Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Trials of Shinobi ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3:

 

 

The afternoon sun shone down on the village of Konohagakure, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Birds flew threw the air and sung in the trees, you could hear the noise from the distant market as a gentle hum in the background. Everyone was enjoying the peace and quiet as they went about their daily routines.

 

Well almost everyone.

 

It was 6 months after Cell 9 had passed Nariko's test which she called Extreme Flags: Ninja Style - which she had them do at least once every other week. They had yet to manage to get both flags, but they were getting closer each time…at least that's what Nariko kept telling them. They were pretty sure she just said that to keep them from getting discouraged. And besides training and Flags they had been doing `D' rank mission…and Kazu was getting slightly fed up with it.

 

But not as fed up as he was getting with the kids who were, at the moment, using him as their own personal Jungle Gym. “Argh! Get off me you little menace…Ow! Hey that's attached to my skull, thank you very much. Leggo!!”

 

A cheer was heard as the pile of stones that Arika held in her cupped hands transformed into a flock of brightly coloured birds. “Chill out Roka. They're not going to kill you. They're just kids.”

 

“Yeah well these “kids” are using my hair as a climbing rope, Kimura. Ow…do something, damn it!”

 

"Watch your mouth, there are children around stupid.” He growled something at her and she rolled her eyes. “Fine, hold on..." She quickly turned a bunch of leaves into oversized rabbits, which immediately started to hop away. "Go ahead, chase them. Try and catch them before they change back." As the kids raced off to chase the rabbits, Arika got up and walked over to Kazu; what she saw made her want to burst out laughing. She fought very hard not to.

 

He was standing, but only barely. The kid that apparently had been using his hair as a rope now stood on his shoulders, with Roka holding onto one of his legs, to keep him from falling. His other arm had two, three year olds hanging off it, and a fourth child was clinging to his leg.

 

“Don't even think about laughing, Arika. Or as soon as this mission is over with, I will pound you into the ground.”

 

“I'm sorry Roka. You just look so…hilarious! You have no idea. Man I wish I had a camera.”

 

Roka's left eyebrow started to twitch in annoyance, as Ari dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "Right, that's it. As soon as either I'm free, or this joke of a mission is over, you're Jutsu fodder, Kimura." Ari fell to the ground; she was laughing so hard that her legs could no longer support her. He couldn't really give off a threatening vibe when he had four children under the age of five climbing all over him, and when he tried Ari just laughed harder.

 

Tatsukuro suddenly appeared beside his fallen teammate and raised a black eyebrow in question. “Ari what's…” she continued to laugh as she pointed a shaking hand in front of her. His gaze followed to where she was pointing. He broke into a highly amused grin at the site of Kazu teetering under the weight of the four toddlers. “Having some, uh, “little” problems there, Roka?”

 

“Don't you dare start Tatsukuro.”

 

“Heh, sorry.”

 

Nariko exited the daycare building then with the main childcare giver. The Jônin took one look at her student and burst out laughing. “How-how did you get yourself in-into such a mess, Kazu?” She managed to get out between fits of laughter. Kazu's eyebrow started to twitch more, but it only went noticed by Tatsukuro since he was the only one not suffering from uncontrollable laughter. He started nudging Arika with his foot.

 

"Hahaha ... what, Kuro? Stop kicking me, what?" He pointed at the seething Kazu, and she `eeped'.

 

“Um, Nariko-san, didn't you come out here to tell your students something?” Asked the childcare giver, eyeing the laughing Jônin wearily.

 

“Hehehe, hm? Oh yeah! Okay kiddies, we're done for the day. Kazu you can stop being a jungle gym now.”

 

“Finally!! Okay munchkins off, off, offoffoff!” The two that had been hanging on his arm dropped down happily and started to help try and catch the remainder of the rabbits that were still running around. Kazu then reached up and lifted the one off his shoulders and placed him on the ground, and removed the young girl that clutched his leg.

 

“Freedom!!” He leapt off the ground, getting out of the playground he had spent the last four hours in; he landed on the top of one of the electrical poles. “Now I have a teammate to kill…” He glanced around the playground till he located his foe. She was attempting to hide behind Tatsukuro, who wanted no part in their argument at all and was trying to keep her from using him as a human shield. “Arika, you are toast!”

 

“Ah come on Kazu, I didn't mean it…what about Nariko? She was laughing too, y'know.” She started backing away, out towards the street so she had some room to maneuver.

 

“True…but she's a Jônin and way above my butt-kicking level and can therefore, kick my ass…you on the other hand are not, and therefore make a much easier target. Now get back here!”

