Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Clipped Wings ❯ Taisuke’s True Speciality: Kohona’s Great Diplomat; Dragon Wave Master ( Chapter 5 )

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Freezewind: Yeah. Descriptions outside battles are my weak point. I'm still trying to get better at it. Thanks.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

 

Chapter 5: Taisuke's True Speciality: Kohona's Great Diplomat; Dragon Wave Master

 

Hiroku looked around him. His teammates work almost drained already physically or emotionally. He turned to the enemy that was rising to his feet, his breath haggard.

 

“Okay kid, no where to run,” he said performing hand signs. “Shadow Clone Jutsu,” he said as two more appeared on either side of him. “Next,” he said making more hand signs. “Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu,” they yelled breathing out three dragons of fire toward Hiroku. The three dragons collided with each other as they hit its target, incinerating the ground around it leaving burn marks and a large black spot. The men looked trying to find their prey only to see none. He turned to see Sumiko standing by the tree shaking.

 

`My body is still shaking!!' Sumiko thought. `Kasumi was really trying to kill me.' She put her hands to her ear and felt blood leaking out. She fell over trying to catch her breath. Her mind running over their conversation prior.

 

 

“A ninja must learn to kill eventually. Maybe you're not cut out to be a ninja after all, Kasumi,”

 

“Don't. Don't. Don't you. Don't you ever say, I can't be a ninja!”

 

`I never would have saw that coming,' Sumiko continued thinking panting heavily now. She finally made eye contact with the teammate of the man she just killed. He smirked at her and reached for a kunai.

 

“Well, girly, you made my job a lot easier,” he said charging at her. Sumiko tried as hard as she could to make her body move.

 

`Is this the after effects of that technique?' Sumiko thought.

 

“Sound Style: Shockwave Jutsu,” Kasumi screamed interrupting her thought process. The men looked up to see a large gust hit them. The three were sent backwards flying. The clones burst into smoke and the true person jumped to his feet.

 

“Forgot about you two,” he said seeing Kasumi and Hiroku in a tree. They watched as he disappeared.

 

“What,” Kasumi said before he felt cold steel stab her in the back. She gasped and fell off the tree in a fit of shock. Hiroku tried a kick toward his ribs. He caught the foot and kicked Hiroku in his own ribs. Knocking him toward the area Kasumi was in. He watched as Kasumi staggered forward, the kunai still embedded in her back. She prepared hand signs, breathing heavily.

 

“Water style: Liquid Bullet Jutsu,” she said as she opened her mouth wide allowing the water to pulse through. The man dodged the blast and landed on the ground at the base of the tree. He smirked a little as he opened a scroll. He bit his thumb and placed his blood on the scroll. The scroll sent out a large sword. It was katana like with a blue hilt and tassel. He charged at them holding the blade forward with his right hand.

 

“Now, die,” he yelled as he approached them. Hiroku stood on his feet clutching his rib cage. He formed the tiger hand sign.

 

“Clone Jutsu,” he said as three clones appeared around him. The man continued charging.

 

“I'll kill you all,” he said his voice cracking a little. He soon felt wires wrap around his arm constricting it. He skillfully moved the sword to cut the wire. He then turned toward where the wire was thrown. He stared at Sumiko as she was visibly drained.

 

“Pitiful,” he said as he threw a kunai at Sumiko's limbs. Her body was flown against a tree. He formed another shadow clone and watched as the clone ripped Sumiko's body from the tree. He elbowed her in the stomach causing her to cough up more blood. He then tossed her in the air and hit her with the flat side of the blade in the arm knocking her toward Hiroku and Kasumi. He then dispelled the clone.

 

“Now where was I?” he said. He turned and began to charge at Kasumi and Hiroku again. He noticed that the two genin now had kunai's drawn. He was about to move when he saw to kunai aimed at his head. He blocked the kunai with his sword and stared at the area it was thrown.

 

“Who are you two?” he asked staring at the two women standing on a large branch of a tree.

 

“My name is Mitsuko Kurosaki, and hers is Hikari Miyoto,” Mitsuko said loudly. Their outfits had now changed. Mitsuko now wore white knee length shorts under a blue mini skirt that split down the middle with a white no-sleeved shirt. A sword with a blue ribbon was on her back. Hikari wore blue pants and a white long sleeved shirt with blue buttons that hid her hands. They both where wearing Cloud headbands on their forehead.

 

“You have nothing better to do then pick on a group of genin?” Hikari asked.

 

“They attacked me first,” he said trying to justify himself.

 

“I don't care,” Hikari said loudly.

 

“What are you two doing here?” Sumiko said as she crawled toward the rest of her team.

 

“To save you obviously,” Mitsuko said with a grin. Sumiko didn't answer. She crept up toward Kasumi and Hiroku and closed her eyes. Her breathing obviously began to slow.

 

“Is she,” Kasumi said quietly. Hiroku walked over beside her and checked for a pulse.

 

“She's alive, albeit barely,” he said as he began removing the kunai out of her limbs. Blood began to pore out of her unconscious form. Hiroku grabbed one of the kunai and cut Sumiko's clothes.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I'm cutting the clothes so I can see the wounds,” he said setting the excess clothes around him. He removed the bloody bandages from her arms and set them on top of the cut clothes. He then began pulled out a scroll of his own. He wiped a little blood that dripped down his arm from his earlier injuries and summoned several rolls of bandages.

 

“So you're a medic-nin?” Hikari said as Hiroku turned to see her.

 

“Yes,” he said turning his attention back to Sumiko. “Kasumi, don't remove the kunai from your back yet. The second you do, you will lose even more blood. Just leave it there until I get to you,” he said as he began wrapping Sumiko's body in bandages. He pulled off his jacket and covered Sumiko's body with it.

 

“Alright,” Kasumi said.

 

“Mitsuko,” Hikari said turning her attention to her comrade.

 

“Yes.”

 

“You can take him on if you want,” Hikari said.

 

“Kill him?” she asked.

 

“Sure. The one over there is still alive, so we have no need for him to live.”

 

“Okay,” she said with a grin. She jumped off the branch and landed at its base.

 

“Fine,” the man said. “You can die first,” he said as he charged at Mitsuko, sword high in the air. Mitsuko sighed and pulled out her blade with her left hand. The blade gleamed in the sunlight as she held it out in front of her waiting for her opponent's strike. The two blades collided. Sparks flew around the area as the swords clashed again. The man aimed low at her knee hoping to disable her. Mitsuko blocked the blade by holding her own straight in a downward position. She smirked as she shoved the hilt into his chest. The man staggered back obviously in pain.

 

“This match is over if that's the best you can muster,” Mitsuko said tapping the dull side of the blade on her shoulder. The man gritted his teeth as he charged for her again. He slashed horizontally, hoping to catch Mitsuko off-guard. She ducked then hit the man with the dull side of the blade on his rib cage. The man screamed a little as he backed up holding his ribs.

 

“This is the end,” Mitsuko said as she jumped high in the air. She began channeling electricity into her blade and spun it around quickly. The man staggered forward coughing up a little blood. He held the sword in front of him, palm on the blade ready to block her attack.

 

“You won't block it,” Mitsuko said closing her eyes briefly. “Lightning Style: Electric Pierce Wave,” she said as the blades collided. Electric sparks filled the air as the attack connected. Mitsuko grinned widely when she saw the sparks gripping on to her opponent, slowly paralyzing his body. The man gasped as he saw his blade crack. Once the blade snapped in two, Mitsuko continued with her attack. She cut the man's left arm and leg off, missing the torso completely. The man's body fell to the ground as his body began going into convulsions from the shock. Mitsuko watched triumphantly as the man's breathing slowed to a stop. She grabbed the man's clothes and wiped the blood of her blade. She swung it one good time and put it back in the sheath.

