Third-Person POV

"We need a plan and we need one stat!!" shouted Iroko. "There's no chance Hisao-sensei's gotten everyone out of the village yet!"

The blue-streaked ninja and his teammate Yuura raced down the hillside with the Flash jutsu and Rollent Turrent respectively, struggling to catch up to the herd of giant predatory sea animals as they made their way to the nearby village.

Yuura clenched his teeth in high anticipation of what was to come next. "I have an idea," he said, "but it's going to require a discharge of Lightning-natured chakra from you!"

In the village, Hisao was still going from house to house, calling on the villagers to drop everything they were doing, come out, and exit the village as swiftly as possible. Anyone who questioned him, immediately played his "I'm a Leaf shinobi" card since they carried influence in other villages in the Land of Fire.

"Please remain calm and exit in an orderly fashion," the nindroid announced, but in truth, even he was a bit panicked. I did not think the evacuation would take this long. Iroko, Asami, Yuura, I'm relying on you to handle the threat...!

Just then, he felt someone's hand tightly clutch his shirt and looked down to see a woman holding a crying baby.

She looked up at him anxiously. "What will become of our home?" she asked.

Hisao smiled fearlessly. "I assure you, ma'am, your village is in safe hands."

"LOOK!! UP AHEAD!!" One of the villagers cried.

All eyes turned to the top of the hill. One moment there was nothing, the next, a huge swarm of massive predatory fish appeared on the horizon, ranging from sharks to killer whales to even giant crabs. The villagers flew into pandemonium.

Hisao moved and positioned himself in front of the mass, ready to defend them at a moment's notice, but he saw that there would be no need.

Appearing right after the swarm of carnivorous monsters was Yuura, riding high on his Rolling Turrent jutsu.

The beasts never saw him coming. He swerved to and fro between them and under them, leaving puddles of water behind in their wake. At length, he increased the chakra output of his jutsu and splashed past them to the very front of the village where he disembarked the jutsu and stood his ground before the oncoming swarm.

What on earth is he up to?! Hisao wondered.

Yuura looked determinedly at the sea animals, then performed the hand seals: Dragon -> Ram -> Tiger -> Dog.

"Water Style: Aqua Dome!!"

The trail of puddles Yuura had left behind rose in huge blobs of water and merged, forming a smooth watery surface over, under, and around the animals, until it had them completely encased in the biggest water bubble Yuura had ever made yet.

Hisao and the villagers stood by and looked at it with awe. The sea animals were swimming aimlessly within, unable to understand what was happening to them.

It takes a lot of chakra to construct it at this size, Yuura thought as he winced from exhaustion, but oh, well! "You've got it from here, Iroko!!"

The blue-streaked ninja came running across the slope, bending the trees as he blitzed by, with his hand emanating a yellow color: Blackout.

The words of the nurse still echoed loud and clearly in his mind, but even so...

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"T-to be honest," said Yuura, "I'd feel much better about this plan if you had a long-range jutsu you could use instead, or you might risk getting yourself hurt!"

"Unfortunately, I don't," Iroko replied, "but don't worry about it! If the plan doesn't require it, I can make it work! Trust me!"

Yuura looked uncertain but nodded his head in compliance. "To protect yourself and not kill the animals, try to keep the output to a low discharge if you can help it. The water will take care of the shock."

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...he had no other option.

"Welp, here goes nothing!" Using the amount of speed accumulated, he leaped high into the air and propelled himself right into the bubble, piercing the surface with ease, before coming to a complete stop from the density of the water.

The beasts converged on him immediately, talons, claws, and pincers at the ready.

Iroko's left hand was pulsating brightly. He held out in front of him, before the myriad of aquatic beasts coming to rip him to shreds, and unleashed the voltage at point-blank range.

FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A light show had gone off in the bubble. The entire dome was encapsulated in a display of electric brilliance, lightning sparking and frizzing uncontrollably, with Iroko at the center of it all, and the aquatic beasts crying out in pain, having nowhere to go to escape the lightning storm.

