Juro stiffened as the girl before him referred to him as teacher, for the tone of her voice made his blood run cold. She said it like it was a joke, as if his years as her instructor meant nothing. Though as he reflected on the consequences, he realized those times of knowing her while they both still lived in the Mist Village probably did mean very little, if not then nothing, to her. Except only a reason to hate his guts.
He tried not to let his guilt completely show through as he looked into her emotionless eyes. “So this is what you have become, eh Kasumi?”
“Why so judgmental, Juro-sensei?” she asked innocently. “You always told me that I had immense potential to be something great if I worked hard enough.” She gave him a sickly sweet smile, and it looked unnatural on her coldhearted face. “I’d say I accomplished that.”
The feudal lord frowned at this, his wrinkles pulling down to make him look older than his years. “This is great? Kasumi, this is not the you that I remember.”
“A lot of things changed that night, Sensei,” the pirate spat, her fake sugariness instantly gone.
Despite his efforts to remain calm, Juro flinched at her harsh tone and accusing words. “I wish you knew how much I regret what happened…”
“Your sympathy means nothing to me,” Kasumi retorted, narrowing her eyes at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Juro slightly cringed before he muttered, “I can’t tell if you invited me here to discuss past events or trading bases.”
Kasumi mockingly smiled, “I care very little for what you have to say about our history, and I am mainly here for business, but I am not so hasty that I would ignore anything you have to say.”
An uneasy feeling settled in his gut, and the daimyo felt close to vomiting for the first time in years. “Why did you want to see me after so long, and why do it the way you did? Why attack a town to get my attention?”
“Because I wanted to ensure that you knew who you were dealing with,” she replied. “I am not the innocent girl I was, and I mean for that to show. I have very little intention of reminiscing with you about the old days, but I do want you to know that after what happened, I am not some naïve little child.”
The daimyo looked into her coal eyes, and as much as he wished that he was just not looking hard enough, he could see that she truly wasn’t the same person. At least not the way she presented herself to him now. The little optimism he had left was placed in a hope that there were some remnants of his old pupil.
After a few dreadfully silent moments, she took a deep breath before plastering another fake smile on her lips. “As much as I missed your company,” she began sarcastically before placing both hands on the table, preparing for business, “I do require your cooperation for progressing trade with my crew.”
“I refuse,” Juro said immediately.
The Blue Tiger of the Mist didn’t seem the least bit fazed at his quick reaction. “So you mean you don’t still have a soft spot for me, Sensei?” she inquired. Her tone could have been mistaken for almost cute and innocent if it weren’t for the little smirk on her face and the growing bloodlust in her eyes.
“What you are asking for is unlawful, and I will not assist you in your criminal acts,” the lord said. He would not allow the hurt and sadness he felt for having to make his former student his new enemy show through in his voice.
“Then you have just declared a war for yourself,” Kasumi responded. Juro’s eyes widened at her blunt response, and the pirate captain grinned evilly at his reaction. “If you choose not to cooperate with me, then I will have my pirates strike this country until it falls. And you and I both know it won’t be terribly difficult, seeing as there are no shinobi to defend this nation.”
Juro openly blanched at her words, and he sputtered a little as he attempted to reply with, “You… You underestimate Wave Country’s allies.”
The teenager scoffed at this, her head falling back with a chuckle as she eyed him amusedly. “You mean that pack of brats you have cornered by my men on the deck? Oh yes, I’m very scared. Shivering in my boots.”
The old man could understand why she was so entertained. Even he did not know how much faith he held in his ninja guard, as he had not really seen them in action yet. And they were clearly outnumbered by his former student’s well-stacked crew. But he couldn’t let her see any hint of doubt, not now that she was initiating a war.
“You have fallen so low. You were once a well-respected prodigy. What has happened to you?” Juro asked sadly.
Kasumi stared at him, hard. “The Mist Village turned its back on me. That’s what happened to me.”
The feudal lord looked down at his hands tightly clenched together on the table so he wouldn’t have to look into the piercing glare she gave him. If only you knew why. And if only I wasn’t such a guilty coward so that I could tell you.