 

“Hikari, I don't get it,” Mitsuko said turning to her ally. “Why did he get hurt so easily? My first two blows should not have hurt him as much as they did,” Mitsuko continued.

 

“Really?” Hikari asked skeptically. She walked over to the mutilated body and opened the man's shirt. Her eyes widened as Kasumi and Mitsuko looked over her shoulder. “Internal bleeding to the torso area,” Hikari determined.

 

“How?” Kasumi asked.

 

“Your friend,” she said turning to face her.

 

“Roku?” Kasumi asked. She turned toward him as he finished bandaging Sumiko. She had apparently regained consciousness during the middle of the fight. “Did you do this?”

 

“Yes,” he said as he sat down beside Sumiko.

 

“How?”

 

“You should know. I've done it to you before,” Hiroku said. Kasumi put her hand on her chin. Her eyes widened when she remembered.

 

“Mystical Palm Technique,” she said finally.

 

“Correct. Speaking of, come over here so I can get that kunai out of your back.” She walked over to him and sat down in front of him. “Move your hair,” he said grabbing a handful of bandages.

 

“Listen, when I pull this kunai out, it will hurt. Second of all, after I pull it out lift the back of your shirt up so I can bandage it with minimal blood loss.” Kasumi turned red quickly after he told her what was needed. She paid attention again as he continued giving her instructions. “I can't use the Mystical Palm Technique as most of my chakra is already drained,” he said.

 

“Okay,” she said uneasily.

 

“Okay, on the count of three. 1, 2, 3.” Hiroku pulled the kunai out quickly and watched as Kasumi lifted the back of her shirt enough so he could wrap the bandages around her. She laughed a little at his touch on her waist.

 

“That tickles,” she said laughing.

 

“You'll open the wounds if you keep laughing,” he said pulling his hands away from Kasumi. He put the remaining bandages back in the scroll and put them back in his jacket pocket. He stood up and faced Mitsuko and Hikari. “Thanks for saving us, however...”

 

“We know. We'll explain everything when we get there. Until then, what do we do with this guy,” Mitsuko said pointing to the guy Hiroku knocked unconscious.

 

“I know exactly what to do with him,” Hikari said. “Help me take him back with us.” Hikari and Mitsuko walked over to the unconscious man and picked him up. They each took a shoulder and jumped into the nearest tree.

 

“C'mon,” Mitsuko said turning around to see the three genin. They began to go ahead. Hiroku sighed and walked over to wrap Sumiko up tighter. Her breathing was still slow, and she was still bleeding slightly.

 

“Roku, it's starting to rain,” Kasumi said finally looking up into the grey clouds over the group of trees.

 

“Okay,” he said as he put Sumiko on his back and began running. Kasumi soon followed after.

 

“I can carry her,” Kasumi said running beside him.

 

“No,” he said somewhat angrily. He shook Sumiko slightly earning a groan from her. “You two acting like a couple of idiots out there. Sumiko, while I don't really care if you killed that man or not, I do care when you insult a teammate unnecessarily. I'll let you know right now, one more rude remark that rolls off your tongue about our team and I will drop you here and make your wounds much worse than they already are.” Sumiko stiffened up a little after he finished.

 

`Is he serious?' she thought.

 

“Kasumi, while what she said was uncalled for, it was even more uncalled for when you attacked her with an attack like that. As angry as she made you, did she really deserve this?” he said tilting his head toward Sumiko. Kasumi stared at the ground wordlessly. “After the attack, she could barely move a muscle, this caused her to be a pincushion for the opponent. We should be glad he didn't try to kill her on the spot,” he said. Kasumi sobbed a little as the rain began poring down.

 

“You two can argue all you want outside of battle even though it annoys me, but on a mission, SHAPE UP!” Hiroku said yelling the last part. He sighed as they finally got to the entrance of the mansion. They met Mitsuko at the entrance. She led then to another room that looked exactly the same as the bedrooms except with one bed. Hiroku set Sumiko down and grabbed a chair from the corner. He brushed a little of her red hair from out of her face and pulled off his jacket and set it down on the doorknob. He sighed as he began forming the Mystical Palm Technique. He sat down and started to remove the bandages to her left arm. He stopped when he saw Sumiko grab his arm with her other hand. She panted heavily trying not to move too much.

 

“What?”

 

“I'll try to improve my relationship with Kasumi. You're right. I shouldn't have said that. That was pretty cocky of me, especially since she beat me in a fight already,” Sumiko said remembering the fight they had when they first met. She turned her head away from Hiroku for a second trying to recollect her thoughts. She turned around to see him again after a minute of thought. “I'm sorry,” she said finally.

 

Hiroku nodded. He moved her hand and rested it on her stomach as he pulled off the rest of the bandages. He began to apply the chakra to her arm and watched as the cut slowly healed. He moved down as he began to unwrap the bandages to her left leg. He noticed Sumiko was staring at him the whole time. He closed his eyes briefly as he let the technique take effect.

 

“These kunai went in pretty deep,” he said as he grabbed the chair and moved to the other side. He began to unwrap the bandages to her right arm and leg and applied chakra again. Sumiko stared at him wordlessly. Her breathing slowly began to return back to normal. Hiroku sat up and returned the chair to its original position across the room after he re-bandaged her wounds. He picked up his blood stained jacket and stared at it.

 

`Great something else I'm going to have to clean later,' he thought.

 

“What are you going to do about clothes?”

 

“I have extra that I can wear that look like my old ones,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

 

He turned to Sumiko. “Stay in bed for the rest of the night. I will be back to check on your injuries later. I'll send someone to give you some food. Until then, rest up,” he said quietly. She nodded in conformation as he left the room.

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“So what do we do with him?” Mitsuko said. The man that Hiroku knocked out has now awoken, his hands and feet tied to a chair with rope.

 

Kasumi sighed. “Who knows.” The group turned to see Hiroku walk into the dark room they where in. They were in the basement of the mansion. It was dark and dreary. It had stone cold floors and walls with a small barred window.

 

“How's Sumiko?” Mitsuko asked worried. She noticed Kasumi look down at the ground at the mention of her name.

 

“She's fine. She just needs rest. Where's Taisuke-sensei?”

 

“He said he was going to bed,” Kasumi spoke up.

 

“They didn't get anywhere today did they?” Mitsuko said. Kasumi shook her head.

 

“So what's with this guy?” Hiroku said approaching the captive man. He finally got a good look at the guy. He looked in his early 20's. He was fairly tall with black hair and beard and blue eyes. He was wearing a white v-neck gown hoodie with a white shirt underneath and red pants. There appeared to be no sign of a forehead protector on his person.

 

“We are going to extract information from him,” Hikari said.

 

“How?” Hiroku asked.

 

“You'll see. Mitsuko get the wax and matches. Hiroku get some alcohol. Kasumi get me some thick tape,” Hikari said. She turned to face the man, fear apparent in his eyes. She smirked as she realized he knew was going to happen. They came back later with all the items Hikari asked for. She took the wax and matches from Mitsuko and walked toward the man.

