I had a guy on my back and he was passed out. We found three guys in a river so we picked them up and we're taking them to get some medical attention. I was going to carry two of them, but Naruto refused and only allowed me to carry one. We took them to Grandma Tsunade. After they told us their story, Naruto, me, and another team are going on a mission. She called us into the office along with TenTen, Lee, and Neji. She explained to us what the mission was and it had to do with the three guys we found.
" Then why am I here? It sounds like a chimp could do this mission." Naruto said and made Tsunade mad.
" Who the heck do you think you are?" She started to yell at him. All of the guys's eyes were wide. " Neji Hyuga you're team leader!"
" Hey! I'm the only Chunin on this team so why aren't I the team leader?" I questioned.
" You are to help Neji be the team leader and since you're as good as Shikamaru on coming up with plans than you will do that." She said and I nodded not wanting to get on her bad side this morning. She tossed Naruto back and Neji caught him. Naruto left mumbling something and Lee went after him. As soon as they left she couldn't contain her anger anymore. She threw her chair out the window and I backed out of the room.
* Time skip *
Neji explained what we were going to do as we began our mission. We waited for Naruto to get here.
" He takes forever!" I exclaimed just as he started to jump down from the gate.
" Lets hit the road everybody!" Naruto yelled.
" That's not your call." Neji said as Naruto turned back around.
" Uh... Which way is it?" He questioned and I sweat dropped and face palmed.
The three men showed us the way as took small breaks in between our walk. During one break Naruto decided to stand on rocks that were piled up. I rolled my eyes when Lee got up. We continued on after one of the men got mad. When we got farther and farther away from the village we were close to a place.
" I was right! It's just up ahead!" I jumped when Lee shouted. Lee took off running and called out someone's name as he ran up to an old granny and picked her up, spinning her around. We all sat down and listened as they told us the story about how the curry saved Lee's life. She served us curry that looked black. We watched Lee carefully as he picked up his spoon and went to take his first bite. His face turned red. " Delicious!!!" He started chowing down. We all took a bite of it. I watched as everyone's faces turned red.
" This isn't really spicy." I commented taking another bite. I watched as TenTen took a drink of water as they all talked about a guy that went to the Kurosuki family.
" Ayame and I will come up with a strategy and then we will make our move." Neji said and I pushed my plate away.
We started planning when it stared to become dark. I heard footsteps running towards the room.
" R-R-Rokusuke, he's gone!" One of them yelled after they slammed open the door. My eyes widened along with the others.
" Too late trying to map out a strategy at this point guys, we better get going." Naruto said standing up and I nodded.
" I'll try and come up with a strategy on the way." I said as we took off. The sun began to rise as we reached the village. We dropped down behind boulders. We watched as an old man fell and it made my blood boil. Lee seen how mad we were and it took off. I watched as he knocked all four guys out. We all jumped down.
" Are you crazy? You've got to do to me what you did to them! Hit me, knock me to the ground!" The man pleaded. " If you won't I'll do it myself." He raised his hands to punch himself and I grabbed both of his hands before he could.
" Stop!" I exclaimed holding both of his fists.
" Don't you see, if I'm not injured they'll think I was behind it and that means they'll give me a funeral!" The old man said close to tears. I let go of his hands as gong went off and the guy started to freak out more.
" What's that gong?" I questioned.
" Is it some kind of alarm?" TenTen asked.
" No, it's summoning everyone to a funeral." The old man said.
" A funeral?" Neji questioned.
" That's right. If any of us displeases Raiga, the leader of the clan, then as punishment he arranges a funeral in which the person is buried alive."
" Buried alive?!" I questioned outraged.
" That's the worst thing I've ever heard!" TenTen exclaimed.
" That can't be yours, can it it old man?" Neji asked.
" No, I heard they caught Rokusuke. It must be his." The old man said.
" Not gonna happen." I growled out.
***
We watched behind piles of dirt as they carried the coffin.
" Lets save this guy!" Naruto whisper yelled. " What do you say Neji?"
" Alright." Neji said. He closed his eyes and then opened them. " Byukaugan! It's alright, he's still alive."
" Okay, lets draw the guards away and we'll get him out." I said.
