Team Yumi re-entered the Hidden Leaf Village as the sun began to set over the Hokage Monument. They had just finished a mission, and were on their way to report their success to the Hokage. Despite the time of day, various villagers were running, talking, playing, and laughing through the streets. A few ninja discussed their most recent mission, while vendors tried to sell goods to annoyed customers.

 

"Heh... I really missed being in the village!" Koukon grinned, happy to be back home.

 

"Yeah. We can finally rest." Hikari wasn't as enthusiastic as her friend, but still smiled. "I can't wait to go eat some ramen." She rubbed her stomach, having missed her favorite food.

 

"Of course, that's the first thing you think of. It's always ramen with you." Koukon teased Hikari. "I guess that going to Ichiraku wouldn't hurt, though..." He looked over at his teacher. "Yumi sensei, is it fine if we head off?"

 

"Yeah, I'll go check in with Lord Hokage. You three can go off and get something to eat." The woman smiled back at her students.

 

"Alright!" Koukon shouted, and looked over to his teammates. "Let's go, Hikari! Are you going to come with, Kiniku?" He asked his best friend, hoping that the three of them could go together.

 

"It's been a while since the three of us got to go to Ichiraku together, hasn't it?" Hikari asked. "You should come with us, Kiniku."

Kiniku

 

"Hi," said a voice from behind the two, revealing himself to be Kiniku. "I just got back from reporting in with Yumi Sensei and Sabaku."

Hikari jumped up when Kiniku suddenly arrived. Her face was even more red now, and she stuttered more than she had before. "O-oh, Kiniku! H-how long have you b-been here?" She asked loudly.

 

"Hey." Koukon greeted Kiniku. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask Hikari, too... How did the report go?"

Kiniku

 

"I just got here. Why, were you guys talking about something important?" Kiniku asked Hikari.

"N-no, of course not!" Hikari stuttered, trying to think up a quick lie to make Kiniku lose interest in what it is that she'd been talking about with Koukon, and what she was about to say before he arrived. "W-we were just..."

 

"We were talking about how we acted back when we were younger." Koukon covered for Hikari, being able to tell how nervous she was. "Not much, really."

Kiniku

 

"Ah, I see. Yeah, those were good times, huh?" Kiniku nodded, chuckling to himself and looking away from the two and out to the lake beside them.

 

"I remember when we were just a bunch of snot-nosed Genin, being trained to be on a team for the first time. Yumi Sensei sure had her hands full with us."

Edited February 26, 201510 yr by Firaga Sensei

"Heh... Yeah. We probably gave her a lot of trouble." Koukon laughed, reminiscing on his first days as a ninja.

 

"You were the worst of us three, Koukon." Hikari had calmed down enough to tease her friend, giggling after she made her joke.

 

"Aw, come on... I wasn't that bad, right, Kiniku?" Koukon turned to his other friend, hoping to get some backup.

Kiniku

 

"Well, you weren't that bad. I mean... ," Kiniku said. "... Actually, yeah you were the worst," he added, shrugging.

Edited February 5, 201510 yr by Firaga Sensei

"Aw, come on!" Koukon whined, disappointed he wasn't getting any help.

 

Hikari began to laugh a little harder. "Sorry, Koukon, but you were the difficult one in the group. You can't really deny that."

 

"I was just loud. Nothing more than that." Koukon argued, facing away from Hikari.

Kiniku

 

"You were a lot more than loud, mister," Kiniku countered. "Let's not forget your infamous trips to the local hot springs..."

"Oh, come on, there never were any trips to the hot springs. People just made those up." Koukon sighed.

 

"Whatever you say to make yourself look better in front of us." Hikari teased Koukon again.

Kiniku

 

"Yeah, it's too late to try to cover that up. Especially since all of our friends and teachers know about it," Kiniku said, laughing to himself.

"They only know because the lie spread..." Koukon sighed.

 

"Yeah right." Hikari replied. "We all know about your obsession with girls..." She looked away, trying to hide the fact she was blushing as usual when she spoke of Koukon's antics.

Kiniku

 

"Well anyways, we should head back. We might have some updated info from Yumi Sensei and Old Man Naruto," Kiniku suggested.

"Yeah, we should see if they've figured anything out about what went on." Koukon nodded. "Let's go!" Koukon exclaimed, and began to run off towards the Hokage's mansion.

 

"H-hey, slow down!" Hikari called after her friend, and chased after him. She smiled as she watched Koukon run off ahead of her. I missed my chance, thanks to Kiniku... I'm glad that we managed to resolve everything, though. Maybe I'll find the time to tell him soon...

Kiniku

 

"Alright, right back atcha!" Kiniku said, running alongside Koukon before deciding to show off and speed ahead, running on his hands.

"Huh? Hey, cut it out, show-off!" Koukon shouted at Kiniku before he picked up his own pace, now barely ahead of his rival. "I'm not losing to you!"

 

"You two and your constant competition..." Hikari watched the two speed off, before she sped up to catch up with her teammates.

Kiniku

 

"What? I just like running like this! Its fun!" Kiniku said, laughing heartily.

"It doesn't mean you have to run ahead of me!" Koukon shouted back. Hikari tried to not laugh as she watched the two compete.

 

Eventually, the three returned to the Hokage's office. They met with Naruto, Yumi, and Sabaku within the office, and prepared to be given details regarding their mission.

Kiniku

 

"So, do you have any new information for us?" Kiniku asked Sabaku, his sensei and his Hokage.

Naruto nodded. "Yumi, I'll let you tell your team what we've figured out."

 

"Okay." Yumi turned to her team. "From what we've discovered, we believe that group of rogue ninja Sabaku mentioned before is behind the attack. We also believe that man we fought at the shrine we guarded a while ago was a part of this group."

 

"It seems like they're a lot larger than the Akatsuki, the rogue ninja organization that the Hokage fought." Sabaku continued. "However, with some information we learned from other attacks and accounts, we believe that there are higher ranking members. One in particular seemed to have been behind the attack on my village..."

 

"We looked in the records of other recent rogue attacks, and learned of one shinobi who apparently wore clothing with this symbol on it." Yumi held up the burned cloth they had found at Sabaku's village. "Our guess is that this belongs to the shinobi. We're asking the other Kage to try to find any information they can about this shinobi. When we learn more, we'll track them down and stop them."

Kiniku

 

"Sounds good to me. Don't worry, Saba, once we catch this guy, my team and I will be sure to nail 'em," Kiniku said to Sabaku, punching his fist into his hand.

"Thank you..." Sabaku nodded, still looking somewhat upset.

 

"For now, you're all dismissed. We won't be sending you off on any missions until we figure out the identity of the rogue." Naruto announced.

 

"Yes, sir!" Koukon said. I can't wait to pound that jerk after what happened to Sabaku's village... They'd better be ready to fight me.

Kiniku

 

"Understood!" Kiniku said after Naruto's dismissal, bowing slightly to the Hokage.

After their dismissal, Koukon led Kiniku, Hikari, and Sabaku out of the mansion. Yumi stayed behind to help with the investigation, but Naruto suggested that Sabaku should go take some time off to relax. "So... What should we all go do now?" Koukon asked, looking around at the group. "We've got to wait a while... Might as well have some fun, especially with a new person to welcome to the village."

 

"I say we should take her to see Ichiraku." Hikari said, obviously just wanting to go get ramen.

 

"Aw, come on, we go there all the time... There are other places we can visit" Koukon protested.

Kiniku

 

Kiniku put a hand to his chin and tried to think of a new suggestion. "Hmm... ooh, I know! How about we take her to the training grounds? The other teams are probably there right now. We can introduce her to everybody."