ShinobiKnight

I doubt anyone who ever read a chapter of it is still around, but shortly after joining NL, I started a fanfic. Eventually, it died. >_< I was disappointed because I had big things planned for the fic, and I'm a better writer now, so I'm going to give the fic another shot. Like I said before, I have big things planned for this fic, including a chuunin exam arc, the revival of Akatsuki, and even a war. I have the entire thing planned out until the end, but I need people to read it and keep it alive. So please give it a read.

Here is a synopsis of the setting, characters, and what has occurred in the fic so far:

The story is set 50 years after the end of Naruto (the series, not the character). Naruto, the Hokage, has two grandsons: Uzumaki Homaru (age 12) and Uzumaki Masahiro (14). They were given special training, in the hopes that Masahiro, or Homaru if Masahiro is killed, would someday succeed Naruto as Hokage. In order to complete their 3-man cell, and to be trained to protect the Uzumaki brothers at all costs, Mokume Masato (14) was pulled out of the ninja academy when he was young, and was raised with special training similar to theirs, but with more focus on protecting his teammates. They are called the "Special Hokage Cell" by the villagers. The three have grown up together and are very close. They work well together and have several different sets of hand signals in order to communicate silently and without anyone noticing.
Homaru has so far invented two jutsus on his own: the Fire Claw and Lightning Claw jutsus. Both of them begin with the nails on the right hand growing several inches, thus the "Claw" part of the title. When the Fire Claw jutsu is used, the hand becomes lit up with flame and can launch a huge blast of fire. The Lightning Claw makes the hand crackle with electricity and is used to fire a bolt of lightning. After the jutsu is used, the nails shrink again.

While on a mission, the Special Hokage Cell met and defeated a team of 3 Sound shinobi. Masahiro then knocked out and transformed into one of the sound nins, and he followed them when they retreated. 50 years after Orochimaru's death, the Sound village is a full-fledged village and recognized by all of the other villages. It has grown so powerful that its leader is called the Otokage. While in the village, Masahiro was discovered by Tenmade, the current Otokage and an expert in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Masahiro was rescued by a team of Konoha ANBU members, but not before Tenmade tortured him with genjutsu.
When his mind recovered, he and his teammates were sent on a mission to protect a man from the River Country named Kaito from an assassin hired by a crime lord. When the assassin attacked, they learned that it was a Chuunin from Konoha named Shou. Shou fought by using wind ninjutsu to control fuuma shuriken in mid-flight. Since the Uzumaki brothers and Shou both refused to give up on their missions, they clashed several times. Eventually, Kaito ordered the counter-assassination of the crime lord. The Special Hokage Cell complied and assassinated him. As soon as they had done so, Shou stopped attacking, since he was their comrade again. They left for the village together, and soon became friends. And that was where I left off.

...Phew! There was a lot to explain. The first chapter will be up soon, maybe in a few days.



Edit: The Update List!


All right, I had an idea, and Trey approved, so I decided to go ahead and do it. I'm going to make an Update PM list. If you like the fic, tell me to put you on the list. Then, when I update, I send a PM to everyone on the list to let them know so they can read it. If you want to be on the list, tell me here, in a PM, or in the Longest Thread Ever if I'm there.
Credit for the idea goes to LonelyNinja; he used to do this for me when he updated his fics.

The PM list currently consists of:
Trey
LonelyNinja

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Trey

Okay, sounds interesting. I'll read it if you write it.

Kina

I'll read it, it sounds worthy of my time (don't mean to sound stuck up).

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ShinobiKnight

For future reference, each new installment will be treated as a new chapter. Okay, here it goes:


Masahiro, Masato, and Homaru sat on a train, waiting to get to the next station. A large city in the Fire Country had been suddenly and inexplicably destroyed, and they had been sent to find out what had happened to it. Upon reaching the station, the three left the train and headed on foot to the city. They saw it from a distance, and what they saw shocked them.

Rubble littered the streets. Twisted scraps of metal pointed out from mounds of rocks, gleaming threateningly in the sunlight. As the team got closer, they saw spots of blood where a rock had fallen on a civilian. Corpses were everywhere. Masahiro bent down to examine a chunk of stone, and was surprised to find no signs of fire. He had never seen so much damage that wasn't caused by an explosion of some sort, but after examining several more rocks, he was satisfied that it wasn't an explosion.