The light show ended soon after, and now the villagers, Hisao and Yuura saw that the animals had stopped moving almost entirely.

"He did it!" Yuura beamed, then he saw Iroko struggling in the water, his arms and legs flailing about, and realized he was probably losing oxygen fast so he dispersed the Aqua Dome promptly.

Iroko fell to the ground along with the animals, but he was the only one to move his body. Raising his torso, he looked down at his left hand and gazed at it intently.

There was no shaking, nor could he feel any tingling pain. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yuura came running to his side.

"Yeah, just coming to terms with the fact that this has probably been the weirdest mission we were assigned yet."

"Can't argue with that one." He held a hand out to help Iroko to his feet.

On their way back to the village, they were greeted by Hisao and the villagers with jollity and praise.

"Thank you, Leaf shinobi," said the chief, "we are in your debt!"

"Ah, don't sweat it, old man," said Iroko. "We're just doing our job."

"That was fine work you two did out there," said Hisao, "but I must ask, what became of the aquarist?"

"Oh, right..."

That was who had started this whole thing, Iroko remembered. He felt he had been slighted by the villagers when the chief had refused to fund his research on weaponizing aquatic life and turned him away. So, instead, he had decided to mind-control his animals and have them wreak havoc on the village and kill them all, that way he would build his aquarium from the wreckage of the village and take the village chief's savings for himself. He was a real piece of work.

"Well," Iroko continued, "Asami wanted us to leave him to her, so... hm?"

There was a commotion happening at the other end of the large crowd. Iroko, Yuura, Hisao, and the chief could see in the distance several people clearing the way as something or someone passed through.

It was Asami, who was covered head-to-toe in the blood and guts of what one could only assume was the sea beasts and dragging behind her by the leg the aquarist, bloodied and beaten, with the mind-control device strapped to his forehead smashed in.

She nonchalantly brought the aquarist before the village chief, dropped him there, and went to meet up with Iroko and Yuura.

Everyone, even the villagers, looked at her with a certified 'bruh' face, to which she simply bobbed her head to the side with an imaginary ? hanging over her head.

✧✧✧

Soon after, Team 12 returned to the Leaf.

As they passed through the turnstile gates and into the main lobby of the Leaf's Administrative State of Affairs to submit their debrief, Iroko was talking cheerfully about the mission.

"You know, Yuura, it's starting to become a trend that your ingenious plans always have a crazy side to them! You get off on a little bit of danger, don'tcha?"

The blond-haired boy didn't even bother fighting him on it. "I just can't help but feel bad about those sea animals," he lamented. "They deserved so much better than what that psycho aquarist was doing to them, and to think we had to hurt them to set them free."

"Hey, we did what had to be done," said Iroko. "They were going to hurt people, and there wasn't a lot of time to work with. I think we made the best out of a super tough situation, even though some of us may have gone overboard..."

The boys glanced at Asami, who was still covered in the blood and guts of the sea animals.

"I didn't have much of a choice," she said.

"Iroko is right," said Hisao. "At any rate, those sea beasts that you managed to take down without killing will be nursed back to full health by the villagers, and the aquarist will be dealt with accordingly. An all-around decent turnout of events, if I may say."

"Still, you could've done a little bit more than just evacuating the villagers, sensei," Iroko chided, sounding a little ticked. "I know the purpose of the mission was for us to work independently from you, but didja have to take that much of a backseat?"

"How would you have learned otherwise?" Hisao smirked. "Nevertheless, I am glad to inform you that your teamwork and coordination skills have indeed greatly improved throughout the last few months. You're on your way to becoming a full-fledged team and capable shinobi."

"Aw, yeah!" Iroko celebrated wildly, giving high-fives to Yuura and Asami.

Hisao looked on at his students with a hint of bittersweetness. And once you go on to become chunin, and then eventually jonin, he thought, you won't need my help, at all. You won't need to look back ever again.

