[IC] Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

[Fieryfly]

Ryoku Samidare and Sho Deshuga

Slightly amused the Amekage listened to the reaction of his students. A lot could be said from it. Sho's answer was still filled with annoyance and maybe anger though Ryoku had to admit that the boy had grown during the almost 2 years that he had been under his care. Not in height though, the boy was still awfully small, even for his age, but then again his father had been small in stature too. But not in power. Ryoku knew that Sho had been training, a lot, and he did wonder what had driven him to do so. What had become the boy's new goal?

Kira's answer reflected her state of mind too. Ryoku nodded along with her words. He had read her file and had heard about her previous sensei. Apparantly he was a man she had greatly admired. And then there was Rini. As she spoke Ryoku smiled. "Very true words." He said. The girl seemed to be dwarved by the other two. Not in size but in confidence and posture. Where as Kira and Sho were ready to hit of, apparantly also against each other, Rini seemed reserved, afraid perhaps. "That tells me quite a bit about you. I'll find out more during our trainingsessions."

"Finally!" Sho said annoyed.

Ryoku didn't even bat an eye at his words, but claped in his hands. "Indeed finally we are moving to the new trainingsfacility of Amegakure. It has just been finished and is perfect to give me an idea of what you guys are capable off as well as teach you all somethings about combat." He looked around to his Genin and smiled again. "Shall we?" He asked as he turned around and started to lead the bunch away from the field.

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

Ryoku kept up a fast pace and soon he and the Genin would arrive at the facility. "This facility has been build to help the shinobi of Amegakure to fight in any weather condition or terrain they might encounter. We are very well adapted to rain of course, but not every country is blessed with our steady supply of water. That what we are going to train here." Ryoku explained as they halted before the buildings only in time to find that Eiji had arrived there too. Pleasantly surprised Ryoku walked to the man. Kuni was with him. "Seems we can combine our training later." He said and Eiji nodded, letting the Amekage pass.

They moved into one of the rooms, the shinobi around the parameter rose up at the sight of their leader and Ryoku motioned his Genin to stand in the middle of the arena, currently a grassy area without any trees what so ever and with a clear sky above it. "Let's start with some laps to warm up." He said, he himself walking backwards to the shinobi around the arena. Sho shot the man a foul look. Laps. Really? That was the best the man could come up with? The small boy rolled his eyes and turned to his fellow teammembers.

"Let's do this quickly. I don't want to waste more time. Don't slow me down." The last statement was directed to Rini with a obvious sneer in his voice. He hadn't forgotten her stumbling onto the field.

[Fieryfly]

Midori Sato

Reyna should be here any moment, Midori thought. She was still standing before the gates to their base with her hands on her hips. Reyna had promised to help her with the final things. Midori really hoped that a lot of people would come here eventually. That'd be so much fun! But Reyna was late... Where was she? Not being one for patience Midori started to pace around, back and forth past the gate, but still no Reyna.

Then there was a twittering in the air and a tiny sparrow came sailing down towards her. It landed on Midori's outstretched hand and looked at her with blinking eyes. "Midori Sato, you are required to meet with the rest of Team 13 at the Minosaki Teahouse within three hours." The bird said and Midori looked at it. For a moment she said nothing. Then she shook her head.

"But I have this to finish." She said. "What if people come and I am not here? What will happen? They will leave, that is what will happen." She said, but the bird had already flown away. Annoyed Midori followed it with her eyes. This was totally messing up her scedule. Why was she going on a mission now? Also why a teahouse. She had never met up with Raspberry-sensei in a teahouse. It was weird. Maybe it was not a mission, maybe he just wanted to drink tea with them. That'd be great!

------------------
Two Hours Later

There was the teahouse and in the dooropening was Reyna! Midori jumped forwards and slung herself around the neck of the girl."You got the message too? I think sensei wants to drink tea with us!" She said excited as she dragged the girl inside and looked around.

[ChromeHound]

Hayate Hyūzu
Konoha - Team 2

Nodding his head towards Kensuke, Hayate formed a few handseals. Two shadow clones poofed into existence beside him and he sent them underground. It would be helpful to have an attack on two fronts. The clones that disappeared underground were able to sense where the bandits were, and they moved into position, ready for Kensuke's order.

Hayate himself followed his team in, pulling out two kunai, he turned his gaze on the encampment, observing the positioning of the bandits. Something nagged at the back of his mind, but Hayate ignored it. He had to focus. Staying high up on his perch, Hayate awaited the order to strike. His clones would strike from below, while the rest of the team would attack from above. He had not worked with anyone on this team except for Kensuke before, so he hoped that they would be able to work effectively.

[j8cob]

Kira Sami

After Rini responded to the question, Kira let out a sigh and began to rub her temple. I don't know who is worse, she thought, looking over at the girl from the corner of her eyes. The klutz or the punk. She also glanced over at Sho a moment, before looking back at Ryoku to hear his reaction to their responses. Which wasn't surprising to her in the least. As the party moved to the new training field, Kira kept silent but matched her pace with her sensei. Once there, Kira removed her outer clothes and her hat, which revealed the multitudes of weapons she had underneath. A warm-up? Simple, she thought, before Sho opened his mouth. Though he wasn't talking to Kira, his words made the teenage girl scowl. He needs to be slapped. After sparing Rini another glance, Kira let out a sigh and looked around. There were others here. Not that she was nervous of being watched, but she was curious as to why they had an audience. Not particularly waiting for any signal to start running, Kira began a light jog. She elected not to remove any of her weapons, since she figured it would be more reasonable to keep them. Though she was not running anywhere close to full speed, she actually had a hidden goal in the back of her mind. In her subconscious, she wanted to beat Sho.

[LillyDove]

Team 7, Shisen Inuzuka

Shisen slowly got into position, coming to grips with the fact that she was going to have to kill someone now. It wasn't easy, they were people too but it was ordered that they all needed to be killed for the safety of Konoha. With a nod, she readied herself for the order as Arashi paced silently behind her. "Go for the throat, Arashi" Shisen whispered as she looked over to her squad mates and noticed that they were also ready to attack. It didn't need to be said that she was nervous, she didn't have a good mastery of any jutsu and so that left her at a disadvantage.

[Roran Hawkins]

Konoha Team 7
Kensuke Nimatsu

He raised his eyebrows when none of the genin asked for rest. It impressed him a bit, but made him ponder about wether or not this was a good thing. Maybe they just were too rpoud to admit that. Or maybe he had to adjust his expectations a little bit. He noticed Hayate summon two clones who hid in the earth, and gave an approving nod to the genin. A good idea. Regardless of his thought about their skills however, it was time to attack. "Let's go then." He said, runningup the tree they were standing on, and moving towards the enemy camp untill he stood on one of the branches, hidden from view, so he wouldn't be spotted ould any of the bandits look up by any chance. He activated the communicator he had and whispered a message to his team. "Descend slowly and carefully untill we are within earshot." He ordered them, and gave the example. He could hear them softly already, having concentrated entirely at the task at hand, but probably only the Inuzuka girl could overhear conversations from this height already. Once he was at a height where he could hear perfectly what the men were talking about, he whispered his last set of orders over the communication devices. "Attack on my command. Try to eliminate as many as possible without being spotted. Don't kill any enemy in another one's view, and do not hesitate. Ever. Attack now."

Dropping down from the tree himsself, unsheathing his katana which slid from the oiled wooden scabbard without the slightest sound, he improvised a bandit's torso as a new sheath and he landed behind him and rammed his sword into his victim untill the hilt. Using his hand, already surrounded by the flying sparrow technique's chakra, as a makeshift knife, he violently slashed his target's throat to prevent him from making any sound but an eery gurgling as he went down, turning around, knowing that this man had just left a conversation with someone about breakfast being shitty, he ripped his sword out of his first target and decapitated the other man in a single fluid movement, before quickly looking around to see how the genin were doing. It was their job to attack anyways, he was just here to give the example and make sure they wouldn't die at their first mission.

[Little Alice]

Rini Yoto
Amegakure Genin of Team 22

Rini felt very happy when Ryoku said her words were very true. He hadn't say that to the others, so that meant that her answer was good. Or at least earned some praise. Trying to muster some courage from the proud feeling, she felt like she could take on the world. Or at least trying harder to not fall on her face. Then he mentioned a training session. The eyes of Rini widened in fear as she was sure that she was nowhere the level of her fellow team members. They already looked so confident and tough. And much to her envy, kind of cool. Probaby having experienced a lot more things than she had. It was unfair.

As the team moved, Rini managed to keep up. Biting on her lower lip and her focus laid on Ryoku, she did her best to not falter or fall out of line. When Ryoku instructed them to warm up with some laps, Rini felt happy again. She could do that without a problem. Nothing tough about that. As she just made a step, she heard the sneer of Sho. Oh what she did wanted to teach him a lesson. Turning around, she gasped. It happened again.

Falling on her face, Rini met the ground. ''Auw!'' She trembled as she felt embarrassed. Like if there was a huge crowd secretly watching and laughing when they would know she had screwed up again. Then something lightened up in her. She would that crowd something. Getting up, she dusted off her clothes and stared to run some laps, this time only focusing on her breathing and jogging. She would show them all.

[Little Alice]

The Big Truth,
Haruhi's decision.

A collab between Shadowcatcher and Little Alice

Summary :
Haruhi finds about a very nasty truth. It causes her to think different about life and wanting to retreat to place where she might be accepted and get some help for her new goal.

Part I
(Since the collab is too big as I can't post it in one go... which is awesome!)

Haruhi

It was light outside in the Hidden Mist Villiage and the atmosphere was as nice as it ever could be. Children played outside with eachother as their mothers talked from a close distance. Academy students were outside jogging laps around the school's training grounds. And Haruhi Suzumori sat in the middle of her bedroom floor with a scowl on her face that could rival that of one made by Mika Hayashi.

"Stupid good for nothing tool!" she said as she threw a metal object across the room. It was the tool that was given to her with her new whip. It was supposed to help put the small individual pieces together, but it was being difficult and Haruhi was getting frusturated. Patience was something Haruhi was lacking.

It was today that she had been ordered to clean her room by her mother, and so she decided she would also organize, clean, sharpen, etc. all of her ninja tools. Then upon finding out there was another box of spare metal pieces for her whip, Haruhi came up with the genuis idea to attach them all and simply seal the too-big-to-carry whip in a scroll.

Yeah. What a genius.

With a sigh Haru glared at the box of metal pieces and stood, going to get that tool again. Okay Haru. Focus. The quicker your done with this...the sooner you get to eat. she told herself.

Many long and painful hours passed before she finished.

Upon completing her task Haruhi stood and shook out her sore hands, smiling down at her creation. She wasent going to measure it out but....the thing was really long. Her next struggle was going to be figuring out how to use it again, but that was a problem for another day. She walked over to her bed and looked out across it. There were her kunai holster and hip pouch, or "butt pouch", was what she called it, five kunai knives, ten shuriken, her cat o nine tails whip, her real paper bombs, the fake paper bombs, a lighter, her mothers knife sharpener from the kitchen, the bingo book Hayashi sensei gave her, her forhead protector, and the scroll she bought for her other whip. That was what she grabbed. She gently broke the seal and spread it out. She did a few hand signs and about a minute later, that huge whip was reduced and held within a small scroll that could easily fit in her 'butt pouch'.

With a smile she placed the scroll back on her bed and went to get some food from the kitchen. Her mother was not here today. She had gone to the market to buy groceries and items they needed to replace around the house. Like always, Haru's mother had left her some food on the table which she took back to her room. The next hour of her life was spent cleaning and sharpening her kunai and shuriken, cleaning her forehead protector, and writing on a piece of paper some things she needed to buy from the item shop. Her list consisted of bandages and medicine, as well as some smoke bombs that Hayashi-sensei had mentioned earlier. After she finished she was dabating wether to go to the shop now or later....

