Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed Twelve ❯ Team Formed, Team Demolished 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Cursed Twelve 12Squad 12

 

Authors Note: Ok, I know that it is never good to start a story, or a chapter, with author notes, but I am getting tired of receiving reviews accusing me of having Mary-Sue characters, "crapping upon the *canon*," or stealing other's ideas. For starters, if you think my character is a Mary-Sue then I'm sorry you feel that way, because in my knowledge my characters have too many problems to be Mary-Sue's. Second, this is a FANFICTION, the cannon will not always be followed, if you don't like it, tough. Stop reading fanfiction's. Third, I never get a chance to read anymore due to all of the things going on in my life, so I cannot possibly steal anyone's ideas, and I can't do anything if our characters sound alike; I CAN'T READ MINDS PEOPLE! And one last thing, never, and I mean NEVER, request that I take my story down, because I absolutely positively will NOT! I write for fun, and you can't control what goes on this site. I am not forcing you to read this story, or any for that matter. If you don't like it, the simple answer is to STOP READING IT! Don't waste both of our time by reviewing and telling me such stupid things because it will do you no good. Thank you, please enjoy.

When the morning arrives, the two children wake up and start preparing for their real first day of class as Ninja. Not a word is spoken for a while, and every time Samuno manages to make eye contact with Naruto, he blushes before going into the next room to do something. Finally, as they sit down to eat their breakfast, Samuno manages to find the words she needed to say.

"Naruto, are you still mad at me about before?"

"W-what do you mean?" Naruto asks, taken aback.

"Do you hate me for being in the forest with Mizuki-Sensei? I understand if you are. I had no right to believe him and follow his orders without knowing exactly who or what I would be going after. I'm so sorry, Naruto. I know it might not . . ."

"Who, whoa, Samuno, I'm not mad about that. Iruka-Sensei explained everything to me. If anything, you should be mad at me, after what happened yesterday and all," Naruto interrupts.

"Is that why you were ignoring me last night? You thought I was mad at you?"

Naruto nods.

"I thought you were still mad at me," Samuno admits.

With that, the two eat breakfast and talk happily about how glad they are to have actually made it to being Ninja. When the time arrives for them to be leaving, Samuno grabs her bag.

"Aren't you coming, Naruto?" she asks.

"I'll be along in a bit. I have to do something first," Naruto answers.

"All right, see you in class, Naruto."

 

In class, everyone finally settles down after a very bad incident involving most of the girls in class, and three boys, two of which were Naruto and Sasuke. Iruka Sensei stands in front of the class, obviously proud of everyone passing.

"All right, you will now be split up into pre-chosen teams of three that are equally balanced to be lead by one jounin of whom you will be meeting after lunch break," he announces.

So, who else is going to be in my squad? I know Naruto will be one, we're always together, but who will be the third to balance out our group? Samuno wonders.

"Squad seven will be Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke," Iruka announces.

What? Samuno thinks in shock. This has to be some sort of mistake. I can't not be with Naruto, there's just no way.

"Squad twelve will be Chobun, Chochun, and Samuno," Iruka announces.

Samuno looks down at the twins of the classroom.

Great, this will be fun, Samuno thinks positively. I just hope I can tell them apart. They both have the same length of purple hair. They both wear the same grey T-shirt, shorts, and Ninja shoes. On top of that, they both have icy blue eyes. The only difference in their looks is their hairstyles; Chobun keeps his in a pony tail and Chochun has his braided. Samuno sighs in defeat. I'm doomed.

The class is dismissed for lunch once all of the squads had been announced, and the majority of the students use the time to get to know their new teammates. Samuno tries to as well, but Chobun and Chochun are nowhere to be found, so she eats on her own and returns to class when it's time. One at a time the jounin leaders come to pick up their squads. Soon, all that is left in the room is squads seven and twelve.

"I wonder which jounin is going to be our leader, Chochun," Chobun states to his brother.

"I don't know, Chobun," Chochun replies.

"I can answer that for you," a female voice responds as the door opens.