Just then, they overheard the news on the TV in the lobby as some employees turned up the volume.

"And now we go back to the Chunin Exams scandal and the controversy surrounding it. The Sixth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, is still under sharp criticism from the Leaf's citizens and denizens from all around the Land of Fire for having been unable to successfully prevent this crime from occurring, despite the village's advanced defense and security. Folks are calling it the prelude to 'yet another grand disaster at the hands of terrorists', and are currently bombarding the leader of the Leaf Village with questions on how he aims to proceed. Here's a feed from the latest interview on what he had to say:

"Investigations are still ongoing as to who the culprit is, but rest assured, we have NOT given up. The mission has always been and continues to be the preservation of Konoha's citizens and the Will of Fire. All administration and personnel are working hard to ensure something like this never happens again and that the perpetrator is found and punished for their misdeed."

"As for what information we have on the identity of the perp, what data we have on their activity within the village goes as far back as the incident on 14th Street, near the Edo, but any information regarding their physical appearance, personality, and village of origin is still being investigated. Stay tuned for more updates."

As the news channel switched to commercials, Iroko was left feeling more concerned than hopeful and it showed.

"With the number of rogue ninjas running around lately and this latest fiasco with the guy that hurt Shizune-san, I can't help but feel like it's all leading up to something." He looked at Hisao. "Should we be worried, sensei?"

There would have been no way to truly be able to tell what the nindroid was thinking with his shades on at that moment, but all the same, he patted Iroko on the head and smiled anyway.

"Lord Sixth is doing everything he can to protect the peace," he said. "The man has more reason reason than any of us to do so, so if he says he will, then it is guaranteed. I can handle the debriefing, you should all go home and take (a long shower) the rest of the day off. Don't forget, you have school in the morning."

✧✧✧

Iroko woke up bright and early the next day, jumping out of bed, with an eagerness to start the day. As always, he passed by his Naruto poster with a fist bump to the man himself and made his way to the bathroom to freshen up.

While standing in front of the mirror, he took the chance to observe how his body had changed in the last couple of months (and not just because of puberty). He had steadily gotten more muscular, giving him a leaner-than-thin frame, and his right hand was still covered in scars, with the one on his left cheek having become more skin-deep and flat with time.

He flexed a little in front of the mirror, then jumped into the shower. There, he took the chance to properly analyze his right hand while thinking about how the mission had transpired. In his mind, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed in himself for having somewhat messed up Yuura's plan.

If I had used a long-range jutsu like he proposed, he thought, I would've been able to take care of the sea animals without putting myself in danger and inconveniencing Yuura. It's just like I thought. I need to find better methods to be able to reach out to others and help them.

When he came out of the shower, he looked down at the necklace Team 24 had given him, and his thoughts drifted back to that day and what Asami had said to him, something so powerful and emotionally charged, that it acted as a deterrent to his doubts.

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"You should just keep doing you, despite everything, the Exams, the rogue ninja, Kazue, all of it."

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He smiled and wore the necklace.

"Even so, I'll find a way," he said.

But just as the memory continued to play happily in his head, almost like a follow-up counter, his thoughts were invaded by Kazue's words from the other day...

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"You can't call someone a friend if you don't know them. That's why the two of us were never friends from the start, and not once did I ever want us to be. I could say the same about that snowflake on your team. You may hang out with and work together with her, but I bet you don't even know the first thing about where she's been or what her life was like before she met you. And if she hasn't told you about it, then it's because she doesn't want you to know."

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... and his smile somewhat faded.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Next, he put on his usual clothes, grabbed his backpack, and made his way to the entrance.

Kiboi was slumped and sound asleep on the sofa with her laptop still in her hands and the reading glasses on her face askew. She had been up all night, trying to sort out this month's bills, he guessed.

Without waking her, he took her laptop and reading glasses away from her and set them on the table, grabbed a blanket from nearby, and laid it over her. Then he tiptoed to the kitchen to grab an onigiri to go.