After a moment of deep silence, the criminal questioned, “So you still refuse my proposition of having a trade center here?”
The daimyo’s face crinkled with disgust, at both the situation and the girl he thought he knew. “Take your group of seadogs and get out of my country,” he said flatly.
Kasumi closed her eyes as she crossed her arms again, throwing her feet up on the table as she reclined back. The smirk on her face showed her amusement. “Have you forgotten that I hold Tazuna the bridge builder and his family?”
Juro scowled at this. He said nothing.
“Rethink your decision, Sensei,” the Blue Tiger ordered sweetly. “I don’t intend on releasing my hostages to you alive unless I get what I want. There will be blood if you refuse me, and it won’t be mine, I can guarantee you that.”
Conflicted, Juro could do nothing more but frown and stare back down at his hands. He hated himself for the fact that he could not act as the brave dignified feudal lord he was but instead a confused guilty old man.
Kasumi watched him a while longer as he contemplated before she said, “I’ll give you three days time to make your final decision. If you reject my offer, I will attack then and there.”
“Why delay this war you want so badly, huh?” the daimyo asked repulsively. The thought that he would most likely have to fight his criminal of a former student made him nearly sick to his stomach.
“My hands may be red with the blood of many,” she said, her voice almost prideful as if this was some kind of accomplishment, and it only made Juro sicker, “but I am not without respect for such a hard decision you need to make. That is why I am letting you mull it over.”
“And what will you do for seventy-two hours? Continue bringing in more hostages?” the man asked sarcastically.
The girl only seemed even more entertained at this thought. “No no, Tazuna and his family make good enough prisoners for now. In addition, I’ll even promise to keep my crew from harming anyone until we come to an agreement. I am not so soulless that I would add all this unnecessary pressure on you, Sensei.”
Juro’s eyes narrowed. He knew she was taunting him. She wasn’t doing him a favor by not kidnapping anymore villagers or starting anymore fights. She was creating tension and, in fact, adding more pressure on him to do what she wanted.
Three days of contemplating his options. Too much time to second guess himself repeatedly on what he would need to do but not enough time to call in more reinforcements for an upcoming fight. Meanwhile, the Suiheisen would be arming themselves and pointing their weapons at his throat until he agreed to set up a trading base or declare battle.
He stood from his seat, looking down at the girl as she relaxed back in her chair, feet still leisurely crossed at the ankles on the table’s surface. “Ta ta, Juro-sensei. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”
The daimyo glanced down at her one last time before turning on his heel, leaving her and her dark cabin and heading out onto the deck. He clutched the katana that was concealed in his robes. It brought him a nostalgic comfort, reminding him of what Kasumi used to be. Juro was glad he didn’t have to bring it out to fight her, but a part of him wished he had revealed it to her just to see how she would react, see if there was any hint of reminiscence in her eyes.
He made his way back onto the front deck to see the Suiheisen still surrounding his shinobi escort team. He was thankful to find that there had not been any physical fights, though he did notice that a few of his ninja seemed about ready to pounce on the taunting pirates as they jeered at his squad.
“Come,” he bellowed, catching the attention of both shinobi and pirates. “We’re done here.”
The daimyo turned towards the ramp that led down onto the port, his guard immediately forming a protective circle around him as they exited the ship. The bandits sneered and mocked them all until they had left The Midnight Thief, and even then, a few persistent hostile pirates shouted out insults to them. Juro closed his eyes, the fatherly part of himself that he held for Kasumi feeling immense disappointment as he remembered that she led this group of scoundrels.
**********************************************************
“Old man!” the annoyingly pushy blonde kept shouting as he jumped around and around, trying to catch the daimyo’s attention. “What happened? Where are Inari and the others? What are we doing now?”
The masked jounin grabbed his student by the collar, forcibly pulling him back away from the feudal lord. He scratched the back of his silvery head and crinkled his visible eye as he sheepishly smiled. “Sorry about that, Lord Juro. He’s a little…”
“Irritating,” Ino shouted from behind. Naruto glared at both his teacher and the female while Kakashi sighed at the loudness of both blondes.