Upon looking outside, she noticed that the day had gone by already and decided to put off her shopping until tomorrow. With that, she put her list in her pouch along with her scroll and whip. She returned her kunai and shuriken to their homes and placed them all on the ground next to her bed. As she went to lay down and rest her eyes, her foot hit something that was left on her bed. It was the bingo book. She picked up the book and turned it over in her hands. "Why have i never bothered to look in here?" she asked herself as she opened the cover. She immediately flipped to page fifty. She remembered her sensei's face was shown there. She looked at it for a moment, smiling at her sensei's scowl on her face. "Like usual." she said flipping the page. After her was Kakeru Nobu from the Hidden Sand she read a bit of his page and aparently he had like three more arms. Creepy. Then Souta Riku from the Hidden Leaf, apparently a former ANBU like her sensei, a guy named Kaito Yori who looked like he could murder the world, next was Shougo Suzumori from the Hidden Mist who looked a little familiar, then a girl Nanami Yuuta from the Sand Villiage she was really pretty and looked rather harmless...but apparently had killed over 30 people, a younger man named Taiga Shin...... wait.

Huh?

Haru's eyes squinted as she thought for a moment. Her eyes drifted to her window as she though back on the names of the people she just looked over. One stood out to her...but she shook her head, confused. Maybe i read that wrong. she thought as she flipped back a few pages. As she landed on the one she though was familiar, her heart stopped.

That doesnt make any sense.....no way in hell. This...this has to be a mistake. she thought in her head as her eyes read the page for Shougo Suzumori. She stared at a picture of her father with that same smile on his face he always had.

---

Shougo Suzumori

---

This picture here had a giant "X" across it and as Haruhi read farther down the page, her disbelief turned to shock and a little bit of anger. He was an S-Ranked criminal wanted for kidnapping, murder, theft, and the list kept going.

"Oh no...please dont let this be true." she said aloud to herself as tears stung in her eyes. My Father isint a criminal. He's a hero. He saves people....he... as her eyes fell to the bottom of the page she noticed the amount of reward there was placed on his head. It was not the number she was interested in, but in small print next to it read "Claimed by Zakito Hon of The Hidden Leaf" With a gasp she threw the book across her room like it had burned her. It banged loudly against her wall but she didnt care. she simply brought her knees up to her chest and started to weep.

She didnt know how much time had passed before she heard her mother calling to her from the kitchen.

"Haru-honey! Come in here, i bought some new foods I'd like you to try. Oh! And the old guy who sells those yummy Yakitori we always buy next to the market, he's selling Okonomiyaki now and its delicious." she stopped speaking and Haruhi just ignored her. She didnt want to eat right now. She just wanted to sit here and cry.

"Oh, honestly Haru, come out of your room and come see what i've got. I bought ingredients for us to make some Takoyaki together tonight. Though this time i bought some pork, you know i dont like that octopus.. ...Are you even listening to me?" her mother asked. She was going to reply but only a sob came out when she parted her lips to speak. Dammit, now she's going to come in and see me crying.[i] she thought miserably. And sure enough she heard her mother's footsteps approaching.

"Haruhi, you know i really dont like being ignored by-oof!"[b] her mother had opened her door and Haruhi threw a pillow at her. [b]"Mom, dont come in my room without knocking first!" she choked out. Her mother rubbed her face. "Haruhi, i'm your mother. Children dont throw things at their parents, its disrespec-....Haru dear whats wong with you?" her Mother's voice quickly turned from stern to worried in an instant once she saw the look on Haru's face.

Haruhi felt the need to start crying all over again once her mother asked her what was wrong. She wiped her eyes before pointing to the bingo book she threw across the room. "That book. That book....that book. she repeated until her mom went to retrieve it. "Page fifty four...he...Father is in there. But its wrong. You told me he died because he was sick. But...that book says it was another ninja. He had killed him for money." she hugged her knees again and started rocking back and forth. "Please tell me thats not true Mom. she begged.

As Mai bent down to pick the book up, she turned to page fifty four like Haru had instructed. sure enough she saw something she was dreading to see since his death. Her husbands face was in the book....and all of his secrets were exposed on this page. She looked over at Haruhi who was staring at her. "Why dont you look surprised Mom?" Haruhi asked her.

"Where did you get this? she instead answered with a question. Haruhi hesitated and Mai watched at her expression of sadnedd turned to anger. "You knew about this didnt you? All these years you kept this from me?" she asked accusingly, moving to stand up from her place on the bed. Mai closed her eyes and the book and paused before answering her daughter.

"I did it only to protect you." she said simply.

Haru glared at her mother. "[i]Protect me? Protect me from what exactly!? You had me thinking all this time that my Father was a great man. That he was someone i wanted to be like. It was my reason to be a shinobi..... What do i have to look forward to? I'm related to a murderur and a theif! Now i know why none of our family members even want to talk to us. They are ashamed to be a Suzumori!! she screamed at her mother.

["I was trying to protect you from becomig cold and heartless. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to grow up different from the sad kids your age i see walking around this villiage. I see their eyes, inside they are hollow. Filled with fear and pain, and i didn't want that for you." her mother said calmly.

Haru rolled her eyes. "Oh, i see now. I completely understand. What an amazing excuse for lying to me for MY ENTIRE LIFE."

"Haruhi, please try to underst-"

"I HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW! I had a right to know, and become whatever i wanted to be from there. And you kept that from me! You stole my right to do what i wanted with my life. she paused and clenched her hands into fists.

"..... What other lies should i know about?' she asked.

Her mother hesitated, parting her lips before closing them and saying nothing.

Haruhi nodded. ["Well then. I'm leaving." she said as she walked past her mother to her closet. She grabbed a back pack she had bought in case the team had an away mission and began to pack it. She grabbed her other set of ninja wear, which was exactly like the one she was wearing, as well as two sets of pajamas.

"Haruhi, honey please stop and let me explain. she reached out and grabbed her wrist which Haru forefully jerked away from.

"No mom, dont touch me...if you even really are my real mom. How am i to know, that could just be a big fat lie as well." she snarled angrily at her mother.

Mai hung her head in defeat and watched as Haruhi reattached her hip pouch and kunai holster. Her eyes drifted to the window and saw that the moon had started to illuminate the villiage in its pearly glow. As she looked back at her daughter, she saw that she had taken her money saving pouch and shoved it into her backpack as well.

"Where will you go?" she asked her.

"I dont know yet. But I've spent enough years of my life in this house of lies." she said as she stormed out of her room. Haruhi heard her mothers footsteps following her as she reached the door to leave.

"Haruhi. At least wait until morning, it's dangerous out here at night." she said, hoping it might buy her a night to talk and explain everything.

Haruhi paused and walked back to her room to retrieve her bingo book. She placed it in her hip pouch and walked straight past her mother to the door. "Mom, i can take care of myself. I'm sorry but...i just need some space right-" her sentence was cut off by her face getting smothered between her mothers boobs. "I understand honey. I'm...i'm so sorry. Just please be safe. No matter what you may think right now...your still my baby, and you always will be. I will be waiting right here when you decide to come home."

Haru simply stood there and let her mother hug her. She smelled like safety and comfort. Everything she wanted right now. But, it was nothing Haruhi needed. She waited until her mother released her before she turned, opened the door and walked out.

Each step was so hard to take. She was moving farther and farther for a place her entire being told her she needed to be free from, but was so familiar with at the same time. As she reached the road, she turned back to look at her mother's figure standing in the doorway. She gasped and tears threatened to start falling again as she saw her Mother smile and wave to her. Haru turned on her heels and took off in a run before she had a chance to go crying back home.

She didnt know where she was going, she simply ran deeper into the villiage center and pushed past a few people who a little more than upset at her rudeness. Before long she leaned against a building and crouched down to catch her breath. Her heart started to ache in her chest and she pressed a palm there and focused on her breathing. She felt weak and sick but after the pounding in her ears stopped, she started to come back into herself, and started noticing the sounds and smells of the villiage. Her stomach growled from not eating much during the day, and the smell of Takoyaki got her mouth watering as well.

As she looked for the source of the smell, she thought about where she could go. Living on the street was not an option. Once she found the vendor, she bought a whole box of fresh made Takoyaki balls and started devouring them at once. when she found time to breathe she asked him "Do you by chance know where Mika Hayashi lives?" the guy paused and thought for a moment. "Mika Hayashi you say? ...hm...is she the mean looking one with black hair? he asked her. Haru hesitated. She supposed there was really no one else but Hayashi sensei that "looked" mean. "Um, yes. she said unsure.

"Yeah i think i seen her around here. What a devil she is. She goes around glaring at the backs of people heads... She like's that damn rat Yashitori's Noodles though. Dont know why. He probably puts drugs in those noodles. Probably why she has that frown on her face. He probably tricked her mind! Made her keep coming back and gettin them nasty noodles and suffer! Oh, poor girl! Let me give you a piece of advice young one, dont ever trust a noodle guy! Their shifty, just like noodles!"

"Uh huh..." she said with a frown. "Thanks mister." she said before walking off. She heard him mumble something else about noodles but ignored him, and continued to eat her Takoyaki. After a few minutes she reached the Yashitori Noodle Shop and went inside. It was really packed and she looked around to see if her sensei was maybe inside. she didnt see her. Oh she probably doesnt like to eat out with people... she thought. She went up to the counter and called for the cook.

"Yashitori-san!!! Can you come here for a second.

he looked around. "What!? Who's callin me!? she heard him say and he lumbered over once he saw her hand waving.

["Hey. Ain't it a lil late fer you to be out her this time of night? he asked her.

"Yes it is. Which is why i need your help. I'm looking for Mika Hayashi, do you know where she lives?

"Usually i see her coming up from that there street on over that way." he said pointing to the left outside a window where a few building were lined up.

"Okay thanks Mister." she said before leaving again. She heard him yell at her to come back sometime for some noodles but she kept on going.

She started getting a little scared as she walked along the road. The road kept getting darker and darker and she started seeing less and less people. At one point she asked a stranger if she knew where her sensei lived and she pointed to a three story nice looking building on the right side of the road. She skipped up to it and knocked on the first door she saw. She waited a moment and a large guy who looked like he could use Haru as a toothpick opened the door.

She took three very large steps backwards.

"Um, I was....wondering if you knew which uh...which floor Mika Hayashi lives on?"

The guy glared at Haruhi for a long time and she sized him up, trying not to look as piss pants terrified as she was. "Three." he grunted and slammed the door shut in her face. Haru squealed in fear as he did, and did not take a moment before she slowly trekked up the stairs to the third floor. She knocked on the first door again and waited. This time a little girl answered and she screamed and ran away when she saw Haruhi.

What the hell...? Haru though to herself. She frowned a bit annoyed. Its not like Haruhi was ugly or something. A woman came to the door then. "Can i help you?" she asked a bit annoyed. "Um, yes. I was wondering which of these is Mika Hayashi's place?" Haruhi asked the woman. She pointed to a door in the opposite corner of the hall. "Oh. Thank you miss. Goodnight." The woman muttered a goodnight as well and closed the door. Haruhi slowly walked over to the door where her sensei apparently lived and sighed. She raised her hand to knock on the door but paused.

Did she really think that her sensei would actually say yes if Haru asked to come and live with her? She didnt realize how unlucky her chances were that she was going to get a yes. Hayashi sensei had to see her at trainings and missions, as if she would actually put up with seeing Haruhi at home too. This was supposed to be her one retreat away from her pesky little students. With a groan she lowered her head and since she was standing so close to the door, it landed with a very loud and painful thud against it. "Ow!" she whisper yelled and rubbed her head. With another annoyed sigh she simply leaned her head against the door and closed her eyes.

She started thinking about the time her and Hayashi sensei were doing their first training together. She remembered what her sensei had told her that day.

''Hurting people. Killing them. Deceiving them. Its part of a kunoichi's life. If you're weak, then you're nothing.''

And she had lashed out angrily, not wanting to believe her words.

"What about protecting people, making the world a safer place for everyone!? You think I can just accept the idea that all I can do with my life is hurt those who care about me, or even innocent people? I won't accept that!"

But in the end her sensei was right. All that she could do was hurt people and be hurt. Just like her Father had apparently done over and over again. It was not like she could go back now, change everything and leave all this behind. She didn't want to, but even if she did, it wouldn't matter. She was stuck.

The tears started falling before she felt them and could make an attempt to hold them back. She had tried not to cry anymore because she was afraid of looking weak but since no one was around this time, she let herself go. She pressed her palms to the door and let her tears fall onto her feet. She cried because all the pain of losing her Father had rushed back into her. She cried because she felt betrayed by her mother, and she cried because she had just learned the truth; that her reasons for wanting to become a ninja were now just dust. She was angry at the man who killed her Father for a reward. Zakito Hon was his name and he had done so much more than just kill her Father, he had taken away her everything.