" We hit them fast and we hit them hard." Naruto said.
" Alright, time to begin." Lee said and we all nodded. We put our plan into action and we threw smoke bombs. We charged in. TenTen took two of them out and Neji took two of them out. One lunged at me and I ducked dodging his claws and then punched his stomach and made him fly into the air. I was above him in a flash, and kicked down causing him to hit the ground hard leaving a small crater. Lee went to hit the last one, but stopped. We all ran to Lee.
" This is Karashi." Lee said with a small hint of sadness.
" This guy's Karashi?" Naruto questioned and the guy crossed his arms and 'hmphed' at us and looked away. He looked like he was pouting! I listened as he said he joined the Kurosuki clan. I watched as Lee questioned Karashi, and all Karashi did was look away and mutter stuff.
" Something powerful and feared." I heard him say. I grabbed the collar of his cloak and put my face an inch away from his. His eyes slightly widened.
" Feared? Some people may fear them, but you don't scare everyone. I will make sure that we don't leave until the whole Kurosuki clan is taken out." I growled at him. I let go of his collar and let him fall on his ass. Lee pulled me back. My eyes widened when Lee punched him. At first it seemed like Lee's words were getting to him, but I wasn't believing it. We heard Rokusuke bang on the coffin and we let him out. I sensed that we were being watched. I looked up and in the distance I could see a small outline. I had a bad feeling about it. There were two people. We all took off to the top of the cliff after Neji announced us being watched. A mist started to form and I growled. " One of the seven swordsmen." They tried seeing through the mist. I concentrated on my eyes to see if my gold eyes would come back, but it didn't work. Lightning shot down at us, and we jumped out of the way just in time. We hid in a bush. They took off at random people and I knew they were illusions. I concentrated on finding the real person. Lightning shot through the ground hitting everyone. I jumped away as it tried to hit me. I seen him jump down. I seen Lee start attacking in his sleep so I decided to watch in case it was as funny as last time. I laughed as he easily dodged all of the guys attacks. I seen the bag on the guy's back get kicked off. The guy turned on Lee and went to attack him as Lee started to wake up. Naruto and I kicked him away.
" Alright, now you're dealing with us!" Naruto and I said. Naruto tried asking about Zabuza and Kisame, but the guy wouldn't talk and Naruto lunged. He sent a lightning ball at Naruto and I did hand signs.
" Wood Style: Wood Dome!" I yelled and put my hands against the ground and a wood dome came out of the ground and covered Naruto. He broke through the dome and hit Naruto with one and Naruto cried out in pain. I jumped in and kicked the guy. He slid away and sent a lightning ball at me. I jumped out of the way as he sent another one. It hit me and I let out a small scream.
" Guys, use your shadow clones!" Neji yelled to us.
" They don't work." Naruto said.
" His eyes are over here." Neji shouted to us.
" Ranmaru!" Raiga yelled as Naruto and me got on our knee and did the hand sign.
" Shadow Clone Jutsu!" We yelled at the same time. Our clones surrounded him. He started to take out the clones. We chased after him as he started to run up the wall. The real Naruto and me were at the top. I teleported us there when I threw a marked kunai. When the guy was at the top Naruto and me jumped towards him from the air and we formed thee Rasengan. We hit him at the same time sending him flying back. We jumped down to Neji and the others. We looked down at the thing as Naruto thought they were actually eyeballs.
" You idiot, it's a person." Neji said and I let out a small laugh. Naji unzipped the bag and inside was a purple haired boy. The little boy explained to us what he was doing with Raiga. I listened a little saddened.
" Go on. Why do you hesitate? My arms and legs are crippled. I'm powerless to resist you." The boy said. My eyes widened. " You have a mission to carry out don't you? Well finish it."
" The mission entrusted to us was to drive the Kurosuke clan out of here, and with Raiga out of the way now, he no longer posses a threat to the village." Neji said and we all nodded in agreement.
***
We took Ranmaru to a place and tied him up. I looked at him sadly. Naruto put a seal on the door and I looked away. We took off running back to the village to see what to do with the rest of the clan. When we reached the village everyone was outside. Something didn't seem right. We started to run down to the villagers.