 

“So, who sent you?” Hikari asked kindly. The man remained silent. “Okay, who sent you?” she asked again somewhat angrier. The man still said nothing. Hikari grinned briefly then got to only a few inches from his face. “I'm going to ask you one more time. Who sent you?” she said even kinder than the first time. This time the man spat in her face. Hikari backed up a little and wiped the spit off with the back her hand. She grabbed a match and put it in her pocket. She walked over to the wall and lit the match. She set the wax on the man's hand and stepped back. The man began to panic and tried to knock the wax off his hands.

 

“Too late now,” Hikari said as she set the match on his hands. The man screamed as the hot wax and flames from the match ate at his skin. “Tell me,” she asked again.

 

“Okay, I'll tell you,” he said.

 

“Start talking,” Hikari said lighting another match.

 

“Okay, we are a group of missing-nin that travel the countryside looking for villages to plunder. We were going to take over the Land of Fang, Claw, and Birds, and start a hideout there, but we haven't yet,” the man yelled out in pain.

 

“Good,” Hikari said stroking his face. “Now, who is leading you?”

 

“There are five generals and one leader.”

 

“Good, how many are left?” Hikari asked.

 

“Tttwo chunin and a jounin general,” he said. Hikari smirked glad that her plan succeeded. She walked up to the man and bent over to his ear watch the flames cover his hands. “We might need you later, but if I find out your lying to me, castration awaits,” she said pointing in between his legs. She dumped water on the wax and set all the other torture devises on the floor.

 

“Okay, time to go,” Hikari said shoving the children out the room.

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Kasumi looked outside the window in the living room. She noticed it was still raining. The rain was coming down much harder than before. She sighed and walked into the kitchen. She walked in to see a familiar person in front of the stove.

 

“Roku, what are you doing?” Kasumi asked as she grabbed a glass of water, pulled up a chair and sat down watching him.

 

“Preparing dinner for Sumiko,” he said. “It's chicken noodle soup with some sweet herbs mixed in,” he said cutting more herbs and tossing them in. “You want some?”

 

“No thanks.” The room was silent for a minute as Hiroku stirred the food. The smell wafted in the air. “Roku, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier today,” Kasumi said squeezing the now empty glass. “I shouldn't have done that,” she said.

 

“Look,” Hiroku said turning to see her. “It's not me you should be apologizing to. It's Sumiko,” he said as he took a seat beside Kasumi.

 

“How?”

 

“I said I was sending someone to bring her dinner,” he said. “I never specified who. You can do it if you want to.” He got up and walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a tray and two bowls, chopsticks, and spoons. He filled them up with the soup and handed them to Kasumi. “Here.”

 

“Thanks.” She took the tray and walked out of the room. Hiroku sat down and pulled out another bowl for himself. He sat down and tried the food.

 

“This is pretty good,” he said as he began walking back to his room.

 

Kasumi took a deep breath as she walked into Sumiko's room. The room was dark, but she could make out Sumiko's red hair. Sumiko sat up and turned the light on. She looked up and saw Kasumi look down. Kasumi sat the food down on the nightstand. She walked over, grabbed the chair, and sat down.

 

“Sumiko, I'm sorry. I lost it when you said that, but even so I shouldn't have attacked you like that,” Kasumi said quietly.

 

“I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said that. I'm pretty cocky,” Sumiko said putting a hand on her shoulder.

 

“That you are,” Kasumi said finally looking up at her. Sumiko gave her an annoyed look before turning toward the food.

 

“We should eat before it gets cold,” Sumiko said grabbing the bowl closer to her. She broke the chopsticks and began eating. Kasumi followed suit soon after.

 

“It's pretty good,” they said at the same time.

 

“Who made it?” Sumiko asked.

 

“Roku. He said it was chicken noodle soup mixed with sweet herbs,” Kasumi said. Sumiko nodded in approval. The conversation continued with laughs.

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“So is everybody here?” Taisuke said the next morning. He had called a meeting early between all the ninjas to discuss their next plan of action. It was still raining hard as they gathered in the conference room Taisuke negotiated in the day before.

 

“Look's that way,” Hiroku said scanning the room.

 

“So, Mitsuko-san, Hikari-san, mind explaining what you're doing here?” Taisuke said staring at the two women.

 

Hikari stood up from her seat. “I suppose we owe an explanation. We are chunin from Kumogakure. Normally, when this kind of alliance happens, Kumo is usually hired to send maids to gain knowledge on the lesser countries as well as Kohona. We, however, are not your enemies. Our orders are strictly to serve and if necessary kill,” Hikari said sitting back down. Mitsuko nodded giving her approval of the speech.

 

Taisuke sat down quietly soaking all the information in. “If I find out you are going to betray us, you're dead. That's all I have to say,” Taisuke said sitting back in his chair with a serious look on his face. His team stared at him in shock seeing how serious he was.

 

“Don't worry, we won't,” Mitsuko said.

 

“Anyway, what did you extract from the ninja?” Taisuke asked.

 

“It's all right here,” Hikari said holding a scroll. She tossed it over to Taisuke who read over the contents carefully.

 

“I see,” Taisuke said as he summoned lightning to his hand and burned the contents of the scroll. “We'll just have to prevent it from happening. Sumiko, Hiroku, Kasumi.”

 

“Yes.”

“Each of you will take turns standing outside keeping watch over everything that goes on. The other two will be in here watching and learning how to negotiate. I don't want to have to come up here every two years because my students were slacking off. Understood.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The day went by with no problems. Taisuke made progress with the two stubborn representatives after sitting them down and explaining what happened. Hiroku gave Sumiko permission to go back to her old room with Kasumi. The night went by even though everyone was a bit on edge. They all slept well and got up the next day. Kasumi started on the watch first. She took a fresh breath of air. `It always smells better after it rains,' she thought. She looked around, carefully observing everything in sight. She sighed as she stood up in the tree she was in. She looked through the window and watched what was happening tapping her radio to kill time.

 

“Okay, gentlemen,” Taisuke said walking around the room. He was rubbing his spiky hair while pacing. “We made quite a bit of progress yesterday. We might even be able to come to an agreement today,” Taisuke said looking out the window to stare at Kasumi. He grinned and waved at her as she stared at him through the window. She returned his cheery greeting with her own. He turned to face the men. “So, you slept well?”

 

“Sure. What does that have to do with anything? What are you hiding?” the Claw representative said eyeing him.

 

Taisuke sighed. “Something we can't tell you until we have an agreement,” he said sitting back in his chair. “So, where shall we begin, huh.”

 

“Yesterday, we ended on the agreement of possibly starting our own ninja villages,” the Fang representative said finally.

 

“Yes,” Taisuke said sitting back in his chair. “I don't think that's a great idea,” Taisuke said.

 

“Why?” they both almost yelled at him.

 

“One, you need a strong ninja to live there which neither of you have. Two, it could start a war easily. Look, if one person gets a village before another, that's it end of one of the countries. If both of you get a village then what, you won't agree on anything and it will turn into a war that can lead to another Great Ninja War. I speak for all five major villages when I say that is not something we want, as there will be a lot of casualties and why? Because two countries can't agree on anything even if their lives depended on it,” Taisuke finished. He stared at his two students before he gave Sumiko the signal to take Kasumi's place. She groaned a little then walked out.

 

Sumiko walked out of the mansion with her hands in her pockets. She turned her radio on and jumped into the tree Kasumi was in prior. She outstretched her hands and threw her wires around various trees to alert her of any unwanted presence. She sat down in the tree and stared at the sun. She sighed and closed her eyes. She began to feel a light tug at a wire on her pinky. She stared at the wire quickly and jumped up. She wrapped the wire around the targets foot and tossed it in the air above the trees. She leapt to the top of the trees and watched as a man in the same white neck hoodie as before. He had blond hair and red eyes. She looked behind her to see another man with blue hair and black eyes behind her. She sighed quietly as she turned her radio on. She looked around the area quickly. She only saw trees with small circular areas where the trees didn't inhabit. She adjusted her frequency and began to talk.

