[IC] Naruto Gaiden: The Will Of Fire!! (AU)

[King Kindred]

Arashi watched and listened as the others started talking about going out to eat. As tempting as it sounded he didn't think he'd be joining them. The whole Pein Invasion motivated him to train even more. He didn't want to feel so useless like he did then. He wasn't even allowed to fight. He had to help get the citizens to shelter. He knew that it was an important job, but it still felt rather underwhelming. He wanted to be someone who risked his life for his village. He may not have been the hero of the village like Naruto was, but he still expected to be something.

He looked to the others as they started to head off. He rubbed the back of his neck and deactivated his Sharingan. "I think I'll catch a rain check on the grill. I have something important I need to do at home." He gave them a smile before running off towards the Uchiha Clan Compounds. He felt pretty selfish, but he was sure that he'd get over the feeling. This was important to him and at the moment it was more important than eating with his squad after a training session. They had two extras to replace him with. They'd be fine.

[Rex]

Seth walked out of the general store with a satisfying smile on his face. He was able to get the ingredients for his special Jerk chicken and Angry Crab Stew. He was thrilled that the shop keep was so distracted he didn’t see Seth swipe a fair amount of booze. He ran towards the grill shake and when he arrived he began to set everything up. Before heading to the general store he headed home to get the chicken that was marinating for a day and a half in salt, peppers, green onions, thyme and 1/2 cup water, chiles, thyme, spices (such as cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves), garlic and onions. Seth took eight big pieces of chicken and laid them on the grill. Hey began to sizzle and their aroma made Seth wipe the saliva from his mouth.

Seth then took out a large pot and filled it with clam juice before prepping the leeks, potatoes, habaneros, and jalapenos. He then slid all the ingredients into the pot before adding a half a bottle of hot sauce and half a block of cream cheese into the mix. After that he began prepping the crab meat. He chopped all the pieces into small chunks before adding them to the pot. He placed the lid on the pot before going back to the chicken.

He flipped the chicken to show the back side of the chicken perfectly grilled. He then took out a large pineapple and began prepping it. He chopped the head and the butt from the pineapple before skinning it and then slicing it. He then placed each slice onto the grill before going back to his Angry Crab Stew. When he lifted the lid, a huge puff of stem erupted from the stew. The aroma of the stew smelled like a seafood stew mixed with hot chepolta.

Seth turned down the stew and let it simmer as he took each piece of chicken and plated it with a grilled pineapple on top. He then drizzled sweet and sour sauce on top of the chicken and pineapple. He placed a ladle full of his Angry Crab Stew next to the chicken before he placed them at the bar so everyone could take a plate. He reached into the rest of the bags and placed drinks for everyone. Somewhere an assortment of soft drinks while other where an assortment of booze like beer, Sake, Happoshu, Plum wine, and Chuhai. He looked at everyone who came and said, “Bonaparte.”

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin was just arriving as Seth finished preparing everything. She appeared in a puff of smoke making her ‘grand’ entrance. With a quirky grin she waved at whoever was present. “Hey guys!” she said in an equally quirky high pitched tone. She went out to the bar to see what Seth had prepared and soon enough she stared wide eyed at the various assortments of food.
She then turned to Seth and stared at him intently. “Byakugan!” She used her byakugan to look around the entire area. “Where are they hiding!?” she shouted in rather comical fashion to indicate she was not serious. “You did not prepare all this by yourself! Certainly those who helped you must still be hiding somewhere around here!”
“They must be quick ones to escape so quickly.” She said a few moments later with an exaggerated tone of defeat.

Minutes later she was digging into the carefully prepared meals. She once again stared at Seth and as she swallowed the last bite she took she spoke out. “Genjutsu! It’s the only explanation. Nothing real could taste this good.”

