninja academy while Shino had always preferred hanging out with his dad.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” He called out.
Shikamaru jumped down from the fence he was sitting on and looked up at Naruto.
“Hey Naruto, going on a mission?”
“Do we look like we’re going camping?” Sakura asked.
“Oi, what should I say, one minute I’m resting in the fields and the next Kiba and Chouji drag me here to see you guys off, how troublesome.”
Naruto looked at the ninjas standing in front of them. Hmm, why are Kiba and the others here? He thought.
He turned slightly as he heard a sound behind him. Taking a step back to exclude himself from the crowd, he leapt up and maneuvered towards an alley, where a brunette stood waiting for him.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t hear me.” She said as she ran into his arms.
“You shouldn’t have come, Hinata. You wanted our relationship to be secret, remember?”
“I know. That’s why I conned the others into coming here. So far they don’t suspect a thing.”
He looked into her eyes and smiled.
“You’re doing it again!” She said as she backed out of his arms. “Leaving without saying goodbye.”
“I’m sorry; the mission came up in a hurry. I couldn’t reach you without the others following me.”
Hinata stood stubbornly with her back to him. He was right; he couldn’t look for her while preparing for departure. She felt his palms rest on her shoulders and she leaned back into him.
“Be careful, Naruto-kun.” She turned and met his gaze; emphasizing her last statement.
“I will,” He placed a kiss on her forehead and walked away, leaving her breathless. “Don’t wait for me.”
He rejoined the group as goodbyes were being exchanged; apparently no one noticed his departure.
“I better head off to the hospital, Kurenai-sensei’s due to be discharged with the kid.”
“Awww, that’s sweet of you, Shikamaru.” Sakura remarked.
“Thanks, Sakura. Oi, Naruto, you should drop by and see the kid ‘kay?”
“Sure, soon as I get back from this mission. Well, let’s get moving.”
With that Team 7 left while the four shinobis walked off. Kiba spotted Hinata in an alley and walked up to her. She just stood there with her back to him, hands across her chest and red-faced thinking.
“Hey, Hinata!” He snapped a finger in front of her, jolting her back to reality.
“Huh? Uh… Kiba-kun. Sorry, where were we?” She stammered.
Kiba just shook his head and whistled to Akamaru to pick them up and leave.
************
Zeya stood on a ladder and took down a few folders; all tagged “Murder” and threw them down unto a desk where Takuya and Tatsu sat looking through some other folders.
“Hey I found something!” Tatsu said, making his team mates stop. “Oh, my bad. Just another hopeless convict.” And with that he shut the folder in his front.
Takuya stared at him hard. “That wasn’t funny the last ten times you said that!”
“I’m not even gonna argue with you. I’m going to check so thing else.” He smirked as he got up and left towards another section.
“What’s his damage?” Zeya asked as she picked up a folder marked ‘psychotic’ and tossed it down to Takuya.
“Why don’t you read his mind? It’ll be much easier!” He snapped.
Meanwhile, in another corner, Tatsu stood looking through so files that weren’t related to there mission. He picked up two folders and tossed them unto a table. Picked up another one and tossed it on the table as well. Picked up another handful and repeated the process.
What does it matter, I’m being left out of the action because of that *******! He thought as he shoved the pile of folders off the table and unto the floor in a fit of rage, sending the folders sprawling on the floor.
Suddenly, he paused. The pages of the folders were clipped together to avoid loss but a certain page had drifted out. He picked up the page and examined it for a while; no clip-holes or attachments meant this page did not belong in this folder.
He looked at the front at what looked like a letter; it was a letter! He read through it quickly and thought about its contents for a while. A name struck him hard; Naruto. Why was he holding a letter addressed to lady called Kushina; a letter that spoke of the 4th Hokage, an unborn baby and a village hidden in the shadows?
He walked off to the nearest library attendant and asked: “Excuse me, was the 4th married?"
The attendant looked puzzled and answered. “Maybe, although many people doubt it. But some said he married Kushina-san.”
The name rang a bell as he walked away towards his team mates; a sinister grin on his face.
“Takuya, can I asked you something?”
Takuya sighed heavily and turned on his chair to face Tatsu. “This had better be good!”
“What will you do if you find proof that there’s a family out there that you never knew about?”
“I don’t know, probably try and contact them or even go and find them myself. Why?”
Tatsu smiled to himself. “Guys, I think we’re in the wrong section.”
Zeya looked down and asked: “Why do you say that?”
Tatsu looked up at her. “Because, Zeya, we’re after people who had affiliations with Konoha at some time of their life. We shouldn’t be going through files based on random murderers of psychos. We need bingo class files.”