 

“They're here,” she said to Hiroku, Taisuke, and Kasumi. “I'm standing above the trees. There are two of them.”

 

On the inside of the mansion Taisuke turned to his students. He stared at them quietly for a moment before making a movement. “Go, be careful,” he said pointing to the door. They nodded and ran for the door. Mitsuko and Hikari stared at each other for a minute. Mitsuko started to go for the door, but was stopped by Hikari. She shook her head slowly. Mitsuko nodded and returned to her original position.

 

Hiroku and Kasumi jumped on top of the trees, each of them appearing behind their opponents.

 

“Nice of you to show up,” Sumiko said with a smirk.

 

“I party just won't be as interesting without us now would it?” Kasumi said with a grin.

 

“Okay, you two get ready,” Hiroku said. The two men began to laugh loudly.

 

“Just what do a bunch of kids think you're going to do?” the blond yelled loudly.

 

“More than you know,” Sumiko said loudly as she began to wrap the man in wire. The wire tightened around the blond only for him to leave a log behind. Sumiko turned and appeared by his teammate. They turned around to see Kasumi finish her hand signs.

 

“Sound Style: Shockwave Jutsu,” she welled as the attack cam crashing toward the men. They both jumped out of the way of the attack as they tossed kunai toward Kasumi. Kasumi gasped briefly before she tossed her own kunai, cancelling them out. Hiroku began to leap from tree to tree striving to close the gap between him and his opponents. He jumped in the air with a grunt and turned to fire a right fist. The blue haired man tossed a shuriken toward him. Hiroku's body was replaced with a leaf.

 

“Body Flicker,” the blond said surprised. “What genin knows that?” he said as Hiroku appeared from the trees behind them.

 

“Wind Style: Air Bullet,” he said as the air blew the trees every which direction. He grit his teeth as he watched his opponents escape. He began to follow them trying to close the gap again. He turned to see Sumiko closing in behind him. The blond laughed quietly as he bit his thumb and began to form hand signs of his own. He slammed the tree under him with his hand. Black lines appeared in multiple circles.

 

“Summoning Jutsu: Great Slasher,” he said loudly. A giant eagle came out from the black hole. It flew majestically in the air for a minute. Then it went soaring toward the genin team at full speed. The giant bird blasted past them. The gust knocked them off their feet and sent them flying in the air wildly. The bird came again for a second swoop. Sumiko threw her wire toward the bird. The wire wrapped around the wings of the bird and bought it down with a large cry. Sumiko tightened the rope and blood began to ooze from the giant bird. The blond gritted his teeth in anger and recalled the bird. The blue haired man acted now. He charged at the genin team forming jutsu as he ran.

 

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu,” he said as he blew a large blast of fire. Kasumi began forming her own hand signs.

 

“Water Style: Liquid Bullet Jutsu,” she said. The two attack's canceled out and steam filled the area. Sumiko used the opportunity to fire her own attack.

 

“Poison Mist Jutsu,” she said as the black poison covered the steam. The two men jumped out of the blast only to meet Hiroku standing on the other side of the mist. He began forming the Mystical Palm Technique in both hands. He charged at the two quickly. He slashed at the blond, only to miss narrowly. He tried to recover himself quickly by firing a kick toward the blond's stomach. He blocked it with a grunt. He pushed his foot and punched at Hiroku's stomach. Hiroku blocked the punch holding his arms out in an x. The blue-haired man then continued to punch him in the face. Hiroku bent backwards and tried to fire a back flip kick. The man stepped back slightly avoiding the kick. Hiroku jumped backwards after regaining his footing. His opponent's glared at him quietly. Hiroku smirked slightly then jumped down from the trees. Before the men could question his actions, they were met with a Fireball Jutsu and a Liquid Bullet Jutsu that hit then both. The shocked men fell forward. They saw Hiroku as he prepared his Mystical Palm. He slashed at both of their stomachs, then slashed at their back. He looked up and saw Kasumi and Sumiko yell a battle cry as they kicked the two men in the back of the head. Their bodies went flying into a plain empty of trees nearby. The ground was still slightly muddy from the rain. Their bodies fell to the ground, mud covering their white robes. The team jumped down in front of the men, waiting for them to rise again. The men stood up quietly. They were coughing up blood, staggering forward.

 

“You two are pathetic,” a man said from behind them. They turned around. Their eyes widened as they saw a young man with short orange hair and grey eyes sitting in a tree. He had on the same robe except with a white line on each side. He had a kind look on his face. The two men bowed down quickly.

 

“Suichi-sama,” they said loudly. He smirked quickly and turned his hands with the palms facing up. The men screamed as they where enclosed in an earth shaped dome. He closed his hands. The dome began to enclose slowly until the earth squished their bodies effortlessly. Their bodily fluids flew all over the place and mixed with the mud on the ground.

 

“Earth Style: Earth Grave,” he said as he stood up. He stared at the children. “Well, you three have potential. I saw the whole match and I must say I am impressed. It's a shame you have to die here,” he said crossing his arms. He grinned widely with those kind eyes still staring at them.

 

“Who are you?” Kasumi asked stepping forward.

 

“Me, my name is Suichi Asakura. I don't need to know your names as you will be dead in a few minutes anyway,” he said.

 

Suichi jumped down from the branch he was on. “Let's go,” he said getting into a battle stance.

 

Hiroku charged first. He tried to land a kick to his face. Suichi blocked the kick effortlessly. Hiroku body flickered away to the nearest tree and bounced off of it hoping to get better leverage. He prepared his favorite technique and charged at him. Suichi smirked and tossed three shuriken at him. Hiroku pulled out a kunai and blocked all the attacks as he continued forward. He slashed at the man only for him to jump backwards. He quickly turned around to catch Kasumi's punch toward the side of his neck then ducked at Sumiko's kick from behind. He then teleported behind them. He smirked as he stared at the tiring genin.

 

“Looks like those guys did more to you then I thought,” he said as he threw several shuriken at them. Hiroku stood in front and blasted them away with another Drilling Air Bullet. The genin were breathing heavily now. Hiroku charged at the man again only for him to rush toward him and knock him to the ground. He jumped back quietly and formed hand signs.

 

“Earth Style: Earth Palm Crush,” he said as he held both of this hands out. He smirked slightly as hands came from out of the ground and grabbed the genin. He walked toward both of them quietly. He brought the three giant arms together as they stood in a circle. Circling around them, he began to check their conditions. He stopped at Sumiko and examined her closely.

 

“Hmm, you looked like a guy from far away,” he said stroking his chin. He walked back to his original position. “Well, children, this is goodbye,” he said as he closed his palms. The hands began to squeeze their small bodies. Various bones where heard cracking from their grasp. However, there where no screams. They were too afraid to scream.

 

“Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb,” Hikari said as she fired the large fire blast at Suichi. He turned his attention toward the blast in time to jump away. The jutsu was dropped and the children where let go covered in mud and blood.

 

“Who's there?” he said calmly. He received no answer. He sighed as he stood upright. He hands disappearing into his cloak. There was complete silence for a couple of minutes. During that time, Hiroku, Kasumi, and Sumiko crawled to a nearby tree. Hiroku began to try to apply chakra to his broken arm until he made eye contact with Suichi.