As she stood there pitying herself and drowning in her tears, she failed to notice footsteps coming from inside the closed door. It was not until she nearly fell over when the door swung open that she realized what was going on. She looked up and was looking into those same eyes she remembered from not too long before when she was with her sensei. They were not warm and kind like her Mother's, they were not bright and happy like her Father's, but they belonged to the only person Haruhi felt she could truly trust as of now.

"Hayashi-sensei..." she choked out relieved, and before she could stop herself she stepped forward and hugged the waist of her sensei tightly. She didnt care if she was going to be yelled at or pushed away. She simply needed a hug, and right now, her sensei was a victim of that need.

The woman was taken by surprise. If she hadn't notice it was Haruhi, she would have lashed out and tried to strangle the other. Almost stumbling back, Mika looked down on the girl that hugged her. Frowning, Mika wavered. She wasn't one for hugs and Haruhi should know better. The right hand of the young woman was placed on the head fo the young girl. For a moment, the woman just stood there with the young girl hugging her. ''Its kind of late.'' Mika began with a calm tone. To be honest, she wasn't sure what Haruhi was doing here or how she had found out where she lived. The girl was neither a tracker nor a sensor, so Mika grew a bit curious and thus decided to wait until Haruhi would speak up.

It took Haru a good few moments to calm down to the point where she felt she could speak without bursting into tears again. She peeled herself, almost reluctantly, from her sensei and reached into her hip pouch to retrieve the bingo book. She opened it and turned to page fifty four. Her eyes hovered on the picture there for a moment before she held it out to her sensei.

"I think...i might need a new reason for wanting to be a shinobi. Turns out i was being naive in how i thought that people who are say to love you are not supposed to hurt you."

She wiped her eyes and looked up at her sensei. "My mother knew about him, and about what he did. And even when I told her i wanted to be like him, she'd just smile and never told me that this was what i was aspiring to be." she looked down then and bit her tongue. She did not want her sensei to think she had a distaste for those faces in the book, because Haruhi was getting to know her sensei more and more, and she did not seem like a ...monster. She just never thought she would see someone she thought she knew everything about, who she saw as a hero, could be in those pages.

She sighed then and ran a hand through her hair. She felt the tears coming along again, but she held them back.

"I know it's late and im sorry if i woke you up...but i dont have anyone else that i can trust. I-...I left home and i dont have anywhere else to go...so, do you think i could maybe stay here until i figure something else out?" she felt as though a rejection was coming so she kept speaking.

"Um, and i wont be a bother, you wont even know that i'm here. And i can clean if you need me to, and i can even pay you. I have savings, so money so really not a problem. ...Please?" she asked.

''Second door on the right.'' Mika's voice sounded. The woman became quiet for a moment. The decision was taken fast, but she had her reasons for it. Lowering through her legs as she gently pushed Haruhi back, both hands on the shoulder of the young girl, Mika looked rather seriously. ''Listen up.'' She began. ''You and only you can find a reason to become a shinobi. As for knowing it, I knew it as well. So know that you can stay, but are aware that nothing will change. You can live and make use of the place. But don't grow attached nor fond of me. Remember, I can't help you with anything. Now.'' Mika's look became a bit softer. She raised up and kept her hands to drive Haruhi away from the front door. ''The room isn't a real mess and you need to get up early. So go to bed and rest out. You'll need it.'' Mika said as she closed the front door. Her place was rather an example of some luxury, but nothing too much. Most of the time she wasn't even around here. Turning around, the woman scratched her left shoulder. The decision of letting Haruhi stay didn't somehow bother her. Strange. Shrugging, she tried to stay indifferent about it.

Haruhi was surprised, sad, happy, and exhausted all at the same time. She didn't want to bother her sensei any more than she needed so she said a quick thank you, took her book back, and went to the comforting seclusion of the spare room.

She looked around as she went inside and closed the door. The room was nice and what made it great was that it looked nothing like her room back home. The bed was perched on the far side of the room instead of next to the window like at home, and her closet was in a different place as well. She went to stand next to the bed and she dropped her bags before walking over to the window and looking out.

It was dark, but as usual the moon looked out over the entire villiage, as if protecting it from the monsters that hid in the darkness of night. Haruhi wiped her eyes again, getting rid of the stray tears that pooled on her lids. She noticed it hurt as she did, the area under her eyes was raw and painful to touch, but she ignored it and focused on her problem at hand.

She needed a new reason to be a shinobi. But what did she have that was worth all of this pain?

As she pondered an answer to her question, she couldnt help but think about the act of kindness her sensei had just done for her. For reasons unknown to Haruhi, her sensei had allowed her to stay and live here, and that was something she would forever be grateful for.

Haruhi slowly pulled the curtains of the window all the way apart and frowned. She felt in her heart that wanting to protect the people she loved was a good enough reason to be a shinobi still. No matter what her Mother did, she would still always protect her. She wanted to protect her sensei, and her teammates, her villiage that grew her and nurtured her and taught her...she felt an amazing since of pride to be a part of the Hidden Mist, and be surrounded by people who cared about her. Even if they did not say it, she knew she could count on the people of this villiage. So this was reason enough to want to keep going.

But now that she knew the truth about her Father, she had to go down a different path to greatness. She had to be free of his shadow and take it upon herself to make a name for her family. For the longest time, she had thought there was no greater, or stronger a shinobi than her Father was, and yet he had been defeated by a ninja of the Leaf Villiage. She needed to know who this guy Zakito Hon was. She knew his name would haunt her dreams until she confronted him about this, but the way she felt about him killing her Father, was an odd one indeed.

She did not want to kill him. Killing would just continue the cycle of anger, someone close to him would want to find her and end her then, and she couldn't protect his villiage if she was dead. I just want to beat the living daylights out of him. Haruhi made a fist then and the look of sadness turned to one of determination.

"This guy...whoever he is...thinks he can just do whatever the hell he wants? Kill whoever the hell he wants? Well i'll show him. I'm going to get stronger...i'm going to become a better shinobi and kick that guys ass! Then he'll know...then everyone will know, that there is NO shinobi that is stronger than a Suzumori!" In her new found determined anger, Haruhi lashed out with her fist and it hit the window, her hand went straight through the glass and she squealed once she realized the damage she'd done. Carefully removing her arm from the hole she created, a gust of the cool night air came through and gently blew at and lifted her honey blonde hair.

With a sigh she used her foot to move the bits of glass that fell inside into a pile on the floor. Then she simply went to sit on her bed and rub her sore hand. She felt good with what she had come up with. Work hard to protect her friends, family, and the villiage....and train harder than ever to be strong enough to take on the guy who killed her Father. Once she had achieved that she didnt know what she would do, but it was pointless to think that far ahead.

She nodded to herself and sat there for a moment and looked around. She decided to probably get something to fix that window, so as reluctant as her body was to move, she stood and stretched, walking back over to the door.

Mika returned to her room. So Haruhi had found out about that little ugly secret? The woman heard the sound, glass shattering. For a moment the woman almost would head over to see if her student was doing alright. But she figured that if Haruhi would get it cold, it was now her own fault. Sitting behind her desk, Mika was searching through some documents. They were about some things, but nothing too important. For those who knew nothing regarding them. The faint light of the lamp on her desk made the rest of her room dark, not revealing the content of it. ''I will continue tomorrow.'' She whispered to herself, a bit frustrated as she stood up and stretched out.

As she opened the door and walked out, Haruhi looked around the dark place. For some reason she had a feeling someone was watching her so she slid along the walls until she found a light. She thought about finding her sensei and telling her the window was broken but was worried she might get upset about it.

Maybe i could say it was a bird that crashed into it...? she thought to herself as she walked down the hall and stopped at the door that had light coming from the inside. Wait....there would be blood or feathers or something like that if it was a bird. Thats no good. Hm...what about a burgerler? .....No, that wont do. She's likely going to want to hunt them down and wring their necks. She sighed and hesitated knocking on the door. This was so stupid and childish because, the fact was that Haruhi doubted her sensei would really care....but this was just an an amazing excuse to get her sensei to stay with her. Haruhi was being selfish...because she just didn't want to be alone. It was odd that her sensei was actually tolerating her being annoying this time. This was going a little far, perhaps stretching her boundaries a little bit, but she had something to gain, and nothing to lose really. So she knocked on the door.

Mika froze for a second. She was near her bed as Haruhi knocked on the door. Turning around, Mika walked to the door and opened it, seeing the young girl. Because she was at home and thus more relaxed, Mika didn't look with a cold glance in the direction of her student. ''Can't sleep?'' Mika asked, but she figured already that would be the answer. Leaning against the door post, she waited for Haruhi's answer.

Haruhi gave a small nod before looking up at her teacher. "Um, i also might have broken the window....accidently of course. I'm not sure how to fix it." A smile formed at the corner of Haruhi's mouth as she thought of something that was rather silly, but would be great if she got away with it. "Um, could you come and take a look at it?" she asked her sensei innocently.

The woman looked at her student and sighed. Closing her eyes for just a second, Mika thought about a solution. She wasn't in the mood to check it out now or to even try to do something about it. ''Grab your mattress and stuff. You can sleep here.'' Mika told Haruhi as she straighten up, turning around and walking back into her own room.

Haru's eyes widened for just a second but she wasted little time and ran back to the other room. She went to her bag and took out her pj's and quickly put those on before walking over to the bed. She took the pillow and held it between her teeth as she grabbed the matress and pulled it off the bed frame. She couldn't help but skip in excitement as she pulled it back to her sensei's room. This was way better than what she had thought about before.

Sitting on her bed, Mika was reading a book, already with a sheet covering her lap. A faint light of a lamp, on a little desk, right to the bed of Mika was the only light source now. Looking up from her book, the woman said nothing before continue to read. It seemed she wasn't bothered by Haruhi's excitement as she had been during their first few meetings together.

Once Haruhi finished setting up her little space, she paused and looked around. Oh, wait i forgot my blanket... she reminded herself and walked back to retrieve it. She thought about bringing the rest of her stuff but decided not to, she wasent moving into her teachers room afterall. After closing the door, she slowly trotted back, almost slipping on the long sheet about halfway there. When Haru entered her sensei's room she closed the door with her foot and laid down on the mattress. A moment passed and she stared up at the ceiling, unsure of where to look.

Mika said nothing as she turned a page. It was like she wasn't aware of the fact one of her students was now trying to sleep in her room. But she knew better. Without turning her eyes from the book, she started to talk. ''I take it that you want to talk about what you discovered today?'' Mika asked, still continue to read her book. Haruhi thought about that question for a long moment before speaking. "Yes and no i suppose. Part of me wants to talk about it, but part of me is saying that knowing more wont change anything. Theres no point in making myself hurt more." she said quietly.

Her sensei listened to the words of her student, putting the book slowly away. ''You won't grow without a hint of pain. But its your decision.'' Mika calmly responded. She knew that Haruhi had a great deal of trust in her. After all, she had came to her place. Though Mika was wondering why Haruhi placed so much trust in somebody that killed her family without thinking twice, the woman realized she didn't want to think about it. Some part of her wanted to believe something.

"I dont know what i want." she said, covering up her head with the blanket. She felt on the verge of tears again and her chest started getting tighter and tighter. "Can you just...tell me a story?" she asked, her voice cracking a little.

Asking a person like her to tell a story? Mika almost scoffed at it, but didn't do it. Leaning back, her back against the wall, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. ''What kind of story do you want to hear then? You are aware you're asking me... a story...'' She said, sounding a bit amused as she looked from the faint cover of light towards her student. If there was more light, Haruhi would've likely seen the woman smiling even!

Haruhi did not remove the blanket from her head. She thought about changing her mind, maybe this was going a little to far. "I mean, you dont have too. I would just rather talk about something happy." "Like princesses." she said, smiling slightly.

Princesses? Mika wavered as she tried to think of a story. And all she could think of were stories on how grim and tough the ANBU training were in the days of the Fourth Mizukage. Nothing that really came in same genre as the stories Haruhi was asking for, without a doubt. But she had a suggestion. ''What about a real story of a boy that started as nothing, but became somebody?'' Mika offered.Haruhi moved the covers from her head. That actually sounded like a nice story. "Alright. Lets hear it. she said, turning to face her sensei.