 

“Aie!!” She leapt over the fence surrounding the pre-school and dashed off up the street towards Genin Head Quarters, with Kazu following close behind.

 

Tatsukuro and Nariko followed at a more leisurely pace. Nariko sighed as she watched her two immature students chase each other around the street, weaving in and out of the crowd and almost knocking people over in some cases. “Do you think they'll ever grow up?”

 

“Hm…probably not. But look at it this way, Nari.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“At least they've stopped using Jutsu's on one another.”

 

“I guess that's true,” Nariko sighed; she had to get the two most immature Genin out of the six that had past the tests of the Jônin's. Why was she always the lucky one?

 

 

 

Cell Nine waited their turn to speak with the Hokage and Michiko. As the Hokage spoke with the person in front of the table, Iko - only half paying attention to the conversation - could hear Arika and Kazu arguing, once again, in whispers.

 

“I still don't get why they had to use me as a Jungle Gym, I mean there was an actual Gym in the damn playground like five feet away from me…why couldn't they use that?”

 

“Shut up already would you, Sasuna. You've done nothing but complain since we started today's mission.”

 

“Is it my fault that the missions have been boring me out of my mind lately, or that I got used as a climbing apparatus!”

 

“Shush!”

 

“Don't tell me to shush…”

 

“Then quit being a idiot…it could have been worse. We could have been out in the boiling sun, picking weeds today instead, like Cell 13 is. You know that being Genin means we only get `D' Rank missions. We won't get `C' Rank ones till we're older or Chûnin, Nariko's told you that a million times already. Now stop complaining before I invent a silence Jutsu and use it to shut your trap.”

 

“If I have to separate you two, it will not be pretty,” Nariko said out of the corner of her mouth to her two arguing students.

 

“Sorry, Nariko-Sensei…”

 

“And stop calling me Sensei!” she said a little louder than she had meant to, raising a fist threateningly.

 

“Nariko, is there a problem?” The Hokage had finished his conversation a few seconds earlier and had watched the interaction between teacher and students with undecided feelings of amusement and annoyance. It seemed this generation of Ninja had no respect for their elders.

 

“Uh, no Hokage-sama I was just dealing with two of my students.” She bowed to the elderly Ninja lord before turning back to her two students, who were laughing at her for being scolded by the Hokage, and hissed, “Behave you two.”

 

“Yes Nariko-Sensei…” Nariko's eye began to twitch, and the two mischievous Genin grinned up at her innocently.

 

“Are you two not liking the missions, Arika? Kazu?” Iko asked grinning at the two Genin.

 

“No Michiko-Sensei, there fine.”

 

“I think they suck,”

 

“Kazu shut it!”

 

“Ow!” Both Genin clutched their skulls where Nariko had just hit them over the head. “What was that for?” they demanded.

 

“Didn't I tell you two to behave?”

 

“She asked us a question, so we answered…” they answered in unison and the stereo effect surprised Nari for a second, but she recovered quickly.

 

“That's not the point,” as Nariko and her two students started to argue, and Tatsukuro pretended not to know them - the Sandaime and Michiko tried not to laugh. The immaturity of Nariko was infamous among the Konoha Jônin Elite, but it didn't keep her from doing her job, so most people just ignored it. And the animosity between Arika and Kazu was ignored also; kids will be kids.

 

Tatsukuro sighed in resignation. `How did I get stuck with such immature teammates…though come to think of it, our Sensei isn't much better…'

 

Michiko turned to the Hokage after getting her laughter under control and asked, “Do you think we should give them a tougher mission. They seems that they'll be able to handle it, judging by Nariko's training reports, and what she says about their teamwork…once they put their differences aside anyway. Besides it would be fun to see how they handle the big bad world. Especially Ari and Kazu, those two haven't stopped fighting since they met a week before they graduated. And that was almost six months ago.”

 

The Hokage chuckled at the last bit of information. It reminded him of bygone days and of his own students long ago. “I don't see why not,” said the Village leader. “It's relatively low risk, and I don't foresee them running into too many problems. Besides I've been meaning to give this year's Genin something a little tougher. To test how they will handle the “real world”, so-to-speak.”

 

“All right then.” She nodded before digging into the pile of papers in front of her and pulling out a sheet. “Nariko…Nariko…Taska!”

 

The purple-haired Jônin stopped arguing with her students and whirled around looking at the teacher in surprise, “Yes Iko?”

 

“I have you, and your teams, next mission…”

 

“It better not be babysitting again,” Nariko raised a fist and Kazu cowered, covering his head. “Okay, okay, I'll shut up.”