Unnoticed by any of them, a small piece of rubble shifted and an eye peered through the hole. Its gaze first washed over Homaru, scanning the horizon; then it saw Masato examining a corpse; and finally, there was Masahiro looking over a bloody piece of glass.

The man hiding in the pile of rubble deliberately shifted another rock, more noisily than before. Masahiro heard it and walked over to the pile. Then he turned his head, just for a second, to see how the other two were doing.

In that instant, the man lunged, grabbed Masahiro, and withdrew into an underground tunnel, which the pile was hiding the entrance to. Homaru heard the commotion and turned his head just in time to see Masahiro disappear. He and Masato jumped up and ran towards their friend, but the man used earth ninjutsu to collapse the tunnel and block it. Homaru frantically started digging into the pile of dirt and rocks, shouting, "Masahiro!" while Masato pulled out a kunai and dug as fast as he could. But both of them knew it was in vain. By the time they made it through, Masahiro would be long gone.


When Masahiro woke up, he was in what looked to be a cave. He was tightly bound by ropes, but his hands were near each other, so he formed hand seals and tried to use ninjutsu to escape. The ropes only tightened, cutting off circulation to his hands. A man entered the room and saw him. "Oh, you're awake," he said. He had short, white hair and a goatee on his chin. His eyes were a cool green. He was tall and had on a cloak and baggy pants, so Masahiro couldn't see much of his build, but he could see that the man was thin.

He held out his hand, then withdrew it, as though he had forgotten that Masahiro was tied up. "Oops. Anyway, my name is Tasuhiko."

"Where am I? Why am I here?" Masahiro demanded.

Tasuhiko shook his head. "I'm afraid you're in no position to speak to me in that tone," he said. "I am in control here, and you are now my pawn. But I will answer one of your questions." He picked Masahiro up and carried him to another chamber, then set him against one wall so he could see the object that the chamber housed.

It was a gigantic machine, made of sleek metal. Lights glowed on its sides and near one end of it, where the controls were. The other end was conical and pointed upwards. There was a huge hole in the ceiling of the cave, which the machine presumably rose through to be used. Masahiro realized two things very quickly: that the machine was a weapon, and that it must have been responsible for the destruction he had witnessed earlier.

"Do you like it?" Tasuhiko asked whimsically. "My grandfather first invented the concept of this machine. My father then furthered his work, and I have completed it. With it, I can hold an entire city hostage and dominate my enemies with ease. I could take over the entire world with this!"

Masahiro stuggled against the ropes, but stopped when they held tight. "Then why do you need me?" he asked.

"Well, having ultimate power is no fun," Tasuhiko admitted. "Everything is just too easy. So I will find entertainment by manipulating you into doing something for me. Here is your mission: You will kill those two teammates of yours, Homaru and Masato. I think this goes without saying, but if you disobey the slightest order, if you tell anyone why you turned on your comrades, or if you run from me, I will destroy the entire village of Konohagakure. Think about it: if you obey, Masato and Homaru will die. If you disobey, Masato and Homaru will die anyway, but so will millions of people."

"You sadistic son of a..."

"Watch your tongue," Tasuhiko warned. "You are my servant now."

Masahiro tried to find a way out or find evidence that Tasuhiko was bluffing, but there was none. The destroyed city was a token of the machine's power. Utterly defeated, he hung his head. He had no choice but to obey.


Sorry, no fighting in this one, but it sets up the first (relatively short) story arc. There will be fighting in the next one, I promise.

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Kina

oh snap, he shoulda gone down there and killed that mofo

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XxamixX

wow...thats deep...

im excited about the combat... lets see how well your writting goes when you explain the fight scene.. good so far..

:eace sign::
::cool man::

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I have no Idea what to put here....


Thanks PALMREAP for the sig!!!

LonelyNinja

Alright, pretty good so far. I eagerly await the next chapter.

Nexus

That's some very good work there, ShinobiKnight... You might inspire me to start my own fanfic... Keep it up...

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1 OF A KIND


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ShinobiKnight

>_< Nice comment.

