Everything had been going so well, and then she had fainted. When she awoke, Naruto had been different. Changed.
His eyes were dead. Cold. Weighing the world around him as if all he saw were targets.
Naruto-kun scared her.
She wanted the old Naruto-kun back. This one looked at her without any warmth in his eyes.
She wanted to flee, instead she meekly held up her hand. "A-Ano. I'm to play the part of a c-client in a test?"
Naruto inclined his head towards her briefly, then was gone in a swirl of leaves.
Hinata found herself relaxing just a bit.
Naruto pulled the mask up to cover his face below the eyes, then pulled the hood up.
[Camouflage]
This was easy. Too easy. Obviously the Copy Nin had some complications to throw at them. Most likely it was the team that would come after their "client" would have some tricks.
[Wide Area Search]
Naruto had chosen the high-guard tactic. Following at a distance and watching for potential threats. Then quietly eliminating them. In a non-fatal manner of course.
"Honestly, Sasuke, he just up and left us!" griped Sakura.
Sasuke glanced at Sakura but didn't say anything.
"Don't worry, Hinata, we'll protect you," said Sakura. "Honestly, what you ever saw in that NARUTO - I never knew."
"Uhm," managed Hinata nervously.
"He's all talk, no skill, completely the opposite of you, Sasuke," said Sakura.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Hostile approaching your position. Two o'clock."
Sasuke startled slightly at hearing Naruto's voice in his head. For a moment he considered that he'd imagined it.
"An opening!" stated a green spandex-clad boy as he leapt out of the trees and charged.
"EEK!" exclaimed Sakura.
"Eep!" managed Hinata, apparently going into the role of VIP client.
The green-clad boy continued his charge, going off into the brush on the other side of their clearing.
"What was THAT supposed to accomplish?" asked Sasuke, noting the boy hadn't actually come close to Hinata.
"He was a distraction," came Naruto's voice. "I dealt with the real attacker."
"Where is he?" asked Sasuke aloud.
"Sasuke? Where is who?" asked Sakura.
"Ten meters away, currently in your seven o'clock position. He's unconscious."
"Lead me there," said Sasuke. "Sakura, continue to guard the client."
"Me?! By myself?" asked Sakura.
"This won't take long," said Sasuke.
"There remain two attackers, both of them are hanging back. They may be concerned over their fallen comrade."
Sasuke didn't reply, merely speeding in the indicated direction. He found the boy soon enough, some long-haired boy laying facedown in the dirt. "He's not dead, is he?"
"Negative. Just unconscious. The two remaining are now circling the client's position."
"How are you doing this 'silent talking' bit?" asked Sasuke, his voice still low as he hefted up the fallen genin.
"I'm picking up what you say through a Wide Area Search which is distributed through the area. Silent communication is another ability of devices like this. Since you don't have a similar device, or a jutsu that does the same thing, we can't do this completely silently."
"Keep an eye on the two remaining genin, they'll probably react when I bring their comrade into view," said Sasuke.
"Affirmative."
Sasuke allowed himself a small grin while nobody could see him. He still couldn't figure out where Naruto was, but as long as the Academy's dead last was useful...
As soon as his Sharingan was active again, he'd have to steal those jutsu. Way too useful to remain the sole province of the class clown.
"Where's Neji?" asked Tenten, her voice a bare whisper.
"I performed the distraction per the plan, but he didn't attack," said Rock Lee, just as quietly.
Tenten nodded, then began moving forward silently. She stopped after a few such movements and regarded the air around her.
"What is it?" hissed Rock Lee from his position.
"We're being observed," said Tenten, her voice betraying some uncertainty.
"You're sure?" asked Lee.
"No, and I can't figure from where..." said Tenten, her eyes narrowed as she considered the most obvious conclusion. "They're three genin fresh out of the Academy, but maybe one of them has a kekkei genkai?"
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(Posted Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:05)
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