She continued eating before mumbling to herself. “I’d be lucky if my best dishes tasted half as good as this.” There was also a temptation to try Sake. Unlike Seth, she wasn't a regular drinker, yet due to various circumstance she had at some point tried out the diverse beverages that Seth had to put their disposal. But not sake. She knew this was a bad idea, however would that be enough to keep her away from it?

[Alan Hawke]

The Next Day...

Itachi Uchiha stood looking out the window in his Hokage Mansion, he looked at the beautiful sight of the village--happy to be back in the village. The Uchiha turned around and was facing Team 2, Rin, and Izu. He had summoned Akio Senju here and by default, Akio brought along his Team and every once in a while, Rin. However, he had never seen the Mist Ninja before. Itachi took a seat in his signature Hokage chair and smiled at the Mist ninja, "Welcome to Konoha. I hope you've been enjoying your stay. I'm Itachi Uchiha, fifth and current Hokage of Konoha." He paused for a brief moment to let Izu say anything if he wanted to before continuing, "I'm afraid your visit in Konoha will be extended for a while..." Itachi's eyes shifted to Akio, "The Akatsuki, which was revealed to be lead by Hashirama Senju, has declared war on the Five Great Nations."

Akio's eyes widened, "You mean... the Fourth Great Ninja War?" His eyes then narrowed back to their usual state, "Most of the Akatsuki's ranks have been dealt with, what army would they even use? Hell, what do they even want?" Itachi then thought for a moment, "To be completely honest Akio, I do not know. However, I do know they want the two remaining Jinchurki: Naruto and Killer Bee. The Five Great Nations have put together a temporary truce until we can get this all sorted out." The Senju folded his arms, "Itachi--I mean Lord Fifth, Konoha is still weakened from the Pain Invasion. Would it really be wise to enter this war?" The Hokage sighed, "Akio, if that masked man is really Hashirama Senju--we need to stop him no matter the cost." Akio nodded, "I trust your judgement Lord Fifth."

Itachi then stood back up and spoke loudly, "Alright, you all are dismissed. Enjoy the next few days you have here before we have to make our way to the rendezvous point with the other nations. Understood?"

Akio responded with a simple nod and proceeded to walk out of the room.

[Weird Tales]

When Izu got to the grill he was very amused by Rin's use of her Byakugan to see if there were any other benefactors in this feast. Izu was glad that there was a good amount of meat and crab stew, it looks like Leaf ninja knew how to cook after all. He dug into the grub and was surprised by the taste and loved it. It reminded him a bit of the place he went to in Kirigakure and he felt himself miss his home and he wondered how long he would be staying in the leaf village.

Next Day

Izu was surprised that he was getting to see the Hokage himself and this made suspect that something important must have happened at the Summit and he was now very curious. Akio was kind enough to let them all come along and upon entering the Hokage's office Izu got his first close up look of Itachi Uchiha. He had heard many stories of the shinobi's incredible skills in the arts of ninjutsu and even though he had problem with the Uchiha Izu was trained enough to know better than to be disrespectful a Kage.

"It's an honor to meet the famed Fifth Hokage. My stay here has been good, the village is so different from Kirigakure" he replied to the Hokage. When Itachi talked about him staying longer than expected, Izu already knew that. Just before coming to the Hokage's office he had received a letter from his master about the situation and instructed him to stay in Konoha and assist in the war effort. Izu didn't mind too much, but he would have liked to have seen his parents before this whole started.

Just a few days to get ready for war, Izu would try and spend as much time training as he could so that he was as prepared as he could be for the coming battles.

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin stood there being unable to focus her eyes on anything in particular as she was still slightly hung over from the previous day. She did in fact have quite a few rounds of sake. Regardless she could at least focus on what the fifth hokage was saying.

Rin was ripped out of her hazy world as fifth informed them that the fourth shinobi war would begin. She then glanced at Izu. He was right after all about the war, she thought. As the discussion continued she too like Akio wondered who exactly they were going to fight, the Akatsuki didn’t have any army to speak of, as far as she knew. The thing that surprised her was that fifth didn’t instruct them to not spread word of the war. I guess soon enough everyone will find out anyways. There’s no way around it.