@Nexus: Go for it. ^_^

Okay, next chapter:

The next day, Masahiro was sent out on his new mission after having a communication device implanted near his ear. The device let Tasuhiko talk to Masahiro as well as hear everything Masahiro said. In addition, Tasuhiko also used it to track him via GPS.

Masahiro headed for a spot he knew his two teammates would be at. It was a small clearing nearby, but outside of, the village. They used to come there when they were troubled, because training took the mind off whatever was troubling them. By the time they left, they would be too exhausted to think about it anymore. Sure enough, Masato and Homaru were training there. Masahiro stopped, hidden in a nearby tree. He didn’t want to attack, but he knew he had to. He forced himself to take out an exploding kunai (Note: that’s my shorthand for a kunai with an exploding note attached) and throw it near the center of the clearing. Masato saw it and quickly pulled Homaru out of the way. The kunai exploded, causing dirt and leaves to fly into the air. In the confusion, Masahiro jumped down into the cloud of leaves and dust. When it faded, Masato and Homaru saw him for the first time.

“Masahiro!” Homaru shouted joyfully. “You’re back! What happened when you dis…” He stopped when he saw the solemn look on Masahiro’s face. Masahiro hung his head.

“…I’m sorry, guys,” he said finally. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do. But I don’t have a choice. If I could explain it to you, you’d understand.” Then, suddenly, he lunged towards Homaru with a kunai in hand.

“Whoa!” Homaru cried, and he grabbed Masahiro’s wrist and directed the kunai away from himself. He jumped back, and Masato came in suddenly with a kick that sent Masahiro crashing into a tree.

“It’s an imposter!” Masato yelled. “That blow was strong enough to disrupt the transformation jutsu…” But nothing happened. Masahiro got back up, even more solemn than before.

“It’s really me, guys,” he murmured, and to prove it his raised his hands and signaled: I’m sorry.

Startled, Masato stumbled back out of the fight. Homaru stepped forward. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if I have to, I’m not afraid to beat you back into your senses. I don’t mean you any harm, I just want my brother back.” He formed hand seals and performed the Lightning Claw jutsu, then raised his arm and launched a bolt of lightning at Masahiro. Masahiro recognized the hand seals as Homaru made them and jumped out of the way before the lightning bolt was launched, but still only narrowly avoided it. He threw a kunai at Homaru’s chest. Not waiting to see if the kunai hit its mark, Masahiro jumped into the air and came down with a kick that Homaru avoided by moving to his right. Masahiro swung his fist immediately after landing, catching Homaru off-guard and hitting him in the face.

Masahiro raised his leg to stomp on Homaru’s stomach, and Homaru used the opening to deliver a kick between Masahiro’s legs. Masahiro cringed and fell to the ground, allowing Homaru time to get up. But Masahiro recovered before Homaru expected him to, and, pushing off the ground with his hands, Masahiro kicked upwards. Homaru stepped back in time to barely dodge the kick, and he used the opportunity to grab Masahiro’s ankle and swing him into a tree trunk. “Are you back yet, Masahiro?” Homaru asked. Masahiro merely stood up and formed hand seals.

“Earth style, Earth Accumulation Ball jutsu!” he shouted as he bent down and ran two fingers along the ground. The earth under his fingers rolled up into a ball, like snow being rolled up to make a snowman. Masahiro stopped the motion with his fingers pointed towards Homaru, and the ball of accumulated earth shot towards Homaru with enough force to crush every rib in his chest. Homaru ducked as quickly as he could. The ball of earth crashed right through the trunk of the tree behind Homaru, causing it to fall forward. Homaru rolled out of the way to avoid being crushed by the tree. In an instant, Masahiro was there, delivering a powerful punch. Homaru hit a tree trunk and quickly moved around it to the other side as kunai flew through the air towards him.

Meanwhile, Masato’s desires to protect Homaru and Masahiro were conflicting in his head. If I do nothing, I’m harming Homaru, because Masahiro is clearly stronger, he thought. But if I help Homaru, Masahiro will be harmed. He grabbed his head with his hands. There’s only one person I can attack! He pulled out a kunai and positioned it over his own heart.