 

Iko chuckled as she handed the slip of paper to Nari. “It's not babysitting. We've decided to give you guys something a little different. The Hokage has decided that it would be safe enough to give you a `C' ranked mission.”

 

“ `C' rank…hot damn! Now you're talking.”

 

Nariko looked surprised as she took the sheet of paper from Iko, but shrugged it off. She knew that they wouldn't give them anything too difficult, nothing that their level of training wasn't enough for. Arika and Tatsukuro grinned, while Kazu continued to have his own little party.

 

“You'll be delivering a Scroll for us. You are not to open and/or read this Scroll under any circumstances is that understood?”

 

“Yes Hokage-sama,” the three Genin answered, Kazu having to pause in his victory dance to do so.

 

“Good.”

 

“Umm, Hokage-sama…”

 

“Yes Arika?”

 

“Where is it we'll be delivering the Scroll to, and who are we giving it to?”

 

“Excellent questions. I'll let Michiko explain,”

 

“You'll be delivering the Scroll to the Head of the Village Hidden Amongst the Grass.” She explained to the celebrating Genin.

 

No one but Nariko noticed that Ari had paled slightly at the mention of Hidden Grass. `I'll have to ask her about it before we leave.' She thought to herself before turning to the Hokage and asking, “When do we leave?”

 

“Tomorrow morning, as early as you can manage it.”

 

“All right. I'll come pick up the scroll at 9:00am, and we'll leave by 9:30am.” The Hokage nodded, accepting her schedule. “Okay Cell Nine, head home and get some rest, and Kazu, make sure you're up.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I'll be up.”

 

“You better be. Okay you're all dismissed…Arika could I talk to you for a minute?”

 

“Um…Sure Sen…Nariko,”

 

`She hasn't accidentally almost called me Sensei in like four months…she must be really nervous about something.' She nodded and headed out of the Genin Mission Office, Arika following silently.

 

 

Once they reached the roof of the Genin HQ Nariko motioned for Ari to sit down. Ari dropped herself onto one of the ventilation duct exits and eyed her Sensei with some trepidation. “Am I in trouble, Nariko?”

 

“No you're not…I just wanted to ask about your reaction to being told that we're going to Grass.”

 

“Oh that…it's nothing really. I've just never been outside the Fire Country before so I'm a little nervous…” she looked out over the edge of the building, towards the forest. She was avoiding looking at her Sensei trying to hide the nervousness that was on her face.

 

She could keep from speaking her mind most of the time, but keeping the more extreme emotions of her face was not Arika's strong point, though she was getting better.

 

“That's not what it was Ari, don't lie.”

 

The Kunoichi's gaze snapped to her Sensei, surprise written all over her features. She wasn't really used to her lies being caught so easy by people who didn't know her very well, or hadn't known her for a long time, even if she wasn't good at keeping her emotions off her face.

 

“So, are you going to tell me the truth?”

 

“Well…it's just that…” she sighed dejectedly, her hands gripping the material of her khaki pants tightly. “It's my Clan. My old Village - Hibaku - is one of the last ones before you cross into Grass, depending on which way you take. I haven't been back there for years…since I was seven. My brother and I, we didn't leave on very good terms with our Clan. My Uncle has been trying to get us to come back for a few years now. It was the main reason I wanted to become a Genin, so that he could have no real say on where I lived.”

 

Nariko nodded in understanding. She sat on the duct across from her student. “It's not always easy to defy the Head of a Clan…”

 

She laughed at the statement; a hint of irony tainted her laughter. “My Uncle's not the Head of the Clan…he's a member of the Second or Cousin Family…my brother and I are-are all that remain of the Ruling Family. A plague wiped out most of our Clan when I was six. Everyone became sick, but not everyone died. But my brother, Takora, and I, we were the only ones who didn't really get sick, and the rest of the Clan hated us for it. After a year of being blamed for the death of our Clan - for our Parents death - and treated badly, we left and moved here. We didn't and still don't want anything to do with them anymore.”

 

Nariko stared in wonderment at her youngest charge. She had a run-away almost-Heir in her Cell and no one had bothered to tell her?! Heads were going to roll. She kept the fury she had over being kept out of the loop from her voice and addressed her student calmly.

 

“Okay that explains why you're nervous about going through the Village. I'd by-pass it if I could to at least save you some pain…but it's the most direct route to where we have to go in Grass Country. How about this, we have to pass through the village - there's no helping that - but I will try and avoid us having to stay in the village the night. How's that?”

 

Arika looked up at her Sensei and nodded in agreement. “I think I can handle that.”