Boulders began rolling down at us. They watched as the boulders supposedly hit us, but they hit our clones. They looked around.
" What are you looking for?" Naruto questioned on top of a boulder and I smirked.
" Yea, those brats." One guy said.
" Are you looking for us?" Neji and my clone questioned. Lee and TenTen were on the other side of the guys.
" Those were our shadow clones and transformation jutsu." Naruto's clone said smirking.
" Ninja Art: Black Tornado." One of the guys said smirking as they all got onto each others shoulders. They all brought out claws from their hands, and they begun to spin. Their were two tornadoes. They went after the clones that were transformed again and I smirked. We smirked standing on a cliff. We charged. Lee and TenTen began to attack the two tornadoes and the tornadoes dispersed. We easily took them down and Naruto joined in too late.
Lee had the villagers forgive Karashi, and we went to get Ranmaru. When we reached Ranmaru, TenTen got annoyed and questioned if we could leave him. Ranmaru explained that all he really knew of the world since he was born, was a shabby cabin. He had a tragic past, I thought to myself.
" Won't spicy curry hurt his body?" TenTen questioned snapping me out of my thoughts.
" Naruto, you shouldn't have any either." Neji said. We untied Ranmaru and I let him get on my back.
" Til the day you can walk on your own I'm gonna have to be your body." I said grinning at him. Ranmaru asked to go see Raiga and then we took off to the curry shop.
***
" Hey guys!" Naruto yelled as we began to reach the curry shop. When we reached the curry shop she had made enough for all of us. Night began to fall and Ranmaru still hasn't taken a bite out of his.
" You okay Ranmaru?" I questioned patting his head.
" I'm not really in the mood to eat right now." He answered and Naruto and me looked at him.
The next morning we seen the two villagers off. I laughed when I seen Lee training Karashi. Karashi could barely do one push up. Soon after, we decided to cut down trees to form a barrier around the shop.
" I don't see why you wouldn't let me use my wood style." I mumbled as another tree fell.
" She didn't take the easy way out when making curry so we aren't going to take the easy way out by using jutsu." Neji said and I stuck my tongue out at him. There was a loud thunder by where Raiga was and I knew that he was still alive. We grabbed wood and went back to the shop to start building the barrier. I noticed TenTen wasn't with us and I realized that she must have went after them.
***
Karashi came running up to us.
" Come quick, it's TenTen! Sh-she fell off a cliff." He said and that lie was laughable. He tried making up a believable story, but I had to stop myself from laughing. We're ninja, we don't just randomly fall off cliffs! We followed Neji to go see TenTen, but I knew Neji didn't believe it.
" Would lightning and a tree really be enough to send TenTen over a cliff?" Neji asked a we ran through the rain.
" We're ninja, we don't just randomly fall off cliffs! We're probably being led into a trap." I said.
" You're right." He said looking back at me.
We jumped into the open and Raiga was there. Naruto lunged with a kunai and I seen lightning around it. Lee jumped up and knocked it out of Naruto's hand and he pushed Naruto away just as lightning hit. Naruto charged and kept using shadow cones. Neji went to use gentle fist when he got up close, but was shot with lightning. I went next to Neji and started to heal him. More lightning tried to come down onto us and I activated chakra mode putting a barrier up. I tapped Neji giving him some of the Ten Tails chakra. I jumped up and attacked Raiga just as lightning hit Naruto. I kicked him away and went to heal Naruto. Lee took off his leg weights and Lee started attacking him keeping him away from us. I soon joined in with Lee. I kicked and punched at Raiga. He couldn't really keep up with Lee or me. Lee kicked him and Raiga grabbed both of his swords plunging them into the ground. I jumped in front of Lee and formed a barrier. I let out a scream as it hit the barrier and went through the chakra. It hit both me and Lee. I took most of the hit and we almost fell to the ground, but we caught ourselves.
" Why, why do you go so far?" Raiga questioned.