Samuno sighs. Figures this would happen to me.

"Squad twelve, let's roll out of here!" Meloca announces.

Why me? Samuno thinks. "Well, see you later, Naruto."

"Yeah, see ya, Samuno," Naruto shrugs.

With that, squad twelve follows Meloca out of the classroom.

"Don't worry, Samuno, Kakashi-senpai should be along soon to get Naruto and his group," Meloca assures.

"Kakashi-Sensei? Who's that?"

"He's a friend. He and I spent a lot of time together in preparation for this day. He showed me very handy things to use," Meloca answers. "So, don't worry, you and Naruto will be doing similar things, starting with a survival test."

"Survival test?" Samuno blinks in disbelief. "Aren't we past that?"

"Oh no, you see, only a few squads will actually continue as Ninja, those who don't pass this first test will be sent back to the academy with Iruka," Meloca explains.

"Great," Samuno sighs.

Meloca leads the group out into the woods within the gates of Konoha.

"All right, here's where you will be tested. The object is to get these bells by . . . let's see, it's 12:12 right now, so let's say 3:15 or so. If you don't succeed in getting one of them by that time, you fail," Meloca explains as she holds up two bells. "I got this from Kakashi-senpai himself, isn't it great?"

"Yeah, sure, but there's only two bells, so no matter what, one of us will fail," Samuno points out.

Meloca smiles, "So? What's your point?"

"I guess I don't have one," Samuno raises an eyebrow.

"That's the spirit! The test will be starting . . . now!"

Instantly, Chobun and Chochun head off into hiding.

"Oh come on, guys!" Samuno calls. "This is no way to treat a teammate!"

The forest is silent, indicating that the twins do not plan on revealing themselves.

"Well now, this puts a damper on everything," Samuno mumbles. "But it sure showed me where my place is in this group."

Meloca laughs to herself, having overheard the flame-haired girl.

"It's not funny, Meloca-Sensei, my teammates just abandoned me," Samuno scolds.

Meloca does not stop laughing.

"That's it, I'll show you," Samuno grows as she closes her eyes and concentrates. Hopefully, it'll work this time.

She can feel an imaginary circle surround her feet. She concentrates harder to get the circle to expand to a point where it is inches from the Sensei.

"What are you doing, child?" Meloca questions, crossing her arms.

If this works then all she needs to do is step into the circle and I'll absorb her chakra, but she has to step in on her own, Samuno thinks.

Meloca steps into the invisible circle without realizing it as she tries to approach the girl.

"That's it!" Samuno cries in victory.

Suddenly Samuno finds her body unwilling to move as she feels her own chakra draining from her body.

What's happening? Why?

"Samuno?" Meloca blinks in confusion. "What'd you do?"

"It backfired," Samuno mumbles from her new position on the ground.

"What backfired?" Meloca asks.

"Never mind that," Samuno grumbles as she forces herself to her feet. I can't get those bells from her in this condition; we have to regroup, not that the Un-twins really care about what will happen to me.

With that thought, Samuno leaps off into the forest to hunt for her teammates in order to give them a good scolding. After half an hour of searching, Samuno leans against a tree.

Well now, at least I don't have to worry about them being found by an enemy and giving away our location on a mission, she thinks with a sweat drop.

After another half hour of looking, she finally stumbles across the two sleeping out in the open. Instantly Samuno pulls an anime fall.

Have they been sleeping this entire time? she thinks as she gets back to her feet. "Hey, guys! Get up! This is no time to be sleeping! I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to fail!"

The twins do not respond.

"Get up!" Samuno shouts as she takes out two Kunai knives and pokes each of the twins in the butt at the same time.

"AAHH!" Chobun and Chochun shout as they jump up and rub their butts in pain.

"That'll teach you to not sleep on a mission," Samuno states stubbornly as she forces the Kunai Knives into their hands and crosses her arms.

"What mission? It's just a survival test," Chobun points out.

"Yeah, who cares if we sleep?" Chochun shrugs.