Juro shrugged as he fingered his chin, his mind obviously elsewhere. The Jinchuuriki frowned as the feudal lord completely ignored him. “Oi! I wanna know what happened when you met with the Blue Tiger!”
Kakashi pulled him back by the collar again and whapped him in the back of the head. “Go help set up camp,” he ordered, tugging his student toward the other teens who were throwing up the tents.
The genin grudgingly obliged, stomping over to his teammates to finish arranging the campsite. The elder ninja looked back at the lord, who was just leaning back against a tree and staring off into space as if he did not even notice any of the shinobi.
“My lord,” the Hatake began slowly, startling the daimyo from whatever it was he had been thinking of. “It is important you inform us of what happened with the Blue Tiger of the Mist though.”
Juro looked him straight into his uncovered eye before he pushed off the tree and walked past him toward the near finished camping grounds. “I’ll tell you all now I suppose.”
His voice was tight and near inaudible; Kakashi had to lean in slightly to hear every word before he followed the elder man to the center of the camp. As the forty-year-old approached the large group of shinobi, everyone stopped in their preparations to look up and bend their heads in respect.
Dark blue eyes swept over the huddle of ninja as he watched them, and a slight surprise to everyone, he tiredly sat down on the ground, dirtying up his blue and gray robes almost instantly. His eyes closed shut as he crossed his arms, his body slouching forward, showing his exhaustion. “S-sir, did you want a mat or something to rest on?” Kurenai said, shocked at how fatigued their client seemed so suddenly.
Juro merely shook his head. “There’s just… a lot to mull over in my head right now.”
Everyone furrowed their eyebrows at this but remained silent. Asuma stepped forward, hands leisurely stuck in his pockets as he asked, “What happened, Lord Juro?”
The daimyo’s tired body remained slumped over as he released a drawn out sigh. “I’ve been given three days to make a decision.”
A few whispers began going around amongst the shinobi team out of confusion as they eyed the worn out form of the proclaimed strong Wave Country daimyo. His voice came out weak and exhausted, his breathing sounding ragged and uneven. Sakura dashed forward immediately, asking if he was alright and letting her green chakra attempt to heal him before realizing that his weariness wasn’t anything she could help him with.
“What kind of decision are we talking here?” Kiba asked loudly. His squad leader sent him a disapproving glance for being disrespectful, but no one even really seemed to remember their manners as they stared down at the weakened-looking man.
This sudden tiredness made him feel much older than his forty-year-old self, and as he let out a strangled gasp, he glanced up to his guards surrounding him. He sighed in tired frustration at himself before pulling his body back up so that he was sitting with his back straight. “Kasu… I mean…” Kakashi’s eyes narrowed at the daimyo’s slipup but remained silent as he continued, “the Blue Tiger of the Mist wants to go to war with me if I refuse to allow a trading base for the Suiheisen to be established.”
“What about Inari and old man Tazuna and Tsunami?” Naruto jumped in, pushing through a few of his comrades to practically get in Juro’s face.
“They will be released if I agree to the captain’s terms.”
The orange-loving boy threw his arms to his sides angrily, thrusting his face forward until he was inches away from the wrinkled expression of the man who had hired him. “Then agree dammit!”
His team leader pulled him back, shoving him away from the lord until he stumbled right into his female teammate, who proceeded to bash him in the head for his rude behavior. Juro didn’t say anything to the impoliteness or the poor boy getting pulverized as he replied with, “It’s not that easy, kid. To allow a trading center to be set up for them, it would just be giving those criminals access to the country, in a nutshell.”
Naruto growled as he rubbed his now sore blond head. “Then we fight them.”
“Idiot,” Shikamaru uttered, tilting his head to the side as he lazily slumped his shoulders. “These guys have some S-class people in their crew, and no one has been able to defeat or capture them before. Just how are we supposed to fight them? It’s too troublesome.”
“We can’t just leave behind Inari and his family!” the whiskered teen yelled in frustration.
“No one said we would,” Kakashi commented, “but we do need a plan before fighting them head on. Shikamaru is right, they are not easy opponents.” Naruto gritted his teeth irritably but said nothing.