Before he was completely out the door, Kiboi suddenly roused.

"Hey- oh, crap, I fell asleep out here again... but at least I managed to pay off all the bills. Anyway, you're off to school now? Sorry, I couldn't make breakfast."

"Don't worry about it, I'll grab some lunch at school," he said. "You just relax, Nee-chan. I'll see you later."

"Okayyyy," she gave a cat-like yawn. "Have a good day."

It was agreed upon by the trio that every morning before school started they would meet up at Yuura's apartment to leave together, with Daito joining them now and then.

When he got there, Yuura and Daito were already standing outside waiting for him. Once Asami arrived too, they went on their way.

While the boys were chatting about yesterday's mission, Asami was mulling over some deep thoughts. It seemed Iroko was the only one out of the three to notice so he broke away from them to walk next to her.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Has Hisao-sensei's behavior the last couple of days seemed odd to you?" she said. "Like, he's been hiding something?"

Iroko looked up at the sky as he pondered the question. "He was acting pretty shifty yesterday about what the news channel had to say. You think it's about that rogue ninja?"

"No, this goes beyond him," she looked directly at Iroko. "Has he given us a status update about Ryun Kitto and Zutsumi Ginchiyo since the first mission?"

Iroko was starting to catch on. "No, he hasn't, not me, anyway."

"I was never informed, either. We haven't received any new information about the rise of rogue ninjas in general." Asami bit her nail. "Could it be they've already figured something out...?"

"You know, you do that a lot," Iroko pointed out. "That and biting your lips. Nervous habits?"

"Oh..." She took her nail away from her mouth. "I suppose."

Iroko continued to stare at her. It was surprising to learn not even she had been aware.

I wonder, his gaze turned somber, what or who it was that caused you to learn these habits in the first place.

They had been so deep in their conversation that Iroko did not even realize they were already past the school gate. Yuura lived close to the Academy so he had forgotten how quickly it would take them to arrive.

Walking through the hallways, he was greeted by the same familiar faces every morning, namely some kids from General Studies, Ken and Sayo, and Ruri and her friends. It was a sign he was starting to get used to school life again.

"So, Iroko," Daito chimed in, "based on what I hear about how the mission went from Yuura, it sounds like you've gotten stronger. Can you confirm if that's true?" He gave a sharp-toothed grin.

Iroko laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. He was aware this was an implication that Daito was still itching for a rematch. He was about to reply and modestly deny the sentiment but then the voice of one of the students broke throughout the entire hallway, crying out:

"FUMINO, WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!!!"

"EHHHHHHH?!" Daito exclaimed.

At that very same minute, every student there, except Asami, was rushing to the window to look out into the courtyard below.

There they saw an Academy student bowing before an incredibly flustered Fumino, holding out an envelope sealed with a heart sticker to her.

"I was wondering when the next guy (or girl) would make their move," Iroko said to Yuura. "When was the last one again?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Checks out."

Beside them, Daito was getting increasingly angry, especially at the numerous comments going around regarding the situation like:

"Bold move doing it in public so she's guilt-tripped."

"Isn't he an upperclassman to her? That's kinda weird."

"Is she finally gonna say yes to someone?"

Iroko could hear Fumino blatantly struggling to find the right words to say. Not only that, but she was sweating, fiddling with her fingers and just overall displaying an extreme amount of discomfort.

She must have been really caught off guard with this one, he thought.

By then, Daito had already reached his boiling point.

"You can't put her on the spot like that!" he seethed. "Did you even consider how she would feel about it?"

Without another word, he bolted for the stairwell that would lead into the courtyard.

"W-Wait, Daito!" Yuura called.

"Sorry, but I gotta go put a stop to this," he said. "We'll catch up later!"

"Well, there he goes..." Yuura's arms fell to the side in defeat.

"Leave it be, Yuura," said Asami. "Need I remind you two we have a Geography quiz* to write in the fifth period?"