"I care! We're a team. I can't do this without you guys. And if we don't pass, then we'll have to go back to the academy."

"What?" the twins ask in shock.

"Do you two listen when instructions are given?" Samuno cocks her eyebrow at them.

They simply give her angel faces.

"Come on, if we work together I'm sure we can get those bells," she reassures them. "We still have about an hour and forty-five minutes left. You guys with me?"

"Yeah!" the twins nod.

"All right, unfortunately, I have no chakra to use, so I'll just distract Meloca-Sensei while you guys get the bells," Samuno explains.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Chobun asks.

"Ninja aren't only chakra. I'll use the other weapons at my disposal," she smirks as she takes out one of her fans and opens it with a flick of her wrist.

"A fan? Are you kidding me?" Chobun laughs.

"What's a fan gonna do against a jounin like Meloca-Sensei?" Chochun joins in.

"These aren't ordinary fans, boys. Each of these fans has at least four Kunai blades within it."

"Then how can it be so small?" they ask in unison.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. Now let's move!"

With that Squad Twelve charges back o the area where Meloca still stands.

"You guys wait here, I'll distract her; then you guys can sneak attack and get the bells," Samuno orders.

The purple haired boys nod as Samuno jumps into the clearing.

"Back already?" Meloca asks.

"Yeah, let's go. I'm not leaving here without taking those bells from you," Samuno declares.

"You're on, Chibbi," Meloca teases.

"Don't call me Chibbi," Samuno glares.

"Whatever," Meloca shrugs.

Samuno once again pulls out her fans, one for each hand, and prepares for battle.

Those two had better be ready. I don't have any strength to waste. This is sink or swim for me, she thinks as she positions herself in a stance to fight. "Ready!"

She launches herself forward and begins the frontal attack. With each swing of a fan, fist, or leg, she makes it appear as though she's going after the bells around Meloca's waste. The jounin stays on her toes and fends off the young Ninja-in-training.

It's about time for the boys to jump in. That's . . . if they didn't go back to sleep, Samuno thinks as she blocks Meloca's fist with her left fan.

"Got 'em!" the voices of the 'Un' Twins cheer.

"What?" Meloca asks, stepping back at the sight of the purple haired twins standing behind Samuno with a bell in each of their hands. "You're lying. The bells are right . . . they're gone! You mean, those really are . . . ?"

The three children nod with grins on their faces.

"Congratulations, Chobun, Chochun, looks like you guys get to stay as Ninja," Samuno pants as she falls to the ground in exhaustion.

"But, you did most of the work. Here, you take my bell," Chochun points out.

"Nah, I wouldn't wanna split you two up. Besides, we did it as a team," Samuno assures them.

"So, this was your plan from the beginning. Samuno distracted me while the twins snuck up behind me and got the bells while I was pre-occupied. Looks like I still have a lot of work to do with Kakashi-senpai as well before I can test another group with such an advanced test," Meloca laughs.

"Senpai? You've called him that before, but aren't you both the same?" squad twelve asks.

"No, Kakashi-senpai is about three years older than me, and he's been a jounin longer than I have," Meloca responds. "So, I guess squad twelve passes this time around. Congratulations, you three."

"Three? You mean, all three of us pass?" Samuno asks.

"Well, duh," Meloca laughs. "You mean, you actually thought I would pass two of you but not the other?"

The students just stare at her.

"Jeez, you guys are gullible," Meloca scratches the back of her head. "All right, so, since you all passed, I guess you are dismissed for the day. I shall inform Lord Hokage that squad twelve passed and receive our list of missions. Meet tomorrow on the bridge at . . . let's see . . . what's a reasonable time? Ah, I know, dawn! We'll meet on the bridge at dawn and we shall begin our missions as a team. Don't be late, 'kay?"

"Yes, Meloca-Sensei," the three respond obediently.

"Dismissed," Meloca nods.

"All right, I'll see ya tomorrow, Chobun, Chochun," Samuno waves.

"Later, Samuno!" the twins call back.