With a bit of effort, Juro pushed himself up off the ground and turned to head towards one of the tents. “This decision is my decision alone, and as my shinobi protection guard, you will merely do as I say and nothing else.” And with that, he pulled the opening aside and disappeared into his solitary tent. Many of the ninja gawked in surprise at his bluntness, and they stared in shock at his private shelter. It did not stir, and he did not return.
“Do you think that means we might have to fight those pirates?” Ino asked, a slight shiver going through her as she thought about it.
“More importantly,” Sakura began quietly, “do you think that means we might not rescue Inari and the others?”
A short silence fell upon them before the loudmouth Uzumaki erupted. “This old man thinks it’s okay to just leave them with those dirty pirates? That shouldn’t even be an option!” He made his way to the tent and looked about ready to barge right on in.
“Forget it, Naruto,” Shikamaru’s lethargic voice drawled out.
But Naruto didn’t stop until he felt a hand fall onto his shoulder, gripping him until he froze in place. He looked back to see Kakashi glancing down at him, a sad expression visible through his black mask. His squad captain shook his head at him once as he quietly said, “Our mission was to protect Juro. You are to respect whatever choice he may make.”
Slowly, the genin’s tense muscles loosened as he stepped back away from the tent, giving it death glares all the while until he turned around, storming past everyone. “If that old man chooses not to save them, I’ll do it myself,” he vowed. The others watched him as he stalked away to sulk or plot or whatever it was he intended on doing.
“W-what do you think Lord Juro will d-do?” Hinata stuttered out, breaking the silence and turning everyone’s attention away from the angry blonde.
“Who knows,” Kiba shrugged as he pouted his lip in thought, his fangs protruding over his bottom lip as he did so.
Chouji turned around to look down the path that Naruto had taken, but he was already out of sight. “Should someone go check up on him?” he asked as he pulled a bag of chips from his pouch, needing the snack to relax himself from all the stress.
“Hopefully he won’t do anything drastic,” Shino remarked, “but even he cannot be that rash.”
“Well,” Ino scoffed, planting her hands on her hips, “this is Naruto we’re talking about.”
As the chuunin continued to discuss whatever move they might have to make next, the jounin huddled together in their own mini group to talk about what needed to be done. “I’m going to talk to Juro,” Kakashi declared. “See if I can get any information on what he and the Blue Tiger conversed about.”
The other two nodded in agreement. “I think we should also station ourselves around the campsite and maybe even keep an eye out for the pirates,” Asuma added.
“Right,” Kurenai concurred. “I don’t trust them to wait patiently for three days until Juro and the captain come to a consensus.”
Scratching the back of his silvery head in thought, Kakashi finally nodded. “Alright, we’ll come up with a schedule for surveillance and lookout. Let’s get everyone back to work and stop with the gossiping.”
**********************************************************
Deep inside a dark tunnel, a man walked down a dimly lit hallway, the passageway paved with stone as they were carved from the underground wall. A few torches were set up on their hooks to hang on the cold stony walls, lighting only a few feet of the dark hall. Only the sound of the flames crackling and the person’s footsteps patting against the floor echoed off the hollow tunnel.
As he leisurely walked on, a large steel door came into view through the darkness of the passage. The man reached out and turned the handle, throwing the immense metal door open and stepping into the even darker room. This room was lit with a single torch on the far wall, casting a shadow on the pale face of the figure who sat in a large throne, facing the man as he walked in and bowed down before his master.
“Lord Orochimaru, I have some interesting news,” the young man said.
The third member of the legendary Sannin watched him before ordering his apprentice to rise. “Hmm, what is it, Kabuto?”
The ponytailed ninja straightened up, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he said, “It is about the Blue Tiger of the Mist.”
The snake man smiled at this, his long tongue nearly falling from his mouth out of evil glee. “Oh? What of our dear friend?”
Kabuto placed his hands on his hips as he relayed the news. “I received notice that the Suiheisen were seen in Wave Country.”
“Really?” Orochimaru’s serpentine tongue fell from his lips, coiling around eagerly.
“Yes, my Lord,” the medic ninja smiled at the excited reaction of his boss. “My source tells me that they attacked a village in the Land of Waves only a few days ago.”