Iroko nodded in compliance. "Yeah, that's tru-- Wait, Geography quiz?! That was today?!"

"I take it then you either didn't study for it, completely forgot about it, or both," Asami deadpanned.

"I did study! I just that we had more time until it arrived."

"So you didn't study enough."

Yuura smiled comically. "I've gotta admit, being in school after the Chunin Exams feels so bizarre and yet so right at the same time."

The Geography test had proven to be easier than Iroko thought, so much so, that to everyone's surprise, he had finished it some fifteen minutes before the class ended. He walked up to Karui, their Geography teacher, and handed her the paper with a smug grin on his face.

"This is a first," she said, sounding proud.

"Yeah, here's to a streak of quality academic performances from this day forth, Karui-san."

"Well, whether or not that'll be the case remains to be seen, but all the same, keep up the punctuality, Iroko."

Asami and Yuura, who had already finished the test, were waiting for Iroko just outside of the classroom. Together they walked outside of the school and into the brilliant evening air.

"Man, that test was so easy!" Iroko said, rotating his arms like he had just finished exercising. "I don't know why I was so worried."

Yuura chuckled. "Well, if you're confident you did well, then I'm sure it'll show in your grade. And with that out of the way, since we all have the sixth period free and can leave school early, do you guys want to go to Lightning Burger for lunch?"

Iroko clapped his hands together apologetically. "Ah, sorry, dude, I'm gonna have to pass. I've got 'that thing' to get to today."

"Oh, that's right," Yuura showed immediate understanding. "Don't worry about it, another time then."

"Tomorrow instead?" Iroko proposed.

"Sure!"

They looked at Asami. She shrugged.

"Cool, tomorrow it is then!" He fist-bumped them then ran off. "See ya!!"

Yuura waved at him once more, but as he turned to look at Asami, he saw that her gaze was almost permanently glued to Iroko's back as he disappeared into the line of buildings ahead.

"Where does he always go at this hour?" she asked Yuura.

"Oh, right," Yuura just now realized, "we never told you. On certain days after school, like today, Iroko goes to the outskirts of the village to continue the training regimen his instructor for the Chunin Exams had left for him. Honestly, I admire his dedication, because I don't think he's missed even a single day of training."

⚡⚡⚡

The sun was setting by the time Iroko had arrived at the open field past the woods and beyond the gate of Konoha.

When he had found the right spot to begin, he dropped his backpack on the ground and walked a few paces forward. Then he spread his legs so they were evenly distanced and parallel to his shoulder width, putting on his forehead protector as he did this.

He raised his hands into the air and closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, then he opened them again.

"Osu!" He clapped his hands together, signaling the start of his training.

Iroko's current regimen closely followed what Sasuke had laid out for him:

He began with a streak of sit-ups, push-ups, and curl-ups, increasing the number of reps for each with every day that passed. Then he switched to running laps around the entirety of Konoha, also increasing the number of reps by one every day.

After that, he would take a break ranging anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how tired he was, although recently he was discovering new ways to minimize fatigue so he could take shorter intervals, such as a full meal before training, drinking lots of water, getting 8 hours of sleep, and increasing his iodine and sodium intake.

Then he switched to taijutsu training. For this, Iroko did not have a lot to go on, so what he did instead was focus on increasing his strength output and diversifying his array of makeshift techniques, going more for unpredictability than practicality.

Finally, he would take another 10-minute break if it was needed, but all the same, what came last but not least was ninjutsu.

Iroko would already have begun honing his ninjutsu by relying on his Shadow Clones for sparring partners and using them as extra weight for his exercises, but now this was when he put in the work.

Chakra control was the key. The key to mastering ninjutsu was the control of one's chakra correctly. Outside of the usual Clone, Substitution, and Surface Walk jutsu, the one other thing he could confidently say he was good at was Nature Transformation and Chakra Flow since that dealt with the chakra nature he had a natural affinity for.