With that, squad twelve breaks apart.

Samuno goes home where she meets up with Naruto. It's the usual night routines, catch up on the events of the day, eat food, and go to bed.

In the morning, both wake up early enough to make it to their squads on time.

"Aren't you going to eat anything this morning, Naruto?" Samuno asks.

"Can't, Kakashi-Sensei told us to skip breakfast before the mission," Naruto answers.

"Mission? Already? So you passed?" Samuno gets excited.

"Come on, we both know I already passed. I know you were placed in Solitary but you couldn't have forgotten already," Naruto teases.

"Oh, so you don't know yet," Samuno states to herself. "Well, good luck today, Naruto."

The two leave the house shortly after, Naruto heading for the forest, and Samuno heading for the bridge.

When Samuno arrives, she finds the twins barely awake as they lean against the railing.

"Morning, Chobun, Chochun, are you ready for today's assignments?" she greets warmly.

"You're too loud in the morning," Chobun complains.

"How can you be so awake this early?" Chochun asks as he squints at the flame haired girl.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just used to getting up with the sun," Samuno smiles. "Then again, I'm pretty awake when the moon's up too. Who knows, I just wake up easily."

"That's good!"

"AAHH!" Chobun and Chochun scream at Meloca's appearance.

"You awake now, boys? 'Cause I have great news," Meloca smiles.

"We can go to bed now?" Chobun asks.

"No, even better. I've convinced Lord Hokage that if we finish this list of missions by noon, than we can have an extra special mission that involves leaving Konoha," Meloca explains as she holds up a list about two feet long.

"You're kidding me, right?" Chobun begs.

"How are we supposed to finish that many missions by noon?" Chochun joins in.

"Come on, guys, it's not that bad," Samuno comments as she looks over the list. "Most of these are simple things like yard work, picking up trash, or finding things that are lost. We can do it."

"That's the spirit, Samuno!" Meloca exclaims, patting the girl on the back.

"I really wish you weren't so perky," Samuno complains.

"Well, let's get started," Meloca smiles as she turns around and starts marching off the bridge chanting, "Left, left, left right left."

"Come on, guys, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get to the real missions!" Samuno calls behind her as she follows Meloca, ignoring the twenty-three-year-old in front of her.

Groaning, the 'Un' twins follow, dragging their feet.

So the morning is spent pulling weeds, planting new flowers, picking up trash, and finding things that had been lost.

At about 11:30 Samuno lets out a cheer.

"We found her, Meloca-Sensei!"

"Can we confirm it?" Meloca asks.

"No doubt about it, purple collar with jewels," Samuno nods as she carries the young puppy up to the others.

"Good job, that's the last one, guys, and we still have a half hour left to spare," Meloca smiles proudly as she marks the last mission off the list.

They return the puppy to its owner and head over to the Hokage's residence to confirm that all the missions had been completed.

"Already?" Sarutobi asks after hearing the news.

"You heard it, Lord Hokage," Meloca states with a wink. "You remember your promise, right?"

"Yeah," Sarutobi sighs in defeat. "Here's the papers for your mission, just be careful."

"You got it, sir," Meloca promises as she takes the scroll. "So, when do we head out?"

"Tomorrow, for tonight, I think it best that you train some as a group and rest," Sarutobi answers quickly.

"Yes, sir, Lord Hokage," Meloca agrees.

"And Meloca," Sarutobi grabs her attention once again as he eyes Samuno. "Keep an eye on Samuno, we don't want anything happening to her out there."

"Of course," Meloca nods.

"I'm serious," Sarutobi states with a straight face. "You tend to get careless, Meloca, don't let this be one of those times. If anything happens to any of those children I'm holding you responsible."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. I get it already, I won't let anything happen," Meloca promises.

Squad twelve moves out and returns to the forest for training.

"All right, guys, time to toughen up. I'm sorry, Samuno, but it's going to require the use of chakra. Are you up for it?" Meloca asks.

"Duh," Samuno nods.