Luckily, Homaru caught sight of this, and, ignoring Masahiro, he struck Masato hard with his elbow, knocking him out before he could kill himself. Turning, Homaru realized too late that this move had left him open to an attack by Masahiro. Once again, he was sent crashing into a tree by a powerful blow.

“Why did you do that?” Masahiro demanded. “Why did you stop him?” He seemed angry, but Homaru saw the truth in Masahiro’s eyes: he didn’t want to kill either of them. Someone was forcing him to do this. Masahiro realized that Homaru had seen this, and suddenly turned and ran off.

Tasuhiko’s voice crackled in Masahiro’s ear. “What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“There was…a jounin headed to the battle,” Masahiro lied. “I can’t handle a jounin.”

Tasuhiko sighed. “We will discuss your failure when you return. But for now, get back here immediately.”


When Masato woke up, he was surprised to find himself in his apartment. He saw a figure on the balcony, so he got up and went out to see what it was. There was Homaru, sitting on the railing with his back to Masato. There was a backpack resting on the railing next to him.

“That you, Masato?” he asked without turning around.

“Yeah,” Masato replied quietly.

Homaru was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I’m leaving. I’m going to get Masahiro back. But you can’t come with me – I don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier. If I’m not back in 5 days, send reinforcements, but don’t come yourself.” There was a moment of silence. “I’m going to get him back. I swear I will.” Then he swung the backpack onto his back and hopped off the railing. Masato walked over and looked over the railing. Sure enough, Homaru was gone.


Longest so far. Tell me what you think.

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Kina

*ahem* KILL THE MOFO! XD Anyway, its nice, maybe he could have let them kill him, But i guess that the story would end to quickly.

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ShinobiKnight

If he died on purpose, Tasuhiko would destroy Konoha. Masahiro wouldn't want that many people to die because of him, even if he was already dead. I was too lazy to put that in the first chapter.

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Kina

I see... does he go and kill the mofo?! =D

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ShinobiKnight

>_< You'll see.


Homaru had been travelling for three days. He finally spotted a dome off in the distance and headed towards it. There was a grassy plain spread out in front of him. In the distance, a circle of land had been raised ten feet above the plains around it. On top of this raised area was a domed cave. Homaru had been following the underground tunnel through which Masahiro had been kidnapped, and he knew that it opened up into that cave. He made his way over to the structure, which was obviously made by a shinobi using earth ninjutsu, and slipped inside through a hole in the wall.

Homaru crept silently from chamber to chamber, looking for Masahiro. He made his way to the main chamber, which was pitch-black. As he entered, torches on the walls suddenly lit up with unnaturally large flames. The entire chamber was illuminated in an instant. There, near the center of the chamber, stood Tasuhiko and Masahiro.

"See?" Tasuhiko said triumphantly. "Just like I predicted, he came to us. And he came alone! My, we are fortunate." Tasuhiko turned and walked to the entrance to the chamber, saying, "You know what you must do. I'll be watching closely."

Homaru watched him leave. "So that's him, huh?" he muttered quietly to himself. Then he turned to Masahiro. "We can take that guy together! Come on, Masahiro, let's wipe him out and get out of here!"

Masahiro shook his head. "Sorry, bro, but it's not that simple," he said. "I have to do this." And with that, he jumped into the air and threw a barrage of kunai and shuriken at Homaru.

Homaru ran to his right and stopped suddenly as one of the kunai flew within an inch of his throat and buried itself in the wall. Then his eye caught the exploding tag tied to the kunai a second too late, and he turned to sprint away from the wall. The blast caught him and slammed him into another wall. He formed hand seals, knowing that Masahiro was coming. A he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer, he rolled over, aimed at the area the sounds were coming from and used his Lightning Claw jutsu. It was a direct hit. Masahiro sank to the floor.

Homaru rose and looked at Masahiro. They were so close that having to hurt Masahiro like this was causing Homaru even more pain. He prayed silently that Masahiro wouldn't get up. But as he looked on, Masahiro pushed himself to his feet. With a sigh of resignation, Homaru charged and ducked low for a leg sweep. Masahiro jumped just high enough to avoid it, positioned his foot behind Homaru, and drove his heel into the back of Homaru's head. Homaru was sent rolling into the center of the chamber.