 

“Don't think I haven't forgotten about you,” he said. He turned to see Mitsuko jump from a tree.

 

“Lightning Style: Electric Pierce Wave,” she said as she tried to cut Suichi in two. He jumped back as Mitsuko's blade collided with the ground causing a smoke cloud. Hikari appeared beside the tired genin and grabbed Hiroku's chakra covered hand.

 

“Let me,” she said as she began adding the chakra to his body. “Your left arm is broken and your right leg is fractured,” she said. “I can fix the fracture, but as you know, you probably won't be using that arm for a few days.” He nodded as she moved to Kasumi. “You take Sumiko,” she said as she began to scan Kasumi.

 

Hiroku walked over to Sumiko and began applying chakra. “Broken wrist,” he said as he began applying chakra. “Anything else hurt, Sumiko?” he asked quickly.

 

“My... chest hurts here,” she said putting a hand to her sternum.

 

“Probably a bruised rib,” he said. Sumiko blushed slightly as Hiroku touched her chest healing her the best he could. “I hope you don't think of me as a pervert after this,” he said as he sat down beside her after nursing her wounds. She shook her head and turned back toward Mitsuko and Suichi fighting. Mitsuko was swinging unsuccessfully at Suichi. Her graceful movements were being blocked by the kunai he held in each hand. Mitsuko jumped back slightly and charged with the blade facing downwards. She leapt in the air and spun her blade around again.

 

“Lightning Style: Shock Blade,” she said as she slashed at the air causing a yellow crescent to come out of her blade. Suichi began forming hand signs of his own.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Wall,” he said. The mud in the surrounding area came together and formed a hardened wall blocking Mitsuko's attack. As the wall dissipated, he threw several shuriken to toward Mitsuko's landing shot. She landed softly and turned her attention to the blades. She held her sword in front and began blocking the blades deftly. Suichi grinned He tossed one more shuriken.

 

“Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu,” he said as hundreds of shuriken appeared. Mitsuko gasped as she braced herself. She began slashing in all different directions blocking as many shuriken as she could. The attack slowly began to hurt Mitsuko. They began to hit her body and the swordplay only tired her more. When the attack was finished, Mitsuko had cuts riddling her body. She breathed deeply trying to catch her breath from her previous endeavor.

 

“Very good,” Suichi said clapping. “Can you handle this though?” he said as he threw eight shuriken. “Multi Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu,” he said as what appeared to be thousands of shuriken appeared. Mitsuko jumped back a few feet and braced herself as the blades headed toward her. She was shocked when she saw Hikari appear in front of her. She began forming hand signs at an extremely fast pace.

 

“Lightning Style: Lightning Pheonix,” she said as she fired an attack from her hands. A giant electric bird appeared from the blast. The sound of static could be heard throughout the forest resonating from the bird. Suichi opened his eyes widely as he watched the attack cause all the shuriken to explode and continue toward him. The sound of the blast covered the area. The two women looked up in a tree to see Suichi. His robe was torn on the right side and his arm was bleeding slightly.

 

“That was a little too close,” he said as he stared at his arm. He reached into his pouch and grabbed healing ointment. Mitsuko began to rush him quickly she jumped from tree to tree attempting to get closer to Suichi.

 

 

“You expect us to let you put on healing ointment?” Mitsuko said as she drew her sword high in the air.

 

“Yes, but just in case,” he said forming hand signs. “Earth Style: Earth Pillar,” he said as he began to place the healing ointment. A large pillar of mud arose from the ground and continued going up.

 

“Mitsuko, watch out!” Hikari yelled. The attack hit Mitsuko in the stomach. Her eyes widened from the pain. She dropped her sword and clutched her stomach tightly, closing her eyes. Hikari stared at the man angrily.

 

“Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu,” she said sending the fire toward Suichi. He jumped off the branch avoiding the attack as the fire dissipated to show shuriken. They went flying into various trees as Hikari began to heal Mitsuko's wounds.

 

“I'm sorry,” Mitsuko said. “I was reckless.”

 

“Yeah,” Hikari said crossing her arms. She turned toward Suichi who was using this opportunity to attack.

 

“Earth Style: Great Mud River,” he said. The mud began to form a river surrounding the two chunin. They struggled as the mud took them every which way. Suichi smirked as he formed more hand signs.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Dragon Bomb,” he said. A giant mud dragon head appeared beside him. The dragon opened his large mouth and spat out multiple mud balls toward the opponent. Hikari and Mitsuko flinched at the sight of them coming forward.

 

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu,” a voice from behind said as the flames evaporated the deadly mud balls. Taisuke appeared shortly after.

 

“Taisuke-sensei,” Kasumi yelled staggering to her feet. Her twisted ankle obviously was bothering her. Taisuke stared at his opponent and arched an eyebrow, apparently ignoring Kasumi's cry of happiness for the moment.

“Suichi Asakura,” Taisuke said finally. “A-ranked missing-nin from Iwagakure.”

 

“That's right,” Suichi confirmed. “And you're Taisuke Shibata, a jounin, and Kohona's Dragon Negotiator?”

 

“Right. So you're a member of this organization threatening the smaller countries.” Suichi nodded. “And you're the reason I had to come all the way up here,” Taisuke said angrily. His face lacking the seriousness it held a minute ago. He turned to his students. “How are you holding up?” he asked.

 

“We've felt better,” Sumiko said loudly.

 

“Should've figured such a negative answer coming from you, Sumiko,” Taisuke said with a grin. Sumiko's eyes showed bloodlust. It took all she had not to try to straggle him with her wires. She stared at her fractured wrist angrily then turned to meet Taisuke's eyes.

 

“I'm glad that you where able to live this long,” Taisuke said.

 

“Such little faith,” Hiroku said with a grin.

 

“No, just the opposite.” He turned to see Hikari and Mitsuko pull themselves out of the mud. “Thank you for protecting my students you two. Give the Raikage my regards,” Taisuke said.

 

“What about the negotiation?” Kasumi asked,

 

“Oh that, we reached an agreement. They already are heading back to their respective villages and have paid us quite nicely,” Taisuke said with a money hungry grin.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Ball Jutsu,” Suichi said turning Taisuke's attention back to him. Suichi held out his left palm and fired a large mud ball from his hands. Taisuke quickly reached for a kunai and channeled lightning chakra to it. He slashed at the mud quickly and watched as the mud exploded.

 

“So impatient,” Taisuke said. “Fine then, let's begin,” he said as he pointed the kunai at Suichi.

 

The two charged at each other with kunai drawn. The two clashed and sparks flew as the they jumped back. They clashed again. Taisuke grabbed the arm using the kunai and spun around attempting to kick him in the face. Suichi ducked and jumped backwards. Taisuke formed hand signs and jumped in the air.

 

“Lightning Style: Thunderbolt,” he said as his body became covered in sparks. He lifted his hand and formed a large thunderbolt in his hand and threw it toward Suichi. Suichi countered with his own jutsu.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Wall,” he said as the mud blocked his attack. The mud dissipated as he fored the tiger hand sign. “Earth Clone Jutsu,” he said. The mud began to form into two more Suichis. They laughed as they glared at Taisuke. Taisuke smirked as he began forming hand signs.

 

“Lightning Style: Lightning Spiral,” he said. He slammed his hand against the ground. Suichi and his clones looked around the forest. He looked down as he saw a giant yellowish spiral surface from the ground. The spiral penetrated one of the clones then blew up in a blast of electric energy. Taisuke stood up as the lightning began to die down. He saw the real Suichi surrounded in mud, his cloak destroyed and charred.