As she wanted to hear the story, Mika seemed to think or ponder about something. ''I am not really in the mood to keep talking and risking to repeat something. Come.'' Mika instructed her student to come to her, but using the moments to formulate the story inside her head. Haruhi hesitated for only a second. No way....she actually wants me to come over there. Yes! she fangirled in her head before getting up and hopping onto the bed with her teacher. The smile on her face was big and childish but she didnt care. She simply scooted over and snuggled under the covers before her sensei would have a chance of changing her mind.

With Haruhi near her, Mika began. ''His name was Takeshi and he was born around twenty years back. Here in Kirigakure as well. A boy, not part of any clan. Somebody that wanted to become a shinobi and tried his best to be as good as he could be. He however had not really a talent like a prodigy or something.'' Mika started to tell the story on a calm tone as she paused. Though it sounded like Haruhi could find some common ground with this Takeshi person, Mika told her the truth. ''So he tried to train differently, trying to find how he could become good. That he could serve Kirigakure. Training hard and for years, he managed to develop a fighting style that became his unique one. He is called Chakra Breaker by most who know him.'' Mika told her student, pausing to wait if she wanted her to continue.

The guy in the story made Haruhi think about herself. It made her happy, and was almost like a validation that if she kept working hard, she could become renowned too, just like this Takeshi guy. Once her sensei stopped talking she looked up at her so she could continue.

Seemed the story had the desired effect. She took it in a positive manner. Mika took the few moments when she wasn't needed to continue the story to keep thinking on how she could continue the story. Seeing that Haruhi wished to hear more, Mika then continued. ''It took him, like I said, quite some years before he managed to become good with his fighting style. Eventually, he managed to grasp the Lightning Chakra nature. Even to the point he is rumored to be able to use a series of lightning techniques that were developed by... Zakito Hon.'' Mika said. Again she waited to see what the reaction of her student was, knowing the name of the Hon was likely one she wouldn't forget soon.

Haruhi's eyes narrowed when she heard the name of the guy who killed her Father. So that guy is a Lightning user as well.... She frowned as she thought about how strong this guy had to be in order to create his own techniques. Strong and smart he had to be in order to do something like that. She became a bit more interested in the story and hoped she would learn a little more about Zakito.

The frown was enough that Mika wouldn't continue on the last part. It wasn't that big part, but more information about the lightning abilities of Takeshi. ''Even to the point he was allowed to being appointed to get the rank of Jounin and is now leading his own team. And becoming my best friend.'' Mika concluded her story, briefly looking away as she thought of Takeshi. If he would see her now, he would likely never let her forget she was acting as nice as she could do.

Haruhi waited a few moments before speaking to make sure it was over. "Thats all?" she asked, not really dissapointed but hungry for more really. "That was a good story i suppose...though we might need to work on your story telling skills."

Mika glanced back at her student and scoffed. ''Don't even dare to go there now. I did said I am not a good person at telling stories that are all happy and such.'' Mika retored before she paused. Then she leaned to the right side to put out the light. ''But you should sleep, tomorrow is going to be an early day.'' Mika said, turning the light out. She was already expecting the girl not able to sleep, but the woman wasn't sure if she could tell another tale. Not one as fun as that of Takeshi's was.

"Oh, fine." she agreed with her teacher. She stayed where she was, not sure if she was supposed to go back to her matress or not. "Did you want me to move?" she just asked. ''Did I ask that?'' Was the response of Mika as the woman turned her back to Haruhi and laid her head on the pillow. Haruhi stared at her sensei's back, not answering her. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, though her mind was awake and active. Mika relaxed as she had closed her eyes. But she could hear Haruhi. By listening to the girls breathing, Mika was guessing the girl wasn't sleeping yet. Not a real surprise, but Mika waited patiently. Maybe Haruhi would fall asleep on her own soon?

Haruhi scooted as close as physically possible to her sensei without actually touching her. "You know what sensei, I bet if i was older like you, then we would be best friends." she said quietly, almost whispering even. "And then whenever you were sad and bad things happened to you, I could be there for you and we could have sleepover's like this. We could have fun and make happy memories for you..." It was then that the weight of the day was lifted off her shoulders and she suddenly felt close to passing out. But with great effort, she willed herself not to fall asleep just yet. She still had one more thing to say. "Then maybe if your student came to you and asked you for a story, you would have a few better ones to tell." With a yawn she stopped speaking and closed her eyes. A few moments later she was drifting off into sleep.

And as Haruhi drifted away in sleep, there was a single tear rolling over Mika's cheek. She stayed silent, her eyes half open as she stared to nothing. The woman had let Haruhi talked, but the words had more effect than she even had expected. There was an old feeling coming back up and Mika knew that she wouldn't have a nightmare this night. Not this one.

[Little Alice]

The Big Truth,
Haruhi's decision.

Part II

Part II

~The Next Morning~

It was not until a few minutes passed dawn the next day that Haruhi began to stir. She was an early riser but for some reason, on this day, she felt like she wanted to stay asleep forever. The bed beneath her was so comfortable, the pillows were soft and Haruhi didn't want to ruin this moment...but, her internal clock did not allow her to fall back asleep once she woke. So with a sigh, she sat up and stretched. Her hair was all over the place and she moved it out of her face to see her sensei was still sleeping soundly. She thought about waking her up but didnt, and instead climbed over her and stepped down onto the floor.

Haruhi thought she would get away without making a sound but her foot got stuck on the blanket and as she stepped down and began to walk, she slipped and landed on the ground with a loud thud. As she fell, the blankets from her sensei's bed flew off and over her head, covering her after she fell.

Haru knew her life was about to end then. This is it. I'm going to die here. she thought to herself, over reacting to the pain she had felt upon landing so hard on her butt. Regardless, she still knew her life was over. There was no way she hadnt woken up her sensei, and Haruhi didnt even want to imagine what Hayashi sensei looked when she was woken up. Unfortunately her mind allowed her to picture what she might expect, and it was not pretty. So she stayed put, unmoving, listening to see if her sensei was going to rage or not.

''Put it in the laundry, while you're at it.'' Mika instructed her, from her bed. Still laying with her eyes closed and on the bed, the woman didn't move an inch. Slowly, her right eye opened as she glanced at the direction of her student. The voice of Mika was neutral, as it was neither spiteful or angry, like Haruhi had suspected. More or less like Mika had expected Haruhi to do something that would cause her to end up like that. Slowly rising up her upper body, leaning on her elbows, Mika glanced again at her student. ''Unless you want to spend your day sleeping on the ground. Fine with me, but I need to take care of some things.'' With that said, Mika moved out of bed and stretched her limbs. That done, she walked towards the door, not really minding Haruhi.

Haruhi sat there for a few moments. This was actually kinda cool, the whole not getting yelled at stuff....but it was also very weird. In a weird way she missed the bitter Hayashi sensei who just scoffed and rolled her eyes....but Haru wasent complaining. This version of her sensei was cool too.

Haruhi scrambled to her feet and bunched up the blankets before following her sensei out the door. She had to run to catch up but once she did, she slowed to a normal pace. "Oh...you have plans today? Can i come with you? ...i can help!" she begged smiling at her teacher. "Wait...unless its boring paperwork, i cant stand that kind of stuff." she finished.

Mika frowned at Haruhi. For a moment she wanted to tell the girl to scramble. Not sighing, Mika decided to answer it differently. ''I am need of doing some things for an acquaintance. So I might need to go for a bit. You might consider to unpack some of your stuff and try to find a way to repair that window. Then you won't have to suffer any cold or weather from outside.'' Mika told her student.

Haruhi remembered the window and sighed. "Oh yeah, your right. I'll do that then. ...also, do you have food? I'm hungry. she said as her stomach growled loudly. She thought about how long it might take her to unpack and fix that window...and after that she could totally do some stalking. Or, not stalking...snooping.

''Check the kitchen, But don't even dare to eat too much.'' Mika replied. She wavered about leaving Haruhi alone at home. Something in her warned her about leaving a girl in such a state by herself. Though Mika wasn't at all angry about the broken window, she was getting afraid for the other windows.

Haru dropped the blankets where she stood and went to the kitched to find food. She was almost offended by what her sensei said. She didnt eat that much...she just had a deep appreciation for eating food. It was as simple as that. Haru bent down and opened the fridge and she nearly screamed.

There were noodles everywhere. "...sensei...dont you eat anything besides noodles?" she asked.

''Are you going to complain?'' Was the cold question back. Mika was cleaning herself as well getting dressed in her kunoichi garb. ''If you want to eat something else, you will need to get it yourself.'' Mika continued, closing her flak jacket. It wasn't that she didn't want to help giving Haruhi what she wanted, but she would also need to learn to take care of herself.

Haruhi sighed and closed the fridge. she stood on her toes and looked in the cabinets above the fridge and pulled out what was there. This time she wanted to cry. It was ramen in a cup. Reaching up again she found a spicy bowl of noodles, noodles with shrimp, beef flavored noodles. With a frustrated sigh she put them on the table. Then she knew what she was going to do for the rest of the day. She had to get her sensei some better food. This was rediculous and she refused to let her teacher live like this.

Looking in the mirror, Mika saw her reflection. Slowly, she moved her right hand to her cheek and briefly touched her skin with her fingers. Frowning, she wondered about something. Shaking the thought off her mind, she walked into the living room and looked around. ''Will you manage yourself for a hour or two? Or do I need to make sure the windows will stay in one piece?'' Mika asked out loud, with a sarcastic sounding voice.

Haru was in the process of removing every pack of noodles from the fridge and cabinets when her sensei called out to her. "Oh...um dont worry about the windows. I shall take my anger out on these noodles here. she paused and crossed her arms. "You, my dear Hayashi sensei are in desperate need of a balanced meal that is homemade with love. Which is what i plan to give you!" she said excitedly while clapping her hands together. "It is the least i can do since you let me stay here." she added.

Mika's head appeared around the corner of the kitchen as she glanced to see the situation. She had a kind of disturbed expression on her face. ''As long nothing breaks. Try to not cause any turmoil or such.'' Mika then went back to the living room and was heading towards the door. ''I will be right back.''

Haru rubbed her hands together menacingly. "Dont worry sensei. See you soon." she already had a plan for what she was going to do with these noodles. With a skip in her step she ran back to her room to change out of her clothes and get ready to do some shopping, she remembered her list she wrote earlier about picking up more ointment and bandages, as well as looking for some smoke pellets like her sensei suggested a while back. As she quickly changed, she thought over what foods she was good at making in her head. After she was dressed she grabbed her money and stuck in in her hip pouch before she put it on and then she paused. She was forgetting something.

"Wait...crap i dont have a key." she said walking out of the room. With a shrug she just decided to leave the door unlocked. If anyone dared try to break in they could always come through the window anyway. With that she drew her hair up into a ponytail and walked out the door.

---

Three hours later.

Opening her door, Mika noticed it wasn't locked. Her eyes instantly narrowed as she pulled out a kunai. Without a sound she moved inside, slowly closing the door. Though she wanted to ask if Haruhi was already back, the woman stayed quiet. The dark brown eyes of Mika shot around. After hearing nothing, she decided to risk it. ''Haruhi, are you already back?'' Mika asked, still paying attention to the surroundings.

Haruhi heard her sensei calling to her from the door and she called from the kitchen. "Yes i'm in here sensei! Dont come in here yet though, i have a surprise for you but im not done!" She was putting the final touches on her lunch feast she had made for her sensei. She was very proud of herself for having finished all of it in the short time she had. She had gone to the store to buy the food, her ninja supplies, and a new glass for the window and it took her forever to figure out how to get the glass into the frame. After she had finished that she had made a feast of sorts so that her sensei could try a bunch of different foods she was depriving herself from.

She put a few shavings of fried seeweed on her Yakisoba noodle dish and stood back to admire her creations. Along with the noodles she had made rice balls, a giant oden pot filled with fish cakes, boiled egg, cabbage, tofu and konyaku. Next to that was her chicken Yakitori and pork Tonkatsu. She had also made some beef Gyoza dumplings to go with the noodles and she even managed to make some Takoyaki and Dango for dessert and some Green Tea to go with. After a moment she called her sensei and gave to OK to come see what she made.