Masahiro pulled off an Earth Accumulation Ball jutsu and sent it flying towards Homaru before he even recovered. Homaru stopped himself and jumped into the air over it. Masahiro charged and launched a furious, all-out taijutsu assault just as Homaru landed. He’s trying to end this quickly, Homaru realized. Homaru jumped back, ducked a kick, and jumped back again. Masahiro created and launched another Earth Accumulation Ball in record time. Homaru quickly used the Fire Claw jutsu and launched the blast at the ball of earth, driving it back towards Masahiro. He dodged it and started another taijutsu assault, but this time he was slower and less accurate with his blows. Both of them were running out of stamina, having used it up so quickly.

Homaru stepped back, then lunged forward suddenly and struck Masahiro in the face, causing him to hit the ground a good distance away. He closed his eyes, summoned as much of his remaining chakra as he could afford, and formed hand seals, refining the chakra into a Fire Claw jutsu. He raised his arm and shouted, “FIRE CLAW JUTSU!” A huge blast of flame burst forth and soared toward Masahiro, who had only just started getting back to his feet. With no other way to escape the fire, he dropped to the floor and made himself as flat as possible. The destructive flames roared above him for almost ten seconds before dispersing. Having used up most of his stamina, Homaru fell to the floor and didn’t move.

Masahiro realized that he still had enough strength to get up. But if he did, he would have to kill Homaru. And even though he knew he had to, he wanted to postpone it as long as possible. So he lowered his head and gave in to the pressing darkness.

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ShinobiKnight

When Homaru woke up, he was still in the main chamber of the cave. He got up and looked around the room. Masahiro and Tasuhiko were on one side of the chamber. Tasuhiko looked furious.

"Weak!" he shouted in Masahiro's face. "You are weak! He -" Tasuhiko pointed at Homaru "- is two years younger than you and is your inferior, and twice you have failed to kill him! Twice! And the second time, he was alone!" Tasuhiko paused and took a deep breath. "You will kill him now. And you will not hold back. During this fight, I will watch, and I will keep one hand on my machine's activation button. Any slipups, and I will...and who are you?"

Tasuhiko was looking towards the entrance of the chamber. There, to Masahiro's and Homaru's dismay, stood Masato. He entered the chamber and walked over to Homaru's side.

Homaru rolled his eyes. If he's here, there's nothing I can do about it now, Homaru thought. He subtly signaled to Masato: Did you bring reinforcements?

Masato replied with signals. Yes. Surrounding our position. Camouflaged. When he was done translating these signals, Homaru looked up and saw that Tasuhiko had seen the signals. And, to his horror, Homaru realized from the look on his face that he had understood the signals.

"I'll be back soon," Tasuhiko told Masahiro. "In the meantime, you had better kill both of those brats." Tasuhiko disappeared in a puff of smoke. Masato began speaking as soon as they were sure he was gone.

"Listen up, because I don't have much time to explain this. I wasn't able to gather any reinforcements. Please don't give me that look, Homaru! I couldn't just leave you to die! I had to come. When I signaled to you, I was counting on the fact that that man had made Masahiro teach him our signals. While he's looking for the reinforcements, we have to finish him together!"

When he finished, Homaru nodded in agreement, but Masahiro looked doubtful. He knew what would happen if they failed. But the other two took no notice. They both exited the cave and moved around the raised area until they found Tasuhiko in the plains below, bent low and searching for hidden shinobi in the grass. Without delay, Homaru jumped off the edge of the raised area and pulled out a kunai. Just before he landed behind Tasuhiko, he stabbed downward viciously with the kunai. In an instant, Tasuhiko kicked backward, knocking the wind out of Homaru before the kunai could touch him. Masato swore and formed hand seals as he jumped into the air. "Earth style, Earth..." he began, but before he hit the ground, Tasuhiko moved below him, jumped up into the air, and delivered a fierce uppercut. Masato soared up into the air, and Tasuhiko followed below him, laughing.