As Akio left she followed him but at the door she hesitated and turned towards the hokage as if wanting to inquire something else, but in the end she said nothing and left the room with the rest.

“I’m heading out for some training. Anyone else want to join?” She asked whoever was still there and listening once outside. Her tone was far more serious and chilly than her usual one. It was clear she didn't take the news of a war coming lightly.

[Rex]

Seth stood with Akio and the others. His head was fuzzy from all the drinks and food, but on the plus side it seemed everyone had a good time. After cleaning up the grill and heading home, he had a few more drinks before passing out around three in the morning. His alarm nearly gave him a heart attack this morning when it went off. In the last few days he was ushered to get up early, something he wasn’t custom to since he wasn’t a morning person. If only morning started at noon, then I could be a morning person. Seth thought.

Seth tried to listen to Itachi, but only got a few hints of what he was saying. He stood there rubbing the side of his head trying to get the fuzziness and the headache to disappear. Seth found that, sometimes a cigarette would help his hangovers so he stood with the others with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He let out small puffs of white smoke away from the others so the smoke wouldn’t bother them and so it didn’t go anywhere near Itachi. He might have been reckless and hotheaded, but he still showed respect towards those who deserved it. When they were dismissed he walked out with the others and heard Rin talk about training.

“I’m going to pass on the training, but could you recap what Itachi said? My hangover made it hard for me to focus, or hear what he said,” Seth asked as he rubbed his eyes and added, “How the hell could you focus Rin? You drank more Sake then me. Not to mention you ate nearly half a pot of Angry Crab Stew. How the hell is your stomach not on fire?”

[Javier]

Hayashi stood there, slightly confused. He had drank quite a bit and felt slightly dizzy, but managed to keep enough attention on Itachi to collect that a war was going to happen and they were going on some mission. As they walked out, Rin mentioned something about training, and Hayashi was instantly in. He was meaning to get to know new jutsu. "Yeah, sure, I'll come since we need to train for the war and stuff." When Hayashi heard about a war, he thought it was a minor war since he couldn't understand that it was the Fourth Great Ninja War that Itachi was talking about.

"Hey, why are you sp serious Rin, we're just going on a mission?" asked Hayashi, clueless about what was really going on. The night before he drank so much he passed out but he didn't seem to be hit as hard as Seth, who failed to understand anything Itachi said since he asked just that.

With the tiny amount of focus the sake left in his mind, Hayashi managed to think of new jutsu to learn and jutsu he knew to perfect. He definitely wanted to learn water style and make his genjutsu better. Hayashi hoped to one day have genjutsu as strong as Shisui, who could literally make someone kill themselves with it.

For now, he had to start small and work his way up since the jutsu people like Itachi and Shisui know are way too advanced, and even if they weren't, Hayashi isn't really all that mentally fit at the moment to learn them.

[Weird Tales]

Izu face-palmed when he heard Seth mention about skipping out on training and then ask them what the Hokage had said. This was why Mist ninja were better trained and didn't slack off like Konoha shinobi.

"This is why I don't drink, he said we have a few days to prepare Seth! And if you think that slacking off is going to make ready for this war then you'll be the first to die" Izu said to the leaf Chunin with a stern voice. He honestly couldn't believe that this boy was ahead of him in rank with such a lazy personality. Izu then turned to look at Rin and replied to her question.

"Sure I would definitely love to get some training in and prepare as much as possible for this war" he said to the Hyuga with a smile. It looked like Hayashi Uchiha would also be joining them as well, at least it meant that he would have a chance to see what an Uchiha could do and find ways to outdo them.

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin smirked at Izu’s response to Seth’s hangover. Having a personal no alcohol rule wasn’t such a bad idea. One thought lead to another and as such she was now thinking of what life must be in the Village hidden in the Mist. She made a mental note to ask Izu about that before realizing she hadn’t replied to Seth.