"Good, this is another technique I learned form Kakashi-senpai. This is how he helped me get stronger when we were a little younger," Meloca explains. "It's confused me at first, because he told me to climb trees without my hands."

"How can you climb trees without your hands?" Chobun interrupts.

"She already told us, using our chakra, right, Meloca-Sensei?" Samuno responds.

"Yep. Focus your chakra on the soul of your feet and walk up the tree; like this."

Meloca demonstrates how it should be done, then she distributes Kunai knives for them to mark how high they can get. The training begins and all three soon learn how hard it really is. They train for hours, getting higher and higher with each try. Soon, Chochun has reached the top while Samuno still has two thirds of the way to go.

"Good job, Chochun, you can go home now. Chobun, you only have a little way to go, push yourself a little harder and you'll be there," Meloca announces. "Don't get frustrated, Samuno, you'll get it!"

"Get what? What am I doing in a tree?" Samuno calls down.

"You're training. Use your chakra to climb the tree as high as you can from the ground," Meloca explains for the who-know-what-th time. "Damn, this curse is starting to get on my nerves now," she mumbles to herself.

After another hour or two, Samuno and Chobun finally reach the top. They're sent home to rest and told to meet up on the bridge in the morning.

By the time that Samuno reaches her home, Naruto is already fast asleep. She simply smiles and gets ready for bed herself, making sure to pack her bag for the next day.

I wonder what kind of mission this will be, she thinks as she prepares. Whatever it is, I hope we're ready.

With that she crawls into bed and closes her eyes. Suddenly, an arm wraps around her neck.

"I won't let you beat me, Sasuke," Naruto mumbles in his sleep.

Samuno smiles. Always the competitive type, even in his sleep.

"I will have Sakura in the end," Naruto continues, forcing the smile to fade from Samuno's face.

She pushes his arm off of her and gets out of the bed.

Figures, it's always about Sakura. I guess I'll sleep out in the living room, I wouldn't want to ruin his dream.

Morning comes early. Samuno makes herself some breakfast and doesn't bother waking Naruto before heading out with her bag. She meets up with her team on the bridge and they head out of Konoha as the sun rises.

Maybe I was too hard on Naruto. He can't help what he's dreaming about. But, that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. Why does he have to like Sakura? She doesn't even like him. I mean, if he liked someone like Hinata I'd be ok with it because she feels the same, but this is just annoying and hurtful . . .

"SAMUNO!" Meloca screams in her ear.

"What?" Samuno snaps, annoyed.

"I've only called you ten times," Meloca states sarcastically. "Do you want to know what the mission is?"

"Uh, I guess that would be handy, wouldn't it?" Samuno sweat drops.

"Yep, all right, our job is to go to the village of waves and collect something very valuable from the bridge builder there," Meloca explains. "We'll be gone for a few days at least, but this shouldn't be too hard. Just don't let your guard down, whatever this is; it's obvious that other Ninja would want to steal it."

"So that's why we have to go get it. The coward can't bring it here on his own or else it might get taken," Samuno states.

"Exactly," Meloca nods proudly. "Though I don't suggest you call the client a coward, Samuno."

"What? He sounds like a coward to me," Samuno shrugs.

The sensei shakes her head as the group carries on. They reach the house belonging to the bridge builder before it gets to be too late in the day, and they are welcomed gratefully.

"So, you four really are Ninja from the village hidden in the leaves?" the bridge builder asks.

"You bet we are," Samuno responds. "So, who's the bridge builder?"

"That would be me, Tazuna's the name, and you four don't look like Ninja to me, where's your headbands?"

"Sensei didn't think it would be too smart for us to just announce that we are Ninja or else we might not have made it here," Samuno explains.

"Yeah, so we were told to put our headbands somewhere unseen, and not reveal them to anyone," Chobun nods.

Tazuna eyes the children for a moment or two sternly before smiling lightly. "Good job, it must have been a long trip, you guys should rest."

"That's very kind, but we're here on a mission," Meloca comments, getting serious. "I'm sorry, my friend, but we do not have time for a visit."