" I will not give up and I will not back down! I keep my word, that is my nindo, my ninja way." I said getting into a fighting stance. Lightning started to spin around Raiga. I made my chakra that I put on Naruto and Neji as a shield for them. A lightning dragon came at Lee and me. I grabbed Lee and covered both of us with the chakra to lighten the blow. Lee and I fell down and I seen TenTen start to run by and then back track. Lee looked like he was passed out and TenTen started to shake him. I rubbed the back of my head. " Owie that hurt!" I seen Karashi and the old granny show up. They pulled out the curry of life. They tried giving me some, but I declined it. I seen Ranmaru could walk.
" Ranmaru you stay here." TenTen said taking off. I seen the grandma hit Karashi and told him to go help Neji. I snickered as he tool off.
" Alright, I need you to hold Lee's mouth open." She said.
" Oh, sure." Ranmaru said kneeling down next to Lee and opening his mouth as wide as it could go. She poured a whole spoonful from the spoon she uses to stir it with, down his throat. We watched as he started to chew and then swallow. He stayed still with his eyes closed.
" Even the curry of life couldn't help the poor boy." The granny said.
" Yea, right! I took most of the hit!" I exclaimed lightly kicking Lee's side and deactivating chakra mode. He shot up taking the spoon from the old lady throwing her into Ranamaru and me. He started toe eat all of the curry. I watched as he scarfed it down and then turned to look at us with a weird smile. I sweat dropped. I then realized he was drunk!
" He's acting kind of funny don't you think?" Ranmaru asked.
" He's drunk! Now isn't the time to get drunk Lee!" I exclaimed shaking him. " Wait, how did he become drunk?"
" It was that bottle of wine!" The granny said and I face palmed then an idea popped into my head.
" Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Ranmaru questioned.
" He'll be fine. Actually, he'll be better than all of us because he's a master at the drunken fist." I said and threw a punch at Lee to show them. He dodged it. He laughed at me and I narrowed my eyes. He doesn't think I can land a hit! I put my hand on his head and then flicked his forehead. It sent him back a little and I crossed my arms. I seen Ranmaru leave and I watched her. Ranmaru circled fog around her and Raiga. They started walking towards the cliff edge and my eyes widened. Naruto and I both ran out from our hiding spots. I heard Lee speak up and I grinned. Lee was swaying on his feet. Lee charged and threw kicks and punches and he cleared away the fog. H started getting hits in afterwards. I watched as he dodged every attack and I laughed the whole time. He sent a kick to Raiga's face and Ranmaru went over the cliff. " Ranmaru!!!" I shouted. I took off after her and seen Naruto caught her. I let out a relieved sigh. I jumped down next to them. " Thank god you're okay!" I pulled him into a hug. I let Ranmaru on my back and we jumped up to the top. We seen Raiga had his blades pointed at Lee and we jumped over him. When we landed, Ranmaru jumped off my back and ran in front of Lee. He held his arms out as in a you're-not-getting-anywhere-near-him kind of thing.
" What do you think you're doing?" Raiga questioned Ranmaru.
" I brought you the Curry of Life. I want you to try it." Ranmaru said.
" What?" He questioned.
" If you do, you'll understand you're not alone." Ranmaru said.
" What are you saying?" He asked a little confused.
" We've hurt too many. Please, we have to stop."
" No! That's enough!" He yelled covering his ears. " You've always been my eyes and ears. If you don't stop spouting this selfish nonsense we can no longer be as one!"
" Strike me with your lightning. If I die, the mighty Raiga dies as well. For we will always be as one." Ranmaru said and I looked at him.
" Ranmaru, I won't be able to remember you the way you were enough to give you a funeral!" He yelled pointing his blades at the sky and lightning shot down at Raiga covering his body like an armor. Naruto and I ran in front of Ranmaru.
" Stop it right now, Raiga!" I yelled. " Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto and I said doing the hand sign as many clones of us appeared.
" You brats! It doesn't make a difference on how may of you two their are!" He exclaimed.
" He risked his life to save you!" Naruto yelled.
" Would you really kill someone that's always been by your side with your own hands!" I yelled angrily.
" Ranmaru betrayed me. He broke his promise to stay by my side forever." Raiga said.
" He doesn't want to be alone anymore." I said and looked back at him. " He has people who care for him now."
" He knows his life will be better laughing with the rest of the world instead of crying with you." Naruto said.
" Naruto, Ayame." Ranmaru whispered.