“How very interesting…” Orochimaru purred to himself. His abnormally long pink tongue swished around as he tapped his chin in thought. “Kabuto, I want you to head there immediately. You might be able to find a lead if the Suiheisen have already left. I want you to track down those pirates and locate Kasumi Mayonaka. Once you do, alert me immediately.”
Kabuto tilted his head in amusement as he smirked. “You wish to be there for Kasumi’s capture?”
“No, I don’t want to just be there,” the serpent lord smiled excitedly, humming to himself as the very idea of finding her after all this time intrigued him more and more. “I want to be the one to finally take her and convince her to join my forces.”
“As you wish, my Lord,” Kabuto bowed his head in affirmation before turning to leave and prepare for his journey.
“Oh, and Kabuto,” Orochimaru called, finally sucking his tongue back into his mouth with a wet slurp to echo off the stone walls.
“Yes, my lord?” the apprentice asked, turning to face his master and bowing again out of respect.
“Take Sasuke with you. He needs a good mission to enhance his skills. And besides,” Orochimaru paused to slowly lick his lips that were painted with a sickeningly evil smile, “if you happen to find Kasumi, the two prodigies would make for a very entertaining battle.”
“As you command, my lord,” Kabuto said as he stood from his bowed position and turned to exit the room.
**********************************************************
The sun was finally setting beyond the horizon after such a lengthy and eventful day. Naruto had walked for a long while away from his comrades, following the path from which they had come before he finally decided to stop. He had made it to the top of a peak where there was a good amount of forestation, and from his spot, he was able to overlook the wooded area that eventually led back into the Land of Fire. On the other side down the hill was where his teammates were camping out and the village in which Inari and his family resided. From his resting point at the top of the hill, he could see the vacant town and the port in which the pirate ship was docked. It made him angry that even a few miles away from the village, he could look down and see the destruction the Suiheisen had brought upon the town. Many buildings were crumbled into mere pieces of wood, and the roads were dirty with blood and debris. Yet The Midnight Thief just sat there, nesting in the harbor like it owned this village.
Naruto growled in frustration, throwing his fists at his sides before plopping down onto the ground, sitting cross-legged and clutching his knees tightly. He huffed and pouted as he started at the dark blue vessel rocking carelessly in the marina. “Dumb pirates…” he mumbled angrily as he glared at the ship.
“You got a deal with pirates?” a curious voice suddenly asked out of nowhere.
The whiskered genin jumped up in surprise, spinning his head around as he turned for the source of the question. “Eh?” he uttered before finally turning to see another boy sitting in a tree a few feet from him. The guy was resting on a thick branch, his back leaning against the trunk of the tree. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he flicked his spiky black bangs from his face so he could glance at Naruto from the corner of his green eyes. “Who are you?” Naruto asked suspiciously.
“A traveler,” the stranger shrugged.
“I meant your name,” Naruto pouted skeptically, crouching slightly into a fighting stance.
The boy simply brushed him off as he said, “Unimportant.”
He looked away from Naruto, who was beginning to fume a little from being snubbed so easily. The stranger’s emerald eyes fell on the horizon, staring at the orange sun as it gradually fell behind the ocean line. The sky was pink and orange from the lowering sun, and the normally bright blue sea was gaining a dark golden tint as the yellow orb began to disappear.
“Instead of ogling at me,” the unknown boy sighed, still feeling Naruto’s blue-eyed death glare on him, “you should be watching the sunset. This is a fantastic view.”
The ninja blinked in surprise before turning to see the sun near completely gone. “Yeah… I guess it is kinda pretty.”
Gazing out at the gold sun through his jet-black locks in his face, a small smile formed across the boy’s lips. “Sunsets like these are hard to come by, you know.”
“Huh?” Naruto looked up to the guy.
As the stranger wasn’t staring back, the shinobi was able to get a better look at his features, and he noticed that the boy only seemed to be a few years older than himself. He hid his mouth behind the crimson scarf wrapped around his neck, and a bandana of the same color covered his forehead, similar to Naruto’s ninja headband. There were no weapons on him, from what Naruto could see, so he concluded that the guy probably wasn’t much of a threat, if any.