 

“Good. It's a deal then. Now you get on home and get some rest. And make sure that you and Kuro get to Kazu's early tomorrow to make sure that he's up on time; got it?”

 

“Okay… Sensei…” Ari hopped off her perch and was off the roof of the building and gone before Nariko could even swipe at her.

 

“And stop calling me Sensei, damn it!” She huffed and glared off in the direction that Ari had gone, mumbling about disrespectful students. “Oh well, I'll get her back tomorrow. Now off to go talk to Michiko, and get her to explain to me why no one told me about the situation with Arika and her Clan.” She turned and headed back into the building the way she had exited, with the look of a woman on a mission.

 

Despite being good friends, Iko was not going to enjoy her next encounter with Nariko…at all.

 

 

Ari closed the door behind her as she entered a small house on the corner of the street. “Takora-nii-san, I'm home!” She peeked into the living room, but no one was there. She shrugged and made her way into the kitchen. No one was there either. `Huh? He must not be back from his duties yet…Guess that means I'm stuck making dinner… again. Stupid Nii-san.'

 

She grumbled and sighed to herself as she dug in the fridge and pulled out some vegetables and put them on the counter. She rooted through the cupboards for some rice and a pot to cook it in. Once she had located the pot she set it on the counter, she also brought out a Wok.

 

She went back into the fridge and pulled out some chicken from the night before and set that next to the vegetables. She put the pot full of rice and water on the stove and turned on the burner to let it cook, while she cut up the vegetables and the chicken. Once she had all the veggies cut up she threw them in the Wok with some butter and let them sit for a bit while she cut up the rest of the chicken.

 

Once the rice was done she drained the water then added the rice to the cooked vegetables and mixed all together before adding the chicken along with some seasonings. Ari had just finished setting the table when she heard the front door open. “Arika, I'm home! What smells so good?”

 

“Dinner, duh. Welcome home, Nii-san.” She turned her head and greeted the man that walked into the kitchen.

 

Kimura Takora was Arika's 24-year-old older brother, and the only member of her immediate family that she had left. He had the same orange and red hair that Arika had, it had more red streaks than Ari's did, and his eyes were a darker green than her light grass green. He wore a similar outfit to that of Nariko but instead of the pants and shirt being black, Takora's were blue. He stripped off his vest and hung it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs before sitting in it himself.

 

“So how were your duties today, Ari?” He took the lid off the Wok and started to dish himself up some dinner. Ari placed the drinks that she had been pouring on the table, one in front of Takora and one in front of her own seat.

 

“Fine…fun at least. How was wall detail?” She started to pile food onto her own plate. Ari was hoping that her brother was too tired to notice that she didn't tell him the day's highlights like she usually did. But Takora had raised her, and wasn't as clueless as he sometimes led her to believe.

 

“Boring as usual.” After a pause he said, “So…what aren't you telling me Arika?”

 

She blinked and shoved some stir-fry into her mouth to avoid answering his question right away. She swallowed and looked at the table. “Our Cell's been given a `C' rank mission. Were delivering a scroll to the Hidden Grass Village.”

 

“Okay…what's so bad about that? I don't get it?”

 

“We have to pass through Hibaku…It's the most direct route. I'm just worried I'm going to run into…people. That's all.”

 

Takora nodded in understanding. Neither of them had been back to their old village in almost six years, he would be nervous too. He got up, his dinner momentarily forgotten, and went and crouched in front of his baby sister. “You worry too much, I'm sure I've told you that at least a thousand times. If you were going by yourself I'd be worried, but you'll be with your team so you have nothing to worry about. And Nariko-san won't let anything happen to you, you know that. So stop worrying, okay?”

 

“Yeah…I guess you're right…”

 

“That's the spirit…wait a second. `You guess I'm right'? What do you mean you guess? When have I ever been wrong?”

 

Ari grinned, “Oh, I can name a few times that you've been wrong.”

 

Takora pouted, causing himself to look like he was about to cry. “You're so mean to me.”

 

“Oh you big baby…I thought you were supposed to be a big, tough Jônin?”

 

“I'll show you tough…we'll finish eating and clean up, then we're gonna go spar for awhile.”

 

“What…? But Takora….”

 

“Don't `but' me. We haven't had a decent spar in awhile. So finish your food.” He went back and sat in his chair and finished his meal, ignoring his sisters protests and insult that she got off between bites of her own meal.

 

“Bah! Fine…but I'm gonna go all out, so you better watch it, Nii-san.”

 

“Oh, I'm so scared.”

 

“…Jerk,”