She was about to explain that the fourth great ninja war is about to start but then Seth continued by questioning the amount of food and sake Rin had last night. She couldn't help but chuckle and was glad Seth managed to lessen the tension hanging in the air with that. “Well the food helped mitigate the effects of the sake, I’d say. And you’re damn right my stomach is on fire, but that’s all your fault”, she playfully poked him in the shoulder with a finger, “Cause you’re such a darn good cook.”, finishing in a coquettish tone.

Rin then narrowed her eyes. “About your earlier question”, she sighed and stared blankly upwards at the sky “The Akatsuki have declared war on all shinobi nations. And their leader claims to be Hashirama Senju.” She glanced at Akio whom they were still following the stairs down, wondering how he felt about this afterwards turning her head to face Hayashi. “That’s why I’m so serious. The Fourth Great Ninja War is about to begin.”, she sighed again and tilted her head to the left and right her neck bones making cracking and popping sounds in the process.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs she placed an arm around Seth. “Get some rest, you’re in no shape to train like this anyways.”, she giggled, her cheerful attitude returning to her. She then took a few bouncy steps ahead of the others and turned to them indicative that she was ready to head to the training grounds but not before she threw a stare at Arashi. “What about you? You haven’t said much. Everything alright?”

[Rex]

Seth glared at Izu before he said, “I understand how the Mist train their ninjas, But damn it don’t you dare bring my ability into this. I’ll lay my life down for my comrades! I’d gladly be that sacrifice so my comrades and my village survive. So don’t you EVER bring my ability into this!” it seemed Seth’s hangover had faded because all the fuzziness was gone and replaced with anger towards the Mist ninja. He might have misunderstood Izu’s intentions when he talked about Seth slacking off.

“I’ve changed my mind Rin. Count me in on training,” Seth said. He wanted to show Izu how wrong he was, but mostly it was because of what Rin told him about the war. He remembered the Pain invasion and remembered how helpless he was to Akio. He would never show it, but when Rin talked about the war. He could feel his body overcome with fear and it didn’t help that Izu was kind of right. His drinking and smoking was affecting his ability to fight and that scared him. Not because it could get him killed, but because it could get someone else killed. That’s what he feared the most: having someone die because of him. That’s why he ran into battle without thinking. His comrades where like his family, but again, he’d never admit it.

[Alan Hawke]

"Well you all get going then--except you," Akio said, looking at Seth before proceeding to look back at the others. "I want to talk to Seth for a minute." He continued as he pointed over his shoulder to the way out behind him, emphasising to the other teenagers that he wanted to speak to Seth alone. "Privately, if you all don't mind." He then folded his arms, "He'll join you all when we're done here." Akio looked over at Seth, debating whether or not to go on with what he was about to say to him after the other teens left the area.

[King Kindred]

Arashi listened intently to what Itachi was saying. They were going to head into the Fourth Great Ninja War and at the moment they really weren't prepared for it. People were still trying to get over the whole Pain Invasion and if it hadn't been for the revival of the fallen shinobi then they'd be even more unprepared for this. He listened to the others speak and remained silent. They wanted to train, but he still had some training of his own that he had to get done. He felt like he was being selfish by not joining with them, but this was something he had to do alone. He couldn't risk the others holding him back or him holding himself back by joining them in their training. He wasn't sure they'd understand so he didn't plan on telling them the real reason why he wouldn't train.

Things started to heat up and Seth spoke against Izu and him calling out his abilities and saying he'd be the first to die with this slacking off attitude of his. Despite the way Izu said it he did have a pretty valid point. Being a drunk and a smoker all the time could prove to give you problems in battle and especially so at such a young age. It was probably why they had age restrictions for such vices. He walked with the others down the stairs and turned to Rin when she spoke to him. "Yeah... Everything's fine. I just have something I need to take care of at home. I might catch up with you all later."