Mika frowned. Not allowed to go there, while it was her own home? Deciding to drop something first in her own room, Mika had decided to see what Haruhi was doing. Even with the girl giving her an 'ok' that she could come, Mika would come either if Haruhi would like it or not. When the jounin entered the kitchen, Mika tilted her head to the right and wavered. ''Euuhm.'' Mika looked at the feast that Haruhi had prepared. Laying her right hand on her hip while making a gesture with her left hand, Mika frowned. ''Why did you make all this?''

Though she saw the frown on her sensei's face, Haruhi's pride didn't waver. "Uh...well because i was hungry and noodles are so not my thing. That and you need to change your diet and i told you i was going to give you a homemade meal made with loooove!" she said with a smile and her eyes sparkling. "Are you excited to eat, cuz im excited to eat!?" she said running over to her sensei and pulling her to the table. " Now we get to sit and eat like a family, and you can tell me about what you did. Because thats what your supposed to do when you eat a meal."

''Is that so?'' Mika mumbled, a bit annoyed as she was pulled towards the table. She wasn't planning on telling Haruhi what she had done. After all, Haruhi wouldn't likely understand it anyways. Deciding to take another route, Mika sat down and glanced at the food. ''What is wrong with noodles?'' She asked her student with a serious tone. Mika's eyes moved to lock their gaze on her student, but she wasn't looking with a serious nor cold look in the direction of the younger girl. ''And why would I need to change my diet? I am good the way I am.''

Haruhi shook her head and sat down on the other side of the table. "There is nothing wrong with the occasional bowl of noodles...even once a day is alright. she started, the subject change easily worked. "But what i saw in there sensei suggests that you eat nothing but noodles and really...not even you deserve to be deprived of a good meal. she finished, not taking another moment to wait to eat. Haruhi reached for the dumplings first then thought of another question. "Do you know how to cook your own meals Hayashi sensei?" she asked before taking a healthy bite.

Mika frowned at the question before scoffing. ''I don't need to know such a thing. I get my meals often at-'' Mika stopped as she then briefly glared at Haruhi. ''Watch it just now. Just eat.'' She ordered, almost before taking a dumpling and went to eat it silently. After eating another one, she sighed and mumbled something. Like she was defeated in an argument and too tired to continue her defense. ''Thank you.''

Haruhi looked at her sensei, smiling with her mouth full. Then she giggled and placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god. I never thought i would hear you say that. I shall cherish this moment forever." she finished the food in her mouth and lowered her hand, reaching to grab another dumpling. She didnt say anything else because she was thinking of appropriate things to talk about with her sensei. Haruhi thought at first it was going to be easy starting up a conversation, but seeing as she knew so litte about what interested her sensei...it was actually quite the challenge. If she was with her mother, she could talk about anything under the sun and make it a fun conversation...but thats not who she was with anymore. Lost in thought, she stopped mid way of reaching for some more food.

'Don't get cocky now, brat.'' Mika retorted when Haruhi said she would cherish the moment when Mika thanked her. She scoffed as she continued to eat, at a slow pace. Careful to try something, she eyed something first and almost was tempted to smell at something before placing it inside her mouth. After eating for a few more minutes in silence, Mika asked Haruhi a question instead. ''So, what are you planning now?''

Her sensei's question took her out of her thoughts. "What am i planning...?" she pondered that question for a moment. "My plans havent really changed all that much. I've always wanted to improve my skills as a shinobi, you know this.... now i just have another reason other than just protecting the ones i care about." she looked down at her plate and sighed. "I dont know what it is...maybe its pride, or maybe its just me being an idiot....but i always thought that my father....regardless of what he did, was the strongest shinobi ever. And that Suzumori was supposed to be a name people knew about an feared because he was so strong. ...Now i know there is a man out there stronger than a Suzumori. I feel like its my duty to get that title back." she finished and reached for a sweet dango as she waited for her teacher's response.

Without skipping a beat, she said a word. ''Revenge.''

[Little Alice]

The Big Truth,
Haruhi's decision.

The final part.

Final Part

Without skipping a beat, she said a word. ''Revenge.'' She had said it in an amused tone as she leaned back in her seat. Holding up her right index finger, moving it slowly to her chin, the woman smirked. ''Its interesting to see you think like this. Weren't you not the one that claimed she could protect people? Now you're more or less implying that you want to get back something you thought beloning to your father.'' Mika said, rather stating something than trying to inform her of it. After a moment, Mika continued as she shook her head a bit.

''If you wish to get that title back, I fear that I can't be of that much help. I can try to train you at my best, but to face somebody with the name of Zakito Hon, I fear that its out of league. I am just a jounin and not a Kage. To face somebody like that isn't that simple if at all possible.'' Mika said, now more serious than before. Though she had found it amusing, the woman was getting worried her student would really try to achieve a goal like that. It was just crazy to even think about it, in Mika's opinion.

"He....he's a Kage?" she repeated in a way that made it sound like a question. Her shoulder's sagged then and she fell back onto the floor. "That's no fair." she said, frustrated. The only one who can compete with a Kage was another Kage. Even if she wanted to be one, she would likely have to train until she was 100 before she got that kind of power. "Well...a Kage has to start somewhere. And i just have to work hard right. Thats all it takes. Blood, sweat, and tears. I can do anything i set my mind to." she said. Though her voice suggested it was not a statement of confidence, she was simply saying it out of habit whenever she felt weak.

Hearing the reply of her student, Mika decided to eat a bit. But she was thinking. After a few moments passed, she spoke again. ''He is technically a Kage. From the Bingo Book and sources that I have contacted today, I heard he is now the Jounin Commander of the Leaf. And head of the Hon Clan. Likely hasn't became weaker, so you would be facing against a Kage skilled opponent. However,'' Mika paused as she wanted to be sure that her student was paying attention to what was going to be suggested now. ''There might be a way. You see, information is very valuable. Knowing in what kind of rank and level you can put him in, you can anticipate on how hard you need to train. But you will need to know more. Get it?'' Mika asked, wanting to be sure that Haruhi wasn't daydreaming away but fully paying attention.

Haruhi sat up after her teacher was done talking. She ran a hand through her hair and frowned. "Yeah, yeah i get it...but im only a genin. How am i even supposed to get that kind of information? All i know how to do is my best and what if its just not good enough? " she said.

''Then try to get it. Get contacts, get information. The name Zakito is a name that is quite famous one. They respect it likely in the Fire Union, but fear and hate it in the Wind Country. A name can sometimes mean nothing, but with some others, it means power. Prestige and fame. If you want to learn about this name, get close to the source. That is how you could get to it.'' Mika told her, tilting her head a bit to the left. ''Its not that hard in theory. Besides, you seem like the one that makes friends at a rapid speed.'' The last line was told with a bit of mumbling, almost like Mika was half annoyed and pleased by it.

There was a moment of silence as Haruhi thought. Then she spoke again. "Alright Hayashi sensei...lets assume i am able to get all this information about him. We are both from different villiages. Likely we fight differently and he's probably had expirences fighting against Hidden Mist shinobi before. I dont have acess to that. I'll need to know how he fights right? If i go into a match knowing nothing about my opponent and his fighting style, it would be just like when you and I first sparred. Your Silent Killing technique caught me off gaurd and i would have been dead in seconds if it was not you i was fighting. How do i gain enough information about that?" Haru had an urge to eat a dango then so she did.

Taking up a riceball, she took a bite. While munching, she thought about the question. It seemed that Haruhi was getting it. That was at least a start to it. ''He is a very famous person. Even I know a thing or two about him. For starters, he is indeed quite experienced. Else he wouldn't be a Kage at a point. That and he is quite a ninjutsu user. Though that has likely something to do with his left eye. Ever heard of the Sharingan?'' Mika asked, continuing on her riceball.

Haruhi was going to say no at first then she hesitated and thought about it. "I think i remember reading about it somewhere, but im not an expert about it. Something about eyes, right?" she said. To which Mika nodded. ''It is said that it can enable the wielder to anticipate your movements and copy it as well, because of it can see some detailed flow of your chakra.'' Mika tried to explain. She had little experience with the Sharingan and only held some information about it.

''That and if you look into the eyes of a sharingan user, you're at great risk of being put into a genjutsu.'' Mika continued. ''That said, he can copy your movements and you can't look directly at him.'' With that information, Mika wondered if Haruhi would still want to continue on.

Haruhi shook her head. "Well you make it sound like it is something impossible to beat. Now, i know there is always a weakness to something. If he can anticipate my movements, wouldn't the obvious thing to do is be unpredictable? she said thinking about what her teacher had explained to her. In truth, it sounded scary that a man could know and be able to use any and every jutsu his opponent knows how to use.

''In a way and in theory that should be possible. But from what I have heard and understand, its not that easy. However, there are jutsu that block sight. Even a simple jutsu like the Hidden Mist. Or I imagine if you stay out of his sight, such dojutsu won't work anymore.'' Mika answered as she leaned back again. Slowly she started to frown. ''But why are you planning to avenge the title? Though I find it amusing you are aiming for that, I need to say that you're not the typical revenge kind of..person. The other two would fit more into than you would do.'' Mika said, refering to Chou and Rai, with the 'other two'.

Haru smiled then and shook her head. "In my mind, i dont see it as trying to get revenge. Back when i was at the academy, the student who was the biggest and the toughest was the one no one ever messed with. Him and his group of friends were always safe from harassment, and even he got to harass the tinier kids like me. ...I want to be able to be the big student in this situation. I feel like if maybe i can try my hardest and be the best, no one would ever dare try to mess with me or this villiage ever, unless they have a death wish that is." she bit her lip and thought for a moment. "I know it seems silly that a wimp like me would want to try to be better than everyone else, but you know its the cute ones no one thinks is tough."

Suddenly Mika frowned and then bursted out in laughter. It took the woman several moments before she managed to get a hang on herself. Haruhi glared at her sensei when she started laughing. She wasnt joking around for once and NOW she laughs. The glare did little, but Mika spoke in a serious manner again. ''Maybe. I don't really get what is cute about you. You simply remind me of somebody who thought in the same manner.'' The woman seemed to pause, but that was because a memory had came up in her mind. And it took Mika a second to focus again. ''But its no shame to try to become strong enough that others will think twice or more to push you around.''

Haruhi was slightly offended at her sensei's comment. What's cute about me? ....um how about everything!? she thought in her head. Her sensei was really pretty as well, so maybe she just didnt want to admit it. Stupid pretty girl logic...whatever. In any case, she listened to the rest of her sensei's words. This was the second time she had said Haruhi reminded her of someone. With a shake of her head she smiled then. "I might be mistaken but i think that's the first time i heard you laugh. ...and are you saying im ugly? And i'm wondering if you ever saw someone who looked cuter than me." she asked half joking as she offered her sensei a dango between her chopsticks.

In her mind she was still thinking about the "Sharingan" her sensei had talked about. She made a mental note to find out as much as she could about that technique so she could come up with her own way of fighting against it. Thinking about how to beat it she asked a different question.

"You know what, dont answer that last one. I'm adorable and thats final... You said, " she stated pointing with her other hand at her sensei. "that he can anticipate my movements which includes Ninjutsu, correct? What if there was a limit? What if there was more than one of me, say three since i can do about three solid clones, and we all were doing three different kind of ninjutsu while coming at him from different directions. I dont think he would be able to anticipate the movement of all three clones. I think he would have to chose one and go with that, in which case he would be vulnerable to the other two." she paused to think.

"Now, maybe i'm over thinking it, but has anyone ever tried that? she finished her question and waited, likely her teacher had to think about it first. She had said she was not an expert on it, but Haruhi would try to wring out as much information as she could.

Taking the dango with her own chopsticks, Mika listened to her student. First she was just paying half attention while Haruhi went over being cute. In Mika's opinion, somebody could be cute. But that was then used to seduce or lure somebody, to then slice their throat. The training of becoming an assassin underneath the Fourth Mizukage wasn't just physlogical training. But mental as well, thinking how to use even such things to your advantage. Haruhi's question however caught Mika's attention as she pondered about it. Looking at the dango she held between her chop sticks, she responded to the question. ''That is a bit unsure. Remember, he was once the Hokage. Even though such a tactic could work in a generic battle, he is out of my level. I only know that the wielder of a sharingan can copy the ninjutsu of the element he or she has mastered as well. But seeing you can use lighting and he is a renowned lighting user, I am not sure Haruhi. I have little experience of fighting against Hons or experienced sharingan wielders. And none against kages.'' Mika said, putting the dango afterwards in her mouth.

