Naruto: Cautious Ninja

"This isn't some con to get you three to talk some more. I'm pretty sure you already gave them everything they wanted to hear. To be frank, I could care less about your business and personal interests. I've got my eyes set on a much bigger prize," Mizuki replied, stepping closer to the cell and getting the kunoichi behind it to glare at him even harder. "In fact, that's exactly why I'm here. I have a proposition for you girls that I'm sure you'll be most interested to hear."

The two compatriots looked over at their boss, whom they could see was still reading her novel in a disinterested manner. After a few seconds of silence though, she shut the article she was skimming but kept it level above her face. "Keep talking…"

Mizuki smirked. "There's an item sealed away in the Third Hokage's vault room that is of substantial value to me, something that possesses a great amount of secrets of the kinjutsu nature. I wish to acquire this item for myself and leave this village. But before I can get my hands on it, I'll first need to create a big enough distraction to draw the eyes of the Third away from his homestead, long enough to break in and out without anybody noticing."

The head kunoichi looked over at the Chunin carefully. "What's in it for us?"

"Your freedom and a portion of the secrets from the scroll in question once I've acquired it," Mizuki replied straight away. "In return I want you to set off explosives at the main entrance to make it look like the village is under attack and to draw all attention of the home forces to that area. You were able to bypass Konoha's defenses the first time you entered two years ago, correct? I'm sure with those same skills and with the Intel I can provide for you; you'll be able to do it again."

Sitting up in her bunk the silver haired kunoichi smirked across at the man. "From the look on your face you seem to have something else you wish to accomplish from this joint enterprise." She tilted her head at him curiously. "What else is involved with this grand scheme of yours?"

Mizuki chuckled. "As an added bonus, feel free to kill the little rat that put you three here in the first place." He thumbed at his chest. "As it turns out; I want him dead too, but for a completely different reason. I just think that the world would be much better off without him in it."

The two kunoichi standing stiffened at the mention of the blonde haired kid that had toyed with them all those years ago. With that proposition on the floor, the pair turned back to their leader for instruction, only to stop when they saw her smirking just as eagerly as the man offering them their freedom. Obviously, the entire squad had been thinking about revenge on the kid for quite some time, particularly after all the shit he'd put them through. Even though he was able to run circles around them in their first encounter, they had seen how he operated and had plenty of time to think about making up for lost opportunities, so to speak.

What this man was planning basically gave them a chance to accomplish two things at once; escape from this retched place and allow them to take their frustrations out on the kid who put them here two years ago. How could they possibly say no to that?

Mizuki held up his other hand, revealing a set of keys he'd managed to swipe from one of the guards on the way down to their cell. "So… what do you say? You help me and I help you find the rat. Deal?"

The leader stood up, with her teammates turning back to face the turncoat.

The girl with starlight in her hair grinned. "Let us out of here."

Mizuki gave a small laugh and twirled the keys on his finger, stepping forward to remove the seals on the bars. Just as he was grabbing the first strip, he turned to the prisoners. "I'm sorry; I don't think I ever caught the names of you lovely young ladies?"

The silver haired kunoichi smirked. "Noriko."

The brunette with long hair also smiled. "Kureha."

The one with the shorter cut folded her arms. "Shuko."

"Well then," Mizuki exclaimed, yanking the first of the tags from the gate. "Let's get started…"

XXX

Night…

Inside Ichiraku's…

"So… what other brilliant ideas were you able to come up with for your new jutsu, Naruto?" Iruka asked after slurping up a stray noodle that had been hanging from his lips. He pointed his chopsticks at the kid, who was still busy gobbling up his second serving. "You've obviously had it for quite a while now by how well you were able to execute it. With that crafty personality and unpredictable nature I'm sure you were able to imagine up some interesting concepts."

"You know that I can't tell you that, Iruka-sensei," Naruto stated while giving his teacher a tight glare. He kept on talking despite having his mouth full. "We're ninja, remember? We're supposed to keep stuff like this a secret. Besides, didn't we agree that the test was for one jutsu and one jutsu only?"

Iruka chuckled, scratching the side of his head. "Of course but… I'm just so curious about it now. After seeing you blast that boulder and training dummy across the field I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It's not every day a person discovers an entirely new jutsu no one has even heard of until it's actually used. Anything that appears new nowadays has either been developed from existing techniques or is derived from a kekkei genkai."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "What the heck's a kekkei genkai again?" In response to his question, since his forehead was covered by his goggles, the boy instead received a flick to the nose. "Ow! Hey!"

"Think, Naruto. I touched on it in my lectures for the past two years and at the beginning of this semester," the Chunin stated with a frown. "Kekkei Genkai literally means 'a technique limited to inheritance by blood', which means abilities handed down genetically through specific clans."

"Oh yeah… that thing," Naruto exclaimed while rubbing his nose. "The weird jutsu like what the Hyuuga have with those eyes of theirs and what Sasuke is supposed to have… the Sharin-whatever."

"Sharingan, yes. But kekkei genkai aren't just limited to doejutsu. There are many others out there, even ones that haven't been discovered yet, that use all kinds of elements in one and possess interesting traits. Like abilities to manipulate lava, to create poison from the body, or an ability to absorb chakra. Stuff like that exists out there in the world and oftentimes are hard to come across," Iruka exclaimed before smiling at his student, propping his head up on his arm. "You don't have a kekkei genkai or anything like that, but you were able to come up with something as equally impressive. I think you should see your overwhelming level of stamina, imagination and chakra reserves as a blessing."

"Of course I do. Why do you think I'm able to keep smiling all the time? Because I'm able to beat everyone at anything involving long distance," Naruto grinned while poking the side of his head. "But these new ideas of mine… they're staying right up here in the safest place in the world."

Iruka smirked, "Alright then… if you say so." Before he could go back to his noodles though, he felt a tug on his sleeve and looked back to see Naruto leaning towards him. The boy gestured for the man to drop down a level, to which he then loaned him his ear. "What's up?"

Looking left and right, making sure Teuchi and Ayame were both occupied, Naruto then focused back on his teacher's ear with a mischievous grin. "If you really, really want to know what else I have planned… I'm learning how to fix up the timing," he whispered.

"Timing?"

"Yeah. Like a countdown for the technique to activate," Naruto said while looking exceptionally devious. "I want to catch my enemies off guard with a delayed attack. Doesn't that sound cool?"

Iruka considered the idea for a moment before letting out a laugh of his own, leaning back and readjusting the headband on his head. Even he had to admit that sounded like a swell plan, especially with the technique he'd seen. "It sounds awesome, Naruto. I can't wait to see where you go with it." With his student beaming up at him the man couldn't help but shake his head at the humor of the moment. "The little rascal; he just couldn't resist."

"I've got tons more ideas in the workshop," the jinchuriki added before downing the rest of his bowl in one go. He then beckoned for Ayame for a third, which the young waitress gladly obliged. "But I wonder what else I can do with Jet Hand besides using it to blow people away and to send stuff shooting off into the distance. Maybe I can get it to screw around with the air to mess with people's movements or something."

He made a note to take a peek at his science book for something with a little more 'bang' in it later. That sounded like a feasible way to help feed his creative genius.

Iruka chuckled before ruffling the kid's hair. "I'm sure you'll think of something else."

Grinning brightly, Naruto dove right on in to his last bowl for the evening. He wanted to get home as soon as he could so that he could hang out with Tayuya and work on some new material. There was a time for everything and he didn't intend on wasting a single second.

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