" Ranmaru, you were planning on ending your life with this guy, weren't you?" Naruto and I asked.
" You're free." I said.
" Keep that out of your head." Naruto said along with me.
" We won't let Raiga hold anymore funerals. Not for you or for anybody!" We said in unison.
" Hey! I've heard just about enough of you two's crap, you pipsqueaks!" Raiga exclaimed.
" Excuse you! I ain't no pipsqueak!" I shouted snapping my fingers and putting a hand on my hip.
" Don't underestimate me. You stand before Raiga of the Mist. Once counted as a member of the seven ninja swordsmen. I don't take orders from the likes of you." He said.
" Yea, and I'm Ayame Namikaze a Jinchuriki. I'm the daughter of the fourth Hokage and I'm gonna kick your ass just like we kicked Zabuza's ass." I said getting in a fighting stance.
" Ranmaru, you left me and made more friends. We can never be two halves of the same soul again." He said.
" Raiga..." I heard Ranmaru whisper.
" You impudent wench!" He yelled and more lightning shot down at Raiga. " Who was it that taught you about the outside world to begin with?! A funeral it is!" All of the clones got ready to attack as he slammed the blades into the ground. With only a couple of swings with lightning, he easily took out all of the clones. We summoned more and the jumped through the smoke. The clones body slammed him and he started to fall off the cliff. Lightning shot down and hit his body. We looked over the edge and I put my hand on Ranmaru's head.
***
We got ready to leave. I laughed as Karashi got smacked in the head with a ladle.
" We best be heading out. We know you'll take good care of Ranmaru." Naruto said and I smiled. I picked Ranmaru up and hugged him.
" I'll try to come see you soon." I said setting him back down and he nodded with a smile. She told us to have a seat and eat. I looked over at the curry and it was red. My eyes widened as it boiled. Oh hell no! The other curry wasn't hot, but damn that looks spicy! I thought to myself as I seen Neji, TenTen, Naruto, and Lee's faces. Lee then got a smile on his face and I anime fell as he tried to start eating.
" Uh, Lady Tsunade will kill us if we don't get back soon." Neji said. I grabbed a necklace and put mine and Katsumi's chakra in it and handed it to Ranmaru. He smiled an put it on. We then took off dragging Lee.
" No, my curry!" Lee yelled as we ran.
***
Great, their having survival tests for the academy kids! Thank god I'm not gonna be leading a team! I stood beside Shikamaru as the Genin met up with their teams.
" Hey! How'd you two get out of doing this?!" Naruto angrily questioned.
" I've got to train with Tsunade." I said with a sheepish smile rubbing the back of my neck.
" We've asked Shikamaru to help keep watch on you and the students. Lady Hokage wanted Ayame to be on the ready to heal someone in case something were to happen so she could practice using her Medical Ninjutsu." Iruka said and started to explain the exercise. I sat in our base and waited for anyone that needed medical help. Shikamaru came in when it got closer to night and a storm was happening. When he explained something to us they called off the exercise. We waited until they got back that they called back all of the teams except Naruto's.
" Iruka-sensei, I found one of their maps on an un-mapped trail." Shikamaru said and my eyes widened. Iruka, Shikamaru, and I all took off to find them. We reached a big cliff. We looked up.
" Come on you two, lets find them." Iruka said and I nodded. We started walking up the mountain and it was slippery from the rain. I slipped on an extra slippery rock.
" Ahh!" I yelled. I tried to grab onto the wall, but couldn't. I felt someone grab my hand and then pull me up by my waist. I opened my eyes and seen Shikamaru. " Thanks." I fixed my footing.
" Be more careful." He said letting go of my hand and waist. We reached a cave and it was abandoned, but ramen was everywhere. We finally reached where Naruto was.
" Naruto!" Iruka yelled. " Are you all okay?"
" Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru, Ayame!" Naruto yelled.
" Naruto above you!" Iruka yelled pointing at the rock that was about to fall on them. It started to fall and I threw my marked kunai and transported to it. I formed the Rasengan and hit the boulder causing it to fly back and crumble. I dropped down next to Naruto and I seen the other three closer to Shikamaru and Iruka. I let out a sigh. Typical.