Tazuna sighs, "That's just like you, Meloca; you're so serious, but only on missions. So, this is your new squad."

"Yep, this is Chobun, Chochun, and Samuno," Meloca nods with pride.

"The Samuno? Daughter of . . ."

Meloca continues her nod.

"Good Gosh, I hardly recognized you, Samuno, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you," Tazuna greets warmly.

"I can't believe you're still the bridge builder around here, hasn't someone else gotten up enough experience to take the position?" Samuno asks.

"No, and I don't need them to anyway, I like my job. Besides, with everything that's been going on around here . . ."

"Tazuna, not in front of them, please," Meloca interrupts.

"I don't see the harm in just telling them," Tazuna shrugs.

"The harm is that it's Samuno, Tazuna," Meloca points out, lowering her voice. "She'll want to do something that she's not ready to do."

"What's going on here, Tazuna?" Samuno asks, totally interested now.

"Don't tell her, Tazuna, I'm warning you," Meloca states in a deadly calm voice.

"She has a right to know," the old man argues.

"Lord Hokage would be furious!" Meloca raises her voice slightly. "I am to come here, get the item, and return to Konoha with all three members of my squad in tact."

"You're here for the night anyway, what harm could just telling the child be?"

"Would you people stop acting as if I'm not here at all?" Samuno growls.

"Samuno can handle it," Tazuna continues. "You said it yourself, one day she will be the next Hokage, so who cares what this one has to say."

"No way!" Samuno interrupts. "I'm not going to be the next Hokage, that's Naruto's place, not mine!"

"It's true that I said that, but, Lord Hokage is still the one in charge at the moment, and it is for her best interest. You know about her condition," Meloca continues as if Samuno had not spoken.

Samuno's hands ball up into fists tightly as the anger fills, her body. After a while, it comes to be too much to handle.

"Samuno, where are you going?" Chochun asks as she walks past him and towards the door.

"Out to cool off before I cram my fist down her throat," she responds in a dark voice.

"Ok, have fun," Chobun waves.

Samuno storms out of the house and into the nearby forest, trying to recapture her calm that she had lost back at the house.

"Tazuna, do you still have problems with Gatou's Ninja here at your home?" Meloca asks in a hushed tone as she looks at the door that had just slammed.

"Yeah, unfortunately," the bridge builder admits.

"Great," Meloca sighs. "Chobun, Chuchun, stay here and keep your guard up. I'm going after Samuno before she discovers this little secret and does something we'll all regret."

"Right," the twins nod as they take out Kunai knives.

 

Meloca finds Samuno training in the forest, her anger apparent in her every move.

"Did I really upset you that much?" she asks.

Samuno stops and looks over at her Sensei.

"Listen, I think there's something you should know," Meloca sighs in defeat at the look of hatred on Samuno's face. "Come here, have a seat."

"I'd rather stand," Samuno disagrees.

"Have it your way," Meloca shrugs as she has a seat on a tree that Samuno had knocked down. "There's something going on here in the Village of Waves, something very dangerous."

Samuno's interest is peeked so she allows her face to soften.

"Do you remember Gatou?" Meloca asks.

"Of course, how could I not?" Samuno responds. "He's the one who . . ."

"Yes, Gatou is responsible for the death of both of your parents so long ago."

"It doesn't feel like that long ago," Samuno interrupts.

"I'm sure it doesn't. To watch your parents get murdered right before your very eyes and not be able to help in any way must have been really hard. That kind of thing doesn't vanish with time. However, you must make sure to keep a level head when I tell you this, all right?"

Samuno doesn't make a sound.

"Samuno?" Meloca cocks an eyebrow in the young Ninja's direction.

"I can't promise anything," Samuno admits.

"Well, then I can't tell you anything."

"All right, fine, I'll try to keep a level head," Samuno rolls her head. "Just tell me."

"Gatou is here in this village," Meloca explains. "He's taken control and put this village into poverty."