He started running off and left the others in the mansion. As he ran towards home he wondered if his father would be able to stop this war. If he talked to Hashirama he could convince him that this war wasn't the best course of action, right? All he had to do was use that jutsu and this could all be over. If that was the case then why did Arashi still feel like he needed to train? Was he doubting his father or was it something else? He wasn't even entirely clear as to why he was doing this solo training. Did he want to become stronger on his own without others helping him? Did he feel constantly shadowed by others and wanted to make something of himself? All of these were possibilities and he felt like only time could tell what the true answer was. Because as it stands he had no idea himself.

[Rex]

Seth stopped dead in his tracks. The urge to run like hell filled his body, but he knew Akio would catch him eventually. He turned towards Akio and smiled, “S-sure Akio.” Seth felt terror as he looked at him. Akio was someone Seth looked up to because of his cool demeanor and down to earth personality. That was partly why Seth actually liked being on team 2. Akio wasn’t an overbearing teacher and knew how to treat his comrades. However, that didn’t mean Akio was a push over and he could tell that Akio was about to scold him. Seth’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong and a million things ran through his mind. This isn’t going to be good. Seth thought as he tried to compose himself. he held back the urge to show fear by shacking and simply waited for Akio to speak.

[Alan Hawke]

"Seth, firstly..." Akio began with his strict tone, as if he was about to give a lecture--but then just sighed and smiled. "You're a really bright kid, so stop acting like a complete dumbass, okay?" He folded his arms and dropped his hands to his sides as he continued, "Seth, you are a rare breed of shinobi. The potential that I see in you is off the charts. When I first saw you when you were assigned to my team, I saw that fire in your eyes... and, well..." He sighed yet again and let out a slight smirk. "It reminded me of the fire I had in my eyes when I was a kid."

"When I was in the academy, I was looked down on. I was horrible--seriously, go ask Itachi how my grades were in the academy. I would go over to his house for tutoring nearly every night. Hell, I couldn't even get the transformation jutsu right. But Itachi was there for me when no one else was, and he opened up my potential--he believed that I would one day do something great," Akio was speaking directly from his heart, his emotions began to take control of what he was saying. "Itachi originally thought that it would be becoming Hokage. But now I finally know what it really is." Akio paused, letting his words sink into Seth. Akio's slight smirk had evolved into a huge smile, "And that's mentoring the future Hokage..."

Akio stretched his hand out it and placed it on the top of Seth's head, closing his eyes as he smiled. "You."

He removed his hand from his head and put it on his shoulder, "Don't think nobody believes in you for a damn second, Seth. Because I do. I believe you'll be either the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Hokage--whatever number you end up being! I believe you'll change Konoha for the greater good, maybe even the entire world. Seth, I actually died during my fight against Pain after I shouted at you to go. And you know why I defended you to my death? Not because I thought you were weak--nonononono, but because I'm willing to stake my life on the fact you can make this world a better place."

Akio then removed his hand from his shoulder and folded his arms again, "I just wanted you to know this Seth. I will always believe in you, even when others look down on you." He narrowed his eyes, successfully preventing any tears from sneaking out from his tear ducts. "That Izu kid? At this moment, he's your rival Seth. Prove him wrong about you. I want you to show him just how strong you really are--not just with your jutsu..."

Akio pointed at Seth's chest, "But with your heart as well. Understood?" He asked, his stern tone finally returning with his last word.

[Weird Tales]

Izu felt anger rise up within him as Seth talked back to him and he clenched his fists. This shinobi seemed to take his words as mere attacks when he was trying to tell him that his attitude would get him killed in battle, but that was how Konoha shinobi tended to act at times. He had endured insane amounts of physical training and bone-breaking sessions with his sensei and team. Through some miracle he kept himself from losing it and getting aggressive, but he was ready to take his anger at Seth to the training field and kick his butt. It seemed that Akio had other plans when he told them that Seth would be staying behind for a little bit longer so that the Jonin could have some words with him.