“Bingo class?” Takuya asked. “Why go that high?”
“Because they escaped from Tanigakure’s prison stronghold! They are probably S-class nins!”
He was right. Konoha sometimes sent criminal nins to Tanigakure.
Zeya jumped down and looked at Tatsu, then at Takuya waiting to hear his reply.
“Okay, I’ll get us a pass into the ANBU section!” With that he walked off leaving the two of them behind.
“Zeya!” Tatsu said. “What do you know about a kunoichi named Kushina?”
**********
Thanks for reading and I welcome comments... Pls give your opinions as it will help me improve alot!!
I meant to release this last week but decided to release it with chapter 4.xd
Unfortunately, Chapter 4 isn't complete yet... Anyways here it is... Enjoy.
Oh and thanks Nikkou, your guideline really helped...
***********
CHAPTER THREE
Naruto walked behind his team carrying his back-pack and looking at the floor. It’s just another mission. Nothing to worry about; track a few bad guys, capture and return… simple! He raised his gaze and watched Kakashi walking calmly; watched Sakura and Sai walk side-by-side in a ‘to close for comfor’t manner with Sakura looking through a book Sai must have made.
“Young love, eh?”
Naruto stopped in his tracks for a moment before realizing who had just spoken. He turned and looked at the Kunoichi standing behind him. She seemed to have just floated into his mind and taken a peek at his thoughts. She didn’t quite look like the mind-reading type; actually she didn’t look like any other ninja.
She had a stunning resemblance to Kakashi; which was weird because he didn’t know what Kakashi looked like. She wore dark-blue skin tights that traced from beneath her knuckles to her waist and put towards her face; ending in a mask that, much like Kakashi’s, covered the lower part of her face from her nose down. On top she wore a standard konoha vest with her back-pack’s sling across her chest and what seemed like a pouch on each side of her hips.
Her reddish-brown hair hung behind her; neatly tied together by a ribbon, leaving only a part of her hair hanging down in front of her face covering her right eye. Naruto stared at the covered eye and half-expected to see a Sharingan beneath the small mass of hair should the wind blow across it.
“Are you okay?”
He blinked twice before regaining his composure, dismissing any thoughts of Hokori bearing a Sharingan.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just a bit tired.”
She looked puzzled. “Over what? This is your first A-rank mission in a while!”
“Training!” He smiled at her, hoping she might leave him for a while to ponder his thoughts.
“So, what do you think about them?” She asked abruptly, taken Naruto aback.
She was referring to the two ninjas walking a few feet from them, the girl laughing at her companion’s jokes; jokes Naruto never knew he could tell.
“I dunno.” He shrugged as he placed both arms behind his head and closed his eyes. “Sakura’s has always fancied Sai, even if she never knew it. Everyone had seen it coming.”
Actually, no one had seen it coming. Sai had always been cold towards team 7 from the start and had even bluntly told Sakura she was ugly. But slowly he had warmed up to them and had begun to open up and now it was hard to see the thin line that connected the two Sais.
Everyone’s changed! Especially me!
He had changed quite a lot over the years he joined Team 7 under Kakashi’s care. He had been hated by his own village, had helped stop an invasion by facing off against Gaara, convinced Tsunade to take her role as Hokage, failed to bring back his best friend, and trained under the late great Jiraiya amongst other things.
Oh yes, and there’s Hinata also. He smiled to himself as he though of her again.
“Hey, are we going or are we taking a trip down memory lane?”
She was still there, standing by his right slightly behind him. Like a nagging wife disturbing her husband over pointless matters. Hokori-sensei was different, he though, more like a teenager than an adult.
“Oi, Naruto!”
Standing a few yards from them were four shinobis and a large white dog. Kiba waved at them and got off Akamaru’s back and stood by Shino. Shino was looking different with his hood uncovered and standing with this group of friends he rarely hung out with. Chouji, Kiba and Shikamaru were friends since ninja academy while Shino had always preferred hanging out with his dad.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” He called out.
Shikamaru jumped down from the fence he was sitting on and looked up at Naruto.
“Hey Naruto, going on a mission?”
“Do we look like we’re going camping?” Sakura asked.
“Oi, what should I say, one minute I’m resting in the fields and the next Kiba and Chouji drag me here to see you guys off, how troublesome.”
Naruto looked at the ninjas standing in front of them. Hmm, why are Kiba and the others here? He thought.
He turned slightly as he heard a sound behind him. Taking a step back to exclude himself from the crowd, he leapt up and maneuvered towards an alley, where a brunette stood waiting for him.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t hear me.” She said as she ran into his arms.