Pouting in wonder, the genin remarked, “Eh, aren’t all sunsets the same anyway?”
The elder male tilted his chin forward before shaking his head. “When you travel the world like I have, you’ll find similarities. But each time the sun sets, it looks a little bit different. You also appreciate it with a nice view like this.”
“What do you mean different?” Naruto asked, scratching the back of his bright yellow head in confusion.
The stranger let his legs hang on either side of the branch, resting his hands on the bark as he leaned forward. He watched the orange sun eagerly, a small peaceful smile on his face. “Sometimes the sky is painted with different colors, sometimes the setting is different, and sometimes there are different angles to watch the sunset. And even if you watched the sun disappear everyday from the same spot, it still wouldn’t look the same.” The orange-clad shinobi looked about ready to protest at this, but the scarf-donning boy cut him off with a chuckle. “Just take my word for it, kid.”
“Kid?” Naruto yelled in outrage. “Hey, you’ve gotta be only a few years older than me, and-”
“Shh,” the boy hushed, putting a finger to his lips before pointing it at the sky, “watch. It’s almost over.”
The ninja stammered before turning back to the lavender and pink blanket of sky. There was little light left of the sun, the heavens beginning to darken into a deep blue. Naruto did as the strange boy said to him, watching until the sun finally disappeared fully beyond the horizon line. The sky fell dark, and the stars slowly began to pop out through the approaching night. Orange and pink bled into blue and purple, casting shadows over the land until everything looked black.
Crossing his arms over his chest and turning back to the strange boy, who was still staring at the spot where the sun had descended beyond the vast ocean, Naruto commented, “You sure do have an unhealthy obsession for sunsets if you watch ‘em that intently and notice differences too.”
The bandana-wearing guy finally tore his gaze from the dark sky and sea to look at his company. “It’s a hobby, not an obsession.”
“Pfft, right,” the ninja scoffed.
The boy leaned back on the tree trunk again, relaxing against the rough bark. His black clothing helped him to blend in with the darkening night, and if it weren’t for his piercing emerald eyes and red scarf and bandana, he might have really camouflaged himself well. “I used to watch every sunset, and sometimes sunrise, with a friend of mine. We don’t really get to do it together anymore, though. But I’ve been watching every one still.”
The Uzumaki went quiet then, frowning at the tone of the other’s voice laced with nostalgia and sadness and reminiscence, and Naruto couldn’t help but feel bad for him. “What happened?”
Shrugging, the stranger replied with, “Her priorities changed over time… as did her view on things that were important to her.”
Blond eyebrows raised in surprise before quirking suggestively. “Ohhh, a lady friend, eh?”
For the first time since meeting one another, the traveler seemed genuinely annoyed with the shinobi and his implication. “You don’t know anything.” Naruto kept his little smirk on his face as the boy swung his legs around and jumped from his perch in the tree, landing swiftly on the ground in a cat-like crouch before standing straight. “Well, with that, I think I’ll be on my way.”
The genin nodded indifferently before his eyes widened. “Wait!” he shouted as the stranger turned around to leave. “I still don’t know your name.” The guy turned his head around to glance at the Jinchuuriki as he continued with, “I’m Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki.”
Green orbs looked up at the Konohagakure metal plate on the ninja’s head, and the scrutinizing stare that he gave it made Naruto nervous as he subconsciously reached a hand up to touch it protectively. “Name’s Masaru. And don’t worry, Naruto. We’ll be seeing each other again.” The ninja gawked at this, but before he had a chance to question Masaru’s words, the traveler had disappeared into the woods.
**********************************************************
“Lord Juro?” Kakashi asked quietly as he entered the tent. The old man was seated on a cushion in his makeshift shelter, a cup of tea he had just brewed for himself in his hand and the kettle beside him. As he took a sip of his drink, he waved the jounin inside graciously. The Hatake nodded politely before sitting opposite of his client, declining an offer of tea as he sat cross-legged in front of the elderly male.
“So what can I do for you, Kakashi?” the daimyo inquired.
Placing his hands on his knees, the ninja leaned forward curiously, looking into the lord’s eyes as he spoke. “I was wanting to know what exactly happened between you and the Blue Tiger of the Mist.”