"We can settle our differences later, see you at the training field" he said to Seth and then followed the others out of the Hokage's office. It looked like Arashi Uchiha had other business to do, Izu didn't mind that, but he was curious to know what the genin's exact reasons for skipping training.

"Since we don't have too long to prepare we must train as hard as possible and try to strengthen our techniques" he said to the others as they started to make their way back to the training field. The thought of training made his mind bring back memories of his early days as a genin and the brutal training he had to go through. There were reasons why Kirigakure had gotten the infamous nickname The Village Hidden in The Bloody Mist, and Izu was proof of it.

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin merely nodded to Arashi. ‘something he needs to take care of’, as if he couldn’t make it any more obvious. Something's on his mind, Rin thought, but she knew better than to poke into other people’s business. That’s the only time her curiosity knew some limits. Her eyes lingered on Arashi as he left.
She looked at Akio as he asked them to give him and Seth a private moment and simply nodded again. But would she actually do it. She had already denied her curiosity once when she let Arashi leave without further questioning. In the end she started walking towards the training grounds with the rest that were joining.

“Well that’s what training is for, right?”, she said to Izu responding to his suggestion of strengthening their techniques. They weren’t even walking for a minute when her urge took over.
“I’ll be back in a bit.” And without further clarifications she body flickered away, doubling back towards Akio and Seth.
Rin took cover on the roof of the hokage residence while peeking in on the conversation. She made sure to circumvent the two so she wouldn’t get spotted when she arrived.

As she began listening mid conversation she could hear Akio talk about his poor grades in the academy. She recalled her own times in the academy. Her grades were average at best but she persevered through hard training and most of all, clever self-motivation. And it worked. She always had a plan . . . for everything. She couldn’t stop planning even for the simplest of things like going to the store . . . or motivating herself. Rin tuned out the conversation for moment as she reminisced and when she focused on the conversation again she heard Akio placing his hopes in Seth to become the next hokage. Hokage. She thought about the word. She never believed being hokage was her calling. But the way Akio talked to Seth. For Rin it was almost like an indirect challenge. She would allow that competitiveness and that self-imposed ambition of becoming hokage to fuel and motivate her. That was it, she made up her mind that moment. Rin wondered for how long she’d be able to maintain this as her goal as it was usual for her to change it quite frequently, using whatever worked best in pushing herself to become stronger, that being her ultimate objective.

Akio then finished by advising Seth to prove Izu wrong. A smirk appeared on her face. Now this I wanna see, she though as she body flickered away. Rin wanted to make sure she got to the training grounds before Seth. She was already on her next plan. Akio was going to probably spark quite a rivalry between Seth and Akio. But Rin wanted to make sure that definitely happened. By giving Izu her own small speech, or at least using her charm on him somehow to manipulate him. She knew this would probably make both of them stronger, but at the same time she did it partly for her own amusement too.

[Rex]

Seth stood there dumbfounded. For the longest time he thought everyone just saw him as the odd man out since he was teamed with two Uchiha clan members. He felt like nothing more than the one everyone saw as the ninja to make sure the two Uchiha clan members came back safely while he be forgotten in the battle field. This to him really didn’t matter because he knew the dangers of being a ninja, but still took the risks to keep his comrades safe. Whether they be Uchiha or not. Then Akio dropped bombshell after bombshell.

First was the fact that he saw him as a future Hokage. Him? Seth really didn’t see himself as a future Hokage, but that thought did cross his mind a few times when he was training. However, he knew being Hokage was a big responsibility. On the other hand he knew of all the damn paper work a Hokage had to do since Akio always mentioned how drowned in it Itachi was. He’d rather be in the front lines fighting then sitting in a chair sending other ninja to the battle field, but the fact that Akio saw him as a future Hokage lit a fire in Seth. Now he wanted to become stronger and prove anyone who saw him as weak wrong.