Unlike his classmates in the Ninja Course, Iroko did not hail from a Ninja clan or any special bloodline. Therefore, he had no Kekkei Genkai, Hiden technique, or even a cool ninja tool to his name, so the basics and Lightning Style were all he had to go on in terms of ninjutsu.

He first focused on concentrating Lightning-natured chakra into his feet for the Flash jutsu, then for Chakra Flow, which he infused into his kunai and shuriken and for target practice.

Then he flowed his chakra into his hands to practice his signature jutsu: the Chidori. By now, since having combined the Chidori and Lightning Punch into one jutsu, Iroko noted he needed fewer hand seals to create it, which told him his chakra control had indeed improved. He was now able to slice through three trees at once, felling at least two of them.

He had gotten stronger. However...

As he charged up Lightning chakra into his left hand and held it out, prepared to unleash it at a moment's notice--

"No, not like that..." He dispelled the jutsu quickly and sat down in the grass to think.

The ninjutsu training had all been in preparation for Iroko to start working on his Blackout, but when it came down to actually figuring out how that was possible, he fell short every single time. It was something Sasuke was too busy to help him with, having only agreed to train him for the Chunin Exams, so he was on his own with trying to figure out how to improve the jutsu.

He moved his hand to his chin to stroke his imaginary beard as he laid out its most glaring flaws in his head.

First, there's the damage it does to the tenketsu in my body. Second, it's way too destructive and aimless - if I keep using it all carelessly I could hurt Asami and Yuura on our missions in the long term.

So what I need ... is a modified version of the jutsu that eliminates these drawbacks-- but HOW DO I GO ABOUT THAT?! Is there some kind of Chakra Control technique I need that I don't know about?! He ruffled his hair repeatedly, trying to come up with an answer, but to no avail.

He thought about Itsuki and Ryuun Kitto, and under his breath, he murmured with a despondent voice: "I just wish I knew a better way to reach out to people, better than with them."

Fumino bent down to his face level. "Sorry, what was that last part?"

"AH, FUMINO!!" Iroko jumped from where he was sitting.

"Whoops! Sorry if I spooked you there," she said with a guilty smile.

"I-It's fine," he dusted the grass of his trousers, looking a little embarrassed. "How'd you even find me?"

"Well, I kinda overheard Yuura talking about your whereabouts, and then... I kinda... went looking... for you."

There was a long pause.

"I'm sorry, that sounded completely stalkerish of me!" she blurted in panic. "I only just arrived and was definitely not watching you this entire time, I promise!!"

Iroko waved his hand back and forth dismissively. "It's fine, it's fine. (Besides, I did something similar to Jin a while back, so even if you are in the wrong, I have no right to judge.)"

Fumino got serious again. "The reason why I'm here, Iroko, is to apologize to you."

"Apologize?" He was surprised to hear it. "What for?"

"Back in the arena during the Final Rounds, when you were fighting Itsuki, you mentioned you lost your parents when you were only 8. I... never knew that about you. Was that the reason why you disappeared from school for almost 2 years?"

Iroko looked despondent once again. He would rather have not been made to remember those days of hardship, even if they were part of what made him who he is today. And yet, for someone besides Kiboi to show concern over it was something he had not expected. He didn't think anyone else cared about what had happened to him back then.

"Don't worry about it, Fumino. It's not something you could have done anything about."

So that was the reason, she mentally confirmed. "Yes, it was. I could have done something about it, I should have." She gripped her chest tightly, her words overflowing with guilt. "You were all alone and grieving for that long and I never noticed, I never tried to help you. I'm so sorry you had to go through that." As if the tenderness and emotions weren't enough, she proceeded to bow before the blue-streaked ninja.

He was taken aback; it was all too much for him.

"Fumino, it's okay, really!" He tried to get her to lift her head and she immediately did so of her own accord, accidentally bringing her face to within millimeters of his and causing him to blush faintly.