 

“Guess I have no more use for it,” he said taking the cloak off. He was wearing a red high collared shirt that showed fishnet underneath and black pants. “Looks, like this isn't going to be a short match after all.” He began to form more hand signs.

 

“Oh no you don't,” Taisuke said. He quickly dashed toward Suichi and kicked him in the face sending him backwards. He regained his balance fast enough to see Taisuke try to kick him again. Suichi placed his hands downwards to block the kick. Taisuke quickly responded with a right hook, which Suichi barely dodged. He retaliated by punching Taisuke in the chest. Taisuke flinched a little, but regained his footing in time to block a second punch from Suichi that was aimed for his sternum. Suichi grunted slightly and jumped back allowing Taisuke to kick him in the stomach again. Suichi clutched his stomach slightly before throwing two shuriken at Taisuke, each aiming for an eye. Taisuke ducked quickly and formed hand signs while he was on the ground. Suichi immediately jumped into a tree and threw more kunai as Taisuke clapped his hands. He looked up in time to see the kunai flying towards him and jumped back. He pointed his index finger toward Suichi and formed a bow.

 

“Lightning Style: Thunder Arrow,” he said as he pulled an arrow from the bow. He fired the arrow, carefully aiming for a vital point in his torso area. He shot the arrow. Suichi jumped down from the tree only to have another arrow land where he landed. He jumped back as the electricity left a burn mark on the ground below.

 

“Earth Clone Jutsu,” Suichi said summoning four clones trying to make Taisuke's job more difficult. He gritted his teeth and prepared his kunai and charged at Taisuke. Taisuke raised is bow and deftly shot down the outside clones with ease. He jumped back and took aim again. The middle Suichi jumped into the ground while the others continued to rush him. Taisuke jumped high in the air and fired an arrow in between the two Suichi's above ground. They each stepped to the side while forming hand signs.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Ball Jutsu,” the one farthest away said. He fired two mud balls, which Taisuke shot down easily. He then aimed at the person firing the attack. The attack hit the target dead in the heart only for it to transform into mud. Taisuke gritted his teeth slightly. He then heard the sound of a kunai behind him. He turned around to see Suichi with a kunai.He lunged forward with the intent to kill. Taisuke jumped off trying to avoid most of the attack. He jumped down clutching the arm that the arrow still formed on. He looked down to see a hand reach from the ground. Taisuke's eyes widened and he jumped into the air as quickly as he could. The Suichi in the tree jumped toward him as he was airborn. Taisuke pulled out a kunai and blocked his lunge toward him. He kicked to the ground hard only for him to get back up. Taisuke fired his arrow at him and it hit him directly in the skull. He watched as he turned back into mud. Taisuke gritted his teeth and aimed at the last Suichi left.

 

“Earth Clones are so durable, aren't they?” Suichi said with a smug look. Taisuke simply raised his arrow.

 

“Yeah,” he said before he fired two more shots. Suichi dodged the first shot only for the second to hit him in the arm. Electricity spread throughout his body. His screaming body was replaced with a log. Taisuke looked around ready for his opponent to attack. He felt something tug at his leg and looked down. His eyes widened as he was pulled down into the ground.

 

“Taisuke-sensei,” his students yelled.

 

“Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu,” Suichi said as he walked toward Taisuke.

 

“Heh,” Taisuke said as he began to rise from the earth.

 

“What?”

 

“Earth Style: Dragon's Wave,” Taisuke said as he was holding the dark brown orb in his hand, his bow now gone. Suichi gritted his teeth slightly. Taisuke tossed the orb at Suichi. Suichi dodged quickly and jumped into the air forming hand signs.

 

“Earth Style: Earth Palm Crush,” he said as two palms came from the ground. Taisuke jumped forward out of their grasp only to meet Suichi's left fist. He punched him back toward the waiting palms. Taisuke noticed that Suichi's other hand was always open when he performed the technique. He smirked before he felt one of the palms grab his left arm. He swung his other arm and began forming hand signs.

 

“Lightning Style: Lightning Armor,” he said. The mud was blasted all over the place away from Taisuke. Suichi began forming more hand signs while Taisuke was slightly distracted.

 

“Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb,” he said as the mud surrounding Taisuke formed the dragon in front of him. The dragon hit Taisuke with full force knocking him backwards. Suichi grinned with a slight happiness until he saw Taisuke transform into a log.

 

“What? Aaahhh,” Suichi said as he was struck with Taisuke's Thunder Arrow. He quickly took the arrow out before the electricity started attacking his one limb. The electricity spread throughout his entire body. He screamed in pain as he was thrown backwards from the attack. He quickly got up only to see Taisuke form his infamous three signs.

 

“Dragon's Wave,” he said finishing the signs. Taisuke put the attack to his side and waited for Suichi to make a move. He began forming hand signs again.

 

“Earth Style: Earth Spiral,” he said. Taisuke looked at the ground to see a spiral pillar appear before him. It made a horizontal gash his already bleeding left arm. He touched the spiral with his technique and let it turn brown again. He breathed heavily for a second then stared at the sun. It slowly began to set.

 

`Almost time,' he thought. `I hope I have enough chakra. This guy, he really is something else,' Taisuke thought. He charged at Suichi with the Dragon's Wave slightly touching the ground.

 

Suichi noticed that slowly the orb was growing larger. He stepped back slightly and braced himself for his counterstrike. He formed the tiger sign again trying to hold him off.

 

“Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb,” he said as he blew a large blast of fire at Taisuke. He grunted slightly and without hand signs prepared the Dragon's Wave in his left hand. He held his hand forward and absorbed the attack. Suichi's eyes widened with shock.

 

“Earth Style: Dragon's Wave,” Taisuke said throwing the orb toward Suichi. Suichi jumped in the air to avoid the attack. Taisuke jumped in after him. He got in an arms length of him. Suiuchi threw a punch trying to knock Taisuke down. Taisuke caught the punch with his good hand and shoved the attack at his chest.

 

“Fire Style: Dragon's Wave,” he said as Suichi went crashing down to the ground. His clothes were now charred in the middle. He got up rather quickly and stared at Taisuke. He was forming the attack again without hand signs. The white orb slowly began to turn a yellow color. Suichi braced himself for the attack.

 

“Thunder Style: Dragon's Wave,” he said as he closed into Suichi. Suichi jumped backwards as Taisuke threw the orb. The attack left a small crater in its wake. Taisuke stepped out of the crater panting a little. He turned toward his students. They were engrossed in the battle, wordlessly staring, sitting on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen next. He looked in the tree above them to see Mitsuko and Hikari in a similar position. They nodded to him. He nodded back and turned toward his opponent. He was about as tired as Taisuke was.

 

“This match is reaching its end,” Suichi said.

 

“I suppose so,” Taisuke said finally.

 

Suichi threw a shuriken again. “Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu,” he said as he formed the multiple shuriken.

 

Taisuke tiredly formed hand signs again. “Wind Style: Air Bullet,” he said. The two jutsus cancelled out sending shuriken every which way. Taisuke looked up at the sky. `It's time,” he said.

 

“His looks like the end for you, Suichi,” he said. Suichi stood there questioningly wondering what he meant.

 

Taisuke jumped high in the sky and threw several shuriken and kunai around Suichi. Suichi looked around questioning him more. He began forming his own hand signs as well. Taisuke jumped down from the tree still forming hand signs.

 

Suichi finished first. “Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu,” he said. A giant dragon appeared in front coming from out of the earth just as Taisuke finished.

