Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Chronicles of a Self-Made Shinobi ❯ Border Patrol (2) ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chronicles of a Self-Made Shinobi: Border Patrol (chap.2)

The next day Kumiko sent Lee to inform the Fifth of what happened that night. He explained that she was sure her system wasn't lying, that whoever was out there somehow set them all off at once.

“Where is Kumiko?" Tsunade asked Lee.

“Well…after she sent me to you she locked herself into her shed. She was quiet, which is unlike her, and told me not to bother her. I know Kumiko-san well enough to see when she's determined. Don't worry; she'll catch whoever is out there.”

Kumiko yanked out a wrench that was hiding under a mess of broken pieces of metal and rusted hardware. Tightening a bolt, she promised that next time she would be out there herself. The combat weapons she made sat in the position of honor near the shed door. She polished them every day and kept them from rusting. There was only one thing she needed to prove before becoming a ninja, and that was ability in combat. Sure, she could fly in from the sky and shoot everyone down, she could figure out a tough problem, but one-on-one fighting was completely different. It was the one thing that worried her. When she originally began creating her combat weapons, she started with swords and kunai and other things like that. Then she realized that simple weapons wouldn't be enough. She didn't have any ninja powers. She needed something different, sneaky. No one had even glimpsed them, not even Lee. Secrecy, stealth, and surprise were the keys to a victory.

As she packed her bag for the hundredth time with her weapons, she prayed that she would finally put them to use.

The shed become disgustingly hot by mid-afternoon. The fan was blowing full but Kumiko was still miserable. She was hungry, but couldn't afford to leave. Night was approaching quickly. After awhile she made up her mind that it would be less productive to work on an empty stomach and opened the shed doors, letting the hot fumes and dust be sucked away by the outside air and almost stepped on a small basket. She leaned down, and saw inside it was iced green tea and sushi.

She smiled and brought it back into the shed. That must be Lee.

Night fell and Kumiko laid in her bed, fully clothed, with her pack by its end. She couldn't fall asleep. The minutes ticked by painfully, the silences between each click holding the possibility of victory or failure. Finally, around midnight, Kumiko heard the soft cry of the bells and she leapt out of her bed.

She yanked on the rope and waited for Lee to show up at the window. Nothing. She pulled it again, harder, but Lee didn't answer. Panicked, she saddled her pack and leapt over to his house and peered in the window. The bed was made, and a note was tacked to the window.

“Kumiko-san!” it read. “The Fifth assigned me to a mission yesterday morning after I spoke with her. I know you were planning something tonight but I had to go. Please forgive me!”

“Chikusou!” she said under her breath.

He was supposed to inform the Fifth tonight if the bells were set off again, and ask her to send reinforcements. It would be dangerous for Kumiko to run off on her own, but she had no time. She MUST capture the intruders.

Leaping down from the window-sill, Kumiko breathed out nervously. Tonight… then sped off.

She approached the western wall from the north. Her soft shoes made minimum noise in the brushes, her breathing steady and calm. When she approached the bell that had rung she switched on the infrared goggles she had been working on the day before. Immediately, she spotted a figure.

She removed the goggles, and as quietly as possible, snuck up on the unsuspecting intruder and watched him from beneath the bushes. He had black hair, and a black cloak wrapped around his body. She couldn't make out the details, but he gave her a feeling of dread. Something about him seemed familiar…

His face turned a little toward her and a bright red eye glowed in the dark. It was looking ahead at the wall. Everything around her disappeared, only the eye remained.

Sharingan...