Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Chronicles of a Self-Made Shinobi ❯ Border Patrol (3) ( Chapter 11 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chronicles of a Self-Made Shinobi: Border Patrol (chap.3)

“Well, well, what is this?”

The figure in front of her disappeared as the voice spoke behind her. Against her wishes, Kumiko felt herself turning toward him. His blurry figure appeared before her eyes. She fought the urge to look up at his face: the face of the infamous Uchiha Itachi, the one who killed his entire clan. A thousand questions ran through her head: What is he doing here? But they were quickly forced away when he bent down over her.

“Oh, it's just a pathetic civilian. A little girl thinking she'd save the village by capturing the intruder.”

His voice blew at her with ice, then was silent. Isn't he going to attack? She stayed stock still, waiting for his move, then realized he was waiting to catch her in his genjutsu. Fighting down her rising panic, she took advantage of her once chance of escape. Kumiko fell to the ground with a gasp, then stayed still.

Itachi studied her, then silently walked away. Kumiko waited for as long as she could bare then opened her eyes and looked for signs of Itachi. Her legs wobbled and she stood and held onto a tree. “I have to tell the Fifth,” she breathed, and slowly placed one foot in front of the other.

“Thought so…” a voice hissed.

A hand grabbed her arm roughly and she yelped. She struggled against his grip, and managed to put the goggles on her face before he roughly turned her around. “Stupid girl, you can't fool me with such simple tricks.”

She looked at his red figure in horror. He activated his sharingan and she froze. “This time, I got you,” he said.

His grip loosened on her, and Kumiko reared back and hit him straight in the face. She raised one knee and brought it between his legs. Itachi grunted and let her go. She stumbled out of his grasp and ran as fast as she could toward the entrance to the village.

She ripped off her goggles, to see better where she was going. It was lucky, she thought, that she used the goggles to look for the enemy, without them Itachi would have had her. The sweat poured down her face, blurring her vision, and she didn't see him until she hit him.

“I'm going to kill you,” a strangled voice said.

She had run straight into Itachi's chest and he grabbed her arms, cutting off the circulation. Her goggles were around her neck, and her hands pinned to her sides. She didn't even bother to struggle, he had her, and she had no more tricks.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for him to kill her. Instead of pain, she heard a cry of pain. Something dripped onto her face. She opened her eyes to find blood splattered on her body. Thinking it was hers she opened her mouth to scream then stopped when she felt the arms around her let go. Itachi stumbled to the ground, with a kunai plunged deep into his chest.

“Kisame!” he cried.

Someone leapt out of the trees and grabbed Itachi's arm. “We're done here,” Itachi said and the two ran off.

Itachi's blood dripped off her arms and onto the ground. A pair of hands held onto her shoulders, then shook her. Her eyes focused on two grey ones: blank, milky. “Chikusou, what the hell did you think you were doing?”

Neji shook her again; worry etched as unfamiliar lines on his forehead. “Kumiko, Kumiko, baka! What were you doing, you baka!” he said, still shaking her.

“Itachi…” she said.

“He almost killed you; never go off on your own.”

“He's getting away!” she said.

This time Neji slapped her.

“Ow…Neji…”

“You do it again; I'll never let you leave your room alone,” he said.

She finally noticed him standing there. He let go of her and turned away, then humphed. He looked so flustered and angry. Kumiko never saw him like this, maybe no one ever had.

“We have to tell the Fifth,” she said.

“I already did. I saw you leave your house from my window.”

He saw me from his window? Was it chance, or was he watching me?

He began to walk away. “Go home, Kumiko. The Fifth will take care of it.”

She watched him disappear before she returned home. After showering off the last bit of blood she sat on the edge of her bed. She had failed, miserably. If Neji hadn't saved her she would be dead. The Ffith would never recognize her now…

Kumiko fell asleep within minutes, and dreamed troubled dreams.

The Fifth dispatched a messenger to wake her up in the morning. She followed him to her office and entered.

Tsunade looked her up and down. “I would like to yell at you for being stupid. But I won't. It's thanks to you we caught Itachi prowling. I've dispatched Jiraiya to look into it,” she paused and Kumiko kept her eyes trained on her feet.

“Kumiko…I know how much you want to become a ninja. I know that you went out there alone to prove it to me. You have to understand, that there are people like Itachi out there, people that even a strong ninja cannot defeat. You have to be more cautious. All that you've done this time it prove that you're reckless. I'm already watching you, Kumiko. The village is watching you. There are whispers of you circulating through the Sand and Waterfall. Don't be stupid, be patient.”

Kumiko took a day off from her gadgets and sat on a bench in the park. Her still un-used weapons sat in her pack by her feet. She thought she could hear them yelling at her. Kiba came along and asked if she wanted to play, she shook her head and watched him catch with Akamaru . She stayed all day, until the sun set. When it was finally dark she left the bench and returned home. She didn't notice the shadow that detached itself from the tree above her. It had sat there all day, watching over her in the tree branches, as she had watched the grass.