"What? Why doesn't anyone stand up to him?"

"Someone did. Unfortunately, they didn't last very long, just like your parents," Meloca answers. "Now, everyone is afraid to stand up to him. The only thing they have left is the bridge, once that is built this village will be connected to the mainland and will become prosperous once again. However, since this bridge will bring the downfall of Gatou's reign, he's not letting it go up so easily. Tazuna is lucky to have the brave workers that are working for him at this moment, because each moment that they are working there, they're putting their life on the line. Tazuna himself is being targeted by Ninja under Gatou's control. He's a very brave man to keep working on the bridge even though he is constantly being targeted by the Ninja."

"Gatou is doing all of this?" Samuno asks in shock. "He's here, and you expect us to just get the document from Tazuna and leave them? What kind of Ninja are you?"

"I'm a Ninja who's following her orders. And my orders are to get you back to Konoha unharmed," Meloca raises her voice.

"But we can't just leave. We have to do something!"

"All that we have to do is get the document and get back to Konoha without anyone finding out!"

Samuno's eyes go wide; she had never heard Meloca yell at her before.

"I'm sorry, Samuno, but orders are orders," Meloca states in a calmer voice.

"Screw your stupid orders! I can't just leave without helping these people! Gatou is an evil man and he must be stopped! He's already ruined so many lives and you're just planning on letting him ruin more! Well, I can't do that! I know the after effects that Gatou causes. I can't . . . no, I won't let anyone else go through what I, and others I'm sure, have gone through. No one deserves that," Samuno argues.

"She's got a point, Meloca," Tazuna comments.

"Tazuna, what are you doing out here? It's dangerous," Meloca scolds.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, I couldn't very well bring along one of those Genin along with me; they're both guarding my family now," the old man answers. "Samuno's right, no one deserves to go through the loss of someone dear, but I do not think that any of you should get involved. When the bridge is finished, everything will be fine, so just take this and head on back to your village where it's safe."

"I can't do that," Samuno responds. "Every second that we waste here Gatou destroys another life in some way."

"You're letting your anger get the better of you, Samuno," Meloca warns.

"Meloca-Sensei, I have to stop him. Not just for . . . you know . . . but, for everything he's done to everyone. He has to be stopped as soon as possible," Samuno explains.

"The Hokage's gonna kill me for this, but why not, we'll talk it over with Chobun and Chochun and if they agree we'll give it a shot," Meloca sighs.

"Really?" Samuno asks.

"Meloca, you don't know what you're talking about. Remember you're on a mission," Tazuna scolds.

"I know exactly what I'm doing. The mission can wait. Ninja are supposed to help ease the pain of others," Meloca insists.

"So, if we leave now without even trying, we may be accomplishing the mission, but we'd be failing as Ninja. The mission can wait," Samuno nods.

 

Back at the house, Meloca and Samuno explain the situation and the twins agree, so the four Ninja spend the night preparing for their attack.

"You're making a mistake, Meloca," Tazuna insists.

"You can stop telling me that, Tazuna. If you're not going to help to defend your own village, then just stay out of our way. We'll come back here when we're finished to retrieve the document and then we'll be out of your hair," Meloca rolls her eyes as she puts her shoes on at the door.

"I guess there's no talking you out of it, huh?" Tazuno sighs.

"Nope," Samuno responds as she grabs one of her fans and opens it with a flick of her wrist. "We're taking him down."

"Uh huh!" Chobun and Chochun agree enthusiastically.

"That's the first time I've ever heard you guys excited to do something," Samuno laughs.

With that, the group heads out into battle.

 

The next morning, the gates of Konoha open to a cart driven by Tazuna.

"Someone, go get Lord Hokage!" one of the guard Ninja shouts as he spots the person laying in the back. "What happened?"

"That's precisely what I want to know," Sarutobi comments, suddenly showing up.

"Samuno!" Naruto shouts as he runs over to the cart.

"Naruto!" Sakura calls after him.

"Give her some room to breathe, loser," Sasuke mumbles.