“You shouldn’t have come, Hinata. You wanted our relationship to be secret, remember?”
“I know. That’s why I conned the others into coming here. So far they don’t suspect a thing.”
He looked into her eyes and smiled.
“You’re doing it again!” She said as she backed out of his arms. “Leaving without saying goodbye.”
“I’m sorry; the mission came up in a hurry. I couldn’t reach you without the others following me.”
Hinata stood stubbornly with her back to him. He was right; he couldn’t look for her while preparing for departure. She felt his palms rest on her shoulders and she leaned back into him.
“Be careful, Naruto-kun.” She turned and met his gaze; emphasizing her last statement.
“I will,” He placed a kiss on her forehead and walked away, leaving her breathless. “Don’t wait for me.”
He rejoined the group as goodbyes were being exchanged; apparently no one noticed his departure.
“I better head off to the hospital, Kurenai-sensei’s due to be discharged with the kid.”
“Awww, that’s sweet of you, Shikamaru.” Sakura remarked.
“Thanks, Sakura. Oi, Naruto, you should drop by and see the kid ‘kay?”
“Sure, soon as I get back from this mission. Well, let’s get moving.”
With that Team 7 left while the four shinobis walked off. Kiba spotted Hinata in an alley and walked up to her. She just stood there with her back to him, hands across her chest and red-faced thinking.
“Hey, Hinata!” He snapped a finger in front of her, jolting her back to reality.
“Huh? Uh… Kiba-kun. Sorry, where were we?” She stammered.
Kiba just shook his head and whistled to Akamaru to pick them up and leave.
************
Zeya stood on a ladder and took down a few folders; all tagged “Murder” and threw them down unto a desk where Takuya and Tatsu sat looking through some other folders.
“Hey I found something!” Tatsu said, making his team mates stop. “Oh, my bad. Just another hopeless convict.” And with that he shut the folder in his front.
Takuya stared at him hard. “That wasn’t funny the last ten times you said that!”
“I’m not even gonna argue with you. I’m going to check so thing else.” He smirked as he got up and left towards another section.
“What’s his damage?” Zeya asked as she picked up a folder marked ‘psychotic’ and tossed it down to Takuya.
“Why don’t you read his mind? It’ll be much easier!” He snapped.
Meanwhile, in another corner, Tatsu stood looking through so files that weren’t related to there mission. He picked up two folders and tossed them unto a table. Picked up another one and tossed it on the table as well. Picked up another handful and repeated the process.
What does it matter, I’m being left out of the action because of that *******! He thought as he shoved the pile of folders off the table and unto the floor in a fit of rage, sending the folders sprawling on the floor.
Suddenly, he paused. The pages of the folders were clipped together to avoid loss but a certain page had drifted out. He picked up the page and examined it for a while; no clip-holes or attachments meant this page did not belong in this folder.
He looked at the front at what looked like a letter; it was a letter! He read through it quickly and thought about its contents for a while. A name struck him hard; Naruto. Why was he holding a letter addressed to lady called Kushina; a letter that spoke of the 4th Hokage, an unborn baby and a village hidden in the shadows?
He walked off to the nearest library attendant and asked: “Excuse me, was the 4th married?"
The attendant looked puzzled and answered. “Maybe, although many people doubt it. But some said he married Kushina-san.”
The name rang a bell as he walked away towards his team mates; a sinister grin on his face.
“Takuya, can I asked you something?”
Takuya sighed heavily and turned on his chair to face Tatsu. “This had better be good!”
“What will you do if you find proof that there’s a family out there that you never knew about?”
“I don’t know, probably try and contact them or even go and find them myself. Why?”
Tatsu smiled to himself. “Guys, I think we’re in the wrong section.”
Zeya looked down and asked: “Why do you say that?”
Tatsu looked up at her. “Because, Zeya, we’re after people who had affiliations with Konoha at some time of their life. We shouldn’t be going through files based on random murderers of psychos. We need bingo class files.”
“Bingo class?” Takuya asked. “Why go that high?”
“Because they escaped from Tanigakure’s prison stronghold! They are probably S-class nins!”
He was right. Konoha sometimes sent criminal nins to Tanigakure.
Zeya jumped down and looked at Tatsu, then at Takuya waiting to hear his reply.
“Okay, I’ll get us a pass into the ANBU section!” With that he walked off leaving the two of them behind.
“Zeya!” Tatsu said. “What do you know about a kunoichi named Kushina?”
**********
Thanks for reading and I welcome comments... Pls give your opinions as it will help me improve alot!!