Mika's eyes then locked on to Haruhi. ''But you sound like you seriously want to face him. Are you sure? I won't even begin about the policital implications that could prevent you, but are you willing to face such a person?''

Haruhi looked back at her sensei, her eyes held determination and an unwavering decision to go through with this. "Yes." she confirmed to her sensei. Her resolve was absolute. In her mind, she reminded herself that this was not going to be easy. She would have to put 100% of her time into training, and 200% of her effort into it as well. But Haruhi was not afraid of hard work, she was only afraid of failure. But it was a fact; working hard led to sucess. As far as the whole "political implacations" things went, Haruhi just hoped she could rely on her sensei for her help.

"Would you be willing to support me in this? I have a feeling i wont be able to do it alone. I'll need your help, and i suppose we cant really see much more of eachother than we already do." she told her sensei. If she were to agree then Haruhi knew she would be able to at least get her chance at the Hon guy. ...What a stupid name it was anyway.

Taking another dango, she thought about what she would need to do to properly train to fight this guy. Not only did she need to perfect her jutsu, since the guy was a lightning style user as well, she would need to polish her more-than-rusty taijutsu skills. Her chakra control had to be perfect, her stamina had to be perfect, her reflexes honed to the sharpest possible point, and her mind had to be aligned with her body. On numerous occasions, Haruhi had found herself locking in a mental war with her orders and her emotions. That had to stop as well, they had to work harmoniously together so that she could stop second-guessing herself, and focus more on her fighting.

The woman sighed and shook her head. ''I will. The hammer will hit me if you mess it up anyways and I rather have it happen that you will bypass the implications rather than causing something that can cause a lot of fuss.'' Mika told Haruhi. The woman was still pondering about the route her student could take. To plan a fight against an opponent she had in mind was one thing, but to actually do it? It was against a war veteran that was known to be one of the strongest survivors of the war generation. And though liking a challenge, the woman never had thought of facing against people like that. They were the kind she rather kept avoiding instead of searching them up.

''I guess you'll need to get to work soon then. If you're planning to face somebody of that calibre, you better pick up your game or I will be turned to dust before you're able to match him.'' Mika said, with a rather mocking tone. However then a little smile came on her lips. ''But there is a way that you could train to become stronger. Its faster than what we have done before, but once you have advanced too far in that training, there is no turning back.'' Mika suggested.

Haruhi had finished eating, not entirely full but content and actually for once, just not interested in stuffing herself. As she listened to her sensei, she did feel a bit bad dragging her into this. She could get the both of them in serious trouble if they had done this and it went all wrong. Though, she tried to stay posetive and smiled too when her sensei said she might turn to dust before Haru got a chance at this. Upon mention of a different kind of training, her interest rose. A new kind of training that was faster and more efficient? Hell yeah she was down for that.

"I'll do any kind of training i need to, though...why didn't we just start out with the new super awesome training? Are you holding out on me Hayashi sensei?" she asked accusingly but also joking as well.

The joke was missed on Mika as she now showed an emotion. Doubt. ''Yes, cause like I said. Once you're on this path, turning back isn't that really possible.'' Mika began. She then pointed to herself. ''I was trained to become an assassin under instructors of the Fourth Mizukage. They were able to train me to become an able assassin when I was just a bit older than you. Though I suppose that you're not really the assassin material, I can adjust some of the training to fit you. The problem is that your view on life... will change. Drasticaly.'' Mika said, putting down her chop sticks.

Haruhi frowned at her teacher. She made it seem really scary when she put it that way but, really her outlook on the world has been changing since she first stepped foot out of the Academy. "What's going to change? I'm going to realize sooner or later that its not all pretty flowers and happy things all the time. I'd rather you give it to me straight so im ready. And, honestly, maybe my view on life needs to change. I've been so sheltered in my little bubble of what i thought was reality and it turns out that things aren't the way i thought they were." She had a feeling she was rambling so she just crossed her arms. "I want to do it. I'll accept any kind of help from you, including life changing training." Haru tried to sound confident, but really in her mind, she was just thinking about how horribly awesome it would be.

So that was it. ''Then we will begin. Your training will a bit different. For start, I won't demand you to shed the blood of people that trust you. Nor will I demand that you'll be needing to follow me every day. However, the training will be intense.'' Mika told Haruhi. She was still unsure if it was a good decision, but Haruhi could grow stronger in such a manner. Both physically as mental. Though the last one was something Mika doubted. Haruhi was physically talented enough for the training, but mentally was a problem. She lacked the cold natured that was required for the training that Mika had in mind.

As if to confirm her teachers worries about Haruhi's mental state, she jumped up and shouted, "Woohoo! I'm gonna be awesome! C'mon we gotta go right now!" before proceeding to leave the table and go retrieve her stuff from her room. Looking around, she was unsure wether to bring all her ninja tools since she didnt really know what they were going to be doing. Just to be safe, she decided to grab everything, even the newly bought smoke bombs she got earlier.

Waiting, Mika saw her coming back with her gear and Mika shook her head. ''No. That is too advanced. You first need to learn how to not rely on anything else but taijutsu. After all, without chakra or weapons, you're out on your taijutsu. And seeing your skill in it is meagre, not even starting to the person you want to face, you need to pick that first up.'' Mika stood up and glanced outside. They could make a start today. But she wasn't going to like it. Haruhi was already used to the cold and harsh treatment Mika gave her student, but this was on a whole other level. ''Come. I want this to be over, as soon as possible.'' She told Haruhi, walking towards the door.

With a small huff, she went back to drop her things back where they were and followed her sensei out the door, closing it behind her. She stayed close, remembering the really large mean guy from before, and imagining that even scarier people lived behind these doors. There was a really stupid question in the back of Haruhi's mind and she debated wether or not to ask it, for fear of being hit or something.

When they were on the street, Mika looked around. More than usual as if she was suspecting something. Then she frowned, but said nothing. ''Also, like any normal training. I don't want to hear even a whispering complaining sound of you. I doubt somebody will find it a good idea if I will train you in this manner, so also keep yours shut about it.'' Was Mika's order as she kept leading Haruhi through the streets of Kirigakure towards the training fields.

Haruhi stayed quiet as she followed her teacher. She officially thought now, if not before, that her sensei was a mind reader. Literally. Haruhi was going to ask if the training was going to hurt too bad, but upon telling her not to complain about it, her therory was confirmed. It was going to be a struggle. She just hoped she wouldn't break into tiny pieces in the process. When they reached the fields she decided to talk and ask a question, though soon she would find the answer. "How are we going to improve my taijutsu? ...theres nothing here."

Suddenly Haruhi would feel something against her cheek, likely driving her back. Mika frowned. With the fist she had used to punch her student, she pointed to herself. ''I am here. Now, its simple. Give it your best shot or else I will break some bones.'' The answer was told in a cold tone, without any emotion as Mika already was about to walk towards Haruhi. Likely to continue to hit her.

Haru rubbed her cheek with her hand, her eyes had widened slightly when her teacher had spoke and her first instinct was to run away. Fighting against it, she balled her hands into fists and just took a few steps away. Broken bones was not good. Not good at all. "Jeez, you dont fight fair sensei, i wasent even ready for that." she said then remembered she had been warned not to complain. "Um...well i mean..." she stumbled over her words then just decided to give up talking for once and just fight back.

''You think that every fight is fair? You're naive.'' Mika sneered back. Suddenly, the woman dashed forward as she readied her right fist for another quick strike towards Haruhi. The attack was more aimed at the mid section of Haruhi, as the fist was approaching her. Haruhi saw the move coming, kind of. She knew her sensei was going to attack likely after she finished speaking, but anticipating where she was going to hit was another story. Haru had raised her arms up to protect her face, assuming that was where she was going to get hit, but instead was surprised when her sensei actually connected her fist with her abdomen. She doubled over in pain and squinted. Oh my god...i think i'm gonna throw up...! she thought before she did exactly that.

Not even waiting till her student was able to recover, Mika used her right leg to sweep Haruhi off her feet, like she was attempting to cause her to fall in the puke she had spitted out. ''You have fifteen seconds of pauze.'' Were her words as Mika turned her back to Haruhi and walked a few meters away. The hands of Mika were clenched into fists and slightly trembling. Haruhi's hand got a bit of puke on it and she frowned, waving it off. Her emotions went from dissapointment to anger in just a second. She glared at her sensei's back and stood up, wiping her mouth and spitting out a bit of resedue. That meal was the best thing she had ever created, and now she didn't even get to enjoy the fullfilled feeling it gave her anymore. Though determined to get her back for the stupidest reason, Haruhi was done playing around.

Looking over her shoulder, Mika send a cold look in the direction of Haruhi. ''You done? Come on then.'' Half turning around, Mika didn't even seem to bother with taking a stance as she just kept looking with a cold look in Haruhi's direction. ''Imagine me not as your sensei. I want you to come at me with all you got. Now.'' Mika ordered Haruhi, speaking with an emotionless tone. With a nod, Haruhi charged at her sensei...or not her sensei? Whatever. She was thinking of ways to maybe catch her off gaurd, but that would be nearly impossible. Deciding to just go for it, upon approach Haru threw a punch to her sensei, about chest level since she was rather short.

Seeing the punch heading her way, Mika stepped aside and lifted her right elbow. The move was to slam the elbow against the face of Haruhi and once pulling back the arm to perform a quick punch after it. ''Pay attention.'' Mika mumbled. The elbow had connected with Haru's chin and she moved away, taking some steps back and surprisingly being able to avoid her sensei punch aimed right afterwards. Now a bit to the left side of her teacher, Haru spun around and aimed a kick to her sensei's side.

Blocking the kick with her arm, Mika briefly narrowed her eyes. With her free hand, she grabbed the feet while it was against the forearm of the arm that Mika used to block. Spreading her feet quickly, Mika lowered herself as she was about to fling Haruhi towards the right if she would try to prevent the move. Haru tried to pull her leg free, but it was difficult to do while hopping on one. Her sensei had appeared to look as if she was about to toss her like a rag dool, so praying she was too heavy for such a thing, she reached forward and grabbed at her sensei's arms that were holding her foot. She clung tightly then raised her weight off her other leg in an attempt to pull the both of them down.

Suddenly, Mika released her grip on Haruhi to try to make her lose her balance. The annoying part, in Mika's opinion, was that Haruhi was clunging tightly at one arm, but it meant she was also in a danger zone. Using her free hand, Mika attempted to grab one wrist of Haruhi as already clenching her other hand as a fist, to attack the moment Haruhi would release her grip.

She was surprised when her sensei had let go of her leg suddenly, her sensation of falling gave her a scare but holding on to her was enough to give her feet time to hit the ground and keep her stable. Another attack was coming her way, and knowing she was not going to be able to dodge it, she simply pushed forward and rammed her body into her teachers as hard as she could.

For a second, Mika a bit surprised as she had expected another reaction of Haruhi. One step, Mika stumbled backwards before she was able to react and press her own weight to keep standing. However with Haruhi being this close, the hand of Mika was now trying to grab the girl by the throat as using the right knee to try to land a hit again in the stomach of the girl. Feeling her attempt to knock her teacher over had failed, Haru had leaned her body away and landed in nearly perfect position for Hayashi sensei to grab at her throat. Upon seeing her sensei reach that close, Haruhi lowered her head and chomped down on her teachers hand.

''You little piece of..'' Gritting her teeth, Mika forced the head of Haruhi to lower as she pulled her hand down. The bite attack was really annoying and quite painful if Mika had to be honest and she was ready to dish some pain back by trying to land some hits with her knee. Either to plant it several times in the stomach of the girl or either trying to hit her chin as she pulled her hand down. Haruhi wasent having it though. One time before, her sensei had gotten her with a knee during training, and she had vowed never to let it happen. Frantically reaching down, she wrapped her arms around her sensei's raised leg. She wasent really sure what to do so she just pulled on it, trying to make her fall down. She kind of wanted to scream that she was giving up to avoid getting hurt, but really, it was only a matter of time.