Juro frowned. “I told you. I was given a choice with a time span of three days to decide.”
“Not that,” Kakashi shook his head. “I want to know what happened between the captain and you. I want to know how you already know the leader of the Suiheisen.”
The feudal lord of the Land of Waves widened his eyes in shock, nearly stammering and stuttering in surprise before he composed himself. “What makes you think I know the Blue Tiger of the Mist?”
The shinobi held his hand up, counting off on his fingers as he began to share his mental list. “You insisted on speaking to the captain by yourself. At first, I thought it was just a business kind of thing, but you were so persistent on it that I grew a bit suspicious. Then you seemed immensely troubled after your conference. Nearly traumatized like you had seen a ghost from your past. Third, you had a bit of a slipup and sounded like you were going to say a name. ‘Kasu’, if I’m correct.”
Juro eyed the ninja intently before bowing his head and casting his gaze down at his cup of tea. He placed it to the side and looked up at Kakashi through wrinkled hooded eyes. “I did know her. Her name is Kasumi Mayonaka. She was my student when I was a shinobi for Kirigakure.”
Kakashi’s unveiled eyebrow quirked at the mention of the Suiheisen captain being a female and a previous apprentice; how old did that make her then? A teenager perhaps? “So how did she get to where she is now?”
Finally tilting his head up to meet the jounin’s curious stare, Juro said, in a weak and strained voice, “She was accused of killing her family and team six years ago.”
**********************************************************
Kabuto had finished preparing himself for his upcoming mission, for he would be leaving at dawn. Since all his supplies and materials were packed, all he needed to do was get his traveling companion to prepare for the assignment as well. Standing in front of the Uchiha’s room, Kabuto knocked on a wooden door that sat at the end of a barely lit hallway. When no one answered, he huffed in annoyance before walking in anyway. Two red eyes opened to stare at him just as he entered, their crimson color giving off a deathly feel in the pitch black room.
“I didn’t give you permission to enter my room,” a cold voice said sternly. “What do you want?”
The ponytailed man chuckled. “Where are your manners, Sasuke?” He received no reply, so he decided to explain his reason for visiting. “Lord Orochimaru is sending me on a mission. And he wishes for you to participate as well.”
“I have training,” the raven-haired boy replied, immediately declining.
“It’s not really optional when the Lord issues you a mission,” Kabuto snickered as if the entire situation was really that amusing. The silver-haired man pushed his glasses up his nose roughly as he turned to leave. “We leave tomorrow morning. Prepare your things.”
Just before Kabuto could leave the room, Sasuke called out to him. “What is this mission?”
Glancing back at the younger missing-nin, the medic replied, “We are to retrieve the Blue Tiger of the Mist.”
“Who is that?” Sasuke asked curiously.
Orochimaru’s first apprentice turned away so that he was facing the doorway, and he tilted his chin down in thought to come up with a good answer before he said, “Someone who is much like you, and yet, unlike you in many ways.” Kabuto then left the room to let Sasuke prepare for the mission.
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Chapter notes: Hey guys! It's been a while since I've updated, hasn't it ^_^''' Whoopsie...
In total, I wrote this chapter in the span of a week, which is great for me. Except I kinda finished it around... 3 weeks ago >_> I wanted to look over it some and then let my beta look at it. Funny how when he doesn't like a particular scene, I don't really change too much (even when I myself think it should probably be a little tweaked). So... hooray for laziness!
Okay, time to give a shoutout to the 500+ views and the 29 reviews! Woot woot. And thanks to my beta for reading it over with me, even if I did ignore some things in the end out of being so lazy ^_^
I do not own Naruto or the Narutoverse or...yeah, you guys know how these disclaimers go.
Read on and enjoy!
Chapter end notes: The scene that I had mentioned in the earlier notes that I had mentioned probably needed fixing was the scene between Naruto and Masaru. It seemed kinda draggy, but I still didn't feel like condensing it any. I don't really know how I would have gone about it anyway.
Hope you guys liked it. Let me know how you felt while reading. Longest chapter yet, so I'm sorry if it was too long to get through.
Thank you for reading! Much appreciated!