 

“Shadow Dragon Jutsu,” he said loudly as he clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground in a fist. Suichi's eyes widened as he realized the situation. He looked around and saw the multiple weapons around him, then staring at the sun as it set. There were no trees in the middle of the field they were in. He was stuck. “Entrance,” Taisuke said opening his hands, raising them from the ground. Suichi looked around trying to find the dragon. “Overcome,” Taisuke raised both his arms. Suichi began sweating profusely now.

 

`My body it won't move,' he thought.

 

“Arise,” Taisuke said sending his left hand down. The dragon arose from his shadow. It was black with yellow eyes. It destroyed the earth dragon that was floating in the air waiting for his master to send him to attack. “Fall,” he said sending his other hand down. The dragon came back down and hit Suichi again. Taisuke noticed Suichi do some kind of jutsu prior to his second strike. The dust from the second strike flew everywhere. Everyone on sight covered their eyes with their faces, attempting to keep the dust out of their eyes. When the dust cleared, they saw Suichi covered in what looked like armor made of mud. He was breathing deeply. The supposed armor was ripped and for the most part destroyed.

 

“Earth Style: Mud Shell,” he said in between breaths. He stepped forward. “So, that was the original technique of Taisuke Shibata,” he said panting. Taisuke nodded. The Mud Shell dissipated showing Suichi's bloodied and bruised body. “Tell me, where did the attack start?”

 

“Look behind you,” Taisuke said pointing at the object behind him. Suichi's eyes widened as he saw Mitsuko's sword in the ground.

 

“You mean?”

 

“Yep. The entire time I stalled to get to this point,” Taisuke said.

 

“You should be glad those five were there to bide time,” Suichi said. “I would have won otherwise,” he said falling to his knees.

 

“Don't delude yourself,” Taisuke said kunai drawn.

 

“I don't,” Suichi said as he threw a smoke bomb. The whole area was covered in smoke.

 

“What?” Taisuke exclaimed as he tossed a kunai toward Suichi's old position.

 

“We will meet again, Taisuke Shibata,” Suichi said as he left. Taisuke gritted his teeth. `I don't have the energy to go after him.

 

“Taisuke-sensei,” Kasumi said jumping in the air to meet Taisuke. Taisuke caught her and set her on two feet.

 

“You won!” she said excitedly.

 

“Yeah,” Taisuke said. He turned to the other ninja. “It's best we go back to the mansion and rest up,” he said.

 

“Roku and Hikari will be doing all the healing,” Sumiko said with a grin.

 

“I can poison your medicine you know,” Hiroku said sitting up and helping Sumiko up.

 

“You wouldn't,” she said staring at him. The two went into a small argument that was overshadowed by the other coversation between Mitsuko, Hikari, and Taisuke.

 

“You really are good,” Mitsuko said as she took her sword and sheathed it. “Using another's weapon for his own means, genius.”

 

“Yeah, so what now?” Hikari said.

 

“I'm tired. I'm eating and going to bed,” Taisuke said. Hikari stared at his bleeding arm. She reached out and grabbed it carefully and began healing it.

 

“It's only a flesh wound, nothing's broken,” Hikari said as she set his arm back to his side.

 

“Thanks,” he said. He turned to his students who were still arguing. “Hey,” Taisuke said gathering their attention.

 

“Good job. Mission complete,” he said. They nodded as the group returned to the mansion.

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“Roku, bring the bandages,” Hikari said as they where back at the mansion in Sumiko and Kasumi's room. Mitsuko and Taisuke had already gone to bed as their wounds were already treated.

 

“I can only work with one arm,” Hiroku yelled back. His arm was wrapped in bandages as well. He tossed her the roll of bandages as she wrapped Sumiko's wrist gently.

 

“Ow, watch what you're doing,” Sumiko said.

 

“I am,” Hikari said tightening the bandages earning another scream from Sumiko.

 

“Are you holding up well?” Hiroku said walking to Kasumi who was lying on her bed.

 

“Yeah, I only had a twisted ankle and an elbow fracture,” Kasumi said with a grin.

 

“Glad to here it.”

 

“What about you, Roku,” Kasumi asked.

 

“What did you just say,” Hiroku said with an angry look on his face.

 

“Sorry, Roku,” she said realizing her mistake. “So how are you feeling?”

 

“My arm hurts and my leg feels funny, other than that I'm fine,” he said.

 

“Glad to here it.” They turned to see Hikari and Sumiko tied in bandages arguing. They laughed at the two girls argument. It went like that for the next two days when the group was about to leave.

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“Well, this is good bye,” Mitsuko said as she grabbed her ninja gear and hoisted it on her back. They where standing on the outskirts of the Land of Birds.

 

“Yeah, it's been interesting,” Hikari said. “I'll report this to the Raikage.”

 

“Okay,” Taisuke said.

 

“We'll be seeing you then,” Mitsuko said. She looked at Taisuke's students. “Good luck in the chunin exam,” she said.

 

“Thanks,” Kasumi said. “We'll be chunin when you see us next.” Sumiko nodded in agreement.

 

“Well until then,” Hiroku said as he and Taisuke turned on their way back to Kohona.

 

“Bye,” Mitsuko said as she and Hikari headed into the trees.

 

Taisuke turned to his students. “We should get going too,” he said. They jumped into the trees and continued their journey back home.

 

After a while of running through trees and plains and back into trees again Taisuke noticed Hiroku and Kasumi reading their books again. He looked quietly at Sumiko. She was looking down at the ground to missing a branch.

 

“What's bothering you, Sumiko?” Taisuke said.

 

“It's your technique,” Sumiko said after a few seconds of silence. Hiroku and Kasumi looked up from their books briefly.

 

“Which one?” Taisuke asked somewhat interested.

 

“The Dragon's Wave,” Sumiko responded.

 

“What about it?”

 

“It just during your fight with Suichi, you used hand signs for the technique once or twice, but the other times, like the times you were caught in the headhunter jutsu or when you had formed one already that you didn't even use the hand signs. Why?”

 

“I wondered that too,” Hiroku said. Kasumi nodded as well.

 

`They're pretty observant,' Taisuke thought.

 

“Simply put, there are two types of Dragon's Wave. There is an A-rank and an S-rank version.”

 

“A-rank and S-rank?” Kasumi asked.

 

“Yes, each jutsu is usually put in a rank from E-rank the weakest and basic techniques to A-rank a high rank. The highest is S-rank. Then there are the forbidden techniques that should never be used,” he said.

 

“How does that tie in with the Dragon's Wave?” Hiroku asked.

 

“The Dragon's Wave that uses hand signs and can only absorb the opponents chakra is the A-rank version,” Taisuke said as the group jumped to a plain area.

 

“And the S-rank version?” Sumiko said.

 

“The S-rank version requires no hand signs and can thus be dual-wielded. The elemental chakra can also be formed by absorbing the user's elemental chakra or the opponents. That gives it even more versatility than it already has. Though compared to other hand-held techniques it's strength isn't enough to blow people away as you witnessed,” he said referring to Suichi's fight again after how he got up shortly after being hit by the attack.

 

“Hmm. And you're going to teach it to us one day?” Sumiko assumed.

 

“If you live long enough, yes,” Taisuke said.

 

“Such faith,” Sumiko said.

 

“I have faith that it would be in good hands,” Taisuke said. He slowed down and stopped at the stream they passed by earlier. We can stop here for now,” he said.

 

“We didn't stop before, why now?” Sumiko said.