Narrowing her eyes, Mika decided to take another route. With Haruhi around her leg, Mika used her free hands to keep herself from crashing on the ground, but attempted to make Haruhi fall hard on it. For a moment, the cold look was replaced by a more worried one before it shifted back one more. Sure enough with a little squeal she had fallen with her sensei, one of her arms hittng the ground painfully. She pulled her arm free and rubbed it, tears forming in her eyes before she quickly stood back up. This was getting frustrating. So far really she hadent landed a single hit, just attepmpted to not get pummeled herself. She felt it was going no where but said nothing.

Quickly, Mika made some distance with a backflip. Once on her feet, she noticed the tears forming in the eyes of Haruhi, but all she would see was the cold and emotionless look on Mika's face. The only warning she would get was that the eyes of Mika narrowed slightly as the woman charged towards her student, trying to deliver a high kick that was aimed at the shoulder of Haruhi.

Seeing an oppourtunity to get in a hit, Haruhi tried to time it perfectly, not moving until her sensei's leg was already in the air. She quickly ducked under it and rose as it passed over her head. Anticipating her teacher would likely turn and try to punch her again, Haruhi raised her own leg up and aimed a kick to her teachers side, doing a little spin as she did.

With the kick going over Haruhi's head, Mika didn't wasted any time. With her leg still up and Haruhi aiming at her side, Mika had to react fast. Bending quickly through the leg she was standing on, Mika jumped up, to spin fast and delivering a kick to block and hopefully stagger Haruhi. Landing on her feet, Mika would try to move in close as she kept focus on how Haruhi would move. So far, though the taijutsu skill of her student was not that great, she showed talent for fighting on a rather un-orthodox manner.

Her sensei moved fast and had dodged her move easily. Haru'h leg was flung back down by her teachers and she did stagger quite a bit before regaining her balance. She was so preoccupied with trying not to fall on her face that she didnt realize her sensei had already gotten close enough to attack again. Simply raising her arms to protect her face, Haruhi waited to get hit again.

The raised arms blocked a punch, but then a feet was placed against the stomach a moment later. Kicking Haruhi backwards, Mika scoffed. ''I recommend you to kick it up a notch. If you wish to face somebody of Zakito's calibre, you should become able to easily beat me with taijutsu.'' Mika scolded her as she slowly walked towards Haruhi, still looking with a cold look in her eyes. Haruhi had clutched her stomach as she stood from being kicked a few feet away. She felt really dissapointed with herself for being so bad at taijutsu. She had been relying on her ninjutsu too much and had allowed her hand to hand skills to become worse than they'd ever been. She stood tall then and took a deep breath before clenching her fists in wait for her approaching teacher. She didn't plan on giving up, even if it did mean a few broken bones. That would just have to be her consequence for being weak.

Faster than before, Mika raised her right fist as she was about to deliver a fast punch towards the chest of Haruhi, but it was a mere feint as Mika would swing her fist down and attempt to slam her elbow against Haruhi. Again with great effort to resist the urge to run, Haruhi had turned her body slightly in an attempt to dodge a punch, not knowing an elbow was what really was coming. It had grazed against her shoulderblade as she turned, luckily and with the same arm, she extended it, fist clenched and tried to punch the face of her teacher.

Feeling she had grazed the shoulderblade of her student, Mika glanced to see the movements of her student. With the short distance and the speed of Haruhi, Mika's eyes widened sligthly. The fist pounded against the skin of Mika, who grunted. The fist was against the cheek of Mika, but the woman felt little pain. In time she had managed to grab the wrist and halted the attack, at least for a part. Tightening her grip on the wrist, Mika spitted on the ground as she scoffed. ''Now that is more like it.'' Still holding on the wrist, Mika straighten her back as she glared at Haruhi. ''Ready for part two?''

Haruhi shook her head franticallly. She was most definately NOT ready for part two. She was still trying to get a grip with part one. Trying to pull her hand free, Haru feared part two was going to be even worse...if it could get any worse. She didnt want to be anywhere near her sensei when she unleased "part two."

Suddenly Haruhi would feel something soft on her head. It was the other hand of Mika. ''Calm down.'' The voice of the woman was surprisingly softer as she lowered and went to sit on one knee as she slowly pulled Haruhi in for a hug. ''Hey...'' She mumbled, rubbing the back of Haruhi as she hugged her student. ''You got one mean bite.'' Haruhi raised her brow for a moment, highly confused. Though...she was actually quite pleased if this was part two. After a moments hesitation, she moved her arms to hug her teacher back, still a bit confused but accepting it happily. "Oh...thanks Hayashi sensei. You've got a mean....well you have alot of mean. But this is nice."

''We will continue later.'' Releasing Haruhi, Mika wavered. She had almost said something, but managed to correct herself. ''Haruhi. Come, time to go home.'' Rising up, she sighed and looked disappointed for a moment as she glanced in the direction of Kirigakure. But before she would start to walk, she shot a glance in the direction of Haruhi, to see if her student was doing well. Haru looked around a bit nervous before following her teacher, jogging a bit to catch up. She didnt really know what to say. Maybe Haru's charm had rubbed off on her sensei and suddenly she became nice overnight. Or maybe it was the food! Ha! Yes....thats a very good possibility. That food was good. she smiled to herself.

Walking back, the sun was about to settle down. Mika walked next to Haruhi. ''You're quite bad at taijutsu, but we will work on that. There is also something else we can train while on our way back. Analyzing. After all, you need to be aware of what is happening so you can react on it. So lets do it on a simple level.'' Mika began as she pointed subtly to a patrolling group of Kirigakure shinobi. Most of them were wearing flak jackets, but Mika said nothing as she nodded towards Haruhi to see if she understood that she had to voice to her sensei what details she could pick up from them.

Haruhi listened to her teacher and looked at the group of shinobi. She thought about it for a bit before speaking. "Well, this is just a hunch but maybe something is happening politically. I think if it was just another routine patrol to make sure things were alright, they wouldn't be traveling in groups. Perhaps they suspect something to happen soon and they dont know when." she paused to finish collecting her thoughts. "Also, some of them seem to be higher ranking than others. Maybe certain ones have a unique skill set they need in order to get more information about something, or to provide backup in a dangerous situation." Haruhi thought it was a little far off, but she was told to guess so, she did.

Listening to her student analyse, Mika also looked at the group. ''You had some good points. I think that its a regular group patrol. If something would happen then I would have noticed that already.'' Was the first reply, but a pause followed. After all, Mika wanted to be sure. Looking around, she didn't notice anybody hiding to keep an eye on the public or such. If something would go down, then the ANBU would likely have people to watch over the public. Both for their safety as for to suppress any trouble makers. ''But you got it right that some are of higher rank. Notice that some aren't wearing flak jackets or such? That means they are below Chuunin rank. Come, lets try it one more time.'' Patting the back of Haruhi, Mika led her again in the streets. The eyes of the woman looked around till she noticed a big bloke. ''Now, try to analyse him. Take it easy, okay?''

Haruhi squinted at the man and looked at him a moment. How was she supposed to know anything about him. He seemed normal enough. Raising her finger to her lip in thought she hesitated before answering. "I bet that guy is wealthy." she said simply. Looking at her teacher, she smiled. "Can i have a piggy back ride?"

Sighing, she lowered through her legs as she placed a hand on Haruhi's head. ''You're doing it wrong. Look, he is at least three heads taller than you. That means he weighs more and likely has more strength. Though I suppose he isn't as fast nor as agile as you can be. That can be an advantage. Not to mention, he is big. Meaning more easier to hit if you can aim well enough.'' Mika said as she glanced at Haruhi. ''And alright. Come, we're going home.'' Mika said, removing her hand from Haruhi's head but kept staying crouched.

Haruhi listened to what her teacher had said. Oh...thats what she meant. I'm an idiot. she thought to herself. Then she noticed Hayashi sensei had stayed crouched down to accept her piggy back ride request. Squealing happily and hopping in place for a moment, she went behind her teacher and climbed on her back. "Thanks so much sensei! Oh, but dont go too fast...i dont wanna fall off." she said, laying her chin on her teachers right shoulder.

Mika simply nodded as she raised from her crouched position. Walking home, she was mostly silent as she carried Haruhi. ''You can call me Mika, Haruhi.'' The woman told Haruhi. Her eyes briefly looked at the right, noticing some features of Haruhi as her head was laying on her right shoulder. ''I am thinking that we'll need to think about some things. But that can wait.'' Mika said on a hushed tone. Becoming silent again, she couldn't help but to smile a bit. It was just one corner of her mouth that went a bit up. Spending time with Haruhi was something she liked, but it also meant reliving the memories of the past. The past with her younger brother. Trying to get him to train his taijutsu. Becoming better at throwing shuriken or sneaking around, as they played games.

''Hey, don't fall asleep.'' Mika said, not sure if Haruhi would, but she wouldn't just carry her around because she was sleepy.

Haruhi stayed quiet for a few moments before a few tears fell onto her sensei's shoulder. She had tried to hold them back but it was harder to do than she thought. "Sen...i mean Mika. I guess now is a better time than any to tell you something... I'm really happy that i got to be your student. When i first met you, i have to admit i thought you were a bitch. No offense, but i think it was for valid reasons...you were not as nice to me then, but now i dont see you that way anymore. You given me so much strength and...even though im still not that strong, in my mind i feel like ive learned more from you than i would have with any other sensei. So...i guess what im trying to say is, remember when you told me you wanted to protect me, from becoming cold? I think the only way that could happen is if i lose you. Your like, my best friend...and if you werent here then, i dont know what i'd do." she stopped speaking and sighed. This sounded really mushy, but hopefully her point would be noticed.

"You once asked me what i would do if i ever saw a friend's face in that book, the Bingo Book. Before, i didnt now, but now that i do have a friend in there, i'm going to do whatever it takes to protect them. To protect you. And even if you dont need it, i just want to make sure. I wont let anyone kill you like my Father...i wasent strong enough to protect him when it happened. Now, i'm going to train as hard as it takes. I dont care how many people i have to kill to keep you safe, but i'll do it. I'm not losing anyone else thats close to me." She paused and turned her head, looking out at the people of the villiage. All these people were counting on the shinobi of this villiage to protect them, and she would do it. She would help those who even thought they didnt need the protection.

Haru wiped her eyes and wondered why the tears had fallen in the first place. She let her sensei think for a moment before she would finish saying what she had to say. "I know you did some...bad things in your past, but i think that even you deserve a chance at a happy future. You should be able to spend your entire life trying to make up for your mistakes if you so choose, and i want to be able to make sure that happens for you." She smiled then and sat up a bit straighter, putting her hands on Mika's shoulders then. "My dad alays used to tell me that as long as my heart keeps beating, i can do anything!" she said throwing her hands in the air then.

The woman kept walking as she said nothing. It would look like the words of Haruhi had no effect on Mika. But they actually had one. If Mika was less good with hiding her true emotions and thoughts, she would have cried. But she didn't. For a brief moment, she actually was seriously thinking if she could even cry again. Wondering how it felt to shed tears for a reason. Then after some moments, Mika responded. ''That is only logical. You can't do things that easily if you're dead or when your heart stops beating.'' Was Mika's neutral reply. But she found herself a bit smiling at the words of her student. I feel the same, Haruhi... You're just like him. I... am glad too. Looking over her shoulder, Mika glanced at her student with a sideways look. ''Besides, focus first on yourself for a bit before you aim to protect me.''

Haruhi smiled and patted her sensei's head. She said nothing, just layed her chin back on her shoulder and looked around, enjoying the ride. After a moment she said, "Can't you go any faster?" The question was met with a scoff. ''Why? I am not in a hurry for once. Neither are you.'' Mika reacted with a bit of an amused tone in her voice. She continued on the relaxed calm pace she had been walking. They were almost near Mika's home. For once, Mika felt no reason to sigh when she realized she was near the place she called home. Thinking about that, she continued to keep carrying Haruhi on her back.