Masahiro was standing on the raised area with a kunai ready when Tasuhiko came into view. He was looking up at Masato, so his throat was exposed. Now Masahiro had a decision to make. If I attack and miss, all of Konoha will be destroyed, he thought. But then time seemed to slow as he remembered all the good times he had had with his teammates. He recalled how Homaru's antics always amused him, and how Masato tried his best to protect them. He realized there was no way he could kill his two best friends, so he threw the kunai.

At first, Masahiro felt a thrill of relief when he saw the kunai pierce Tasuhiko's throat. But then he realized the thunk that had echoed through the air was the exact same sound as that of a kunai hitting a piece of wood. Tasuhiko disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Masahiro saw his kunai stuck in a log where Tasuhiko's throat had been less than a second earlier. A hand reached over Masahiro's shoulder, grabbed him by the neck, and picked him up. He was turned around in midair until he found himself face-to-face with Tasuhiko.

If at all possible, Tasuhiko was even more furious than he had been before. "You...little..." Tasuhiko swore, and spoke more calmly. "That's it! You've caused the destruction of your precious village! And believe me, you will live long enough to see me decimate everything you know and love." Still holding Masahiro by the throat, he started toward the entrance to the cave.

Homaru ran up the side of the raised area and started to run toward Masahiro, but Masato, who was already there, threw out an arm to stop him. Homaru saw where Masato was looking and glanced at the cave's entrance. There, he saw a figure with white robes and a hat with a red triangle on the front. Inside this red triangle was the Japanese character for fire. When Tasuhiko caught sight of him, he stopped dead. All of them recognized the figure. It was the 6th Hokage, Homaru and Masahiro's grandfather, Uzumaki Naruto.

He stepped out into the light, so everyone could see the angry glare he had on his face. He spoke to Tasuhiko directly. "You will unhand my grandson now," he growled, "and you will come with me quietly. Or else I promise you, I will rip a hole right through your body!" Tasuhiko's face was full of fear and his eyes bulged. He knew he couldn't take on a Kage. Quickly, he flung Masahiro at Naruto and turned to run.

In an instant, a clone of Naruto appeared in front of him and lifted him up by the throat like he had just done to Masahiro. The clone held its free hand out and formed a Rasengan. Tasuhiko barely managed to whisper, "No," before the clone fulfilled Naruto's promise from earlier.

Masahiro ran up to Naruto and lost no time in explaining. "Grandfather, he's got this giant machine, and..."

"I know," Naruto said soothingly. "I saw it when I explored the cave. It has to be destroyed." Naruto stood next to the cave and began to form a Rasengan.

"Wait!" Masahiro cried. "Now that we have the machine, we can bring it back to Konoha and use it to help the village become more powerful than all of the others! We could use it to stop wars forcibly and help our village prosper. If you have to destroy it, you can at least get the blueprints first!"

Naruto shook his head. By now, he had finished his jutsu. As he plunged it into the side of the cave, he shouted, "Wind style! Oodama Rasenshuriken!" Instantly, the cave and everything in it was destroyed at a molecular level.

"NO!" Masahiro yelled, but he was too late. Naruto turned to him and crouched down until he was eye-to-eye with Masahiro.

"This was neccesary," he explained. "You see, ninjas are experts at stealing information. If we had brought the machine back to Konoha, other villages would have stolen the blueprints and copied the design. Soon, all of the villages would have machines like that one, and pretty soon, we'd all wipe each other out. I'd rather not have that kind of power if it means the world will be destroyed." Masahiro thought about this and realized that he had been foolish not to think of that. The wisdom Naruto had acquired was one reason he was the Hokage.

"I'm sorry," he said to Naruto. Then he turned to Homaru and Masato. Both were looking at him. He walked over to them with his head bent and muttered, "...I'm really sorry, guys. I would have killed you both." He raised his head and, to his surprise, saw that the two of them were grinning.

"Good to have you back, bro," Homaru said cheerfully, flinging one arm over Masahiro's shoulder. The four of them departed for the village together, each of them much more cheerful than when they had arrived at Tasuhiko's cave.


There, this arc is over. ^_^ Nice and short, wasn't it? Even if this chapter was kind of long. Anyway, the next arc is the Chuunin Exams, and trust me, the fic will just get better and better. Stick around and please read it, because I promise you'll enjoy it. I know I'll enjoy writing it.

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MYSTERY

more

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