[Hiro Hikari]

Chapter 5:Lookout Duty

Yoshi and Ryuu sat on the ground, watching the entrance to their comrades' hidey-hole in the cover of the forest. The two young men and their female companions worked out a schedule so that two people were always on watch and so that everyone would get an equal amount of sleep. They also decided to keep watch from the forest close by. That way, no one would be suspicious from seeing two people standing in the middle of the path.

After checking that there was no one in earshot of the two shinobi, Yoshi spoke to his partner, “So what's going on between you and Kusaaijin?”

Ryuu turned to his friend and spoke in a whispered tone, “You say that like we're in some kind of relationship.”

“It's just that you two have been talking to each other every time we took a rest, and she blushes whenever she looks at you.”

Ryuu looked up at the stars in consideration, “I don't know. I have this feeling that I've met her somewhere before,” he scratched his head, thinking, “but every time it seems that my brain is piecing the memory together, some part of it breaks. When I'm almost done piecing that part together, another one breaks, and so on.”

“That sucks.” Yoshi turned his attention back to the entrance of their hideout. Both of them were quiet for several minutes before Yoshi once again broke the silence, “Maybe you met her on a previous mission. Ever been sent near the Grass Village?”

Ryuu shook his head, “I don't think so. Like I said, I can't remember where I met her, but I have the feeling that we were close somehow.”

Yoshi raised an eyebrow in curiosity, “Really?” He and Ryuu glanced at the path as they saw Kusaaijin come out of the ground, “Now's your chance to talk to her,” he gave his friend a pat on the path a leapt up to get some rest.
The two teens looked away from each other, glancing at anything in general, in order to avoid eye contact. For the past hour and a half, they had been sitting in silence. They were practically strangers, but there was some kind of unknown tension in the air.
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Ryuu decided that he should at least try to get to the bottom of the minor situation at hand, rather than sit in awkward silence until Akina came to take Ryuu's shift. The Sand chunin cleared his throat, which, not surprisingly, made Kusaaijin jump.

“Um...Have you ever been on any missions near Sunakagure?”

Kusaaijin fidgeted a little as she searched for an answer, “I-I don't think so...”

“Been to any chunin exams?” Ryuu was trying to think of any place two ninjas might meet up.

“One or two,” She responded, blushing slightly as she did so, “but I can't remember exactly where.”

Ryuu sighed giving up his attempt to look for info. He then gave a huge yawn, as one would normally do when staying awake for several hours more than usual.

Kusaaijin took the opportunity to send him away, “Y-you've been keeping watch for too long. Go g-get some sleep.”

Ryuu stared at her for a few moments, then stood up to go wake up Akina. Kusaaijin kept her eyes on him as he walked.

'W-we need to tell him!'

'No! We need to stay on task!'

'B-but...'

'We stay on task! We find Narako, then we ditch these guys and find Kensaki.'

'But Ryuu needs to know!'

'NO HE DOESN'T!'

“Kusaaijin?”

She jumped slightly as she heard her name being called. She looked up and saw Akina standing in front of her.

“Are you okay? I've been standing here for a couple seconds and you have this look on your face like you're trying to solve a math problem.”

The Grass genin tried to search for the words, “Just got distracted I guess.”

Akina sat down beside her, “Whatever you say. I found these scrolls in Kurai's pockets. It's info on the guys they're looking for.”

She rolled the scrolls out on the grounds. Each one had the same set-up. It had a picture of the criminal, their name, and a bit of info. Crimes, village, and reward. Kusaaijin took them all into account, but her attention was focused on one man. He seemed to be the oldest of the four men pictured. He had slightly messy brown hair and blue eyes.

Kusaaijin gestured towards the picture, “Who's th-that guy?”

Akina picked up the scroll and read it aloud, “Zangei, no last name given, missing-nin from the Leaf, used to be a jonin, declared rougue after killing his team mates...Oh, here's something you may find interesting. One crime he's currently charged for is the murder of a team of Kusakagure ninjas.”

Kusaaijin widened her eyes in surprise, “What?”

“Yeah. Three were killed, but the third body was never found or identified.”

Kusaaijin placed a hand on the ground looked down, and mumbled something to herself, “Maybe it wasn't....”

Akina moved closer to the Grass genin, “What?'

Without lifting her head, Kusaaijin spoke, “You know, I think I can handle the rest of the shift by myself. You should go get some sleep.”

Akina raised her eyebrows in surprise, “No. We both need to keep watch!”

“No, I insist,” Kusaaijin looked up and glared at the Sand female,“Sleep”

Akina looked confused, and slightly intimidated. She then felt something punch her hand and she lifted her hand to examine it. She gasped when she saw three needles coming out of her hand. She pulled them out as she looked for the source. To her surprise, she saw a small flower growing from between Kusaaijin's fingers. The flower was opened up and still had two needles ready to go. She suddenly felt as if her bones had been replaced with lead, and she hit the ground hard. Even as she drifted into an involuntary sleep, she saw Kusaaijin stand up, and jump away.