[Mr Nim]

Hoshi Miwa

Looking at Tora as he went next to her, she gave him a small smile before Eiji landed next to her "Hello Eiji. I assume you can guess this is your new student." She said and looked at Tora "Tora, this is Eiji Emiya, your sensei. I do hope you two will get along nicely, and I also hope we can have the lesson about genjutsus soon enough." Hoshi said. She also saw Kuni land next to Eiji, slightly pouting. Looking around a bit, she wondered where the third student was "I thought there was also a third student?" She asked, and Kuni raised her head "He said he needed to go do something back at home. I wasn't paying too much attention" Kuni said, and Hoshi nodded.

Soon after, Ryoku landed next to Hoshi, and after a brief hello to Eiji and her, to which she replied with a nod, he entered a different room and allowed his students to train a bit. She then watched as another team landed, and the sensei talked to his students a bit. Walking inside the room, she approached Ryoku, who watched his students do the runs. Standing next to him, she gave a small smile to the running students "We are almost ready to begun, Ryoku-sama. We just need the forth team to arrive." She told him, and waited for his reply.

---

Yoshikuni Sadako

Hearing her sensei's reply, she realised that she had been dumb enough to not even look in the trees. How could she have missed such a thing? Wanting to slap herself, Kuni noticed Shiro looked to the side, and after quickly telling her something about needing to go do something in his home, he left without saying a word to Eiji. Wondering was he in a rush, but not too interested or eager to find out, Kuni just kept following Eiji.

Soon enough they landed back in Amegakure, and in front of an impressive looking structure, which they entered. They found Hoshi, who Kuni thought was cool, but a bit too purple headed, and next to her was a boy. Tora introduced him to Eiji, and Kuni caught the name Tora. What kind of a name was Tora? She thought for a moment, while taking deep breaths to properly regain her breath "I thought there was also a third student?" Hoshi suddenly asked, and Kuni looked at her "He said he needed to go do something back at home. I wasn't paying too much attention" She replied, and Hoshi nodded in return "What now, Eiji-sensei?" She asked before seeing the Amekage come, say a brief hello and another something to Eiji, and then another room in the structure with his team.

[Mr Nim]

Deidara Yuhiko

Sitting on a tree's branch outside his house, wearing his black hood and stolen ANBU mask, Deidara was meditating while holding the Tiger seal. He felt the heat of a fire butterfly inside of his mouth, but also managed to keep it there for several minutes now. Hearing a pair of small wings suddenly arrive, he quickly let go of the seal, which made the butterfly in his mouth vanish, and then removed the mask from his face before the small sparrow that was his cousin's sparrow see it. He jumped down, at which point Michi spotted him and went to fly in front of him.

"Asami has requested that all of Team 13 will meet her at the Minosaki Teahouse within three hours." the small bird told him, at which Deidara nodded before doing a few seals and letting out his mouth a small water butterfly. He let the sparrow drink from it for a bit before it flew away from him, and Deidara released the jutsu and made the water butterfly vanish. Sighing and wondering why would Asami suddenly want to see him and his team, he went inside his house to hide the cloak and mask before changing to his regular attiture.

---

3 hours laters

Arriving at the tea house a couple of minutes after the shceduled three hours, Deidara looked at it from the outside. It was a very average tea house, and he found nothing special in it. Sure, it appeared nice, but he wondered if there was anything that Asami was hiding in it. Walking inside, he spotted Midori and Renya, and gave them both a wave of his hand before approaching the two "Hey Midori, Renya. Nice to see you two." He said and gave them a smile, also wondering where Asami might be hiding, unless he was blind and she was hiding right under his nose.

[Mr Nim]

Sakamoto Senju

Arriving at the gates of Konoha appeared really nice and welcoming to him now. He wasn't about to say Kirigakure was extremely menacing, but he did have an odd feeling about it. But nothing could beat being back where he belonged. He begun jumping between the building roofs, making his way to the Hokage office. Landing on a roof in front of it, he saw Meisa and gave her a wave of his hand, seeing she is in the middle of briefing a team, and then jumped to the window of Hisoka's office, which was open, as usual.

Going through it, he landed on the office floor and immediatly kneeled "I have returned from my mission successfully, Hokage-sama, and I have a full report, including a further report on what you requested from me." He said, and then looked at Hisoka, hoping he would allow him to get up soon. His knees weren't used to kneeling too much, and even mere moments were annoying to him.

[AlterNathan]

Hyuuga Ezuri

Ezuri utilized his byakugan to the fullest and once he devised a good strategy he let himself drop down, or better said he dived. Burying his kunai deep into the back of a guards neck. The both of them fell the ground simultaneously because of Ezuri's momentum, he hoped the thud of them hitting the ground was not loud and alarm the other bandits. Ezuri took out a couple of kunai and threw those at another bandit, using his last kunai he quickly killed a groggily guard with a stab in the kidneys. By now almost all guard are up and running because of the ruckus the four shinobi made, seemingly appearing out of thin air in the middle of the camp. They certainly had the element of surprise. Ezuri struck another one down who managed to sneek up behind him, with an elbow and the ribs followed by a shotei to his throat which made short work of him. Ezuri relinquished all his emotions during the killing. It was a nasty job but someone has to do it.

[Lesli]

Aiko Cho-Hon,
Jounin-sensei of Team 8,

Rallying the team.

Sitting on the chair, Aiko raised her cup. The steam alarmed that the tea was still hot, but she couldn't resist. It had her favorite taste to it. Strawberry. Sipping a tiny bit, to not burn her mouth, Aiko placed the cup down as she sighed. For a moment she wished she could have some chakra nature which could cool down the tea. But then having a chakra nature that could keep it warm would be nice too. Finding her own thoughts a bit funny, Aiko leaned on the table as she waited for two things.

Dangoes and her team.

As she was in the dangoe shop, waiting for the team to gather as she had sent them a note about gathering in some dangoe shop, she had also ordered some dangoes. For both her and her genins, if they would like to eat a bit. Going to train on an empty stomach wasn't really that great. At least, she thought it wasn't. Wondering how her team would be now. Koike was still there. Mamoru was now on some training regime, so she had let him train himself for some time. And there was a new addition to the team. A Cho. It was fun to see another clan member joining the ranks of Team 8 as Aiko had read about her profile. Nothing that made her frown or look surprised, but she knew that on paper they couldn't write down about everything that she could experience when talking and interacting with the said person. Looking at the tea, she noticed the warm steam still coming from it. It was really annoying she couldn't cool it down with something.

[Lesli]

Yumi Hasewaga
ANBU operative of Team 4

Meeting up.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Yumi was hurrying herself. She had only had received the message of the meeting of the team when she had came back from training. Hoping that she wouldn't be too late, she noticed two people already at the top of the Hokage Office. Speeding up her pace, she managed to land several moments after Katsuko did so. Luckily, due her stamina, she wasn't panting or breathing heavily. But she felt a bit winded up as she had sprinted all the way. ''Present! She said, saluting as she pounded softly her right fist on her chest while waiting for orders. It did slightly surprised her that Katsuko was wearing a vest, but it wasn't the time to joke or talk about that. Not when they would have a meeting with the Hokage assistant, who would likely brief them about their mission.

[LillyDove]

Team 7, Shisen Inuzuka

Shisen heard the whispered words as she built up chakra using the four legs technique so that her reflexes and speed were increased. Although this would be the fourth or fifth time she had used it today, it was starting to put some strain on her body. Dropping from the trees in a blur of motion as she and Arashi raced forwards on all fours, she neared the first bandit, readying her weapon and nails but she hesitated. Arashi didn't, lunging at his throat before he could try to harm Shisen, a savage snarl was emitted from Arashi as she ripped at his throat. Shisen managed to swiftly recover and go after her second or rather first bandit as Arashi had done the first kill for them. Swiping her claw like nails across his throat along with her kunai as Arashi swiftly raced towards the third, lunging at him in an enraged manner.

Shisen spun around after she had killed the bandit and found herself to be surrounded by two of them, one of which had a weapon pressed against her. Using her brute force she slammed into the one who didn't have a weapon pressed into her skin, the other took that moment to slice at her before Arashi jumped on his back with her claws digging into his back as she bit at his throat. It took about two minutes before the two were killed and they were able to breath for a moment. It wasn't hard to tell, the ninken was outraged that someone had come so close to killing her partner.

[LillyDove]

Team 8, Yukara Cho

Yukara had decided to leave her hair down instead of pulling it up with a band, running a brush through it swiftly before tossing it on her bed carelessly before darting out the window that she never closed. Her sensei was to be Aiko Cho-Hon, which was perfect because she would be taught by the person that she was determined to surpass. "She won't even see it coming, I'll defeat her with my prowess and feminine quality in the field" Yukara said cheerily as she jogged towards the dango shop. She couldn't wait to meet this Aiko Cho-Hon, the living legend and it was even better to be taught by her. She approached the shop and slowed to a casual walk, flipping her hair behind her shoulders and smiling happily. That's when she saw her sensei, she stopped to take in the scene before grinning and thinking about jumping in with both feet. A little harmless Genjutsu wouldn't hurt would it? With a giggle she flounced over to her and stuck out her hand to shake. "Yukara Cho, it's nice to meet you Aiko Cho-Hon" Yukara said happily.

[Little Alice]

Asami Sanosuke
The Raikage Assistant,

Temporary leader of Team 13.

''Its nice to see all of you here.~'' A very familiar voice would say. At least, familiar to both Midori and Deidara. The voice came from a woman that was calmly drinking some coffee. Looking up, the green eyes that looked with an interest in the direction of the group, Asami rose from her chair as something landed on the shoulder of the young woman. Glancing at each of them, her gaze fell the longest on Midori. ''Its good you all came. Today is going to be a bit different as your sensei is sent on a mission. Alone. I can't and won't brief you any details, but you will fall under my leadership for now.'' Asami said, with a clear voice. They would all likely feel something strange now. Like the whole area was becoming blurry. Placing her hands on her hip as she kept looking down on the chuunin and two genins in front of her. ''I see that the poison is working. It was so easy. Did you know that when you breath in, that you can breath in something nasty? I suspect that he feels bad for it, but never trust anything that can be dangerous. Even a sparrow.'' Asami said.

Not giving them much time to answer back, she continued. ''The poison will continue to make you feel dizzy and confuse your chakra moulding. This means that I wouldn't recommend to use any type of Jutsu. In fact, I think that you don't want to end up, crawling over the ground in pain. The effects will become worse over time. How to stop this?'' Asami paused, a smile briefly on her lips. ''You need to find the antidote. Where it is? Michi has it.. Where is Michi?'' The bird on her shoulder was gone. ''He is gone. Happy hunting.~''

Flying out of the window, the sparrow went to a nearby tree as he had a small tube on his back. With two pills, the sparrow waited to see what the genins would do. He knew the orders and instructions of Asami and did felt bad for making the young lings breathing in the specially made poison. But it wasn't lethal. So far he knew.

[ChromeHound]

Hayate Hyūzu
Konoha - Team 2

Moving into position, Hayate kept an eye out on the bandits. There were quite a few of them in the camp. He kept track of their positions and their lines of sight between each other, making sure that when he attacked, he would know the right targets. Looking back at his new temporary teammates, Hayate hoped that they would work cohesively with one another. He was used to working with Kiyomi and Lee-san, and they worked very well as a team. Hayate readied himself, it would soon be time.

At Kensuke's command, Hayate's clones used the double suicide decapitation technique to quickly take out two guards before disappearing back underground. Leaping from his perch, Hayate landed close to Kensuke. He had originally anticipated that the team would stick close and systematically clear out the bandits, but as he watched that didn't seem to be the case. Operating on the fly, Hayate quickly moved towards a nearby bandit. He had chosen one that was not in sight of the others and, before the man had a chance to react, Hayate had clamped one hand over his mouth and used the other to ram a kunai through the back of the man's skull. Dropping the man, Hayate targeted another bandit not far away. Pulling out two kunai, he whipped them towards the man, one hitting him in the back and the other connecting right through the man's throat.

As far as Hayate was aware, he had not yet been seen. Moving swiftly back towards the tree, Hayate fell into position beside Kensuke. Looking around he could see that his two teammates had managed to take out a few of the other bandits. Unfortunately, it appeared as if there wasn't a formation that they were following. Hayate stayed close to Kensuke for the moment, his staff drawn in one hand, a kunai in the other. He wasn't foolish enough to run out and try to take down as many as he could, instead Hayate waited to see how the bandits would react, so that he could hopefully formulate a better plan of attack.