 

“The mission's complete; we have our money. There is no need to rush now,” Taisuke said as he set his bag down. “Not to mention I'm out of soldier pills,” he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

The group finally made it back and could now see Kohonagakure in clear view. They had been traveling for over two days now and were happy to be back.

 

“We're back,” Kasumi said as she jumped and ran into the gate. She turned back to the group. “Hey, let's go to the training ground after we give the mission specs?”

 

“I don't see why not,” Taisuke said. They rushed over to Hokage Tower.

----------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

The Hokage read over the papers quietly. “So you were attacked, huh?” he said looking up at the team. They nodded. “No casualties, right?” They nodded again. He closed his eyes and grinned. “Good job then,” he said finally.

 

“Taisuke, how were they? Do you think they would be good diplomats someday?” he said.

 

“I believe so,” he said as he stared at his team. “I have high hopes for them.”

 

“Glad to here it. They will be getting more practice,” he said. “Dismissed.” They walked out of the tower and headed for the training grounds.

 

“He complemented us,” Kasumi kept saying over and over again as they approached the training ground. “I'm so happy,” she continued.

 

“I guess you do have faith in us after all,” Sumiko said.

 

“Yeah, I told you.. Ow,” Taisuke said as he felt someone fall on top of him.

 

“Mother?” Hiroku said shocked.

 

“Hitomi,” Taisuke said just as shocked.

 

`That's Roku's mother?' Kasumi and Sumiko thought.

 

“Taisuke, did you bring the materials?” Hitomi asked quickly as she still sat on him. Taisuke's eyes widened in fear.

 

“Heh, I forgot,” he said.

 

“You WHAT?1” Hitomi said loudly as she punched Taisuke in the arm hard. He screamed in pain.

 

`Scary,' Kasumi and Sumiko thought.

 

“What did I say? I told you I needed those materials desperately and I didn't want to make the trip,” Hitomi said flipping him over and straggling him.

 

“I'm sorry,” he said in pain.

 

“Sorry ain't gonna cut it this time, Taisuke,” She said as she activated her Byakugan quickly and sealed a chakra point in his arm.

 

“OWWW,” Taisuke howled.

 

“Yeah, I bet that hurt,” Hitomi said.

 

“Umm, are you two...okay?” Hiroku asked scared.

 

“Yes. Your mother asked me to pick up some weird tree from the Land of Birds for a new weapon she was building, but with all the commotion, I forgot,” he said.

 

“Do you two know each other?” Sumiko asked.

 

“Yeah, we were on the same team,” Taisuke said.

 

“What?” the genin shouted.

 

“Yeah,” Hitomi said. “Roku, I never told you this, but Taisuke used to take care of you often when you were a baby,” she said.

 

“But how. You have to be at least thirty something,” Kasumi said loudly.

 

“I'm not. I'm twenty-eight,” Hitomi said obviously angry.

 

“What?” the girls said.

 

“Yeah. I'm twenty-four now. You see we graduated from the academy at the same time and were put on the same team despite the age difference. I graduated at age seven and Hitomi graduated at age eleven. Needless to say, we didn't get along right away. Of course, the age difference said nothing on our skill level. We were both fairly strong. As we got older our relationship got better. Then she fell in love with your father, Hiroku,” Taisuke said. She looked to see Hitomi blush slightly then turned to continue. “Yeah. She married him a week after she turned sixteen, SIXTEEN,” Taisuke said again for emphasis. “That's rediculous.”

 

“So what, Taisuke it's legal,” Hitomi said punching him in the chest.

 

“Anyway, ten months later and you happen Roku. Then my life became a living hell. She and her husband would kick down my door saying they have to go on a mission and they need to leave the kid with someone. She had to leave him with Shinji and me all the time because they was so irresponsible. OWW,” Taisuke said as Hitomi sealed off a few more chakra points. “That hurts,” Taisuke said.

 

“First, you tell my business then you bad talk my husband, that's it Taisuke,” she said. She immediately began to hit the man under her multiple times. She twisted his arms, punched him, kicked him, and sealed his chakra points.

 

“Your mother's scary,” Sumiko said.

 

“Tell me about it,” Hiroku said.

 

Hitomi sat up and stared at Hiroku. Hiroku we are leaving for the Land of Birds in two days. Rest up and get ready,” she said.

 

“Right.”

 

She turned to Kasumi and Sumiko. “So, you're Hiroku's teammates?” They nodded. She grinned. “Will you watch Hisa for me while we are gone?”

 

“Who's Hisa?” Kasumi asked.

 

“My little sister,” Hiroku said.

 

“We should be back in three days. Will you watch her while we are gone, please,” she asked. They agreed out of fear of what she would do if she said no.

 

“You're doing it again?!” Taisuke yelled at her.

 

“Shut up,” Hitomi said kicking Taisuke in the ribs. She turned to Hiroku. “There is practice for your medical jutsu,” she said pointing at Taisuke. “I'll see you when you get home,” she said kindly. Hiroku sighed. He walked over to a twitching Taisuke.

 

“She did a number on you,” he said as be began to open his chakra points and heal his injuries. The girls walked over to him.

 

“So, that is another member of your team, huh?” Sumiko said.

 

“Yeah,” Taisuke said flinching a little as Hiroku healed wound after wound.

 

“I thought you can't see the chakra points, Roku,” Kasumi said.

 

“I can't. That's why I'm applying chakra to his whole body,” he said.

 

“Oh,” she said. After a few more minutes, Taisuke was able to stand.

 

“Thanks. That woman is crazy,” he said.

 

“Yeah. But we love her,” Hiroku said.

 

“I'm going home,” Sumiko said. “I want to tell my dad about my mission.”

 

“Me too,” Kasumi said raising her right hand.

 

“Heh. Fine then. Team 4, dismissed.”

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A/N: Finally, I finished. I was determined to finish this entire arc in one chapter even though this could have easily been two. I don't think I'll do one this long for a while. Anyway, the original plan was to kill off Suichi, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that Suichi just wouldn't let himself die like that. So, I let him live a while longer. There has been a slight change in Kasumi's age. Technically, she should be eleven if she is the youngest. I didn't think about it until I thought about how old Taisuke and Hitomi was. For all those wondering, Hikari and Mitsuko are 16, and Suichi is 23. Anyway, I like how the battle scenes turned out. I hope to improve on the ninjutsu fighting and eventually add some genjutsu in there. I'm taking it one step at a time. I don't think the next chapter will be anywhere near as long as this one, that's for sure. For the most part it's just Sumiko and Kasumi babysitting Hisa. Anyway, for those who are wondering how the Shadow Dragon Technique works, it at the bottom. Give your thoughts and let me know what you think. Until next time.

 

The Shadow Dragon jutsu is basically using the shadows against the opponent. First you throw several shuriken and kunai in a circle with one major solid object. It is formed through quite a few hand seals that I won't write down to save time. PM me or ask in a review if you want them. The technique is started by clapping your hands and placing them on the ground balled up in a fist. The shadows then react to the user.

 

Entrance: The user opens his hands and raises them from the ground. The shadow dragon is sent to a solid object. Usually a blade or a tree as long as it's straight.

 

Overcome: The user raises both hands. The shadow dragon moves to the target's shadow and locks it in a position where he can't move.

 

Arise: The user drops one hand. The dragon comes from the person's shadow and attacks guaranteeing a hit.

 

Fall: The user drops the other hand. The dragon comes back down and hits the target again, then separating back unto it's original shadows. The target can use a jutsu to defend himself in time.

 

That is Taisuke's original technique. Thanks for reading.