"I want to make it up to you," she said suddenly. "If you need help with anything, please let me know. I want to be there for you this time."

Now he was annoyed. He was about to tell her to just drop it once and for all, but he clamped his mouth shut and thought longer about what was happening here.

A moment later, he came to realize that her words and behavior here were not all that different from how he was acting towards Itsuki: stubborn to a fault, meddling where they ought not to but doing so because they genuinely care, and wanting to make a change wherever and whenever they think they can.

That made them quite alike, and now that he thought about it...

It would be nice to have a training partner and someone who can help me modify Blackout.

He looked up at her and asked again carefully: "You're insisting?"

Fumino, hearing him consider it, smiled cheerfully and took a battle-ready stance with her fist pumped out. "Name it and I'll do whatever I can within my power!"

Iroko looked hopeful again. "In that case, do you remember my Blackout jutsu from the Final Rounds?"

🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃AT AN UNSPECIFIED LOCATION⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

Yusuke Honoo had been having a rather uneventful day right up until the moment Momotaro arrived at his hideout.

He was perched on the windowsill outside, knocking on the glass to alert Yusuke of his presence.

"It's open," he said, "although I do have a front door which no one seems to be aware of."

Momo came trundling in as if there were weights tied to his ankles and slumped himself onto Yusuke's couch while the man himself sat by his desk, perusing through some ancient scrolls.

"Welcome back," he said, snapping his fingers for a Hand-soldier to bring some food and refreshments. "I take it you had a harder time escaping the village than you originally thought?"

"Even after I left the village they still kept chasing me for days on end," he groaned. "I had to sleep with one eye open every night. There wasn't a single part of the Land of Fire that didn't have shinobi on patrol. It was like moving through a minefield. Don't worry, though, I didn't lead any back here, of that I made sure."

"Good to know," said Yusuke. The Hand-soldier came back with a sandwich and orange juice. "I'm assuming you haven't had a proper meal in a while, so help yourself. You can recount your mission in between bites."

"Suspiciously nice of you, but thanks," he said, eating a mouthful. "Where to even begin..."

So he told Yusuke everything, from when he managed to infiltrate the village, to his time at the Edo, to all the events that eventually led up to the assassination attempt. Whether or not he did a good job, Yusuke could not deny that it made for a riveting story.

The part he had chirped at was when he mentioned Shizune having taken the first shot for Kakashi.

"I see, so she shoved him out of the way and ended up getting shot in his place."

"Yeah..." Momotaro sweatdropped. "I know the target was only supposed to be the Hokage. You don't think that this'll affect things, do you?"

Yusuke put down the scroll he was currently reading. On it, Momotaro could see an inked drawing of a shadowy mountain with a massive wall of text in some ancient language printed beside it.

"Despair won't care either way if that's what you're worried about. What matters is you stoked the Leaf's fire, and boy, oh, boy, did you do a good job of that, especially since you already killed and/or injured four other shinobi before actually going through with the assassination attempt. Even I have to admit, I'm impressed. Congrats, Momo, you're mission was a success."

As he said that last part, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

The first channel it turned to was the news, speaking about the Chunin Exams scandal and showing images of Kakashi, Shizune, Ran, Kimito, and footage from the event, as well as interviews with spokespersons as they discussed how the Ninja world would proceed from this.

"Media coverage is way too damn fast," said Momo.

"And we were betting on that being the case," said Yusuke. "Now our notoriety will spread throughout the land, just as planned. Speaking of plans, I've finally figured out what the next step in our great leader's master plan is, involving our outpost in the north."

"What is it?"

"First," Yusuke held up two fingers, "I need you to confirm two things for me, Momo. First, you mentioned that just before you left the village, bar Sasuke Uchiha, you were assailed by two other individuals. I need you to describe them both."