The second bombshell nearly extinguished that flame as Akio told him about the Pain invasion and his ultimate doom. That fact that he left Akio to die was why he always ran into battle first. To give anyone who needed it a way to survive and not die on the battle field. However, Seth kind of knew what Akio was doing. He was trying to push Seth to be a better person and better ninja then he was. When he talked about Izu being his rival kind of made the fire in him burn brighter. He really didn’t see Izu as a rival but a team mate who would push him to be the very best and he wanted to do the same.

“Yes, I do understand Akio. However,” Seth said before he joked, “Do you know what kind of monster you just unleashed?” Seth smiled. He hated the whole mushy, feely type of talk and he needed to lighten up the mood. His smile faded as he continued, “I truly do understand Akio.” Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes he had swiped before coming here. He sighed before handed them to Akio.

“Guess I won’t be needed these anymore. A ninja with lung problems is a burden to the whole team,” Seth said. He knew quitting was going to be the hardest thing to overcome, but he had to do it. No, he needed to do it.

[Alan Hawke]

Akio put the cigarette pack in the pocket on the front of his vest, "Alright, now scram kid!" He shouted with a smile. He then turned behind him to see Itachi standing in the Hokage office doorway, "Akio, come in here for a moment." Akio nodded and proceeded back into the Hokage office as the Hokage closed the door behind them. Itachi didn't sit down as he had something to say right now and wanted to get straight to the point. "Akio, during the war--I'm placing you in the intelligence division. Which means you should probably get going very soon to help with the HQ's preparations." Akio raised an eyebrow at this, unsure why this was happening. "What? Who will lead Team 2 then?"

"You are extremely intelligent, we need you with Shikaku and Inoichi coming up with strategies if this war calls for it. Besides, it is far away from the battlefield and you will be safe--which you need to be, considering you're going to be a father soon." Akio sighed, "Okay. Okay. But what about Team 2?" Itachi began walking back over to his desk as he spoke, "Team 2 will be made into it's own five-man task force. The mist ninja, Izu, is included in that. I figure that we'll need a task force for something during the war, so they will be at the main camp--waiting for further orders to be given to them."

Akio broke eye contact uncomfortably, unsure of how his team would fare without him present. "It's okay Akio, they'll do fine." Itachi said, taking a seat in his chair. "If anything horrible does end up happening, well..." He paused before continuing, "Did you ever find Tsunade and recieve the training from her?" Akio responded with a nod, "Yes, I've been gathering chakra for years for the Strength of a Hundred seal--however, the seal is on my chest instead so knowledgable enemies don't expect it." Itachi hesitated before continuing, "Okay, if anything horrible to the task force happens, activate the Creation Rebirth jutsu and use the Raikage's assistant's Heavenly Transfer Technique to get there quickly. Understood?"

Akio nodded before turning around and preparing to walk out the door, "Wait..." The Senju turned his head back to Itachi expectantly, "Yeah?" The Uchiha smiled as he saw the fire that had yet to be extingished in Akio's eyes.

"Godspeed, Akio."

[Rex]

Seth nodded and ran out of the building towards the training grounds. He knew the others would be there and he wanted to show Akio he would get stronger. He needed to, otherwise he would be a burden to the rest of the time.

“Time to show everyone what I’m truly made of,” Seth said as he continued to the training ground. As he got closer to the training ground his smile only grew before he leaped off one of the trees and crashed down onto the training field, sending rocks and debris into the air. Seth walked out of the cloud of dust coughing as he said, “Didn’t really anticipate so much dust. So much for a grand entrance.” Seth simply sighed as his master entrance wasn’t what he thought it would be.

“Alright, who what’s to train first? I’ll guaranty you’ll be surprised at what tricks I have up my sleeves,” Seth boasted. Today’s the day I change both how I act and how I fight as a ninja. I’ll become stronger and protect my comrades. No matter what! Seth thought.