"Right, one of them is, I'm pretty sure, ANBU, so I don't have much on him except he goes by the alias Hachiman. The other is a jonin sensei to the genin rookies, Kosetsu Heiwa, I believe her name was. Interestingly, both their ninjutsu allowed them to conjure weapons. The ANBU agent's was just a banner wreathed in fire, but the jonin sensei's could take the shape of multiple weapons. I recall it being a spear at first, then a bow and arrow. What's more when she changed weapons, something was glowing beneath her sleeves, around her wrist region. Couldn't tell if they were tattoos or bracelets, though."

"They would have been tattoos," said Yusuke.

"What?"

"Tell me something, Momo," Yusuke raised his hand again and this time pointed to his hanafuda earrings, which depicted a red sun against a white background, "was she perhaps wearing earrings similar to mine, maybe depicting a black sun instead of a red one?"

Momo raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was going to mention it at some point, but the fact that Yusuke had specifically asked about it was unexpected, to say the least.

"Yeah, that's right. Wait, how would you have known th--"

"Onto the next thing: Since this was technically supposed to be a covert op, I'll need to know if anyone, apart from our insider, saw your face during the mission, anyone that would be capable of tracking you down (say a shinobi), or you think is likely to divulge the info to someone who is."

Momo was going to lambast Yusuke for doubting his skill, but then he remembered.

There were 2 times when he may have slipped up and had his identity exposed. Now he was quiet for a prolonged period, wondering if this was the screw-up that would doom Fukkatsu.

"Momo? Did someone see your face?"

He summoned the courage to speak again. "There MIGHT have been two. They're the genin rookies Asami Senju and Iroko Nakata."

Yusuke's eyes widened after hearing the names. Now, Momo was panicked.

"S$#&, Grief, is this gonna screw us over?!" he asked quickly.

"You said Iroko Nakata might have been the one to see your face? As in, this boy?" He switched from the news to a paused image of Iroko on the TV.

Momo's eyes looked at the screen and back at Yusuke in confusion. "Yes?"

Instead of looking upset, Momo was surprised to see he was elated. "Is this going to screw us over, you asked? On the contrary, my good man, this just makes the plan even sweeter." He stood up and started putting away his scrolls. "Get your things, we're leaving."

"Where to?"

"Toren's hideout. I asked to meet with her over dinner and she agreed. You're going to be my +1."

Things were now starting to move faster than Momo could keep up with, but the worst part about it was that he still had no idea what was going on. What exactly was the next phase of Despair's plan and why had Kosetsu and Iroko piqued Yusuke's interest so much?

While waiting for Yusuke outside, he took the chance to appreciate his hideout, which he thought was far nicer than anything he deserved. All the Six Paths to Pain lived in reasonably impressive mansions that were secluded by the environment. Yusuke's was painted in earthly colors and was completely concealed amongst the trees of the forest. He was sure that none of them, except maybe Fear, would be able to afford houses this nice if it weren't for the financial backing they were getting from their benefactors, the Suzuki Trades Company.

Yusuke came out a moment later in his usual brown and black coat, white v-neck shirt, and checkered trousers, carrying naught but his esteemed demeanor with him.

"You're not taking anything with you?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long journey, shouldn't you pack something for the road?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," he said. "I'm something of a minimalist so I always prefer to travel light. Do you have everything you need? Last chance."

Momo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."

"Good."

KAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hideout was blown to hell, caught in a blaze of flames that enshrouded the entire building and nearby trees, starting a forest fire. The impact of the explosion and subsequent shockwaves was so intense it threw Momotaro right off his feet, tore trees off their hinges, and uprooted the ground, but Yusuke remained standing.

In fact, he looked unconcerned with the whole thing. Momo could only stare into his pitch-black eyes with abject-filled horror. A whole house, filled with ancient records, tomes, and objects of sacred and timeless value; enough food and drink to last months; state-of-the-art technology not yet privy to the entire world. It was all completely razed to the ground in seconds, and he was still smiling chipperly.

Are you human?

"Come along, Momo," he said, walking away, "we have a lot of preparations to make."